Knitting What's That???

You would think that after the great news about my biopsy I would be knitting like mad. Instead, I haven't touched the needles since our Snb on Tuesday. I've been so tired I just can't seem to concentrate. I think all the stress wore me out more than I realized and now that it is over I can finally relax and I am zonked. I will get some knitting done tonight by hook or by crook. I still have to finish the last triangle on tier 15.

Tomorrow I am off to Gemini Fibres for the spinning wheel class. I am so excited about that. I was so annoyed after my last spinning disaster that I have not touched my wheel since. I look forward to what I will learn in this all day event.

After the class I have to head off to Etobicoke and make Charoset for a Seder meal at All Saints. No knitting will get done tomorrow. By the time I get home I will be too tired to even lift the needles. That still leaves Sunday and I am hoping to get tier 16 done on Sunday.

I've finalized the trip in May. I am leaving on the 17th and returning on the 22nd. That means I get to spend at least part of my birthday with the family. It is going to be great. I can hardly wait.

Answers FINALLY!

I just got off the phone with the doctor's office and the biopsy came back negative!!! HUGE sigh of relief here. I have to go back in 6 months and I already had an appointment booked for early October so I am all set. I still have to go to the oncologist and talk to him about the menopause situation but I am a very very happy camper right now. I feel like this huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Now I can go ahead and book my flight to NYC for the long Victoria Weekend. I miss my children and grandchildren so much and the only better way to spend my birthday would be here with Paul and Joseph. Since they get to spend most of my birthdays with me once in a while it is nice to spend them with the family in NYC even if it will be a short day (I'll fly home on my birthday).

How Lucky Am I?

How lucky am I? I am married to the most wonderful man on the planet. Look what he brought me home tonight. Paul's been teasing me all week because when he brought me home the roses on Friday I wanted to preserve them so I never put them in a vase with water. Instead I turned them upside down and put them on a hanger to dry. I know that if you put them in water eventually they will flop over and I fell in love with them right away so I wanted to dry them. I did the same thing when my son Usher bought me roses for Mother's day last year. When the 3 roses are done drying I will add them to the vase with the red and pink roses and I'll take a picture. The rose Paul brought me today came in it's own vase and he's already told me this one I am not turning upside down. I might take it to work and put it on my desk until Friday and then bring it home. He's so sweet. I have to say that after a very bad marriage the first time around I appreciate my husband every day of my life. We will be married 16 years in August. The time has just flown by and, as difficult as this will be to believe, we have never had a fight. I don't say we never disagree, we just don't fight. I love him more than any words can express.

Ok So I Lied

But I didn't mean to. I was on a role with the stole and I just couldn't put it down. I am one regtangle away from finishing tier 15. I am pretty positive I am going to shorten it. I will see what the length is when I finish tier 19 and then decide if I will start the top border after 19 tiers or 21 tiers but I am pretty sure I won't do the full 23. The stole would be way too long if I did it the full length. I did manage to get some blanket knitting done tonight while at our SnB and it was nice to knit on it again.

I bought the new issue of Vogue Knitting yesterday and it has some really nice patterns this time around. I'm not sure if or when I would find the time to knit something from the magazine but I really like it.

Not In My Wildest Dreams

I am a HUGE Elton John fan. I've only been to about 4 concerts and haven't been for a long time. I tried to win tickets for his concert tonight through CHFI but that didn't happen. Elton mentioned Nov. 28, 1974 when John Lennon fulfilled a bet they had. I was at that concert and it was an evening I will never forget. Back then if you had told me I would be able to listen to a concert live in one place while being someplace else I would have told you you had lost your mind. But that's exactly what I did tonight thanks to the the internet. Being able to watch the concert is not the same as being there but it sure was the next best thing.

A Movie Meme

I saw this on FlufflyKnitterDeb's blog.

Check off the the ones you've seen and bold the ones you recommend!

