Acceptance

I accept that I will not finish in time. I accept that I should have planned better. I accept that my last post was filled with denial. I accept that next year, I'll have a better idea of how much time I'll need for everything. I accept even tho I won't have everything finished, I'm still awesome for doing so much.
Have a Merry Christmas!

Christmas knitting sucks

The problem with doing nothing but knitting gifts? There isn't much time to blog about said gifts. Although you should stop every now and then so you don't get a charlie horse in your pinky. Ask me how I know. I did knit 2 non-Christmas things. Both hats. Both I designed. The first one, I cast on to try not to freak out about everything (Christmas, my grandfather, my stupid car that is only a few years old and was refusing to start, christmas knitting and I do realise how backwards that is) and finished it in a day or so.

Yarn: Plymouth Baby Alpaca (I think grande? whatever the bulky is) I have no idea what the colors are, the orange was a skein I had laying around and the tan is from the simple cowl I made.
Needles: 10.5 US and the top was knit on 8's because I had some and was too lazy to go get other ones.
Pattern: My own.


I love it, it's so warm and soft. I might have said this before, but I adore this yarn. Yes, it does shed, but I want to roll naked in it no matter what. It's that nice. The 2nd one is closest to the color.
The second hat I made for my dad's birthday. I was so worried while knitting it that he would hate it, but thankfully he loves it.

Yarn: Patons Classic merino in a brown and green, which might have been called Dark deep? olive.
Needles: 7 US
Pattern: My own. I'm thinking of writing both of the patterns up next year sometime.

Doesn't it look like camouflage? I'm saying that I totally planned for it to look that way. Makes me seem even more awesome.
I have one gift down and 5 to go (shut up I know). 1 of them will be finished sometime today (while praying that the power doesn't go out cause of the winds) and another one I'll knit tonight. I finished one of my mom;s socks so I'm hoping to finish (ahem, and start) the other one soon. That leaves 2. One of them will take a few hours tops, and the other is just a very very long strip of crochet (Stop laughing. It's doable) which shouldn't take that awfully long (STOP LAUGHING). If I can keep to the plan I made up, which should be a shock since I haven't been able to, everything should be finished by Thursday. Why are you laughing? I can do it. Probably. Maybe. Oh god
freaks out

We interrupt your previous scheduled knitting to bring you

Christmas knitting. Which is what I'll be doing for the next few weeks. I'm hoping to have it all done before December. Very optimistic of me huh? I'm only knitting for my parents so it shouldn't be that bad. Right? Never mind, don't tell me.
For my mother, I'm making a pair of socks
, a pair of mittens or fingerless gloves, and maybe a hat or scarf. Dad is getting a felted fedora (the pattern is from folk hats), a remote cozy, and a felted lunch bag. Also I'm making a bathmat (shower mat really, since it's for the shower). I can do all that. Right? Again, don't tell me.
Here's the sock so far. the yarn is Opal rain forest, color is lilly, I think.


The needles are 2 mm, size 0. If you didn't know, 2mm needles are very pointy and sharp. How do I know this? Let me show you.


My first knitting related injury! I sat down and the needle scraped my foot. It looks worse then it is. It's just a scratch, but my camera makes it looks worse.
I did manage to spin up a small batt I got as a sample from flawful fibers. I borrowed a Jesh spindle from my mom and did this in about an hour.

I'm going to use it in a pair of fingerless mitts in some fair isle.
Miss Marple, it seems, can't wait for her first christmas here.

She was very pissed at me after I took that, but really, how cute is she?

Drop spindling in an ER

Will cause you to get lots of stares. And no one will talk to you. I know this because I have done this not once, but twice in as many weeks. The first time was about a week and a half ago. I took mom to the ER because her migraine was really bad. The second time was Wednesday. Mom's blood pressure was very high, so I took her (yet again) to the ER. They did some tests, had her hooked up to some things and gave her some shots for her migraine and a pill for her BP. I think it's time they gave us a card. You know, one of the "after 10 ER visits, your 11th is on us!" thing.
I did finish my "fall is almost here" socks, just in time for fall to be almost over. The yarn is Happy feet, which so far, seems to be very nice. Other then a bit of fuzzing. Pattern is garter ribbing from Sensational Socks, and I cast on 64 stitches on 2.75mm.

