Gratitude

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” 

William Arthur Ward

We wrote KNITWITS on a loaf of stale Italian Bread and stuck it between DAYTON and DENVER

I was deadheading (that's airline speak for riding as a passenger as part of your assignment) on a flight from LGA to CVG (that's airline speak for LaGuardia to Cincinnati) and when we reached cruise altitude, I had a light bulb moment...I complain way too much and express my Gratitude way too little.
 
Several things probably caused this relevation to surface. First, Janet has been studying to become a Life Coach. (She doesn't realize that she has been serving as my life coach for years.) She shares her studies and findings with me daily and it has resulted in some soul searching and surprising self discovery. Second, the week of vacation in the Caymans gave me the perfect opportunity to talk, dream, and reassess. And finally, when I expanded my "Comfort Zone" with my new found bravery, the number of opportunities that presented themselves also expanded and my abilities are unlimited when tested.

During a Cayman conversation, Janet asked me "What would you want to do if I weren't a flight attendant?" After a momentary pause, I answered "We're doing it!" I would want to travel, have a little yarn shop and share the craft I enjoy so much with others. How could I not realize that I was already living my dream?

I have so much to be thankful for and I have been taking it all for granted. I have my health, a home, a new car and an old car I can't seem to part with. I have a job that pays the bills, the "job of my dreams" and I am surrounded with family, good friends and good friends that are like family. Thank yous for everyone and the Powers that be!

While (somewhat unsuccessfully) Googling interesting fun facts, quotes and images for this blog entry, I came across the Gratitude Challenge, a 21-day project created to help you take note of life’s little blessings and to give thanks for the relationships, experiences and opportunities that make your life unique. Being an impatient kinda gal, I'm leaning more towards the "Fast-Track" Gratitude Challenge, a 7-day project created to help you take note of the brighter side of life.

On Day 1, you "Count your Blessings" and use the alphabet as a fun and quick format for taking an inventory and making your list of things you are grateful for. (Addi Lace Needles, Berroco Yarn and Cashmere...just kidding.) On Day 6, you acknowledge five people who deserve a little recognition. So, being an impatient kinda gal:

Dear Doug and Susan in Virginia, I have been wrestling with the proper way to thank you for the fabulous week as your guest in the Cayman Islands. Perhaps, a simple and heart-felt "Thank You" is a good start and I'll follow up later. I was long overdue for a vacation and our Cayman excursion exceeded every expectation. I so enjoyed meeting Elizabeth and spending time with all of you. The time away with you helped me prioritize the important things in life and filter out the unimportant things that litter my ever-growing to-do list.

Dear Knitwits, I get so much more than I give from you all. Your enthusiasm and support make it all worth while. Who knew that a little yarn shop could become such a large part of our lives?
For my Valentine, Thank you for showing me that chivalry is not a thing of the past. I am surprised by how much I appreciate white tulips, being treated like a lady and having doors opened, an arm offered when crossing the street, assistance putting on my coat, and everything else you do so naturally. I look forward to leaving the comfort zone of my zipcode and sharing new culinary finds, movies and good conversation with you.

Dear Janet and Sarah, I am grateful for both of you everyday. My life changed for the better the day I met you and you continue to make me better everyday!

Dear Blog Readers, Thank you for reading my blabs. I'm starting a Knitwits Gratitude Pledge, a super simple promise to complain less and express appreciation more. Stop by the shop, sign up and get a Frequent Buyer Yarn Card Stamp as a token of my appreciation. Now that you've reached the end of my post, here's the link for the real Gratitude Challenge.

Paradise

20 years from now you’ll be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So... sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Mark Twin, Author

Well, we’re back from the lovely Cayman Islands. We had a super wonderful vacation and had a chance to rest, relax, contemplate and knit (I tried crochet-and switched back to knitting.) We heard that the Caymans were the perfect place “to do nothing” and that was what we planned to do. But, on the first full day there....we found Bravery and changed our plans!

