The First Day of Retirement

Yesterday was my last day of work. There was a barbecue with sooo much food! ...tempura king crab legs, edamame salad, Maile's famous pumpkin roll, tabbouleh salad and so much more! I was stuffed to the gills.

My house looks like a florist.




It was all so final...turning in the parking pass, the ids, the computer token, my beeper and doctors coats. I emptied out my desk and brought Yorick home. He's lost his patella. I thought it was stored in his cranium, but alas...poor Yorick! He seems quite happy though anyway and ready for whatever comes up next.



Today, it still seems like a dream. The plan is to get my house together and get ready for the chapter 2, in which the Acornbud knits, finished up those other crafty WIPs, gets healthier and suddenly becomes a good housekeeper and gardener. Well, number 1 and 2 for sure:) And of course I have to use all those gift cards! Hmmm...oh oh, the Cheesecake Factory.

Black Koigu Broken Rib Socks

Pattern: Sensational Socks, broken 2x2 rib. K2P2 around, then K then next row around.
64 stitches.
Needles: size 1 Clover 5" dps. I tried the Hiyahiya short circs, but wasn't very comfortable on them.
Yarn: Koigu in black

These socks hibernated a bit but were rescued and completed in Kona. It was hard to to get inspired by the black yarn, so practical, but not so fun to knit, even in sproingy, wonderful Koigu.

I hit Kona early so hung out in Borders for lunch and the AC. I read about A Fine Fleece and had talked myself out of it, as I don't spin, but it is a wonderful book and I had a gift card! Yay! My Ultra Alpaca Lobster Mix Forest River Gansey was languishing unloved so I frogged it and started up Portland Pullover. It is a much better pairing!

The Hapuna Beach Prince was under construction so I was given a resort credit daily! YAY. I love the brunch and ate the best bread pudding I ever had, not to mention the fresh strawberries with bowls of whipped cream. It was so quiet and relaxing. I slept, walked the beach, read 2 books, finished my socks and attended the conference on Pediatric topics. The Hapuna Beach is the best beach on the the Big Island. It is surrounded by old lava flows. Waterworld was filmed not far from here and the ocean can be an incredible blue at times.
These red flowers were in bloom all over the place.

On the last day I drove around to Hilo. The Yarn Basket was open, but the owner was not in. I didn't have a lot of time there, but enjoyed squishing all the different yarns. I was tempted sorely by the silky wool.

At night I was serenaded by the e. coqui They are quite a nusiance, but didn't bother my sleep. I totally fell for this exotic goat, Nani. He was named Nani, a girl's name, but turned out to be a boy. I thought he was so unusual with his red hair and horns, only to learn he was painted! He acts more like a dog then a goat. I never noticed what unusual eyes goats have. Nani always seems to be smiling, too.


Hilo has a wonderful open market. It's a great litchee season in Hilo and the Big Island is known for its papayas. The anthuriums and orchids are amazing. I was only in Hilo one day, but managed to have the taro hash and pancakes at Encore. Yum!
This sign in the restaurant is made of a thousand gold cranes.

The Countdown says 12 calendar days!

I tried really hard to think of an appropriate retirement gift for myself, and finally settled on a roll of stamps for mailing thank you notes, a fine leather good as I was in need of check book cover, and some yarn and yarn goodies. I decided to buy local.
The first day I contacted Sue at Isle Knits, she did not answer the phone. I was sure it was karma, and so tried to find something good at Little Knits or Webs online. After cruising the thrift store with Angela and Kim, and stuffing my face with meat jun at Yummy's, I tried Sue again. As it turns out she was in and said something is wrong with her phone! So I went down and parked in a brand new parking structure beneath one of those humongous complexes that just went up downtown, and Sue just happened to be in the lobby getting her mail. Now that's karma:) Anyway, I had the whole store to myself as it was a Hawaiian holiday.

I tried hard to come up with yarn for St. Brigid, with no luck. So I decided to make myself happy with some Noro silk garden for some little projects, and a couple skeins of Totoro like colors in Donegal Aran Tweed by Debbie Bliss. I also purchased some Berroco Linen Jeans in beet root to make February Lady Sweater.

Sue talked me into trying those very tiny 8 inch circs for socks. I also go some of those tubey things to put sock needles and projects on, and a small needle gauge for my notions box.

All in all a good haul, except for St. Brigid which will just have to wait.

After I return from my Big Island trip where I plan to bask in the sun and knit and read, I have only 3.5 working days. I suspect that is why I think constantly about consuming large bowls of whipped cream with fresh strawberries. Stress eating over leaving the source of my stress behind.

Summer seemed "on" for a few days and it looked like it was really going to be a warm one. Then some rain came and today it is overcast and not quite so warm. I find myself obsessed with the whole pre-retirement thing. The first thing that went is my housekeeping. Never a priority for me, but it's hit an all time low. I may just kill myself tripping over shoes that never got put away. I've made some feeble efforts at doing laundry and putting dishes away, and at least no houseplants have been neglected to death. I actually cooked a meal. The next victim of neglect was my exercise. I had a sorethroat and bodyaches yesterday so at least I can spread that excuse over at least two days. I tell myself soon, I will have a lot of time on my hands!

So I'm practicing for retirement by focusing on some TV and movie watching, knitting, some reading, thank you notes, and perhaps one email to that supervisor I just got off on the wrong foot with. There is no point in worrying about the financial part, the part time job, or any of that at this point! It's do or die:)

I've finished The Book Thief, and I'm half way through A Thousand Splendid Suns. This book is very captivating so far. Next in my reading queue is Twilight. My Netflix queue has almost 300 things in it so I won't run out anytime soon. I'm watching Atsuhime and Battlestar Galactica on the tube.

Opal came back from a long trip which included the Maryland Sheep and Wool and returned bearing gifts. I have a cool tube of roving for my needlefelting adventures! Thanks, Opal!


I was gifted this green bag full of local style goodies and it has become a great little bag for knitting while watching TV! The goodies didn't last long. I could say who it was from but not with the privacy act. Thats the River Forest Gansey WIP in Ultra Alpaca Lobster Mix. The color doesn't show too well.


More gifts!
A hand quilted zippered bag, cupcake bag from Cinnamon Girl, printed grocery bag, and large purse with outside pockets. I will not run out of bags for awhile!
My 8 inch square has run into problems.
Unless I find a maverick ball in my stash, or frog my Fetchings, I don't have enough yarn to finish the icords. Oh well, it is almost one inch too big anyway. Sigh. I liked the color, Cascade 220 Heathers.

M first beret attempt, Tweed Beret


Pattern by Kristin TenDyke, in IK Winter 2006
Yarn: Berocco Ultra Alpaca
Needles: size 6
This is a top down beret. I added the nubbin on the top instead of the two she has in the original. I'm not quite sure I got the decreases corret. She has a nice ribbing pattern to narrow the beret down to the headband which is stockinette that curls up by its self. I made the large, but I think I needed to keep increasing a bit so it would flounce out more. Either that or my head not the beret type. The head band fit just right. My target hat from The Wind that Shakes the Barley is felted, too.