Misinformation

I went to the doctor today for my one week post-op appointment. He said everything looks like it should. That's good news.

Sunday I finished the baby bib that goes with the washcloths.

Cute, huh? I took them with me to my appointment today to give to my doctor for his as yet not born baby. Funny thing happened, though. Apparently the baby is . . . as yet not conceived. Seems I was misinformed. Oh well. He has other small children so maybe they will be able to make use of them.

The Daisy Sweater in Pictures

Saturday was Courtney's baby shower so now I can show ya'll the pictures of the Daisy sweater.

Stats: Rowan Calmer in Coffee Bean, Size 6-9 months, Ceramic Turtle Buttons

I opted not to add any embellishments because once it was all done, I really loved it with just the turtle buttons for decoration. It is simple and clean and I think he will be able to wear it as an everyday kind of sweater. I have been pretty much asleep since last Wednesday so I haven't gotten to talk to Courtney and see if she likes it so I guess I will have to let you know. For some reason that I cannot explain, that picture of the back of the sweater is determined to upload sideways. Sorry.

Knitting in My Sleep

Here I am, briefly crawling out from under the pain killer-induced haze to say hello. Wednesday's surgery went very well. He warned me ahead of time that the recovery is very painful. He wasn't lying. I've mostly been alternately sitting in my recliner with my ankle elevated or laying in bed with my ankle elevated. It is a simple existence.

I've slept the better part of the last three days so I haven't accomplished all that much knitting but I did finish the last of the baby washcloth quartet. They are very cute and soft.


I've also started working on the coordinating Baby Bib O' Love. I don't do much intarsia and this project is pretty basic (40 stitches wide, all garter stitch) but it does have 8 blocks of color, which means 8 bobbins. I have never liked the little plastic bobbins I've found at the craft stores and I have tried using clothespins but I've had problems with the little metal pieces snagging my knitting. I've come up with this and it seems to work very well for me:

Those are the little plastic balls that vending machine toys come in. My husband brought me two little Spongebob Squarepants sponges in them the other day and I had a moment of clarity. Especially for such small lengths of yarn, these little containers work great. They are cheap: ($0.25 to $0.50 each) and you get the toy inside for free! I just cut a small hole in the top, wound the needed yarn around my fingers, strung the center-pull working end through the hole and snapped the bottom back on. I've found, too, that it helps to catch the non-working end of the yarn in the lid so it stays put and doesn't tangle up in the working yarn.

I wasn't able to go to Courtney's shower today, which is very very sad news. I did send the sweater so we will have to find out if she liked it and I will post some pictures of it in the next few days. For now, though, I think I am going to give in to the siren call of the painkillers.

Yes, No...No, YES

Ok. So. Last Wednesday my ankle surgery was postponed. Then they rescheduled for September 20. (Oh the tears.) I told them, though, that they could call me if they had a cancellation. Even on short notice. This morning at 10:15, my surgeon's MA called me and asked me if I really meant it about the short notice. Long story long - I'm having ankle surgery tomorrow morning. Oh I am so glad. I am just ready to have this done.

I have been knitting knitting knitting. I've finished two Baby Bibs O' Love from the Mason-Dixon Knitting book. But mostly I have been working on a little good karma project: my ankle surgeon and his wife are expecting a baby and since every baby needs handknits, I decided that I would be just the knitter to provide said baby with said handknits. Of course, my mind has been a little muddled and I am not ready for another Daisy sweater....therefore, this baby gets a set of four washclothes and a coordinating bib. Since (at least to my knowledge) they don't know what they are having, I decided on something a little funky but neutral. Also, since they are washclothes and the colors are borderline neon, they will be ok for a boy or a girl. I've finished two and have 5 rows to go on the third. Without further ado....






























What do ya'll think? The clothes are 9" squares and each as a 1.25" block of color in the corner. The fourth one in the set is orange. The coordinating bib will have a row of the 1.25" color blocks across the bottom - blue/pink/green/orange/blue/pink/green/orange - and then the rest will be all white. I pretty keen on the white. And the Sugar n' Cream cotton, too.

Crochet is of the Devil

I found a pattern for a really cute little duck but, sadly, it is a crochet pattern. Are any of you - or anyone any of you know - skilled at converting crochet patterns to knit? It is a super simple little thing (available free online, and less than half a page worth of instructions) but I don't - can't - crochet. I could probably make up something equivalent but I'd really just like a conversion of this pattern.

Can anyone help? Or guide me to some place and/or someone that could help? I have yarn - will barter.

Edited to Add: At Dorothy's suggestion, here is the link to the pattern. http://www.sugarncream.com/data/pattern/pdf/instruction_125.pdf I'm not sure whether or not you will be able to view it. You have to be a member of the Lily website in order to get to it. (It is a free membership and Lily does have some cute patterns.)

Nonsense

It has been a long, tedious, tear-filled week.

Puppy: Still confined to cage.
Ankle: Still un-surgeried. (tentatively rescheduled for September 20th but hopefully it will happen sooner.)
Optimism: Sorely lacking.
Attitude: Foul. (The jury is still out on which is worse, the general unpleasantness or the crying. I say the crying.)

