Dog Days of Summer Exchange

My dog days of summer exchange pal was Marianne.
What a great package of goodies! A bag, makeup, cream, gum,
yarn, patterns,
a washcloth, and some great soap. All this plus a nice letter so I could get to "know" her. We've got a bit in common .... 4 children and some grandchildren to spoil. lol. Thanks Marianne for being a great partner!

Plugging along

I've got about 1 1/2" more until it's time to knit the straps. I'm thinking a couple snaps might be a good closure. Easy on and off. I still have to pick up some colors to embroider designs on this.
This is my "waiting for something to cook in the kitchen" project. I can usually get a couple rows done here and there.
Another couple rows of increases and I'll be ready to split for the body and sleeves.
And Oscar says, "Seriously Diane, don't you have anything better to do? Do you even have to wonder why I hate you so very much? Go back to work and earn money for cat treats before I have to hurt you."

Little girl knitting ...

is fun. It's like making doll clothes for a real life doll. I've got the front and back jumper skirt done . As I was looking at them I had a duh moment .... should have done this is the round since they are identical! Working on the top back now and it seems to be rolling right along.
I love the feeling of the cotton ease but we'll see how it washes before I decide to use it again. After all I know a couple little boys who could use some sweaters too.
And I started a larger 5 hr sweater last night. I hoping to get the yoke done so that I can see how it'll fit the little missy. They are stopping over tomorrow so I can get some measurments and hopefully get this finished by Sunday.

A much needed break

I gave N and W the 7 pr of socks I finished for them. They yanked off their shoes and socks and put on the new socks asap. The verdict? "These are the fastest running socks. Watch!" They both ran back and forth across the living room and it was apparent for all to see that yes those were much faster running socks than all the other pairs I've made for them.

As I casted on pair #8 for my grandsons I decided that I needed a break from making 12 pair of identical socks. So I decided to work on one other project.

I selected a 5 hr baby sweater just for fun. I don't know anyone having a baby but I felt soooo much better after making this. I figured out how to make a hat to match too. D1 saw it and now wants one for little Missy A. I think 2 or 3 more repeats in the yoke, longer arms and a longer body should do the trick. The yarn is Hockey Pokey in a pretty cool lime color. Not a traditional baby color but I love it. Missy A's will be out of the same yarn and I expect that the hat will be off her head more than on. She's not a big hat wearer.

And then somehow this yarn ended up on a set of empty needles Saturday morning. I'm not a fan of pastels but I do like these socks. These will be all mine when I'm done.
Then last night I started this jumper for little Missy A. So far I've gotten rid of the pattern of random purls thrown in on the main part of the jumper (they looked stupid in my opinion) and changed the cables from baby cables in ribbing to 2X2 more meaty cables. The cottonease is very soft to work with although I am having a little trouble with splitty stitches. Not sure if it's the yarn, the knit pick options needles with their pointy ends, or me. Probably a combination of all 3. I'll pick up some cottonease in a couple other colors and embroider some flowers and leaves after I'm done just to make it look more girlie.

I'll get that bird!!!!

"I don't know why you are so upset, Diane. I was just trying to give my new bird friend a great big hug and a kiss." says Charlie.

This morning I woke to a white pigeon on my back deck. Beautiful bird just walking around on my deck. All 3 cats are riveted to the sliders watching the bird, lusting after the bird, waiting for the door to magically open so they can go kill that bird. And the bird? Clueless. Just walking and pooping on the back deck.

I called the town animal control officer for advice on what to do to insure this bird doesn't become brunch for my cats. The animal control officer said that it's probably a carrier pigeon, not in danger from cats at all. Probably didn't like the conditions in the upper atmosphere and decided to come down for a while. "The bird will be hanging around for anywhere from a couple days to a couple weeks but it'll move on and go home after that. Pigeons are very aware of their surroundings and would never fall prey to a cat."

Cool. I thank the kind officer for all my newly acquired pigeon knowledge and hang up the phone. Joey and Oscar are still glued to the glass. Charlie? Well, he must have gotten bored and gone off for a nap. NOT!

