Couple of FOs, Bye Bye Old Yeller

On Tuesday we will be saying goodbye to Old Yeller. The guy we hired to drive her is buying her. One less debt, and the past few months she's been costing a lot of money in repairs. She's a good truck, great fuel mileage. Too bad the long haul company wouldn't have let us use her - she was "too old" in their books (1999). We wouldn't have had to buy the Pete with the big loan payment. There's no profit on this deal, either. We just got enough to pay the loan, and actually we had to MVI her, and she needed quite a few things. I don't have the bill yet, but I'm sure it's up there.

Got two pairs of child size 6-8 socks finished for the store. We had two odd dye lot balls left of Patons Kroy in Winter Eclipse (above) and Paintbox (below).

Bought some new movies to watch.

Took the boys to the much neglected fitness trail on the outskirts of town. It isn't used very much, so it's becoming overgrown. It's not nearly as nice as when I was a teenager. They had the old train tracks removed years ago, and they had made it a trail for walking, biking, and skiing from Liverpool to Summerville. I thought it would be a good place to take the boys biking. That way I could bike, too, and not worry about one of them swerving into the road in front of a car, and it's quite flat and easier to bike. I decided to take a drive and see what it looks like now. I could barely find it, that's how much it's grown over! The sign is almost covered, and it's so overgrown that a person could barely walk it let alone bike it. Very disappointing. I don't know why the Region doesn't pay some summer students to cut it back.

Got some more good news today. The lawyers office called, and the insurance company has made an offer to settle with hubby for that accident last June. Been a long time coming, but it's quite a bit more than I tought they would. Even the paralegal said we got a lot more than she thought we would. It's almost 75% of what they asked for us, which is about 75% more than what I thought we'd get. Now it looks like I can get my chimney rebricked this September!

Not sure what I will knit next. I do still have to finish that other grey sock. You know, that one for Pa's Day. Yeah, that one. Still not done. The boss lady wants me to knit some dishcloths for the store, too. They sold the last one of mine yesterday. I may start a pair of socks for me, a baby set for the store, or that cabled cardigan for the Littlest Monkeyman. I have another sweater for him to finish, but it's quite big, so I'm not worried about that one til the fall. This one, however, may fit him now or even be too small. If it's too small I'll just take it to the store.

Happy knitting!

I Need Motivation!

I need some motivation to get me moving on some knitting! For some reason the past two weeks have been very slack. I just don't seem to have the time to knit right now. I think I need to start something interesting, whether it be my Hederas, or that cabled cardigan for the Littlest Imp (though it probably will be too small now and end up at the store), just something interesting. I have yet to finished the other dreaded grey ribbed sock, and I also have a child pair of socks on the go for the store that is just stocking stitch. It's a colorful yarn, Kroy Paintbox, just blah pattern.

Be sure to check out Quickeye's post from today. It's filled with a ton of links yarn sales, reviews, patterns, etc. Totally informative post.

Today is my nephew's birthday. Hard to believe he's 18, but he can pass as older. Most people think he's about 22, which isn't necessarily good, if you know what I mean. He's got a husky build, and he must be 6'2". His dad is my brother, and he's an inch shorter than me! (I'm 5'8".) His mother is probably about 5'6". I guess some of her uncles, grandfather, great uncles, were tall men. My other nephew will be 15 on Tuesday. His mother is hubby's sister.

To continue with yesterday's depressing post, a good friend of my husband's family died today. He was 53 and finally lost his battle with cancer. He's been extremely sick for the past few weeks. Hubby got to see him last trip he was home. For the past few days only family was able to enter the hospital room to see him, so we knew it was soon to happen. The funeral is Monday, so Travis isn't going on the road again til Tuesday. He was an honorary fireman, so Travis will march with the rest of the fire department. He was really good friends with my father-in-law. June is a bad month. Hubby's grandfather died June 4, 2001 (that was the first close family member he lost - all other grandparents are still alive, even a great-grandmother!), my father-in-law died June 7, 2003, at age of 52. (Heart attack - killed him instantly.) Travis had his accident June 22, 2005, and now his dad's buddy died June 23, 2006.

