Ready Set...

All wound up....malabrigo sock ready for the Steven West kal.....

Kitchener Fiberfest yarn haul

Talia's Poncho

Talias Xmas present all set to wrap!

Finished projects

Yarn addict?

Picking out yarn for her Paula's Poncho.

Scan

Happy to put today to rest! Stressful morning.....pet scan day. That horrible bottle of white chalky liquid for breakfast....veins that wanted no part of an IV (which took two nurses,numerous needles) and 40 minutes trying to get ready for the hour rest before the actual scan.....which only took 25 minutes!  At least it's done but now comes the weeks wait for the results. Must keep busy...

Knitting away on the Paula Poncho. Would have had it finished but couldn't knit much over the weekend. Nothing repetious.   ( can't spell tonight)   before scan so I didn't want to chance it.
I'm really concerned about the sizing...  my lys suggested the s/m after seeing GD. I now have my doubts. Took it to knit night, we checked gauge and I'm right on. I'm half way thru the second repeat of the chart which means there's only about 25 rows to go. The lys had me get 4 skeins (220 super wash paint) and I'm only on the second skein.
I'm really anxious to finish it so I can see the size. Hopefully I don't have to frog it and start over!

I'm enjoying some reading. Seaside Knitters Mystery series by Sally Goldenbaum.  I think there's five so far. My local library had all of them. I can't stop reading.....haven't mastered reading and knitting at the same time....believe me, I tried!

On that note...
Off to read....

Experiment

Ok, this is the last try!

It worked!

One more try

I'm still trying to figure out how to get photos from my phone on here.
I never use a camera anymore. and I'm always using my phone.
So here's one last try for today.

Life goes on....

It's been awhile....again. So much for keeping this up to date!
I think I have a "good" excuse.....through Dec. and early Jan. I was experiencing really nasty headaches. I thought I had a sinus infection....a BAD sinus infection! Decided it was time to see the Dr. Good thing....he sent me for a scan immediately and something showed....and unfortunately it wasn't a sinus infection. I had a brain tumor! I was admitted and hooked up to all sorts of drugs and three days later had brain surgery. Looking back its still hard for me to believe that really happened!
I was home in a week and feeling pretty good all things considered.

Two weeks later I underwent the Gamma Knife ....a type of radiation. Not pleasant preparing for it but the procedure itself wasn't bad. It took 70 minutes and I actually dozed off....I'm sure the drugs had something to do with that! We stopped for a quick lunch and then got home and I napped for a couple hours.

Fast forward a few months ....three weeks ago I had my MRI and a little something was rearing up. So Gamma Knife to the rescue again. Same process but only 30 minutes this time.
Mid Sept. MRI again and we'll see what's going on. Hopefully nothing!

In the mean time I have been knitting! Quite a bit actually. I still do a lot of resting and I get restless just sitting so the needles are always close by. And a hook....learned how to crochet an afghan. Decided both kids needed one for their b'days in April. That was excellent therapy work for me. I have all these great photos but don't know how to get them on here using the iPad.
I'll work on it.

I've started Xmas knitting. I didn't want to wait in case anything comes up health wise. So the other day I took my granddaughter to the yarn shop and let her pick out yarn for her poncho. She picked 220 super wash paint in a purple/ pink variegated. Well underway with it...the pattern she picked is Paula's Poncho. The open work at the bottom won't show as much with the variegated but for her I think that will be fine.

I think that's it for now....a garage door is calling me for its second coat. Have to take advantage of these nice days because soon enough we'll be stuck inside.

Off to paint

One more step

One more step towards getting "back to normal" I started doing demo's again
but with a new company. Just a couple hours a week but it's a start. This will be short term
job....through the beginning of Nov. then done until the new year. That's fine with me. it is
fun talking with people and seeing their pets.
Now my goal is to try to make a dent in the stash! Seems I've said that before but this time i'm doing it. Whenever I start something with
new yarn I also pull out an unfinished project or start
something with stash yarn...so far so good!
Just finished a top down pullover that I really enjoyed
working on. Stash project is the log cabin afghan that's
been tucked away for years. I don't really like it....I' ve definitely become
a yarn snob since that was started! It's going to go to my son's house. Now that I have a purpose for it I don't mind working on it.
Otn now is a shrug out of Casablanca by Cascade. It's pretty but pulls
apart really easy. The company says it shouldn't be wound on a
ball winder....hmm, maybe they should mention that on the label!
A pair of socks are in the works too. They are a b'day gift for my
son's gf. Did I mention her b'day was in July? She picked out the
yarn and I told her she'd get them once the weather got cold...
which it has.
I'm in two knitting groups now....Monday evenings and Wed.
afternoons. The Mon. night group are all doing the shrug...fun to see
it in all the different colors. Wed's group is a support group at the
shop Have Ewe Any Wool in Snyder(great shop). There everyone
works on whatever.....that's always interesting to see new
projects. That can become a bad thing too...specially since
you're surrounded by yarn!
I've got to start posting using the computer....this phone thing
is tough on the eyes/fingers specially this time of night!
Nite
Off to read

