Good Bye 2013

2014 is going to be great year!!

I will find financial stability again
I will not have any more car trouble
I will stay healthy
I will walk twice a week
I will read more books
I will start Christmas Knitting in July
I will get out for more than Knitting night and book club
I will take a Road Trip

These are all very doable goals - nothing unreasonable. I will reclaim my fortunate life!!

Happy New Year to one and all - celebrate!

Rotten Apples

Sometimes life just tries and tries to get you....

Decided to sell car to generate savings for house payments - working part-time just doesn’t get it. 

I sold my Ruby Suby - $500 less than what I expected.

Bought a new used car - advertised as having 115,000 miles, told by seller it had 115,000 miles - told to me, my daughter and a friend who called him about car initially. Unfortunately he took the Craigs list off as soon as I paid cash for it! (Shift indicator and odometer light was out). Purchased car after much assurances by seller that all was good, he had all records from day one, his mechanic checked it out recently - all was well. Took car to dealer to get display for shift indicator and odometer fixed - cost a fortune as they had to replace the entire components for the dashboard display - found out car actually had 215,000 miles!! Car also had numerous other expensive problems. Am taking seller to small claims court for lying about mileage (his receipts for work he had done, actually say mileage was 214,500 miles - so he knew the actual mileage. Plus he had a Kelly Blue Book print out on the car - noting 200,000 miles - which he printed about the time he bought it.  Need things repaired that are related to excessive mileage. 

Computer died - really died. 

Tried to fix drain in bathroom sink - pipe disintegrated in my hand. 

Purchased a cord of wood - split. Only split in half - huge pieces still too big for me to split - hate getting older.

One of my jobs is not working out - no hours...love job, good pay - but doesn’t matter if there is nothing to do!

But sometimes things eventually work out....

Love car. My mechanic has fixed a few things at much savings over dealer quote! Says that car has been taken care of - but high miles means it will nickel and dime me, but we can handle it!

Bought new computer - MacBook Air - love it although takes a little getting used to as I’ve always had a PC. Nice to have everything synced - phone, computer.

Drain not fixed...will call plumber next week.

Wood - maybe ex-husband and the Geek will come split for me - wishful thinking? 

My other job has more hours available - anything I can get helps!

The Nomad is house sitting - home alone for me - what a change! Am working on Christmas knitting and enjoying the quiet and lack of mess! I’m sure the novelty will wear off in a few days. 

Weather is fantastic - beautiful, warm days. Snow is in forecast for Monday so will get out today and finish the fall clean up. 

Both Beavers and Ducks play tonight - so knitting and football. Never was a football fan before - but great to see Oregon teams rock! Good excuse to knit (as if I ever needed one)!

Life is good!

Edited to add:
Bad thing - Printer scanner/copy function no longer works - something else to either fix or buy new.

Very Best Good Thing - Now I am completely cancer free and as important to me - drug free. No more Tomoxifen (yea it worked!!!) and no more Effexor (The MOST Evil Drug ever invented!!)

Gracie is happy no matter what happens!

Gone

What was I thinking? Actually I am thinking well. I just deleted about 60 patterns from my Ravelry queue - It was getting much too big - and truly there were (and I suppose are) many things on the list I would never knit. But you never know! Just time to clean up. Feels good. Don't feel as pressured to knit all the things I want!!

Winter is here for sure - sorry no photo but there is lots of snow on the Mountains!! Time to get the firewood in!! Then it's knitting by the fire!

Enjoy!

Road Trip!!

Ravelry has the greatest new feature called Road Trip - it's under the Yarn tab. If you enter your starting point and destination - it will tell you all the Local Yarn Shops along the way!!! This is totally cool. Many times I have planned a trip and spent time figuing out which Yarn Stores are nearby...just want to browse of course.

Finished the Stripes, Checks and Curlicues Vest - finally. The shoulders were way to wide - so cut them down and re did the border. All is perfect. Hand sewed the zipper in - worked great. The Wanderer loves it.

Started the Shalom vest yesterday - had to redo the numbers as I'm making this out of Colinette Cadenza - worsted instead of bulky. There is tons of posts on Ravelry - which are very helpful. Christmas knitting is in full swing. Of course I think I can get so much done - we'll have to see.

Getting the yard ready for winter - why I don't know - it's going to be 90 today! Actually the puppies have done a great job of trimming plants. What are you going to do!!

Knit Peace

I Steek.....

Yes I steek - but a little differently. Instead of making a one color stripe up the center steek stitch (you can't do that when your using variegated yarn) I put a purl stitch on either side of the center stitch. This makes and easy visual to follow when you machine sew the lines on either side and then a very easy visual to cut by! Works Great!

Pick up the stitches for the ribbing

 And then it gets blocked!!

