She loved the shawl!

I finished this headband the other day, Headband of Alaska, or Panta or whatever it's called. I really like it! I've been working on something else but can't post it here in case the intended recipient is reading this. I took Mom her shawl last night, she loved it! But she is having Dad take it home because she's afraid someone will steal it. It's not that fancy. Oh well.

I'm off work now until Tuesday, yay! Damn lawyers drove me nuts today. They can be such big babies. I'm hoping to spend a ton of time finishing off my Christmas projects/gifts and getting a little shopping done. Just not going to work will save my sanity, but I will pay for it on Tuesday.

And so the madness begins

The shawl is finished . . . hip hip hooray! It's drying and blocking, shouldn't take long since it's acrylic. I still need to sew in a name label for my mom, everything has to have their name on it in the nursing home. I've been working on the Headband in Alaska. Pretty easy knit, but somehow I keep managing to screw it up and have to rip back a little, at least I'm not frogging it.

I went to Walmart and Target with my daughter yesterday. Started some Christmas shopping. Yep, the rudeness has begun. Why are people so rude in the store at Christmas time? Do they not shop the rest of the year? Ridiculous. I made a little start. Not a lot of money this Christmas, so I won't have to shop a lot. There was no way I was going to those early bird sales, no way. I stayed asleep and went shopping in the afternoon. Got the tree up too, so all is festive in my living room.

The Shawl

When Mom was having dialysis her shoulders always seemed to be hanging out of her hospital gown, not very attractive. I decided to knit her a shawl. It's been slow going, I've never knitted anything this big. But I've been on a role lately. The other day when I was visiting she asked me to knit her a shawl. How ironic is that? She has no idea I've been working on this thing. I'm finally to the point where I can start the decreases . . . yay! I want it to be done and give it to her and start on some of the things in my queue in Ravelry. I'm chomping at the bit to start the Alaska headband. Hopefully in the next few days.

Last night I was calmly at knit night, just knitting away with the girls, chatting, knitting, eating cookies when who should walk in . . . my daughter! OMG, she surprised the heck out of me! I felt like a contestant on the Price is Right. I was so surprised and stunned, I don't think I've ever been that surprised in my life. She came home a day early from college and totally surprised me. I couldn't quit hugging her, it was so good to see her, and with all the crap I've been through lately, it was the fix I needed.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I'm not having it at my house this year. I'm looking forward to it bittersweetly, it will be at someone else's house, but my mom won't be attending.

I hope everyone who reads my blog has a Happy Thanksgiving!

Gobble gobble!

Oh Fudge!

Every holiday my family wants me to make fudge, so I made some today for Thanksgiving. Yummy! I'm actually going somewhere for Thanksgiving this year, first time in about 15 years that I'm not having it, yay! My daughter's friend left a Transiberian Orchestra CD here last weekend when they came home, so I listened to it while making the fudge, gotta get in the mood here.

I've almost got the second set of peekaboo mittens done. Just have to decrease on the top of the second one and then do the thumb. I hate picking up stitches, I never seem to do it right, but as long as the thumb stays on I'll be happy. Then I can get back to the shawl I'm making for Mom. She's in a nursing home now and it looks like she'll be there for 8 to 10 weeks. Very sad. So I want to get it done while she's there, half the time her hospital gown isn't laying on her shoulders good, this will help keep her covered up. They're working with her on walking and getting her strength back. Deep down, I'm hoping it's not 8 to 10 weeks. I'm in denial.

Now I gotta get off this computer and go knit some more!

I hate my hair

I really need to do something with my damn hair and I just don't know what to do with it. I've had it short for a couple of years now. I miss my ponytail. But then long hair got to be a pain so that's why I got it cut off. It's thick, wavy and getting lots of gray. Oh why oh why can't I be rich and go to a fancy salon and they could do something with it instead of going to the cheap place where sometimes they hack it all up and sometimes they do a good job. In the meantime, maybe I'll just stick a hat on my head for the next few months and let it grow.

Nobody warned me . . .

. . . that Ravelry was so addicting! Holy crap, I could spend hours there looking around. Beautiful stuff. I need more hours in the day to knit and browse Ravelry.



I finally finished the charity mittens. Now I need to figure out what to do with them, how to get them to the intended recipient. I love the color! I did donate a pair I had already made . . . may have to keep these for a Christmas gift to someone.

Now I'm off to the couch to knit. Really.

Ikea

My daughter was home for the weekend and we finally made it to Ikea. Cool place! I will definitely go back. All I bought was a tent for the kitties. First it was sniffed by Pixie . . .





Then it had to be sniffed by Mia . . .




Then finally Katie got in it! So far she's the only one who has gone inside it. My brave girl!





On the knitting front, I've been working on the prayer shawl. Made some progress.



My daughter's friend wants a pair of the Peekaboo Mittens. I just might have to take a little trip to Joann's tonight to get some yarn before going to the hospital, specifically Lion brand Wool Ease which I think is on sale for $1.79 a skein. This prayer shawl can get boring, I need something else to work on along with it.

Home for the night

I'm in for the night. I'm so tired of running back and forth to the hospital. Mom's still in there. There's some improvement, but she's got a long way to go. My poor Dad looks so tired. He's there for every visiting hour. Her hands are in restraints now and he helps her eat and drink. It's so sweet to watch these two old people, I've never seen this side of him.





A couple of weeks ago I finished the lacy scarf I was knitting. I screwed up a row and didn't have lifelines, decided it was long enough and bound it off. I do wish it was a little longer, but I don't think it will look good with fringe, so I'm leaving it as is. Now it's time to go sit on the couch and just knit and knit and knit until I can't see any more. I'm more than halfway done with the second mitten for charity. I may sneak my knitting to work with me tomorrow, I don't think any one will be there but me, heheheh

Time flies

Wow, times flies. I can't believe I haven't posted for a week. I've been so busy with running back and forth to the hospital, I don't know if I'm coming or going any more. I went to knit night last night (yay!). It felt so good to get away from it all. I talked to Dad after I got home and there was some improvement yesterday with Mom (yay!). Whoever would have thought I'd be talking about Mom's pee with Dad. Weird.

I did go see my daughter at college last Saturday. It was such a nice day and so good to see her! I finished the peek-a-boo mittens and since they were just a tad too small for me I gave them to her. She loves them! One of her friends wants a pair. So I'll make him a pair cuz he's so good to her. They knit up pretty fast. Then I gotta get back to Christmas knitting and the prayer shawl. Been working on the charity mittens lately, not a lot of time to knit, but they are finally almost done.