Monday, April 28, 2008

FInally

Yes, finally there will be some pics in this post and I am not lying. I havent been in the mood to really blog either with so much happening around here. My birthday came and went and we had a small cake the day we went out to eat and then we had another on my birthday.
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Birthday cake
I received a few phone calls on my birthday and a lot of e-mails from people whom I have become friendly with over the years. Its nice to be remembered by friends. However, it is extremely upsetting to not get a phone call from my one and only infamous sister. We all know the back story on her and I promise not to rehash it again. From what my Mom told me I am not the only one that she has been treating like shit. Well, I can guarantee that I am HER ONLY sister and I did have cancer and she did treat ME in an extremely bad manner. My parents cant say that and they dont know what it feels like to be sick and in need of help and not get it from your one and only sister whom DID promise to help me when I found out my diagnosis. Anyway, I didnt expect her to call because she didnt call me when Ernie died.

Sampson has also been getting bigger every day and he is actually looking more and more like a dachshund. His muzzle is elongating and his body is also elongating. He is still crazy with energy and is a riot to watch, especially when he runs at full speed into a wall or a piece of furniture. Here is the pain in the butt at 4 months old.
Sampson @ 4 months

My husband and I were supposed to go see the Yarn Harlot together but our plans fell through because our son got sick and we felt better about him staying home with him. Sometimes when he gets a cough he has problems breathing and needs nebulizer treatments so I was nervous about leaving him with my Mom. I did go see Stephanie and she was a hoot! I got to WEBS just as 1,000 knitters were all purchasing their spoils of war at the same time. I started walking to the Calvin Theater and left my car in the WEBS parking lot which was the best idea ever because I made it back to WEBS in time to be the second person in line to have Stephanie sign my book. There were literally 1,000 knitters there and I had time to shop because they were all in line. Well, not all of them but it gave me time to shop and I was very good and didnt spend more than $100, if you can believe it. There was a 25% off sale on all sock yarn for the event so I had to get some of that. I bought the Giselle pattern by Marnie MacLean which I absolutely love and I cant wait to make it (who knows when that will be). I also bought some of my favorite Bue Sky Cotton in a gorgeous aqua blue appropriate enough for a boy or a girls Presto Chango.
Here is the famous Yarn Harlot at WEBS
The Yarn Harlot @ WEBS

I finally made some jewelry if you can believe it.
Jewelry
Jewelry
Jewelry
Jewelry
Jewelry

Friday, April 18, 2008

I'm Still Here

Its been a long time since I paid attention to my blog. There's a lot happening around here and I've neglected it, plain and simple. My daughter is receiving Communion in a few weeks so we are preparing for that. My dog just died and we got a new pup who demands a lot of attention. The weather has finally been warmer and we've been enjoying it. There are a million reasons why I haven't been here.

The kids have had the past week off for spring break and my husband has been using them to help fix things around the house and in the garden. I came home the other day to find my 5 year old son using the leaf blower. Good thing its an electric and not a gas powered one. My hair dryer is probably more powerful, LOL. Funny but true. Then the following day they fixed one of the steps that lead up to our house from the drive way. They got to help their Dad to mix the cement and make a mold for the step. It looks pretty good now and by doing it themselves and not having someone do it for us saved us a bunch of money. Even though the bag of cement wasn't cheap it probably still was cheaper. It pays to have a handy husband!

While they have been keeping busy with my husband and playing with the puppy I have been attempting to finish up the stitch markers that I am making for Woolgirl's Joe Cool Kit due to go out in May. She asked me if I would like to design a stitch marker for the club and I told her it would be an honor to do so. She sells some of my stitch markers in her online yarn shop. I cant wait to see how people like them. No secrets will be revealed here!

Speaking of Woolgirl, I received the first sock club shipment a couple of days ago and its fabulous! (Sorry no pics) She runs a fabulous sock club and the extras that she puts in the kits are awesome. Her sock club is right up there with Blue Moon's Rockin' Sock Club in my opinion, maybe even better because of all the little extras she puts in there. I haven't started the sock yet because I am currently working on the Rockin' Sock Club's March Kit, LEAFLING along with my LYS, Knitting Centrals January kit. I know I am a bit behind with the other clubs, even last years RSC but I promised myself that while trying to catch up with last years kits I will finish this years RSC kits first, before other clubs kits. Even though my LYS runs a fabulous sock club I dont think I am going to be joining again next year because its to much work to keep up and I do want to use up the sock yarn I have been accumulating over the past 2 years. I don't think I can ever use up all the sock yarn I have. Yup, there is a lot but I do think there are a lot of people who surpass me in that department. Plus, sock yarn doesn't count as stash. My Knit Picks order arrived the other day and I am in love with their Harmony Circs. I ordered the 2.25mm 40" and the 2.75mm 40" circs because Addi only makes 2.50mm and 3.00mm 40". Along with the circs I also got some yarn to dye with Kool Aid and some Felici which I started making a toe up sock with. Its very soft for a yarn with nylon in it. I am going to have to get more of that stuff (as soon as I use up what I bought). My Mom's Mother's Day gift is coming along but I cant really talk about it to much here.

