FUNERAL FOR A FALLEN MIDSHIPMAN

Yesterday was the funeral of family friend and fellow USNA classmate of Mary's, Ben Carr. Ben died late Thanksgiving night when the car he was a passenger in crashed headlong into a tree killing him instantly. Words cannot describe the grief that has taken over our community. Ben was a student at St. Mary's for 13 years and then a stellar Midshipman in his junior year. As the Deacon stated yesterday at the funeral Mass, "there is only love, and we must remember that as long as we love one another, no one ever truly leaves us". I watched in stunned silence at the beauty and pageantry of the Catholic Funeral Mass coupled with the precision of a full military funeral. It was breathtaking. The solemn march from the Naval Academy chapel to the Naval Academy cemetery (about 1 mile) was silent and solemn. His entire company as well as other Midshipmen who knew Ben well were present to honor their fallen shipmate. I would say that there were approximately 1000 people in attendance which comforted Ben's family tremendously. At one point in time, Ben's mom told me "I don't think I know this many people". The most powerful part of the ceremony came at the end, after the 21 gun salute, after the playing of TAPS and after the flag was folded and handed to Patti. As family and friends left the grave site to attend a reception at a nearby home, ALL of Ben's company stayed watch at the grave site in somber silence. Mourners processed passed them and yet they stayed at attention until the casket was lowered into the ground. Only when it was fully lowered did they give their fallen shipmate one final salute and process away. It was breathtaking and heartbreaking all at the same time.


Charles Benjamin Carr, IV
July 1, 1986-November 24, 2006

It is with a heavy heart that I make this post. After a joyful Thanksgiving dinner, a beloved friend and fellow USNA classmate, C. Benjamin Carr (age 20) was killed in an automobile accident a few miles away from his home. Please keep his family in your prayers and HUG your children.

http://hometownannapolis.com

COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG! Here is some of the 7th grade class. I was one of the lucky chaperones on this field trip. We lucked out totally on the weather. It was amazing. During the day it was in the low 70's then in the 50's at night. We did a tour of Colonial Williamsburg that was just great--of course, I stopped to talk to another chaperone and lost my group--I mean LOST--I could not find them anywhere--of course they had kept up with our tour guide and stupid me was wandering around looking for everyone else. Of course it was then that I totally "bit" it on the ye olde sidewalke. I didn't even see the step and down I went. And let me tell you, it wasn't a lady like "oops" it was a wipe-out. My ye celle phone went skittering into the street where it came dangerously close to being stepped on by ye olde horse! I must have looked pretty silly--but the oddest thing was, NO ONE helped me up. I mean, there were like a ton of people standing around and NO ONE helped. I thought that was odd...but perhaps they were just laughing so hard at my clumsiness.

On the second day, we visited Yorktown and then it was on to Jamestown. Here is the lady of the house in Yorktown getting her day started in the kitchen.
The room smelled wonderful! Wood fire, stew in the pot--it was good. All around she had pieces of meat hanging. Of course, we all wanted to know if it was REAL? Let me just tell you, EVERYTHING at Yorktown is REAL--they live for this stuff. Every year on Thanksgiving, they butcher a hog and then cure the meat as they would have done then. See those pots covered with ash? Those are "dutch ovens" and in them are biscuits and pies--they even have their own hens for the eggs. These people worked hard to make it here in the New World.

And then it was on to historic Jamestown. Now, they are gearing up for the 400th Anniversary and as such, they just opened a new Visitor's Gallery that would rival anything I've seen at the Smithsonian. These folks in Jamestown take their history VERY seriously. Trust me, don't bring up the Disney version of "Pocahontas" unless you want a lecture on the historical inaccuracies in that movie. And to be honest, they have a point. The real story of Pocahontas is much more interesting...I won't tell it here--but do check out several websites that will tell the story. I give credit to the good folks down there in Virginia for protecting and honoring our history with such attention to detail.

And finally...
this is what happens to those chaperones who get lost..........that's my daughter Delia with the thumbs up. I think she finally has me where she wants me.

Oh, there is a knit shop in Williamsburg. Its called Knitting Sisters
I really wanted to go, but they told me that all three coach busses would not stop so that I could do a little shopping. What is this world coming to.

Oh, and the Pomatomas socks, yeah, well, let's just say my twisted seed stich heel was completely and totally wrong. And so I frogged and picked up then put down, cause I am frustrated! More on the that later.

Ok, so I turned the heel!! Yippee, yee-haw. I am pretty excited about it really. Its the little things you know. I was up late last night--are some people just natural night-owls? I would love it if I could go to bed earlier and wake up chipper; but alas, that does not happen. I inevitably stay up way to late, still get up early (someone has to force the kids to eat breakfast!) and then hit the wall around 2pm--what's a girl gotta do?