While I was on the phone, Charlie (who is the only one who can open the front screen door) let himself out of the house. As I as watching the bird who is now sitting on the railing, I see Charlie jump across 6' on the deck, grab the bird in his front paws, and knock it down onto the deck. OMG!!! I whip open the slider, slam it behind me, and grab for Charlie. The only place I manage to get him is by his hind haunches. I pull him back toward me. He lets go of the bird. And instead of flying away the bird just sits there. Probably stunned trying to figure out what just happened.

I didn't have a good handle on the cat so Charlie jumps again grabbing the bird. This time I get him by the scruff of his neck and carry him away. The bird flies off toward the neighbor's house. I carry Charlie back into the house and put him down. Charlie, who is clearly pissed, turns and scratches me in the leg before rocketing off up the stairs.

Yes, there has been knitting. I finished 2 more pair of boring boy socks. 5 more pair to go. I'm almost finished with a baby sweater and cap set and I casted on another pair of socks last night. I'll get picture of everything later. Right now I'm off to the hardware store to get a latch for that front screen door.

The Saga of the Replacement CellPhone

because nothing is as easy as it sounds .......

Hubby lost his cellphone on Saturday. He was in Kmart trying on some shorts and when he arrived home later he couldn't locate his cellphone. Ok, back to Kmart we go. Nope not in the dressing room, front desk hasn't had a cellphone turned in. Hate to say it but low income drug infested housing project a half mile away so I was certain it was being used to arrange drug deals already.

I called AT&T to have the service suspended. Checked on the web and sure enough a dozen calls made in the 70 minutes before the service was turned off. Ok time for a replacement phone. Can't do it on line because the number is suspended. Call AT&T on Monday. He unsuspends the line and I order another phone. 2 day shipping will be here on Wednesday.

So today the new phone arrives. Not what I ordered and no SIM card so can't be activated anyways. I call AT&T again. "Sorry, if you want to keep the phone you can, of course there's no credit or discount being given. You can always mail it back and reorder the correct phone. Oh, and the SIM card? Well, you'll have to drive to one of the corporate stores and they'll give you one for free. Anything else I can help you with today?"

Hang up the phone fuming. Here's my take: You made the mistake and now I can mail the wrong phone back and you'll credit my card for the selling price. Meanwhile I can reorder the phone I wanted and hope you get it right this time. Of course I'll be out about $360.00 until you get around to crediting my card back for the first phone. Then when the new phone comes by Saturday I'll probably have to drive 8 miles to a company store to have the sim card installed.

So I just jumped on ebay, bought the exact phone that was lost for $77.00 including shipping. I'll get a sim card at the local store 2 miles from my house and come out way ahead in the long run.

Here's a question: How come a company will bend over backwards to get you as a customer but give you shitty service once you use them?

In the mist of boring knitting.

One more pair of socks done for W and 3 completed for N. So I still need 7 more pair to be finished.
And then I can start this cute little jumper for Missy A in blue cottonease.
"Gram, put down the camera and go finish those boring boy socks so you can make my jumper."
"I'll help keep her in the house to knit by taking Gram's sneakers."
Sleeping babies are so very cute. I love pictures of sleeping little ones.

The sauce incident

Plugging along on socks for the grandsons. Finished another sock for W and almost done with my first pair for N. Love knitting kid socks since they go soooo much faster than grown up ones.

Everything was going well until last night when my pot of sauce decided to spit at me before I had a chance to remove the excess oil from the top. Instant burn.
I woke up with this today. Hard to imagine but it really doesn't hurt at all. And that's a good thing since I have another 1.5 pr of socks to finish by Saturday before the little men come over.

$32.70

Thank you nice mailman. Yarn for N's socks $32.70. I also got The Opinionated Knitter which I've wanted for quite a while. Books, needles, patterns, stitch markers, etc don't count toward my yarn purchases since I consider them tools of my hobby. Yarn is obviously a tool too but You don't get to use it over and over again ..... unless you frog unloved and unfinished projects.

So I'm involved in a swap and just getting the box together to send out. My partner doesn't like wool. She crochets. She likes to crochet with acrylic. Acrylic as in trip to walmart acrylic. And although I never thought of myself as a yarn snob all I could think of was, "OMG! She'll think I'm cheap sending off acrylic yarn."

I don't think I'm a real yarn snob. I just like to knit with a nice, soft wool. Or some alpaca. Maybe a good blend, too. But rarely do I use acrylic. And then all of a sudden it dawned on me that I was putting together a box for someone else and should go with their preferences. So I'm off in a little while to pick up some nice acrylic and yummy goodies to send off to my exchange pal.

