Great Friday!

I had my check-up with the surgeon today. Mike took the day off to take me (and to play!)

Medical Update:
The surgeon says that my leg is healing really well. He got really excited to see that my right knee is stiffening up enough to seem like the exterior ligaments are healing, which is EXCELLENT news! I might even get away with only needing a brace and not needing the whole knee replacement thing! The interior ligaments will never heal on their own . . . but maybe that will be ok?

I'll go back again in 3 weeks, and we'll see how the brace goes. They'll be fitting me with that then, I guess. We will also, at that point, re-evaluate . . .and that re-evaluation will happen over and over again.

I still can't bear weight, but I am allowed to touch my foot to the floor a little for balance, etc. Also, my home-care PT is done, and I'm going to have to set up PT at a facility. I'm going to attack that problem tomorrow or Monday. There are lots of facilities around Columbus, but almost all of them seem to be far away.

Still don't know when I'll get back to work, but I am hoping we'll be able to set a date or at least make a plan in 3 weeks. At this point, my return date is "on the books" as June 1, but I am feeling now like we might be able to bump that up and get me back sooner. Time will tell!

Another great thing - he gave me a prescription for a Handicapped placard for the car. yay!

The Playing Part of Today:

• After the Dr. we went right to the DMV and got me my placard. There is a nice DMV office at Kenny Center, and the line went really quickly.
  
• We checked out Akai Hana, and without getting too close we saw that it was closed. We were a little bummed, but we ducked into the bakery 2 doors down and got some lovely Asian yummers. After snarfing down a delicious red bean paste-filled donut (totally decadent!), we rolled by Akai Hana again, and it was now open! Duh! We were just 10 minutes early! Ha!
• So - after having donuts - we had a delicious sushi lunch! Great place to eat, and I'm so glad we tried it out. We'll definitely go back!
• After lunch, Mike went to the fabulous spice shop, Penzeys, and I went to The Yarn Shop. It was my first visit to the shop, and it was a nice place. It's larger and more maneuverable than The Merc, and they seem to have a larger selection of less expensive yarns there, which is nice. I still have a very strong loyalty to The Merc, though, and it's closer to me, too. I did pick up a few skeins, though. :-)

Knitting Update:
This is a little sweater for a kid. I love the little eyelet motif on the back. You can see here that I'm doing both sleeves at one time - saves on note-taking, and ensures that they will be the same length!









Simon Update:
Here he is, packed and ready for the weekend with the Scouts. He had to come back after he and his dad had left the house, because he'd neglected to put on his new hiking boots and was still wearing his tennis shoes. Sigh.

Phinally Photos!

First, the lovely daffodils that I got a few weeks ago . . . just starting to bloom . . . and then blooming!











I've been wanting to show how Samwise insists on being on my lap, even when my lap is already mostly filled with my laptop. He finds room, no matter what. I use random stuffed animals to prop up the laptop, but also to keep Sam off my bum leg.





Knitting! Here's what I have close at hand: another little blanket bunny buddy - they're fun, and cute. How old of a child do you think would tolerate/like one of these?






This is a little baby sweater - Baby Bolero, from the book One Skein - that I cast on just yesterday! I'm near completion on it, but I think I'll probably cast off tomorrow.

Out of the 'Lympics

Well, I've gotten about 1/2 the sleeves done on Simon's sweater, my Ravelympics entry, but I'm very low on yarn. I'm going to have to take drastic measures (a.k.a. do some striping) if I don't get more yarn. There are 3 people on Ravelry who have the yarn I need listed as part of their stash, and I've sent messages to all three. Hopefully one of them will come through!
Until then, I'm taking myself out of the Ravelympics and going back to knitting on other projects. Sigh.

Ravelympics, NYC, returning to work, Learn and Play

We had our kick-off for Learn and Play and CML on Tuesday. I went in, and I'm really glad I did! Gerald and the rest of the team did a great job with their presentation!

And Michael was fabulous! He's so inspiring. If you aren't a library-blog-reader, you probably don't realize that he's a blog ROCKSTAR!!! See what his blog is like here.