Still have to do the zipper - but I'm going to use a blocking wire to hold the knitted fabric straight while I sew it in. Then I'm finished. Yippee!! This is for the Nomad. She picked the pattern and the yarn. Turned out great.

Now on to Christmas knitting - long ways to knit!

Look whats in my garden!!

Not very impressed!

I just received the latest issue of Interweave Knits - and didn't find anything I had to knit! But that's not quite true - I did love the ad for KnitScene 2013 Accessories - the perfect gift for someone I know was featured in the ad - so I did order that.

I enjoyed the article about the "Knitter's Review." What a great job she invented for herself. I also liked the article on the last page - "The Greatest Knitting Generation." I can relate to the perfect stitches. I too have been knitting long enough that I should have perfect stitches, but it isn't going to happen. I have a friend (check out her blog) who entered her sweater in the local county fair and the judge called her and asked if it was "Machine Knit!!" She one first place of course. Now she has perfect stitches!!! My theory is handknits aren't perfect.

Puppies are wonderful - and very silly at times.

Knit Peace!

The Beach, The Beach!!

This was Plan "C" - 

Went to the Oregon Coast with The Nomad for four days this past weekend. What an adventure!! We got the use of a 5th Wheel RV parked on Netarts Bay. What a great place - quiet, right on the bay, beautiful views, wonderful. We drove up the Coast one day to Cannon Beach - way too crowded, but I did by some sock yarn at Coastal Yarns. We had a pretty drive visiting a lighthouse on the way. Had fresh seafood for lunch, and a great dinner at The Schooner - Oysters Rockefeller to die for

 Great walks on the beach. The dogs had the time of their lives running on the beach - the look on their faces was pure rapture! They were running so much I couldn't take a photo! They were great campers. 

My brother is the ultimate fisherman - we met him on Sunday and loaded up with fresh crab, fresh tuna and fresh halibut!!!! What a haul.

A good time was had by all - can't wait to go back again. Didn't knit a stitch - too nice outside.

Road trip!!

The Nomad and I are going on a road trip. We will head north east on Friday and travel through John Day, Sumpter, LaGrande, Joseph (where I'm told there is a LYS) and Enterprise, back on Monday. The puppies first camping trip!

I am so looking forward to this. We were originally planning to go south along the Umpqua River area - but I think that it is too smokey from numerous big fires. We are expecting "abundant" lightening here tomorrow, so we may not be going anywhere!! Local authorities are really preparing for possible big fires - it is so very dry. There are 6 retardant planes sitting in wait on the tarmac at Redmond Airport, and all the local firefighters are on alert. Could be a busy time around here.

Twisted Stitchers tonight was fun as usual. We have a group of wonderful ladies. The County Fair starts tomorrow and some of our group has things entered. One knitter got a call from the Judge today - she wanted to know if her entry was machine knit!!! Can't you tell - you're a Judge! The knitters work is incredible - check out her blog and her online store - amazing Nordic patterns and beautiful work. I was going to enter a few things - but it is such a bother to get stuff over there etc. The Fiber Arts department sounds like they are really promoting things this year. If I weren't going camping I'd go over and knit with them on their exhibit day. Would be fun. Check out their Facebook page.

Here's to good weather ahead and adventuresome roads to explore! I'll report on the yarn shop when I return!!

Just in case you forgot - I do knit.

This is what I have accomplished so far this year.

All is well!!

OK – it’s been waayyy to long. I have had a good year, lots of changes. Most radical is that The Man is now That Man!! Bittersweet but for the best. High hopes and expectations don’t always get you what you need.

Family is wonderful. The Geek is still that – starting his own company and so far so good. A lovely girlfriend to boot! He deserves it!

The Wanderer has settled for the time being at home with me and working a job that seems just right for her. Lots of hiking in her future.  We are looking forward to eating lots of veggies (That Man didn’t eat green), although we didn’t plant a garden this summer – we have puppies instead! 

The nurse is still in Oklahoma – living her dream! Lots of babies to be brought into the world and a nice group of co-workers. Not so much The Boyfriend – he departed rather quickly after getting settled in Oklahoma….too bad – his loss! Fort Sill is nearby and she seems to be taking advantage of the dating opportunities!

The puppies – The Wanderer’s Chocolate Lab – Wally (8 months) and my English Springer Spaniel – Gracie (6 months). They are so much fun and entertaining – but like all puppies they are trouble makers. I assumed two at a time would keep then each out of trouble – no such luck. They are obviously great friends and play very well together…at least they are tired at night! Their personalities are totally different. Wally is so laid back for a lab – just quiet, calm and snuggly (difficult for a big boy). Gracie on the other hand is completely opposite, very excited, happy and springy!!! Never ending energy!

Of course I have been knitting. Working on a hooded vest  for the Wanderer.