I love the heel flap of this pattern. Its a twisted seed stitch (is that really a stitch?) But its cool.

Also, check out this issue of Knitty. I loved the article about the double knitted socks. Its great. The author and inventor of the idea is going to come out with more tips--yeah--for those of us a bit slow on the uptake...can't wait.

Look at that face!! This is my neighbor's youngest, little Sydney. She was really more interested in the candy bowl than in my taking her picture. Smart girl!

Another set of neighbors. These kids were older but they had awesome costumes. I say if you take the trouble to get dressed up, then by golly, you deserve candy!
And, of course, you have the family friends...you know them...the cool couple who gets to do all these really cool things (cause they don't have kids) and then they tell you about all the cool stuff they get to do and you don't....you know who I mean. We all have friends like this...but they are great and funny and generous and fun to be around. So here they are about to go to a few downtown establishments in the hopes of winning a costume prize. The crab costume was a custom job that she picked up at a yard sale. I guess the woman paid something like $1800.oo for it and sold it to my friend for $50. Let me tell you, just wearing this thing is a work-out. It comes with a neck harness--a NECK HARNESS I tell you--that helps keep the weight of the crab costume off your head and neck. It is HEAVY--and HOT. Brian is dressed as...yep...you guessed..."crab shampoo"...it had some funny stuff written on it. Not sure if they won anything yet.

Oh, and Barb, Mickey redeemed himself and went trick or treating as "Jake Plummer". All is right with the world!

HAPPY ALMOST HALLOWEEN! So, my question is: do I HAVE to carve the pumpkin? I mean it looks just perfect like that doesn't it. The neighborhood kids will know I have candy from the porch light and "presence" of a pumpkin. Is carving totally necessary?? This is what I have to worry about. I have an extremely hectic day tomorrow and I really don't have time to carve, so I am hoping a lovely "seasonal display" out on the front porch will suffice.

Ok, so I am busy on the Pomatomus sock from Knitty.com. I have wanted to knit this puppy since I first saw it. It is pretty tough, but the pattern does have a certain rhythm to it and once you know how to "read" your knitting, its easy to pick up and put down. Now, the tough part is that I am knitting it with two circulars not DPN's and as such have to tweek the pattern directions a bit. So, tell me, how do I make this...............
translate into Cat Bordhi's "method". Here she explains it. But after re-reading it about a hundred times, I have decided that I am definitely a VISUAL learner. Please, oh PLEASE won't someone just come over and SHOW ME! I promise that once you show it to me, its mine...I will never need to ask you again. But I really want to turn that heel, and make that gusset and well, I can't cause I can't translate!

Here is the sock so far. This is Fortissma Socka that I got in Germany last year. Between the self striping and the pattern, it is coming along beautifully. I love it and I especially love the funky colors. Won't that be cool, peeking out under my jeans....a little lime green, a little navy blue.

People keep asking me who I am knitting for. When I tell them me...alot of them just stare...like "huh, just for you?" I go on to explain that in VERY RARE occasions will I knit for others. It is so time consuming and it expensive and I have (as I know alot of you have) been burned one too many times with the "oh, you made this....oh, uh, great....thanks". So for those of you who admire the knitting, I say grab some needles and let me show you how!

This blog post is temporarily interrupted by Mickey...my precious 10 year old who had to come home from school early today. Headache, nausea, and general malaise. He rested, we did homework...here he is laying on the couch, very upset because he missed his friend's birthday party this afternoon...he kept telling me that he was FINE to go to the party. Yeah, right, like I would fall for that again. No way, baby. Of course, I did feel badly for him. The ibuprofen kicked in and he DID feel better...but he couldn't have gone, could he? Am I a terrible mother? Or a really good one? Oh well...Have a great Halloween all you trick or treaters and an even better All Saints Day!

A wonderful day to be outside!Navy Lacrosse! This is how I spent my Saturday--a beautiful fall day, crisp air, blue sky and gorgeous trees. The Navy women's lacrosse team played in the George Mason tournament. They played other Division I teams from the whole country...oh, and the England National team was there as well. They seemed much older, almost professional. What I loved most about them was that when they scored they would shout things like: (in a very proper English accent)
"Well played Lizzie" or "Good on you Jenny" It was all so genteel.