What's up with all those stitch markers?

Finished the scheepjes socks. I like how they came out but once again I don't care for the colorways. But then, as always, the person getting them LOVE IT so that's all that really matters.
And finished socks for W since all his good food turned his size 10 1/2 feet to 11s. I made size 12 since they'll fit ok. Knitpick essentials in dusk.
And finally the answer to the question "What's up with all those stitch markers?" The ones on the right are keeping track of the leg rows. I usually mark every 10 or 20 rows so I know how many I've done. These are for my son in law so his socks are 12 rows of ribbing followed by 70 rows of whatever pattern I've decided on.

The loops with the split stitch markers are to keep track of the heel flap. I usually do a knit 1 slip 1 on my heel flap for adult socks (kid socks just regulas ss since they outgrow before they can wear them out). I use to keep track of my rows on paper but what a hassle. "Did I mark that last row?" "Where did the paper go that I was keeping track on?" "Geeze! I just had that pen 2 seconds ago." Very hard to be organized when I'm not a really organized person.

So the method that works for me is: take this chain of 5 rings and attach it to the sock. In this case the heel flap for my sil's sock is 54 rows so I take 5 split stitch markers and put them on the marker holding the rings. Every time I finish 2 rows (k1 ,s1, p1, s1) I move a marker down the chain. When all the stitch markers are in the black ring I know I've finished 50 rows.

So that's my trick for making sure my socks match. Probably not really a short cut but it works for me.

All the socks

Finished the Stop my hubby from whining socks. I don't care for the colors but he loves them.
In progress ................
Must resist casting on this yarn ...................... need to finish others ............. help me!

Knew all that good Karma would work!

Little Mr N stayed overnight at the hospital and was released the next morning. They gave him a stuffed dog in recovery which he promptly named Duke and proceeded to tell his mom that, "Duke is my best dog ever!"

The dr called late this afternoon with the results of the biopsy. N has acid reflux with terrible damage to his esophagus. They are putting him on Nexium so fingers crossed that this one works. So far pepcid, prevacid, and prilosec have all failed to help.

W and Missy A loved being here with me. W mentioned that it would be ok if he stayed longer because "I really want to live here with you, Gram." He's so cute. I think he loves me for my lollypops and high speed cable for the computer. Dial up at home so the pages take forever to load. He played Bob the Builder for about 30 minutes here and then switched over to a little Thomas the Tank Engine.

When my kids were little my parents were always a big part of their lives. I'm so blessed to be able to be there to watch my grandchildren grow up and pitch in to help out when needed. Parents really need a break when raising little ones. Grandchildren and Grandparents both have the same goal: they want to have fun and we want them to have fun.

I guess the learning lesson in all of this is to trust your Dr Mom instincts. If you know something isn't right you need to keep pushing for an answer. The drs would have let this go on for several more months if they hadn't been pushed. I told my daughter, "You have this little boy who is your top priority. The physicians see him as one of about 200 patients on their rotation of patients at any given time. They don't know him like you do. Trust yourself." She did a great job as an advocate for her son and I'm very proud of her.

So thanks for all the good karma. It certainly helped more than I can say. Sock pictures coming up shortly. Finished the Stop My Hubby From Whining pair tonight. Casted on the second sock in the purple/red/green yarn, and working on the heel flap on the light blue/grey Opal smoke yarn. Goal is to finish all pairs of socks next week so I can cast on my MS3. I'm soooo far behind.

Got any good karma to spare?

My grandson N was diagnosed with "failure to thrive." Now the thing about this diagnosis is that it's really not a diagnosis. It's a catch all term meaning he isn't growing at a normal rate. He hasn't put on any weight in almost a year.

I've known since he was 4 months old that something wasn't right because he just wouldn't eat or drink much of anything. He'd drink only enough formula so he wouldn't be starving but wouldn't eat until he was full. Odd. I told his mom I thought he had acid reflux.

His mom would bring him to the doctors and they would give her lectures on what she should be feeding N. She's 25 but she looks about 17. I think they were treating her like she was a kid who didn't know anything. Seriously, just look at N's older brother and it's clear to see that my daughter knows all about feeding a kid.

