I survived Christmas....barely

I got all my knitting done just in time. Sorry no pictures. I need to remember to take photos of my FO's. Currently on my needles is the baby blanket for my adopted older sister's daughters baby. Kyra was born last night and is currently at Children's Memorial in Chicago. She needs surgery for a heart defect. I haven't heard any more details. So I need to get the blanket finished.

Christmas was lovely, peaceful and fun. The boys all loved the gifts they recieved. I wasn't feeling the best all day.. had pain in my upper abdomen. After a late night trip to the ER I found out I'm full of gallstones and will need surgery to remove my gallbladder. Mom had this surgery when she was younger than me. Go to the Surgeon on friday to set everything up. Nervous but looking forward to getting it over with so the pain will be gone. Hope to get more than one day off... I can recoop and knit :)

It has been extremely quiet and calm at my house... the boys are both off visiting there mothers. Rare occassion to have both gone at the same time for more than a day or two. We have calm & quiet until Jan. 1 ahhh got to enjoy it while it lasts.

Christmas is coming.

The hubby out ready to shovel our snow!!

The weather outside was fightful. Friday we got 15+ inches of snow. That and having the first snow day from work in the 8+ years I've worked there has put me in the Holiday spirit. The above photo is the Christmasy part of my next donation to the Preemie project. Now that those items are finished I can concentrate on the Christmas presents I need to work on. I got a compliment from my father yesterday. I made him a pair of boot socks for his birthday back in August. Everyone looked at me thinking why warm socks in August. Well dad put them to work on friday plowing out his driveway, he said they are VERY WARM..He had previously used them for slipper socks around the house. He found out just how warm they were on Saturday when he wore a different pair of socks and his feet froze. He thanked me for the wonderful present from his crafty daughter. My sister is the shopper of the family. She puts equal amount of thought in her purchased gifts. My hubby wants a pair and for me to make his father a pair. My father in law is adjusting to the colder weather since moving back north from Kentucky. Off to work on the gifts!!

Bummed

Just got back from the doctor. Found out my wrist problem is carpal tunnel....:( So much for my typing and knitting for awhile unless I can work it with my brace. I can probably do it but slower. I will have to see.

Wow I'm floored.

I got an e-mail this morning that Jan in Michigan got my Preemie Project donation. She always posts pictures to share so everyone can get on and see what everyone else is making. I got on to check and my pumpkin hats are the picture attached to the October Donations. AHHH make me blush. Here is the link if you want to check it out. http://bloberry.typepad.com/ppm/ This is the chapter page for Michigan. Michigan is just really getting going on collecting donation. Seeing I live almost in the middle between Iowa and Michigan I send my work to Michigan. They need more hands.

I go to the doctor this afternoon about my wrist. I had shooting pains into my fingers last night so Mike urged me to call and get it checked out. I just hope it is nothing serious. I have to get the baby blanket for Ashley done in only a few weeks. I will post a picture of that hopefully next time.

Better get back to work. Wrist hurts too..so I better stop typing.

October already.

Hard to believe it is October. Friday I sent out my donation to The Preemie Project. I sent off 3 pumpkin hat sets and 5 hats. Seems small to me but with everything that is happening I guess it is better than nothing. With school starting and Mike's new job. Things have been very busy.
Mike was in the hospital and we are still dealing with doctor visits and testing. Kyle had strep that ended up causing an absess on his tonsil so bad he could hardly breathe or eat. Both are now on the road to recovery (I hope!) We also have a new member in our family. Mike got his truck. He has wanted a new truck forever. My baby car was not doing well so we decided before she caused us greif and more money, we traded her in and got the truck. I love the color. To our surprize we went to show it off to the parents and had the first load in the back. Mom gave us her headboard.. we could never bring it home until now!! No more "how are we going to move that" problems anymore. It will also help when we have "big" jobs with the business.

Well off to pick apples.

Yeah almost the weekend!