Here is Mary with two of her high school buddies. The one on the left plays for Georgetown now and the one on the right plays for Hofstra. I think we knew someone from almost every team there. It was like old home week. Also quite a tribute to the St. Mary's High School lacrosse program to have girls at all these top schools.
Here she is with her friend Sara (left) who is the goalie at William & Mary and Christian (right) who goes to Loyola. They all looked wonderful and said that they are adjusting well to school. I sure don't remember looking as good as these girls looked--I think the "freshman 15" is a thing of the past. Of course, most of the kids I know are all athletic and so they are definitely keeping in shape in school, so no matter how badly they are eating, they will never show the weight. Ah, what I wouldn't give for that metabolism now!

Here is Delia and Mickey (12 and 10 respectively). Delia loves to go to these things. She simply adores her older sister and also loves the sport of lacrosse. She brought her stick and practiced in between games. Mickey just wants to play catch with the football, morning, noon and night. After Dane had played with him for a while, I noticed that he found another dad to play catch with, and so on throughout the day. It reminded me of that scene in the movie "Spanglish" when the housekeeper is about to throw the ball for the dog, and the mother screams at her to STOP--because she says it will never stop....the dog will never stop bringing the ball back and back and back. I felt that I should warn people about Mickey's penchant for playing catch...and if you start, you're pretty much hooked for a while. All the wonderful men who played with him were happy to do so and I think it made Mickey's day.

Here is Dane with Mary and Mickey. Do you love the glasses on my husband?! I am not kidding you when I tell you that they are 20 years old! He told me that they would come back in style in one day.

Ah--the end of the day...rolling the cooler back to the car...carrying the chair. He is not as surly as the picture appears...I just told him to turn around really fast and I snapped the picture. It says it all. I think he was probably tired of being the "sherpa" of the day. But he does it all with charm!

Not much knitting this weekend. Although I started the Pomatomus sock from Knitty. Pretty complicated pattern, but am going to post tomorrow of the work in progress. Have a wonderful day everyone!

FINISHED SOCKS!! Just a quick post with pictures of the finished socks. My friend Patricia came over for dinner last night, and then we sat and knit. Well, I knit and she helped Delia (my beautiful 12 year old) with her english assignment. So, here they are. You wanna know the amazing part---I did NOT plan on the stripes being symmetrical! Seriously, it just worked out that way. Except for some of the whiter yarn on the toe of the right sock, they are an exact match! How do they do it? Of course, I would love to take credit for it, but I think it has nothing to do with me.

I did these on circulars and LOVED it! I don't know if I will ever go back to dpn's again. This is the yarn I got in Germany. It is ok, but I am very much looking forward to knitting up some socks in the Cherry Tree Hill yarn I got in May--
Almost done the baby sweater--will post when finished!

FINISHED SOCKS!! Just a quick post with pictures of the finished socks. My friend Patricia came over for dinner last night, and then we sat and knit. Well, I knit and she helped Delia (my beautiful 12 year old) with her english assignment. So, here they are. You wanna know the amazing part---I did NOT plan on the stripes being symmetrical! Seriously, it just worked out that way. Except for some of the whiter yarn on the toe of the right sock, they are an exact match! How do they do it? Of course, I would love to take credit for it, but I think it has nothing to do with me.

I did these on circulars and LOVED it! I don't know if I will ever go back to dpn's again. This is the yarn I got in Germany. It is ok, but I am very much looking forward to knitting up some socks in the Cherry Tree Hill yarn I got in May--
Almost done the baby sweater--will post when finished!

Homecoming, knitting, god-daughter visiting...oh my! What a beautiful weekend here in Annapolis, Maryland! The sky was a beautiful clear (and for those of you who are North Carolina fans) "tarheel" blue! The temperature was in the sixties--I finally got to wear my vintage velvet scarf! Saturday was the Naval Academy homecoming football game. Sadly, Navy did not win and their star QB injured himself--many prayers to him and his family. We had a great visit with our Plebe and enjoyed the festivities from the Superintendent's tent inside the stadium where we ate oysters, ham, turkey and burgers! I did do some knitting--check out this yarn. I got this from Gundel (see previous post about knitting group) and am just knitting up a quick basketweave patterned scarf. Isn't the yarn cool though--kinda gray, kinda blue, kinda thick, kinda thin....I love it.

I don't have much so far---the needles are "rescue needles" I found at my favorite local thrift store. Yes, they were in the middle of a project and yes, I bought the project with the needles for all of $1. I finished the project (I think it was a scarf) and gave it to my daughter..who did not really like it, but smiled anyway and thanked me graciously. She is so sweet! Anyway, I really like the wood, but they are WAAAYYYY too long. Does anyone out there need a set of long wooden needles. I would love to give them to a good home...someone who would use them. Let me know.