I'm really looking forward to doing the 23 things given as our goals to learn more about Web 2.0. Obviously, blogging isn't new to me, but I'll find things to learn and blog about, don't you worry! I'm saving my big excitement until I'm officially on work time, though . . .

I've sorta kinda been on vacation this week. We didn't go anywhere as a family, but we DID put in some hours for the Boy Scout Garage Sale that is our only fundraiser of the year. Took all summer to gather all the goods, took all week to set up, took 6 hours yesterday to sell as much as possible, will take a few more days for our old bodies to recover. I was a cashier all day, while Mike helped me and helped in the Furniture tent some. Simon was a delivery kid, doing whatever the adults asked of him all day. TIRED! I've got no pics because I didn't want to run the risk of my camera being sold. :-)

Last weekend I helped my dear friend Carol move her son to NYC. He's living and working there as part of Teach For America. We took him clothes and stuff and got him into his new apt., although he's been there all summer already. We drove out Friday, played in the city Saturday, moved him Sunday and then . . . .

drove to Elizabethtown, PA, to stay with Ann the night, then drove home on Monday. Don't ask us about the driving home on Monday part - let's just say we made a slight navigational error and it took a bit longer than necessary.

I've been working on a sweater for Si. I cast on during the first day of the Olympics and I hope to finish by the closing ceremonies. It's part of the
Ravelympics game on the Ravelry site. I have the body done up to the armpits, and I am almost done with the sleeve cuffs. I'm going to do both sleeves simultaneously so I don't have to take notes along the way for increases. LOL

Knitting and the Olympics!

OK, why haven't I posted more knitting? I'll tell you why - it's all the fault of Ravelry. This great social networking site for knitters and crocheters has been taking up my attention. I love it! I post my projects, keep track of what is on my needles, how long it takes me to do projects, etc, and I can post my pics there, too. I can also check out what my friends are making, and we can comment to one another.

They're starting an incentive with the Olympics, encouraging us to cast on a project during the opening ceremonies that will be challenging . . . and then to finish before closing ceremonies 2 weeks later. I'm going to do it! If I put this link here can you see my project page on Ravelry, or does it just take you to the homepage again? Let me know.

A Scout, scenery and felting!

Here is our scout, ready for a week of leadership training - doesn't he look great? The tan is complements of his week-long canoeing trip in Michigan this past week. 12 hours after he arrived home we left to drive him to the next camp. Crazy!

You can see how hazy it was down in Southern Ohio this morning. Beautiful, but very humid and hot.

Anyone know what kind of flower this is? There seemed to be a lot of them along the roadsides today. First to ID it wins a prize!

I was inspired by the artwork of my friend and colleague, Mary Ann, and I have been knitting these bags all weekend long! I still have some final touches I want to put on them, though, before showing them to her and . . . get this! . . . trading her a purse for one of her paintings! Like a Real Artist!

I made a few others, too. It's been fun, knitting them. I'm pulling 3 strands of Lamb's Pride Worsted together so I can play with the colors more, using #19 needles (golly, those were expensive!)

I plan to do some needle felting to put the pussy willow pods on the fronds.

Crochet!

It's a dark picture, but I think you can see that I've been crocheting! I picked up some hooks and books at JoAnn's on Wednesday, and I've started hooking up some of the acryllic yarn that was donated by an acquaintance from Cup O'Joe, where our little knitting group meets. There's lots of folks who need warm, durable blankets out there, so this is probably going to go into a donation box. My hands are cramped and tired now, after crocheting so much this weekend, but it's been fun, doing a new craft!

Sock Yarn Baby Sweater

It's the sweetest pattern! You knit it cuff to cuff. I bought this yarn really cheaply online last year, and this is a great project for it. I cast on Wednesday morning. This is a sleeve and a few rows of the front and back of the bodice. It'll be really cute! I like how the patterned yarn is giving natural verticle stripes.




A friend in church is preggers, and I think she's having a girl. This will be perfect!