It took one simple act of Bravery to change the course of our vacation and our lives. Our vacation planners, Doug and Susan from Virginia and their daughter Elizabeth, arranged for a private island boat trip with Capt’n Chris. He would take us out on his boat from Rum Point and show us the beauty of the island and places to swim with Sting Rays and snorkel the reefs. Janet and I were excited to go and planned to knit and watch the others. We made a pact that getting into the water was not in our plans. 

When we docked in the middle of the Sting Ray area, Capt’n Chris gave us the dos and don’ts of swimming with sting rays- there were more don’ts than dos. Janet and I were convinced that Sting Rays were not something that we wanted to swim with and spending the day in a wet bathing suit was not appealing.

I don’t know exactly what happened but when the others went overboard. I felt that if I didn’t go too I would really be missing something. I announced to Janet, “I’m going in!” Next thing you know, I’m having a back massage from a very large female sting ray. Janet joined us but was more reluctant to touch the sea monsters. Eventually, we both petted them, held them, swam with swarms of them and even feed ‘em. We really felt energized by the experience and our new found bravery. (It was a great adventure until Capt’n Chris decided to hold me like a sting ray and give me a back massage-but that’s a whole ‘nuther story.)

We pulled up anchor and went to a nearby coral reef area for snorkeling. Janet and I made a pact to sit out this activity and knit. We feared that we would get lost, confused and unable to see anything with the scuba masks and our “over-forty eyes” without eyeglasses. I must have feared being left on the boat with Capt’n Chris more because next thing you know, I’m gearing up and telling Janet that “I’m just going to stick my mask into the water ”. When I saw what was underneath the surface of the water an instant calm came over me and I was totally amazed by the underwater world. I eventually surfaced and yelled to Janet, “You gotta see this!” To actually experience the sights and sounds of the turquoise water, plantlife and colorful fish was amazing and I’m glad we didn’t miss it!

The rest of the boat trip was more of the same. The beautiful blue water held an unexpected world of excitement, color and amazement as did the marinated conch that Capt’n Chris concocted (conch-octed) for the ride home. It is very difficult to eat marinated conch on stale saltines while riding on a bumpy boat in gale force winds.

From our Cayman house, the ocean was 60 feet away and the beach was littered with shells, sea glass, hermit crabs and other sea treasures. We spent a great deal of time on the beach and in the water. We walked the beach every morning and collected “Brain”- washed up coral that looked like brains. I snorkeled ever chance I had and never got over the amazement of the sights. With our newfound bravery, Janet and I decided that it was time to stop talking about the things we want to do and start doing them. First up on our list was to start writing our “Knitwits Book.” With macbooks, ipads, iphone and intermittent internet service, we stopped talking and started writing. Stay tuned....

We practiced Bravery for the remainder of our Island life. Janet even drove our rental car which is amazing because on day one, she couldn’t even sit in the car with her daughter, Sarah, driving from the right seat on the left side of the road. I was brave during a moment of wi-fi connectivity and emailed a very nice man with the message, “Will you be my Valentine?” ( and “No”, it was not Capt’n Chris.)

Well, the trip home was bittersweet. It is hard to leave paradise (especially when traveling “non-revenue”-that’s airline talk for standby). I was subject to additional security screening at the Grand Cayman Airport. When the inspector opened my suitcase and saw more yarn than clothing, she had to ask “What’s up with that?”  I told her about Knitwits and she told me than she was a crocheter but getting yarn on the island was very difficult. I asked her if I could give her a skein of Comfort from my aborted crochet project and she said that because there were witnesses and my search was complete, she was able to accept the yarn. The other inspector chimed in and mentioned that she was a knitter. So, it was lovely parting gifts of Berroco Yarn Company Comfort for everyone in the additional security room. Janet had a layover in Miami, which is now similar to being in a foreign country. With paradise behind us, we were returning to our lives but we were returning with our Bravery Awards and a bag of Brain.

