Trish Knits.com

Category: Events

  • Falling Behind Again

    Hi again! Did you miss me? Tell you what… don’t answer that and I won’t hold it against you for what you’re thinking. I think it’s official now that I am becoming a blog slacker.

    The reality is that this is a knitting blog, and there just hasn’t been a lot of the knitting going on around here. I’ve had a couple of really big projects at work and between the stress of it and trying to get it done I’ve often been working very late and only getting about three hours of sleep at night. So, in the evenings during what would be prime knitting time and blogging time, I’ve been sitting like a zombie in front of the computer and playing Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook. Then when I get up my second wind I work for a bit until I can see no longer out of my bleary eyes and then it’s off to bed. 5:45 a.m. comes awfully early under those conditions. Just to give you an idea of how late I’ve been awake lately, do you know what comes on TV after the show that comes on after Late Night with Jimmy Fallon? Let me tell you. Jennifer Tilly‘s playing poker these days. It ain’t pretty.

    So, my whole life seems a sorry tale of ridiculous insomnia, but that isn’t the case. There’s at least a little bit of knitting going on. Last Saturday we had our monthly knit group meeting, where we said a fond farewell to Jennifer:

    Our knit group held a farewell celebration for Jennifer
    Our knit group held a farewell celebration for Jennifer

    Jennifer’s husband is in the military, and his current assignment is in South America. So she’s moving down there with him, at least for the next six months or so. We sure will miss her in our group, and wish her well. Yvonne brought a yellow cake with coconut from the Pennsylvania Dutch Farmer’s Market (Yum!), and Marie bought a card for all of us to sign. It was a lovely afternoon.

    This week I took the plunge and bought a netbook computer. If you’re interested I bought the ASUS Eee PC 1005HA-PU1X-BU, which I chose in part because of the reported long battery life. Also it seemed like a pretty hot seller on Amazon and I figured all those people can’t be wrong!

    Now I have a little computer when someone else is playing or doing homework on mine, and can write or blog or surf from just about anywhere. Of course, today I had kids playing on both of my computers, and I found myself without one anyway. I did spend quite a bit of time trying to get my photo editing software to install, and then resorted to contacting support. The first guy I chatted with wasn’t helpful at all, but the second guy said, “which netbook do you have?” and knew right away what was causing the problem. He had me up and running in no time after spending a lot of time struggling with it last night. So, I was able to edit my photos, upload, and blog from this new little computer tonight. I think this little machine and I are going to get along great.

    The main reason I got the thing though was that there is a lot I want to write lately, and some of my best ideas come to me when there’s not a computer in site to jot them down. I’m no good holding a pen for more than about 30 seconds so this is a good solution. Not much bigger than a day planner, yet, the keyboard is comfortable.

    Anyway, it’s late again so I’m going to sign off and go to bed. It’s a three-day weekend so I’m hoping to get caught up on some of that missing sleep. Wish me luck!

  • Biggest Group Meetup EVER!

    Saturday September 12 was a big day for the Bowie Knitters. A really BIG day. It was our biggest group session ever. We had a really long table strung together, and we still ran out of room! I couldn’t even get everyone’s picture. It was crazy fun.

    The word is getting out about us. We had lots of new visitors to our group, and everyone was a real delight to get to know. I hope they’ll all be back!

    As usual, to see a bigger version of the photo, please click on the thumbnail!

    You know, I never imagined when I started my little once a month knit group that it would ever take off like this. I almost got overwhelmed when I looked around me and realized how many wonderful new friends I’ve made over the last year or so. This has been a real blessing for me personally. It sure has changed my life for the better to be in such good company.

    Uh oh. My power is flickering. I’d better finish this post before it evaporates. More knitting news tomorrow… I promise!

    Listen to this article
    Listen to this article

  • Long Overdue Group Report

    Hi there! I know, I know… not very nice of me to be away from the blog for more than a week. But… I’ve been sick. Nothing terrible, really… but I did wind up missing several days of work this week and sitting around like a bump wishing I could be more productive. But, last weekend, we had an interim monthly gathering of the Bowie Borders Knit Group, and I do have a few photos to share! As usual, click to make with the bigger…

    Our group is meeting again next week on September 12, in lieu of meeting this week on Labor Day Weekend. I’m already looking forward to it. We had quite a few people just drop by our table and ask if they could join us, so maybe we’ll have some new people next week. We also had a young girl spy our activities and she asked if someone would teach her to knit. Luckily there was some spare yarn and some extra needles, and before long, our young charge was knitting away. She went away with a piece of knitted fabric somewhat resembling a trapezoid, but it was HERS, and she made it, all by herself.