My lillies of the valley are blooming, and I picked some, as you can see. I got this cool vase at the garden center of Mill Creek Park in Youngstown last year when I was there with my Mom. It's perfect for these "white choral bells". So, gaze on these delicate flowers, and if you're a mom, Happy Mother's Day!

What is Art?

A friend has asked me if I consider my knitting to be Art. Thanks for asking,Nancy! I guess Bob asked the question first. Going to Nancy's blog, she's also wondered if a blog could be art. I suppose it could, but I would venture to say that blogging is really more keeping track of what the art is - a diary or journal of sorts - not the art itself.

So - what is art? And what is craft? And what is the difference between art and craft? I consider knitting to be sometime art and sometimes craft. What makes the difference? I don't really know! There is an art to knitting well. The craft part is really more the technical side of knitting, and the artistry comes in color choice, fiber choice, design of the pieces. Knitting often produces a practical, useful item, so that leans me more towards the craft side . . . but then again, even very useful items can be artistically done, and thereby I would consider them to be art.

I've spent a good bit of my life being creative. I've done theater, sewing, quilting, puppetry, singing, played musical instruments, made toys, written fiction and poetry and even some non-fiction . . . which of those creations of mine are art? Any? All? None?

You can see that I'm still not clear on this topic! Bob makes a good point in saying that something can be Bad Art, too - so one can say "ok, if you say that's art, I'll agree that it's art, but I don't believe it is quality." That's a fair assessment.

So - here's my official (for now) statement: If the creator or anyone else experiencing the piece feels that it is Art, it is, indeed Art. If, however, you try to make me say it's all Good Art, I'll not give you the pleasure! I reserve my right to declare what I like and what I don't!

OK - knitting update: 1st pic in the blog is my Clapotis, or maybe it's really a Clapotis! Either way, it's mine and it's being knit of Silky Wool. It has a lovely hand, and it really does flow like water as it drapes. I have a few more inches to add before I start the decreases . . . I want it to be more a shawl than a scarf, so I want to be sure it wraps around my round little self sufficiently.

2nd pic is a child's sweater vest I've knit for Warm Woolies as a donation. I've knit it from Lamb's Pride Bulky - 85% wool, 15% mohair. It'll be nice and warm for some child. I intended to use all stash yarn, but then I got a pattern going (Fibonacci Sequence from bottom to top) and wanted to finish it that way. I've bought plenty more of the same kind of yarn (various colors) to make more things for this group. The vest was a quick knit, so don't be surprised to see more! Cast on 98 stitches and go til you feel it looks right.

Is this art? What do you think?

But What Shall I Pack?

First, here are the promised pictures of the big blizzard a few weeks ago. We had over 20 inches in about 12 hours! Si, as you can see, is covered. LOL He had so much fun running around our yard and over in the nearby playground. He doesn't even seem to mind getting wet.

This is a picture of our paper delivered on Saturday. Do you see that little spot of the paper, stuch straight up in the snow about 1/3 of the way up the drive? I can't blame our delivery person at all. It was nasty! I was surprised, frankly, that we got the paper at all. We never did get mail that day (so much for the mail always getting through!).

What to pack?
I'm leaving for Minneapolis tomorrow for PLA (Public Library Association's Conference). I'll be gone Tuesday through Sunday. What knitting shall I pack? I have several projects:
Baby Surplice Sweater - I"m doing this with size 10 needles and chunky yarn. It's going to end up about size 2 or 4, Toddler sizes. I just had to get some more colors for the striping today as I'm running low on the main ones. It'll still look cool, though, I think. This is a pretty good candidate for the plane because it's easy to follow and stuff, but as I probably only have another 2-3 hours of knitting I could finish it on the plane and then be bored.

This is my clapotis! I've finally given in and decided to try one. I've cast it on specifically so that I can travel with it to PLA . . . but now I've realized that I'll want to switch colors several times throughout the 4-6 hours I'll be en route tomorrow, and I am nervous about cutting implements and airport security. Ack! This is great in all other respects, though, since the pattern is simple but not mindless, and colors are pleasing and calming, and it's silky wool that doesn't take up much room in the computer bag.

