Home Sweet Home

It is good to be back home.

I missed my Jake.

I missed my quilt frame.

I missed my comfy knitting chair.

I missed my bed.

And as good as the food was, I missed being able to cook, especially breakfast.

Was it as bad as I thought it was going to be? No, but it was worse than my husband thought it was going to be.

Yesterday was the first day in 7 days that my feet didn't hurt.

Yesterday was also the first day in 7 days that husband's legs weren't sore.

Tuesday was the only day I got overheated.

Wednesday was the only day I cried.

Saturday was the only day I was sick while at Disney. (I'm still sick today, but at least I can curl up in bed).

Yet, all in all, the good outweighed the bad.

Monday Hubby and I ate our favorite meal.

Wednesday night Hubby and I took the kids out to a character dinner (minus the parents). Then, we brought them back to the hotel for scrapbooking (they had a blast! ... and so did I!)

Thursday I met Mulan.

Friday we divided and conquered the kids. Hubby and I got Kail, the youngest.

Friday night Hubby and I escaped to wander around Epcot, still our favorite park, alone. It poured and we came back soaking wet, but it was still fun.

And, of course, it was wonderful to see my sister and her fam.

Plus, I got lots of knitting done on my AWHF shawl. (more pictures later)

My sister is already planning next year's vacation. I plan to hide in the mountain of dog hair that is still blowing around on the floor despite my attempt to clean yesterday. Maybe she won't find me.

If you see her, mums the word.

Sneak Peak and Hand Quilting

Tomorrow I leave for vacation. We are going to Walt Disney World with my sister's family, which consists of a husband, a 7-year-old daughter, and a 4-year-old son. You might think that I'm excited. You would be wrong. I have been dreading this vacation for months now. My sister has a different idea of a vacation than I do: she plans to drag the children to the park at 9 am (or before), jam as many rides and walking into the day as possible, and carry the kids back around 10 pm. I imagine by the end of each day, both the children and I will be over-tired and cranky. I also envision the husbands abandoning us for a bench and good beer. I plan to bring a bucket with me. Why? Because Mrs. H says it helps to dunk your head into ice water after a long, hard day.

I haven't started packing yet, unless you count the growing pile of stuff I can't forget sitting on top of my dresser. I have a dilemma. What should I bring as a knitting project for the plane rides? Should I pack my mystery project or my shawl project?

Mystery project OR

Shawl project

I can't decide. I might end up packing both.

This morning, since I knew my entire day would be spent packing, I squeezed in a little time for me and did some more hand quilting on Baby Flick's quilt.

Have a wonderful week without me!

Jersey Shore

On the 2.5 hour drive down to Seaside Heights, I knit on my Mystery Project, the one that is being submitted for publication. There are some people who can't knit and drink alcohol at the same time. There are others who don't recommend knitting while tired. I apparantly can't knit and talk at the same time. Half of what I knit on the drive to Seaside Heights had to be ripped out because I missed 2 rows in the repeat. It wasn't a mistake that only a fellow knitter would notice. It was the kind of mistake a child could pick out. Mutter.

I do have good news to share about my Mystery Project. My MIL found more yarn for it! What a sigh of relief. I can stop biting my nails now and just relax. I'll have more than enough yarn to finish now.

As promised, here are some pictures of the trip.

Me playing Bubble Hockey with Hubby (Hubby took pic)

The view from the Sky Ride

A swarm of seagulls picking up tossed pizza crust

Over the weekend, I made some progress on the Big Dipper Scarf. It is now 15 inches long. I only have 45 more inches to knit.

Did I mention how much more slowly it is to double knit? I feel like the Little Engine That Could. I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.

I also made a sleeve for the Chili Pepper quilt and attached the binding to the front of the quilt. The rest has to be done by hand: the attaching of the binding to the back of the quilt and the attaching of the sleeve to the back of the quilt. As the quilt is "virtually done", I can move onto the baby quilt. Woo!

