Crazy for Ewe

Sally Melville, is one wise woman. A pioneering knitwear designer, Sally's mantra is "knit what you wear and wear what you knit"  I love the way she teaches, the way she writes, and the way she thinks.  She spent a number of years at Canada's University of Waterloo teaching study skills and she has done some wonderful work on learning and remembering.  In studying how to study, one of the things she more

Sweater weather?  We've been saying it since October, but today it really is -- a cozy, curl up on the couch kind of day full of nothing but knitting and binge watching your favorite shows.  What you want right now is Andrea Mowry's gorgeous Weekender sweater.  If you're not already wearing it, this is more

I don't know any celebrities, and if I did, they probably wouldn't stay at my house, but I can imagine what it would be like if they did stay at my house.  High excitement and drama, plenty of glitz and glam, lavish over-the-top events, an endless array of rich food, too much alcohol, and a complete disconnect from the real world.  That's exactly how I see the holidays.  They are like my imaginary celebrity friend.  I can't wait till she gets here, am thrilled by the visit, and when it's time for her to go, I am ready to say goodbye.  The thrill of it all can be quite overwhelming, and I breath a deep sigh of relief as we take down the more

Meet Malcolm, our new puppy.  We were very lucky to find  him, and the Saturday after Thanksgiving we brought home an 8 week old bundle of cuddles and happiness.  I still miss my Dorey every day, but this little guy is working very hard to fill the hole in my  heart.  He is also working very hard to learn the secrets of my knitting bag and understand why it fascinates me.  He already knows more

Last week, my daughter Katie, said that in December she will have been with her current company for a year and a half.  I asked her if it felt like a long time or a short time, and she laughed and said, "Both!"  She knows it's not a really long time in the grand scheme of things, but she said it has been a long time in terms of what she's learned. She said, "When I first got there, I just did more

Happy Thanksgiving!   I am so happy to have all my kids home for the holiday, even Elizabeth who had the audacity to move all the way across the country. Just kidding.  She has a terrific job, loves the area, and is super happy, so I'm happy too.  I do miss her, but as with everything, you have to take the bad with the good.  I was reading an article on mindfulness today and how mindfulness, and gratitude are the building blocks of happiness. The author used the term "savoring." I love that word --  I love the idea of it.   I think it kind of more

I had lunch in Baltimore with my sister, Janet, last week.  A fabulous artist, she took me to a little restaurant inside the American Visionary Art Museum (AVAM).  There was a show in the museum called Parenting, an Art without a Manual.  The show featured 36 different artists and dozens of different media.  Each artist presented his or her own experience of being a parent, or being a child, and all the ways there are to approach those complicated relationships.  There were some lovely celebrations of warm happy childhoods, and there were some exhibits that were really sad and kind of disturbing.  It makes you realize just how hard parenting is, especially since babies don't come with very good 

It's been a week since we let our sweet fur baby, Dorey, go to doggy heaven.  It was so hard to do, but it was absolutely the right thing.  The right thing is rarely ever the easy thing I guess.  Dorey had been suffering some time with severe arthritis in her hips, and it got to the point where we simply couldn't medicate her enough to ease the pain.  I told the children that it was time, and we all went to the vet's office together.  They gave Dorey a little sedative, and we realized more