My third project for the road is my socks. You can't tell from this awful picture, but the yarn is really bright and wonderful. A cachophony of colors! Trouble is, socks can get really tedious if they're all you have to knit on at any given time. Maybe I could pack the iPod and use that to amuse myself while knitting and traveling. I wonder if anyone I know will be on the same plane. I have a vague idea I will run into someone.

Snow, WIPs and FOs

I've tried to upload photos about 6 times today, and I'm still getting some kind of server error. Since I am still able to upload to my Flickr account, I can only assume this is a Blogger problem.

At any rate, here is a recap of my day . . . in lists for those of you who enjoy such things.

Beautiful Sights:

1. The snow across the world makes everything look like part of an alien landscape.
2. Some of the houses are losing the snow from their roofs (rooves?) in nearly solid sheets, so it is draping off of them like thick frozen curtains. Many look like arctic gnomish bungalows.
3. Young men making money by shoveling snow (thank goodness for the men who came here to the Heart Attack House!). My driveway is completely clear and dry.
4. People helping others to get out of being stuck (thank goodness, again, for the kind folks who helped me get out of the unshoveled entrance to my bank - I didn't really need that money, anyway!)
5. The cleaned-outed-ness of our fridge because DH got bored and actually cleared out the old food stuffs.

Fantastic and Wonderous Things:

1. The snow . . . see above.
2. My son enjoying real history shows on TV.
3. DH's homemade meals - 2 dinners in a row were head-on hits! Excellent chili lastnight, and tonight a pot roast with potatoes, carrots and celery. COMFORT FOOD!

Stuff I've accomplished, having had 2 days when I couldn't do much else:

1. Finished my lavendar legwarmers.
2. Posted to blog - more than once!
3. Made brownies (boy, do they smell good!).
4. Knit on DH's sweater, my new socks, the legwarmers, and cast on for a new child's sweater (I'm aiming for Toddler/Preschool size, but you never know with this pattern).

I've also managed to get some Knitting-Related-Injuries:

1. Sore upper arm muscles from wrestling with the yarn of the leg warmers - it has acryllic in it and doesn't give much.
2. That scratch thing on my right pointer finger is back. Ouch! I think it's the sock needle that does it.

Follow links to Flickr and Ravelry for pics.

Wednesday Night Knitting!

This is the Ice Queen That I've started, now, twice. Obviously I need to use more stitch markers and not watch TV while knitting it. Sigh. I don't know if I'll make my Feb. 29 deadline for this gift! If I ever finish it (or even make it) I'm sure it would look wonderful.

This is Mike's sweater. If you click on the picture and look closely you can see the cable pattern up the middle. He loves it. I can see that the cables don't show as well in the camo yarn, but I like the effect, and in person you can see it better than in a picture.

I've gotten far enough that I feel confident casting on the sleeves. I'm knitting 2 at once, magic loop, and they should go quickly. Mike doesn't want cables on the sleeves, so it should be easy!

I totally ignored VT day this year, at first. Mike, though, actually got me flowers and DARK chocolates and a sweet card, so then I was feeling a little guilty. So, while he was camping with Si and the other Boy Scouts this last weekend, I knit him his very own Diabetic-Friendly cupcake. yes, that's even a heart on top. Next time I do one, I'm going to put catnip inside for my babies.


Personal Narrative:

I love my knitting buddies! We just had a loverly time at Crimson Cup tonight. I've known Yarmando for many years, and it's so comfortable to just sit near him and share our knitting. Also, he is truly a genius about knitting, and it's great to get his opinions on things and to see what he's working on. Knittingbrow and KnitsB (do you have a blog of your own?) feel like old friends, just like Yarmando. I mean, it feels like I've known them both forever, and it's a sweet and wonderful thing, I tell you! I can't even quantify it, you'll just have to trust me. It's relaxing and intellectually stimulating. Great combo, if you ask me! KB and Y are the reason I'm knitting today, as it was reading their blogs and seeing the socks they'd knit that got my fingers itching to try it. The rest is herstory.

Over-Ravel'd

I've finally joined Ravelry. It's a great site! I can't seem to pull myself away from it, though!

