Boys and girls, say "Hello" To...

Sharon! all together now, HI SHARON! And for those of us from home...HI MRS. B!

Let me explain what this is all about. Last night I had the pleasure of sitting with "Mrs. B" and 8 of her knitting friends who are called the 'Hearts and Hands of Westminster Knitting group". They've been meeting on Tuesday nights at the church knitting hats for the homeless, sweater sets for babies, and lap robes for Brian's House. Sharon is standing here in front of their storage area where they temporarily hold the yarn that's been donated and the bins which carry over flowing items to the local charities. And are they ever the nicest group of knitters! And eager to learn. Last night I had the pleasure of introducing cable knitting to one of the members. Here she was knitting a hat on double points thinking cables would be difficult. Nope...not so much anymore! I met with the ladies last March when I was home for Dad's surgery, and you can bet I'll be happy to knit with them anytime. Lovely ladies, lovely pre-Thanksgiving discussions, and do they ever knit some wonderfully warm lovies to pass out where there is a need. If you're in the area...hop on over and lend a hand. They'd welcome your gifts with opened arms. Can you see the stack of baby sweaters in Sharon's hand? They will be delivered this week to warm up lots of little ones!

Here are the chemo caps that I've been working on as a surprise for Mom. Now that she's got her hair growing back post chemo, she's back to wearing hats for the season. So, after all the times she's talked to me about the hats she wore that I'd made for her, I thought in the spirit of the season and in Thanks of the blessing of her continued healing, she might like to take these to her Doctor's office to share with other chemo patients. I still have one more on the needles to finish off. But, I've got two 'secret' projects that I'm trying to finish while I'm here. Do you know how hard it is to make Mom's sweater and my niece's scarf when they're still in the same room all the time? shhhhhhhhhh you never heard me speak of those 'items'. And, yes, she was surprised..even if she didn't quite cooperate when I asked her to sit, close her eyes and open her hands to give them to her. *sigh* I really tried. But she wouldn't close her eyes! ho-hum....

The 'first hat' maker, has now made a 2nd hat in a smaller size. And can't wait to make the next one. *pst....think we have another one 'hooked'? Once we get her familiar on those looms, I'm hoping we can get her on the needles down the road. The seeds have been planted!

A few weeks ago, while I was busy eating cake, my parents sent me a little money and I saved some for the trip. There is a Local Yarn shop here in town that I like to frequent. After all if we don't shop, they don't stay opened for long. My 'New Year's Resolution' is to make myself at least one sweater just for me. Check out this yarn that I picked up today. It's by Ella Rae, the company who made the classic wool that I made the first Norwegian Star hat (sadly that did not fit) with. However, this is called Amity and it's a 75/25 blend of acrylic and wool blend yarn. It's really soft and a dark maroon/black mix that is very different than what I generally have in my black/blue wardrobe. I can't wait to get some things off the needles and the to-do list and get it started. I forgot to take a picture of the pattern I'll be using, but it's a v-neck, cabled, pullover designed by 'Lisa Knits' . This is a new company/designer that I've found. And her work is just adorable. I also picked up a baby sweater pattern, too. You can find out more at www.lisaknits.com in case you're interested. Love to find new things!

Well, time to get some needles going in another room. I'm just about a inch away from finishing up the sweater sleeves for Mom's sweater. Then after attaching them, I'll knit the neck/button band and pick some buttons. Looks like I'll get done in time for her birthday after all. That is, if we go to the hospital for more tests and unlike yesterday, I remember to bring my glasses so I can see to knit! OY! Live and learn. One would think I'd have that figured out by now. Nope. Some of us, learn the hard way I guess.

Happy Thanksgiving to all who will celebrate tomorrow. My brother's cooking the dinner so I'm very relaxed tonight! Hip hip..hooray! (miss you my kiddos! miss you a lot!)

Some of my favorite people!

Here we have a "Mary Martin as Peter Pan", the 'first hat' maker, and the "man" with the vest(look familiar?).

Mom had her CT scan this morning. Here's hoping that the results come back saying NO MORE CANCER! We'll know more next week...or so...

Looking good!

First hat!!!!!!!

This is a first hat ever knit by one of my favorite people.

This is the favorite person on the phone telling her Dad that she just finished the hat for a former teacher's new baby boy.

This is a proud Aunt of the favorite person who helped her figure out strange directions from the kit she had to make the first hat.

The first hat is on the left. The red in the middle is the one that I spent 3 1/2 hours trying to figure out how to make the blasted thing from instructions that ended up being printed upside down and backwards. The one on the right is the one that I made while favorite person was making hers side by side, so she could understand the 'less than perfect' directions she'd been fighting with for the past year or so.

These are the looms we used to make the collection of hats.