Fight like a girl

2012......well over a year since my last post. Don't even know if anyone will read this
but I'm writing anyway.....kind of like talking to myself.
A month after my last post I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I remember the tests
and then them telling me we'd have the results by the end of the week....that was Monday.
Early Wed. morning the phone rang-my hand was shaking as they told me
the news. The rest of the day went by in a blur. From that day
things moved quickly.....at least looking back it seems like it
did....at the time it felt like everything took forever to get started.
Once a course of action was decided on it was one appointment
after another. Then it was dealing with 12 weeks of chemo every
Wed.,the hair loss,the exhaustion,weird rashes,mouth sores. Seems one
thing would clear up just in time for something else to happen!
My doctors were great .....you have a whole team taking care of you.
Had surgery in Oct.a year ago. Had to stay in the hospital
longer than normal because I couldn't eat.The next weeks were
spent mostly sitting/sleeping in the recliner...couldn't get
comfortable anywhere else. Dh was right there by my side through
it all. He was my rock when I'd get discouraged he'd cheer me up.
Shingles was the insult to injury tho....dealing with that two weeks
after surgery was almost too much to bare.
Chemo every 3 weeks for a year and here I am. Almost myself....they
tell me it takes up to a year to really feel totally  back to normal.
I'm taking each day as it comes....my new motto....don't worry if the
house isn't perfect or laundry needs to be done...it can wait while I nap
or read/knit..it'll be there when I get to it!
Enough for now....bedtime

Can It Be???

Is it possible that I haven't blogged in over a year?? Funny I've been thinking about blogging the last few days and in my email today came a reminder from blogger.....maybe it's karma that I blog again?

I thought of deleting this blog and starting over but that would take more effort than I can muster up right now. Think I'll just clean this one up a bit. Hopefully I remember how!

My New Year's resolution is to go through my projects and finish things that have been otn. I'm tired of moving overflowing bags with half done projects! The Einstein jacket is finally done and I've even worn it! Now The Lady Eleanor wrap has my undivided attention!
One more tier to go and then the fringe! hmmm, how may years ago did I start that??

I'm also trying to knit a pair of socks a month. Doesn't sound too difficult ....since I have a couple pair that only need their mate!
Thought I'd tuck them away and next year I'll have a few to pick from for gifts since I did no holiday knitting this past Xmas.

Well, that's it for now...it's knitting time

May already??

Where does the time go?? When I was a kid I would hear someone say that and wonder what the heck are they talking about...now I get it! Wasn't it just Christmas?
The weather here is finally starting to feel a bit like spring. Now that means all the yard work begins. I can hardly move tonight after doing some weeding yesterday and again this afternoon! I got quite a bit cleaned up but there's still so much more to do. KK got the pond running so I'll get some fish soon. I think the nights are a bit too cold yet for them.
This past weekend we had the first Yarn Shop Hop! It was really fun spending two days with friends and running around to the shops! The ending was a party with lots of food and giveaways! I didn't win but one of the women with me won the grand prize! It was a mammoth basket packed with yarny goodness! In it was the felted Poinsettia felted wreath kit which she gave to me! So in around about way I won too! Got more info on spinning and wheels. I think that's the next step for me!
Would have liked to make the Sheep and Wool festival in Maryland but maybe next year! From what I hear I'd better start saving now!
Saw some new summer yarns that were nice. Did get some summer weight sock yarn of course!
Let's see, what else is new?? hmmm, knitting the Kyler's Cardigan a Cottage Creation pattern. It's an all garter stitch sweater so it's pretty easy knitting. A couple new techniques but so far so good! I'd like to have it finished before the weather gets much warmer since it's all wool. It's a top down so there's a lot of sweater in your lap!

I'm pleased with the FLS and I think I may do it again. I've gotten a lot of compliments when I wear it.

I did do the Pinwheel blanket that we started at one of the Guild workshops. Hopefully you're looking at a photo of it! It's a good tv/movie watching project once you get it off the dpn's and on the circulars. I would like to do it again in a nicer yarn..this yarn seemed almost too soft for it.
I finally did a felted bag that I've been wanting for myself. I used up odd bits of Lamb's Pride that I've had leftover from other projects. I had it lined then decided it needed to be felted more so now I have to redo the lining. I'll get a photo once it's finished.
Not much else happening...we took a couple day trips to combat the cabin fever we were getting but now with the nicer weather there's plenty to do!
I'm going to try to get back to blogging ...I don't know where my time goes!
Off to bed