Must go push myself to knit something! Will take a sock with me to work tomorrow. Saturdays are oh-so quiet!

Happy knitting!

One Year

It was one year ago today that hubby had his accident. It doesn't seem that long ago, yet it seems longer. (In a nutshell, he was taking a load of paper in to the peir, 5:30am, sunny morning, almost there, lady in a Jeep Liberty crosses into him almost head on. He tried to get away from her but couldn't. Our truck - the first big rig we bought - was written off. She was unconcious but alive, firemen cut her out of her vehicle, she died a few hours later in the hospital. We were never told what they surmise the exact cause was - nothing physically happened to her or her vehicle to cause her to come 36" over the yellow line.) This is kinda weird - yesterday morning there was an accident in almost the same spot, and a lady died at the scene. That one didn't involve a tractor trailer, it was three vehicles, and it was very foggy. I just find it kinda freaky that it happened one day off of the one-year anniversary of the day of his accident in almost the same spot.

Now something almost as equally depressing, I still have yet to finish the Step-Pa-in-Law socks. I have one done, and it is pictured below. Hope to get the other finished soon. I have to work Saturday and will probably take it with me. It's usually deadly quiet.

Last Friday was the science fair. He got a ribbon and a certificate for participating. There were some really neat displays there. The parents did a good job!

I'll leave you with some new pics of the Golden Butt Boy, Golden Pee-er Boy, and Princess Nala, aka B*tchy One.

Happy Knitting!

Not Much Accomplished

Very little knitting has been accomplished in the past week. No, I did not finish the Step-Pa-in-Law socks. I don't even have the first one finished! I hope to tonight or at least be close to it. The drab grey, dull rib just doesn't do much for me. We went to the camper for the night on Saturday. I did manage to knit half a dishcloth and finished it at home last night. Logan does too much running for me to do anything other than run along behind him.

I picked up the other meds for Pumba. I think I will get a pill gun to make it easier. He's the type of cat if you don't manage to drive it in the first time he gets all worked up and froths, drools, and pukes it up. They sold me a month's supply (60 pills, one twice a day). I guess then I have to see if it's a permanent thing or not. It's call Cisapride, and a lot of the cats on the Yahoo group I joined take that and the lactulose (Pumba is definitely taking that for the rest of his life, twice a day). I would highly imagine that if this goes well for the month I'll have to keep giving that to him, too. The pill gun is a good idea if I have to get Ma to give them to him when we aren't home. I'd take him to the camper with us if I had to, but I'm afraid the boys would leave to door open (as the usually do), and he'd get out. Our camper is close to the road, and there's a sawmill down the road, so big rigs pass by on a regular basis, and there are also a lot of dogs there, too.

Going to watch the hockey game tonight. I don't go out of my way to watch sports, but since they're tied for the Stanley Cup 3-3 it could be interesting!

Happy knitting!

Trying Pictures Again

I am going to try to upload some of the pictures that Blogger crapped out on during the last couple of posts. Here's some Handicrafter I picked up for a couple of new dishcloths. Darren likes green, thus the two new summery ones.

He has done a few rows. It takes awhile, and I have to check every row or two for dropped stitches. He also twisted the yarn around his knitting in a couple of places the last time he tried. I'll give him credit for trying to do it without my help. This is going much better than when he tried last fall. Pumba had to supervise the situation.

Here's a picture of the littlest monkey. He's watching me post this and wondering where his picture is. Three days after he hit his head he had to put a band aid on it (Spongebob).

I don't know if there were any other pictures I wanted to post or not. I don't have any knitting pictures to show. Trudging along obediently on the grey ribbed socks, thinking of all the different things I want to make. Trying to be firm and not start anything else til these are done considering I only have til Sunday!