( ) As Good As It Gets
( ) Good Will Hunting
( ) The Sixth Sense
(X) Home Alone
(X) Jaws
(X) Men In Black
(X) Men In Black 2
( ) Cast Away
(X) Mrs. Doubtfire
(X) Ghost
(X) A Beautiful Mind
(X) Jurassic Park
( ) Passion of the Christ
(X) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(X) Grease
(X) Pirates of the Caribbean
(X) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest
( ) Boondock Saints
( ) Fight Club
(X) The Exorcist
( ) Starsky and Hutch
(X) Neverending Story
(X) Blazing Saddles
(X) Airplane
(X) The Princess Bride
( ) AnchorMan
( ) Napoleon Dynamite
( ) Labyrinth
( ) Saw
( ) Saw II
( ) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
( ) Anger Management
( ) 50 First Dates
( ) The Princess Diaries
( ) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
( ) Scream
( ) Scream 2
( ) Scream 3
( ) Scary Movie
( ) Scary Movie 2
( ) Scary Movie 3
( ) Scary Movie 4
( ) American Pie
( ) American Pie 2
( ) American Wedding
( ) American Pie Band Camp
(X) Harry Potter 1
(X) Harry Potter 2
(X) Harry Potter 3
(X) Harry Potter 4
( ) Resident Evil 1
( ) Resident Evil 2
( ) The Wedding Singer
( ) Little Black Book
( ) The Village
(X) Lilo & Stitch
(X) Finding Nemo
(X) Finding Neverland
( ) Signs
( ) The Grinch
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
( ) White Chicks
(X)Butterfly Effect
(X) 13 Going on 30
(X) I, Robot
(X) Robots
( ) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
(X)Universal Soldier
(X) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
( ) Along Came Polly
( ) Deep Impact
( ) KingPin
( ) Never Been Kissed
(X) Meet The Parents
(X)Meet the Fockers
( )Eight Crazy Nights
(X) Joe Dirt
(X) King Kong
(X) A Cinderella Story
(X) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
( ) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumber & Dumberer
( ) Final Destination
( ) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
( ) Halloween
( ) The Ring
( ) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving Christmas
( ) Flubber
( ) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
(X) Practical Magic
( ) Chicago
( ) Ghost Ship
( ) From Hell
(X) Hellboy
(X) Secret Window
( ) I Am Sam
(X) The Whole Nine Yards
( ) The Whole Ten Yards
(X) The Day After Tomorrow
( ) Child’s Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
( ) Ten Things I Hate About You
( ) Just Married
(X) Gothika
(X) Nightmare on Elm Street
( ) Sixteen Candles
(X) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
( ) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
(X) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask
( ) Bad Boys
( ) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
( ) Lucky Number Sleven
(X) Ocean’s Eleven
( ) Ocean’s Twelve
(X) Bourne Identity
(X) Bourne Supremecy
( ) Lone Star
( ) Bedazzled
(X) Predator I
( ) Predator II
( ) The Fog
(X) Ice Age
(X) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
( ) Curious George
(X) Independence Day
( ) Cujo
(X) A Bronx Tale
( ) Darkness Falls
( ) Christine
(X) E.T.
( ) Children of the Corn
( ) My Bosses Daughter
(X) Maid in Manhattan
(X) War of the Worlds
( ) Rush Hour
( ) Rush Hour 2
( ) Best Bet
( ) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
( ) She’s All That - the Fatboy Slim dance is so worth it!
( ) Calendar Girls
( ) Sideways
(X) Mars Attacks
( ) Event Horizon
( ) Ever After
(X) Wizard of Oz
(X) Forrest Gump
( ) Big Trouble in Little China
(X) The Terminator
(X) The Terminator 2
(X) The Terminator 3
(X) X-Men
(X) X-2
(X) X3
(X) Spider-Man
(X) Spider-Man 2
( ) Sky High
( ) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
( ) Catch Me If You Can
(X) The Little Mermaid
(X) Freaky Friday
( ) Reign of Fire
( ) The Skulls
( ) Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2
( ) The Hot Chick
(X) Shrek
(X) Shrek 2
( ) Swimfan
(X) Miracle on 34th street
( ) Old School
( ) The Notebook
( ) K-Pax
( ) Krippendorf’s Tribe
( ) A Walk to Remember
( ) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
( ) The 40-year-old Virgin
(X) Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
(X) Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
(X) Lord of the Rings: Return Of the King
(X) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(X) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(X) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
( ) Base-ketball
( ) Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects( ) Elf
(X) Highlander
() Mothman Prophecies
( ) American History X
( ) Three
( ) The Jacket
( ) Kung Fu Hustle
( ) Shaolin Soccer
( ) Night Watch
(X) Monsters Inc.
(X) Titanic
( ) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
( ) Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard
( ) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
(X) Hulk
( ) Dawn Of the Dead
(X) Hook
(X) Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
( ) 28 days later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
( ) Waterworld
( ) Kill Bill Vol. 1
( ) Kill Bill Vol. 2
( ) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
( ) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) the Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
( ) Army of Darkness
(X) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(X) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(X) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(X) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(X) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(X) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
( ) Ewoks: Caravan Of Courage
( ) Ewoks: The Battle For Endor
(X) The Matrix
(X) The Matrix: Reloaded
(X) The Matrix: Revolutions
( ) Animatrix
( ) Evil Dead
( ) Evil Dead 2
( ) Team America: World Police
( ) Red Dragon
( ) Silence of the Lambs
( ) Hannibal

Pleasant Surprise

Look what Paul just brought me home. Aren't they gorgeous? I know this might sound silly but I've never ever seen blue roses before. I'm allergic and therefore Paul doesn't usually bring me flowers but this is a wonderful exception.

