2 Temmuz 2012 Pazartesi
Slouchy Socks…like we used to wear in the 80's
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These remind me of the slouchy socks I used to wear in the 80’s. They slouch nicely and the bottom incorporates a reverse stockinette so you are walking on the smooth side making it even more comfy!I did adjust the needle size a little since I thought the foot was too large in circumference.To make them a little more special, my 17 year old son helped me by knitting the little bags in the matching yarn. We rolled the socks and put them in the bags to make a really special sock gift! Who knew I’d be trading knitting tips with my son??? He is a great knitter, fast and very neat consistent stitches. The nice part is it used the left over yarn. Since my family knits as well, I sent the tiny amount of leftover yarn in the bags for possible repair work in the future.
Project info
Project info
Josh's Birthday Scarf and Hat...
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This year for Josh's birthday I decided to knit him something special. Actually, I decided on four items, a scarf, a hat, a neck-tie and socks. Since the neck-tie and socks are being made out of a light fingering weight yarn, they are going to take a while to complete so I put my efforts in completing the scarf and hat set for his actual birthday.
Josh picked out the yarn himself when he took me to Vogue Knitting Live! After looking through every booth of yarn, he decided on a Robin Turner Gourmet Yarns in Llama and Silk. It is a buttery soft yarn that slides easily on the needles and creates well define stitches. I enjoyed working with this yarn very much and would like to use it for another project. I especially like the slight sheen it gives when knitted up.
Josh picked out the yarn himself when he took me to Vogue Knitting Live! After looking through every booth of yarn, he decided on a Robin Turner Gourmet Yarns in Llama and Silk. It is a buttery soft yarn that slides easily on the needles and creates well define stitches. I enjoyed working with this yarn very much and would like to use it for another project. I especially like the slight sheen it gives when knitted up.
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| The Finished Product! |
The Long Awaited, Stand...
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Those of you who read my blog occasionally (and I thank you for your kind interest) know I have not been able to stand for over five years due to the damage done to my joints, muscles, and nerves from the Neurological Disseminated Lyme Disease I contracted in September of 2007. It has been a long and painful journey that has robbed me of my mobility and left me with unending pain. During this period, I have also had to fight breast cancer which I still continue to battle through a very strict natural regiment. Even though I have had clear cancer numbers for over 2 years, I will be on the regiment for the rest of my life to assure it won't return. However, if you were to ask, the greatest difficulty of the last five years was not losing a breast or even the intense level of pain which requires morphine every 3 hours to keep at a tolerable level, no, the greatest challenge has been not being able to walk.
I have lost significant range of movement in all six joints in my legs and hips as well as some joint deformity after so many years. More than once I would have liked to have just given-up but I was blessed with a husband who wouldn't let me. He has always believed I would one day walk again and I have put all my efforts into making that happen.
Once the swelling went down in my legs, Josh searched the northeast over for a Physical Therapist we could trust and the Lord brought us to, Mo. She also has battled cancer successfully and has pushed past the pain in her own life to help others. She understood my condition was neurological as well as muscular and knew exactly how to begin treatment. We both knew she was the right person from the first session. I have never once doubted anything Mo has said.
We are now 12 sessions into our treatment and for the first time in 5 years, I stood up. My legs are still not straight and the heels of my feet couldn't go all the way down on the ground but we proved, my body was still willing to stand. The first time up, I needed a little help to get vertical but the second time, I was able to pull my body up on its own using my legs to steady my weight. For years I took the simple act of standing up and down for granted. It never occurred to me to be appreciative of the fact I could decide when I wanted to stand and when I wanted to sit, until, one day in the middle of March 2008, while walking to the bathroom, my knee locked and I found myself on the floor. Since that day, my legs never moved right again, the disease finally hit the central nervous system and, many believe, the spinal cord, in such a way, it shut down the messages necessary to walk...until now. My muscles, nerves, and brain are beginning to remember how to do their jobs again.
Even though standing there was painful, the tears that started to flow weren't from the pain, those were tears of joy. Ben snapped a quick picture and sent it to the most important man in my life. I wish I could have seen Josh's face when he flipped on his phone and saw the texted picture of me standing once again. It didn't matter Mo and Kevin had to steady my legs or my feet still wouldn't go flat or my knees were still at a -58 and -25 degree angles. I was standing and that was all that mattered to anyone.
There is an even greater significance to my standing today, a slightly personal one... Josh and I have wanted to renew our vows for some time, in fact, I managed to get bit the second time by an infected deer tick while walking the wooded area of Sussex County all in the name of trying to fit back into my wedding dress. Instead of a my 2 mile power walk, I ended brushing up against a bush, that housed a tick, that carried a disease, that bit my skin and gave me Lyme Disease. So, the renewal of our vows was put off. I didn't want to roll down the isle to my husband...I wanted to walk down the isle to him, in my original wedding dress.
