Recent knitting

Cowls made for oldest daughter, Missy A, and her brothers W and N.

Evil Minion hat made for Miss A for halloween. She wanted to be a 'girlie' minion

My niece is having a baby girl in November. I made a pair of longies

                                                                          And a vest.

So back to blogging

I found that when I blogged it kept me on track with my knitting so I decided to go back to blogging, 

Lots has happened. There's a new granddaughter thanks to daughter #2. Missy B is now 2 weeks old and a sweet little one.

W is 9 yrs old and a wonderful kiddo. Smart, helpful, and still a cuddle bug. N is 7 and hysterically funny. He loves collecting stuff. All kinds of stuff. 

Little Missy A is 6 and starting 1st grade. She's all kinds of sassy and such a girlie girl.

Petwise there's still Milo and Tanner. Joey disappeared a couple weeks ago at age 21. He had a wonderful life and we miss him every single day.

And there's been knitting

socks for missy a. toddler size 11

a minion hat for missy b to grow into

 socks for N boys size 1.5

 socks for W boys size 5.

Don't be looking for me at ...

the humanitarian of the year awards ceremony any time soon. My track record lately is less than stellar ........

1) Tanner got out again over the weekend. I was a terrible foster kitty mama because I didn't look for him at all, didn't set out traps, didn't put out his beloved can food, and didn't call the cat group to let them know their cat was missing. He was out for 2 days and when he finally decided he had roughed it enough he came inside.
2) Milo got out too. Of course if you chase the dog he thinks it's a game and this 50 yr old asthmatic doesn't stand a chance against a little hyper 16 lb dog. Instead I swore, caught his eye, and walked the other way toward the door. Milo of course is nosey and had to see where I was going. I opened the door, he ran inside and I closed it after.

3) Speaking of Milo, I took him to the vet and didn't think to ask for a female vet when I made the appointment. Milo hates men so he almost bit the vet.

4) My brother broke up with his longtime girlfriend. We're happy because while she was a nice person the two of them together weren't a good combination. He's a giver, she's a taker, and she took everything she could. Of course the timing is awful because her mom is at the end of hospice care for cancer. She told my brother he was the worst person on the face of the earth. This is not true. I'm the worst person on the face of the earth because I thought she made up the entire cancer story. Well when you tell 99 half truths and whole lies how am I suppose to know the hundredth thing out of your mouth is true.

So that's it from around these parts. If the rain stops sometime this month I'll be happy. Wet dogs are no fun to be around. Still knitting and one of these days I'll grab my camera to snap a pic of all the baby socks for A4A.

Gator country

As Joey naps on the loveseat he seems blissfully unaware that he is now in dangerous gator country.

Yes there are 3 gators on the couch just feet away from him. How could he not be concerned.

Aren't these just so adorable? The pattern is from Morehouse Farms. Since there are for the grandkids (who's mom doesn't hand wash anything) I used red heart sports weight yarn.

W wore his to school today and his teacher went nuts for it. Actually called my daughter to rave about it. She said, "Oh you'll have to keep it and pass it down to his siblings." My daughter mentioned that each child had one of their own. Seriously what terrible grandma would only make on gator scarf and expect the other kids to wait to use it?

Knitting but no finishing

Knitting right along on anything that grabs my attention. Take for instance left over sock yarn. Instead of gathering it up and putting it away I decided just to knit some infant socks. Not that I know anyone who has an infant currently but I'll find somewhere to donate them. Please notice that Tanner is earning his keep my insuring all socks are done to the highest quality and coated with a layer of cream colored cat fur.

Socks without my cat helper.

Helena is moving right along for my granddaughter. I stopped when I finished the body so I could try it on her to make sure the length was ok. Looks great so now I just have to finish the sleeves and front/neck. D1 and I decided that they need to make this pattern in an adult size because it's so pretty.
The grandkids needed scarves so a little surfing on ravelry and I found alligator scarves. I ordered the pattern from Morehouse Farm a while back but just casted on the first on on Saturday.