Knit Picks Is Amazing

What is it about Canada that things are released later than in the US? For months I tried to buy Olivia Newton-John's latest cd Grace & Gratitude. It was only available through Walgreens in the US. Of course I couldn't order it from the US because they don't ship to Canada. It was FINALLY released in Canada on Tuesday. That's about 5 months after it was released in the states. That's just not right. Then there was Lace Style. It is still showing available for pre-order at amazon.ca and chapters.indigo.ca. I got sick of waiting so I decided to order it from Knit Picks. I really can't say enough good things about this company. I had ordered a set of their Options needles a while back. After I had placed the order for Lace Style I noticed that a 4mm tip I had wouldn't screw into the cord. I tried another tip I had and it worked fine. So I called Knit Picks and they sent me out another one at no charge. Because they had to send me that they didn't charge me shipping for my entire order!! Now that is amazing customer service.

About the book. There are some things in this book that I really love and there are some that I look at and think who the heck would make such a thing. Overall I think it's alright but I'm not sure if I would have bought it if I could have seen the book before I ordered it, JMHO.

I Love Technology

After a positively horrible day yesterday I had the most lovely night. First, my daughter-in-law sent me some pictures of my grandson. I don't think I ever did say what his name is. Here is Matanel Eliyahu Tzvi or Mati for short (I'm not sure I spelled that correctly but my understanding is mom is calling him Mati) He has grown so much. I can hardly believe it, and he is so cute. I just want to pinch his cheeks.

Then I bought 2 webcams last week because they were on sale. I hooked mine up and sent one to my daughter in NYC. She received it yesterday and hooked it up. There are still some kinks to work out - she can hear me with a video call but I can't hear her - but I got to see everyone. I haven't made it to NYC since the summer and I miss everyone so much. It was great being able to see everyone even if I couldn't hear them. The novelty is new so the kids were eager to talk to me. Usually when I try to call and Henny asks if they want to talk to Bobbi they say no. Yesterday they were in front of the webcam like crazy fighting to see their faces on the computer. I will enjoy it while the novelty lasts. I also got to speak to my son earlier in the week. He is home from Israel for a month and I was going to surprise him with the webcam and he surprised me by bringing one with him from Israel so we got to video call. Like I said, I love techology. It is so great to get to see someone when you haven't been able to see them for so long. It's the next best thing to being there.

I even managed to get a little bit of knitting done last night. I am almost finished with the tier I was working on. I should finish that tier today and this weekend I'll get back to work on the blanket. My DIL asked if I could make a sweater for Mati so I have to try and go through some baby books I have and decide what I want to make. I love baby sweaters because they go so quickly. I'll search the stash for yarn that I can use.

I'm also planning on some SP10 shopping this weekend. There is something I saw last weekend that I fell in love with. Now I have to go buy it and hope my pal likes it as much as I do.

OMG!!!

I'm usually more talkative then this. It's been over a week since my last post. I guess that's because not a lot of knitting or spinning is going on around here. I am not quite sure why. Part of it is my nerves with the biopsy and part of it is this stupid silly computer game I got. I've been obsessed with finishing it and EVERYTHING seems to have gone by the wayside. However, the game keeps crashing on me and I had to reinstall it so I lost everything. Now I am going to try and put it aside and get some knitting done.

And speaking of the biopsy. I had it done this morning. If anyone ever tells you an endometrial biopsy feels like a pinch THEY LIED!!!!!! OMG that hurt worse than having 7 children and I had normal regular labour and delivery with all of them. I almost fainted and the nurse had to remind me to breathe. Once she reminded me of that I did my labour breathing (you never forget how) and that helped the pain a lot. The doctor said the cramping would go away right away but he lied about that too. Things are now subsiding 2+ hours after I had the test.

On the knitting front, not much is going on. I am working on tier 13 of the FPS and when that is done I am going to have to put it aside for a little while so I can finish the baby blanket for grandchild soon to be. When the blanket is done I'll go back to the stole and get that done.

