RETIRED

RETIRED!!

Yes, It finally happened, I am retired from teaching after 25 years!
I have to say I was a tiny bit worried that I might not know what to do with myself, but LO! I can do whatever i want now!  It is exceptionally freeing to wake up and say, "I can do anything I want to do!"

Me at my retirement celebration!

Most exciting, of course, is that I do not have to drive into Queens, NY anymore.  The commute had become so onerous, taking up at least three hours of my day every work day.

ENOUGH of that...

Knitting became the first thing I think about every morning!
Of course I immediately started knitting socks

This is me knitting while walking around.  It is not easy but sometimes necessary!

Next I started to panic about Christmas, and similar to socks, I began to knit fingerless mittens for some presents

These were for Sue, The yarn is a tiny bit sparkly, I love this yarn!

These were for Nathalie, the yarn is soft white, these are sort of dressy.

I also started knitting hats, once I got the idea about how to fit them, I became a little more successful.

This was the first hat I knitted, for my little baby grandson, Shane.

Then I liked it so much I knitted one for Callum, in his favorite team colors, the Islanders hockey team.  He was not as excited as I was, when he opened his present, he threw it on the floor.  He was expecting a toy, I guess!

Brad loved the photo and told Lindsay he would love to have a hat in Vikings colors!

Sooooo, he got one!

One of the funnier projects I worked on was this Wacky Scarf.  That is what I decided to call it.  My friend Su gave me a cone of yarn that she did not think that she would use.  I started knitting up a pattern that I had saved called Nirmulintu, a sort of asymmetrical scarf/shawl.  I brought it to Skytop and when Sue saw it, she said "I want it!"  I took it off and gave it to her, and promptly knitted a new one for myself. 

Here is Sue with the Wacky Scarf !  It was very cold at Skytop this year, any warm accessory was greatly appreciated.

Sue is the (lucky?) recipient of many of my projects, first because she always says I WANT IT! But also because she looks great in everything and she uses all of the projects I have made for her. 

Laura Jean also wanted a sweater, for years she has asked me to make her a "Grandpa sweater" big, bulky with pockets...When I went to the Sheep and Wool Festival in October I actually brought patterns with me so i could choose the right yarn and the correct amount.  I bought a beautiful pure wool in denim blue.  She got her sweater on Christmas!

There were other projects, during the summer I knitted with Euroflax, which is like linen, I made this top it took me about 5 times to get the sizing correct, and I used several different patterns combined to come up with this.  I am happy with it

And then, for colder weather, I made this Vogue pattern with some very raw wool yarn I had bought years ago.  I did change the front button band from the pattern and made up my own with contrasting yarn.

This was taken in the middle of the summer so I tried it on FAST and then took it right off.  When the weather got chillier I was happy to get to wear it.

Right now I am going to go get the Reyna scarf that i just made with yarn that my knitting friend Su gave me for Christmas.  I will post the photo soon!