Pretty cute. The yarn is red heart in a sports weight. The green camo is for N. W picked red and Missy A picked purple.

My friend's mom isn't doing well. I finished the knitting on the white shawl only to discover that the color for brain cancer is grey not white. The color is something that is very important to her mom so I knit up this smoke ring instead using opal sock yarn in a light grey color. I figured it would be easy to toss in the washer and dryer with no fuss leaving plenty of time for my friend to worry about other things while taking care of her mom.

I added more repeats to the width since sock yarn doesn't block out and the width as the pattern was written would have been 20". Easy pattern that was fun to do. My youngest daughter thought it looked pretty cool so I might have to make her one.

So that's about it for around here. Another storm is coming in later today. Anything but ice would be fine with me. I've had quite enough ice this winter, thank you very much.

Happy Holidays

Today is D2's 24th birthday. She was due on December 10th but even before she was born she was doing things on her own time table. We always joke that the only reason she came out at all was because she didn't want to miss Santa. 2 minutes before midnight. Talk about waiting until the last minute.

A while back I got a beautiful shawl in the mail from someone who didn't want to be known. Instead of doing detective work to track down the maker of the shawl I decided to play it forward. I did a shawl for a coworker and a hat scarf set for an internet friend (although she knew they were from me which is fine). This came yesterday again no name but it put such a smile on my face. The timing was great since Violet and Shadow, the last of the 8 persians I've been fostering, were placed in their forever home yesterday.

There's an icicle growing on the back deck today. Snapped a picture before it breaks off.

And I'll close this posting with a picture of the grandkids visiting with Santa. A and W decided Santa was ok but little Mr N wasn't so sure about sitting on his lap.

Happy holidays to you all.

Love, Diane

A little distraction .........

from the fact that I've been knitting 4 pair of socks and haven't completed one pair yet. I've got my nieces socks and her hubby's socks done but need to kitchener the toes on both. I've got the first sock for my sister in law half way through the foot and the first sock for my brother half way through the heel flap. Hope to finish both pair this week.

In the meanwhile, the grandkids came to visit the Saturday after halloween. W and N decided to be bats this year and little Missy A was Winnie the Pooh. The bats were all over the house and at one point we caught this one riding off down the hallway. How friggin' cute is this?

The last 2 persians are making themselves at home. They tend to hang around in my room all day since I'm usually the only one home. They play a little with some of the toys, watch me work, and nap. Shadow will always hang around with us downstairs in the evening. Violet (the silver one) is not that brave. They are both really sweet girls.

Last week I got up and when I went back to make the bed 5 minutes later I was greeted with this.

Talk about making yourself at home huh?

Thanks

Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers you've all sent my way. I've been grieving for my father as he slipped from the man I knew into God's hands for a while so his death was a relief. He is no longer in terrible pain and doesn't have to think about everything he use to do but couldn't any longer. My grandchildren attending the service which I'm sure made my Dad smile. He was so family oriented that he would have been upset if they hadn't attended. One of my Mom's friends thought they were a little distracting but we all loved having them with us.

Anyways, life has a way of moving forward even when you don't want it to happen so Monday I received this package. UPS express box. Must be important stuff. Dusty and Ashley were all excited.

Dusty says: I don't see any kitten toys anywhere.

Now mind you that I work on a computer and never write down a single thing due to patient privacy so I have no need to paper, pencils, markers, files, note cards, etc. The only thing I'll be using out of this entire package is that 2009 calendar.

I have a coworkers who has been under treatment for breast cancer. She's been having a difficult time due to infections. I decided to knit her a shawl and was just hiding the last ends when my father passed away. It gave me a lot of comfort knitting this and I hope it gives Pat a lot of comfort using it.
I should be working on this stuff ............
but instead I casted on a 5 hr baby sweater for another coworker out of this red heart yarn. The colorways is lipstick and it's really pretty. Rose is going to be a grandmother for the first time so I thought hey you can't go wrong with a 5 hr baby sweater .... not that I can actually do one in 5 hrs but that's another story for another posting.
Yesterday afternoon a woman and her 3 sons came over to look at my foster kittens and ended up adopting Dusty and Ashley (my package assistants). The only one left right now is Coal and he's a little lonely. He'll have a new family soon enough.

