The Joy of Christmas

I'm home and still in one, recently modified, piece.

Ankle

It has now been two weeks since my surgery. I spent the first 8 days in the hospital. Overall, they took great care of me and, as much as I love being home, I was glad to stay there and let them take care of me. There is a lot to be said for IV pain medicine and that orange nurse call button. So, first week there, second week home. I did basically the same thing both weeks: slept, took my meds, drank a lot of water. Yesterday I went to the doctor to have my stitches and staples removed (16 and 6, respectively) and to have my cast changed. The new cast is glow-in-the-dark. Umm. This is the highlight of the news from my corner of the world. (ha)

Thank you all for your emails and your kind words.

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Knitting

I've been doing some knitting, mostly simple little bits and pieces that lend themselves to dozing off in the middle. Last week, I got yarn in the mail. Always a good thing. I got new yarn from the one and only fabulous Susie. Two skeins of something secret (I'll show you eventually) and this beautiful skein in her colorway November 15. This yarn is (likely) going to one day become hunting socks for my husband.)

Susie (generous, kind soul that she is) also sent me this bag of mini/scrap skeins of her hand dyed yarns, for me to use for tiny socks. (See those above? Those are her yarns.) Thanks again, Susie!!

Christmas

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Christmas was wonderful here. We were all together (my parents, the siblings/spouses, and the children) and that in and of itself was fabulous. I received so many great gifts and enjoyed so much delicious food. My sister bought me a skein of beautiful handspun alpaca (which I haven't taken a picture of yet) and a cute little sheep finger puppet.

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Remember I told you about my brother-in-law, Jeff? Well, Jeff occassionally reads this little blog and apparently he has been paying attention because look what showed up in my Christmas goodies: The Loopy Ewe kit I had been longing for! When we got home from my parents, I immediatley sat down and started trying my luck at needle felting. The legs are sort of hard and I am sort of sleepy but here is my progress so far.

So, that's it. Now I think I'll sleep some more.

Today's Quote:

"The earth has grown old with its burden of care

But at Christmas it always is young,

The heart of the jewel burns lustrous and fair

And its soul full of music breaks the air,

When the song of angels is sung."

-Phillips Brooks

Zoom - Whishhh....What Was That Noise?

That was the days f l y i n g by.

Three whole weeks and not a single post. Shame on me. What the hell is my problem? Where does the time go? Crazy, crazy, crazy. I have been thinking about ya'll. Really I have. And I have been reading blogs but haven't taken the time to leave comments. (And I thought my blog stalking days were over.) I've been thinking about blogging...I've twice maxed out my memory card (roughly 160 pictures) taking pictures with every intention of writing some profound something about every single picture....Not gonna happen.

If I try to tell you everything at length, I'll never get this posted so instead I'll try to give you the high points and a few pictures.


Section I: Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was a lot of fun. It didn't snow while we were in Oregon but it was very cold and that made me happy. If I pretended real hard, I could imagine the heavy morning frost was snow. (I'm easily contended.) By all accounts, the sweaters were a huge success, both at the Oregon Thanksgiving and at the festivities at my parents' house here. Mama says these were the best ornaments yet and I was so glad to hear it. Hopefully the tiny socks will be equally successful next year. (See? I'm already planning ahead.)

While we were at my MIL's, I took a ton of pictures. My mother-in-law lives down a rural road and the scenery around her place is beautiful. There is a small creek that runs under the road on the way up to her house and it is such a pretty area. Every time we visit her, I tell myself I am going to walk down to the creek and take some pictures but I never do. This time I finally did. I took nearly 100 pictures on that walk. It has been a relatively dry year so the creek is low but that just serves to show off the rocks. It was cloudy and gray and cold that afternoon and it was really just perfect for a picture taking walk. Here are a few.

Section II: Knitting

I've been working on a secret project. Not secret because it is a surprise for anyone - it's actually something for me - but secret because I am thinking about submitting the pattern for something. Anita at the LYS has agreed to test knit the pattern for me (as soon as I get the pattern worked up to a point that someone other than me can read it...) Anyone else interested? It is a felted something, uses a single skein of Cascade 220 or similar feltable wool. If you'd be interested in doing a little test knitting, leave me a comment or send me an email. (crickitleigh at hotmail dot com) No hurry...it can wait until after Christmas, even after the first of the year.

