Charvet Pullover update

Knitting=last rows of final Annis shawlette
Music-Miss the Mississippi and You
Heartbeats=Continous

toasty wool socks

stepping away from facebook

and will update occasionally here..however I honestly think I'd rather just turn the computer off and play music. Here's Miss Holly Herself:

Alpaca happiness

Her name is Hollister

But we shall call her Holly...

it's all about the chairs...

and baked

baked beans in the making

legumes

are good for us and my TBA read mentioned black beans, red (kidney beans), and pea beans. David loves Western NY style baked beans made with navy/pea beans. This is NOT your southern BBQ, tomato based Pork 'n Beans. Nope, this is just beans cooked way down before adding butter-a goodly amount of butter-like a whole stick of butter-and a heaping helping of brown sugar-did I mention "heaping helping"? Some salt and pepper and then bake it down. It's awesome! He eats it cold on white bread with more butter (it's all about the butter in the Ikeler clan). I'll post a picture of this when it's out of the oven. Right now it's still simmering on the stove.

TBA read also suggested that I eat more chicken. Makes me laugh and think of a roadside billboard for a popular fast food place. I would have thought more seafood or less meat completely. But this was a strong point so a lovely chicken is going on the rotisserie today as well.

David is interested in a TBA session. It will be interesting to discover what musical tone he resonates to as well as the foods that support his health and well-being. I would also love to learn everyone of my friend's and family's musical resonance. It somehow puts us all in a song. What chords are we forming? Who are the dissonant tones in my song?

Total Body Analysis

is amazing and so enlightening
Apparently "I" resonate to the tone we know as C#
Time to explore this tone.

Alpaca Happiness

has been ordered

Daniel Jason Gunn

August 11, 1977~January 2, 2006

arpeggio....

is the word for today...

some music and some knitting today....

music is sweeter with new strings..
some time to work on some things I don't know
some time to work on some things I know a little
some time to work on some things I know and really enjoy

knitting is always a haven..well almost always
the great Annis knit-out is continuing
I have 1 finished and 1 about midway
Rebecca has 1 off the needles and 1 about midway
that's 4 by my count!

The pics will wait till we can post them all together

and my heartbeat today is steady..August is a busy month at the Prayer Registry which has the children registered by their "death-dates". Looking at the pictures of these faces is so grounding for me. Holding these families in my heart in healing meditation is healing for me. Writing to the families and to the one's who've gone on is strengthening me. As we approach what would have been Danny's 34th birthday, we honestly feel we are in a better, stronger frame of heart and mind than we've been for the last 5.

I think it's time for some new strings for the reso

yep that sounds like a really good idea

his eyes were telling me of what was to be...

always making me laugh....

we may have reached the bottom..

not sure but it's quiet and still here
think I shall just rest here for awhile

sucker punches I have known...

oh nance, we are sooo sorry to hear about your boy..if there is anything we can do just let us know, ok..oh by the way, did you hear our daughter is getting married this year?

so what all did he take? didn't you know he was an addict?

sometimes I would give up my firstborn in a heartbeat!

oh honey you just go ahead and cry..just let those little old tears just come pouring out.

was it suicide? are you sure it wasn't suicide? how can you be sure it wasn't suicide?

you seem down today..what's the matter?

sure can't wait till you get back to normal!

you need to get past this and get on with your life!

well at least you had him as long as you did.

I can do this...

and I am

hell you say?

nancy's definitions of hell:

hell is not knowing what morgue your child is laying in.

hell is being told by the medical examiner it's too late, the autopsy was done yesterday.

hell is reading that autopsy and recognizing your child just from the descriptions it contains.

hell is knowing the weight of your child's brain.

hell is a container of cremated remains with your child's name on the paper attached to it.

hell is a toe tag in that container that has obviously gone through intense heat.

hell is walking into a room of co-workers and their conversations cease.

hell is feeling badly about sharing any of this due to it making someone uncomfortable.

hell is being asked what is the matter with me.

hell is waking up remembering.

hell is remembering as you fall asleep.

no apologies....

as I begin my descent back to hell..and if this bothers anyone..oh well! I am fully armed and protected and not afraid of this journey. In fact I awoke to the most beautiful and haunting melody in my head and heart this morning..and it was Grace's voice..and as thrilled as I was and attempted to get up and capture it..sleep took me back even deeper..and now it's just a knowing. This is the work..the music follows the work.

so here's the plan..go back and find the pain...feel it and heal it. those who know me can hear the nancy-ism.."ok..sure...how hard can that be...let's do it!". It's easier to do this 3rd person for the purpose of the blog...my journal is in first person and pretty darn raw..not anything I'm willing to share in that format.