    As for me, I’ve been knitting again, rather happily. I have photos and stories to share later this week.

    That’s all for now; I promise I won’t wait more than a week to catch up with the blog next time. Happy knitting!

    Listen to this article
    Listen to this article

  • Knitting at the Ballpark

    It’s been a really stressful week. The kind of week where it all seems to just get sucked right out of you. So when the chance came up to go with a group from work to the baseball game this afternoon, I took it. (We’re right across the street from the Washington Nationals.) None of my friends from my immediate office went today so I was by myself, pretty much, with about 75 other co-workers I don’t know that well.

    I was alone, but I didn’t care. I had my knitting, the skies had cleared, it was cool and breezy and just a glorious afternoon. The Nats even won! That was a rare treat but they are currently on a winning streak. I somehow managed to capture a home run with the only video I shot all day:



    Baseball. And knitting. A much-needed perfect day.

    Listen to this article
    Listen to this article

  • Who Knits in August, Anyway?

    The answer is: Lots of people!

    Today was the August meeting of our Bowie Knitter’s Group, and we had lots of fun and several new folks visit us today. Below are my photos from today. As always, click to make with the bigger:

    We welcomed some new folks this month, and we hope they enjoyed their visit with us! Jennifer, Olivia and Sylvia came for the first time. I hope they had fun and will come back again!

    We also had three or four visitors from inside the store who spied our knitting group and will be joining us in the future. How fun!

    Knit group was varied and really fun today with so many people working on so many cool projects to talk about. I had kind of a sleepy day today and had a bit of trouble staying focused on my scarf. I had a long nap this evening though, which explains why I’m up late at night updating the blog!

    Dina from knit group asked me to post new photos of the den, now that I’ve got all the pictures up. I’ll do that tomorrow. The kids have been home from vacation for a week now and so far, no one has dared to mess up this room. That’s a really good thing.

    Next meetup is September 12, due to the Labor Day holiday. Can’t wait already. Goodnight for now!

    Listen to this article
    Listen to this article

  • We Now Return to Our Regular Blogging…

    I’ve got no excuses really… there just hasn’t been much to blog about lately and I haven’t felt like doing it. Except for last weekend’s knit group, which was really a lot of fun! I’ve been late in sharing those photos, so here we go, As usual, click the thumbnails to make with the bigger and read details:

    It was a great day where we welcomed a couple of new members… Bernida and Kristin. I hope you guys had fun, and we hope to see you again next time!

    Wanda had to take a trip to the frog pond because the sweater she was making was just too big for her skinny self. She tried to pout for her photo to express her lack of glee over ripping back, but if you know Wanda, you know it’s hard for her to turn that big smile of hers upside down!

    Marie as usual was eager to help folks out of their knitting trouble spots. Trish was learning to purl and Kristin had been having trouble with a pattern and Marie helped her figure it out.

    Tammie made an adorable little bag for her granddaughter, which wasn’t supposed to be quite so little, but can you say SUPER-felted?? She even felted her granddaughter’s name onto the bag. I’ll have to ask her about her technique. It looks perfect.

    Yvonne modeled the sweater she made for her sister, and confessed that she’d probably wear it once before sending it off. I don’t blame her; it looks great!

    I love our little group (which is getting less little every time) and how everyone is such great friends. It’s only been a week and I can’t wait for next month already.

    I’ve had a crazy week. The kids got off to Florida yesterday after a week that included much packing. (WAY too much packing, according to Grandpa.) The hubster and I are tackling a project to reorganize our den/family room while the kids are gone, and trying to enjoy some alone time. So far, it’s mostly just quiet around here; the cats don’t even know what to do.

    I’m documenting our progress in the den for a full confessional — from clutterville to calm. Look for that in about a week when it’s all done. Today we had a professional organizer come and help us sort through everything and pack up to get it out of here. Custom shelves come on Monday. I even found places for all of my yarn. It’s all good. Yessssss…..

    Tomorrow? Date night. Hubster is taking me to see Harry Potter as a belated birthday present. Can’t wait.

    Ciao for now…

    Listen to this article
    Listen to this article