Hope everyone has a good week. Fall is in the air in New England and it's my favorite time of year.

Bye Dad

About 3 weeks ago the doctors told my father that there was nothing more they could do. He signed the paperwork to go into the hospice program and they were assigned a wonderful case worker named Ginni. I can't say enough about hospice or the caring and consideration they've given to my family through a difficult time. I don't know how they can deal with death on a daily basis and still be upbeat and caring.

Last night my brothers and I watched as Ginni pronounced our father and assisted my mother by making a couple calls. While it's not easy to say good bye to someone who has shaped you into the person you've become, I'm glad that he's no longer in pain.

Good bye, Dad. Thanks for everything.

Out of the mouths of babes

My oldest daughter lives a little over an hour away and since my dad is sick she's been coming down every week so the kids can play at papa's and great grams to cheer them up. Friday they all came down for a visit. After playing at the great grandparent's house for a while they ended up at my house.

I live right by a town park so D1, D2 and I took the kids over for a walk and to play on the playset before dinner. It was a nice day and we basically had the playset to ourselves. There was a guy with an older woman and 3 girls who looked to be ages 2, 4, and 6 on the beach area. After a while they moved off the beach and the older two girls came to play on the playset too.

The boys were at the top of an enclosed slide and the girls were climbing up some netting so W said something like, "Look there are spiders on the spider web." The 6 yr old was offended and told him "We're not spiders we're girls." Meanwhile Missy A walked up the stairs and was hanging around watching everyone.

I was watching what was going on and saw the 6 yr old look around to see if anyone was watching her. Then she took 2 steps sideways and threw her hip against Missy A which knocked the little 2 yr old right down the steps on her back. By the time I ran around to get to the steps D2 was there picking her up and trying to calm her. "What happened?" D2 asked. "That girl knocked against her and pushed her down the stairs." I answered.

All of a sudden the little girl stammers "It was an accident. I didn't do it on purpose." I answered, "I saw you do it and it wasn't an accident."Of course the adults are across the park leaving the 6 yr old in charge of her 4 yr old sister so there’s no other adult to jump in. We decided it was time to walk back to my house anyways so I said, “I bet you cause a lot of accidents. The bad part is that you also tell lies when you do bad things.”

As we were walking down the stairs to leave the playset my 3 yr old grandson N said in a very serious tone to the girl “God saw that.” Then his 5 yr old brother chimes in with “And Santa saw it too.” It was all we could do not to burst out laughing.

Hopefully the Easter Bunny and The Tooth Fairey weren't watching or that little girl is just screwed.

Finally off my lazy butt ...

to do a little update. Moe was adopted by a wonderful young woman and is happy in his new home. She's a non knitter so it's a perfect pair. It was a good thing because I already had taken in these guys and they were all sick so Moe couldn't play with them. These two are Coal and Dusty. They are both males and extremely friendly.

This is Ashley. She was so scared when I first picked her up but now she's the first one to come running and sit in my lap to be pet.


There's been some knitting going on. I bought some yarn off ebay a while back. It was cheap because it was poorly koolaid dyed. So I ended up using both balls working two rows from each ball in order to get it to blend better. So far so good.

Working on a green hat in the same design just in the round.

And finished a pink hat from the same pattern.

Worked on some dishcloths for my neice who just bought her first home with her hubby.

And I'm using the left overs to do a blanket for the kittens to snuggle in. I wanted something totally washable.

Finished another pair of socks for W

Just a little more to go on Missy A's jumper

And plugging along on a shawl for a work friend who is out recovering from breast cancer. Usually I'd use a nice wool but since she's by herself I decided to use Herrschners 2 ply afghan yarn because it's washable.