Pumba seems to be his old self again. I worked today, and he seems to have himself cleaned up a lot. (His fur was quite messy looking around the hiney.) Nala is still being Super B*tch to him. Simba actually licked his head this morning. He's been through a lot himself with urinary tract disease, so he must have more sympathy for him. Pumba's appetite is back, but he's a little miffed, I think, because I won't give him dry food. I want him eating the canned stuff for awhile. It has more fibre, and I want to make sure everything is working as it should. I give him a tidbit of dry once in awhile, but not much. I joined a Yahoo Group for owners of cats with megacolon. A lot of them seem to be on the same medication as Pumba. Some take some other stuff, too, and some have had to have major surgery! Yikes!

Pets can be just as costly and as kids...

Happy knitting!

Dulaan Stuff Packed and Ready to Go

I ended up with three hats, three scarves, and a pair of socks this year for The Dulaan Project. There's a picture of one of the scarves in progress. The other one is a dark burgundy, but the flash washed it out. I omitted one cable to make these child-sized scarves. I had a model for the socks! They were knit from some leftover worsted-weight stuff to make a nice, thick pair of socks for those cold little Mongolian feet!

Now I will work on some Father's Day socks. Can't wait to get them done even though I just started. (What happened to going to start them early so as not to run out of time?) They are drab grey ribbed socks. I'm anxious to start myself a pair is the problem! There's also a couple of small things I'd like to do soon for the store.

I had to take Pumba back to the vet's today. He couldn't poop all weekend. All he did was cry, strain, throw up, and he wouldn't eat or drink. $257 later he's back, cleaned out and on daily medicine for the rest of his life. They figure he has megacolon. I had already concluded that this weekend. (Basically his colon is stretched from being constipated fairly regularly, and the muscles weaken, thus making it hard to poop.) Being a long-haired bobtail doesn't help, either. He has to take 1.5ml of lactulose twice a day for the rest of his life. So he's smelly, eating again, and being treated like he has the plague from the other two cats, especially the female. She's quite the hissy, growly b*tch to him.

Had a couple of more things to show, but Blogger crapped out on uploading pictures again!

Happy knitting!

Dulaan Days

I've been faithfully knitting Dulaan Project items for the past few days. I finished one smaller version of the Irish Hiking scarf for a child, and I am making another one right now. I have three hats and two scarves, plus I'll have at least one more scarf and maybe one or two more things completed before I mail them off to F.I.R.E. on Wednesday. My goal for next year is to make two items per month minimum. I'd also like to make three or four small sweaters as well. I will post some pictures of my stuff before I mail it. Be sure to check KnitDad's blog and see his pile of Dulaan stuff he is getting ready to mail!


Going to try to post some pictures today of some things I tried to post in the last few sessions. Blogger has been terrible lately for uploading pictures, and I see that I am not the only one who is having trouble! This is the hand-dyed sock merino I bought on eBay. It's a lot brighter than what it looked like in the listing, but I like it! I know hubby will make fun of it, but I still plan on making Hederas for me. I think this will look great with jeans! The oldest boy loves green, so needless to say he likes it! (He started knitting a dishcloth last night. He dropped a couple of stitches, but I fixed it up for him. Took a long time to do two rows! I took some pictures, but I won't have them posted for a couple of days yet probably. Not transferred from the camera yet!)

Take a look at this ticket from last Thursday's draw. Notice the tag number.

I have a picture of what my tag was, but Blogger just decided that two uploads was enough for me. Anyways, my tag number was 158863, so I won $10 and was just one miserable number away from $100,000!!!!

Maybe I will have more pictures tomorrow.

Happy knitting!

Sockapalooza Socks Arrived!

My Sockapalooza socks arrived in the mail yesterday! I tried to post this last night, but Blogger wouldn't let me.

My Sock Pal was Michelle. I love these socks! It wasn't hot today, it was overcast and drizzly, so I got to wear them! The colors are great, and as you can see she also sent me a ball of Socka, a Toblerone bar (notice it's open? - didn't make the drive home from town!), and a pocket-sized game like Yahtzee, quickly claimed by the littlest munchkin. (Who also helped with the bar and thought the socks were his! Maybe I'll use the yarn she sent me to make the boys each a pair and maybe have enough for socklettes for me!) We sell Socka at the store, but we don't have much left and none of this color! These socks are even more special because one of her sons was in the hospital and found out he's diabetic, and she still got them done!

