Well hello June !

How did you get here so fast ! It must be because of this ...


Working hard in the garden

Swingin' good time



See Omi , I can make pancakes ...


 

Then of course there was some of this too ...

Spring socks finally finished !

Recently my stepmom Linde fell and broke her shoulder . She's having a rough time of it so I thought a warm  hug was in order . Because she lives too far away to give it in person , I'm knitting one for her , filled with good thoughts and good wishes for her recovery .


In progress , some one needs hugs



By special request , new socks for Jessey
 

 There were also adventures with Mason in where he learns  how much fun it is to catch frogs and just how cool it is to hold a real snake . He also learned that Omi doesn't share his enthusiasm for snakes  . Wouldn't you know that Omi forgot her camera at home , so you'll just have to imagine that adventure .

That about wraps up the month of May . Bring on June and summer !




Show and Tell

Ever since my cast came off  I have been a knitting fiend , albeit a fickle one . I guess I'm making up for lost time . Just before I broke my wrist I had two pair of socks in progress . After a couple of weeks with the cast , I was able to knit a few rows at a time , then gradually a bit more every day . Lo and behold , just before we left to come home I had a finished pair of socks .

Not so Vanilla socks

The pattern is Vanilla Latte on ravelry . The yarn was a impulse buy from my LYS . After our long  cold , dreary winter , I was in the mood for some colour and this yarn ( Lang Yarns Jawoll Color Aktion ) and another equally colourful one came home with me . The very nice thing was that included in the ball was a coordinating reinforcement thread . It is nice to have but I find that using it really bulks up the heel .

The second pair of socks are almost done , I just have to finish the toe on the second sock and sew in the ends . It should be done already except for the fact that I cast on for yet another pair of socks . But that's not my fault , more new sock yarn and this pattern made me do it .

Groovin' on a rainy afternoon

I mean really , could you resist ?

Have a wonderful weekend !

The intermittent blogger

That's what I should really call this blog . Long story short , the day after my last post I fell and broke my wrist . I was fortunate that I didn't require surgery  and just had to wear a cast for 6 weeks . All this just before our trip to Florida , our grand daughter Stella's birthday and our concerns for our other sweet pea Charlie . Charlie's condition has much improved . The diagnosis in the end was something called cerebellitis , a slight swelling of the cerebellum , usually caused by some kind of virus . The prognosis is that she will outgrown the tremours but she will be followed up by the neurologists at the Montreal Children's hospital . The condition is very rare in such a young child and since the diagnosis was really one of exclusion they want to be sure that all continues to be well with her .Our heartfelt thanks for all the concern and prayers for Charlie, it means more than you could imagine .

This morning a very colourful package from Dee arrived in my mailbox . I was completely surprised and delighted by the contents . Inside were these absolutely gorgeous socks , a pair that I had admired on her blog. They are even more beautiful in reality and they fit perfectly . I had a wonderful visit with Dee last year on our trip to Florida . This year thanks to my broken wrist and not being able to drive we couldn't manage to get together in person . Thank you Dee  , I love them !

My wrist has healed and the cast has come off . I have some mobility issues but physio should help . Oddly enough despite all that knitting is not a problem . I even managed to knit a little with the cast on . Updates on that next time . I promise it won't be so long between posts ...

Have a wonderful weekend and Happy Mother's Day to all the moms !

Mad March

 Mike calls this month Mad March because that seems to be my state of mind every year at this time . By this time I'm heartily sick of winter and to top it off , it is tax preparation time . They're done now , and everyone and his brother has got their extra pound of flesh , so I can relax and get ready for our trip to Florida . I am looking forward to it more than ever this year . It might be spring on the calendar but we are still in the minus side of zero on the thermometer .

We've had some worrisome days lately . Charlie started exhibiting odd  involuntary movements . Her pediatrician referred Stef and Max to the Montreal Children's hospital . The poor thing has had all kinds of tests, including CT scans , MRI and multiple x-rays , eye exams and blood tests . The fear originally was some kind of brain tumour but that was finally eliminated this past Tuesday , thankfully . On Wednesday Stef had to bring her in for more blood work and now we wait . So far the doctors are unable to identify the cause but are hoping that the last blood tests might help with a diagnosis . She'll be going back to see the neurologists  in 2 months time unless there's some news from the latest tests and her symptoms worsen . Keeping fingers crossed ...

While we were waiting for news I knit , and knit and knit some more . The end result , another pair of Patina socks .

 

Once these were done I cast on another sock . Then Dee posted about this KAL and yet another pair of socks were cast on . I feel the need for colour and some mindless easy , peasy knitting .

 

They one on the left was started today , the other at knit night with the girls on Tuesday . The left one is Jeck and the other Vanilla Latte , both on ravelry . I hadn't realized how similar they are until I took the picture . I have to say this is my first time working two at a time socks , different patterns . You think I might be losing it ?