first order of healing is this raging fire of anger..and it's not your basic cranky anger..it's the most pissed off anger imaginable..so if nancy bites your head off and hands it to you..just put it back on yourself..she can't fix anyone else right now..she's working on her own self.

nancy felt like broken glass all day yesterday...and a dear dear friend who is encouraging this healing work just gently suggested she make stained glass.

a deep musical musing....

it appears my music path has narrowed and steepened thus causing me to pause and reflect on my next steps. During this pause, I discovered another path that would lead me-in a direction I have purposely avoided-but now I know if I will take this path, it WILL lead me back to my chosen path with much less emotional baggage. This new/old path will lead me back into some seriously dark and painful areas that I have chosen to not revisit-however I apparently left fragments of myself in this dark region-unconscious in suspended disbelief and horror. I need to bring all of myself onto the music path so now I must go find these fragments and convince them it's all OK and to come with me now.
I realize this is a tad more dramatic than we like but it's the focus of music at this time. Knitting is my constant lifeline as is a new and stronger practice of meditation.

I'm baaack

It's summer and the knitting is taking a backseat to the music. I'm also writing. I've written 4 songs so far-lyrics only-and Danny's story (which seems to also want to be a song)
Grace is all I seem to be playing these days. I'm sad to say I can feel my fretting calluses shrinking.
We've taken on a mega knitting goal..7 Annis shawlette's in Miss Babs YET. The reason is still top secret. Rebecca is graciously assisting me in this project. THANK YOU REBECCA!
Ok better go knit, or pick, or write, or.....

well where do we begin to catch up?....hmmmm

So much has been going on in both knitting and music..so briefly I'll recap...then some pics to follow.
Knitting has been a blast. We finished the lovely "vent d'est vent d'ouest" cowl for the Miss Babs Knit Along in Feb. Pics are up on the"hillbillyknitter"page on Ravelry but they will be posted here as well. As soon as this lovely lace was finished, I ended up wearing/needing it all that week for wind, rain, and snow. A very happy knit.
Also, we took a trip to FL in mid-Feb and my darling SIL fell in LOVE/LUST with both my Happy Mitts and MerleFest shawl. So..to keep her from sneaking these away, I knit her some happy mitts of her own while there(all in a week on size 2's but the things we do for love) and still working on her own version of MerleFest shawl (feather and fan) only in a washable FL-friendly acrylic micro-fiber rather than a warm wool such as MINE. :)
Also have begun the Charvet Pullover featured in the Winter 2010 IK (Interweave Knits). This sweater is knit on the bias and the pattern design is BRILLIANT! While in FL, I visited a lovely YS in Cocoa-thinking it's called Sit and Stich but I may have that backwards..I will find out and correct it..it's on that receipt for that EPIPHANY yarn I purchased...don't ask the price/cost and I won't have to lie! Anyway, this is the yarn on the needles for Charvet.
So on to music-I LOVE MY DOBRO! and my Thursday night lessons with Randy via Skype. He started off showing me the right and left hand techniques...bar/slide and finger and thumb picks..along with the basic C-major scale and the very cool blues scale. Then he showed me a song..Flatt Lonesome by Lester Flatt and Josh Graves. OMG! Each week I get a little more of this song..or at least a little more to learn. This is not an easy instrument to learn to play but it's the most fun to try. I am learning some of the infinite expressions this crazy thing has and it's got a wacky sense of humor to boot! I only wish my poor Bubba cat didn't hate it so when I play. It must be the tone of the twang to his sensative ears..but he runs to the door just a-whining. Sorry Bubba..I felt bad while it was snowing and blowing but it's nice out..guess what! I'm going to play some. hehehe. So I think that's about it. More as I think of it and pics for sure. ~n~

madness in march

LOL no drama but...it's taken me almost an hour to get logged in today. I forgot what I was going to say.

lace knitting in the color of sunshine=sweetness

this is what we're knitting in the Miss Babs Knit-Along.

Miss Babs Knit-A-Long (KAL)

this beauty starts a week from today! Yes we are joining the fun.
http://www.missbabs.com/

flower power happy mitts

originally named Floyd Fest Happy Mitts as they were cast on while riding in the back seat of the Pasley Trailblazer en route to Floyd,VA in late July 2010-a very hot day but what an amazing festival. Using my newish BlackBerry, I found a YouTube on picot cast-on. Well, we finished the first mitt and like all projects that require a second ( I suffer from SSS**second sock syndrome**) this is JUST continuing now. The lovely yarn is Wollmeise 100% Merino Superwash in the colorway of FLOWER POWER! Now this is HAPPY KNITTING!

and here is the snow!

this is where we like to knit by the campfire! LOL

blizzards and frogs...