I found out, for instance, that the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklinburg Cty have craft programs! Look!

My name at is Caterwaul1 - add me as a friend!

I also have been knitting, believe it or not. I've been making good progress on DH's sweater, but pics won't show much - more when I get the sleeves going or something.

I realized I'd never posted finished pics of Simon's socks. The yarn is called Evolution and supposed to be washable, etc., but someone told me that theirs is pilling and shedding, so I've been hand-washing these. I'm sure he'll grow out of them in the next year, but for now they're perfect. He loves them, too! See the double helix cable? Big thanks to Don for gifting me the extra yarn I needed for them. Very generous friend, eh?

I'm also still working on a scarf thing for my friend who is soon to retire . . . but I've switched to a new ball of the yarn and am doing an actual pattern, Ice Queen with beads and everything!

Also of note was a visit here from my friend, Laura and her family. We went to the Franklin Park Conservatory for the trains and orchids. It was fun!

Keeping My Mind off the Stomach Virus

Mike had it last week. I've been sleeping 6 extra hours a day, trying to avoid it. Simon has it now. Being home, I figure I'll update the blogs!


Sammy likes my yarn all the time, but this particular kind is now his favorite. It is Kidsilk Night, color: Thunder, by Rowan. It is mohair and silk, and has a thin thread of bling shot through it - in a midnight blue color. I love the stuff! I'm knitting it up on size 11 circulars to make a long tube scarf for a friend who is retiring soon.
It looks fairly solid in this picture, but trust me - it is like a cloud! I was concerned that the bling would make it scratchy, but the mohair shields your skin from the scratch nicely. It weighs next to nothing. Looks like lots of folks are doing lace with this, but I think that might just drive me batty. That is a project for some other time of life, I'd say!

I finished up this little lace neck scarf a week or 2 ago. Isn't it loverly? I am pleased with how it blocked out, but if I make one for myself I'm going to make it larger. We bigger girls like larger scarves. I'll find a skinny friend to gift this to.

At my MIL's request, I've made a fluffy pink baby sweater to send to DH's cousin in Texas. Let me tell you - THIS is a big bargain in both money and time! I bought the yarn from a friend who was having a stash reduction sale. It is Cascade Bollicine Revolution in a very bright pink color. It knit up on size 17 needles, and only took me about 4 hours from cast-on to bind-off. Can you believe it??? I have some blue yarn, too, and will be knitting it up soonish for another baby. I also have enough, probably, of the two colors to mix them in a third sweater. I got 3 balls each of the yarn. I can't lay my hands on the pattern at the moment, but when I do I'll link it.

Last year I gave DH yarn and a big book of cable patterns for Xmas with the promise of knitting him the ultimate sweater. Well, I ended up being so overwhelmed by the idea of knitting a great big adult sweater that I chickened out, bought cheaper, bulkier yarn, and made him a plain sweater. He likes it and wears it, too, but I still wanted to do better. This year I didn't even tell him he was getting it, I just cast on. I went back to the book of cable patterns and chose a very cool one that he'd picked out - 27 stitches wide and 40 rows long. I added a small cable on either side and charted the whole lot of it in an excel document. You can see the chart on the cookie sheet, held by some of Simon's architectural magnet doodads. I'm about 4 rows shy of being done with the first repeat. I love it! This is not knitting I can take out, as the cookie sheet would be awkward to carry around . . . but I do love working on it of an evening while we watch TV. We've been re-watching all of the Nero Wolfe series we have on DVD. Simon is enjoying them, too, which delights us all. We love enjoying great shows together.

