Anything Nice...

Hi Folks. I know it's been a while since you've heard from me and I apologize. Me old Mum taught me, "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." Well, there's been very little nice to report on for quite a while. But darn it! This can't go on forever can it? I figure, today is the first day of my 61st year on this old earth. Well actually yesterday was my 60th birthday, but I'm a night owl and for me it is still "today". So, anyway, it's the beginning of a new year for me and I really hope things get better.

So where were we? Oh yes, the big storm that took down our trees and our wires and our neighbor's wires. A nice lady artist had taken some of our chunks of wood to work with and she came back for more. And while she was at it she cleaned up the first stump closest to the house. It's hardly noticeable anymore and hubby has made a new bonsai display area there. The old tree in the back is still lying where it fell and most of the debris is still there. For my birthday hubby says he will plant a veggie garden back there. It would be nice...

Had a huge scare in February. A very close family member attempted suicide and was in a coma for a few days. The hospital was about an hour and a half away but I or hubby needed to be there every day. I was so afraid. There was pneumonia, liver damage, brain damage. A sad, damaged psyche that can't or won't be fixed. He got better. He went home. He's trying. But I can hear him sliding back when I talk to him. A constant, wearing worry.

Which wreaks havoc on blood pressure, etc., etc... I am a well lubricated pin cushion. (smile) Only ruined one dress with blood stains. Naturally it was in light spring colors.

With gas prices so high and all that driving back and forth to the hospital for weeks, our already stretched very thin finances took a huge whack. Property tax didn't help either. Putting groceries on a credit card only works for so long. So now I am selling my things to help make ends wave at each other. My Mom is mad at me for not managing well. She's not the kind of Mom who will just hold you and let you cry and pat you on the back and tell you everything is going to be ok. She wants to move back to Oregon and it's just breaking my heart. It took SO many years to get her to live close by so we can help when she has one of her falls. We've been through all that a few times now. Oh well, at least she is still ABLE to move back to Oregon.

More later...

Gifts and Storm results

I received so many wonderful gifts I still haven't absorbed them all. Remember to click on the pictures for a better look, especially the storm pictures.



There's a beautiful Spode Blue Willow teacup and saucer, a wonderful swirled glass vase with a signature that is partly ground off, a charming snow globe music box that plays Take Me Home Country Road, an interesting apothecary jar, 2 different books about communicating with my cats, a bar-B-Q cookbook, A book of letters between Queen Victoria and her eldest daughter, The Princess Victoria, Princess Royal and German Empress and Queen of Prussia.



Beautiful golden ornaments and munchy goodies that were in my stocking, and the ornate Oriental Duck is an addition to Alex's duck collection.



The fabric shaver (that really works!) that I've always wanted from my wonderful DIL.



The DVD I've been waiting for, and I can't believe I haven't watched it yet!



Self explanatory!

And now pics of the aftermath of the weekend storms. One of our 100 year old black acacia trees fell down and took out our and our neighbor's wires. The other black acacia, also as old, had been leaning over the years too and needed to come down. My dear brother and his father-in-law came with their chain saws and took down both trees. Mayhem is left in their wake but we are grateful, nonetheless.



This is the new view from the bathroom window. The kitties will miss chattering with the squirrels and watching the hummingbirds at the feeder.



The sad view from the porch.



What's left of the beautiful old tree that the squirrels used to hang out in. A lady wood turner already came by and took some very large pieces of trunk. I look forward to seeing what she does with them.



This is what's left of the old tree that fell. My brother was going to finish cutting down the main trunk and cutting up the fallen trunk but his FIL was worried about traffic backing up on the way home and another storm was coming in.



Smashed storage and benches. Lots of crushed beginning bonsai trees etc. All those buckets and bags and stuff you see in the pictures is stuff my pack rat hubby has brought home from other gardens, now exposed to the light of day.



The other side of the yard. Timber bamboo as big around as my arm not to mention about 40 other kinds of bamboo. With that huge head of a statue back in the jungle you could almost believe you were in an Indonesian jungle.

Well, that it for now. I'll check with my neighbor tomorrow about her pictures. Another storm is coming in tonight!

Happy New Year!!!