I’ll now attempt to wrap up this rather lengthy blog post.
Since returning to the 41017, we no longer have to practice Bravery-it is now a way of life. I’ve been driving on the highways (although, I still don’t know which one is 75 or 275) instead of navigating circuitous routes that require only right hand turns, I’ve returned all of phone messages from the shop, and I’ve been working on the Knitwits book.

During one of our intermittent island wi-fi connections, I received the following e-mail response from the very nice man: “Absolutely  :)”. No Singles Awareness Day this year!
Yesterday was Valentines Day and my Valentine showed up on time and with a bouquet of white tulips and a card. The very nice man took me to Virgils in Bellevue, a cozy little place that has been featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. The menu is fantastic and the food is even better! Who knew that paradise existed in Bellevue?

I think paradise can be found everywhere-sometimes you just need to leave your comfort zone and experience it with good company.

SINGLES AWARENESS DAY

 

February 14th can be viewed as Valentine's Day or Singles Awareness Day, depending upon your current circumstances.  It's only February 7th...so there's still time for Prince Charming to come looking for me....but he better have GPS 'cause I'll be out of the country and on vacation!

We're heading to the Cayman Islands. They're the islands just under the under belly of Cuba (which Janet has taken to pronouncing as COO-Bah.) It has been a very long time since I took a vacation and I'm very out of practice, which is so odd since I spend most of my time traveling. We hear that the Caymans are the perfect place to do nothing!

When I finished up my Comair gig on Saturday Night, I TXTed Janet. We are very amateur TXT-ers and we've been practicing since this will be our main (aka cheapest) method of communication while away. Our TXT conversation went something like this:

Junko:       VACATION!!!!!
Janet:         Hoooooo! Hoooooo!
Junko:       Watcha packing?
Janet:         2 bathing suits, one Miracle Suit (hope it works), 2 nylon shorts, schoo-bah shoes, etc.
Janet:         and 12 lipsticks
Janet:        and a little sleeping bag thing. its soooooo cute...and flip flops.
Janet:        and I found my old prescription Schoo-bah mask so I can see if we schoo-bah with the sting rays. 
Janet:        will you bring a Chibi? (that's a needle for sewing up loose yarn ends)
Janet:        I'm not bringing a raincoat are U?
Janet:        I forgot to diet :-(

All of that TXTing took a little over an hour because first you have to find the "over-forty" reading glasses, then find a place with decent light, and then your endlessly struggling with the auto-correct spelling feature that replaces "thong" for "thing" and George Clooney for Chibi. More practice needed.

I dump out my suitcase of "work" clothes and try to fill it with "play" clothes but I can't seem to grasp that I don't need to pack Cuddl Duds and Spanx. And more importantly what knitting do I bring?

I can't find my 95% finished Cockcrow. It has been MIA for about a week now. If anyone finds my red Cockcrow, TXT me.
I finished the sleeve for my Crescent Springs Hoodie in Debbie Bliss Gray Donegal Tweed and the shop sold the rest of the yarn while I was away.  Is this a do-over or a re-order more yarn?
I goofed up something on my Girasole and I don't have the mental energy to frog a couple of rows (each row has 240 stitches).
I know what I'll bring...Crochet! I'm going to crochet a baby blanket.

So, there you have it. I'm on my way to the KMans (TXT talk for Caymans), I have 2 bathing suits, a Chibi, schooba shoes, flip flops, sandals, running shoes (I like shoes), 12 lipsticks, 5 skeins of Comfort and a Crochet Hook #H.

Good friends and yarn are always great company!
Should Prince Charming drop by the shop while we're away, tell him to TXT us and "Yes" we will be back in time for Valentine's Day!

The Method to the Madness

There is sooooo much that goes on behind the scenes at Knitwits. We meet with various yarn reps to found the latest, greatest yarns and patterns, we dream up classes, KALs and clubs, we write blogs and agonize over e-mails and we try to promote everything with Ravelry, Facebook and anything else we can think of. But the truth of the matter is...we're Knitwits and things happen the Knitwits way!