I have to admit, I love fall. My allergies don't care for it, and I'm known to be quite miserable with the allergies but it's nice when it's warm not hot during the day and cool enough for good sleep at night. That is how this week has been. :) I also love the smell of burning leaves and the apples... gotta love the apples!! I can't wait to take lil dude to the Apple Orchard this year. We didn't make it last year. But I think he will really enjoy himself this year. I love bringing home the apples and making all kinds of great things, pies, applesauce, maybe this year I will try Apple Butter?!?

I've been knitting away on the pumpkin hats. Getting kinda tired of them actually.. but that is what they need for the donation so that is what I'm making. I finally found the Red Carons Simply Soft at JoAnn Fabrics yesterday. Now I need the white and I will get rolling on the Santa hats. I also found a great remnant of boy fleece. I will put an edge on that soon. The piece was big enough for me to get 2 - 25" blankets out of it. I have to find and edge that is not too difficult and not too girlie. I have a feeling these will be fun to do. Something different. I get knitting ADD sometimes.. need to keep switching. good thing the baby stuff is small.. goes quick usually before I get bored I'm done.

I got some sad news last night. One of my forever friends future granddaughter was found to have a heart problem. They found something odd during a routine ultrasound, they went in yesterday for a longer one and it found a problem with the baby's heart. Tomorrow is the big full blown ultrasound. Hoping and Praying it is something that can be corrected!! I just had Ash pick out what baby blanket she wanted me to knit for her, on sunday. I want to get the supplies but I also feel I should wait to make sure the baby will be ok. Very torn on this. I think I will wait - what is one more day. Keep her in your prayers.

I will update again soon.

Fall is in the air.

Here is a picture of my pumpkin patch. It is a small donation to the Preemie Project. I lucked out at Wal-mart and found a 12oz skein of the orange I needed to start these on CLEARANCE!! Always a good thing. I haven't had as much time as I would like to knit. I did most of these in one weekend. (I was in the car alot that weekend.) I hope to get more done before the next donation needs to be sent.

The Hubby landed the job he's been hoping for (for over a year now) and started on last monday. He really likes it so far. Work isn't quite as hard as he thought it was going to be and the guys are really nice to work with. Yeah for him. It has been an adjustment - I'm used to having the house to myself in the morning but it's nice to share a cup of coffee before we leave. The rest of this week has been spent getting the boys ready for school. Hopefully once everything settles down and the cooler weather approaches I will get the itch to knit more. :)

I've been asked to make these hats in a larger size for bigger children. I guess I will have to mess around with the pattern and see what I can do. These might be good to make for the craft fundraiser for Preemie Project?!?

Happy Knitting!

Wow best Tuesday on record!!

I have to state the sad news before we get to the good stuff. "Fleas" pictured above is allergic to fleas. Aunt Diane let the mother in law know about this sad fact. I hope she is doing better, since getting treated by the vet for her condition. :( I miss my baby girl.

Now for the Good Stuff. The hubby was expecting a call from his new employer. He got the job everything looks good. He starts next monday!!! He is bouncing off the walls. This is a job he has been hoping and waiting for - for just over a year now. It is one of the best places in town to work. The turnover rate is extremely low - most people just retire they don't leave. So he is pumped and so am I. This will mean we can seriously start saving and looking for a house next year. Things around the house will change. Saddest of all is I probably won't have near as much time to knit now.

Other good things. Lil dude is signed up for school. Only down side is the first day he only goes for an hour. I will have to take the morning off of work to take him. I guess it's kind of a meet the teacher thing. It is so hard for me to believe I have to go thru the school thing all over again. My baby graduated from HS in June. Having inherited a lil guy means school for another 13 years!! YIKES. I said something at registration and one of the women said I didn't look old enough to have one that graduated from HS. I wanted to kiss her...lol JK but I did like the compliment. :) I told her I have one turning 22 this fall and she was amazed. Maybe it was just an act but I'll take the compliment anyway.

We also had a nice dinner with my p's. They are head north to Alaska today and were so excited. They looked so cute. I hope they enjoy and take lots of pictures!! I didn't dare ask dad if he figured out the video camera. Been a sore spot with him since he bought it from my brother.

