Happy (Late) Mother's Day!

As usual I'm a day (or more) late and a dollar short. I had a nice Mother's Day and hope all my blog buddies did too. It's always nice to be spoiled. I'm very blessed, and I know it and treasure it.

I made these for my Mom:

(Except I can't take a good picture lately for the life of me, I think it's a reflection of how crappy I feel in general.) I really enjoy embroidery though. It seems like there are so MANY tiny stitches, and then before I know it I'm done! It's very relaxing and I've already aquired more sets to get stitching on.  Okay, French Knots are not my thing, but I plan to keep practicing.

This was my Mother's Day present:

A Woolee Winder for my Ashford Joy. LOVE LOVE LOVE.  I'm a spinning fool now. (Got my foot AND my purse in that shot! Photography classes??).

We've had too much anxiety around here lately. My dog Jenna was really sick this last Thursday, we took her to the vet and she thought she may have had a tick-born illness. She had to stay there with an IV of fluids and antibiotics until yesterday. I don't ever want to go through that again. It was heartbreaking and we could've lost her but she's on the mend slowly now and is back to wiggling her little behind.

My FIL has had his second chemo treatment and seems to be doing okay so far this time. We're always trying to keep positive thoughts for him. My Mom finally got in to get her back checked and got shots to help in the mean time while they get her scheduled for the x-rays and MRI's. I think it's her sciatic possibly. I just want her out of so much pain. :(

My health still sucks. Same story, different day. The Plaquinel worked for about 2 weeks - and I was PAIN FREE - for the first time in AGES. But, it wasn't meant to last unfortunately. I don't know why but I'm not happy about it. I'm back on Lyrica too but the pain seems to still peak more than I can manage. I'm due to see a neurologist next I believe, and get PT for my own sciatic problem.  I'm so tired of pain.

I haven't been knitting much lately but my fingers are itching. I have tons of sock yarn but don't want to use it. But I think socks are just right for my mood so I have to break down and wind a ball soon.

Happy Knitting and Good health to all.

The New Year

Wow. I'm SO behind! January is almost over and here I am with next to nothing "knitting related" to post. I've worked on a few KAL things but the first was a BUST (rarely do I just THROW something AWAY - but this HAD to go - wait! I may have a pic of it before it went bye-bye! ).

Here it is:

Pattern: Duet 
Yarn: Simply Soft in Cranberrry
This was an UGH! if there ever was one. My Bad. I didn't check gauge, but I honestly didn't like it as a cowl OR hat anyway.  Even if it had been bigger to fit, I'm sure I'd have never used it. Caron SS just fuzzes so much too, way more than I remember in the past when I used it for projects. Something shouldn't look 100 years old after you just finished it!

Another unfinished KAL:

I've never done colorwork like this before and it's been quite a learning experience. It really humbled this old knitter. If there was a way to mess it up, I found it! Thank goodness the designer is a friend and was patient with my crazy questions! I think the pattern will be up for sale on Ravelry soon.  I'm now done with the first mitten and have started my second. I'll get a finished pic after they're blocked.

**Notes: I went down a needle size for the ribbing on the second glove, this one was way too loose. I also switched to Magic Loop, it's just way easier as I carry both yarns in the right hand, so yarn readjustments weren't constantly going on. Overall I may try this type of knitting again one day. Maybe on a hat.

The last project I have going is still in the finishing stages. I have to have something to blog about in February! :P

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Life has worked it's way into my knitting time somewhat (I know, what's new!), and the COLD has worked it's way into my spinning time! Brrr! (When that lottery comes through I see an electric spinner in my future!) My thoughts and life have been so jumbled with all we've had going on, I just didn't want to post about the sadness and worry because I didn't want to bum out or chase away the few readers I have!

I promise to be back again posting happily one day if things ever seem to settle down.

Update on my FIL: After what felt like being in the hospital forever, they've finally released him to go home yesterday. He's getting therapy and is watched by a nurse everyday it sounds like. Even being home now sounds like a busy time for him! We're continuing to pray that he can live the rest of his life as he chooses and as pain free as possible. That's all we really want for him.

Update on my Mom: She's hanging in there. They're still trying to get her medications adjusted for the maximum benefit so that's an ongoing process I wish would hurry up. Even on her worst days she manages to always help bring ME back up. Mommy's are wonderful.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And a BIG HUGE Thank You to my knitting buddy Dawn for the nice Christmas package she sent me!
We're old blogging buddies who like surprises. Thank you so much for thinking of me Dawn. Honestly, this was the worst holiday season we've ever had, but there are ALWAYS bright spots that remind us
of God's love and grace.

Thanks so much for your friendship. (I'm really enjoying my soap and lotion! ;O)

Thank you Again. ((((Hugs))))

Here's to a better year down the road!

Merry (late) Christmas & Happy (early!) New Year!

First of all, please forgive the picture heavy post and all my bragging. I'm going on another "yarn diet" in 2009 for sure! Yessiree.
(I probably won't have a choice, things will be tighter this next year for sure!)