Looks spectacular- only uses two different colorways of yarn – makes it real easy!! Did some modification for the neckline instead of cutting to shape. Working out well and can’t wait to finish. Ready to move on to next project – either a shawl or sweater for me. I should start on Christmas! Luckily I have some things all planned out – just need to start! 

I am, as always, really enjoying my knitting group – The Twisted Stitchers. We have some very accomplished knitters that meet weekly at our new LYS Great store – am glad it’s in our town!

Life is good. I will try to catch up more often now that I have one less person to look after!!

OK OK

I’ve been remiss… I’m sorry but life is just so sweet that I haven’t made time to keep up this blog. I have been knitting of course, check out my Ravelry page – it’s full of finished projects. And one I’m still working on.

Family is great!! The Nerd still is and still enjoying his life and friends – maybe a little too much. The Nurse and boyfriend (also a Nurse) have relocated to Oklahoma!! I never imagined I ‘d say my daughter lives in Oklahoma. They both have good Nursing jobs – her in Labor and Delivery – oh is she happy. I am so very proud of both of them. 

The Wanderer is finally working again – at a “major bank.” Surprisingly she loves it and is happy. She is living here at home with us, trying to get back on her feet. The Man is just that – THE MAN – he is so incredibly good to me (and me to him of course). We’re having a great time together and are planning adventures as he just purchased an older motor home. It’s funky and retro – but will work for us just great. I even get my very own cabinet for my knitting stuff! 

The real purpose of this post is to ask a favor – a couple of years ago you all knitted preemie baby hats for our local hospital. The Nurse’s hospital is in real need of the same thing, but mostly for those little ones who don’t make it  – I’m told they used the last one this week! So if you’re so inclined, spend an evening with some leftover yarn and knit up a tiny hat. Let me know if you are doing this and I’ll send you The Nurse’s address.

This beautiful Great Horned Owl spent the day outside my office last week....wasn't even worried about the people coming and going or the dogs - how cool is that!

 I'll try to keep posting more often. Life is good!

A Bit of Frost - but a lot of heat!!

OK - I apologize for being so absent...but with The Man here at last, life is much more interesting and wonderful - what can I say! We've had a great time together - road trips up to some Cascade lakes, checking out pontoon boats and kayaks, and fishing-camping spots, cooking amazing meals together, enjoying the reconfigured patio (including TV for summer baseball games). The weather has been perfect (smokey from local wildfires - one at 100,000 acres!). We've been busy combining our households and finding room for everything. Already house improvement projects have begun - things I've not been able to do are now getting accomplished.  My life is much improved, I'm being spoiled every day and I'm loving every minute of it.

The Garden is growing - despite the frosty night early this week. Luckily it didn't touch the tomatoes - I even ate one standing in the garden the other night - yum. I've had lots of the little grape ones! We've been eating out of it nightly. Beans and corn or coming on next.

I have actually been knitting a little. Doing a lot of planning for Christmas knitting - it's just around the corner and I've got a long ways to go. Trying to find projects that don't require me to think much - it's hard to count when with the knitting ladies on Monday nights...too much conversation! 

We are planning a big 10 day adventure in Montana at the end of the month... fishing and camping and two nights of luxury at Big Sky. Oh I am liking this new life!

Summer time and the livin is easy!

Still a blog slacker....

A knit slacker too by the way. But my garden does grow!!

Been reading a lot too - hanging out on the patio enjoying a little summer. Luckily I was gone this weekend when it poured rain - but my oh my my garden sure liked it. I good rain seems to be much more beneficial than my daily watering. Everything grew noticeably in the two days I was gone. Went to Portland to celebrate Niece Ameila's graduation - fun as always to have the whole family together. The kids did a Tree-to-Tree adventure and my sister and I got very soothing pedicures - thanks sis it was wonderful!

Have been very busy moving things around making room for The Man's stuff, his house is sold and he's moving here...OMG what a new adventure for me. I can hardly wait! After all these years to have this new life before me - pretty incredible!

I haven't been knitting much - too nice outside - but have been slowly working on socks - needed something small to take to Knitting Group. Remember when we all said we'd start Christmas knitting early - right that's not happening. I think about it and that's about all! But really must get started.

Hope everyone is enjoying the summer - send some of the heat our way!

Blog slacker

OK I've been really busy...my veggie garden is planted, I've completely dug up and redone a major flower bed, my lawn patches have been re-seeded, I replaced the inners of my toilet, I've fertilized the lawn, moved tons of plants around and knitted a little and read a little.

I had to take a break from my Dakota Dreams sweater - so I did this....Undergrowth from Knitty. Fast knit with KnitPicks. To the gift basket.
I have started the sleeves for Dakota Dreams - but it's not something I can take to Knitting Group - takes too much concentration, so thinking I'll do some new socks for me....get a head start on the winter. I'm also considering a shawl from Folk Shawls - oh they are so pretty, but maybe not so good for knitting night either. I'll think of something.