I know. I'm a little late. I've been a busy girl in many ways. The week before Christmas I spent 4 days in the cardiac ward having some hair raising tests which resulted in excellent news about my heart. But also taught me a serious lesson about letting go and not trying to be in charge of so much. Believe me it's a lot easier to say than to do. Especially when the whole family is coming for Christmas in a couple of days! But we got through it and enjoyed every minute. Took a few days to recover from being so tired but it was worth it. Some pictures...



Christmas morning.



The Christmas table.



Front to back, son David, DIL Jenny, Granddaughter Judy and Nephew Alec.



Front to back, Grandson Brandon, SIL Mary, Nephew Seth and my Mom.



My handsome boy David.



Brandon showing off his new fingerless mitts with Grandpa Alex handing out presents.



GD Judy, cat Sammy and DIL Jenny.



Brandon & Jenny patiently waiting to open packages.



Rufus hiding out from all the company.



Cleo hiding out under her first Christmas tree. Cleo is the only cat we've ever had who climbed the tree, and from the inside too!



Fingerless mitts for David that weren't finished until after he had to go home.

Next time, pics of Christmas goodies and of our devastated back yard after the week of storms.

Cats N Lace

My dear friend Lois was going through her knitting library and sent me these. Appropriate eh?



And I finally finished the fingerless gloves for a certain 12 year old.



Now onward!

Winter update

Here is our cute little tree. Alex decorated it while I was in the hospital cardio ward for 4 days .



And this is Kitty, our only outdoor cat, in his winter coat and ruff.



The second mitt is almost finished. 10 more rounds on the hand and then the thumb. More later.

Fingerless Gloves

This one too a while because I tried several things. This gift is for a young man. First tried a gauntlet with several twists spiraling up the arm. Worked out fine but too tame for this young man. Then I tried a Spiderman pattern on a fingerless glove but it wasn't really working because I didn't have the right color yarns. So I decided simplest was best and I let the yarn do the designing.



You like my blocker? I scanned my hand, cut out the picture, pasted it to some cardboard and cut it out. Now if I just had a nice foot to do that with!

Back to making the second glove!

Purple Socks

Finally finished the purple socks. The second one was a struggle because I didn't make good notes on the first one. It is my version of the Veil of Leaves sock from Cat Bordhi's New Pathways book. I used Knit Picks Essentials in African Violet. Lovely and soft! First time knitting with a size #1 Harmony circ. Very nice but I wish the cable was longer.

These are for a tall, slender young lady with dainty size 5 feet. I sure hope these aren't too narrow for her! Pardon the very inexpertly made hanger/sock blocker.





And just a catly comment...



This is Merlin. This is NOT Merlin's bed! Now Percy has moved into Merlin's cave, a larger bed under a hassock. There's room for two Percy"s in there! I bet Percy would like a new cave of his own for Christmas. Santa... ?

Cabled Socks

Just finished a pair of socks for a fella on my list with big feet. :o) Not sure of the yarn but it seems to be superwash because I can't spit join it. Most of the sock is 2x2 ribbing but there is a cruller cable running down both sides of the sock. It's hard to see in the picture. If you click on the pic you will see a bigger version and the cable might be more visible.



Next up is a pair of purple socks for a lovely young lady on my list.

Yellow Lace Scarf

This scarf is for my niece and I dare say it is definitely longer than she is tall! I knitted it lengthwise and should have cast on a few stitches less. I used a very nice yellow wool yarn I found online from Yarn Treehouse and a #9 circ. (This yarn would make pretty socks too.) I used a stitch pattern from Wrapped in Comfort, the Blue Jay Shawl. Alison gives stitch counts for every stitch pattern used in the shawls. She intended for people to be able to use the patterns for other things too.

Here are a couple of pics of it blocking. Hope you like!

Trilby Goes Home

In 1994 I had a dental appointment. It was about 4 blocks away from my home so I walked. Asleep on the doormat was a lovely fluffy kitten about 4 months old. Before I went in I stooped to pet the little thing. She was affectionate but not very energetic. The receptionist told me she had been sleeping on the doormat for several days and that they wouldn't let her in nor had anyone fed her. When I left I stopped and talked to her for a few minutes before I started to walk home. When I arrived at my doorstep I saw that she had followed me home! I let her in and she cautiously greeted the other cats, had a quick look around and staked out the kitchen. After a good meal and a long drink of water she rounded my ankles with a lovely trilling voice then curled up for a nap in Uncle Mitzie's favorite sun spot. Trilby was home!

