Another one finished!

Alex's Christmas sweater is finished! Well, still needs buttons, washing & blocking. BTW, the colors are messed up in the pictures. The blues are actually dark green. All the colors are much darker and “manly”. I keep seeing old, brown, leather buttons in my mind’s eye. I hope to get a picture of it being worn on Christmas, so stay tuned!

Two UFOs Finished!

I am SO pleased! Finished MY purple FLS and it fits just fine too.




AND...

That project I tried twice and both were dismal failures? Third time's a charm right? RIGHT! Finished it and it fits and it's gorgeous!




What next? The rest of my UFOs are long term projects and I have some gifts to make. So... time to make a list!

The car? Still at the Dealer's body shop. Maybe tomorrow?

Body Shop & FLS Update

Sooo, my little new car has been in the shop for a week and a half. The dealer just got the last needed parts today. Hopefully it can come home by next Friday. The shop will have had my car longer than I had! I still haven't learned its name or whether it's a he or a she. We'll have to get to know each other all over again. *sigh* Got the check from the insurance company today along with a copy of the 4 page repair estimate, in small print! WOWIE!

So I've been keeping myself sane with my knitting, as usual. Just finished the body of my FLS and am about to start the sleeves. Maybe it'll be finished by the time my car comes home. Fingers crossed!

September already!

Can't believe how time is flying! The older I get the faster it goes. Or maybe it's just me who is slower? Whatever, I've been busy as usual. Our nephew bought a new car on a "clunker" deal and brought it by to show us. I was very impressed with the car and the price. Our 14 year old Saturn wagon has been having bits & pieces break down so I went to see if I could get a good deal myself. And I did! Honda FIT Sport in "Tidewater" blue. We just call it "Barely" blue.

The night we brought it home my body decided to betray me big time. It felt like King Kong was squeezing me in his fist. None of my usual remedies did any good and the pain just got worse and worse. So Alex & I spent the night in E.R. finding out it wasn't my heart or my gall bladder. "Just nerves" they said after the morphine finally took the pain away. Good grief!!! I was SO sore the next entire week I could barely walk. It wasn't like any panic attack I've ever heard described and the doctors didn't actually call it that. But I'll be darned if I can figure out what else to call it. I never thought of myself as the type to be prone to something like that. Live and learn I guess?

Then last week my lovely little 2 week old car was the victim of a hit and run. Both passenger doors and a rear quarter panel will be replaced sometime this week. The driver has been tracked down and, of course, doesn't have insurance. My insurance (good ol' State Farm) has been taking good care of everything though. My car was parked and I wasn't there. But an anonymous witness called it in so the police were waiting for me when I came back to my car. Them are some good guys!

I will see if I can get copies of the pictures the police took.

So what have I been accomplishing? I made these for my Mom's birthday.




I finished my blue duster and it fits very nicely.




And I'm trying to finish my own purple FLS.



Oh yeah, and I got another Ginny, a Bonny Lass!




And the gInny that was dressed as a Polish peasant girl now has a lovely new outfit.



One of these days I plan to take a break from knitting/crocheting a sew some new dresses for my dolls. My SIL just rolls her eyes and says uh huh. Like I can't find time to put down my knitting? Well...

July update

Ok, long past due for an update. Missed June altogether! So, where were we? Oh, I was waiting for yarn to finish the Botanica. It is finished but needs blocking and someone to model it. My manikin is too shaped like me. LOL

Finished the leafy shrug but was totally unhappy with it. Frogged and started a different design. Since this was the 3rd try I didn't take any pictures, didn't tell anyone about it, didn't want to jinx it! Ran out of yarn again and ordered more. Back ordered of course. It is now waiting to be finished.

The problem with having to wait for more yarn is that I start other projects. Can't stand not to be working on something.

Bought an afghan kit I've always wanted and started it. It is waiting now.



Had to make some more hats. Alex calls it a "watch cap with a bill". Another one for Alex, one for my brother Greg and one for nephew Alec.







Then I got all interested in my Ginny doll who needed some decent clothes. I joined 3 Ginny doll groups and designed a nice little version of the famous February Lady Sweater for her. A link to the (free) pattern is in my links list.