One quick essay:
Knitting-Related Injury #1
I have often been injured in the line of duty - papercuts while framing were terribly painful, muscle cramps while Shaking My Sillies Out in Storytime were hard to bear, and laryngitis when I was supposed to be working the phones was challenging . . . but a small cut on my right index finger is nearly excruciating! I don't know how I got cut, but I suspect a particularly difficult circular needle which shall go un-named! I often knit Continental Style, holding the yarn in my left hand and just looping the right needle through and around, pulling the looped yarn out and up. It's quick, it's effiicient, and it's lovely to do. I can knit without light in this method, and just feel my way through a long bit of knitting, particularly if I've got the right size circular and the yarn is ammenable. I do, however, need to poke the end of the left needle down every other stitch or so when the stitches are needing to be slid closer to the end of that needle. Whenever I poke that needle . . . OUCH! The tip of the needle goes right into this small cut on my right hand index finger. It's an outrage! I've had to knit with a band-aid for a week, and put anti-biotic ointment on it. Each night I go to bed, my right fingertip throbbing. I can see the subcutaneous bruise growing. I try to find ways to rest during the day, but my needles and yarn keep beckoning me! I can't stop knitting, of course, because that would be . . . well . . .unthinkable!

Class Reunion

I am old, but I don't have to act it! I decided to add some of that purple dye to my hair for our 25th HS class reunion last weekend. Sorry it's taken me so long to post the pics!

I also had it all put up, and it was fun.

Between the fancy do, the purple, and the cool Batik blouse from Marketplace India (my favorite catalog!) , I looked pretty good!

The night after the reunion, Laura had our old gang over for a bit. It was nice to get together. These women have been my friends for a long, long time!

I did finally make a button out of Sculpey , sew it on the belt pouch and mail it up to Santa. I think he'll like it - I just hope the postal service gets it there quickly! SOME of us don't have elves to do our every bidding!

Thanksgiing

I finished and gifted the Santa Vest to my Dad. He loves it! It fits perfectly, and it looks great on him. He has requested a matching belt pouch for carrying mini candy canes for when he's visiting with children at the hospital, etc.

Here is the requested pouch, knit and felted and ready for a button. I should have it in the mail to him by Wednesday, if all goes well. I think I'll make a button with polymer clay - something that will look like a mint or something, don't you think?

I've also gotten lots of good "notes" and tips on what makes a good knit hat from "the boys". Dad, my brother, and my brother-in-law all coached me one morning while my brother made breakkies (wearing the hat I made for him last year). I even have a "perfect" hat, according to my brother, to use as a guide. I've now purchased appropriate yarn for his hat (he is the pickiest one because he needs things that are historically accurate for the 1840's), and will start his hat soon. I've gotten him some great reddish stuff that I'll knit to spec.s in a very tight gauge. Also, I've been overestimating his head size, so with this sample hat I'm more likely to get that correct.

In the meantime, I'm doing some mindless knitting. I've started a "more perfect" hat for my b-i-l. He's a rabid Buckeye Fan, hence the red and gray. I had already purchases this gray - baby alpaca grande - and have the red leftover from Santa clothes. My change is that I'm using smaller needles (9 instead of 10.5) so it'll be a denser gauge, and I'll knit it longer so he can roll it up more and be able to cover his ears with several layers if needed.

I've also decided to knit up some washcloths for quickie gifts for folks like my boss and hostesses of holiday parties, etc. They're easy, quick, and turn out lovely. I have a friend who makes soap that I might hit up for some bars to add to the gifts.

The long weekend at Mom and Dad's was really wonderful (despite having horrible intestinal problems as a result of my long-term dosing of heavy antibiotics), and despite hubby having a terrible toothache that has turned out to be a terrible infection requiring a root canal. Poor thing! Since we've got home, I've made 8 batches of jello and 2 kinds of soup, just to get him some nourishment until he can be worked on.

I'll be reporting on my fancy hair and my 25th HS reunion and meet-up with old friends in a subsequent post. I can only upload 5 pics a day, and I've already reached my quota.

I spent a great hour this evening at Starbucks. I used a gift card I happened to have, so it seemed like free, and it was enjoyable. I get a sick satisfaction out of ordering my coffee in the wrong order. Tonight I said "I want one of those peppermint mochas, but can you make it decaff? Oh, and I'd like it to be lowfat. I'll take a super large." LOL The Barristas had to repeat it in the correct order several times hoping, I'm sure, to teach the uninitiated what it should rightly be called. Blah to that! I will continue to call it Extra Large! I will continue to say it in whatever damn order I please! So there! Mike says I'm evil. (mwuahahaha).