Will things ever calm down?

Well, another eventful year is in the works. The good news is that my brother with pancreatic cancer is hanging in there. He is determined to beat this cancer and enjoy life. He and his wife bought a place in Florida so they could spend more time in warmer climes. They have several good friends down there so they seem happy going back and forth for now. They live (mostly) on Long Island in NY. 

My husband is being worked up for lung cancer. They can’t get a biopsy before surgery due to the location so in early April he will have surgery to remove whatever this lesion is and some part of his right lung. Fingers crossed it’s minor. 

On to crafting. I will update my knitting projects a few at a time. The blanket below is just a corner to corner Garter blanket in a (very) bright colorway that I intend to donate to a dementia care unit in Mom’s memory. I have yarn to make another and I will probably play with other designs and yarn as the spirit moves me. I wanted bright and cheery and they need texture and durability since the blankets get machine washed. 

Due to Bob’s upcoming surgery and the need to have a hernia repair after the lung surgery, I don’t know whether we will get out on the water much this year. He won’t be able to do a lot of the heavier work and I can’t either. We may end up having a deck bound summer, at least until July or so. We do have an escape planned in mid- May for our anniversary. It will be just a weekend but in Montauk, which we love, staying on the beach. Bob and I will both be fully vaccinated by then. 

It’s been an eventful year ....

Last July my mother died. She was in her 80's, had dementia and was very ill. I miss her a lot but the Mom I miss has been gone for a long time. 

About a month late my oldest brother (age 62) let me know that he had pancreatic cancer. I did my best to help him and his wife find the answers they needed and get him started on treatment. My best being 200 miles away. His wife is a very smart and resourceful person and is doing a great job being his advocate. 

In November my youngest brother (age 56) told me that he had esophageal cancer. He did not want chemo, only surgery and radiation therapy. He and his wife were very much proponents of holistic and alternative therapies. I did my best to support him with his choices and still present other options. He was able to gt a PET scan pretty quickly and it was discovered that he had metastasis in the spine (causing the pain that had sent him to the doctor in the first place). He had radiation treatment to the spine for pain control (didn't help much) and the cancer spread to the liver and other sites. He died in February. At age 56. Leaving a devastated wife, step daughter and 6 year old daughter with autism. All of these events, so close together made me less than able to cope. I started to see a therapist, thank goodness. 

Covid happened. I probably don't have to say much there except to say that my husband and I are in the higher risk group due to other health issues and so we are very careful and hesitant to advance our contacts with others. I am lucky in that I can work from home most of the time. I bought a laptop and have a 2 minute commute to work .... 

Knitting has been affected, and instead of knitting lots, I have been less able to manage some things. I am less able to knit complicated patterns and some nights just too tired to knit at all. 

What I have gotten to are these projects - 

Sea Life Mittens

I started them during a KAL on Ravelry but didn't get far. I plan to work on these in august and get them finished. I love the pattern, just have to be able to count to make progress. 

We haven't made it out on the boat much (due mostly to the heat) but last Saturday we did and it was wonderful out there! 

The Chesapeake Bay at sunset with storms coming

This bright orange mitt is called the Sailor's Rib mitts and I plan to knit these to donate. They should be nice and warm but machine washable for easy care.  The yarn is Plymouth Encore, left over from my son's blanket. 

This wonderful yarn is dyed to be self striping, in Baltimore Ravens colors and I am knitting socks for my husband. Both socks have toes now and I am working up the foot. 2 at a time, on separate needles. They are soothing to knit and the color changes entertain me. 

I plan to post more regularly, keep you up to date and show you my progress. Next post will include a few more of my WIPS that I am trying to finish as well as (probably) a new cast on coming up in a Thea Coleman (Babycocktails) pattern called Grey Ghost. 

My mother is gone

Mom died at the age of 85. She had dementia and was in a lot of pain the last week of her life. I’m trying to be thankful that’s over and she is at peace, mentally and physically. I will miss the mom that cared for me and loved me, my husband and sons. She supported us in what we did and cared so much that we were happy.

I love you, Mom. 💕💕💕

Merry Christmas to All

We had a great Christmas gathering last night. My family has always celebrated Christmas on the eve. I'm not exactly sure how that came about but we have continued the tradition. Last night my two sons and their partners came to our house. We had food, talk, hugs and opened our stockings. We avoided gifts for all this year - brought on by several of us being out of work this past year for months at a time but I like it like this. I would like to continue this pattern of not spending a fortune on Christmas but I would like to do some gift giving. I suggested that we do a secret santa - each couple only buys 2 gifts that way, and since we have a name to buy for we can really personalize it. I don't have total buy in yet but we may do that with those who agree and just let those who don't agree not participate.