Standing there today, even as precarious as the whole thing was, the first thought that went through my mind was, one day, I will be able to walk the isle to Josh. I am a realist, I know we have a long road to go. There is so much that needs to happen. I have casts and braces and supports and grueling physical therapy session in my future but none of that matters. Today, I had hope. Today, I saw the world from a standing position. Today, gave me the strength to make it to tomorrow and work even harder. Somehow, I think Mo knew that is the effect it would have on me. She's just that good.
There is one thing I know beyond a shadow of a doubt. No matter how hard I work, how much time Josh spends stretching out my muscles every night, how long Victoria massages my legs or how many therapy games Ben and Sam work with me on, it is going to take God to make this happen. He is the only one that can connect the lost message network in my neuro-systems that were damaged by the disease. He is the one that created it all and only He can make it right again. So, while all our hard work is necessary, in the end, it will take God's Hand. On the day I walk down the isle to renew my vows to my husband once again, our family will be grateful for so much. Even though this trial has been hard, almost breaking us at times, God has brought us through and in the end, we will be stronger, closer and will have learned a little more about God's character, which isn't always what we think it is, but is always right and true. Never has the distance of 10 or so yards meant so much to me. One day I will walk it, but for now, I will keep thanking God for every 10 seconds I can stand on my feet.
May God Bless and Keep You in His Grace,
'feeling very tall today'
Lynne
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| Josh and I at the beginning of the illness. |
I have lost significant range of movement in all six joints in my legs and hips as well as some joint deformity after so many years. More than once I would have liked to have just given-up but I was blessed with a husband who wouldn't let me. He has always believed I would one day walk again and I have put all my efforts into making that happen.
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| Victoria and I right before the Mastectomy. |
Once the swelling went down in my legs, Josh searched the northeast over for a Physical Therapist we could trust and the Lord brought us to, Mo. She also has battled cancer successfully and has pushed past the pain in her own life to help others. She understood my condition was neurological as well as muscular and knew exactly how to begin treatment. We both knew she was the right person from the first session. I have never once doubted anything Mo has said.
 |
| My boys and me during a rare outing at the Science Center. |
We are now 12 sessions into our treatment and for the first time in 5 years, I stood up. My legs are still not straight and the heels of my feet couldn't go all the way down on the ground but we proved, my body was still willing to stand. The first time up, I needed a little help to get vertical but the second time, I was able to pull my body up on its own using my legs to steady my weight. For years I took the simple act of standing up and down for granted. It never occurred to me to be appreciative of the fact I could decide when I wanted to stand and when I wanted to sit, until, one day in the middle of March 2008, while walking to the bathroom, my knee locked and I found myself on the floor. Since that day, my legs never moved right again, the disease finally hit the central nervous system and, many believe, the spinal cord, in such a way, it shut down the messages necessary to walk...until now. My muscles, nerves, and brain are beginning to remember how to do their jobs again.
 |
| June 2012 - Lynne, in physical therapy, standing for the first time in Five years! |
Even though standing there was painful, the tears that started to flow weren't from the pain, those were tears of joy. Ben snapped a quick picture and sent it to the most important man in my life. I wish I could have seen Josh's face when he flipped on his phone and saw the texted picture of me standing once again. It didn't matter Mo and Kevin had to steady my legs or my feet still wouldn't go flat or my knees were still at a -58 and -25 degree angles. I was standing and that was all that mattered to anyone.
 |
| Warming the muscles before stretching. |
There is an even greater significance to my standing today, a slightly personal one... Josh and I have wanted to renew our vows for some time, in fact, I managed to get bit the second time by an infected deer tick while walking the wooded area of Sussex County all in the name of trying to fit back into my wedding dress. Instead of a my 2 mile power walk, I ended brushing up against a bush, that housed a tick, that carried a disease, that bit my skin and gave me Lyme Disease. So, the renewal of our vows was put off. I didn't want to roll down the isle to my husband...I wanted to walk down the isle to him, in my original wedding dress.
 |
| Right leg at a -25 extension, working toward a 0 which is straight. |
Standing there today, even as precarious as the whole thing was, the first thought that went through my mind was, one day, I will be able to walk the isle to Josh. I am a realist, I know we have a long road to go. There is so much that needs to happen. I have casts and braces and supports and grueling physical therapy session in my future but none of that matters. Today, I had hope. Today, I saw the world from a standing position. Today, gave me the strength to make it to tomorrow and work even harder. Somehow, I think Mo knew that is the effect it would have on me. She's just that good.
 |
| Teaching my legs to move independently again. |
There is one thing I know beyond a shadow of a doubt. No matter how hard I work, how much time Josh spends stretching out my muscles every night, how long Victoria massages my legs or how many therapy games Ben and Sam work with me on, it is going to take God to make this happen. He is the only one that can connect the lost message network in my neuro-systems that were damaged by the disease. He is the one that created it all and only He can make it right again. So, while all our hard work is necessary, in the end, it will take God's Hand. On the day I walk down the isle to renew my vows to my husband once again, our family will be grateful for so much. Even though this trial has been hard, almost breaking us at times, God has brought us through and in the end, we will be stronger, closer and will have learned a little more about God's character, which isn't always what we think it is, but is always right and true. Never has the distance of 10 or so yards meant so much to me. One day I will walk it, but for now, I will keep thanking God for every 10 seconds I can stand on my feet.
