Tag Archives: Life

Bugs and Knitting

Posted on December 13, 2007 | 4 comments

    This is my second day in a row to be home sick with a bug. All right, so that’s not very professional sounding. What else could I call it? I can think of some things like: The stuff everyone else at work or their families has or has had?  The creeping crud? A virus? The flu? A sore throat?  It all depends on your perspective…There is a list of  symptoms with which I will not bore you, except for one. I have little or no energy.  It is strange to feel like this since I am the resident Whirling Dervish on a normal day. Most other days you can combine that with Energized Bunny to describe me.

    If there are any psych nurse or health care workers, I am not  depressed. It’s just a bug, which should  hopefully  go away quickly. In the meantime, I am doing all of the right nursing measures like forcing fluids; resting; making myself eat; and knitting. Yes, knitting. :) It is good for the body, soul and spirit. Can you tell I think it has healing properties? Besides, it keeps me busy and from going totally stir crazy.

    So far here is what has been done:

  • Most of a washcloth for a CNA at work. It was ready for loose ends to be woven in when I discovered a dropped and live stitch about three fourths of the way down. It was tinked and is now about 3/4 of the way re-knitted. The pattern is my own from here. It is made with Baby Pink Peaches and Creme.
  • All but the last 10-12 rows of the  Ecru dishcloth in the Holly Kitchen Set from Elmore Pisgah. The pattern is easy to follow and works up quickly. This is one that will be used again even after the yarns from the kit are gone.
  • I have gotten caught up on three days worth of rows for a KAL.

    It has not been much, but it has helped keep me from being totally bored. I will try to post pictures this weekend.
    

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Still Here

Posted on December 6, 2007 | Comments Off on Still Here

The past three weeks have been more busier than usual with everyday activities taking priority. I have been in house cleaning mode for the past month or so. For me it means :

  • going through books in the basement and setting them in a spot for my husband to box them for delivery to a used bookstore in our area
  • doing a couple of loads of laundry almost everyday so it stays somewhat under control
  • setting up a better file system for important household documents
  • organizing and keeping up with patterns downloaded from the internet
  • putting away bits of my own yarn projects that tend to clutter my house

We have a new addition to our home in the form of a treadmill. Its’ arrival was long awaited and much needed. If you read this blog regularly you have me mention that I have heart disease. In my case it is due to a combination of genetics and a lifestyle of not taking proper care of myself. One of the key factors in the treatment of this is exercise, preferably in  the form of walking according to one of my doctors. This has been a real struggle for me. Now that the treadmill is here it has been much easier to do so. It is not as much fun as walking outside, but it is a lot more convenient, especially with the colder weather upon us. The only downside is that there are days when I have had to choose between walking and knitting. Walking has been winning.

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Life and Knitting

Posted on October 26, 2007 | Comments Off on Life and Knitting

It has been almost two weeks since I last posted here.
Life has been busy but  not exciting.Here is some of what has been going on:

  • I continue to knit and crochet in odd moments.
  • A few dishcloths have been made. Some will stay here while others will go to assorted new homes.
  • Work continues on the Comfortghan for a friend at work. It is going very slowly.
  • My family and I have been diligently cleaning out and rearranging the basement of our home. This has consumed the past couple of weekends I have not worked for my employer.
  • Work is going through a super busy phase. There are days when I come home so tired it is all I can to have a snack combined with family time and go to bed. Sleep takes over.
  • This is allergy season for my family. It saps our energy. We sleep, try to eat healthy foods  and force a lot of fluids to keep going.
  • As a person with heart disease, exercising is a must. Walking daily, or at least trying to, is a priority. I can now walk almost a mile before needing to stop and catch my breath. My goal is to be walking five miles daily by my next appointment with the cardiologist.
  • We homeschool. Family time and teaching/learning time are a high priority and as such dominate life in my household.
  • I belong to some online email groups and have another blog. Mail is way behind in all of these areas. I feel badly about it, but am trying to catch up.

These are the things that have taken my time and attention from this blog. It is life and it is important.

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October in St. Louis

Posted on October 14, 2007 | 2 comments

It is finally October!!!! Well duh….It is actually October 15. This is and always has been a special month for me. It is the month my Mom and I have birthdays. It is also the start of the most glorious weather in St. Louis. Some days are hot to the point where it seems that Summer in all its hot misery will never end. Some days start off a bit chilly but then get St. Louis Summer hot with all of the humidity that goes with it. Other days have a St. Louis type mixture of sunny and warm to sunny and chilly all in one. Then there are some truly Autumn days. These start off and remain a bit chilly compared to the summer days. These are my favorite. They remind me that Autumn is finally here.