And since one can never have enought sock yarn I bought these from Ray. I couldn't decide on a color so I ordered 3 skeins with the instructions of do anything you want as long as the colors include blues and greens. I think he did a wonderful job and I was so please when I opened the package. These will all be socks for me, me, me.


All the kids are back in college. D2 started a 2 yr radiology program at Naugatuck Valley Community College. S1 is there too finishing his 2 yr engineering degree. D3 is at Eastern Connecticut State University working on her 4 yr degree in social work.

W started kindergarden and is having a wonderful time. N started preschool and he's having a blast. A is home with mommy asking where everyone is when they are at school.

My dad was getting small dosages of chemo trying to shrink the tumers in his liver to give him some comfort. Unfortunately the chemo was doing more harm than good so last Tuesday they decided to stop all treatment. He signed the paperwork needed to go into the hospice program on Wednesday. Mom's freaking out, dad's resigned to the fact that it'll all be over sooner rather than later, and as usual I'm not dealing with anything other than supporting both of them and pitching in as much as I can. Since stopping the chemo he's been eatting better and has more strength so it's in God's hands now.

I finally finished stuff!!!!!

Finally some finished stuff!!! First up is a Hot Tranney Mess of a dishcloth that I knit for giggles in the Ravelrylmpics. Totally not usable but I have to admit that I did get a laugh out of posting it on the finished thread topic. Everyone else had beautifully, useful dishcloths and I posted this.

As part of the Ravelrylmpics I also decided to finish all the socks hanging out in the bottom of my knitting bag. Was soooo glad to get them all done.



And I also knit some socks for the grandkids too. 2 pr for Miss A for her 2nd birthday and one pair each for N and W to wear on their first day of preschool and kindergarden.



I still have my assistand kitten Moe to help me out on a daily bases. Here he is making sure I'm not typing bad things.



And here he is checking the lighting on my photo shoot for my socks yesterday.



Or at least I thought he was checking the lighting until he picked up one of the socks and ran off with it. PLEASE SOMEONE ADOPT THIS KITTEN!!!!

Moe isn't a knitter's cat

I've come to the conclusion that Moe needs to find his forever home really, really fast before I do something .... like duct tape his mouth shut when he's not eatting. Sounds a bit extreme but I'm about at the end of my rope. We're up to 4 ruined double points and 2 ruined circular needle. I wouldn't mind except he's now knocking over things to get to the needles. Obviously he's not a knitter's cat.

Moe says: Maybe I'll just hang out a little out of reach for a while. Is it my fault that those bamboo sticks are tasty?
In spite of the fact that I'm running out of needles I've been finishing up on some socks that were languishing in the bottom of the knitting bag.
And casting on more.
Of course I'm drowning my sorrows in my blog contest prize from leaving a comment on Julie's blog. She's got a cute little granddaughter who is featured on her blog all the time. Isn't that what grams are supose to do?
Hubby and I went on a little vacation to Rhode Island last week. I love Rhode Island. We went to the Nordic Lodge for dinner and ate lobsters and king crab legs until we waddled out the door.

We went to the Roger Williams Zoo in Providence. Nice little zoo where you can actually see the animals. We also went on the Providence River Walk. Really nice way to see the city while strolling along. The have fire holders in the water which they fill with wood and light every so often. It must look really nice.

Made sure I was home in time to spend Sunday with Dad. We've got a new routine since he really can't get out much. I go over and bring along a movie that I know he'll like. Last week it was Casino (I told my mom that I was paying dad a quarter every time they said fuck and that I was up to $4,000 before the movie was half over). This week I brought along Master and Commander. He's kind of in and out of it because of some heavy duty pain medication but at least he's not in discomfort.

Gotta go find some more double points and finish some knitting. W and N need new socks for starting school and I have to finish up a couple pair for A for her birthday.