For the SP10 we've been asked to post about our favourite knitting accessory. I have to say it isn't just one thing. My favourite things are my ball winder, swift, and footlets. You see I wind every ball of yarn I buy into a centre pull ball. When I buy a ball of yarn like this sock yarn, I try to find the centre and end up pulling out half the guts of the yarn and make a mess. So I rewind them into a centre pull ball and then wrap them in a footlet. They make great yarn bras.

Here is one of my ball winders. This is the Strauch Jumbo Winder. I bought it a while back and I honestly don't remember where I bought it except it was on line. I got tired of the yarn flying off the small Royal winder I had so I gave that one and the umbrella swift I had to my daughter. I have a small, medium, and jumbo winder and I love all 3 of them.

I replaced the umbrella swift with this one. It's the Mama Bear table swift I bought from Oregon Wood Worker. It is very portable and storage is easy and when I put a drop of machine oil on the top it spins effortlessly and makes winding skeins so easy. I have a lot of yarn that I've bought in skeins and with the spinning I have even more so this combination makes things so much easier.

So there you have it. My favourite knitting accessories. They come in so handy and make my knitting experience much easier and more enjoyable. I used to go nuts when I was close to the end of a ball of yarn and it would become a tangled mess. I don't have that problem anymore. The only time I don't bother with the centre pull ball is when I knit from cones. Then I just knit directly from the cone and that is not a problem for me at all.

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

I've been busy working on the Forst Path Stole. I just finished tier 11 and I love it. Chelle and I stretched out a part of it last night and it is going to be gorgeous when it is completed. I'll have lots of fun blocking it but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

I'm more encouraged on the health front. I went to get the results of my blood work yesterday and at the time the test was done I was NOT post menopause. Without going into details, I figured that out 2 days after I went to see the GYN when I had a little surprise. You can probably guess what that was. Anyway, the GYN said based on recent events he is pretty confident the biopsy I am having next week will be negative. The so so thing about all of this is that the treatment I was on for 5 years after I had my mastectomy was to stop the hormone production. Since I am still producing some estrogen the doctor asked me yesterday about removing the ovaries. I have to go see the oncologist and discuss it with him. I already had an appointment to see him on April 19th. The blood results and the pelvic ultrasound results have been faxed to his office and I just have to wait to hear if he thinks I should come in to see him before April or not. I doubt it since he is going on vacation next week and by the time I would get the results of the biopsy it would be almost April 19th anyway.

I was assigned my secret pal and I have checked out my SP's blog. I have some ideas as to what I want to send in the first package already I just have to go shopping. I'll try and get that partially done within the next week or so. This is going to be fun. I just hope my SP likes what I buy.

That takes care of the good. I've been VERY bad. I got more fibre delivered today. I love the colourways. It's called Spring Break. With Joseph having spring break this week it just seemed appropriate and the sale was still on. I got it from Blue Ridge Silk Works. This time I got dinged by customs but it was only the GST plus the $5.00 handling fee that I can't stand!!!!

I drove up to Gemini Fibres this weekend and I bought 2 (count them 2) cones of 2/8 tencel. I couldn't decide which one I liked so I bought both. The one on the right is blueberry and the left is azure. The colours didn't come out so great in the picture. Cheryl also has a lovely teal colour in the 2/10 that I have my eye on. So much for knit from your stash. In my defense, I think it's better for me to buy yarn than eat what I shouldn't be eating. With all the stress I've had lately I just needed something and that hit the spot. What more can I say other than I'm sure they will both knit up into lovely shawls.

The other day I received my new spindle from Sheila at Journey Wheel and I love it. It is a featherweight red cedar and it weighs only 10 grams. I tried it when the postman delivered it and I had a bit of wobbling but that seems to be gone now. I finished spinning the fibre that Sheila used to test the spindle and then I tried some natural South African Fine and I am pleased to report there was no wobbling or the wobbling that did occur didn't hinder the ability to use the spindle.

So now for the ugly news. I pulled out the spinning wheel on Sunday and spun up the second bobbin of the confetti I bought from Copper Moose. Once the bobbin was done I plied it and put it on the noddy. I really believe this is the worst yarn I have produced. It is so underplied. It looks to me like some of the singles were overspun and the plying was underplied. I have no clue what happened. Maybe I had too much on my brain. Maybe it's the confetti part of the fibre. I don't know what went wrong but it is awful. I am so ready to just chuck it all in the trash. I am taking a spinning wheel class at Gemini Fibres on March 31st and I am seriously considering not even bothering to touch the wheel until then. The intermediate wheel spinning class will be in May and I am going to take that as well. Hopefully I will improve by then. I think for now I am going to stick with the spindles. I seem to have more control on a fine single using the spindle.