Baseball Hall of Fame & Brewery Ommegang

About an hour into our roap trip to Cooperstown, I announced that I forgot our digital camera at home. Nobody was willing to turn back. Thankfully, there were tons of people at the fest taking pictures. I have already found 2 great collections on Flickr.


Upon arriving in Cooperstown, we visited the Baseball Hall of Fame. As instructed, we started our tour on the 2nd floor and got to see the beginnings of baseball history. Goodness, the original bats must have weighed a ton! Once we stepped into the 1900s - 1930s history section, we got to see 2 of our Phillies boys featured prominently: Connie Mack (Connie Mack stadium) and Baker (Baker Bowl). It was about this time that I started to feel ill. I think they recently cleaned their carpets with a powerful smelling chemical. So, Hubby and I swung by the No-Hitters section (no way was I missing that) before making a mad dash to the exit door and fresh air. After clearing my head, we came back in to read all the plaques in the Hall. We found all of the Hall-of-Fame Phillies along with the infamous players (Cobb, Young, Ruth, Mayes, etc). I tried to venture back into the other sections of the Baseball museum, but I immediately started to feel ill again. So, I grabbed 2 postcards (one of Lefty and one of Schmidty) and ran back out. The postcards went into my photo album. The rest of the collection (broshures & plastic bags) went into my scrapbook.

The next day was The Day Belgium Beer came to Cooperstown.

Brewery Ommegang
Originally uploaded by michaeljames.

Ommegang Brewery hosted the Belgium Beerfest in Cooperstown.


Both local breweries (Victory, Dog Fish Head, Ommegang, etc.) and international breweries (Chimay, The Lost Abbey, etc) attended.

Inside the Pouring Tent
Beerfest 052
Originally uploaded by kschlot1.

I ventured to try every Belguim Dubbel beer that was on draft. Due to my hard work, I came away with some new favorites.

New favorite Dubbels (in order of preference):

1. St. Vincent's Dubbel by Captain Lawrence Brewing Co.
2. Lost and Found by The Lost Abbey
3. Abbey Dubbel by The Shed

Hubby was less particular and ended up trying a wider variety.

More pictures of the Beerfest:

Michael James Photo Album

kschlot1 Photo Album

Sunday we found the only good food in town at a local bakery and drove home. I came home to a sick but happy pup.

Vase Cozy to Hide the Lack of Flowers

It took 2 tries, but I finally got it right.

A Vase Cozy
when flowers just aren't enough

The trick is to make the cozy a little bit longer than you actually want it. The extra length will be used up in the curves of the vase.

Right now, I am working on writing up the accompanying pattern. I have the pattern completed if you wanted to knit it the way I did: on straight needles. But, I'm a rare one and prefer to seam rather than knit on double pointed needles. Most people would sell their pets or significant others or whatever else is nearby and handy before volunteering to seam anything. So, I want to include instructions to knit in the round so they can keep their husbands/wives and pets nearby. The goal is to finish it tonight and post it tomorrow morning. Otherwise, it won't get posted until Monday because I am going on vacation!


I haven't taken a vacation since ... well ... I'm not sure. I just checked my pda. Last year, June 18th through the 24th, my sister and her 2 kids visited. We haven't been on vacation since. This will be my first time away from Jake (4-year-old golden retriever). Thankfully, we found a wonderful pet sitter in the area. She is going to spoil him rotten; I just know it!


So, where are we going? Cooperstown, NY! Upon arriving, we will stop by the Baseball Hall of Fame. It's a must-see! On Saturday, we are attending a brewfest. And not just any brewfest, but the premier Belgium-style brewfest hosted by Ommegang. It is the best Belgium-style brewfest in the States. Last year, the ladies were not invited, since the gents attended in honor of a Bachelor party. This year, we're coming. There will be no running around the campfire with the shirts off this year. Poor boys. I don't know how they are going to make it through.


I will be away from Friday, July 20th through Sunday, July 22nd. I will return with pictures galore!