I've also been working on socks for Lori. Once I've got it all figured out, I'll share the pattern with you. I am very happy with them so far and (hurray) after turning the heel, it fit Lori. I'm still fiddling with the leg pattern. The always fabulous RC is helping me work out the pattern. Here's the sock so far, relaxing in my as-yet-undecorated Christmas tree. (I've only had the tree since Saturday. I'll decorate it soon. Really, I will.)Sunday night I made these stitch markers for Deb. Now I just hope she shows up at knitting tomorrow night...I also made stitch makers and earrings for Trixie but, in my enthusiasm to get them in the mail, I didn't take any pictures. Maybe she'll take pictures once they arrive on her end.

Section III: My BIL Jeff

I've talked frequently about my SIL Lori and my sister Katy but I've never talked much about my BIL, Jeff. Jeff is more like a brother than a brother-in-law. My oldest sister, Carrie, to whom Jeff is married, is 10.5 years older than me. I first met Jeff when I was 5. When we were little, we thought for sure Carrie would marry her friend Sam (when you're little, sometimes it is hard to distinguish friends from "friends") but we have always been glad she married Jeff. Jeff and Carrie are the parents of Whitney and Tegan.



So during the last few years, Jeff has been working on getting his private pilot's license. Friday I had the distinction of being the first adult in the family to fly with Jeff. And we had such a good time. Thankfully I remembered to take along my camera. I took tons of pictures, most of which are nearly indistinguishable if you don't know what you are look at. Here are a few that are easily identifiable.



Jeff after completing his pre-flight check.

My neighborhood is so peaceful from up there.

Here we are at 2500 feet ASL.
This is my first go at using the video feature on my camera and my first go at uploading video in a post...Here's take off.

As Jeff is fond of saying: take off is optional, landing is mandatory. Sadly, I was distracted during landing and didn't get a picture or video then. I am happy to report, however, that we did indeed land safely. And it was a very smooth landing at that.



Thanks Jeff!

Section IV: The Crazy

Things have been crazy here and that can be largely attributed to Tuesday's upcoming ankle surgery. Between trying to get everything at work all caught up and on auto-pilot as much as is possible, and trying to get all of the laundry and Christmas shopping finished at home, I feel just the tiniest bit overwhelmed. I'm sure it will be pretty steadily hectic until next Tuesday morning. Hopefully I'll have a chance to post before then....time will tell.

Today's Quote

"An idealist is one who, on noticing that roses smell better than a cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup. -H.L. Mencken

Pick Your Path, Then Follow It

Nothing brings joy to a knitter's heart quite like being asked to knit something for someone. Even showing someone something you like and saying "I think you'll like this" then having them nod in a vaguely non-committal way is about all the encouragement we need. (I am assuming this is true for other knitters - correct me if I am wrong.) And of course, there are to-be-gifted knitting projects that the recipient knows nothing about and those are always great, too.

My proclivity for this kind of knitting has generated a bit of a backlog. This is no one's fault but my own and so I am taking responsibility for my knitting to-do list. I am enacting a Resolution. I am resolving to complete my current list of projects before casting on for any more projects.

New Year's resolutions would be inappropriate in the middle of April so I'm making a Friday the 13th Resolution. This Resolution will be in effect from Friday the 13th to Friday the 13th. Conveniently enough, the next Friday the 13th falls in July of this year and three months is a very reasonable amount of time for tidying up the knitting landscape. (On an irrelevant but serendipitous note, that is the amount of time I am going to need to continue being gentle to my ankle.)

So without further adieu. . .

As Blog is my witness, I declare the following Friday the 13th Resolutions:

(In no particular order)

1. I shall not start any new knitting projects between today and the next Friday the 13th.

2. Between now and 07/13/2007 I will only knit on the projects as itemized below. (Some of the listed projects are literally started - as in already on the needles - and some are just on the docket.)

3. My little Christmas ornament sweaters are exempt for the following reasons:

a. They are an ongoing project that was started before the Resolution was enacted.

b. They are the aperitif and thinly sliced ginger of my knitting life these days.

c. It is my Resolution so I get to make up the rules.

4. Swatching doesn't count.

5. Charity knitting doesn't count. (Hey - there might be some sort of knitting emergency.)

6. This Resolution is purposefully silent on acquisitions.

The Approved List:

1. Mama's hedgehog herd. I need to make her a total of five. Hedgehog-1 is complete - knit, felted, stuffed, seamed. Hedgehog-2 has been knit but not felted or anything else. Hedgehog-3 is on the needles. Hedgehogs-4 and -5 are in the stash.

2. Socks for my ankle surgeon. (This is my current on-the-go project. This has a slightly different deadline in that I want to take them to my July 9 appointment.)

3. I need to sew the lining in Lori's Sophie bag. (Not technically knitting but the knitting project isn't done until the non-knitting part of the project is done, too.)