Started hunting on eBay for outfits and found one lot of four that I liked. Won them and was very surprised when 4 Ginny dolls came with the clothes! The bride and the one in plaid pants are called "skinny Ginnys" and their clothes don't fit the other Ginnys. The blond with the green sweater and the brunette in the swimming outfit are most like my original Ginnys (which are long gone) and are from the 80s. The 2 larger 10" dolls on the upper left came from a quilt show long ago and are hand made with cloth bodies and soft plastic heads, hands and feet.



Oh yes, my sister Nini needed a birthday present so I made her this. She likes it!



Oh and I started another purple FLS for ME! Got the body joined and put it on hold to start...



this, which was supposed to be a swim cover-up because I started swimming laps again. Anyway the yarn, a cabled Aran cotton from Elan, is just too heavy. So I will finish this to be the jacket it wants to be. Oh yeah, it's crocheted.



So I started another, a "duster" with what I thought was an acrylic mystery yarn that I had a lot of. Turned out to be a different mystery yarn and not acrylic. If I had finished this and thrown it into the washer you would have heard me scream coast to coast! Frogged it and took up a cone of machine knitting yarn in the same gauge and the right color and am happily crocheting away.




So that's where I am right now, beavering away on my blue duster. My goal for the summer in swimming laps is to gain enough strength (build muscle, loose fat) to be able to get out of the pool by myself and not have to use the silly lift chair. See, when they renovated the pool they took out the steps! Now there are only nitches in the wall which is great if you are strong enough to pull yourself straight up. I'm not (yet). I try to do 20 or more laps every other day if life doesn't get in the way. Ok! Back to the duster!!!

Socks!

While waiting for my rescue yarn to get here I picked up a pair of socks I had put down last year when I needed to get my Christmas knitting done. They are based on Jeannie Townsend's Cascading Leaves pattern. Jeannie’s sock would never fit me as designed. So I redesigned it to fit my big, hard calves, many times sprained/broken/permanently swollen ankles and insteps. They fit me perfectly! This is the first pair of socks (other than thick bedsocks) that I’ve knit for myself. :o)



My rescue yarn came yesterday so back to Botanica!

Out of yarn!

Well, it happened as predicted. 294 rows done out of 384 needed. Found a skein and a half for sale and it is in the mail to me from Florida.



So I spent time entering all my knitting books & magazines into my Ravelry library. It's pretty cool. If I click on anything in my library I get a list with pictures of all the projects in the book or magazine. If I click on a project I get a list of all the other folks who have done the project. I can see pictures of what their projects look like, what different yarns they used, notes they made. It's like a knitalong for every project!

Then I entered all my knitting needles and crochet hooks, except the steel ones because the form isn't set up for that yet. All of Ravelry is a work in progress. It is still a Beta and is already so big they are getting a new server.

My Summer Interweave Knits just arrived. Gotta go!

Time flies...

Well folks, I really must apologize! It has been a busy year so far and I am loving it!

Alison lost her colon unfortunately. But she is home and much better now and trying hard to gain weight. What a problem to have eh?

The reverse mortgage went through and it was SUCH a joy to pay off all our bills. So far living on our income is working fine. My biggest worry now is what happens when I am widowed and have to pay off the loan so I don't loose my home. I'm working on it.

Meantime I have been knitting like mad. I mean, I'm really on a roll!

I had all this gorgeous red CotLin from KnitPicks and made this for me. Yeah, it's crocheted. But I love it!



A purple February Lady Sweater that was supposed to be for me. But since my sis is a "purple person" and would probably rip it off my back, she will get it for Christmas. I have the perfect buttons for it.




Then there was this really neat hat I just had to make. Alex is modeling it but his friend took it right off his head. So I will make another and maybe e few for gifts.




And then SIL Mary's birthday was coming up and she loved the purple FLS. But she's a red head and loves green so I took her yarn shopping and made this. She's a happy girl!




Then I took some time and finally got most of my yarn stash posted on Ravelry. That was a job! I still have more to post but I was so itchy to be knitting again so I made this hoodie for my niece Mary. She loves yellow. She doesn't know about it yet. I plan to get a pic or 2 of her in it someday.