My hat's off! to those of you who loom knit. I think I'll leave the loom knitting to my favorite person while I go back to my sticks and string. I can go faster with them.

Much faster.

However, favorite person now has the 'knitting' bug and wants to learn more and more and make more and more now that she's figured out that she can DO it! (heheheheheeh....) I'm thinking it won't be long now before the sticks and string that she's had for the past several years, might actually get used soon! After all, she's already had a teaching video made JUST for her! Now, she might understand it better! (yes, I do have my motives!)

This is the snow we had after 3 hours of snowfall this afternoon. It's been snowing more since, and isn't going to stop until 7am. Help us hope and pray that snow will be kind to us-this has been very wet and could be slippery when we take another certain favorite person to the hospital in the wee hours of the morning to have a CT scan done to see if the Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma has been finally chemo blasted out of her system! I don't want her to fall trying to get into the car! Yes, I spent some time shoveling the nearly frozen ruts away from the back door to the garage area. I'm not taking ANY chances on any one falling. Now, I'm wheezing and 'ticked' off that the 'management' who KNOWS the average age here is 75+years, actually closer to 79+ hasn't seen fit to do any shoveling that amounts to tiddly winks. I'm trying really hard NOT to loose my cool in front of the 3 favorite people who are trying to sleep right now while I'm trying to clear my lungs. I want only positive energy surrounding tomorrow's very important events. Today she had her blood test. Results due mid week next week. Prayers, hugs, hopes and dreams are all welcomed!

3-2-1 GO!

Mom's Birthday is in 10 days.

As of late last night her sweater looks like this.

Today I need:

3 plane rides

2 sleeves

1 neckband

Can I do it?

And still keep it a secret?

Opps...I forgot

Now that I've been back online and trying to catch up, I realized that I've forgotten a new 'treasure' that I found while visiting the Syracuse area. I found the Knitting Connection while I was there. What a cozy and lovely store! I sat and visited with the ladies while they were having their Saturday afternoon knit group. They were so friendly as they answered my questions while I was perusing their full shelves. I can't wait to go back and visit some more! Can you see the poster on the door? It's for the new Opal Harry Potter yarns. Wanna see some?

Check out what 'followed' me home from 'school' today mom! Aren't those colors pretty? Can't wait to get my 'list' down so I can figure out how to make socks that will fit my ankles without wearing 'floaties' to keep them up. But for now, I'm knitting away on Mom's sweater.

Remember that I'm knitting this in one piece for the body from the bottom up. I've gotten up as far as the sleeves need to be put in, so I've divided it into three sections, and have added additional skeins of yarn to keep knitting it all at once. However,.....

It appears that a stitch was dropped...from the CAST ON row!!!!! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....figures. Well, I'm not going to rip it out and start over again, but I will figure a way to get it woven in at some point. My flight brings me home Friday night and I'd rather not have to keep knitting on it in front of Mom, so I've got to get cranking this puppy out.

My lungs hurt

I thought I was going to take some knitting pictures outside today. Nope. Because at 2pm this is how the sun looked in front and behind my house.

(click on all pictures to make them bigger...they'll speak for themselves.)

The black ash cloud has an edge...from the back yard...

...the street near my house looking towards Yorba Linda/Corona....can you see how blue it SHOULD have been today?



...down the street...

Looking eastward towards Yorba Linda with a longer lens...

Those aren't snowflakes-they're ashes that I caught from the air. They used to be parts of some body's house.



Ashes landing on the plastic chairs and table in the back yard...

Ashes building up along the curb in the street, and this fire has only just started...

and all over the ground. The brown? Those are little leaves..the back are ashes and soot.

And I thought my lungs hurt earlier this week with my Asthma. Nope...wait, didn't we 'played' this 'game' before? I'm tired of it. Tired of it being 90*F and keeping the windows closed, smelling like standing in a fire pit.

I have a headache and I'm wheezing. Again. ...and I'm a lucky one.

It's not my house or neighborhood on fire.

And we are back!!!!!!

We're back! The computer and I are back! Wooooo hoooooooo!!! Freakin' my goodness..so much for 'we can pull your data in 24 hours'. Sheessssshhhhhhh...oh..and in the long run..it was ONLY the DC Jack that needed to be fixed. NOT.A.SINGLE.BIT.OF.DATA.LOST!!! To add insult to injury, as I went in to pick up the computer, the kid behind the desk handed me a paper stating in bright, RED, lettering with an arrow, that I Owed $786.00+! For a change (due to the 'few' pictures I have for you here) let's shorten the story and just say, I didn't, I have my computer, I have my own copies of the data now...and the store got to honor my service agreement, and didn't get to take another $200 from me for the data they pulled, after they reformatted my hard drive, they got to fix their mistakes, and I took the pieces of broken data DVDs home to throw through my own shredder. *ahem* as it should be.