4. The Almost Amish Baby Blanket. (The challenge of this blanket is that the Pima Cotton Silk sheds. I can't take the shedding knitting with me to work on when I have to then go back to work or anywhere else. This is at-home knitting.) 5. Socks for my oldest niece. (I have made significant progress since this picture was taken. This sock is beyond the gussets and the second is just past the cuff, however, both of these socks are on holders at the moment because I have borrowed the needles to work on Item #2.)

6. A white llama for Carrie. (She got a brown one for Christmas and now wants a small white one with a black face, too.)

7. Felted magazine bag for my friend Donna. (The pattern for which I need to work out. Right now this pattern is only in my head. A dangerous place for a pattern.)

Should the stars and planets align causing a shift in the fiber of the universe which then results in me finishing 1-7 before 07/13/2007, then the following projects are permissible.

8. Mama's Tahki Cotton Classic Colorific Daddo blanket.

9. My Briar Rose Knitalong Abundance shawl from the Cozy pattern.

10. Socks for me from Susie's yarn or the Trekking. I will cross that bridge in the unlikely event that I come to it.
Well there you have it. The Resolution. So now I've said it "out loud" which should help keep me on task.

Today's Quote:

"However vague they are, dreams have a way of concealing themselves and leave us no peace until they are translated into reality, like seeds germinating underground, sure to sprout in their search for the sunlight." - Lin Yutang

Brace Yourself

I have knitting to talk about and origami to show you and beautiful photographs of the spring scenery around here but all that will have to wait. We have other matters to attend to.

Yesterday's visit to the ankle doctor was a rousing success. Such a success, in fact, that I am wearing two shoes today! Not one shoe and a boot, but indeed two matching shoes - a pair of shoes!! For the first time in nearly a year, my right ankle is well enough to be in a normal shoe! Me and my on-the-mend, no-longer-confined-to-a-boot ankle went all over the place today (if by "all over" we can mean plain old boring run-of-the-mill weekday stuff.)
Clockwise from top left, me and my ankle (and our shoes!!) at work, standing in the grass in my front yard, dropping off the water bill, shopping at the local purveyor of pharmaceuticals (where we contemplated buying some pots and seeds and soil but then decided that fiddling with plants would only cut further into my knitting time.) We also went to Starbucks and the grocery store and all sorts of other places, where I got right in and right out of the car. (I stopped taking pictures of my feet. I live in a small town, after all.) All these errands and no stopping to take my boot off as I got in the car, no fussing with putting it back on every time I got out of the car. None of that, just in and out of the car, driving and running errands. It was wonderful.


My ankle isn't perfect and it is still going to be several months before I'm given the all clear. I still need to be careful and take tender care of it (which, by now, I know how to do.) I'm not allowed to do any running, jumping, jogging, dancing, heavy lifting, kicking, pushing, stomping etc. etc. until I see the doctor again (in July) and I will be wearing the lace up brace
for the next three months to continue nursing the cartilage repair and for the next 6-8 weeks, I still have to wear the boot for major walking (shopping at the mall, etc.)....so I'm not done and I'm not completely healed but I am out of the boot and I can move it more and it is making such excellent progress. He said the ligament/tendon repair feels very, very strong and secure and the cartilage seems to be doing well and the bone repair (done in August of last year) is completely healed. I'm so happy I want to do a little dance. I won't - not for another three months at least, but I can't tell you how refreshing it is to get good news at the doctor. It may be a little step in the right direction but it is most definitely a step - a not confined to a moon boot step!

Today's Quote:

"If I have learnt anything, it is that life forms no logical patterns. It is haphazard and full of beauties which I try to catch as they fly by, for who knows whether any of them will ever return?" - Morgot Fonteyn

Making Plans

The Misti Alpaca Pima Cotton Silk arrive from Web's. Hurray. It is so soft and yummy.

I know you will find this hard to believe but I have changed my mind on the pattern. I've decided not to do the Moderne Baby Blanket. I've decide to do this Amish inspired layout instead. (I'm calling it Almost Amish.) I know it looks a little harsh in these computer generated approximate colors. Here is the layout using the swatch clips from the Misti Alpaca site. Please forgive the spacing issues. My eyes were starting to cross. This is hardly an original concept. Quilters everywhere have been using it for ages. There is a similar baby blanket pattern in either Weekend Knitting or Last Minute Knitted gifts, in different colors. What do ya'll think?

That's the high point in knitting news around here. I'm knitting on two different pairs of socks and this blanket and the ubiquitous hedgehogs. I've been puttering around with my camera, discovering that I really can take a close up picture of my yarn and have it turn out worthwhile. Hopefully I'll have some pictures to show you in the next few days.

