Keeping Things Interesting

This has been a strange week. Last week I posted about issues with my back again. In the mean time Tuesday we had the third snow of December. I cannot remember it ever snowing this much in December. That is also the day the back issues came to a head. Joseph was coming to put in my new countertop, stove and sink. I have no pictures yet because Tuesday evening I made a trip to the ER. I have only been in the hospital four times, when each of my kids were born. The pain in my back and side were just too much to wait for the doctor appointment on Wednesday so off we went. It ends up that it was a UTI and pyelonephritis, a kidney infection, which I guess is better than a kidney stone which was what they thought it could be. The problem is that if you deal with pain every day you have a tendency to become used to it and try to apply all the solutions you have used before. I did not have any of the normal signs of the infection. After an IV of antibiotics and some wonderful pain medications I went home after only four hours at the ER. I thought that was pretty great. So the last two days have spent with me laying down and actually sleeping a lot. I am feeling better tonight and can actually sit up some so I am hoping tomorrow will be even better. I took my knitting with me to the ER but that was just in case since you never know how long you are going to have to wait. How bad have I been feeling? I have not knit for three days. Hopefully I am on the road to recovery.

Merry White Christmas!

It would seem that the last time we had snow on Christmas day here in the DFW area was in 1926. It was so much fun. Today we decorated cookies, made a snowman, had a snowball fight, and opened presents. In the one picture Jo is standing in a snow drift in the back yard. We also had ribs, corn casserole, "trauma" salad, baked potatoes and gingerbread men. We decided to do something a little different this year and it was great. Merry Christmas Ya'll!

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas Eve

Here in Texas we appreciate whatever little bit of snow we get. It was 75 and sunny here yesterday. It is now 32 and snowing. This is the view from my front door. Gotta love that Texas weather.

Randy Has Nothing On Us

I was watching one of my favorite Christmas stories today, "Christmas Story". I love this movie, Allison hates it. I think the reason I like it is that though I am not as old as Jean Shepard I can relate to the more innocent times of Christmas when I was young. I usually spend Christmas morning watching this movie while getting the food started. Of course you can watch it for a full 24 hours if you choose to thanks to one of the cable channels. The whole reason I bring this up is I had written before that while we were visiting the all the boys after Drew was born it was 2 degrees and very cold. It actually had snowed the day before. I had this picture of Jaxson and Ryan all bundled up to go outside for about two minutes to see their dogs. We all laughed and said they looked like Randy, Ralphie's brother in the movie. Too funny.

Grumbling

Today is a day of grumbling. I have been busily doing Christmas "stuff". For some reason this last Wednesday I started having "issues" with my back, severe pain that I could find no real reason for. Thursday I sat around all day taking Tylenol and figuring that with that and a heating pad I would recover. Friday I was better and Allison and I went to do some last minute shopping for the girls. Everything was fine. This morning I copied off a pattern for a crocheted bunny thinking that I would make it in January. I went to put back my toys pattern binder and all of a sudden I had an severe pain that felt like it stabbed through my back and around my side. What the heck?! I mean severe pain. So the whole rest of the day has been spent again with the Tylenol. I have no idea why it happened but it wiped me out for the whole day. I have a pretty high pain threshold but it was one of those that it hurt to move but I had to move because it hurt to sit every which way. I finished up some knitting but the whole day has been a pain, literally. I have osteoarthritis in my back and that and the RA have caused me to never know when there will be an issue. So this is a grumbing day because nothing has really seemed to help. I guess on the positive side I could say that I finished a bunch of my small knitting projects, but I could have done those without the "pain in the back". Hopefully tomorrow will be better. If not we may have to pull out the high power meds.

Stocking Finished

I finished Scout's stocking today. She'll be getting it tomorrow to hang up with the rest of the family's. Even the dogs have stockings, not like this but ones that have their names on them. It is always a big sigh when I finish stockings. As much as they take a lot of work I do have to say they look good when they are done. I am finishing up some other things too. Tomorrow we take the girls to get Christmas pictures made. I have been pondering Christmas dinner. Turkey... I have had enough. How does ribs, potato salad and cole slaw sound?

Christmas Crazy

Things have been a little Christmas crazy lately. I have been trying to finish up any Christmas knitting plus all the kiddo hat knitting for all the grandkids. Earlier I finished Scout and Jo's snowmen hats and Scout's Santa hat. I finished Drew's Christmas stocking and the only thing have left on Scout's is her name. I had made the birth hats for Drew. They were a smiggen big but he will grow into them. It is hard to knit hats for newborns since in our family the come in so many size extremes. Of course you cannot go see the grandkids with presents for the new baby and not take the others something. They love hats so I made them new ones. They were very excited and wore them all day. The next morning it was 2 degrees, yes two degrees. They only went outside for a few minutes later in the day to see their dogs and that was when it had finally gotten up to in the high twenties. I think they were getting cabin fever. I was looking at the picture of Drew in the multiblue and brown hat. In that picture he looks a lot like Scout did as a newborn. His stocking was immediately put up in front of the fireplace with all the others. This stocking pattern came from my mother-in-law and I have made many of them over the years. At the time I started doing them I did not knit (I had just begun to learn to crochet then) and all the pieces are cut out, the sequins are sewn on and then the pieces are sewn on the stocking and it is seamed together and the name added. I really do not like to sew, so this is a labor of love. If I were starting now everyone would have knitted stockings. I have a few other things to finish, hopefully they will be done by this weekend. Hopefully.