She did it!!!

The Nurse

I want to announce to the world how extremely proud I am of my youngest daughter Marianne a.k.a. The Nurse. Next Sunday she will Graduate from the Linfield College-Good Samaritan School of Nursing with her BS in Nursing. (I will post a photo later). She did this -- she got the scholarships, she worked hard, she pulled the all nighters, she worked the 12 hour shifts in her Labor and Delivery Practicum, she had the determination and focus. She had a lot of support from her family - but when it comes right down to it - she did it. She will be a compassionate, respectful and knowledgeable Nurse. She will be the Nurse we all want to have take care of us. I couldn't be more proud! I am blessed with awesome children and now we celebrate The Nurse!

Consequently as I write this I am enjoying an adult beverage and showing off my latest finished object -I used this pattern and the elephant pattern from Kathleen Taylor's Tam It all worked out great!! Just finished it tonight at Stitch n' Bi*ch - a great group.

Have planted my vegetable garden - don't know why because the weather is way below average and it's cold and raining - will the sun shine in Central Oregon again? But I made mini greenhouses out of tires and plastic. Now that's recycling!

I'm a happy camper!

P.S. - after watching SNL the other night (it was one of the best) - I'm hooked on Lady Gaga's "The Edge of Glory" - what happened to me? Am I 16 again - yep that's it!

Oops....

Isn't this the cutest thing.....Elephants on Parade....gleaned from Dakota Dreams Elephant Tam. Baby sweater for a friend of the Nomads (OMG are they old enough to be having babies?) Only problem is I ran out of yarn - KnitPicks Stroll in Blue Topaz.

This is all that's left and I have another sleeve and the raglan to do. How could I be so stupid? So I've sent the 911 to everyone on Ravelry who has it listed in their stash. Oh this is because KnitPicks is out until August. This will not do!

So am back to this sweater - love it.

Have been trying to get my yard in shape - its a little difficult when we are having "Thunder Snow" seriously I don't think spring is coming to the High Desert. But between the snow, sleet, rain and cold, I've got my yard pretty much cleaned up. Wednesday they say it will be decent - so in goes the veggie garden. The Man requested (!!!!!!) Zucchini, so of course I had to oblige. I'm trying a new approach this year - we discussed raised beds but there isn't time, so I'm going to use the old tires that I've never gotten to the recycle place. Hopefully this will temper the effects of the cooler weather. I got everything tilled so planting is next. Also am totally redoing the front beds - bring on the bark dust. Nothing grows well there anyway so I moved what was left to the back yard where they will get better care.

I've been busy! Tomorrow I'm starting the adventure with Weight Watchers again. I tried the quit smoking business - but the meds just flipped me out, can't take them. So lose some of this extra weight and then try again. Wish me luck. I'm trying to be good to myself! Maybe I should just go buy more yarn??

Better than perfect

This is the cover for my nook. It just came today - I got it here...Ginny did an exceptional job. I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!

Once again, the more I play with this the more I'm loving it. I often chart out color work in Excel Spreadsheets..saved it as a PDF, loaded onto the Nook, zoomed and put it landscape mode. Now I just scroll up or down to the next row...how cool is this. Also if I take a break and read a book (Novel idea) then come back to my chart - it's just where I left it. I'll keep you posted on more cool tricks as I find them...Oh yea - it's SpringPad not Springit I mentioned in last post. I'm going to put all my needles in there - I wrote it all out the other day, it's sad what a long list there was!

So are you staying up tonight?

If I'd only known

I LOVE LOVE LOVE my new NookColor!!! Not only for reading - but since it can view PDF files - think Patterns, scanned charts etc....it is a great knitting tool. PDF files can be viewed in Landscape and you can zoom in on them. This is really handy. So now I have a book shelf on the Nook just for Knitting.

The NookCOlor runs on the Android platform and a limited number of apps are available - one called Springit which organizes lists and saved web pages etc. I'm using it for recipes that I can download from the Web into this app....then when I'm at the store I've got my list. It really is a super charged organizer for any kind of lists you keep or stuff you want to remember. I can't wait for more apps to be available.

Of course the best part is reading books. Last night was book club and we choose to read, River Town. I got home and downloaded it right away. How convenient is that - plus it is less expensive than the paperback!

This is a win win tool for me.

On the knitting front - I've put the Dakota Dreams sweater aside for a few days to work on a Baby sweater for a friend. I'm using KnitPicks Stroll sock yarn - OMG I didn't know it was so soft. Pictures when I get further along. One of my Book Club pals had the Cheryl Oberle Folk Shawls book - I'm afraid I need this, there are some really beautiful patterns.

Spring is here today - but the weatherman insists it will be leaving tonight and may return this weekend. They were predicting a foot of new snow at the mountain - come on it's the end of April! I shouldn't complain - we don't have tornadoes!

Hope all is well!