Has this ever happened to you? You're looking up something on Ravelry and the next thing you know you end up on someone else's blog.  It happens to me all of the time!

I start reading their blog (although I'm really looking for the Free Pattern) and I realize that they're blog is more interesting than mine, prettier than mine and really well organized. Well, Whatever! The unpredictability and randomness of our Knitwits blog keeps you on your toes. In what "appears to be a disorganized mind"*, there is a method to the madness.

*note: in flight attendant speak, someone who has had way too much to drink is referred to as a passenger who "appears to be intoxicated."

Here is a sample of "The Madness Method" in action.

I decided that it would be fun to do a non-sweater KAL for intermediate to advanced non-sweater knitters. My Mystery KAL has been going well and I'd like to step up game.

First, I troll around on Ravelry for inspiration. I look at various galleries, yarns, patterns and interesting groups and discussion boards. I type in a yarn, say Shepherd's Wool, and then I'll search the projects that Ravelry-ers have posted. Or, I'll type in a designer, Stephen West and Jared Flood are current favorites. Or, I'll be on the Knitwits Group page and see something in the Gallery.  It really doesn't matter what the search is...I get distracted from the "real" task at hand and I end up on some random blog!

Next, I start reading the random blog. This morning, the random blog was Yarn Harlot, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's Award Winning Blog. I was happy to land there because she's was blogging about "start-itis" and "finishup-itis", two "itises" that I suffer from too. She mentions that her favorite current designer is Spilly Jane Knits.

The next thing you know, I must know why Steph is addicted to Spilly Jane Knits so I click on the link. I'm back in Ravelry and I'm loving all of the Spilly Jane Knits designs. They are full of humor, whimsy, colorwork, cuteness and everything that makes me forget about a non-sweater KAL.

I'm just about to cast on a pair of Hippo Mittens called William it was Really Nothing when I stop myself-I stop myself because I can't find the right size needle not because it would be insane to start another project. I then remember that there was a baby blanket with Hippos that I wanted to knit, so I go searching through My Queue.

Alas, I found it! They we not Hippos, they were Monkey Faces. And the blanket is actually two blankets sewn together.  It's very cute, but a lot of knitting and a guaranteed UFO that I'm probably the only person that would want to knit it. Non-sweater KAL for One? Back to the drawing board.

I return to my Queue and I see Girasole.

I remember Girasole! It's a round, lacy blankets/shawl, by Jared Flood, great charted pattern. You can knit it in any weight yarn. This could be it! Yay!!!!

I downloaded the pattern for $6.50 from Brooklyn Tweed and I think it would be perfect for a KAL. The pattern is really well written and charted out with big, easy to read charts! The lace is divided into sections and charted out so that each section can be a KAL assignment. The project looks intimidating, but many of the folks that knit it, commented on how easy and quickly the project knit up.

I really like the Girasole knit up in Classy, a 100% merino wool, hand dyed, worsted weight, superwash yarn by Dream In Color. We carry Starry, Smooshy and Everlasting from Dream In Color, but we don't carry Classy.......yet.  So, you guessed it-I next click on the link to the Dream In Color (DIC) colorcards and I want to order every color!

I notice that Color Series 100 looks familiar and I remember the Tulips Cardigan that is in my Queue.

I really wanted to knit the Tulips Cardigan for a friend's new baby but it takes 8 colors of Classy. Wait a minute, if we order every color of Classy, I could knit my Tulips Cardigan. Lightbulb moment, we could kit up the Classy into Tulip Cardigan Kits because you only need a little bit of each of the 7 colors! Kit and Class! Brilliant!

Anyone interested in Dream in Color Classy, a Girasole KAL or a Tulips Cardigan Kit and class? I need some positive feedback in order to plug my desire to place an order for some DIC Classy.