Bob and I exchanged gifts. I chose an iPad air for myself (my previous I pad was old and decrepit and didn't work well anymore.) and Bob got a nail gun. He works on house improvement projects all the time and would have probably gotten one eventually so we made it a Christmas present so he would feel less guilty. ;-)  Eldest son and his partner are coming for dinner today so Bob will get a lesson on how it works.

I plan  to spend the day knitting, helping with dinner prep and doing laundry. Yes, I know its weird to do laundry on Christmas but the dirty clothes are piling up and maybe this way I will be free to do outdoor things if it stops raining. We had very weird weather this Christmas. It was like being back in southern Texas. UGH. Warm, rainy and VERY humid. Bring on the cold weather and snow!!!!

I hope you all have a healthy and happy Christmas.

Fiber Goals and the Chesapeake Bay

Hi. Sorry I've been gone for a while. I got very frustrated that I can't add photos to the blog and just stayed away for a while after several unsuccessful attempts aggravated me way too much. Sigh. One day I'll figure out how to get current photos from my phone and I pad to this blog.

ETA - I did it! i figured it out! WooHoo!!!!!!

I came home from work feeling under the weather yesterday. I think I have a cold … I went to bed and rested last night and plan to take it easy today, resting and taking lots of Vitamin C so I can try to fight it off. I am too busy at home and at work to get sick. Also, some of our patients have a compromised immune system and don't need me sharing germs with them.  So, I am doing laundry, posting this blog post and maybe decorating the tree today. I am sleeping in the guest room so I don't share my cold with my husband. The shopping I have left to do will happen tomorrow or Monday evening. I still have some stocking stuffers to buy. I love stocking stuffer shopping. We did the bulk of it the other night but when I tallied things up we need a few more things. But not today. Today I work on getting healthier.

Since I last wrote we have been fishing 3 different days. The weather being so unseasonably warm has allowed me to go out on the boat without freezing and being miserable. We went to Point Lookout State Park last weekend and stayed over night.

This was the Chesapeake Bay at about 9:30 am on December 13. :-))

We went fishing both days and brought home a nice striped bass, which we ate upon our return. Yum!

The boat motor has been winterized, though we still have work to do on the boat itself for winter storage. Boats are a lot of work and money! But when you are out there on the water it all seems worthwhile. :-)

Knitting - I've made progress on the Architexture shawl/stole (I am past the halfway point).
Lilli Pilli is moving slowly. I have to really pay attention to the stitch pattern. I have it memorized but I have to pay attention when knitting it in order to avoid mistakes. Its the same with the Conflagration scarf. Actually more so. I have to have no distractions at all for that knitting so it hasn't progressed at all.
I started my second blanket for the Alzheimer's group Alice's Embrace. The pattern I had planned to knit didn't look as good as I thought so I chose another one and it is moving along nicely. I am using up Plymouth Encore  (left over from eldest son's blanket from many years ago) and a bit of woolese yarn also. These blankets were great stash busters. Unfortunately I have to buy 2 skeins of the sand color to finish the second blanket. I used about 10 skeins from stash though, so that's good. I'll be looking for more of these types of projects for next year.

Bob's sweater front and back have been finished for a while. I blocked the pieces and hope to seam it this weekend so I can pick up stitches for the sleeves and get back to work on it. I have a few other projects on the needles but those are my main projects right now. I want to finish at least one of those projects before I pick up anything else.

I have had a change of heart regarding my plans for next year. I was planning to make 2016 the year of finishing UFOs. I have so many ….. I faced the fact that I was setting myself up for failure, though, with a plan like that. Instead of all UFOs, I plan to choose 1 UFO per month and either finish or frog it. That will allow me to knit/start current projects also. I have some yarn in my stash that I am dying to knit. So, one goal for 2016 is to work down my UFOs in a systematic and regular way.

Another goal is to take part in a monthly knitting challenge. I belong to a Ravelry group called Sock yarn Round Robin. They do a lot of swaps but they also have a monthly challenge. (things such as knit a lace project or knit something with buttons, ties or other fasteners) You can choose your challenge and your project to fulfill that challenge. You get points for each according to yarn weight and yardage used but of course the points don't get awarded until you finish the project. I started this year but not at the start and didn't plan things out well, so I dropped out. For 2016 I will plan out my challenges and what I will knit for each. I can change my mind, of course, but if I plan it well, I should be able to double dip on some KALs and finish the projects I start instead of adding more UFOs.

