Jan's joined the 21'st Century!

Blog Threads
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I struggled to come up with a catchy name, but they all sounded silly or contrived so I started thinking what knitting means to me. Remembering a comment my stepmom said about how crocheting is so much faster I remember thinking that it wasn’t so much about results (although those are nice), but it’s about the journey… and my blog name was born.

I like the blogs that have the “100 things about me” because it helps you get to know people and see that you aren’t alone. How many times have you read one and said “OMG I do that, too!” or whatever? So I guess if I like them others must as well so I better get cracking… although I’m not sure I come with that many…

  1. I was born in Los Angeles at Queen of Angels Hospital in December 1952.

  2. I’ll be 53 this year.

  3. Other than a 5 yr stint near Sacramento as a child I’ve lived in southern California all my life.

  4. I have 3 younger brothers and all but one lives nearby. I have no sisters.

  5. My parents divorced when I was 17.

  6. My mom died from pancreatic cancer when I was 20.

  7. I met my husband when I was 20, while I was out walking my dog.

  8. We married 18 mos later when I was 21. We’ve been married 31 yrs.

  9. His daughter from a previous marriage was our flowergirl.

  10. We have 2 daughters of our own. They are 28 and 26 yrs old.

  11. My 28 yr old daughter has a degree in molecular biology, moved to NYC to work at Rockefeller University in the lab, changed her mind about what she wants to do and is now at the University of Michigan getting her masters in public policy. I miss her.

  12. My 26 yr old daughter is a preschool teacher and working toward her teaching credentials. She has about 2yrs left. She lives nearby in an apt with a roommate.

  13. My stepdaughter lives fairly close and we are good friends.

  14. My husband is a retired firefighter. He is taking art classes at the community college and is a VERY good artist!

  15. I’ve mostly been a SAHM although I did work a bit over the years.

  16. I worked part-time for a pediatrician for a few years.

  17. I worked making Austrian Crystal jewelry for a few years.

  18. Now I say I’m retired.

  19. I love to read, play on the computer and knit.

  20. My favorite genre is mysteries although I also like popular non-fiction.

  21. If you’re looking for a good book to read here are a few of my favorites.[ul]
    [li]The Harry Potter series[/li]The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
    The Bamboo Chest by Frederick Graham
    Falling Leaves by Adeline Yen Mah
    The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime by Mark Haddon
    The Secret Live of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
    The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay[/ul]22. My favorite series authors are; Janet Evanovich, Sue Grafton, Patricia Cornwell, Jan Burke and Robert Crais.

  22. I like to play computer games like Roller Coaster Tycoon and The Sims. I’ve been too busy knitting and reading to play lately though.

  23. I know how to crochet, but liked the look of knitting better so I decided now was the time to learn.

  24. I lost 35 lbs a few years ago.

  25. I have high blood pressure and I’m charting it now to give it to my doctor for new meds.

  26. I recently lowered my cholesterol from 235 to 171! :cheering:

  27. I have ALWAYS had at least one cat.

  28. I have a granddog and grandcat now.

  29. I have no grandchildren.

  30. If my stepdaughter gets married to her BF I’ll have 3 stepgrandchildren.

  31. I drink coffee every morning.

  32. I eat oatbran with ground flax and applesauce nearly every morning.

  33. I generally eat very healthy.

  34. I’m lactose intolerant so I drink 8th Continent Vanilla Soymilk. Yum!

  35. I’m an amateur photographer.

  36. I’m on my 4th digital camera - Canon Digital Rebel XT.

  37. I had to stop in the middle of this to play laser with my dog. :lol:

  38. I’m tired of writing first person personal pronouns. :rollseyes:

  39. I’m a night owl although I wish I was a morning person.

  40. I’ve met a good online friend in person several times. She lives in Ottawa.

  41. My husband and I are going to Vancouver Island in January to meet some more online friends.

  42. We are on our 4th Honda Accord.

  43. I live about 10 miles from the beach.

  44. I don’t really like going to the beach anymore except to take photos.

  45. I wear SPF 30 sunscreen nearly every day.

  46. I’m rather shy and don’t like being the center of attention.

  47. I only talk to one HS friend and even that isn’t too often.

  48. I go to the dentist every 3 mos to get my teeth cleaned.

  49. I have wide feet and can never find cute, comfy shoes!

  50. We’ve lived in our house since 1978.

  51. Our morgage will be paid off in 2 yrs or so.

  52. We couldn’t afford to buy our own house back. :shock:

  53. I loved NYC when we visited our daughter!

  54. I can’t imagine living anywhere else.

  55. Earthquakes don’t scare me.

  56. I HATE bugs.

  57. I love having fresh flowers in the house.

  58. One of my neighbors always brings me fresh roses!

  59. The TV shows I don’t like to miss are; Desperate Housewives, Grays Anatomy, Survivor, Lost, and The Amazing Race.

  60. I watch Knitty Gritty if I’m up early enough.

  61. Someday I hope to knit a sweater.

  62. I’m waiting for this knitted sock to be “fun”. :doh:

  63. My computer room is a disaster area…or at least to me it is.

  64. Because I put so many facts within facts, there is no way in hell I’m going to come up with 100 things total so I’m stopping here. :wink:

Nice to meet you all! Thanks for the great site, Amy!

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:waving: Hi Jan! I must say, you do NOT look like you’re in your 50’s!! :shock:
I hate having wide feet :frowning: I love all the cute little shoes, but can’t fit into them… I’m mostly barefoot or wear clogs.
I was :roflhard: @ what you said about your house… My DH and I just sold our house in FL, and the property values have soared so much that we couldn’t afford to move back there! (not that we want to :wink: )
Welcome to Blogland!!!:mrgreen:

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Hi Jan! Welcome to the blogs! :smiley:

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Well, it was taken 2 yrs ago and you know how pictures can be…misleading. I’m sure I look my age when you see me for real. LOL Thank you though!