Now, I wasn't just resting on my laurels while the computer was gone. I have been busy..wanna see?

Two camo hats for the Vets down in Balboa Hospital (which really need to be mailed out)..

Did some PINK things for the month of October

Started a PINK blanket using my NMCRS Basketweave Blanket pattern over (<---- ) there. And then using some I Love this Cotton! yarn (you can pick up from Hobby Lobby) to make a bunch of Chemo Caps to surprise Mom with. With all her gratitude she's had for the ones I've made for her, thought her Doc's office might like a few for other patients...I'll bring them to her over Thanksgiving. So, if you see her, don't tell!

Went to New York for some 'daughter' time. (and brought along a whole lot of her undergrad books with me!)

Met some friends...and check this out...first picture, middle --- IS A KNITTER! And not only a knitter..but she's designed her own purse as one of her first projects!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Talents abound I tell you!

Made some chili for stuffing the daughter's freezer....recipe to follow soon....

Soaked up as much as I could of the last of the beautiful colors up there...

Cooked up some more pumpkins to stuff into her freezer....

Check out the easy way we found to stuff the quart bags! Slide the bag into the tall plastic cup, fold the bag over the top..and you're good to go! (Now I have to find a cup to keep in MY kitchen!)

Made some Potato-Leek soup for her freezer (recipe also over <--- there, too!) Which after it was frozen..led me to....

Drop one of the FROZEN packages onto my toe, cut and bruise it up really well! OUCH!!!

Made some Beef stew...also for the freezer....

Finished the pink blanket particulars:

NMCRS Basketweave Baby Blanket, ver. 2

5 skeins of Bernat Softee Baby in Rumba Rose (actually about 4 1/2 or so) Used the yarn double stranded.

(US) 8 (5.0mm) for the top and bottom borders and (US) 10 (6.0mm) circular needles for the body of the pattern.

Knit pattern from rows 1-208 as written, then repeat rows 17-28 once more, before knitting rows 209-225 to finish the blanket.

Went to Stella's and had their Monte Cristo French toast...ohhhhhhhhh let me tell you that was some really good breakfast there! YUMMYYYYYYY. It's one of those places that if you like breakfast foods, you're not going to go away hungry!

They also serve a HUGE mound of what we call fried potatoes. And yes, you can order the 1/2 size as well. Which I wish I had. Soooooo much good stuff! (And their blueberry pancakes are just as good, too!)

After a wait of probably 3 or more years, made daughter the Coronet hat from Knitty.com that she's been waiting for. Proof that all good things come to those who wait? hmmm..made it from Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran on size (US)8 (5.0mm). Quick, fast and very soft.

Had some Coldstones Strawberry Cheesecake Ice cream cake...another yummy find....

Made more Rice Krispy treats (recipe also over <---- yonder) to leave with the daughter...

Started another Norwegian Star hat from the "Hats ON!" book that I love so much and this one

FITS! Actually it might be a wee bit large, but it comes down over my ears the way I prefer to have cold weather hats fit. With the knitted in hem, this is going to be warm! Size large this time with Cascade 220 white and navy yarn on (US) 4 (3.5mm) and (US)6 (4.0mm) addi turbo needles.

I'm now working on Mom's sweater. I'm using Paton's Classic Wool in 'Too Teal' with 'Nellwyn Cardigan' Pattern from Leisure Arts book, Cable Confidence. Now, either I'm not reading the pattern well, or it's got a lot of mistakes in it. Either way, I've had to re-write my copy of the patten several times. I've gotten it started, and I'm doing it all in one piece rather than 3 pieces at once time as I did Dad's vest...which led to....

pulling out 6 snitches and knitting them back up again....

and being off by just one row. Which led to...

pulling back out 3 stitches again...

and knitting them back up to where I am in the belief that I've done it correctly this time. But I'm not holding my breath just yet.

Even if it wants to make me think I've got it covered at this point. I want it finished before flying to Mom and Dad's over Thanksgiving for her Dec 1st birthday. Guess I really should be working on it now. Right.after.I.get.my.tickets. Small details, I'm sure. Still reading? Good job.

Had a little more cake...this one was carrot cake...

Worked on the sweater some more....

Had still more cake..Dairy Queen this time! (Love that center fudge part)

Shared this one with another daughter...

Made some stitch markers and row counters to go with some dishcloths to go

Hang out with some fabulous AC4C friends for the afternoon the other day while we toured the WRC Pregnancy Center that we will be knitting, sewing, and crocheting for next April, 2009 in between laughing and talking and winding up wool cakes for Camille. Say hello to Camille and Arlene and Shirley here!

I'm off to get some plane tickets for Turkey Day and work on a very bright sweater for awhile.

It's good to be back.