We will miss Trilby's mischievous eyes, her fierce defense of the food bowl and her frisky personality. She passed over the rainbow bridge in her sleep tonight. I'm sure many Jack-O-lanterns lit her way. She never met a pumpkin she didn't like.

Finished purple lace

Here is a model (of sorts) wearing the purple Water Turtles shawl. Here also is a closeup of the design. The picture was taken flat on the ironing board but I rotated it so you could see how it would look hanging.





It is very light and delicate. I haven't tried but I might be able to get it through a wedding ring.

Now onward!

The Purple Blob blooms!

I know this is sort of cheating, but I just couldn't face getting down on the floor again. I ordered this blocking kit called Knitters Block. It's 9 large interlocking foam tiles with sort of a rough, carpet like covering. You can lay them out in whatever shape you need and they are very good for pinning.

So with the tiles and my blocking wires I decided to pin out the shawl while it was folded in half. Might take a little longer to dry but I think it will work ok. I will let you know.



This is The Water Turtles shawl from Wrapped in Comfort, knit with Knit Picks Shadow lace weight in the color Grape Jelly.

The Purple Blob!

Ok Lois, just for you!





I hope I didn't stop knitting too soon! Blocking tomorrow will tell. Cross your fingers!

More finished goodies!

Last Wednesday, 10/17 was my hubby Alex's 72nd birthday. He never tells me what he wants except more of what he already has plenty of. So I tend to take clues from other things he says. Like nagging me to make curtains for the dining room and Parlor and etc.

The old cotton curtains we hung when we moved in 20 years ago are just disintegrating and my sis had sent me a box of lace bolt ends from where she works with a designer. There was enough to do the dining room and one of the parlor windows, although we stretched it to cover both windows for now. So I've sent my sis these pictures and asked, "Please, may I have more?" Here's hoping!



The dining room.



The parlor.

And I've been crocheting some quick doily/coaster sets. The little pineapple doily takes about 5 hours and the coasters take a little over an hour each. I can even do them without the pattern now. That's a first for me! Won't tell who they're for in case they peek. :o) One more set I think and then I need to knit something. My yarn is fussing at me and I feel it.



Oh the little rainbow coaster is for one of my SIL's kitties who likes to carry around dainty things. Maybe I'll soak it in catnip. LOL!

A Nice Surprise and a FO

Hi Folks. I got a box from a publisher last week. I hadn't ordered anything from them so it was a bit of a puzzle. Inside was the pattern-a-day Crochet Calendar for 2008. Remember that filet crochet pattern I had submitted for this year's calendar? They sent it back and I thought that was that. Imagine my delight while leafing through the calendar to find my pattern on Monday, April 7th! Cool!





And the UFO currently blocking on my floor is Alison's Ann Arbor shawl from her book Wrapped in Comfort. It's for my SIL Mary, a red head who looks fab in greens. I told Alison that I was worried that it would come out looking like a sick chameleon but I'm relieved to say I quite like it. BIG difference in how it looks before and after blocking. First time I've used blocking wires too. I got the wires from Knit Picks and really like them.

I had to scootch around the floor on my fanny to get it all pinned out. Nothing else to pin it to but the rug. I'd love to use my bed but with 10 cats in the house it was more of a challenge than I wanted to face today. Maybe next time.



I used 10 shades of Knit Picks Palette. I can hardly wait for it to be dry!



Now I have to hurry up and finish sewing Alex's birthday present for this Wednesday, the 17th. Then back to making Christmas gifts!

Enchanted Forest Cardi is FINISHED!!!

Hope you like!



The buttons worked SO well! My only concern is that they might be a teensy bit heavy. I hope to try it on my brother Greg tomorrow to see how it "hangs". Click an any of the images for a close up look.



This is the tree I put on the sleeves.



And this is the panorama on the back.

SO glad this is finished! Now I have to find the perfect box. Seeya later!

Update - Blocking

Well, today I washed the Enchanted Forest Cardi. That's a LOT of sweater! Even after I rolled it in several layers of towel and foot massaged it, it was still heavy. Here are a couple of pictures of it being wet blocked on my dining room table.





Right now it is between layers of clean sheet on my studio floor with a fan blowing across it. The cats think it's something weird and walk all around it. Hopefully tomorrow I can get the buttons on and take some more pictures.

Til then...