I hate having wide feet :frowning: I love all the cute little shoes, but can’t fit into them… I’m mostly barefoot or wear clogs.

I don’t have any clogs…yet, but I wear sandals a good part of the year or go barefoot. It helps that I love in this climate. :wink:

I was :roflhard: @ what you said about your house… My DH and I just sold our house in FL, and the property values have soared so much that we couldn’t afford to move back there! (not that we want to :wink: )
Welcome to Blogland!!!:mrgreen:

Heh…yeah I guess house prices are high a lot of places in the country now. Makes a nice nest egg for our retirement though. :wink:

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Welcome to blogland!!

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Jan, where in So Cal?? Me too and I’d be up for a knitathon some day! I’m in the Inland Empire. I’m so jealous of the Illinoisians (SP??) And you’re right - I love to read the 100 things too. We’re a year apart.

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Hi Jan, welcome to the blogs!

I liked your almost-100 things about you list. I love to read about other people. Yay for you for lowering your cholesterol!! I am afraid that I will have high cholesterol eventually- both of my parents have it, and my mother developed it after years of being on a low cholesterol diet. I’ve had mine checked, and it wasn’t high- yet.

A neighbor that brings you roses- how nice!! I used to work at a florist, and I really miss the flowers. In the summer, I have fresh flowers in the house almost all the time, since we have a garden, but in the winter I don’t have them as much as I’d like. Maybe I’ll get some tomorrow!!

Welcome again! :waving:

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Margie… regular low cholesterol, low fat, lots of fruits and veggies didn’t lower my cholesterol either. I tried for a year. About 6 mos ago I heard about plant sterols and discoverd that they are putting them in lots of foods now. So I got several and made sure I got at least the required 2 servings a day and had my yearly blood test in October. I was shocked and surprised to find out how much it had fallen! Not only the total, but LDL and triglycerides are way down and HDL remains high. That is the only thing I’ve done different so that’s all I can attibute it to.

Joup…I live in south Orange County. I don’t like to drive very far, but I’m sure up for a knitathon! Anyone who can be around cats and dogs is welcome to come here! Or…?? PM me if you like. :wink:

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Ack…I’m putting the sock on the back burner for now. It’s making me too frustrated and this is supposed to be fun, right? I would try it on the double circulars, but I can’t just run out and buy something because of Christmas! I gotta ask my stepmom if she has any extras in her craft room at the clubhouse. She’s letting me borrow stuff or giving it to me if she has it. I think I’d like to make a seamless hat though… what size circ and needle would I need for an adult head?

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I think a 16" would work for an adult hat. Too bad about the sock. You’re right, though, to set it aside. If it’s giving you grief, it’s not worth it right now. One day, you’ll pick it up and it’ll fly.

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Hey Jan! Welcome!

I really enjoyed reading about you. Thank you for sharing with us! (I do agree about the constant use of first person…it’s weird!) What’s cool about “the list” is it ends up being a journey of self-discovery as much as anything else because you’re putting “to paper,” metaphorically speaking, things of value to you, an activity that typically doesn’t happen, not in brief list form. It’s just fun to list those things, even if you don’t post them!

Oh, and I feel like a dolt for asking, but what is SAHM?

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:wink: Stay At Home Mom

I really like what you said about the 100 list, Angelia, it’s not too often that people sit down and try to think about what makes them themselves. Everyone should do it at least once in a lifetime :)… Some of the things may change, with time, but it’s also interesting how much stays the same…

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HA! :doh: I knew I’d feel like a dolt!

Yes, yes, that’s true! :cheering:

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:happydance: welcome, Jan!!! awesome list! :thumbsup: :happydance:

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I could probably come up with some more for the list now, but… later.

I so wanted to do something for this months KAL, but the socks were driving me nuts so set them aside for later. I decided last night to DO anything new and figured cables were new so why not. I did it!! It’s fun to watch them develop as you knit and they are so much easier than they look. I like that. :roflhard:

I am going out later to get another circular needle so I can make a hat. That will be my next new thing! Whoohoo!

This is a great KAL…it pushes you to try things you thought might be hard. :wink:

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Aren’t cables fun??
I love that they look so hard, but really aren’t - If you give someone something cabled as a gift, they are very impressed LOL.
There are plenty of hats you can make w/o circs, Jan, you don’t have to…
buy…
more…
:doh: What am I saying??? Go to the store, and get some yarn while you’re at it, too! :wink: :cheering:

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That looks wonderful, Jan!

:cheering: :cheering:

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Yes, they were fun! If I were to make a hat w/o circs that would mean it would have a seam or I’d have to use DPN’s! :shock: I just bought another circ so we’ll see if it works now. I sure hope I get a set of interchangables for Christmas!

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I’m making my first hat! It’s so much fun to watch the ribs form and since it’s on circular needles it looks like a hat right from the start. I like like the circs sooooo much better than DPNs as the joined area is nice and tight.

It was a nice day today (about 80) so I sat outside on the patio and knitted for awhile. The neighbor’s birds were singing, there was a gentle breeze and my cup of coffee…ahhhhh, what could be better? :sunny:

I learned a few things while knitting this hat;

[ul]Mistakes won’t show under a folded edge so don’t sweat the little ones.
I can tell purl from knit stitches just by looking at them now.
Doing a repetitive pattern like ribbing helps to develop a rhythm to your knitting
Using circular needles rocks!!!
[/ul]

I just hope the decrease part goes as smoothly…and I also hope it fits someone beside Hagrid. :wink:

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Jan, I am also making my first hat right now. Mine is on straight needles. It is going to be a Christmas present for my Dad. Yours looks great so far! :smiley: