Whiskers On Wednesday

Sophie Says: "This is MY spot, but I'll share".

Hospital Knitting

How many rows can you knit while waiting for your husband to get his Heart Catherization Procedure done?

About that much. I was just too nervous to keep going. I couldn't read, couldn't knit, and really didn't want to TALK much which is SO unlike me! (But I was VERY grateful my inlaws came to town to be with us!)

Our ordeal started a bit ago when I finally got The Big Guy to switch doctors. His new one takes his family history and his health VERY serious, I mean, we aren't spring chickens anymore. Things are going to happen. The Big Guy had been having some weird pains and rapid heart beating episodes, so the doctor ordered an EKG and x-ray. They were okay. But they still ordered the stress test and that showed slow blood flow in the front wall of his heart. So. There we were at the hospital for the Heart Cath. Along with many other people. Busy place. Too busy.

And He did fine. He has 40% blockage in one artery and 50% in another. They'll only do a stint if it's at least 70% blockage. They've adjusted his BP meds and will also look at getting his cholesterol numbers even lower to prevent any further increases in those percentages. All in all, we can handle this. And we were very blessed that this all was discovered before any scary episodes happened. We celebrated the next day with a small cake for his birthday. We're just glad he's around and he's going to be feeling better all the time. He better. I can't take this kind of excitement.

Ravelry has been my safety net lately. I've been spending my "worry" time looking at other people's completed projects and that can be a huge time suck. I haven't been doing much of anything lately. Everything I start, I put back down or rip out. So I just pretend I'm as efficient as they are and just browse all day.

I did manage to finish this. I have no idea when (the past few weeks are a big blur) and it took me a good bit to do since it's with cotton - cotton and me don't get along too well.

Rumbly Tummy Bear
The pattern is on Ravelry and Sharman will email it to you. I made this for my Aunt Rene for Christmas because she's the biggest Pooh Fan Ever I think. And she loves to clean, so this will make her smile while she scrubs away! LOL!

One gift down. A few more to go. I'll never make it! Ack! I'm hoping to get to my Knitting meeting potluck this weekend. But if I'm eating....I can't be knitting....Oh well!!

Happy Knitting!

Birthdays Can Be AWESOME!

My wonderful Mom sent me some Happy medicine:

THEN, My bestest buddy Julie sent me these really cool stitch markers:

And this (mine, mine, mine!!)

And All of THIS!!:

A gorgeous bookmark she made for me (which I don't know how she knew I needed it so desperately), some Crazy Monkey Creations Gorilla Toes yarn in the Autumn Jewels colorway (should've got that closer, it's very "happy"! AND SOFT!!!! SOOO SOFT!!! ), two really pretty candle holders with some danglies on it, (I LUV shiny things), some lotion for my ever increasing dry hands, and the BAG. OMGosh, THE BAG. LOVE. IT! I want to go to my knitting meeting NOW to show it off! My projects will never want to come out!

Then today I got THIS from my Favoritest California Dawn!! (I know, I know, I'm just too darn lucky!)

Some of her Beautiful smelling Lavender Handmade soap, (Dawn's a seller on Etsy- check her out!) and a cloth to go with it, a cute cupcake magnet set, candle, and notepad, three really cool scarf patterns to decide what my GORGEOUS HANDSPUN YARN will grow up to be!!!! I am now the very proud owner of her Superwash Merino in the Layla Colorway! I just want to snuggle with it!! I've seen handspun on websites but never held any in my hot little hands before! What an awesome job you did spinning this Dawn. If you sell any in your etsy store with your other items, they'll go like hotcakes!

Yuummmmm! My stubborn camera does NOT want to pick up the beautiful varigations of the colors in this. I just can't describe it except it's like "jewelry" or something. Just absolutely gorgeous!

I'm so very blessed to have you girls in my life. You made me smile when I really felt like hiding under the covers today. I can't tell you how much you mean to me. Really. Truly.

(((((((((((((((((((((((((Biggest Hugs Ever)))))))))))))))))))))))))))

.....and I'm off to play with all my stuff......

Birthday Bonanza!!!

Another year, another cake. Always happy to have one of these around! (My BD is the 2nd)

There's only five candles because we only had five pink ones. Plus, The Big Guy suggested we put ALL of my candles on but then made a "remark" about how they weren't going to fit..... and we didn't have enough anyway..... yea, he's a riot. So, I don't feel so bad about my bounty this year. Guilt can work to my benefit yet again.

(ETA: These stash yarns were purchased over several paydays! LOL! I make my birth"day" sort of my birth YEAR around here.)

Socks That Rock MediumWeight in the Mustang Sally Colorway. I grabbed this off of the ISO/Destash board on Ravelry. That is one addictive place to hang out. It's very dangerous for someone like me. Upfront, this isn't my first purchase from there - and it's certainly not going to be my last! But I do try to avoid it as much as possible. I already have a skein of this that I haven't used yet but the price was too good to pass up. Yep. Dangerous.

I purchased these from a new yarn shop in my area. Well, I discovered it's quite aways away (about 45 minutes) but at least it was a nice drive! They just opened last month so I felt the need to show my support (and enhance my stash). I actually bought three of these Cherry Tree Hill Select Semi Solid's. I got the Azalea, Slate, and Lotus Colorways. (Lotus is already OTN's, hence no picture). I just LOVE the colors of these (which explains why I came home with 3 skeins- gulp!) I picked up a few cotton yarns as well because she had the prettiest washcloths crocheted up in Plymouth's Jean Nee that I just have to replicate somehow. They're pretty basic, but the Jean Nee is just so soft, squishy, and delicious in this type of project. When I saw them, I thought of my Mom and her delicate face from her cancer surgery 2 years ago. My Mom certainly deserves the best.

I think I ordered these from The Loopy Ewe last month. Malabrigo Sock in colorway #808-Violeta Africana (which looks way more purple in real life, my camera picks it up as blue). Add to that "Tiziano Red" which is also already in use for the girls fingerless mitts (pictures to come soon I hope). The purple Cascade Fixation just jumped into my online cart (honest! ) Not sure how that happened but I already have something in mind for my youngest using that.

My splurge. Fleece Artists Handmaiden Casbah in the Victoria colorway. Cause as you can see it matches my tablecloth. Seriously, those are my colors. If it reminds me of ROSES. It's mine.

Of course I couldn't help but visit KnitPicks for my Birthday! These are skeins of Stroll (handpainted sock yarn). Colors are Dolly (pink) and Make Believe (purple/blue). These are soooo pretty. I haven't decided what these will be yet. I picked up some extra Harmony tips (why do I always need the size that's already in use?) and the double ended crochet hooks for good measure (free shipping). I'm now eyeing those new Zephyr needles. There's no doubt I'll be trying them, I enjoy using my acrylic straights that I got from Joanne's a long time ago. I love that they're so lightweight (my wrist pain is an issue at times), and these are supposed to be a way better acrylic.

Thank You Thank You Thank You so much to all of my fantastic knitting blog friends, Ravelry friends, and all of my wonderful family who made my day so awesome. We're alone here in our town, but the phone calls and messages on Ravelry and here kept coming all day and it sure made me smile. It makes turning 39 (again) easier to bear!

Happy Knitting!

Back in the Saddle...

Somewhat! A new day dawns and I've started over on The Big Guys hat, started another pair of Mitts for Miss J, and got these done:

Okay, technically this is still a "maybe" for me since it does bias to one side a bit. Knitting or crocheting anything LENGTHWISE does this to me every single time. It doesn't matter how careful I try to be when working the beginning and ending rows, I guess my tension is just all over the place - so my projects tend to "tilt".

Pattern: Acacia Scarf
Yarn: Caron Simply Soft Eco in the Ocean Colorway
Size I hook. (Crochet)
This took just a bit more than one skein. I may add fringe later so I'm glad I have the extra skein around. This might still go to my Mom one day, or something similar. She's like me in that we tend to run "WARM" most of the time, so simple "airy" scarves are definitely more our thing.

