Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Done!

Here it is, the snowflake illusion scarf! It took about 1/2 skein each of the white and blue (Red Heart acrylic). I was going to put fringe on the ends, but it looked bad to me, and it was late, so...no fringe. The cast-on edge was a little messy, so I ended up tightening it; now it's a wee bit too tight. I know, it only bothers me, she won't notice!
Top view:


Side view:

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Ramblings

In reference to what Leslie asked from the previous post, hyperthyroidism can cause fatigue. I, of course, have had most of the symptoms listed *except* loss of appetite and weight loss. Go figure! The two symptoms that would BENEFIT me!! But I am feeling much better; I think the Valium is finally kicking in and kicking butt on my anxiety.

"Creatures" got frogged last night...I didn't like the way my cast-on looked (too loopy). So I'm almost done re-casting-on (heh!). Oh well, it was only five rows.

I should have photos later today of the snowflake illusion scarf. Not many clients+chores that can wait until tomorrow=finished scarf!

Oh, and I'm going to see Harry Potter tomorrow! I'm so excited, I've heard it's fantastic; the trailer makes it look more like the first two movies (which I loved, the third movie--not so much).

Monday, November 28, 2005

I've been slacking on my posts because I've been so darn tired. I can't get in to the endocrinologist until my OBGYN gets my records over to his office....I can't even set up an appointment! So I spent time this morning on the phone trying to get the OBGYN's office to get on the ball and get my records sent. Sigh.
Saturday we went out to run a few errands, and I was so wiped out, I had to take a nap when I got home. That's how bad it's getting. I'm tired all.the.time. Sucks.

But I got a lot of knitting done this weekend. I'm almost done with Mom's snowflake illusion scarf....one more repeat and the fringe to go! (I showed it to my aunt on Thanksgiving, and she said she may have to learn how to knit to make one herself! All it takes is that one project you have to have to get the bug, right?!) Anyways, I'll post photots of the scarf when it's done.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, I know I did! My Mom is such a great cook. The guys played games on the Xbox all afternoon, except when we all watched War of the Worlds, and us girls helped cook. I saw the beginning of my aunt's blanket she's crocheting with the dark blue variegated yarn, and it's gorgeous....and I started on Creatures of the Reef.

Here is Taz, my parents' new dog. He's six years old, and came from the local shelter (where he'd been since August). He is the sweetest dog ever! If you sit down, he has to come and sit right next to you, or preferably on you!


Here are Taffy and Taz making sure no piece of turkey hits the floor. Notice how they have both sides covered


And lastly, I had to wash hubby's gloves the other day, and guess who had to try out the drying rack too?


P.S. If you notice, I posted a photo on the sidebar under Finished Projects of the "Baby Item" I made!

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Happy Turkey Day

Well, I'm feeling better, just in time for the holiday. I was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism, and have to see an endocrinologist (thank goodness for spell check!). The crappy part is the doctor's office isn't in too much of a hurry to get me in, whilst I want to get in ASAP so I can medicate my anxiety far far away. But being the semi-smart cookie I am, I asked my OBGYN (who did my blood tests) if he could give me something in the meantime. And bless his heart, he gave me some Valium. A Thanksgiving miracle! Mmmmmmmm, Valium.

Yay! My relatives from Green Bay are coming down by us for Thanksgiving, and my little sis Amy is coming too! Can't wait to see them. Hope everyone out there is blessed with family coming together. Family is so important to me, and I love how quickly Brad melded into the weirdness that is my fam!

I'm plodding along on snowflake illusion. Sorry, no pics yet. Everyone help me pray I get my Addis today so I can start on Creatures this weekend! I really really really want to start it...

Have a great Tukey Day, eat lots of good food, and knitknitknit!

Monday, November 21, 2005

A-n-x-i-e-t-y

It's about time I finally sat down and posted something...even though there's groceries to put away, and cleaning to be done (sigh). It's always something, yes? I'm still waiting to hear my diagnosis from the doctor, they said I should know by Tuesday (tomorrow), and finally I'll get some kind of meds for this freakin' anxiety. Liz is right...it feels like you're having a heart attack, over and over again. When I went for groceries this morning, I was huffing and puffing my way through Cub, trying to stave off an anxiety attack. Didn't work. And I'd like to know what was up the butt of the woman behind me in line at Cub...she had her cart pressed right up against my rear. I kept backing up, pushing the cart, but she didn't get the hint. Almost went mental on her--it was taking too much restraint not to--but I just pushed against her cart one more time and walked away. Are people getting more and more rude? Why can't we all just get along?

Sorry to ramble on about that....

All I'm working on right now is the snowflake illusion scarf. I started Trellis yesterday, but it would take me forever to make it, so I'm nixing that project (I may make it a little later in a larger size) . I'm waiting for some Addis from KnitPicks, then I can start Creatures of the Reef. *Hopefully* they'll come by Wednesday, so I can work on it over Thanksgiving!