I decided to make a quick knit, which turned out to be a calorimetry. The yarn I used is what's called for, 127 print. I don't know what color since I lost the band quite some time ago. But it's very yellow. Does that help?
After casting on 120 stitches and getting more then halfway thru, I was thinking it might be a bit too big. So I threaded the stitches onto some scrap yarn and looked. It could have been more then half of a sweater for me. It was crazy how big it was. Off to the frog pond. Then, Wednesday, I put it in my knitting bag for the ER. I had read thru some of what people wrote about it on Ravelry, so I cast on 94 stitches and knit almost the whole thing in the ER. I got home, cast off and it was promptly stolen by my mom. It still needs a button, but she has to pick it.
Here it is being modeled by Miss Marple. I believe the look on her face says it all.

And here's a photo of it laid out

I have some of the same yarn (different color then this, the color I have is the tan like the original) which I can't wait to make for me. I know it's been said, but this is so fast and a lot of fun to knit. Also a plus is that it doubles as a neck warmer. I really want to make one in some nice bright hand spun. How great would that look?
As for WIP's, I have a baby sweater that needs to be finish this weekend, mom's Jaywalker sock, I'm hoping to seam my sweater, which is waiting not so patiently in a very pretty soft pile some secret knitting (NO I won't tell you. Stop asking Stop. Ok, tiny photo. And it is not what you think. ) and this

It's the cable braid for Coronet. I'm in love with it. There is a chance I might be dreading picking up the stitches then, but we won't talk about that. We will talk about this

Which is my pretty spindle (that I got at rhinebeck) and yummy malabrigo-like yarn. I got the roving up in Rhinebeck from Holiday Yarns and it doesn't seem that they sell roving on the site. Which is such a shame. Asta thinks it great nomming yarn

NO YARN WAS HARMED IN THE TAKING OF THESE PHOTOS I was trying to get Asta to sniff the yarn for a cute photo and she didn't seem to keen on that so she attacked it without hurting it

RHINEBECK!

I'm back from rhinebeck! My mother and I went to the festival, which was amazing. I got some awesome stuff like STR mills end and rare gems (which I stood in line for twice, once to get into to booth and then I stood for about an hour to pay for it), Ellen's half pint, some spindles (my mom got me a spindle from Jesh for Christmas! It's so pretty), fleeces (Umm, I kinda went INSANE in the fleece building and got ummm 7. Yah. INSANE) my parents got me a spinning wheel that I'm not allowed to touch till Christmas. I love it. It's a kromski, the traveling one. I haven't named it yet, I figure I have time. I met Franklin, who's so sweet

(he signed my book, "Love you, love the boobs! (in case you don't know, I'm known in the cpa group on rav for having huge boobs). I didn't take a lot of photos because I was having so much fun, I forgot. But I had a blast. And now I'm sick. I had bronchitis before we left and thought I was over it, but turns out I wasn't so it came back. Now, I can't visit my grandfather since I'm sick. I didn't blog about that hellish ordeal did I? Here it goes, the short version. On Monday, (the week we leave for rhinebeck) my mom is told that her dad is getting kicked out on Thursday. This was after being told on Friday that he would be in there for another few weeks. She has 2 days to find a place for him. While doing things for rhinebeck. So after spending all of Tuesday on the phone, she has some meetings to see places the next day (Wednesday). She tours them and picks one (which we'll talk about later). Thursday, she has to pick him up and take him to the new place, sign a billion papers, and stuff like that. She's done with everything at about oohh 7pm? We then drive to Weavers (country store, think department store) to get sneakers (I got silver and pink) came home packed and then Friday, we left for rhinebeck. Needless to say, we were pooped.
About the place he's at now. When my mother went to tour the place, there were people playing games and having fun, she assumed that he would like it there. All he does now is call up and say how bored he is and that there's nothing to do. Now, every time she goes there, no one is playing any games or in the common rooms. My parents are going to talk to the people tomorrow because there is a move-in fee of $750 and mom is thinking of putting him someplace else since he hates it so much. You have to give 30 days notice, so whats the point of paying the VERY large "move-in" fee if he's going to leave next month? We'll see how that goes.
Since it's been quite a while since my last post (I swear, I'm going to post more, now that I don't melt when knitting with wool, or when I touch anything) I do have some FO's. I need to get some photos for some of them, like my dads balaclava. It's DONE! Took about a year to make, and I might have been crying in joy when I bound it off. That's the only thing I worked on at rhinebeck, I was so determined to finish it. It's sooo perfect and he loves it. Over the weekend, I'll try and get a picture. I made a cowl that I also need a FO pic, I knitted the Subway mittens which need to be sewn up and photographed (since I don't ride the subway, I've decided to call them Runny nose mitts. I'm going to keep tissues in the pocket)I did finish the Swirly O's socks from the knitters book of patterns (if you don't have the book, you have to get it. It explains so much, and the patterns are great. And it's on sale at knitpicks this month!).

