Doing some blog housekeeping!

Before I get on to answering a few questions from my previous post, here is a picture of what I have been working on. This is Rumple 100% Silk from Handmaiden yarn and the bias shawl was a pattern on the yarn. It is a simple pattern, but the yarn is best done with no real pattern and at $42.00 a skein, I wanted to have something I could wear as a little shawl or a scarf. I loved knitting with this yarn and I used my Rosewood needles - such a pleasure to knit! The needles are a souvenir of my first knitting retreat back in March!

The colourway of the yarn is called 'Mineral', but the post on the Handmaiden website shows a bit more 'silver' in the sample than my skein had and I am not at all unhappy with my skein.
This is a bit of a closeup, and the truest colour is where the scarf is folded onto itself. I think I need a new camera - you have all seen this table before. It is great table about 4'X8' and my DIL gave it to me. It is great for sewing, blocking, parcel wrapping, etc. and I often lay my knitting on it to photograph it.

Now to answer some questions - the Baby Surprise Jacket (the little green and yellow ones) is a pattern by the wonderful Elizabeth Zimmermann and it can be bought through Schoolhouse Press or it appears in the book, "Knitter's Workshop". I find that there is a good deal more info on the sheets than appears in some of the books. For instance, I have knit 7 Rib Warmer Vests and the sheet contains the method for knitting the vest without a back seam. This method does not appear in the 'Knitter's Workshop". I am a true fan of EZ and, in fact, I am hoping to go to an Elizabeth Zimmermann camp in 2009.

Why 2009? Well, I am a breast cancer survivor of a rare form of breast cancer, which has a very high survival rate, but it can return even up to 12 years post treatment. In 2009, it will be year 13 for me, so I may, I repeat MAY, finally stop looking over my shoulder for the cancer to return and so I want to celebrate. I suspect I will always be concerned about its return, but I will not let it stop me from doing all the things I want to.

One person wanted to know about 'Bertha and Beulah'. For those who have read this blog before, you know the story, but for the new folks, here it is.

If you have a problem in your life, and who doesn't, then you find yourself lying in bed in the dark and going over, and over, and over, and over, in your mind the problem and a hoped for solution. Well, the breast cancer was one of those times that there were many restless nights, and these voices would nag at me about whether or not I should believe, the surgeon, the oncologist, the nurses, the family doctor, my family - you get the picture. The voices were very negative and telling me that I was being overly optimistic! Of course, a night or two of these nagging voices and I was less than a happy camper the next morning. My DH was baffled by this and wondered why I was so optimistic most of the time, but at times I was not the easiest camper to share a tent with.

I struck upon the idea of giving the voices names - Bertha and Beulah - which are two names I do not care for. Sorry, to all the Berthas and Beulahs of this world. Anyway, in my mind they were nags of the first order and so on the mat I made them with long straggly hair, dull clothing, ugly hats and sour faces! Then in the middle of the mat, I had them dressed up with wild hair, (eyelash yarn was used) brighter colours, attractive hats, etc. Because you see, I think both Bertha and Beulah were really meant to be guardian angels, but they were so new at it they did not know what hit them when they took up temporary residence with me. I gave them a run for their money, and eventually they changed their ways and we got along fine. They were given fair warning to go off and help other women in the same boat, but to be supportive, not nagging or nasty. I could not send them out in their dull, drab, dreary and disgusting garb, so I sent them to the Sally Ann (Salvation Army) thrift shop to buy new outfits. They were not rich financially, so I sent them to $1.00 Day - every piece of clothing is $1.00. They actually scrubbed up quite well, I think. The saying on the mat/rug is "Bertha and Beulah go to dollar day at Sally Ann!" The mat/rug appears in full in either September or October of 2006, but often shows up behind me as I model a sweater!

This may seem like a very simplistic way of dealing with a problem, but it worked for me and that is what matters. Once I told my husband about the voices and that they were called Bertha and Beulah, it became easier for him and me - not your usual chippy self - Bertha and Beulah had visited the night before.

Hope that clarifies Bertha and Beulah and how they helped me deal with a trying time in my life. If they have visited you and gone back to their old ways, then give them a talking to and tell them if they don't smarten up, you will send them back to me for a bit of a refresher!