Knitting in the Boardroom

Yesterday, a group of us got together for a very important meeting in the boardroom. We met to assess the status of our knitting projects as of the middle of Q2. Ellen has posted a very thorough report on her site. Needless to say, we all left the meeting feeling positive about our overall direction.

(hee hee hee: I mixed in a bit of biz lingo with the knitting talk... did you see that!)

The stone named"ERYKA"

Hi,

A few months ago, by brother reached out to our father. While I still have mixed feelings about this (a lot of mixed feelings!!!) I am glad that I had the opportunity to connect with a sister and an uncle I never new I had. My sister, Marcia, is a lovely woman living in Virginia. My uncle, Michael also lives in Virginia and aside from being a biker, he is a marvelous sculptor. Here are some photos of the stone he made for me. I really love it!

Also, on a personal note, I achieved a milestone today. I mowed a lawn for the first time. It was hard, but I did it!

Eryka

Ava's First Birthday....There is yarn involved!

Well, I can hardly believe it, but Ava is will be a year old in a month. It seems like only yesterday that she was born. And since she is half Korean, her first birthday is a big deal. So, next month, the family is getting together for Ava's Tol. According to what my sister-in-law Jane told me, for their first birthday, a child is dressed in traditional Korean clothes.

Photographer Caroline Chan had an AMAZING Tol for her son. Ava's will be no where near as, "Oh-My-God-How-Much-Money-DID-They-Spend-On-This!," but the dogs will be there, and I think that is a better deal.

A key part of the celebration is the toljabee ceremony where the child is seated before a table on which various foods and objects (pencil, knife, book, money, thread/yarn, scissors, ruler or bow and arrow) have been placed. She is then encouraged to pick one or two of these. According to tradition, the first or second choice foretells the child's future."

As I am sure you know, I want Ava to pick the yarn, which means she will have a long life. In fact, I plan on providing the yarn for the ceremony. But that is where I need your help. What type of yarn should I get?

I have a couple of skeins of ArtYarns Regal Silk in a lovely pink & white silk that I can use, or should I go with something extra special like a five-ply cashmere? Or what about a beautiful angora? If she picks the yarn, I will let her keep it...well, maybe a strand of it in a scrap book and then I can make her something out of it!

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Ta!

Eryka

My Mother's Day Present: Happy Mother's Day!

I got an email this morning from Quit Plan announcing another quit anniversary. Apparently, I have been smoke free for 29 months today:

Quit Date: Sunday, December 10, 2006 at 12:00:00 AM
Time Smoke-Free: 882 days, 5 hours, 56 minutes and 12 seconds
Cigarettes NOT smoked: 17645
Lifetime Saved: 4 months, 14 days, 18 hours
Money Saved: $3,969.00

Kobe was my reason to quit smoking. When he came to live with me, I realized that he was allergic to cigarette smoke and I had to make a choice: Kobe or smoking. I chose Kobe. In the ten years that I smoked, no one or nothing could get me to stop smoking.

This email today was the best present possible! 2 1/2 years smoke free! Thank you Kobe!

For my mom, I got her a website and domain name for Mother's Day. I know that sounds rather practical, but my mom is happy with it. Happy Mother's Day! one and all!

Love Eryka

Sea Yarn: Ever Heard of It?

Hey Everyone,

Has anyone read Death By Cashmere by Sally Goldenbaum? It is from perhaps my favorite literary genre: the Knitting Mystery, which includes such noted authors as Maggie Sefton, Mary Krueger, and of course our very own Monica Ferris.

I'm reading Death by Cashmere now, and its pretty good. I would prefer that it focus more on the knitting and the mystery and less on people "getting ready to knit" and "discussing whether or not they should try to solve the murder." I am about half way through the book and they have not developed a list of credible suspects yet. (Get on with it already!!!)

What has really peaked my interest is the passage on sea yarn. Has anyone heard of it? She describes it as "one skein, cascading down the center of the trunk, was a rich blend of saffron, goldenrod, and shades of yellow......It was beautiful. Sea yarn, the handwritten sign read." I must admit that does sound beautiful. But what is sea yarn? Have you ever heard of it?

I did a bit of Googling, and found out that Tilli Thomas has a silk/kelp blend called "Voile de la Mer" that might be what she is referring to. Let me know if you have any ideas. Thanks!

Update!!! -

FYI: Limedragon/ Harriet had a great find of her own, called Handmaiden Fine Yarns in Canada, which makes a beautiful Sea Silk out of seaweed cellulose. Check it out. It is truly amazing!

Ready for Work! Finished my OfficeShawl

I finished my office shawl and I think it turned out rather well. As I mentioned on my Ravelry page, I recently changed locations at work and where I sit now is much colder. So I took a break from the various projects that I have yet to finish to do a shawl for the office. I really like this yarn and it knits up really quickly. I used the Nicky pattern by Berroco because I love the look of it. While the original pattern uses a lighter weight yarn, I think it looks great with a bulkier weight yarn like the Socos. What do you think?

RSS Feed Trouble

Hi everyone,

I may have appear as though I have disappeared for a month or so, but that is not the case. I was fiddling around with my RSS feed and my posts were not being picked up. I can assure you I am still blogging and I am still here!!!

The Cougar: Are you serious!

Ok, so I recently watched an episode of The Cougar reality TV show. If you are not familiar with the show, the Cougar is about a 40-year-old woman , Stacy, "dating" 20 men under the age of 30 to see if she can find "love." During the promos and first episode, TV Land introduced it as the show that will shake up the reality TV show industry and shatter stereotypes.

And while that very well may be the case, I found the show to be the exact opposite! First, the show is reallllly boring. Second, it doesn't live up to the opening monologue delivered by the caricature known as Vivica Fox. Ms. Fox suggested that times have changed and it is ok for women to date younger men. Ok, then why:

A: Is Stacy is called a Cougar ( aka - a woman who dates men who are much to young for her)

B: In the promos she is referred to as a Sexy Older Woman

C: In the first episode her age or the age of her suitors mentioned every five minutes

Now lets explore the reality dating show genre a bit further. Particularly stars of two of the industry's biggest franchises: Flavor Flav and Bret Michaels.

Both of these men are in their mid to late forties, hell they had full-fledged careers when I was a kid. And yet, the "dates" or contestants or however you want to look at it, for the most part are in their early 20's with maybe handful in their 30s. Are they called letches and dirty old men? No. The subject of age never comes up.

They are never referred to as aging musicians looking to hit on women who wouldn't really give them the time of day in "real life" So how innovative is this show? How many stereotypes is it shattering or is it really reinforcing them??

But the kicker for me is how Stacy eliminates the guys that don't satisfy her cougary cravings. It is called the "kiss off.' If she likes them Stacy kisses the guy on the lips. If not, they get the cheek. So I just watched this woman, Stacy, the Cougar, kiss like 15 guys on the lips.

Ewwwww!!!

TV Land needs to go home and do this one over, because it misses the mark. And FYI, just saying it shatters stereotypes doesn't make it so.

Eryka