I enjoy this group a lot and have taken part in some of their swaps. I just received my package from the latest swap and I love it!

Finally I have some self striping yarn! The colors are hot pink, purple and a bright green. I received a Christmas project bag that looks very well made and is cute without being juvenile. I also got some great looking stitch markers with a fish on the lead marker. Considering how much time we spend fishing, I thought that was especially cool. Oh, and my swap partner added some Masham fiber

 for me to spin. I really enjoyed my previous spinning experience with Masham but I lost most of it in a singles snarl that I just couldn't salvage. Now I can try again. I have some other fiber that looks like it would work well with this Masham so I will be able to make something nice with it. Maybe mitts and a hat?

A main goal for me for the next year is to not buy yarn. I have lots, I love it and need to knit with it. I am giving myself a few exceptions, such as MDSW. I know I won't be able to stay home or not buy yarn if I go, so I am accepting that and allowing yarn purchases at that time. I  will also allow a purchase if I need a gift and can't find a workable yarn in my stash or if I need yarn to finish a project.

I want to spin more fiber and spin more regularly. I want to spin with a purpose in mind so that I am not converting fiber stash into yarn stash. I want to knit with my handspun.

I plan to participate in the Canadian Crazy Train KAL that starts on January 1 but I am not going to participate in the Tour de Sock or Sock Sniper KALs this year. I haven't knitted the patterns the last few years so why sign up? I'll follow along and cheer people on and that will be enough.

I will also plan on doing  a few other KALs that fit with my planned projects for the year. I enjoy the camaraderie of KALs, the enthusiasm and sharing of progress and problems. It enhances my knitting fun.

I think the weekend of Christmas I will review my UFOs and choose the first few that I want to address in the new year and keep them in the house. The rest go out to the shed in an effort to declutter the house. I hope the challenges for next year are posted on the Sock yarn Round Robin thread because I would like to find the yarn for the first few projects and keep that in the house and easily available as well. I don't want to change plans because I can't get to the yarn in the middle of a snow storm or some other foul weather.

I feel good about these goals. I think they are reasonable and since I spend so much time knitting, I feel better that there is a general plan with flexibility. Lately I have been getting frustrated by lack of organization. I don't want to set hard and fast rules for my hobby but I want to accomplish certain things and I think this way (flexible goals) will work.

Since I finally got the photos to upload, my next post will include some back tracking to show you some photos from Rhinebeck and our vacation in Montauk this year. Until then, stay healthy and happy.

Black Friday is more like fantastic Friday

I've just had a rather self-indulgent 2 days. Last night we went to Target to get their deal on a new IPad for me. I had the original version and it's about 5-6 years old. I can't upgrade the OS so I can't get many apps that are available. Safari keeps shutting down and the battery doesn't keep a charge very long .... So my Christmas gift is sitting in the gift pile. I am very excited!

Today I shopped Talbots black Friday sale (I love their clothes for work) and got 2 pair of lined wool slacks and an adorable winter sweater for about $200.  That's a great deal and I am very happy with my selections.

Tomorrow we will go out on the boat (probably for the last time this year) and today we will put Christmas lights out and not freeze! It's about 55 degrees outside - a gorgeous fall day. I am savoring all the good things this weekend, the best of which was having my family together and healthy for a great meal yesterday.

I have a migraine right now but considering everything else, even that isn't so bad. ;-). I plan to sit and knit on something simple for a while, until the migraine meds kick in. Have a good day, all.

Feeling Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

I feel thankful for a lot of every day things every day. :-). I learned to do that initially when DH was given his eye diagnosis/prognosis. And again when I was diagnosed with cancer. Thanksgiving is the designated day to speak of those things, though, so here I go.

I am thankful for my family, health, love, a job I like, a husband who is wonderful. I am thankful for sunny days and for the rain that comes in between those sunny days. (the cloudy days I can do without) Those things I am thankful for without much effort. I live in a country that allows and encourages freedoms. I can (within limits) choose my job, my clothes, what to say. I have a house, running water, heat and cooling and more than enough food.

I am thankful for the armed forces who protect my rights and my country. I am not at all thankful for the current government. It seems to be more important to stand up for the party than to actually compromise and get things done. I rarely comment on politics or religion but this one day I have to say that I would be very thankful if the politicians would work together and accomplish what they are supposed to do.

I am also thankful for my knitting and spinning and for the friends that I have made through those hobbies. knitting and spinning give me joy. Giving knitted garments to others makes me happy. It's great to have a hobby that makes things that others value.

Thank you all for coming here. Have a wonderful weekend and I hope your Thanksgiving day was as great as mine was.