Short row heels! :)

I also got some sock yarn that I got on eBay in the mail yesterday. It was a lot brighter in person than it looked on the listing! I like it, but I know hubby will make fun of it. I think it will look good with jeans. I still plan on trying Hederas with it! I would have a picture of it, but Blogger just crapped out on me again and won't upload anything! I've never had trouble til the last few days. Grrrrr!

Maybe more pictures next post!

Happy knitting!

Finally -- A FO!

Finally finished the child size 4 sweater for the store. The color is called Eggplant, a discontinued color of this stuff. The back of the sweater looks the same as the front, and there are two cables running up each arm. Here's a pic of the back of the lace sweater that I am also making for the store. You really can't see the pattern. I should have put it on something dark so you could see the laciness of it. Maybe once I get the front done I'll try it that way. It's "Crystallite Cream" in this stuff.

I think I will take a break from this sweater tonight and either start a pair of socks or work on something for the Dulaan Project, seeing how I have to have the stuff mailed by next Friday at the latest.

Dad got home last night. His operation took about two hours. He has to go to our hospital tomorrow morning and get the drain plug removed. He has to go back and see the plastic surgeon on the 22nd so he can check it and make sure it's healing okay. (It was the grinder blade that got him in the arm.)

Here's a shot of my Mother's Day gift - I finally got some batteries for it. Not a great picture, but it'll do.

Well, I had more pictures to share, but Blogger crapped out on me and won't upload anything. It says it did, but they aren't there. Maybe next time!

Happy knitting!

Sock Yarn

One of the skeins of sock yarn that I won on eBay arrived today. It's soooo very gorgeous! Nice and colorful coraly-orange-yellow. I haven't quite decided which pattern I will use for this yarn. Maybe Broadripple? Of course, I could wait til the summer Knitty comes out. It's an "extremeties" issue, so there should be a few socks in there!








Pumba seems to be doing fine since his weekend ordeal. He's none too happy about the diet. He's poopin' and peein', and that's what counts!

My mother called yesterday shorty before supper to say that Dad was in the hospital. He's away working (it's like a five hour drive almost to get to where he is), and he cut himself quite badly on the arm. He had called from the hospital, but she didn't really know how he did it. He ended up calling here last night. Apparently he was using a grinder to take apart a conveyer belt (or something to that effect), and something got wedged or jammed in it, and it was either part of what he was cutting or the grinder itself that came back and got him just above the wrist. It sliced through two tendons, and there's a bunch of debris in his arm that needs removing. They did First Aid on him (he said the guys were quite white, but they did it!) and called 911. An ambulance and two police cars arrived. (On a boat, so immediate "industrial accident".) He has to go back tomorrow to the hospital and have it operated on to reconnect the tendons, remove the debris, and try to repair the muscle. He said it's like 4" long and 2" deep. I'd have been no good to him - one look and I'd have been laid out on the floor! I'd never make a doctor. No stomach for blood and stuff! The surgeon was in OR for 12 hours yesterday, so he just bandaged Dad's arm up and scheduled him for tomorrow. A little lower and it would have hit and artery. He probably would have bled to death. I was to this place where the boats tie up once, and it's in the middle of nowhere. The hospital must be 1/2 hour to 45 minutes away. He called home this morning and told Ma that he didn't get any sleep last night because his arm throbbed so bad. I can imagine!

Still no FO to show! The weather has been too nice to get much knitting done. I think the boys tried to kill me today - or at least cripple me. They got me to get my bike out of the basement, pump up the tires, clean it up, and drive it around the yard. That was the first time in probably 10 years that I drove a bicycle! I'll be sore tomorrow!

I would leave everyone with another shot of Poomie Oomie and also the Lorna's Laces that I got on eBay that came last week, but Blogger just crapped out on me for uploading pictures. Maybe next post!

Happy knitting!