Weekend plans include babysitting Jessey and Stella while mom and dad get a day away . They're coming over tomorrow and staying for a sleepover . I think easy peasy sock knitting will be a perfect way to spend a quiet Sunday ...

Have a wonderful weekend !

Cupcake with sprinkles

 

This week I finished another baby hat for Anna Laberge Hospital  . I modified the pattern  (Little Scallops ) by inverting the scallops , I was hoping to get sort of a cupcake look . Because I was using DK weight yarn , not sport as in the pattern , I cast on 72 stitches instead of 81 . Actually as I was almost done the dark pink section I realized that it was only a 4ply not DK . Oops , I decided to plow on and hope for the best . The lighter pink is a DK weight , I think that it turned out alright in the end . I have enough yarn to knit one more ,  I'm still working down the stash .

Production may have to slow down in the next little while as I'm experiencing a lot of shoulder and wrist pain . I always have some pain due to arthritis but crocheting the ripples blanket made it worse . Ignoring the pain I rushed to finish my Patina socks in time for the end of the Olympics . I'm trying to limit myself to only short periods of knitting and then not even everyday . I'm hoping that helps . Unfortunately I'm allergic to ibuprofen so that leaves out a whole bunch of anti-inflammatory medications that I could use to manage the pain . Guess I'll have more time to catch up on my reading , not a bad thing ...

Speaking of the Patina socks , out of all the socks that I've knit , these are my absolute favourite . The design is just gorgeous , the pattern is well written and Tanis' attention to detail makes for a very nice knitting experience . In fact I liked the pattern so much I immediately cast on for another pair . The Madeline Tosh sock yarn isn't too shabby either . I fell in love with the Robin's egg blue colour the minute I saw it at a yarn shop in Florida last year . Isn't it gorgeous ! It gets me Florida dreaming and away from this awful polar vortex of a winter .

Have a wonderful weekend !

Rainy days and Fridays

...are perfect for knitting and watching an exciting Olympic hockey game . Boy , oh boy , were my needles flying during the men's Canada vs USA hockey game this afternoon . It was a real treat to watch , it was such a good game that could have gone either way . There is no lack of talent on both teams . Lucky for us Canada won and goes on to play against Sweden for the gold medal on Sunday . Yesterday the girls played their hearts out and managed to eek out a victory in overtime to win the gold for Canada . It was a nail biter of a game and heartbreaking loss for the US girls , who were winning until the last minutes of the the third period , when Canada managed to tie it up . They played an amazing game. No lack of talent there either .

 

Only a few inches more knitting to reach the toe of the second sock . Plenty of time to finish them off before Sundays' closing ceremonies in Sochi . This pattern is just so much fun to knit and the yarn is beyond wonderful . I love the colour , it brightens up today's gray skies .

Last Friday saw the completion of my pastel ripples baby blanket . Unbeknownst to me I had a deadline to finish it . Once Chantal saw it , she asked if she could have it for a shower gift for a friend . She needed it by Saturday . I worked on it almost monogamously for the better part of the week and I managed to finish it in time . The mom to be loved it !

I'll leave you with this picture of Charlie , I love her smile , isn't she just the cutest  !

 

Have a wonderful weekend , with lots of blue skies and whatever makes you happy !

Pastel Ripples

I didn't realize just how much baby yarn I had in the cupboard until I started going through all of the containers .There's bags and bags of it and it would take me a really LONG time to use it all up by knitting only baby hats . I decided that crocheting or knitting a couple of blankets might speed up the destashing process . Crochet is quicker and uses up more yarn so here's the first blanket , almost ready for the gift box . The baby hats are coming along quite nicely with 5 hats completed so far . I'll post photos when I have a few more done . There are so many cute patterns for baby hats on ravelry that I'm really enjoying this process .

To make a change from all this baby knitting I cast on for my ravellenics2014 project this morning during the  Olympic opening ceremonies in Sochi . I 've entered the sock hockey event and am knitting a pair of  Patina socks as part of Team Canada . There's not a lot to show at the moment , I'm almost done with the ribbing . I can't wait to start the pattern on the foot , it looks interesting ! If you're participating in the ravellenics2014 , what's on your needles ?

I'm looking forward to watching all the Olympic coverage this weekend and cheering on all of our athletes . Go Canada go !

January

That's it for January , the first month of this year is already almost done and dusted . Personally it's been a pretty good month for the most part . I still have my blue moments but at least I don't feel like I'm running on empty all of the time . I even managed to post every week this month , that's not bad after a 3 month absence .

My knitting mojo is back in full force ! I met my goal of getting Charlie's blanket finished and I'm working on baby hats for our local hospital .

These hats will be an ongoing project for 2014 . |It will be interesting to see how many I can get done by the end of the year and just how much baby yarn I can get out of my cupboard .

Weekend plans are for catching up on some shows that I missed the first go around on Netflix and watching the Super Bowl game on Sunday . That should be enough time to produce another hat or two ...

Have a wonderful weekend !