Yarn is Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Wild raspberry, needles were 3.25 mm (what was called for), and I don't think I did any mods. There are 3 repeats on the foot which isn't the 6'' they called for, but I like it better this way.
I also made my very first pair of fetchings! I now get why this is so popular. When I was finished binding off the thumb, I had this much left.

The yarn is Noro Cash Iroha in a gold color, needles 6 (as called for) Mods~ I knit 15 rows instead of 18, 3 thumb rows instead of 4, and I bound off in the rib pattern.
Love the pattern, we'll see how the yarn holds up. I'm wearing them as I type. Incredibly warm. I think I'll be making a lot of these this winter.
I have been doing a bit of spindling. I got this batt from an etsy seller since I bought some of her yarn.
I think it's an ounce so I'm trying to think about what to make out of it. Maybe a headband? Bookmark? Right now, I'm spinning up some roving I got at Rhinebeck. O.M.G. Its like spinning malabrigo. And I'm using one of my new spindles! It's beyond yummy.
Now that I caught you up, I need to get to bed. Tomorrow, I'm seeing Meatloaf! YAHH!!!!

Fall!

I love fall. The changing leaves, the crispness in the air, wearing wool sweaters once again. Apple pies, pumpkin pies, hearty stews, the ability to cook in the kitchen without melting. I am so glad to be done with summer (but I'm sure by the time new years rolls around, I'll be bitching about how cold it is and that I want to move to Hawaii) and I can tell that fall is coming, the cats are covering their nose with their tails, I feel the need to bake, and the most overwhelming thing is it's cold! Since it's changing into fall, I thought I would do a change. I got my hair done the other day, and I had strawberry blond reddy highlights put in.

LOOK!it's me!
I also got a brighter blue in the back (you can't see it when my hair is down, but when it's up you can). It's somewhat darker then my eyeliner.
And in knitting news, I finished a sock!

I'll be casting on for the other one tonight so I don't get SSS. Which I think I have on my mom's Jaywalkers. They were supposed to be done for Mothers day, but I kinda got sidetracked. I'm going to try and finish them soon so maybe she can wear them at rhinebeck! Which is about 3 weeks away. gulp

Some knitting, crocheting and spinning.

Life is so hectic, so I haven't had time to blog. A while ago, I said that my grandfather had a stroke. Well, we were told all along that he probably would never be able to go home again. Then about 2 week ago, the rehab place where he's at, said that they wanted to do a home evaluation. This came a day after we were told, yet again, that he would need to go into an assisted living home. So, that's what we did last week. It didn't go so great. More to the point, he didn't do well. And he can't understand that even though a few things need fixing (carpeting needs to be tacked down, another banister needs to be put in) why he can't go home. He leans to the right (and since my mother knows how much I abhor that song, every time she says to the right, she sings the damn song) and can hardly walk up the steps. Right now, the rehab is showing him use a cane instead of a walker so he can maneuver better. And then in about a week, we have to find a place for him to live until he gets better. So that is whats been going on. Rather boring huh?
I haven't had much time to knit, but I did manage to knit the Foliage hat. I love this hat. the pattern was great and very easy to follow. It's a pretty quick knit and I bet you could have it done in a weekend. I won the yarn (which is yummy) at Stitches east last year. It's Mmmmmmalabrigo in red.