Pioneer Woman

This last Tuesday night I went to a booksigning by The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond. She was here in Dallas at Borders signing her new cookbook. I knew Allison really, really wanted this cookbook and had tried to get her to go with me. Of course with a couple of little girls and the fact that she would have to either get TJ to babysit or bring the girls with her and drive an hour and a half back home very late at night this was not going to happen. Oh, yeah, that does not include the waiting in line. It was a very nasty, rainy, cold evening. I did not want to go too early as I thought the rain might stop but it didn't. I left at 5pm and got there at 6. I pulled into the parking lot and there was not a parking place to be seen. Now, I knew that Ree was very popular, there is a link to her site here on the blog, but I was actually shocked at the amount of people there. You had to get a wristband when you came in. I was orange, there were four more colors ahead of me. That does not sound too bad till you find out that each color had 100 people in it. I do have to say that it took forever but that overall Borders did a good job. It was organized with the wristbands so there was no cutting in line. People even ordered pizza from the shop at the corner and it was like one big sit-in. Ree arrived at 7 pm to begin signing. It seemed like it was forever before our section even moved. Oh, yes, there were four more colors of wristbands after mine. That just roughly calculated was around 900 people. That did not count all the cute kids and babies that were unbelievably good for the amount of time spent sitting in the floor. One of the workers at Borders said they had sold 700 books and that did not even include the people like me who had bought their book before they came. So the people in my area decided that there had to be at least 850 people there. Ree was just as friendly and smiling at nearly midnight as she was at the beginning. She signed my book at 11:50, yeah I know when it was because I stood in line from 7 to 11:50. When I left after she signed the book she still had a line snaking through the store. I have no idea how long it took but the person at the end of the line must have been a faithful fan. The next day I was saying man I was tired, but I could not tell Allison why because the book was a surprise. I knew she did not think I was going to the signing and if I had even blogged it she would know. I gave her the book yesterday and she was very surprised. When I told her how long the line was she said she was not surprised. If you have never checked out Ree's blog it has something of interest for everyone and her recipes are absolutely yummy. Allison, you know I would not do this for anyone else. Wonder if she has another book coming out soon. I better rest up.

Ready For Christmas

Ok, one more cute picture.

Already Home

Yes, Drew is already home. I got this picture on my cell when they arrived. He is all bundled up in his hat and afghan that I made him. What a cutie if I do say so myself.

The Hat Fits

Here is Drew in his Texas Tech hat. Jonathan took this picture yesterday and sent it to me on my cell. Drew is not but 12 hours old here. Does a YoYo's heart good to see his little head all warm and toasty.

He's Here!

Here he is, grandbaby number five. Baby Drew arrived today coming in at 7 lb 9 oz and 19.5 in. Hopefully soon I will be posting some very cute pictures of him wearing all those knitted hats.

Santa Baby

Here is Scout's newest hat. I adapted my regular sock cap pattern by using size 9 needles but still casting on 56 stitches. Heading to my stash I chose TLC Essentials in #2319, Cherry Red. I have used various yarns in the past for the white but this time used Lion Brand Wool-Ease white multi #602-301. It has a little strand of sparkle running though it that gives it a nice look. I usually put a bell on the end but for any of my baby Santa hats I knit the white that matches the brim since babies put everything in their mouths. By her expression Scout seems to like the hat.

Snowmen Hats

Here are the girls finished snowmen hats. It worked perfect to give them to them today as there was a cold snap and they could use them on the playground. The pattern is from Lion Brand and the white yarn is Lion Brand Holiday Homespun in Starlight #200. The black and orange are just leftover worsted weight yarn. I am really not too crazy about Homespun but saw this and thought it was very cute. Then I got an e-mail from Scout, she types very well for an 8 month old, requesting the hat. I already had both of them finished. I was worried about the sizes because after I knitted them they looked too big. Happily they both fit great.

Helmet Liners

I made this helmet liner this weekend. Yarn Heaven, a LYS in the DFW area is collecting helmet liners to send to our troops in Afghanistan. This pattern came from Lion Brand Yarn that is linked to Yarn Heaven's web site. The pattern was originally from Bonnie Long. I have never made this style before but it was super easy and actually very fun. I used Dark Horse Yarns Rhapsody in color #64 brown that I purchased from Shabby Sheep. It is 100% Merino wool and very soft. I was pleased with the feel of the yarn but it must definitely be washed as it does have a shall we say woolly smell. When Joseph was in Iraq we were told to send things in 100% wool for two reasons. One, it is very warm. Two, you do not want any type of acrylic because of the danger of it melting. Even those great UnderArmor t-shirts were not allowed simply for safety. If you are interested in supporting our troops by making these helmet liners the info is at http://www.yarnheaven.com/. and there is also a group on Ravelry.