Barbara Walker Treasuries

I posted all the pictures I have of the completed squares for the Walker Treasury Project to the website. I took new pictures this morning and because of the bright light I was able to get much much better pictures. Here they are again along with the ones I didn't upload yesterday.

Here is the progress I've made on the Forest Path stole. I have forgotten how much fun it is to knit entrelac. The best part for me is, even though the rows take so much longer, each row adds so much more length compared to regular knitting. If I could just find more time to knit I might actually have some FOs this year.

Sampler Knitting

Here are the samplers I did for The Walker Treasury Project.

Twin Trees II

I'm not sure I like the way this came out. I knit it with sock yarn on 3.25mm needles and I think I am going to redo it in a heavier yarn so the pattern can show through more.

This is the turtle. I used some Lang Lara for this. I found the yarn to be splitty but I love the way this and the hobby horse came out.

This is the butterfly. I used some Bernat Softee Baby.
This is the five branched candlestick. I loved knitting this pattern.
This is the hobby horse. Believe it or not I knit it with the same yarn as the turtle even if the picture doesn't look like the same colour.
This is the spider. When I originally asked if this pattern was still available I was told yes. It turns out it has been done by someone else. I don't mind. I had such a good time knitting these I am wondering if I want to do more and make it into an afghan of some kind.

I also knit the bear but the pictures didn't come out clear. I am going to take more pictures of everything tomorrow morning so I can try and post better pictures to the blog. Now I have to finish the tier I am in knitting on the Forst Path Stole so I can take a better picture of that. One step at a time just like everything else in life.

I learned a lot doing these samples. I have been knitting lace for about 10+ years now. I always knit my lace from charts. If a pattern isn't charted I chart it. I just find it much easier to follow. Aran/cables, on the other hand, I have always done from the written pattern. After I had committed to do knit these patterns I was afraid I might have bitten off more than I could chew. The charts look a lot more complicated than they actually are. I did the turtle first because it was the smallest. I got it finished in no time. I have gained a lot of confidence from this project. Now I want to look for something from book 1 that I can knit. That would mean I have contributed at least one pattern from each of the books.

There Is Almost A Light At The End Of The Tunnel

I went to see the GYN today. I didn't get any answers and I honestly didn't expect I would. I knew I would have to have at least one more test before I knew what was going on. I have an appointment on March 22nd for an endometrial biopsy. The doctor said I should have the results a week after that. So, I should know what's going on by the end of the month.

On the knitting front, I give up on the knit-off. The first pattern is colour knitting and I just didn't have the head for trying to work with the bobbin. I love aran, lace, socks, etc. but the one thing I don't do is colour knitting unless it is stripes or mosaic knitting where you work with one colour on each row/round. I took a class about 10 years ago to try and get the hang of colour knitting and I learned a very important lesson. I don't like fairisle and I despise intarsia. I have a lot of respect for people when I see their intricate colour knitting. I have no idea how they manage it. Give me a complicated lace design any day of the week. Don't give me intarsia.

I'm doing more samples for The Walker Treasury Project and I managed to get most of them done over the weekend. They are all from books 3 and 4. I only have 2 left and I already cast on for one. Then I have to get them blocked and pictures taken.

In other knitting, I am still working on the Forest Path Stole. I am now on tier 8. I bought some small stitch holders so I can put the rectangles on the holders and get a better picture of my progress. Hopefully I'll get that done tonight or tomorrow.

I went to Maggie's on Saturday. I had a wonderful time. I am amazed everytime I go up there just how quick the drive is. I always think it should take a long time but in fact it's usually about 30 minutes. It takes me almost as long to get across the city as it does to go north of the city. I love her Lendrum wheel. I agree with Maggie, the only thing I think could be added is some sort of a handle that you can use to lift the wheel. My Joy has one and the pictures I've seen of the Louet Victoria that folding wheel has one as well.

Michelle was kind enough to make me a low carb cheese cake. I've been craving the sweets for a few weeks now and I don't want to give in. So I asked Michelle if she could come up with a low carb something that I can have to combat the craving. The cheese cake was her answer. She brought it up to Maggie's on Friday night and I picked it up when I went to Maggie's on Saturday. All I can say is Michelle can cook for me anytime. The chicken soup she made for me was great and I can't even put into words how good that cheese cake was. I would try and get the recipe but I don't think I could make it even if I had it.