I did knit a bit on a sock. I'm on the gusset now. And yes, that is magic loop. I know I use 2 circs, but I when I cast on, it was the nearest needle in the right size.

After I finished my Autumn leaves hat, I realized that I didn't have any crochet WIP's, so I went and dug in my Stash, and came out with a skein of Paton's Wool in Good earth. I decided to do one of those tiny very long scarves. Using an H, or 5.00mm I did a single crochet. This is what I have so far. So fally!

I have been SPINNING! On my spindle. The roving is from Flawful Fibers and it's Corriedale in the color Coma Garden.

How pretty is that?! I love how it looks like a Monet painting. I'm thinking about making a scarf out of it. Maybe the Yarn Harlot's One row hand spun scarf? Or perhaps My so called scarf? I'll have to wait and see what it looks like knit up.
That's it for now. I did make shortbread last week. Want some?

September??

No! Already? I won't believe it. Change it. I still have a gift to knit for last Christmas. I refuse for it to be September. *taps foot, waits for time to reverse* No huh? Guess I should knit more then.
Speaking of, I finished my Ravelympics bag on time!!!


The pattern is Felted Fair Isle bag by Pam Allen and the yarn is Cascade 220. I did change how the handles go on. The way the pattern had me doing it, I felt that it wouldn't hold. So I just did little tabs at the bottom of the i-cord and then (my mom) sewed them on. I'm not that good at sewing.
I love it! I'm going to make a coin purse and a cell phone carrier sometime soon. I was thinking of making the cell phone carrier in the top design, the yellow and black. And the coin purse in the V and + design, which I think even though it was the hardest one, is my favorite.
After casting off the bag, I went and cast on for a sock (of course). I had this pattern all picked out, easy, mostly k2,p2 with one row requiring me to use my brain. So after trying to knit the damn pattern 7 times (frogging and knitting frogging and knitting, I did this for an entire day) I decided to knit a garter ribbing. I have no idea why the pattern wasn't working. But I really like how the garter ribbing is turning out in the yarn. It's Happy Feet, color 9. I love how fally it looks.


I was planning on knitting this rather quickly, then I decided that I'll knit a sweater, hat and booties for my father's friend, who just had a baby. Mason, weighing in at 9 pounds, 10 ounces. For the sweater, I got Cotton Kisses. It's a VERY adorable kit with everything you need to make a baby sweater. Yarn, 2 patterns and buttons. I'm not too sure I like the yarn though. If you drop a stitch, it's very hard to pick up. We'll see how it works out. I've finished the back and have the front and sleeves yet to do. I'm knitting the 12 month cardigan.

I did FINALLY finish my granny blankie that I've been knitting for almost a year. I have to get a FO pic as soon as I find a place that's big enough to lay it down.
I'm going to try and finish some UFO's this month. Like my sweater, my father's balaclava, my mom's jaywalkers and maybe even my cat bag. So here's hoping!
And Desi is doing great! He has a cold, but he's getting over it. He's SO big now! Asta loves him so much. It's so cute how they play together. He's learning how to be bad from Miss Marple, who is looking so healthy! Here's Asta and Desire sleeping. How cute are they?

I've been tagged for the 6 quirky things meme by Erqsome.
The rules:

1) Link to the person who tagged me
2) Mention the rules
3) Tell six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about myself
4) Tag 6 other bloggers by linking to them
5) Go to each person’s blog and leave a comment that lets them know they’ve been tagged


The meme:
1. Somehow, I most always wind up picking up the second book in a series to read first.
2. I've had fake nails for years and I got so sick of them so I took them off this month.
3. I'm addicted to tote bags.
4. I'm double jointed.
5. I have high insteps and have a hard time finding shoes.
6. I have Eosinophilic Gastroenteritis

So, I'm tagging:
Beth
Susan
Lista
Robin
Heather
Nicola
So, I have a summer cold. Which is awful. All I'm doing is sleeping all day and then knitting my ravelympics bag for a little bit and sleeping again. I think I'm doing ok with my bag. I'm on row 65 out of 78. I have to knit the icords and felt it and then it's done. I'm thinking I might even finish ahead of time! Which finishing anything BEFORE I'm supposed to is a small miracle.