There are other signs that Autumn is here. We begin to talk of and wear jackets and sweaters. They get put in vehicles just in case it gets chilly out later. We talk about jackets and heaters in cars at work. The air conditioner is no longer on the entire day. It is actually chilly out at night. The house really does get cool with the windows open. The sun is still not up at 6:30am. It starts getting darker after 6pm. Long warm pants sound good to wear. I begin to think about making scarves and hats for others from the yarn in my stash. I begin looking for slipper patterns.  The abandoned bags of hats and scarves that only require the weaving in of loose ends begins to look appealing. We begin to talk about Holiday plans and how work schedules will affect the next few months. These are some of the more subtle signs that Autumn is upon us.

It is truly Autumn in St. Louis. October is finally here.

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Weekend Mornings

Posted on September 29, 2007 | Comments Off on Weekend Mornings

It is Saturday morning. Weekend mornings are my favorite time of the week. My household is asleep.   They are traditionally my quiet time.  I can do what I want with no interruptions unless our dog wakes up and needs to go out.   By now I have been awake for almost an hour and a half. Outside the neighborhood is slowly coming to life. I can hear the activity on the main road a block away.The sun is well on its way to rising and waking the world. It is shining over my back from an open space between the curtains. There is a gentle crispness in the air that announces the changing of the season from Summer to Fall. It is beautiful. My house is quiet except for the sounds of the refrigerator/freezer running and the clicking of the keyboard as I type. It is peaceful and refreshing. There is time for prayer and  reflection. 

Some mornings I take time for a cup of tea; read a book or knit or crochet. Not so today.Today, as I do on many weekends, I have chosen to use this precious time doing an assortment of tasks on the computer.A favorite site has been explored for knitting patterns with which I am not familiar. Some have been added to my list of Things to Make.I have checked the dashboard on one of my blogs. There are no comments to answer. Email has been checked. There are no messages requiring my immediate attention.  A new widget has been added to this site and has been considered for another blog. I will wait a while before making the final decision about adding it.

In a few minutes I will take a break from the computer to check on the laundry. Then I will take time to work on one of my blogs. It is one of my favorite things to do. My readers and users depend on it being current to meet their needs. It is also part of my way to return a bit of what I have received from the  community of  fiber artists  who so greatly enrich my world.

By the time my family awakens I will have been refreshed.

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Interesting Day

Posted on September 19, 2007 | Comments Off on Interesting Day

Today started out like a normal work day. I did a few things around the house; did some knitting and crocheting and spent time homeschooling. In the middle of those things, I did a few loads of laundry. That is typical. At least it was until I went downstairs to see if uniforms were ready to be put on an extra rinse cycle. The washing machine had stopped in the middle of the wash cycle and would not restart. I checked to make sure it was properly plugged in, which it was. I tried to start in on different cycles with no success. By that time I was worried. All of my uniforms were wet, dirty and soapy.

I did the best things I knew to do. I checked the checking account balance; figured out what could be spent to replace or repair the machine and called my husband at work for his thoughts on the subject.  The conclusion of our conversation was that I would ask my boss for the day off if possible and then check on the price of repairing this machine. If repairs were not cost effective then I would go buy a new washing machine.

My boss responded by giving me the day off. Now for the fun part of my day. I called a local appliance dealer with the reputation of honesty and integrity. Based on the symptoms the washer was displaying he said it sounded like the motor was going bad. This was not good news. He said the estimated replacement cost is about $175. This was worse news. It was clearly not cost effective to repair a machine that already had other problems besides that. It was time to do some shopping. The result is that a new washing machine will arrive here in the morning.

A check of Laura Spradlin’s site last evening provided a wonderful surprise update on the Rebuilding Greensburg Block by Block Project. Take a look here if you are interested. Words fail at this point. :)

I have been busy and having fun with fibers in the past few days.

Dworbla
This is a Darrell Waltrip Cloth made with Bernat Summerset. I enjoy using this pattern with variegated yarns because it shows off the colors well. It also works up quickly and easily. Despite all of the patterns readily available, this is one of my favorites.

