Yarn!

Picked up my latest yarn order today and am very excited! I've bought the yarn and picked out the pattern already for the shawl I plan to knit for this year's A Christmas to Cure Cancer Silent Auction. I must have it completed by Thanksgiving...yeah, I'm starting early this year. Last year I went through about 5 different yarns and 4 different patterns before I got the right combination.

On the health front, Monday was my first day back to work after my sinus surgery. I was out for two weeks to have the surgery and recovery. It will take a couple of months to heal completely, but I think that it's going very well so far. I'm hoping to start my allergy shot therapy next week. I still hate needles, but I have to get my allergies under control, so I'm just going to have to get over that phobia.

To Breathe Again

Had surgery on my sinuses today; it went well and there were no complications. Took me longer to come out of the anesthesia than they estimated, but that has happened to me before so I wasn't worried. Looking forward to being able to breathe normally again...hopefully in about 2 weeks.

I have had a sinus infection since mid-November 2009. After 4 rounds of strong antibiotics improved my condition, but did not fully heal me, I went to see an ENT (ears, nose, throat) doctor. The surgery should have cleared my sinus passageways sufficiently enough to resolve and hopefully prevent this situation again.

I did start a new shawl while waiting for my appointment. It will be a simple lace shawl just for me. It's a pretty variegated sock yarn (Lion Sock-Ease - my first time to use) with shades of pink and some purple & light green accents. It makes me think of Spring.

Need to recharge batteries so I can start posting photos again.

I have been assimilated

I know I don't blog much, but it was at least a way to socialize/connect with family, friends, and other knitters. It's enough for me. For networking & socializing, I think the blog, Ravelry and Linked In are sufficient...heck, I have enough trouble as it is to keep up with those three.

Then I got sucked in...I'm on Facebook. No need to repeat any of my previously expressed opinions about on-line social networks, I haven't forgotten. I blame my husband Michael...once he had an account, it was only a matter of a couple of weeks before I had one. Lured in by the possibility of reconnecting with old friends it was just too tempting. But understand this...I don't tweet!

I'm still here...

I can't believe I've been away for so long. I'm not gone permanently though. I'm now very happily married (eventually will get photos posted and thank you cards sent), knitting furiously ( a couple of people might actually get some handmade gifts this holiday season), and improving my bowling.

I'll have lots to talk about as I get back into blogging.

Goodbye Ike

Well, things are slowly getting back to normal here in Ohio after our windstorm this past Sunday. We were very lucky in our neighborhood; while we didn't have power for about 77 hours, there wasn't a lot of damage on our street. Can't say the same for the people one street over who have a tree on top of their car. I saw quite a bit of damage in our driving each evening to find an open restaurant for some hot food...there's only so many peanut butter and honey sandwiches that one person can eat in a week.

I'm happy to have our power back and hopefully everyone will get their power back this weekend. I missed my computer and my CPAP (which we eventually powered using a boat battery and a power inverter); also hated throwing out so much food (what a waste), but those were the only real hardships. I did get a lot of use out of my World Band Receiver which has a built in flashlight and a hand crank.

I was rather amused by some of the concerns expressed by individuals on the local radio stations. Considering the damage that some families received...is the loss of TV for a few days/week really that important? It's just TV, there was probably nothing worth watching other than the news coverage of the storm and you can just walk outside to see that for yourself. I stopped watching TV about 10 years ago and you know what? I don't miss it much at all. Good shows, and even some not so good ones, eventually make it to DVD and can be easily borrowed from the library if one is so desperate to watch it. Besides, when one's free time is so limited, why waste it on TV?

Award Time

Last week, the lovely Tina gave me this award:


The rules for receiving this award are:

1. Put the logo on your blog. (done)
2. Add a link to the person who awarded you. (done)
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs. (see below)
4. Add links to those blogs on yours. (done) Here are my nominees:
Deborah's Daily Dilemmas
Finish Your Row
Knitting Iris
Kody May Knits
L.A. is My Beat (note: memory intensive, but worth it)
Monster Crochet
nerd knits
5. Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs. (Will do..)

Thanks to the bloggers above for sharing their lives, thoughts and talent. I've gotten a lot out of reading their blogs over the last couple of years.

Tina - Thanks so much for the award! It really lit up a gloomy week.

Socks that Fit

I did it. I knit socks that actually fit me...both of them do...and here's the proof:


Not a great photo, but they were taken at about 1:45 a.m. on Sunday, August 17, 2008. Poor Michael, I made him stay up to help me thread my needle for grafting and then take photos. He was done after four takes, so this was the best of the lot.

The pattern is Jaywalkers by Grumperina. The yarn is Lorna Laces Shepherd's Sock in the colorway "Grumperina." I think of it as blueberries and cream. It's a variegated mix of navy, purple, lilac, and cream.

I knit the pair in 17 days during the Summer Olympics as part of the Ravelrympics on Ravelry - my event was the Sock Put. Here's my medal:


The idea was to challenge yourself with a knitting/crochet/spinning project(s) to be completed between the opening & closing ceremonies of the Summer Olympics.

My hands still hurt, but I'm already swatching for Frenchman's Creek from my sock club. More about that later though.