I finally signed up for one of the classes my LYS is offering with Charlene Schurch. She is coming for two days to teach classes on sock design one day and heel design the next. I decided to take the heel one because I always change up the heels that are in a pattern. Knitting Central has been waiting over two years for her to come to teach a class. Charlene Schurch's books are my bibles for figuring the proper numbers and such to make a perfect sock.

One of the main reasons I haven't been around to write in my blog has been because of fear. I had my scheduled PET Scan a few days ago and am awaiting the results. The reason I am afraid of the results are because I have had a serious case of laryngitis the past 4-5 weeks. At first I though that maybe I was yelling to much and that was the reason for the loss of voice. Even with resting it and taking it easy my voice hasn't improved and every time I talk on the phone or to anyone they ask me if I have a cold or if I am sick. No, I am not sick and I don't have a cold. I wish it was that easy but I am afraid nothing is ever easy when it comes to my health. I think ultimately I have to see an ear, nose and throat surgeon. I happen to have a great one who has done surgery twice on me already. He removed my tonsils the first time and my thyroid the second. I think that maybe he is in a competition with my plastic surgeon to see who can do the most surgical procedures on me. No matter the winner would probably be my anesthesiologist. We are on a first name basis, even worse I call him by his nickname which is a shortened version of his last name. Yup, thats when you know you've had to many operations.

Pictures of something next time, I promise.

Monday, April 07, 2008

Serendipity

I finally finished my Rockin' Sock Club Kit from January. Here they are in all their Dragon Dance glory:

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Specs: January's Rockin' Sock Club Kit, Color: Dragon Dance, Pattern: Serendipity, Needles: Addi Lace Size 1 (2.50mm) 47", Two at a time on one circular.

The only complaint I have about these socks is that I should have made the heels a little wider and not made them so narrow. I dont have pointy heels and I havent met many people who do so I am not sure who this pattern was made for. They do fit well so its not a big complaint. I also wish that I would get less pooling and more striping. When I look at others finished socks I see beautiful striping and all mine has is pooling. Pooling can be pretty too so again its not a major complaint.

Today I frogged the second Presto Chango I was making for a friend of my husbands who had a baby last fall. I wasnt liking the yarn (Cotton Ease by Lion Brand) and how it was coming out in the pattern. I have a million baby patterns and I have to get going on choosing something else to make her. I think I am going to go with something easy like a hat or booties because my list of stuff to make for other babies is way to long.

I received the Yarn Harlot's new book in the mail this weekend from WEBS. I cant believe how fast they delivered it! I called to reserve a copy for the event that they are having with her up there to sign books at the end of the month. I thought I would pick it up then but they mailed it to me instead. Those WEBS people sure are nice. That makes me want to buy more yarn from them! LOL

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

A New Member of Our Family

It's only been a few days since my beloved doxie, Ernie, crossed over the Rainbow Bridge but my two doxies that were left behind missed him a great deal. They were constantly roaming around the house looking for their friend. Every time they heard a noise they ran to the front door to see if Ernie was coming in. When they realized he wasn't coming home they sulked on their dog beds and slept. They didn't want to play, eat or even go outside for a walk. My husband and I were not thinking of getting another dog because we thought Frank and Duncan would be there for each other and keep each other company. The only problem was that Ernie was both Frank and Duncan's best friend. Even though Frank and Duncan like each other they were not best friends like Frank/Ernie and Duncan/Ernie were.

The dynamics of a dog pack are hard to understand but Frank has always been the alpha dog because he is the oldest and was here before the other dogs came into the picture. When my husband and I started to date we brought Ernie into the picture as a friend for Frank when we both went to work. They became the best of buddies and it was 4 years before Duncan became a part of our family in 2001. When Duncan came he was automatically the dog at the bottom of the pack, the submissive one to both Frank and Ernie. Ernie was second in command and kept the peace between Duncan and Frank because in his old age Frank was not that into puppies. Ernie was the protector and would always make sure Frank and Duncan were OK. Up until his death he dragged himself out of his crate to go around the house to make sure all was well. It was so sad to watch him do this and when my Mom came up to say good bye the night before he did this several times.

Since animals grieve and mourn like we do and it was obvious that both Frank and Duncan were extremely depressed we had decided to get another dog. We both wanted a dachshund because they are our favorite and it also made sense that since Frank is 13 years old a bigger breed dog might hurt him even if he was just playing with him due to his size.

A few days ago we welcomed Sampson into our home and everyone loves him. In no way does he replace Ernie and we all know that. No dog can ever replace him. He was a unique doxie and I probably wont have another like him again. Sampson sure does remind me of when Ernie was a puppy though!

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Duncan with Frank in the backround
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Everyone is getting along well and especially Duncan and the puppy. I think thats because Duncan is the youngest and still acts like a puppy. Frank has been extremely tolerant of the puppy and has even let him jump on his back and pull his ears like a grandfather would!

In the middle of all the chaos with Ernie, I received my March sock kit from Blue Moon Fiber Arts. Its beautiful and I love the pattern. The color is LUCKY and the pattern by JC Briar is called Leafling. Now all I have to do is finish January's Kit and I can start this one.
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I know that I am totally behind with all my sock club kits but I'll catch up (eventually).