It was also my son's high school Homecoming on Saturday. Here he is (looking a bit surprised actually) with his big sis who was home temporarily before heading back to the Academy. Notice the bits of brownie on her lips and hands--she came home and made brownies and then promptly ate them all. Ok, I confess, she had help with the eating part.

Here are some of Mary's friends who are still in high school--they came over to visit Mary and to let me see them all dressed up. There's Kelsey, Liz, Mary and Caitlin...don't they look beautiful. What you don't see is that Mary has on shorts...she did not want to put on her entire uniform and requested very politely that I take the picture from the waist up. Which also explains capturing all that stuff on top of the armiore...think I should put the Easter baskets away?

Here is John walking out for the night....He looked so handsome! I remember Homecoming like it was yesterday. Where did all the time go.

Almost done sock no. 2..will post pictures of that soon. Take care.

HERE IS MY KNITTING GROUP

From left to right, its Susan, Jenny, Gundel and Jane. Dorothy was not there--claims she was busy but I don't believe her--she probably was sick of me teasing her about ripping out her sweater again! We missed you Dorothy! The lady standing and holding the sock is my knitting guru, Gundel. She was the one who took me under her wing when I announced several years ago that I was going to learn to knit socks. She invited me over on Monday morning and VIOLA, a knitting group was formed, although she keeps insisting on calling it "sewing" because she had a similar group a long time ago when her babies were small. I cannot tell you how much these women mean to me. They have shared all the crazy moments of my life--the sad moments, the happy moments and everything in between. In addition to that, I have learned some of my greatest lessons from them--and not just knitting either!

This is Susan. Here is her beautiful afghan. She is (knitters look away) crocheting this--it is beautiful. She is also involved with the prayer shawl ministry which is a beautiful expression of love. She is smart, talented and gracious!

Here is Gundel and Jane. Jane is our "seasonal" group member as during the summer months she moves up to Nantucket and lives there and knits with all those New Englanders. Sounds pretty nice! Her husband is also a graduate of the Naval Academy and so I already have a bond with her because of that. She is a wonderful knitter and very much eager to do wonderful new things. Here Gundel is helping her with her project.
Here is Jenny. She does all sorts of hand work, but I think I can safely say that crocheting is her true medium. Her work is absolutely amazing. She can do things that would make Lily Chin cry--and she does it all in such a quiet humble way. Jenny is also our resident bibliophile. Ask about a book, and odds are that she has either read it or knows about it.

She is from North Carolina and despite having lived here for most of her life, her North Carolina accent remains strong and proud.

She has helped me get through many a crochet pattern and is always so patient with me about explaining everything from what the heck a half treble stitch is to how to do a basic chain.

Here is the baby sweater--all I have to do is add the sleeves. It is all knit in one piece. I have added the contrasting stripe. The color in the photo is awful. The accent color is a beautiful shade of purple, not as it looks in the photo, blue. I will photograph it outside where the contrast is better. I am using Berrocco's Cotton Twist...and yes it does split a bit, but I am trying to be careful when I knit so as to keep that to a minimum. I am using a Knitting Pure and Simple pattern--the top down baby sweater. Its for little Shannon!

A RAINY SATURDAY!

You what this meant---yep, that's right--no games! My daughter's field hockey game was cancelled...my older son did not have to work (he works at a golf course) and all that yard work we were going to do was just going to have to wait. So what did we do...well, we visited...we went out for lunch...we had dinner at my sister's house....all in all a wonderful day. Sometimes those rainy days really hit the spot don't they! Here is a picture of my "naturally" landscaped backyard. Note the total LACK of any landscaping at all--I am sadly NOT a Gardener. That gray lump down by the fence is an old soccer goal that my son uses to hit golf balls into. Yeah, it pretty much sits out there all by itself and looks like a gray mass--yuck.

Here is my new niece---Shannon Elizabeth. Isn't she beautiful! The sweater I am making for her is coming along great. I will post pictures soon.

THE BIRTHDAY BOY!

Yesterday was my son's 17th birthday. How did he get so old? How did I get so old!? We had a wonderful meal: asagio and pear encrusted pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes, green beans, fresh rolls, and of course, applesauce (you know you can't have pork without applesauce ala Brady Bunch: "pork chops and applesauce") My mom and dad were there, as were Craig (my second husband--I am so high maintenance, I need two), as well as some of John's friends. The two younger kids, Delia and Mickey were there as well. We missed Mary, but she did call from USNA where she was studying for a large calculus test....it was a typical John birthday with lots of food and all gifts having something to do with golf. He just loves golf---morning, noon and night. So Happy Birthday my beautiful boy!