I hope everybody had a very peaceful holiday. We were together on Christmas day and then went to my in-laws for the weekend. I almost didn't end up going, I've been having a MAJOR pain flare-up that just won't let up. I've been trying to get past it, but it's been a bad couple of weeks. Therefore, I haven't been able to knit much - but that's okay, Santa suprised me with one of these:



It's a pretty Pearly Pink Nintendo DS, and I didn't even know I wanted one until I had this baby in my hands. Everyone else in the house has had one for ages, but I never really got into it. I do have the "Brain Age" games but they never kept my attention for long (okay! I'm OLD, I don't need a game to remind me).

I've barely been able to put this down, the Crosswords game I got is just too addictive, and of course, it's PINK! It just tickles me to no end. I do feel a bit like I left my knitting in the dust to play with my new toy. Fickle Fickle Knitter, I know. Then I got to this "textile" wordsearch puzzle that had "kniting" and "knitted" etc. in it! Too funny! My Knitting will never go away.

Santa also brought me this:


I finally got a scale for my yarn (that's Dream in Color Smooshy in Gothic Rose - see how generous they are with their yardage?). I've been wanting one for a long, long time. I got Franklin's book (which the girls have taken and I've yet to enjoy). (What I didn't get a picture of was the cool Magnet Chart Keeper and Harmony DPN's in size 7 that I got also). This was from The Big Guy & The Girls.

He also got me some Black Bunny Fibers Superwash Sock Yarn (oh well, it says "approximately 4 oz" so they're covered - it's a LOT less dense than the DIC as the scale shows). It's a very pretty colorway though, it's called "Chocolate Covered Cherries". I may have to use that for my Mom, she just loves those candies! (this scale is so much fun, I can't stop weighing stuff!)

With the Christmas money from my Mom & In-Laws, I stopped by The Yarn Patch in Crossville and picked up some more sock yarn and a few other goodies.

I always seem to go for sock yarns for my Mom so there are two yarns to use for her next year. I got Berroco Comfort Sock in color 1813, and a new one I've never tried before "Pagewood Farms Yukon" handdyed sock yarn in "Bird of Paradise" colorway, and some black Universal wool to attempt to make my nephew (who is now serving in Afghanistan) a Helmet Liner. I couldn't pass up the tiny 4" size 5 DPN's, and I also got some DPN tubes and a pair of Bryspun size 4 straights. I don't knit with straights too often anymore, but I like the Bryspun because they're light.

My Darling Husband also took time off of work to take me across town to get this:

When I get in the mood for PINK, there's no help for me. I had seen this Blue Ridge Kaleidoscope Superwash Merino Sock yarn in Mossy Hollow before at my LYS and I couldn't get it out of my mind, it practically threw itself at me and begged me to take it home. The Noro Silk Garden (#205) was just for pure fun.

That's about it for now. The projects that I have lined up aren't even using these yarns so I hope my pain issues resolve soon so I can get busy. I'm halfway done with the first bed sock for my Mom, I promised my cousin some black fingerless mitts, and I have that helmet liner in my "mind's queue" too. THEN I'll play with my other yarns. And. Stop. Buying. More.

This year was rough, next year may hold even more challenges, but I'm grateful for all my friends and family and all I've been blessed with. I won't make any resolutions this year, my main issues will be family, better health, and to remember to be thankful no matter what.

Have a Safe and Happy New Year Everybody!

Cool ZooMobile

I had to pick up a couple of books from the library yesterday (YES! I actually got out of the house! It's an absolute miracle!) and I was excited that the Zoomobile would be there so the girls could enjoy it.

Well...lets just say that my expectation of their excitement was premature. They're growing up faster than I care for. They love animals, they just weren't as enthused as I thought they'd be.

And...there were mostly smaller kids there, BUT it's not like mine are 16 yet! geez!! We ended up staying (my choice) and I think they enjoyed it after all. Especially after my oldest found out that when she's 13 she can volunteer at the zoo. Right now she can attend zoo camp, but later is when she'll really get to be more hands on with helping out. She's totally jazzed, only a little more than a year to go. Of course, will her desire still be there in one year?? I sure hope so. We have so many books on mammels, sea life, reptiles, birds, etc. that she's amassed over the years you'd think we had our own library. She's a huge animal lover.

The Zoo goes around to different library branches and brings small animals to show. This snake was the second one, the first was a huge lizard thingy that lives in the rainforest. I can't remember where this snake came from, I'm not a huge fan of them so it blew right by me...oh, I do remember that it's some kind of rat snake, maybe from Africa.


This was the best though, this is a little fox from the Sahara Desert and it was just the cutest little thing! All the kids got to pet his back. I just wanted to take him home, until I saw his claws and teeth. We'll let Mr. Foxy stay in his own den.
His ears keep him cool in the desert. Aren't they cute?

I was a happy camper and learned a little knowledge that I didn't know before. It makes me wish I could volunteer at the zoo. But I can't even get thru one episiode of Meerkat Manor (it just breaks my heart) and my kids can watch with no problem. She's probably the better choice and she's been an Animal Planet watcher since she was a toddler. Keeping my fingers crossed that she'll still want to do this in the near future. xx