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

This has been a very up-and-down few weeks for me. The good: I've gotten a lot of knitting done...I finished the mysterious "baby item" last night (stayed up late after Stitch-In to finish), and will post photos as soon as Jenny gets it so she's surprised. And oh! she had her little boy Monday afternoon! Congrats to Jenny and Hector, and welcome Jakob! I found this, and just might have to make it for Jakob too.
I finally get to start on Creatures of the Reef-exciting!
And my mom and I are going to see Bon Jovi tonight in Madison! Can't wait! We (my mom, sisters and I) saw them ages ago-1987 to be exact. It is SO weird to be able to say I saw a concert almost twenty years ago, makes me feel old.

The bad: I've been having anxiety and panic attacks, and my doctor said my blood pressure is high, so I have to go for blood tests tomorrow morning. Ugh. The panic attacks are the worst-they happen only when we're driving at night. The first one happened on the way home from the football game, and I had to wake up Brad so he could finish driving home I was so freaked out. I had another attack Monday night, when Brad was driving. It was dark and raining...I kept telling him to slow down, which really irritated him because he wasn't going that fast to begin with. Panic attacks suck. The anxiety actually is getting better. Since Stitch-In last night, I haven't felt much anxiety at all...my friend Linda said it was because I was around so many women!

It is snowing here in NW Illinois, which I wouldn't mind if we had finished raking. I tried to get some raking done this morning (and have the blisters to prove it), but the leaves are stuck together and to the ground from the rain the past few days, and the cold/snow today. Shit. Mother Nature, we need a blizzard (preferrably tomorrow, so we don't miss the concert) to cover up our yucky lawn. Thank you!

Friday, November 11, 2005

More than meets the eye

I got 32 rows of the snowflake illusion scarf done last night, and it is so much fun! A few tips.....
1. There is no listed needle size on the pattern--use whatever your yarn calls for. I'm using Red Heart, which calls for size 8 needles.
2. Start the chart with the white yarn, or whatever color you want the snowflakes to be.
3. Knit all the odd rows (which is confusing when you start the chart because on the even rows the blank squares are supposed to be purled) i.e.: knit on the right side, work pattern on the wrong side.

My aunt wondered how this pattern works up, and I had to actually start it before I figured it out myself. The pattern shows up because the knit stitches lay flat and the purl ridges stand up, so when you lay the scarf flat and look across it, you just see the purl bumps. Very cool.

Thursday, November 10, 2005

Clapotis is done!



I decided to block it...now all I have to do is keep Taffy from laying on it!
I was sweatin' last night while finishing this--I thought I was going to run out of yarn. Alas, I had four inches to spare after binding off. Phew!
I know the blocking isn't perfect, but I don't mind. Hopefully Santa will bring me a blocking board for Christmas...

Next on the list is the "baby item" and the snowflake illusion scarf.

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Lots of leaves!

This is what going away for a weekend in the fall does to our lawn:


There is not one patch of grass to be seen. Ugh.
Guess what we'll be doing this weekend?!

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

What I did last weekend

This was our room at the Lazy Cloud Inn. All their rooms are individually decorated (this was the Mossy Glen suite) and so comfortable! We had a picnic basket delivered for dinner, drank a lot of wine and champagne, and soaked in the hot tub. There wasn't a TV in our room, and it was so nice to just sit and talk in front of the fire.



We had a beautiful Sunday afternoon for the game. Here's the outside of Lambeau field


Look at all the people!


Here are the guys showing their team pride


Cheesehead sighting!


Team practice



The atrium


Here is the view from our seats...skybox, baby!


Aunt Gayle, Uncle Jim, and Brad


Brad and I


Read it and weep, Green Bay! Steelers win!


Last but not least, the yarn porn. I went to two yarn shops in Madison: the Knitting Tree (not worth the trip--cozy means "very small") and Lakeside Fibers (OMG, a beautiful store!) and didn't find any yarn at either store that I had to have. Then my aunt and I went to the Joann superstore in Green Bay, where I got these:

I know....ewwww, acrylic! But I needed the Red Heart for the snowflake illusion scarf I'm making for my Mom for Christmas, and I couldn't pass up this boucle yarn. One skein is almost 900 yards, and it is the prettiest orange/red color. My aunt also bought this for an afghan (she's a crocheter) in the dark blue, which is a lot darker than the photo. It's the same yarn as I got, but variegated to make wide stripes.

Monday, November 07, 2005

At this time last year.....






P.S. Thanks to everyone who commented on my husband's sweater!

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

Finished!!!



Finally finished! Here is my proud hubby modeling his brand spankin' new sweater. He said, and I agree, that the collar is a bit too big, but he couldn't pay me to frog and redo it, so it stays the way it is. Next one will be better, I say.