Tonight I've been doing some origami again. Have I ever showed ya'll any of my origami? I'll take some pictures when I'm done and show them to you next week.

I go back to the ankle doctor on Monday. Wish me luck. Four weeks ago he said I'd be in the boot for eight more weeks so I'm not expecting fireworks or miracles...I'll be content to hear that everything is progressing on schedule.

Have a wonderful weekend and a Happy Easter!!

Today's Quote:

"For the Christian, heaven is where Jesus is. We do not need to speculate on what heaven will be like. It is enough to know that we will be forever with Him." - William Barclay

Where Do the Days Go?

I mean really. Time flies. Sometimes I am a bad friend to my blog. I get so busy working and sewing up and having the stupid flu and working (this week I'm starting a shorthand course) and oh yeah - and walking in my boot without crutches! Yes, the days have been wild and crazy here since my last post. So wild and crazy is in the eye of the beholder but in the eye of this beholder, it has been hectic.

I haven't been knitting much. Sadly. I miss my knitting when I don't knit for several days. I have turned the heel on the first of the Black Cherry Kool-Aid socks. I'm happy with the looks of it so far. Just wish it was, you know, more done! Ahh well.

As for my crutchless state...I know it sounds sort of ungrateful but the walking is really not as much fun as I remembered it being. I'm glad to be rid of the crutches - I've been carrying all sorts of stuff around, which is super-duper fabulous. It is just kind of tender. I am not rushing it. I am not overexerting. I am being careful and walking only in the boot. I am not risking it. I see the doc later this week so hopefully it will be a stunning example of ankle health.

Other than that, nothing much going on here. I've joined the Secret Pal 10. I've never done the Secret Pal gig and I'm really looking forward to it. I need to get the questionarre posted in the next couple of days. Yippee...we have that exciting post to look forward to. :)

Today's Quote:

"Affliction comes to us, not to make us sad but sober; not to make us sorry but wise." - H.G. Wells

Like a Chicken With Its Head Cut Off *

It has been a crazy, hectic, jam-packed, busy week around here. And I am so damn glad for it, I can't even find the words. Every night this week (ok, so there have only been 3 so far...) I have crawled into bed thoroughly exhausted. At work this week, things have been busy. Barely-time-to-go-pee-much-less-leave-for-lunch, sort of busy and it is thrilling.

I know there have been times in my life (even here on this blog) that I have bemoaned the fact that I was too busy at work but after all this time of being barely able to do stuff, crying every time the wind blew my skirt up, it feels great to be buried in my work. It is refreshing to feel so...so necessary, I guess.

Of course, days like that at the office and two evenings in a row of commitments away from home, don't translate to very much knitting. In fact, a generous estimate would say that I've knit maybe 10 rows of a sock in the last week. Crazy, but great in its own way. And the tears have largely subsided. I can still feel them bubbling just under the surface but they are basically in check, which is good.

My friend Kim has an excellent policy: just because you don't have time to knit, doesn't mean you shouldn't have more, new, fabulous yarn. I am still on my crutches so I'm not doing much shopping. Lucky for me, I have wonderful knitting friends out there. Yesterday I received a beautiful, deliciously soft package in the mail.
...the yarn I won from Susie. Both skeins are absolutely superbly gorgeous. The skein on top is 475 yards of of a 50/50 merino/tencel blend in Susie's Flash colorway and the bottom skein is 400 yards of 100% merino superwash in the Am I Blue? colorway. Thank you so much, Susie! the yarn is beautiful and your kindness and generosity are unmatched. Congratulations again on your first 2000 comments!

Speaking of my crutches (I did...right up there before the picture of the yarn) I only have to be on crutches two more weeks. My doctor actually told me that news last week but I am so excited/nervous/anxious about it, I've not said much about it. I go back to see him on March 8, but in the mean time, on February 28, I get to start walking in my boot. Who knew a girl could feel such glee anticipating an undetermined number of days in a moon boot.

Thank you all so much for your encouraging words and your kindnesses in the last several months. For the first time in a very, very long time (well, almost a year) I am starting to feel some optimism. Of course, there are those weak moments when I worry that the light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming train but mostly I'm feeling great about it.

And just when I think I have nothing to blog about, here I am prattling on again...


Today's Quote is in honor of both my busy week and Susie:

"To sleep, perchance to dream - ay, there's the rub." -William Shakespeare, from Hamlet

*Mike the Headless Wonder Chicken photo from Wikipedia.

