Now Norma Knits

Popping Out of My Cave To Say Hi

I know it's seemed like I've been awfully quiet -- well, because I have, I guess. I've apparently alarmed a few, but don't worry:  I'm still here and kicking strongly! It really is rather pathetic, though. This formerly-every-single-day blogger (for several years running) is so rusty at it that I could not remember some of the commands in the Typepad software and it took a while to make this post. That is just sad.

But since we last spoke, let's see, I have....

1. Passed the Certified Realtime Reporter, Certified CART Provider, and Certified Broadcast Captioner exams. (Caveat: These are PRELIMINARY scores only! To be verified by the officials before they are OFFICIAL. You know. They have to check the security camera and the audio recording to make sure I didn't cheat, etc. I wonder if the "what the fuuuu..." that I once uttered will be used against me? I shouldn't joke. Heh.) These are long overdue and I should have taken them years ago, but I'm just getting around to it. You know how that goes. I've signed up for them a few times in the past, but then would get booked for a really great job that I could not pass up, and had to cancel them. This time I managed to fit them in. So now I have so many initials to put after my name, it's longer than my actual name.

2. Underwent a cardiac stress test with echocardiogram. That was fun. Not so much. But apparently it all looked unalarming and good enough.

3. Recorded into a log every single piece of food I have eaten, every single thing I have drunk, and every step of exercise I have done since I got out of the hospital. Taken and recorded my blood pressure, ditto.

4. Done a lot of CART work. A lot. 

5. Went to Vermont Sheep & Wool, trudged through the cold drizzle and mud for a couple of hours, and even bought some yarn. 

5. Went to Rhinebeck (!) and roomed with my traditional crew of lovely ladies:

Jenn (Nipperknits), Sandy, and Leigh

We have roomed together just about every year since 2004.

(Except that I couldn't go last year. I'm not bitter at all.)

Needless to say, we had a blast. I forgot my camera the first day, so I have appallingly few photos, but I did manage to get a fabulous one of Kay the second day:

We were underdressed for the weather the first day, and got chased back to the hotel by the cold and rain showers, so we missed out on seeing a lot of folks we wish we had seen. And we made a conscious decision to shop and eat and drink tea in the actual town of Rhinebeck. What a treat! All these years, and we've never really patronized the lovely little shops on the Main Street, as it were. We are so glad we did. I got two pieces of gorgeous jewelry -- one for me and one for a gift for Mr. Jefferies' sitter (Shhhhh, don't tell her. She doesn't read here, so I'm safe.), and we each got a few other great things. We ate a very special dinner at The Terrapin. So.good. SO good.

What else do I have to tell you? 

Oh! I got a new sweater kit for you-know-who:

And some lovely buttons for a sweater I hope to knit someday. I will knit again someday, won't I?

What number was I on? Aw, never mind. Bullets it will be from now on.

• I finally managed to mail Martin's package to him containing the two baby sweaters and the little hat I made way back last spring. You remember the ones, eh? This and This. They were received, and Martin was over the moon. I'm desperately hoping they still fit the baby boy, and hoping for pictures of him wearing it someday soon. 
• And well, because not enough of my body has started falling apart already, I had laser surgery today on one of my eyes, and the other is scheduled for Monday. It was for the condition as described in this YouTube video, should you wish to watch it. I love to watch it just to hear the name of the doctor speaking on that video. 

• Now, I know you really just wanted to see a photo of His Royal Highness, so here you go. Not a very glamorous one, but it's the best I could do in the failing light after my eyes were dilated and then one of them lasered. 

 

Craft Activism Available For Preorder

OK, so remember way back when Gale was visiting me? And we were all super-secretive and hinty-hinty? Well, now we have downgraded (or is it "upgraded"?) the situation to only secretive and hinty. 

How about let's just say that the book Craft Activism is now available for preorder from Amazon.

I've had a sneakpeek at one of the pages, and it's so fabulous I can hardly contain myself. Damn, that Gale and Joan do good work! 

The Extreme Long-Time Reader of Now Norma Knits will recall that I first met Gale at a photo shoot for the Red Scarf Project when it was really in its infancy. Those were the days when we really had to beg and scrape and worry that we might not have enough scarves. Now we just have to remind people that quality is more important than quantity, that the designs have to be truly unisex, and that yes, red is the color. The array of gorgeous soft, warm scarves that pile in each year are astounding and wonderful.

I just love the blog for being able to turn back the time machine for things like this. I looked up the post and the date of our meeting was January 26, 2007!!! Can you believe that? I can't. (Look at me with my blonde highlights! Ha!) It's so much fun to look at Gale's album from the photo shoot that day and to think how far we've come from those humble beginnings of the project. 