Last night, I went to a San Francisco Giants game with my brother, Chad, and his wife, Lori, and my twin sister Katy. So nice to get away and just chill out for a little while. An evening with these three goes a long way to improve one's attitude. And the Giants won so that was good.

There hasn’t been much knitting going on this week. There has been a fair amount of sitting, holding my knitting in my lap but I can assure you, these pictures would not be interesting. Oh, I did knit a baby bib on the way to/from the game. That was nice, quick, absent-minded knitting.

So, in lieu of actual blog content, I provide you the following list of nothing important.

Favorite Yarn to Knit: Rowan Calmer, of course! With the Cotton Classic coming in a close second. (By the way, the blue block is coming along quiet nicely.) Though lately I have been knitting with a lot of the Sugar n’ Cream cotton. I’ve been making some tidbits for babies I know. I guess this is my favorite yarn for the money. At least for now.

Favorite Needles: AddiTurbos. Hands down my favorite. Worth every pricey penny.

Favorite Knitting/Yarn Accessory: I got a ball winder for my birthday and I love it. But I would love it even more if I had a spindle to go with it. I’ve been eyeing one over at Elann and I’m sure I’ll break down and buy one soon (you know how it is – something always coming up that, sadly, manages to take priority over a spindle.)

Favorite Pet: Sally, of course. Thank you all so much for your sweet comments and emails and for your thoughts and prayers for the baby dog. She is doing ok – hates the cage, loves the little treats we give her the medicine in. (Which is lucky for us since she is taking 8 pills a day for now.) I can’t really say one way or the other if she is improving much. She is so much perkier, though, so I have to believe that is a good sign. She is still unsure of her back legs but she isn’t acting so tender as she was before.

A Cool Place You’ve Probably Never Heard of: The House on the Rock in Spring Green, Wisconsin. We visited there once when we lived in Genoa City, Wisconsin (just up the road from Lake Geneva) when I was in elementary school. I’d love to make a trip back there one day – both to see the House and just to visit the area. It is beautiful there.

Guilty Pleasure (TV): Big Love. I haven’t heard anything about the new season, though. Also, lovelovelove House. And that season premiere is September 5 at 7:00 p.m. I just love Hugh Laurie. Have ya'll ever seen any of his work for British television or read any of his writing? If you haven't you should.

Colorific

Ya'll, if you are of the mind to pray for little dogs, please say a little prayer for Sally. Reader’s Digest Condensed: She went to the vet today. She has two broken vertebrae and a crushed disc in her spin. The doctor recommends $5000 worth of surgery. (Yes, seriously.) We are going to see if we can help her heal without surgery. She is home and confined to the cage (thanks, Lori) for 2 weeks on steroids and sedatives. Those sad, hurting eyes are breaking my heart.


On a more uplifting note:

In real estate, there is a concept known as Highest and Best Use. It is a principle that basically states that the value of a property is based on the fair market value of the property when the use of the property that yields the maximum possible value. For example, if you have a residential property on a major commercial thoroughfare, the Highest and Best Use – the use for the property that would yield the greatest return – may not be a residential use.




This is the Tahki Cotton Classic I have been stockpiling for the knit/quilt project. After some thinking and a stroke of inspiration (thanks - again - to Lori) I have decided that the knit/quilt does not represent the highest and best use for all of this cotton (and more like it, of course.)




This is my Daddo. He was my mother’s father and one of my favorite people to ever walk the earth. He passed away several years ago and my mother, his only child, inherited all of his worldly possessions. One of those possessions is a wooden ladder that he made himself and that he used for pretty much any task that required a ladder, though most frequently it was used when he was pruning his apple trees. I don’t know exactly how tall it is. 18 or 20 feet, I would guess. When I was little, it seemed like it was 100 feet tall. My sister-in-law Lori recently saw a ladder leaning against a wall as decor in a Pottery Barn catalog and mentioned it to Mama…so Mama has decided to bring Daddo’s ladder in the house and use it as décor. Specifically, as a blanket/quilt rack. I think it is a perfect idea.

I tell you all of this to tell you: I’ve decided that the Highest and Best Use for the Cotton Classic is as a blanket to go on Daddo’s ladder. I saw a blanket while I was shopping on Saturday and it was serendipity – when I saw it, I made the decision then and there to alter the destiny of this cotton. It isn’t going to be the world’s most ambitious blanket (I’m going for roughly 42” by 50”) and it will be predominantly stockinette but I am excited about it. I feel inspired.

The blanket/afghan/whatever you want to call it, will be made up of roughly 35 7" by 10" stripey blocks. Some of the blocks will be random, multi-colored blocks. Others will have some rhyme and/or reason. For instance: here is the first block:

















Screwy.

Here is the start of the second block:














It will be all blues and greens. (It is fascinating how the yarns that appear to be one color cozy up next to another color and change completely.) I have intentions for a red/yellow/orange block and reds block, a creme/khaki/tan/brown block, some more modge-podge ones. 35 different combinations so I haven't made "plans" for all of them yet. I am just going to let it come together and see what happens. I talked to Mama over the weekend and she has some sheets that were Nana and Daddo's and she said I could have one to make a lining for the back. I am so excited to see this project come together.

Wednesday morning is the ankle surgery. I guess I'll see ya'll when the drugs wear off.