Then my new Vogue Knitting mag came and the cover got me all excited. So I started the Botanica Medallion Cardi for my other niece Laura. She looks exquisite in coral and I had this in my stash so... I am hoping to swap with another Raveler for a few more skeins to finish it.




I'm up to 140 rows on the outer ring so I'll take another pic tonight.

I'm gonna be 61 in a couple of weeks. Maybe I'll get yarn???

Aran Isle Slippers & M&Ms

As you've seen in a prior post I have been knitting Aran Isle Slippers as gifts. The pattern is in the Holiday issue of Interweave Knits (pg. 80). I found the single sole to be rather thin and flimsy So I knitted 2 more soles, 2 stitches narrower than the originals, and sewed them into the slippers, wrong sides together. It makes for a cushier sole, puts a stockinette side against the foot for more comfort and stabilizes the shape of the slippers. The slipper soles are shaped to be right and left so the second sole for a right slipper should be a left sole and vice versa. And I made the inner soles 2 stitches narrower so there wouldn't be any bunching when it is sewn in. It fits perfectly.

These are for my SIL Maria.




The M&Ms? I'm eating the red ones as a visualization of red blood cells in honor of my friend Alison who is fighting for her life. She has Lupus which is when the body's immune system goes crazy and attacks its own body in error. One of the things it has done to Alison's body is to cause Crohn's which is a devastating disease all by itself. Alison's doctors have the nearly impossible task of trying to get the immune system toned down enough that it stops trying to kill the whole body and just do the once-in-a-while job it is supposed to do. She has just started on Humira to do just that and stop her from bleeding to death with Crohn's.

When your body is fighting an infection you have a lot of white blood cells running around in your body. Alison has waaay too many. She needs more good, robust, healthy red blood cells so I am visualizing on her behalf by eating the red M&Ms. Does that make any sense? I've been praying for Alison for many years and I thought maybe I could mentally send some more power to her battered body. I hope it's not just a silly excuse to eat red M&Ms. :o)

Alison's blog, http://spindyeknit.com/, is on my list of favorites if you want to take a look. She's a fighter with a positive outlook on life. She is a gentle soul who is always doing something kind for someone else. She is loved and prayed for by many but there is always room for more. She's been too sick to read her email but she can read her blog comments on her laptop without having to sit up. So we are leaving lots of comments on her blog. If you go over tell her Gretchen sent you!

Big Day!

It's been an exciting and nearly overwhelming day for me so I thought I would share a bit.

First, My Delaware Holly slipper sock pattern went up for sale on the Sockathon website today. A new experience for me. It looks like this.



Second, we got our property appraisal for our reverse mortgage today, A LOT more than we expected for our old Victorian that we bought "as is" 21 years ago. Still hard to wrap my mind around being able to pay off all our bills and live comfortably without using credit ever again.

Third my baby brother's first novel came in the mail from my Mom. I'm proud of my baby brother!

Found out we have to arrive at the hospital at 6:30am for Alex's 8am surgery on Wednesday. Getting up at 5am is not a pleasant aspect for this old night owl!

And lastly, I finished my brother Greg's Aran slippers, a late Christmas gift.



Not a bad day! Except for 2 very sick friends that I am very anxious about, 2009 has promising beginnings. I will keep praying! Bless us all!

Happy New Year!!!

Well folks, here's to a much better New Year, for us ALL! We are SO ready! Alex has surgery for his cantaloupe next week, finally. And, if all goes well, our reverse mortgage should be coming together in a couple of weeks. It will be so good to pay off the bills, buy groceries without credit and not worry constantly about how to pay the next bill. Seems this old Victorian we have lived in for 21 years is worth a lot more than we paid for it.

So, here are a bunch of pictures I have been saving up for my blog.

Our modest little Christmas tree.



Finished Bramble Bag for my SIL Mary.



My clean studio just before the house appraisal.



Alex giving the kitties a taste of some new kitty crunchies he just brought home from the store.



Necklaces knitted for my nieces. I made extra balls for kitty toys because they kept running off with the ones for the necklaces.



Nephew Seth's Candy Corn afghan.



And our little Christmas table waiting for company.