I'm almost done with the booties to go with the Pumpkin hats I've been working on. I will post a pic of my pumpkin patch when completed.

July's Finished Projects

For the hubby's birthday I made him a sweater. I know knitting a sweater in July is a bit nuts. This way it will be ready when it gets cold. He has been very patient while I've been knitting for everyone else, mainly the Preemie Project.




I also finished a pair of cute socks for my neice's birthday. Hopefully she will like them. She just turned 7 and is a girlie girl. She likes wearing skirts and dresses. I thought these would be cute with a dress or skirt.

Now I'm back to knitting pumpkin hats and booties for Preemie Project. I just received beautiful yarn from Jan in Michigan and Kristy in Utah. I will start working things up with that yarn as soon as I get the booties finished to go with the hats. :)

It's June already!

This is my most recent donation to The Preemie Project. Actually this is the last of the items I sent in for the month of May. I found out I didn't win the contest but it is always fun to enter and give me a little boost to keep going and getting the items finished and sent in. I won't have much time this weekend to knit. Kyle's graduation is tonight - thank god the weather is cooperating! Then parties all weekend. Lots of work to get the house cleaned up and the yard! The storms we keep having every few days knocks more tree branches in the yard. Hasn't been dry enough to burn them.

I'm excited to find out my great friend is coming down for the parties. She was a neighbor when I was a kid. She was too old to hang with me. I hung out with her younger sister until they moved away. In our 20's we luckily reunited and have been great friends since. Our children are only a week apart so we connect on the trials of having teenagers the same age. Her daughter is now expecting ( big shock) and we are coming to grips with that. :)

I'm trying to secretly make my husband a pair of Boot socks for Fathers Day. He supports my knitting , is so proud that I knit for the Preemie Project. But wants me to make him something. I need some double pointed needles and hope to get them Saturday when we venture to Indiana to pick up his son. The stores around us don't carry double points!! They have one set - of course the size I already have! He thinks the needles are for the baby items - which they are to an extent. But I have fallen in love with making socks and want to make him a few pairs..I think this year will be the year of the sock. I plan to make some for Christmas gifts. Need to get the needles and yarn and get going. Lots of family members to knit for. My son is into the fingerless gloves and I want to try out making a pair for him. Those will be easier than socks for him. The boy has size 13 feet!

Wish me luck on getting thru this extremely busy weekend.

It's almost the weekend.

Once again we have a jam packed weekend ahead of us. Kyle is in The Taming of the Shrew at school. He plays an old man. I'm not sure of the spelling of the characters name. As usual he steals the show with is acting. The boy is a comic. I was too busy trying to video tape the 3 hour long show to bring any knitting with me. Altho at lunch I did almost finish the preemie gown I've been working on. Once I figure out how to post a photo on here I will show the finished product. It is so small it looks like it's for a doll. I've also made 2 of the ruffled bonnets and booties to go with them. Those are adorable. Just need to get some ribbon to embellish them. I think I'm going to make some blanket squares next something quick and easy that I don't need to concentrate on a pattern. I try to balance out the harder things with the easy. I got some Caron's Simply soft Baby sport in yellow. I thought it would make great sqaures. Hard to believe I found that in a basket of yarn at the Salvation Army store. I go there to bum around on lunch now and again. You never know what you will find in those places. Hey I will take half priced yarn anyday! It was a nice surprise. Great to take advantage of when you aren't wooried about having enough to make something. It's great to make the preemie things - you get so many items out of a small amount of yarn.

New Blog!

I have a couple of other blogs but not one that is just for my knitting. I have recently started knitting for The Preemie Project. My first donation consisted of 4 hats with booties..2 girls & 2 boys. I also participated in the "Boy Contest" by making two outfits. I also crocheted 2 small blankets one girls and one boys. I find this very rewarding and stree relieving. My husband says all I do is knit when I'm not working. I enjoy making things. He enjoys his sports and Nascar. This is my thing. :) I'm just glad I now have a place to talk about it and show off what I've done.