Self-Portrait Sunday & Coming Out of the Woodwork

Self-Portrait Sunday

1. I am a hoarder. I keep things forever. The less delicate among you might even call me a pack rat. I don’t throw stuff out because I am certain that there will come a time that I will need said stuff. (I have been developing my need for a yarn stash long before I became a knitter.)
2. I am a terrible housekeeper.
3. I love grocery shopping.
4. I hate doing laundry.
5. I love to cook but I hate to clean up – especially, I hate washing dishes.
5b. My husband claims that I am not content with a meal I have cooked until I have dirtied every pot and pan in the kitchen. I tell him that every girl has to have something that she is the best at and I guess that's mine.
6. My favorite color is red.
7. I am a Christian. I was raised Southern Baptist and continue to attend a Southern Baptist church. I am proud of my religious upbringing.
8. I spent time in the Ukraine after my senior year of high school with a church group.
9. It was one of the best experiences of my life. Given the opportunity, I would go back in a minute. Without hesitation.
10. As household chores go, I like ironing the best.
11. I like vanilla and vanilla-based ice creams the most. Baskin-Robbins’s Pralines & Cream is my all time favorite.


Why Call It Self-Portrait Sunday If It Seldom Includes a Picture?

Once I can walk around again on any consistent basis, I have vowed to myself that I am going to take more interesting pictures - both of me and my knitting and of other people. For now though, I took this picture on Tuesday after I came home from my visit to the doctor. It was the first time I'd put make-up on since having surgery so I decided it was a photo-worthy occasion.



So What's Been Going on Around Here?

It seems I haven't had much to say lately. I have been knitting socks. See?

That is sock number 1, just past the gusset. Actually, it is the second sock. I knit the first one through the heel turn and then cast on for the second. So, while it was the first sock to make it this far along, it is actually the second sock. Not that that matters to anyone but me....

That sock is now to the toe decreases stage and is resting on a piece of scrap yarn while I knit the second sock to the same spot. (The second sock is currently about 1 inch beyond the gusset decreases so there has been significant progress made as a pair.)

A thousand wooly thank you's to RC for holding my hand - all the way from PA! - through this new and scary and fabulous sock knitting business. I am thrilled and mesmerized by the wonderful miraculous world of sock knitting. I am well and truly hooked. I have, in fact, already placed an order for some new and delicious sock yarn. Does anyone have any experience with Lisa Souza yarns? I've read lots of rave reviews throughtout blogland and decided to take the leap when I discovered what may just be the perfect red. (St. Valentine)

As for the ankle, the staples came out Tuesday and it's feeling pretty good, considering. I was spared the cast (hurray) and as soon as I can get it on without crying, I will be in the boot. I had it on yesterday for nearly 5 minutes. (Yes, it does occur to me that the fact that I am celebrating 5 minutes with the boot on is a sure sign that a) I don't have much to celebrate and b) I may surely be heading squarely off the deep end.)

So that's it from this end. I am going back to work later this week. I've been working at home the last few days and will until I go back to work Wednesday. I am half thrilled about it and half horrified.

Further, in the spirit of updating, thanks again to all of you for your kind words and warm wishes to the SIL, Lori. She is well on her way to mending and is heading back to work tomorrow. I will be waiting for a full report from her on what we've missed in the last two weeks.

Frankenankle

Just a quick post before I eat something and then go back to sleep. The surgery went fine. He had to do two separate incisions because there was repair work to be done in two separate areas. Because we relish the gruesome details, Lori took pictures of my incisions. They are at the bottom of this post, in case there is someone who would rather not see, consider yourself forewarned.

Saturday and Sunday are pretty much a pain/pain medicine induced blur. Yesterday was the first day that I did anything much more than sleep. And while I was awake, I did this:

and started this:

The yarn for both is Cherry Tree Hill's Supersock in the Peacock colorway and I'm using metal Susan Bates dpns in size 0. I have heard it said that getting started when knitting a sock on double pointed needles is a bit like lassoing an octopus. I would say that is a pretty accurate description. The size 0's are SO TINY. They feel almost fragile. It took a little getting used to but now I think I have the hang of it. It feels like it is going to take forever to knit a pair of socks but I am optimistic.

The Gory Details

My ankle is still really swollen and, of course, still hurting ridiculously bad. Here is the little incision on the top of my ankle where he repaired the cartilage (and took note that the graft he did in August is doing "exceptionally well").
Then here is the big incision, where he fixed the tendons.Next Tuesday, he will take out the staples (8 and 16, respectively) and then he will put on a hard cast, which I will be in for 4 weeks.

Today's Quote

“If the work of God could be comprehended by reason, it would be no longer wonderful, and faith would have no merit if reason provided proof.” Pope Gregory I, c. 600