(Photo taken by one of the students with my camera.)

We had known each other virtually for a short while before that, but it was really the Red Scarf Project that brought us together. We were fast friends, though we met on what was probably the coldest day of the century. 

Didn't matter! We had all that Red Scarf love (and a hot coffee at a patisserie later) to keep us warm. It was the first day I had met any of the Orphan Foundation of America (now renamed Foster Care to Success) students, and if I wasn't already sold, that sealed the deal for me. Such mature, responsible, fun, and appreciative young women I met that day, and I have met several more in the intervening years. They are all amazing. And so are we red scarf knitters, crocheters, and weavers. 

RED SCARF ON, TROOPS! (And go order the book. You will be glad you did -- I promise!)

 

 

A Facebook Conversation Gone Wild

...with apologies for the bad formatting. I was definitely having challenges with the print screen function and cutting and pasting and pulling it into the blog....

             

(Before I made good on my threat to post this, I got the permission of [most of] those involved.) 

 

 

I Am 52

Up until just a few months ago, I felt like 52 going on 29. 

Right lately, though, I've sort of felt like 52 going on 72. The stiff, achy joints; the sore, tight back; the sore knee -- oy oy oy! When working in the garden, I'm a completely different person than I used to be. It HURTS! I can't reach that zucchini to cut it! I can't bend down to pull those weeds!

This is a rude awakening like no other to me. I was always so critical of people who were "too lazy" to "work hard" and "stay in shape."  

Hell's bells.

I'm lucky compared to many. I don't have Type II diabetes (or anything close to it), I don't have hot flashes (knock wood) or many of the other ailments so common to so many my age. I'm not dead, as are some of my high school classmates. But I do have those blood lipid issues lurking in the background, and I'd better damn well perk up and get rid of these aches and pains. I could have another 45 or 50 years to live, if my genes are any indication, and I don't intend to live them not well.

My name is Norma and I'm middle-aged: Hair dye needed, calorie-counting needed, fiber intake monitoring needed, anti-wrinkle cream needed, no more getting asked for my ID when I buy alcohol.

Sigh.

[sh]It happens, despite our best intentions.

Anyway! I'm not intending to get all morose on ya or anything. My mom's birthday was two days ago, and yesterday I took her out to see Midnight In Paris and to eat French-inspired food at Leunigs (I had beef bourguignon). It was ten freakin' flavors of awesome, all of it. Truth be told, it was just as much my present to myself as it was my present to her. (Bonus!) I wouldn't mind a do-over of the whole thing, in fact.

Here, do this for my birthday: I've adapted it from a meme I've seen on Facebook. 

I would like my friends to comment on this post, sharing how you met me. But I want you to LIE. That's right, just make it up. 

Let's see how creative you are, and how much you can make me laugh. Laughter is the best medicine, after all.

 

 

 

 

 

Jen Said, "Pics, or it didn't happen."

Alrighty, then.  

It was a bit of a whirlwind trip. The drive down falls into the category of Not As Bad As It Could Have Been, since the forecast Nor'Easter, due to Mother Nature's gracious gift of a couple extra degrees Fahrenheit, didn't fall in the form of snow. It was just rain with a few miles' worth of sleet. The rain was heavy and the sky was black and low and the visibility was poor, but I'm very glad I did not let the weather stop me from getting to New York for this wonderful, wonderful gathering. The weather turned out to be just gorgeous both Saturday and Sunday.

Here are a few of the photos I took (Jen took the photo of me at the end of the day with my camera).  (Click on the thumbnails for bigger images.)

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Precious little knitting or any other fiberwork got done. It was replaced with lots of Yorkie-playing and gabbing, and Pims cocktails-drinking and pastries-eating. Nobody missed the knitting. 

Thank you to Jen and Adam for hosting this gathering, and for everyone for turning out to play with me and Cari, who was in from Portland (Oregon), and for Regina and Hannah for helping me to walk Mr. Jefferies in the middle of the day. 

 

Terrier Tuesday -- The Auntie Lisa and Auntie Jenn (Nipperknits) Edition

Dear Readers,

Well, yesterday we had a fun visitor: Lisa. Lisa is an old, old friend of Alpha's, and she and her husband have a sugarhouse which makes, according to Alpha, the best maple syrup in all the land.

Alpha remembers going up to their woods the first year they were tapping their virgin trees about .... oh, she doesn't even know ... maybe 20 years ago? Something like that. Maybe even more, but Alpha doesn't want to think about that, because that means that everyone is much older than she likes to think.

Lisa also has dogs, lots of dogs:

So Lisa really knows how to speak my language. We had so much FUN playing with the squeaky toy yesterday, but silly Alpha forgot to get pictures of us. When Lisa first got here, she said to Alpha, "You give him such a personality [in the blog]," and Alpha said, "He's got the personality. I just have to write it." By the time Lisa left, she had changed her tune. She said to me, "You have SUCH a personality, Mr. Jefferies."