Four months ago they finally gave N a referral to see a pediatric GI doctor. I think they did it just to shut her up. N didn't see a doctor he saw a physician's assistant. Once again they pulled my daughter aside and discussed nutrition with her. She went back a month later; different PA same lecture. He hadn't put on anything. A month after that and still nothing. 2 different medications and N isn't getting any better. Finally last week my daughter called and asked how long N could go on not eating or drinking before she should take him to the hospital.

Suddenly, everyone is reviewing his chart and they decide that he needs to be scoped asap. Arrangements are made and N went in this morning so they could check out his throat and stomach. "In and out and we'll know what's going on by 9," the doctor said.

10:00 I get a call from my daughter. Complication. N aspirated fluid into his lungs. He's having trouble breathing and they will be keeping him overnight for observation. My parents are at her house (over an hour away) and my dad has a doctor's appointment of his own at 1. She can't get a hold of her husband and doesn't know what to do. She's upset, worried, and all alone at the hospital. DAMN IT!!!

I hop in the car with D2 and we drive up to take over watching the kids so my parents can leave. Son in law calls and we tell him what's going on. He's upset and worried and in the middle of it all his phone battery dies. He'll go to the hospital when he gets out of work. I decide to bring the kids home with me so that my daughter and son in law can concentrate on N without having to worry about W and A.

Crap! All the car seats are in my daughter's car. I drive to Walmart and purchase 2 car seats, diapers, wipes, and formula. Unpacked them in the parking lot, knocked down the boxes and threw them in the trunk, and then drove back to get the kids.

So I didn't sleep at all last night worrying about N and probably won't sleep much tonight worrying some more. Worrying is what I do well the older I get. And they still don't know why little Mr N isn't eating or drinking. No diagnosis at this point. They did a biopsy which should be back in 48 hr. I hate waiting. I'm afraid they'll find something. I'm afraid they won't.

So that's been my sucky Tuesday. If you could send some good karma my way I'd appreciate it.

What is this????

Finished my Tilly shawl in knit picks yarn aka Diamonds on Fire last night. The minute I put this down on the floor the Evil One aka Oscar has to get up from her 18 hrs nap and check it out. "Hummmm, what is this?"
"Oh, now I remember. It's that thing you've been knitting that I've dragged off the loveseat 4 times."
"Whatever. Let me know when you get it blocked and I'll come back and sleep on it when it's almost dry so I can add the secret ingredient to any good knitting ...... cat fur."
Sock for hubby, turned the heel and picked up the gusset stitches. One socks for W done, 11 more to go. D1's second sock still in the ball and not casted on yet. Well see how much I can get done this week.

Quick update

Thanks for all the kind words. The town is filled with news satellite trucks;local and national. The CNN crew was sipping coffee at the local Dunkin Donuts. Everywhere you go you see someone standing in front of a camera talking. It's just something I could never have thought I'd see in my quiet little sleepy town.

It's hard to imagine that a trip to the grocery store could put in motion a situation that ends in 3 deaths. Something as simple as driving an expensive car and that car being noticed by 2 career criminals looking for drug money.

We're going ok. A little jumpy. Not sleeping enough. I think it's part of the process to try to put things into perspective and move on. It's too close to disregard yet so random that intellectually I know it'll never happen here again. We didn't even know the family. I can't imagine what their friends, family, and coworks are feeling.

On the knitting front the error on Diamonds on Fire was found and corrected. Then I laid it out for a quick check and found another error 8 rows back. Everything is back on the needles as of last night and hopefully I can get it done next week.

I started blue socks for W. He'll be excited. N asked for green socks so a quick trip on Knitpicks.com should have green socks yarn here next week. I also order The Opinionated Knitter by Elizabeth Zimmermann ..... just to get the free shipping. lol. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

It's so upsetting

when your town ends up on the cover of the US page on cnn.com The police chief said it the best. "In Cheshire we're not used to this type of event. It's a very unfortunate, tragic event that's probably going to reach right down to the core of the community."

Getting there .....

Working along on this Tilly shawl most of the weekend. Made a huge mistake last night so I'm talking myself into the fact it's probably only going to take tinking back 1 row to fix it. On a good note I've decided to name this project the "Diamonds on Fire Shawl". With a cool name like that I don't think I'll resent tinking back as much.