One Down, One To Go

One Monkey Sock is finished. These are really cool socks and so much fun to make. The only change I made while knitting them was to make the strong sturdy heel instead of the regular one in the pattern. I'm off to cast on the second sock.

Monkey Socks

No not socks that look like monkeys but CookieA's Monkey Socks. This is the first time I have made these and I am hooked. I am using Tofutsies in color #918. The pictures do not do the colors justice. They are bright oranges, reds and yellows. I am sure I will be making many more of this pattern.

Veteran's Day 2009

Today we pause to honor all those who have served in our military. It is because of their sacrifices that we are able to enjoy the freedoms that we do. May we never take this for granted.

Another Pair of Socks Finished

Well, I finished what I called the Regia Redo 2. I actually feel a real sense of accomplishment. I am trying to use stash yarn for my socks before I buy anymore yarn. Yeah, right I know. These are the ones I talked about earlier the yarn being rescued from the bottom of the drawer since I would never wear the socks since they were huge. What was funny was as I started the second sock I noticed that they would not match. Actually this would make my sister very happy as she likes things that are "off" a little whereas I like things that match. This must be because that is the only place in my life where I have any control, my knitting. And at that thought, my RA has been giving me fits lately. I think it is the weather change and the fact that it has been nearly 80 degrees in November. I wake up and think what the heck is going on here. But I digress so back to the socks. Thank you Yarn Harlot for your Basic Sock Recipe. It has changed my thoughts about socks and now I cannot knit enough of them. As I knew there was not enough of the "old" yarn left I bought the blue to "match" for the rib, toe and heel. I really like them even though the stripes don't match exactly and no JE, you live in Florida so you can't have them.

Happy Birthday Jo!

Today was Jo's 4th birthday. We had a Three Musketeer's Barbie birthday this year. It was a beautiful warm fall day with the sun shining. we had worried about that earlier in the week since it has been raining so much. There was a big turnout for the party and her gifts look like the Barbie aisle at WalMart. Everyone had a great time even Scout who was perfectly happy in her swing.

A Sock State of Mind

This fall I have been trying to finish any socks that have been set to the side while I did the baby knitting and the hat knitting. I am coming along on this mission. I have not been working on CookieA's Monkey sock because I have to think a little more and not be interrupted. So I have been knitting on the socks that I am using Yarn Harlot's Basic Sock Recipe pattern. These particular socks are a redo of the second pair of socks I made while learning how to handle four needles at one time. That was back in 2004 when I used a pattern out of a magazine and size 3US needles. Yes, we have had the discussion on these before when I made the orange Regia redo socks last year. These socks were ginormous and sat in the drawer never worn. So in my quest to use up the sock yarn I have in my stash, this simply to make room to go get more sock yarn, I got out the Regia blue stripe socks that I had ripped out and put into balls. I knew there would not be enough of the original blue, green, black yarn to make two complete socks. So I went to Shabby Sheep and got a blue in a very close match. I decided to make the rib, heel and toe blue and the body of the sock the stripe. I think the first one came out really nice. It took me 6 days to knit it. That must be a record because usually even with concentrated knitting it takes longer. The second sock is cast on and already halfway down the leg. I used my favorite 2.5mm needles. The blue is Regia 4 Fadig #1988, Royal Blue. The stripe is a mystery. I do not have the label to check it and I looked in my stash and my knitting journals and there is not record of the color. I looked on the internet but it must have been discontinued by this time. It was a Regia 4 Fadig too but I have no color number. If you happen to know the name/number of the color let me know as it has been bugging me not to be able to add it to my list.

Home

Joseph made it home from Ft Benning yesterday. Amazingly he arrived in the middle of the night and I awoke to find his truck in the driveway and him in his bed. How this could have happened without me hearing him I do not know because I sleep very lightly and hear everything. I think it had to do with the rain, the busyness earlier in the day and the fact that because of the weather my RA was "speaking to me" and I had taken some Tylenol before I went to bed. All of that plus the fact that he was not supposed to leave Georgia until Thursday. But he is home and everyone is excited. The nieces came down to have lunch and as Jo told him, "We have to take you to Braum's". I did not take any pictures of the day because sometimes you just have to wait but this was earlier in the year. It is great to have him back in Texas.

Still Waiting

Yes, I am still waiting for the soldier to get to Texas. So since that is a little shall we say stressing I decided to put pix of the hats for the girls. First is the redo of the Surprise Stripe hat for Scout. I like it much better. I ripped out the first one and will use that yarn for something else. Secondly, Jo wanted the Jazz Stripe hat so here she is with hers. It is just the standard pattern I use for her. Fortunately she has not outgrown that size and it can be knitted up in a couple of hours. Lastly are the Fixation socks are finally finished. I started them I think in June and they got put back for some other things. I am not one to have only one project on the needles but on my Ravelry projects page I am down to three. Of course this does not count the couple of other projects I am finishing up. So I am off to work on another project as I listen for the sound of the soldier's truck to roll into the driveway.