The game is on!

I started my Felted Fair Isle bag for the ravelympics. I've never done fair isle before, and I really like it! This is the bag yesterday!

And this is it tonight.

Pretty huh? Oh and see the little kitty in the bag? That's Desire, Dezi for short. Our newest kitty! Last Monday, my mom went outside to walk Asta and there were these two kitties! Which is so weird because the night before my parents were talking about how there are no outside kitties anymore. then BOOM! we have them.

So, my mom comes in the house screaming "OMG OMG OMG OMG! KITTY! KITTY! KITTY!" (not the letters OMG, Oh my god) we go out and see these two little kitties. I go in to get ready to go get my hair done and a few minutes later, mom comes in the house with a TEENY TINY kitty. He could hardly walk, since he was so little and underfed. In under 5 minutes, he had a name and a Vet appointment in a few hours. He had ear mites, fleas and worms, which is normal for an outside kitty. It's been a week and he's already grown! He loves playing with yarn (I see a big problem with that) and running and chasing things! It's amazing how much he's grown in a week. The cutest thing? Asta Adopted him! She barks if one of the cats tries eat his food or if she thinks the cats might hurt him. Isn't that ADORABLE?!?! I think I should explain about Dezi's name. A few months ago, my father said that the next cat we found, he wanted named desire. As in A StreetCAT named desire. I think it's so perfect for him.

Other than the bag, I haven't knit a thing! I did finish my scarf, pics to come soon. I have 1 and a half edges to finish on my HUGE granny square blanket, I started my second O sock, which I have the picot edging done, and half a repeat done. I need two repeats before I can do the heel. I did....... wait for it.... WAIT..... You ready?

SPIN!!! On my spindle! It looks ok for my first time. I think. I already ordered more roving! I think I might have a new addiction!

I did that in a day.I should have been knitting my bag, but I was having so much FUN! this week, I might try one of my mom's wheels.

I was tagged by emmus, so I'll try and do that in the next few days!

Catch-up!

Sorry about not blogging. There's been so much going on. Like,

A tree fell thru the house

The tree is gone now, but there are still holes in the ceiling. It was right next to where I sit in the family room.. Very scary. I was up in my bedroom when it happened watching the hail (yes there was hail) and lighting. No one was hurt, thank God. My hermit crabs got a dusting from the roof stuff, but they're ok. The animals were freaked out but ok. My parents cats (Autumn, Mouse and Lassie) all hid for a day. While mine (Sherlock, Miss Marple and Asta) all refused to leave my side for the rest of the night. It was very cute.

My knee. It still hurts. And since it's sprained (twisted whatever) I injury it more since it's weak. I slipped on a bag (that ironically I used to ice my knee) and twisted my knee and sprained my ankle. On my other foot. I am so good at doing things like that. Now, I'm on crutches and basically sitting around knitting and crocheting all day. Which I love, but I really want to get out and do stuff.

My grandfather had another stroke. It happened on Monday. We still don't know how bad it is, but as of now, he can't talk and has lost his balance a few times walking. He can mumble and stuff and he doesn't know my mom's name. He's going to be in the hospital for a week or more going to rehab. In fact, if he wasn't going to be going to rehab, they would have sent him home by now. Can you believe that? Not even a day after having a stroke, you would be sent home? That's awful. So if you could, please send some good thoughts his way.

Oh and since my mom took him to the ER, she took my car since hers was being worked on. And she had to use the valet. Who put HUGE freaking dent and scratch in my car. We're trying to get them to pay for the repair. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Since I've been sitting and knitting a lot more, I have a few FO's to show you:
My Baby Cable Rib socks

Knit in STR Spring fling. Look at that pooling! So cool!