In the works.
Opal Smoke size 12 socks for my sil are done. Will weave the ends on the conference call in 10 minutes.
Same with these Opal Krocodile's for sil.

W: Gram, I need more socks.

Me: Why?

W: My socks are too small for my feet.

Me: What happened to make your socks too small?

W: I ate a lot of good food and my feet got bigger.

Me: Ok. I'll make you some socks. How about blue socks?

W: Blue is my favorite color. Blue socks would be fine. Can you make some new socks for N too?

Me: Sure I can. Did he eat good food and make his feet grow too?

W: Yes his good food went right to his feet too.

*** Ok so I eat stuff and it goes to my ass and thighs. Little men eat food and it goes right to their feet. lol

What do you do

when you projects in progress pile looks like this? And you haven't even started 2 shawls that you really want to make?
Well, you spend $40.50 on some noro in color #40 for a booga bag for yourself.

I had little Missy A this weekend while her parents and brothers went camping in Rhode Island. We had a lot of fun. Boy, babies are a lot of work! How did I ever do it with 4 myself? Probably easier when you are much younger with more energy.
"What do you mean you might be out of bannanas? Gram, tell me it isn't true?"
"That's better, old lady, and don't keep me waiting again while you take stupid pictures."

And the winner is .....

Anne! Way to go Anne! Shoot me an email with your address and your prize will be in the mail this week.

Thanks to everyone who played.

At July 10, 2007, Anne said...
Congratulations :) I'd have to say the best compliment I ever got was from my dad on my prom night - he told me I looked beautiful, and it was special to me because it was one of the few times I didn't get the 'pretty is as pretty does' speech he was famous for haha

A sighting of ....

an inconsiderate asshole. And I didn't have to leave home to see it. Here's this guy stopped dead in the travel portion of the street. OMG he must have broken down to stop there plus ending up right in front of my driveway. Maybe I should have run out to offer assistance?

Nope he didn't break down. He just stopped, popped open the trunk and side door, hooked up a mini compresser to his lighter, and let it run for about 10 minutes making an ungodly amount of noise at 7:30 am. Why? Well he needed to add some air to his right front tire that has a leak. It's a slow leak that's been happening for several weeks and he has to add air every 4 or 5 days.

So let me clarify this for you all. Here's this guy who has just left a park up the road where he just dropped his child off for camp. There was plenty of room to pull over safely in a basically empty parking lot to fill a tire. But no he couldn't do that because HE'S AN INCONSIDERATE ASSHOLE! So instead he leaves the park, drives 1/4 mile, stops in the middle of the road and in front of someone's driveway, runs a noisy compresser for 10 minutes while talking on his cellphone all at 7:30 in the morning. Single women always say that all the good men are already taken. I think this proves that some of the bad ones are taken too.

Contest ends Friday!

Just a reminder to post your best compliment before Friday at noon. There are some great compliments if you have a minute to read thru them all. I'm still knitting along without finishing anything. It's been hazy, hot and humid in CT so that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. Of course it wasn't too hot to order some Noro kureyon in color #40 for a booga bag for myself. I can't wait to start that. Maybe I'll bait myself with having to finish 1 or 5 projects before I'm allowed to cast on.

Much knitting no finishing

Shawl in progress but not the forest canopy or the MS3 that I really should be working on. This will be for my niece.
Socks for hubby .... who was whining about me making socks for my son in law not him.
One sock done and half of the next started.
Finished but not finished. But since they were off the needles I had 3 empty needles sooooo....
I had to fill them.

What to start next?

Bag it!

This is the bag I made and sent out to my exchange buddy Sherry. The blue one was another project I've been tinkering .... and frogging .... for a while now. Currently it's back in the ball. AGAIN.

It's a booga bag made from noro which felts like a dream.

One year of blogging

Yup tomorrow is a full year of blogging for me. It's been a great way of keeping me on task with my knitting so that I actually finish stuff. Along the way I've met some wonderful fellow craft people with amazing skills.



So in honor of this feat in my blogging career I feel a contest is needed. How about a couple skeins of Opal sock yarn? Sock yarn? I know what a shock! Drawing will be Friday July 13th at 12 noon est.

Here the contest question: What's the best compliment you've ever received?

My best compliment was from my grandson W. I had received some cookies and was giving him one when he came out with: You know Gram, you are a very good sharer.