12 Sweaters in 12 Months

I've gotten some flack about my New Year's resolution to knit 12 sweaters in 12 months. To clarify the goal, I plan to knit 12 "wearable" sweater during 2011. To define "wearable", I mean ends woven in, buttons sewn on, blocked and worn to the shop at least once. I think I should get half-credits for sweaters that were cast on in 2010.


While most of the comments have encouraged my endeavor, a few remarks mentioned my size. (The Barbie Doll comment hurt). Nonetheless, after 22 days--I am still on track!

As I write this, the first sweater, Cockcrow, is on the blocking board. That's right, I just wrote blocking board! I'm serious about this endeavor and I'm swatching (sort of) and blocking. This is my first time using the blocking board and I highly encourage sweater knitters to use one. I laid Cockcrow out on the blocking board and following the schematic from the pattern, I pinned it against the grid lines. No wonder I had to break into an extra ball of Chesapeake, I had knit the darn body a full inch longer than the pattern called for. Everything else could be scrunched or stretched to measure. When I got everything pinned down, I sprayed it with Soak solution and patted it flat. Voila! My Cockcrow went from crumpled, rolled pieces jammed into a ziplock bag to something that actually resembled the picture on the pattern. Love that Blocking Board!

Also on my needles are the beginnings of my Crescent Springs Hoodie (my celtic cable version of the Central Park Hoodie), Alieta with Extra Ribbing (my version of Alieta from Chic Knits), Tea Leaves Cardigan (Madelinetosh Pattern) in Mista Alpaca Tonos, and (2010) Tussie Mussie in Rowan Felted Tweed (Knitty Pattern).

Why so many at one time?
There are several reasons (aka excuses). First, I just love starting new projects! Second, some of the sweaters (Tussie Mussie and Crescent Springs Hoodie) require charts, concentration, stitch markers, doo dads and things that I don't have while I'm on one of my trips. Third, timeliness--the hoodie needed to move up in the cue for the KAL and the Chic Knits Alieta shows the loveliness of the Chic Knits patterns (we have lots of them cuz I love 'em) and Shepherds Wool. Fourth, I suffer from knitting ADD--new patterns, magazines and yarns keep coming into the shop and I can't wait to get my grubby little needles going. Fifth, total disorganization--sometimes you just can't find the pattern, find your place in the pattern or find which knitting bag you last left the project in.  I can go on and on, but you get the picture.

I figure my start and finish ratio to be somewhere around 3:1. So, at this rate I should finish one of the above and start another 33 sweaters in 2011. Yikes! This could be a very expensive endeavor!

Why I'm Wearing a Coat

One would think that someone who spends 85% of her life chilled to the bone, would like wearing coats or cozy hand-knit sweaters. I prefer to wear 12 layers of Cuddl Duds and Spanx, than wear a coat! So, why have I been wearing a coat all week? Hint: The answer is not because of the snow storm and low temperatures.

I am still dealing with the aftermath of the hot water heater explosion of August 2010. The work is coming closer to completion but life without flooring continues.

Just before Thanksgiving, I scheduled the carpet installation that would had completed the flooring repair. The new stainmaster, plush, thick, luscious carpet in a lovely shade called Montauk and the 3 carpet installers came and moved all of my living room furniture into my Feng Shui bedroom, then proceeded to rip up the old carpet in the living room. As they removed the old carpet, they uncovered several major potholes in my subfloor. They looked at me and then the potholes, and pressed down on each pothole with their boots and 250+ pound bodies and said, "Sorry Ma'am but we can't install carpeting over these potholes--we don't think it's safe."

The 300+ pound carpet guy says, "How much do you weigh?". The 250 lb. carpet guy hit him and says,"Sorry about him, but what he means to say is that if you were our size, you might just have direct access to your downstairs neighbor. You need a new sub-floor. There is nothing else we can do here today. Bye Bye."