Strawberry Fields Forever

still have to felt it. Felting means walking down to the basement, which I haven't been able to do.

Isn't Miss Marple a great model?

And a pair of Fingerless gloves named Ktb38 Hobo Mitts by Landolista.

Pretty huh? I made the pattern up, so just in case someone wants to make them, here it is. I used Moda Silk 'n Wool blend but you can use any worsted weight yarn.

On size 8's cast on 3o stitches. Join in the round, being careful not to twist it. Place marker. *knit 4 purl 2* around until it measures 4 inches, or however long you want it. For the thumb, knit in patt to the last 6 stitches. Bind off these 6 stitches. Continue and then when you get to the bound off stitches, cast on 6. Continue in pattern until it reaches 6 inches (or whatever you want). Bind off in pattern. Weave in ends.

It's so easy, and I made mine in a few hours. I hope that if you make them, you like them.

I'm going to making a purse (Felted Fair Isle bag) for the Ravelympics, so I'm trying to finish up a few UFO's before it starts. I finished one of my O's socks. It was my first time doing a short row heel, so it's a bit wonky.

I need to do some decreases on my sleeve, and then just knit the neck and seam and I have a sweater! I'm very excited.

I had to frog the toe of my mom's Jaywalkers. When I was doing the toe, I was really tired and didn't get the pattern, so I just did it my way. WAY to short. So I'm going to try again soon.

I was bad and did cast on one thing. A basic seed stitch scarf. Here's Miss Marple modeling again (I try and get Asta and Sherlock to model, but they don't like it.)

That's it for now.

No cupcakes yet!

You know how you think "I'm going to do this and it's going to be great!"? Well, that's what I thought about the cupcakes. I have everything I need to make them. But a few days after the polls closed, a propane (or as Carry says proPAIN) kneed me. I never get the cool injuries. I went and I saw the PA (yes, that PA there was no one else) and he said "Oh you just banged it". And that was it. This was about 2 weeks ago. It still hurts and it feels hotter than my other knee. I had an appointment with the Doctor today. Then I went to get X-rays on my knee. I was told it wasn't broken, so that's good. I might need to get shots to bring the swelling down.

Want to know why a propain tank kneed me? I was chasing after my new cat, Miss Marple. Heather's sister had this cat hanging around her house and didn't want to give it to a shelter so she asked her is she wanted it. Heather already has an a cat (Zuzu who is SOOOOOO cute) so then she asked if I wanted it. I said yes. Oh and if you go to Heather's blog, she has some kittens that need homes. This is Miss Marple Isn't she adorable? And she fits in great with everyone else.

I'm almost done knitting my little strawberry purse. It's been put on hold for a bit to knit some secret knitting things, but I am going to finish it very soon. I have one half already done, but I don't have a pic of that. This is just as I was getting into knitting the green ( or the stem)

Love the pattern. And it's just adorable.

On Ravelry, Gemnah and I started a group for a knit-along for the Seascape Stole. It's going to a lot of fun, so come join us! You don't have to knit it, you can be a cheerleader!

Just a quickie

Cupcakes won! I have everything to make them. I'm going to make chocolate cupcakes with 2 different frosting's. One will be a peanut butter frosting (made with fresh peanut butter) and the other is a yummy butter cream frosting/filling that my mom used to make. It's fantastic. I know I said I would make it on Saturday, but my mom's very good friend mother died. So I wasn't able to. But I am hoping to make them Monday or Tuesday.

My strawberry clutch is almost done. I finished half, cast on for the other side, got a bit into it, and messed up. So I frogged it. And then I re-cast on. Now I'm almost halfway through it. I LOVE it. I can't wait to use it.

Ok, that's all now. Here's a cute picture for you to look at! It's Asta crocheting!

June?

Already? Oh boy, I'll have to be a better blogger huh?