I also went back to what's been a "happy knit" for me (you gotta feel the love ya know?):

Pattern: Simply Simone by Elizabeth A. Cote (Coteknits on Ravelry).
Yarn: Bernat Baby Softee & Bernat Jacquards in Pink.
Size 5 & 6 needles (I needed to go up a size due to my tight knitting).
What can I say? These are just too cute! When Elizabeth asked me to Test Knit these for her I jumped at it because A) I love knitting preemie hats and B) I can always use more for The Yarn Bowl Challenge. Her pattern is just adorable and so easy to knit up. I just love these.


Pattern: Simple Simon
Yarn: Bernat Baby Softee & Bernat Jacquards in Blues
Size 6 needle
These are the medium and large sizes. Cute. Just. too. dang. Cute.

Tomorrow is knitting meeting day. I'm going to take The Big Guy's Hat to work on, it's simple ribbing so hopefully I can't screw that up too bad while I'm gabbing instead of paying attention to what I'm doing.

Happy Knitting!

What the Heck?

Or: "I'm Giving Gift Cards For Christmas!"

Mom's Scarf: Frogged. (3rd time)

Richard's Hat: Frogged.

Jessica's Mitts: Frogged.

I don't know if the wording in the picture is readable, but basically I read the pattern wrong and started the thumb gusset WAYYYY later then I should have. Welcome to my pond! Somebody please catch him and make him go AWAY!

I went back to preemie hats. They don't disappoint. They're my saving grace right now or I'd be dumping ALL my needles in the trash! Grrrr!!! (then running out to grab them again).

Maybe it's just that it's summer time. I'm loving the long days and warm sunshine too much to be inside knitting. Even when I'm in pain (like all the time) it's just been hard to not want to be doing other things. Maybe. Maybe Not. Any excuse sounds good to me now because it CAN'T be that my knitting sucks! I really think the "pressure" of Holiday Knits is already messing with my head! Yikes!!

BUT! School starts back in ONE MONTH! Happy Dance Time! Who's counting down the days besides me??? Anybody???

Happy Knitting!

PS: Note to Deborah! I can't reach your profile on blogger to email you back! Are you on Ravelry? I posted a response on the blog post you posted on. Hope we can talk more! It's okay that we're on opposing teams for the Yarn Bowl Challenge, we're California Girls at heart! LOL Hope to hear back from you!

10 On Tuesday

(Pic: Some of the gang ready for a night out back in the 80's *notice the 80's hair?* I wish my pics were better, I had to scan them.. Julie & Rhonda, Don't kill me k?) (Ps. I'm the shortest one....always!)

Today's topic is one I can sort of manage. It seemed easy at first, but geez, there are WAY more than 10, that's for sure! That was one fantastic decade for me, I met my BF Julie in the early 80's, graduated in the middle, had my first real jobs, had my own apartments, met my soon to be hubby, and got married right before the decade ended (1989)!

So here's just the tip of the iceburg:

(Just some of my) 10 Favorite Songs of the 80's.

1. The Promise - When In Rome (Me & Hubby's Song)

2. White Wedding - Billy Idol

3. Don't Let The Sun Go Down - George Michael/Elton John

4. Straight From the Heart - Bryan Adams

5. Love Bites - Def Leppard

6. Every Breath You Take - The Police

7. Stray Cat Strut - Stray Cats

8. You Got Lucky - Tom Petty

9. The Politics of Dancing - Reflex

10. The Boys of Summer - Don Henley

We went to a lot of concerts back in the day....Julie, remind me which ones we went to K? I need a "wayback" machine desperately. We listened to almost every kind of music there is back then, and hit a LOT of clubs dancing to it....fun, fun, fun....those were great times.


We had a BLAST! Wouldn't trade the 80's for anything.

**Check out more lists here.