Sweet Barley

It's been so darn cold outside this week  that the best thing to do is stay inside , drink lots of hot tea and knit. Which is exactly what I've done for the most part this week . I did have to brave the cold a couple of mornings in order to bring Mason to daycare and  to babysit Jessey and Stella . She'd been running a low fever and was coughing , so Chantal asked if I could babysit . Jessey thought that since I was going to be there that he would keep us company . We spent a very nice day together . I don't get to see them as much as I'd like so it was definitely a treat .

I finished another hat for my grand daughter Charlie this week . This one is knit with some worsted weight yarn that I had leftover from the Entrechat shrugs that I knitted for Roxanne's daughters . The pattern is Barley from tincanknits'  Simple Collection . I just love how this turned out ! The pompom really adds to the cuteness factor IMHO .

I 've put Charlie's Miss Marple on hold while I knit another blanket for her .The cardigan only needs to be done in time for Christmas , so a little time out won't matter . I wanted a change and some mindless knitting , with the added bonus of getting six balls of yarn out of the cupboard , was just the ticket . I'm so fickle like that . I'm a little more than half done , I'm hoping that the end of the weekend will see another cuddly blanket in Charlie's crib .

A Friday Finish

Thank you for the welcome back and for all the words of encouragement  . It was so very nice and I really appreciated it  . It was such a difficult post for me , to try and find the line of what I was comfortable sharing online .

That being said , I have been busy this week trying to decrease the WIPs from my ravelry page , lest they become UFOs . One done and at least four more to go .

These socks were intended as a Christmas gift for Jessey  . He had asked me for some blue socks to wear inside his boots . I think I'll knit him another pair with a heavier weight yarn the next time around . They are warmer than regular socks but still , with the frigid temps we've had thicker ones would be better . An Omi's work is never done !  ;-)

While I was going looking through the stash for the baby hats from the last post , I found four balls of Berroco  Blackstone Tweed that I bought In Vermont a few years ago . I'm getting a head start on the Christmas knitting with a cardigan for Charlie . I have enough yarn to knit the Miss Marple cardigan in the 2 to 3 year old size . I realize that it will be a tad on the large size as she'll only be 15 months old by next Christmas , but  she'll grow into it and get more wear out of it .

I love this cardigan ! You knit the fronts and back all at once  from the bottom and then you pick up the stitches for the sleeves at the armhole and knitting short rows to form the sleeve cap . The sleeves will be the most challenging part I think , another new technique for me ...

I spent the morning baking chocolate chip cookies for a bake sale . Stella is taking part in a little dance show tomorrow afternoon and some of us were asked to help out with the refreshments for afterwards . It should be fun ! Trying hard to keep Mike's fingers out of the cookie tin , the man has some sweet tooth .

Have a wonderful weekend !

New year , fresh start

Well 2013 is come and gone and I can't say that I'm sorry to see it go . I hadn't  meant to stay away from blogging for so long , it just seemed that life in the last few months of 2013 knocked the stuffing out of me . It had mostly to do  with health issues and some family issues . I am feeling better  and I'm confident that the family issues will work themselves out bit by bit . I'm looking forward to a better and happier 2014 .

Aside from the birth of our latest granddaughter Charlie  , this little addition to the family has brought me a lot of happiness . After Alaska died in May I realized how much I missed the companionship of a dog . A friend pointed me in the direction of Animatch a local shelter and this is where I found Zoe . She was a surrender from a commercial breeder and is about 2 years old . It was love at first sight . We filled out all the adoption forms and we were lucky enough to be chosen as her forever family . She is a very sweet ,gentle and happy little dog that follows me everywhere .

Looking back at my knitting of the last year ,2013 was a fairly productive year . I completed 31 projects . I knit some socks but baby cardigans and blankets were very prominent on my ravelry project page . I had hoped to practice knitting more designs with cables but that didn't pan out  . We'll see what I can come up with for this year . I hope to reduce the stash a bit and I have made a start with this trio of hats for Charlie . My first finish for 2014 .

To help me with my goal of reducing the stash I am going to do more knitting for charity . I have enough single and odd balls to knit a fair number of hats and mittens to give to the homeless . Our local hospital also takes baby hats for preemies and newborns . Of course , there is also the Warm Hands Network , which  does a great job helping the northern communities thanks to the generosity of knitters .

Those are the knitting goals ,they are the easy ones to achieve . The harder ones are the personal goals . The primary one is to learn to let go of and  to accept  the things that I can't change . I am going to try to focus on and appreciate all the positives in my life and to forget the rest . Another personal goal is to BE healthier , which means making some changes in my diet and exercise . This has been a constant struggle in the last few years . I 've lost weight but not enough to get me off  some of my medications . I need to find an exercise that I enjoy and can stick to .

Mike, Omi and Mason , Stella & Charlie .

Happy New Year and since most of the continent is under a deep freezing cold spell , hope you can stay warm ...