Funny story---I NEVER have birthday candles--really, I am birthday candle impaired! What I did have was a number 8 candle and 9 stray individual candles--hey it works right.........I can hear the laughter now.

The first completed baby sock. This is from Ann Budd's design in Interweave Knits, Spring 2005. It was a bit confusing especially the turning of the heel, and the short rows. But I followed the directions, except for the cable: I was supposed to start with a cable front but instead misread the chart and did a cable back, so I just reversed the two--no worries. It is knit with Stork yarn--very easy. The needles are size 0--like toothpicks. The pen is there to give you an idea of actual size. Its' SMALL!

Here is a close up of the cable pattern. It is so amazing to me that I could actually knit something like this. Do you ever feel that way---really and truly amazed that we can actually do this stuff--I guess for me that is the wonder of it all.

I picked up this lap quilt on Sunday at the Ocktoberfest in West Annapolis. It was being auctioned off by the Conflict Resolution Center(an amazing organization!) www.aacrc-md.us/

I was lucky enough to be the winning bidder for this beautiful applique quilt. Here it is at home on my chaise in front of my living room window. Of course, my dog will love it as this is the usual spot he is in while keeping our house free from any and all intruders, including: the mail man, ANYONE jogging, the lady walking her baby, and the man mowing his lawn across the street. Our dog's name is Vincent and he is a ASPCA rescue dog--we got him as a puppy and he is my buddy. Here he is doing what he does best:

He was having a dream just as I took this picture--his paws were going crazy. What exactly do dogs dream about? Knowing Vinnie, probably about food, chasing squirrels or rabbits and most importantly, FOOD.

I have a new niece!!! Shannon Elizabeth Harvey was born September 27th!! She is beautiful! She is welcomed home by her loving parents: Nathen and Sharon Harvey and her very proud older brothers, Paul and Jamie. I am making her this adorable pullover from Weekend Knitting. I am using Berroco's Cotton Twist--hopefully I will knit it up quickly--as I have another sister due in January--this will be number 19 (of the grandchildren!). Off, to knit up a swatch. Enjoy the unseasonably warm days that are predicted for those of us in Maryland.

WHAT TO DO NEXT??

Here it is, the dreaded SSS (that's second sock syndrome for all you newbies out there). Yes, that is when you get so excited about finishing a project, only to realize you have to do it all over again, cause you can't just knit one sock! Well, I guess you could, but that kinda defeats the purpose. Interestingly enough, socks were my very first knitting project. I know, I never did believe in starting easy...."knitting...sure....how about I try doing this sock thing and using 5 tiny double pointed needles....yeah, that's the ticket...." Needless to say when I finished that first sock, I was so happy and proud. I showed EVERYBODY. I was a bit taken aback when most people, although happy for me, looked a bit confused...as if they were saying "why is she so excited about ONE sock? Doesn't she have to knit another?" What they didn't understand was the total satisfaction I felt at having completed anything! I took their consternation in stride, and immediately began work on the second sock. It took longer, ironically, than the first and not because I was new to the process...but because now I felt that I had knit the hardest thing I could and the whole knitting world was now open to me. Nothing scared me...intarsia, please!, fair isle...sure, bring it on....set in sleeves...size 000 needles...I laugh at you! So other things took my interest, and the second sock languished in ignominy until a year later...I saw it peaking out from my basket. I quickly grabbed it and finished it. Of course my elation at actually finishing the sockS was not shared by all. Most everyone had already forgotten about the first sock, so their responses were much like before: "what can you do with only one sock?" When I explained that it was the pair to that one, they were speechless and in their heads I knew they were thinking: "she should find another hobby--clearly this one isn't working out"

And so I have you my knitting friends...you all know...you all share in all the ups and downs, the forgotten and the not so forgotten, the finished and of course the unfinished.

So onto the next project! What should it be. I got this beautiful yarn at a shop in the Outer Banks. I also bought a 40 inch circular needle and this pattern for knitting two socks at a time on the circ. needle. Of course I have just finished socks....what are your thoughts?

A close up of the yarn. Its Cherry Tree Hill supersock merino. It feels fantastic---and the colors are gorgeous!

There is also this: the ribbed pullover with black alpaca (double it). I got this yarn a while ago--deliciously soft and I hear pretty easy to work with.

And last, this knitting pure and simple pattern for a top down henly t-shirt. Knit with Blue Sky Alpaca's organic cotton. I got this with the intention of making it this summer--but it is something that can be worn under jacket as well. The yarn is the Sand color--a nice neutral.

Here is a close up of the pattern. So let me know what your selections are--I guess I should be glad that I have these choices......I hope everyone goes out and enjoys this beautiful day!