And what would these have in common? Well, blizzards allow us to dig into our UFO's and decide if they will become FO's or be recycled via the FROG POND. This is actually a healthy release of useless engery being tied up in a project that isn't working. So suffice it to say, we are hearing the lovely "rip it, rip it" during this latest blizzard. And NO this didn't come about without some angst-for the "drama" go to Nancy's knitting page for the juicy details. In the meantime, here are some WAY CUTE finished items called "Jessie Poo Pie's Baby Booties". ( I did not give her this name)

musical musing

After reading this last post, I realized I found the name I've been seeking for my lovely resonator guitar-she shall be named Grace. She makes my heart happy with her sweet sounds. We now have Grace, Sunshine and Freedom.

Saturday and snowed in...

WOW! No pressure today. Not even in knitting. Have you noticed that feeling when between projects? At first it's like I just HAVE to get something cast on-there is an urgency-but if I just dabble at something else, that urgency gives way to a peaceful "AH, I can do whatever I want to today" :-)
OK, I am finishing up the 2nd of Jessie Poo Pie's baby booties{note I didn't give her this name}and since they only used 1 skein of the Paton's Grace, I will look into making a matching hat-later.
And I want to continue working on Amazing Grace on the dobro using the cool things I was shown in my lesson Thursday night.
And I want to work on Blackberry Blossom on Sunshine{name of my accoustic}
And I might just have to fire up Freedom {Fender Strat} and make some happy noise there.
And there is soup to make upstairs.
And we have movies to watch.
And if the wind lays down, we are going outside to take a BIG WALK in the deep snow.
And...

to do list....

practice keeping my ring finger down on the strings behind the slide while doing hammer-on's and pull-off's...and...
wind some of that lovely Misti Alpaca cotton/silk in that amazing papaya shade for swatching the next project..which is very likely to be the....
Ann Norling Perfect Tee!
Now that's a happy to do list.

lil wallaby

ready for lil Brett :)

a musical musing...

FINALLY!
We are starting back our guitar lessons with Randy via the magic of Skype tomorrow night when we get home from work. Also going to learn to play that dobro! WOHOO! Stay tuned....

a place for everything

And since we can't really knit or even live without the dreaded 'drama', we now have a place for that too! Check out Nancy's knitting page over on Facebook. It's a cyber SnB since there is not really an active one in our area at this time. I am hoping my former SnB'ers will participate heartily! Also, there is a collaberative site in the works that will combine the energies once again of NC (me) and AK (Rebecca)! I am so excited about this as this energy really fuels mine. Happy Knitting everyone!

Sally Ann Pasley-WONDER DOG

R.I.P. and thanks for all the smiles....

all done knitting..except

for the hood.

Ravelry is such a fun site to play on

keeping in mind this is a "drama-free" zone, I shall not whine-but I could not find this blog on my Ravelry page. After reading the tutorials on how to make this happen, I began looking at what are called the UGH! projects. Now I know where to go when I need a great laugh or inspiration to ditch a project that just isn't working! ROFL!(we are certain to have some to add)

a little but wonderful wallaby in process

since it's rained and thawed all day, it's not been the best outdoor day-so it's been movie marathon and knitting. (a most relaxing way to spend any gloomy day IMHO)

we attached the sleeves and are almost to the neck opening. CUTE!

just an early new year's day musing....

this year I will NOT be a yarn snob! If the yarn is suitable for the project and the recipient-be it me or someone else-I will not shun it because it's from Michael's or NOT from some over-priced yarn store or web site.
As my VBF just said: "if it works, use it!"
Now with that said, this small version of the Wonderful Wallaby I'm now knitting for young Brett J. (aged 2) is being knit of an acrylic yarn purchased at Michael's called Impeccable from Loops and Threads. 192 lovely yards of some really nice, soft, washable, wearable, acrylic yarn for $2.50/skein. It's knitting well, and I KNOW it will wear as well.
I still love luxury fibers and yarns, and have some wonderful stash awaiting my needles. I've spent some serious $$$ on these as well. I do NOT know how they will knit, or wear and DO know the care of whatever I knit of them will have to be "hand wash and rinse with cool water and very gently, be sure to not wring and lay flat to dry". Fine sometimes. Not fine all the time.
just an early new year's day musing....back to knitting.