Fast forward two months (why does construction work cease between Thanksgiving and New Years?), the living room furniture is still in my once Feng Shui-ed bedroom, the dining room furniture is now also in my bedroom, I can't get into any of my bedroom closets or dressers, there is now a fine, white powdery dust accumulating on everything I own... and they are finally removing the concrete rubble that was once my subfloor.

Because I have no access to my bedroom closets, I have been limited to wearing: A) things that were in my suitcase consisting of uniform pieces and a black turtleneck, undies, running shorts, etc. B) things that were in the dryer or C) garments from the spare bedroom closet, which consists of "Fashion Mistakes from the 70's, 80's, 90's-that I paid too much for and can't Goodwill" and the "Current Goodwill Pile".

I wore my coat all week to cover up some fashion faux pas. I wore "the world's shortest mini skirt-Vivian Westwood circa 1989 with holey black sweater", "the Skull and Cross Bones mini skirt-Jean-Paul Gaultier circa 1992 with turquoise Goodwill Sweater-Gap circa 2008" and for the other 5 days, my Justice jeans-circa 2010!

Finally, someone spoke up and asked, "Why don't you ever wear anything that you knit?' (were they curious or just being kind?) Truth of the matter is...for the amount I knit, not much is wearable! There is a bunch of one sock and one slipper wonders, baby sweaters, sweaters with only one sleeve, a really fun turtleneck sweater that I bound off the neck too tightly-I can't get my head into, a Kidsilk Haze cutey-pie sweater that I knit the pockets into on the back instead of the front,....it is too humiliating to continue.

I am hoping that progress will be made this upcoming week and: A) My Montauk carpet will replace the exposed concrete, B) my bedroom closets will soon be reopened for business, C) my resolution to knit 12 sweaters in 12 months, will vastly improve my wardrobe.

Until then, I am flying so I'm in uniform (sort of), I should have Cockcrow (Sweater #1 of 12) finished and it should stay cold enough for me too keep wearing a darned coat!

Notes to Self

On Christmas morning, Janet, Sarah and I gathered around Janet's living room and Janet began the Holiday festivity with ye ole, "Hey, I had a really great idea last night! Wanna hear it?"

I have learned over the years that this could spell trouble or be a stroke of shear brilliance. This time brilliance prevailed.

Janet's idea was for each of us to write a note to ourselves, to jot down our thoughts, wishes and goals for the upcoming New Year and seal them in an envelope until next Christmas, when we will read our notes aloud. We decided to place our notes inside the "Memory Table" in Janet's living room so no one would be responsible for losing them.

I have not yet written "My Note to Self" and I'm pretty sure that Janet and Sarah are noteless too. But, I have been formulating my Note in my head. So, here lies the problem...my brain is like the "refreezerator" at the shop or my freezer at home. I keep putting stuff in it, but I never take anything out.

Now, if you have been following this blog for a while, you may remember that We (Janet and I) have "The Pulitzer Prize-worthy Knitwits Book" stored and our heads. Also stored in my head are countless inventions (Sheryl: remember the Mankerchief?), highly success business ideas (Knit-o-grams), unknit sweater designs, endless good intentions and large amounts of clutter.

Last month, I finally got 5 years worth of Knitwits website stuff out of my head. It felt amazingly good to get all of that out of my head and hosted on the web. It is also helpful that our new website has the correct address and hours now.

Blog followers will also remember that last year I spent a great deal of time and energy Feng Shui-ing my condo (and my colon) in search of a good night's sleep. With the help of books like "Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui" and books on tape like "Does All of This Clutter Make My Butt Look Big", I got rid of boxes of clutter, a closet full of poor fashion choices, stacks of outdated books, magazines and papers and undesirable toxins in my diet. Now, if only I could find an e-book on "How to Feng Shui your Brain".

My "Note to Self" could be a long laundry list of lofty ambitions and goals or it could be as simple as "Find Peace". Whatever the final form of my "Note to Self" may take, I'm just glad that I will take to trek into 2011 with Janet and Sarah and all of you!

Happy New Year!