Kbbdishclothbycathywald_3

This cloth is one I have never made before. It is called KBB Dishcloth by Cathy Waldie. I made it using Sugar’n Cream Twists in the color Denim Twists. It was started on 4.5 mm needles. Somehow in the middle of making it I started using one 4.5mm needle and one 4.25 needle. That was the result of knitting at the kitchen table with several needles handy and not paying attention to what I was doing. In spite of that, the cloth came out looking fairly well.  This is one of those patterns well worth using again and again in a variety of yarns.

Some time was spent this morning working on part of the gift for a friend at work. It is not progressing as quickly as I wish it were. One of the issues is that I am finding it a bit difficult to switch from using the natural fibers in the dishcloths to the acrylic fibers being used for this project. Could it be my taste in yarns is changing?

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Please Help

Posted on May 9, 2007 | Comments Off on Please Help

This is strange for me and not at all related to fiber arts. I was reading blogs from my list of ‘Read Often’ sites that sits in a file on Firefox toolbar. I went to read “I Give Good Shot” by Anna in Alabama. The link did not work. The WordPress link said she deleted her blog. The Blogspot search, where she moved, could not locate her blog. I have searched my files and done a google search trying to locate her with no success.

If anyone knows where she moved or has heard from her, please let me know. Her absence from the blogosphere is worrisome.

Thank you in advance for any and all help with this.

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Spring and Knitting

Posted on May 9, 2007 | Comments Off on Spring and Knitting

Wow! It’s Wednesday already. I almost can’t believe the past week has gone by so quickly. Life has been a bit busy around here to say the least.

Since it is Spring, I am in my usual Spring cleaning mode. This activity has dominated a good portion of my free time. Most recently this has meant catching up on laundry that has been ignore in the laundry room, de-cluttering the homeschool/computer/craft room and helping as needed in the cleaning of son’s room. My next day off will find me moving the living room furniture, cleaning baseboards in the living room and that sort of thing. My husband did  some of the same sorts of things in the bedrooms this past week end.  None of this is exciting, but it is part of life in my family.

There was time last week for knitting, so I almost finished the second sock of my first pair. It is down to taking the last eight stitches off the needles and weaving in the loose ends. I’ll do that on my day off in the middle of the week in a couple of days.  I also have a gauge swatch for another pair on the needles. At the rate I am going, it will be my day off before it gets completed and the next pair of socks gets started.

Knitting and crocheting are two of my passions, but at this time of the year, I normally take a bit of a break from them. Nothing is wrong. I just need a bit of a break for a  week or two.

In the meantime, I have decided it is time to catch up on some reading and to learn HTML, CSS and about web design. Since computing has been one of my hobbies for a long time, this is a natural progression. The knowledge gained doing this will be for my own use and for fun. It is one of those areas I have wanted to explore for a long time.

Last week I read Debbie MacComber’s ‘Back on Blossom Street’. I have started, but not finished ‘Susannah’s Garden’. These have proven to be good relaxing reading in my opinion.  ( I have no connection, financial or otherwise to these books or the author. )

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Sidebar and Learning

Posted on April 27, 2007 | Comments Off on Sidebar and Learning

I have been playing around with computers as a hobby  in one way or another since the early days of the Apple 2c.  There is so much to learn and do that it is still a mind stretching hobby.   A few months ago have decided to spruce up this blog by adding buttons to the sidebar.  The first button or two took what seemed like forever to place just where and how I wanted it.  That was chalked up to learning. It was hard learning but it also good.  I still remember how proud I was of myself when the first button was in place.

My most recent decision is to join some net rings for the purpose of being connected to others who enjoy the fiber arts .  Once again I am in the position of adding buttons to the sidebar of this blog. It is not such a difficult task as it was the first time or two.  I am still learning and stretching my brain muscles a bit….I know there is no actual muscle tissue in the brain, after all I am a nurse. But you get my point. This whole process of blogging can be and is at times a real learning experience. It is fun learning and helps keep me young.

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Spring Fever Follow-up

Posted on April 20, 2007 | 1 comment

My last day off did not work out the way it was planned. Life got in the way with the result that I did not accomplish many of the items on my original list.

The closet in the computer/craft/homeschool supply room was cleaned out a bit. This room contains so much it will take more time to clean it out. There is a pile of items in the living waiting drop off at a local charity.

The only knitting goal I accomplished was knitting on the mate for the first sock. In the past few days the gusset decreases have been completed and the remainder of the foot is being worked on. The other items on the list are still waiting for my attention.  They will eventually get done.

The weather in our area is supposed to be beautiful  this weekend with sunny skies and temperatures in the 70’s. It is my weekend off so my hunch is that knitting time will be limited.

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