Well, duh. 

I don't know why people are always so surprised about this. I just don't know about people. They are so not with it sometimes. But what're you gonna do? When you're a Yorkie, you just have to tolerate them the best you can. That's my advice to you if you are a Yorkie: Just be as tolerant as you can. They will give you treats and take you for walks and coo a lot, and that makes it worth being a little bit tolerant of their other shortcomings. 

Anyway, I'm glad to call her my new Auntie Lisa. 

But hey, that's not all! I've got so MANY loving aunts!

This weekend Alpha and I are going to visit my Auntie Jenn, also know as Auntie Nipperknits, in New York City. We've been looking forward to this trip for a long time, and that trip is why we had Auntie Lisa bring us some syrup. We're going to see a whole bunch of our New York City-area friends, and Alpha is going to try to sweeten them all up with some of that Vermont syrup. 

But she has missed a very important fact: She is bringing ME. So what more sweetness do they need? 

Again, we just have to smile and nod and be tolerant. 

Auntie Jenn has a new website and all kinds of new and exciting news to share!  

You might remember stories that Alpha has told about her "Cousin Jenn." They love each other and go back a long way. Jenn was one of Alpha's very first blog friends, and she has remained one of the closest. And somewhere along the way it came out that Jenn's last name is the same as Alpha's last name used to be, and thus the "Cousin" moniker. (When you are a Yorkie with a personality such as mine, you use words like "moniker" without even batting an eyelash.)

But anyway, Jenn shares some of Alpha's DNA, we are convinced. She is a super-smart and accomplished knitwear designer and technical editor with some amazing things on her resume. 

You have to go see her new blog, where you will find a new free hat pattern, which I totally love because her sample is the same color as my green sweater:

Like Auntie, Like Yorkie

 

Keep your eyes out for a contest there in the next few days, too!

Here's the direct link to the blog: Nipperknits

Please go take a look at her new site and say hi. 

Tell her Mr. Jefferies sent you. 

Sweetest maple syrupy congratulations to my Auntie Jenn. She deserves all the best, and we can't WAIT to see her this weekend, when I'm sure we will generate lots more stories for the blog.

Love,

Mr. Jefferies

 

 

 

 

Shippin' Fool

As of the time of writing this, everything in Lee Ann's eBay stash sale (managed by yours truly, with a little help from Mr. Jefferies of course) that's been paid for is packed and ready to ship.

There are a few stragglers left to be paid for, and a few more auctions still open, but I am declaring this sale a big success! Thank you for your help in all this, people. 

Master Is Home

This dog is so hilarious. I pull out the camera to capture whatever cute thing he is doing, but he knows he's supposed to POSE, so he always does, and I miss the cute shot I'm actually trying to get. Well, that's way better than Vincent, who thought the camera was the evil eye and VERY SCARY and he would.NOT.look.at.it, so I could never get a cute photo of him. 

Anyway, we're all glad the master is home. He was pretty danged excited to see me and David both.

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And now, the final listings of Lee Ann's stash:

1. Blue Sky Alpaca

2. Alpaca Laceweight

3. Lana Grossa Sock Yarn

4. Misti Alpaca Chunky

5. Berroco Suede

6. Red Regia Line Steps Sock Yarn

Anddddddd we're done!  Keep those bids coming. We are thrilled at the growing tally. 

Friday For Lee Ann

I listed these yesterday for Lee Ann's moving fund:

1. Trekking XXL Sock Yarn - purple!

2. Peruvian Collection Pure Alpaca (blue)

3. Regia Loop Color Sock Yarn

4. Fleece Artist Dreadlocks

5. Peruvian Sierra Aran

6. Peruvian Collection Pure Alpaca (purple)

 

Please go take a gander and bid if you can.

Thank you for all your bids and donations so far. Careful! The generosity of our community is showing again!

Put on a bathrobe or something, will ya?!  We don't want to scare the neighbors!

 

More Listings For Lee Ann

I added some more listings for Lee Ann last night over on eBay:

1.  King Cole superwash super-soft Merino - (Bluebell)

2.  Brown Sheep Serendipity Tweed Cotton/Wool Blend, black/grey

3.  Regia Silk Sock -- light blue or dove grey (I can't really tell what color it is!)

4.  Fleece Artist Kid Silk 3 ply

Go take a look and see if there's anything there you'd like.  And because many people have asked, I am listing her Paypal email address again, in case you would rather just make a donation rather than buy her yarn.

It's leeann[dot]balazuc[at]gmail[dot]com