My nose is unbroken! Healed! Well, mostly. It still hurts every so often but nothing like it did. And I might not be having surgery. I have a deviated septum that drives me insane. On Monday, I'm having skin tests to see what I'm allergic to (I had a blood test already) and then my Doctor is going to treat it. If the septum doesn't get better with allergy shots and meds then we'll talk about surgery.

My mom is still getting migraines, though not as bad as she was getting. She's going to try and take things out of her diet and see if a food triggers it. Keep your fingers crossed we find out what's causing them!

Since my nose was broken, it was hard to knit and crochet. I couldn't look down for more then a few minutes at a time. I crocheted a few washcloths and finally finished the back and bottom of my cat bag. I'm now working on the sides. I am hoping to finish it up this week so I can felt it and use it.

I wanted a rather quick knit that was a bit more than mindless, but not so much that I couldn't watch a movie. So that's why I casted for the Strawberry Clutch. Which I'm calling Strawberry Fields forever.

Cute huh? I love it. I haven't gotten much done so far, but I was only working on it for about a little bit.
I did finished a sock today. The pattern is Baby Cable rib and the yarn is STR in medium weight, the colorway is Spring Fling, and it seems that you can't buy it anymore. So HA! I love the colors. So nice, and of course I love the yarn. I just looked on their website and fell in love with pride. It's so bright and colorful.

I've made a bit of progress on my other WIPs. I'm almost done with the gusset on my mom's mother's day present, Jaywalkers. Yes, I know it's past mother's day. Your point? In my defense, she has yet to make me this one shawl in Wrap Style. From Christmas.

I'm past the heel on my O's socks. Which brings me to something. Now, so you can understand what I'm going to tell you I guess I should say a few things. I'm 20 and I took a year off going to college to decide what I wanted to do. Then, last year my grandfather had a stroke and my mother started getting sick so she asked me not to go to college or get a job so I could help her out. I said yes. I help my grandfather out and my mom. Ok then.

About 2 weeks or so ago, I went into Yarn Gallery and asked for help on my O's. It had a short-row heel and I had never done one before. The owner wasn't there, but 2 employees were. One was off helping my mom getting yarn to make a lucy bag and the other was "helping" me with my sock. I explained what I needed help on and the woman's response? "Oh, I never did one off these. Just do a heel flap." So I explain to her that I don't want to do that I want to do a short-row heel. Her "You should just do a heel flap." At this point, I'm getting a bit pissed off. So I tell her no, I'm going to do a short row heel. And then she "helped" me. By helping, I mean telling me what I already knew. So I said thanks and decided I would look it up on the web. As my mom was paying for her yarn (and a skein of sock yarn for me) the employee who "helped" me asked in a very bitchy I am so better than you could ever be tone "Katie, do you have a job?" I said no, I help my mom and grandfather out. She (I swear) shook her head and did this tsk tsking sound and went back to her knitting. Then, as we were leaving, she said in the same tone "Katie, how old are you?" I said 20. And again she did the whole shaking her head and the tsk thing and went back to her knitting. This woman had no right to judge me like that at all. That she would say that at her place of work just boggles my mind. How could an owner let someone who treats her customers like that work in her shop? In this day and age when I could easily go on the web and buy the same yarn cheaper, but instead I went to support my local businesses. Well, no more. I'm never going back there again. And I urge you not to go either. Go to The Soxy Lady, or Oh Susannah in Lancaster, Yarn Calling in Kutztown (I've never been there yet, but I hear the owner is very nice). Some yarn shops think that no matter how they treat their customers, they will keep coming back. I read how people walk into shops and no one greeted, much less are asked if they need help finding something. I get that yarn shops can't compete with some of the online prices, but they can at least find it in them to be decent at the very least to their bread and butter. Right?

So anyway, I've decided to have a poll. See in the upper right hand corner? You get to vote for what kind of dessert I'll make on Saturday. The poll will close on Thursday, so I can get everything to make it on Friday. And bake it on Saturday. The choices are Lemon Bars (as requested by Hopi), Souffle, Coconut cake, Cupcakes and a surprise! So go vote!