May God Bless and Keep You in His Grace,
'feeling very tall today'
Lynne
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| Walking down the Isle as Husband and Wife. |
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| Lynne - the future looking a little brighter... |
1 Temmuz 2012 Pazar
New Phantom Mask Logo for 'The Phantom of the Opera' on Broadway
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The marquee of the Majestic Theatre in New York City got a makeover late in December. For 'The Phantom of the Opera's' 25th year on the Great White Way, the new Phantom logo which advertising company Dewynters refreshed for London has now been adopted for the show's Broadway home.
The former version was the white mask on a black background. The newer logo is much brighter with the mask enlarged on a blue-colored background. For more photos, visit BroadwayWorld.com. For info about the advertising company for 'Phantom', visit Dewynters.com.
Dewynters is responsible for some of the most iconic advertising artwork for theatre in New York and London which includes the waif for 'Les Misereables', the brush-stroked helicopter for 'Miss Saigon', the girl in the wedding dress for 'Mamma Mia' and the feline's eyes for 'Cats'. Below right is the old version of the 'Phantom' logo.
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| Left: New Phantom logo debuts in Times Square at the corner of 7th and 47th; Right photos: The new marquee at the Majestic Theatre. (image: Dewynters) |
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| (image credit: Peter James Zielinski/BroadwayWorld) |
The former version was the white mask on a black background. The newer logo is much brighter with the mask enlarged on a blue-colored background. For more photos, visit BroadwayWorld.com. For info about the advertising company for 'Phantom', visit Dewynters.com.
Dewynters is responsible for some of the most iconic advertising artwork for theatre in New York and London which includes the waif for 'Les Misereables', the brush-stroked helicopter for 'Miss Saigon', the girl in the wedding dress for 'Mamma Mia' and the feline's eyes for 'Cats'. Below right is the old version of the 'Phantom' logo.
"Les Miserables" Movie Casting News
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The final main roles in the big screen adaption of the hit musical 'Les Miserables' have fallen into place with the final piece being the casting of the coveted role of Eponine. Samantha Banks who played the role in London's West End and in the 25th Anniversary Concert is reported to have beat out high-profile names including Scarlett Johansson, Lea Michele, Evan Rachel Wood and Taylor Swift. It appears with this bit of casting few are arguing the choices for the film's cast as we all finally look forward to this screen adaptation after more than 25 years since the stage musical premiered in London in 1985.
Previously confirmed in the cast:
Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean
Russell Crowe as Inspector Javert
Anne Hathaway as Fantine
Amanda Seyfried ("Mamma Mia") as Cosette
Eddie Redmayne ("My Week With Marilyn", 'Red' Broadway play) as Marius
Aaron Tveit ("Gossip Girl", 'Catch Me If You Can' Broadway musical) as Enjolras
Sacha Baron Cohen as Monsier Thenardier
Helena Bonham Caarter as Madame Thenardier
The cast will also include Colm Wilkinson, the original stage Valjean, as the Bishop of Digne and Frances Rufelle, the original stage Eponine, who will play a prostitute. Other London stage actors to appear in the film include Kerry Ellis, Linzi Hately, Bertie Carvel and Alistair Brammer.
Click HERE to for the Daily Mail article about the surprising onstage announcement of Banks wining the role of Eponine.
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| Advertisement from 1991 that appeared in entertainment trade papers such as Variety announcing the movie version of 'Les Miserables'. Alan Parker, who went on to direct the movie version of "Evita" was set to direct until Bruce Beresford ("Driving Miss Daisy") replaced him. The movie project was stuck in development and eventually abandoned. |
Previously confirmed in the cast:
Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean
Russell Crowe as Inspector Javert
Anne Hathaway as Fantine
Amanda Seyfried ("Mamma Mia") as Cosette
Eddie Redmayne ("My Week With Marilyn", 'Red' Broadway play) as Marius
Aaron Tveit ("Gossip Girl", 'Catch Me If You Can' Broadway musical) as Enjolras
Sacha Baron Cohen as Monsier Thenardier
Helena Bonham Caarter as Madame Thenardier
The cast will also include Colm Wilkinson, the original stage Valjean, as the Bishop of Digne and Frances Rufelle, the original stage Eponine, who will play a prostitute. Other London stage actors to appear in the film include Kerry Ellis, Linzi Hately, Bertie Carvel and Alistair Brammer.
Click HERE to for the Daily Mail article about the surprising onstage announcement of Banks wining the role of Eponine.
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| Producer Cameron Mackintosh surprises Samantha Banks on the 'Oliver' UK Tour to announce that Banks has won the role of Eponine in the 'Les Miserables' film. (image: BBC/Daily Mail) |
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| Samantha Banks and Frances Rufelle, original stage Eponine, at the 25th Anniversary 'Les Miserables' concert. (image: Alan Davidson/Daily Mail) |
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