It's been a busy month so far

I've been so busy! This might be a very long post. Bear with me. My mom migraine's did go away for a little while. But during the month she had the migraine, it cost a small fortune to get rid of it. And do you want to know why? At the family doctor's, there's the doctor and the physicians assistant. Now, since it's a small practice, the nurses and everyone knew why we where coming. Every time we went, she would get the PA. Here, the PA can't right certain prescriptions. Like strong meds that someone might need to get rid of a migraine. And she kept getting the PA. He would write out something for a drug and it would cost a lot. But we thought it would work. And then he would shoot her with some drugs. We did this at least 5 times. Every time she called to make an appointment, she would say this drug blah bub isn't working. You would think that they would say "I think the doctor should see you". You would think. But nope. The pa. The last time she went, she begged the PA to have the Dr. give her stronger meds. He refused. Ass. Since it seemed nothing was working, my mom tried alternative methods. Like this honey/vinegar in spring water thing. Which worked. So to sum up, it took over $900 dollars to help get rid of it. And a 3 cent remedy worked. Needless to say, we're a bit ( A LOT) pissed off at the doctors office.



So then, Monday morning (Sunday night whichever you look at it) at 1 am she started vomiting and guess what came back? Yup. Migraine. She couldn't even keep water down. Around 8:30 she had me take her to the ER. We got there and they gave her IV fluids (since she couldn't keep water down) and some shots for nausea. And since her migraine was coming back, they shot her up with pain meds. And they kept doing this. For hours. And hours. And I had to sit in some of the most uncomfortable chairs every made. But I did get some knitting done. We finally left at 6:30. I still cannot believe that they didn't admit her! If you can't keep water down something isn't right. Right?


Anyway, Sherlock disappeared last week, around Saturday. I looked everywhere. She was nowhere. Now, this is a cat who if she does get out, in a hour or two she would be crying to come back in. I had thought something really bad had happened to her. But something amazing happened. After almost a week of being missing, she came back. I still can't believe it.

Hmmmm... What else happened? Oh yeah, MY NOSE IS BROKEN. Yup. Broken. Well, fractured. Tuesday, I woke up really late (since I spent hours in the Er on Monday with my mom) and saw a wolf spider and told my mom to kill it (OK, so it might have been more of a "Oh my god!!! It's A SPIDER! KILL IT!) and she went to go kill it, lost her balance, and her elbow hit the bridge of my nose. I saw lightning and then collapsed to the floor in so much pain. I went to the Er (twice in as many days) and found out that it was broken. So much fun. I went to an ENT Friday and she said that it might take a month or more for it to mend. But the good news is that I didn't get black eyes. Though, I could have made up some good stories about how I got them.

Yesterday, I was out to eat with my mother and her father (it was his birthday) and my nose started hurting. I didn't think anything of it. But then, half of my face felt really hot. And I felt like my nose was swelling up. Which it was. So I called the ENT, got the nurse and she said to go to my Dr. right away. Which I did. He gave me antibiotics and Tylenol 3. It could be a sinus infection. But he doesn't know. So now, I have to ice my nose for 10 minutes on, 20 minutes off. I might be seeing the ENT again next week but I don't know so we'll see.




Since my nose got broken, I didn't finish my mom's Mother day gift. Which is going to be a pair of Jaywalker socks.









I didn't want to knit them while in pain and on pain meds because my gauge would be messed up. So instead, I crocheted a blue washcloth (cause you can never have too many)






and I knit a pair of fuzzy feet for myself. The yarn is Lambs Pride Worsted and the color is Ocean waves, which is somewhat new. It's shaded a little bit which is very nice. I love them. They're HUGE! I'm going to felt them tonight.




And when I felt them, I'm going to felt this. It's the Sophie bag (from magknits when magknits was still around). I made this a few weeks ago. I was sick over the weekend and wanted to knit something that I could finish. And not mess up while I was sick. The yarn is Cascade 220 and I forgot the color.


I think it's such a cute summer/spring purse.

Speaking of purses, I finally finished the front of my Cat on the bag. I'm now knitting the back and then I'll knit sides and a bottom since the gauge is messed up. This was my very first Intarsia.



And now I must go ice my nose.