Author: missouristar

All is quiet here (at least for a few moments), so I’ll try to get a quick post in.  Life is settling into a bit of a routine with two little girls.  I am amazed at how good they both are.  For a two-year old, Isobel has very few meltdowns and only uses "no" occasionally.  She is well behaved and loving.  And did I mention she LOVES her little sister?

The only problem is keeping her from loving a little too vigorously!  She loves music and is constantly singing.  She likes to lean over the crib and sing "Twinkle, twinkle little star" in Mandarin to Ivy.

Those of you who suggested keeping the knitting simple were right on the mark.  I opted for simple stockinette socks and my only variety has been color.  Here are the socks I’ve accomplished so far, reclining on the porch swing:

From left to right – Trekking, Essentials Shale Multi and Essentials Tuscany Multi.  Immediately after this photo session they begged to be taken inside because it is just too dang hot for wool socks to be lounging around in the sun.  I ordered the new Knitpicks Harmony dpn’s and had them shipped here.  The verdict?  An overwhelming thumbs up!  They have sharp tips, smooth surfaces and don’t seem as bendy as bamboos.   And the pretty colors exactly match the Essentials Tuscany yarn.

Sometimes in Orlando we feel as if we’ve stepped into a foreign country.  On the day Ivy was born we were driving to the hospital.  As we left the housing development where Ben and Abby live, we passed a small pond.  I kid you not, there was a six foot alligator sunning himself on the bank.  This was within 20 feet of someone’s backyard, across the street from a daycare center and within 500 feet of a school!  Unfortunately I didn’t have the presence of mind to photograph it.  I’ll stick with the bunnies and deer that grace our yard, thank you very much!

Introducing Ivy Sue:

Born this morning at 8:10 a.m.  Mother, baby and big sister are doing just fine, as is Daddy:

Grandpa:

and Nana (whose name, by the way, is Dorothy Sue):

Izzy just can’t believe she’s a big sister:

Welcome to the world, baby girl!

"Watcha doin’ Nana?"  "I’m knitting a sock, Izzy."

"Can I help?"  "Sure!"

"I like this yarn – it’s so soft!"

"Is this how it’s done, Nana?"

"Look!  Nana made a sock and I helped."

After a long day’s travel, we arrived in Orlando safe and sound on Friday night.  This delightful sight was awaiting us:

We were surprised at how quickly Isobel warmed up to us.  I think she remembered us from our visit last Christmas.  She is especially taken with her Grandpa, as this picture attests:

She calls him "ye-ye", which is Mandarin for grandpa.  Yesterday was spent resting up and grocery shopping.  Today, we made the trip to Ocala to meet up with our friend, who was so kind as to deliver this:

It was just serendipity that he was out visiting us in Washington several weeks ago and volunteered to carry the rocking horse back with him to Florida in his car.  Also a big thanks to Kris and Dana, who also volunteered.  As you can see, the horse is a big hit!

Now we are down to the waiting game and trying not to drive Abby crazy!  We hope to keep busy with play dates and some last minute shopping, and of course, enjoying Isobel.

Water, water everywhere!  Well, not exactly everywhere.  If you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, you’ll remember that water mains and I have a checkered history.  Several years ago a water main burst in front of my office, flooding the parking lot to the extent that firemen were actually diving right where my Mini usually parks (I got it out in time).  A couple of weeks ago the construction workers on the highway broke a water main in front of our house.  This is what greeted me when I arrived at work this morning:

Another water main burst – even worse than before (yes, that is part of the highway that is missing).  The resulting flood actually came up under the building into our office, soaking the carpets.  We have no water, so the office is shut down for the day, with hopes that we will be able to open tomorrow.  On the bright side, I got an unexpected day off, with pay. 

So, I can catch up on few last minute items before I go.  First off, a model shot for Marguerite:

I managed to find some buttons on island and finished it.  I’m pretty pleased with the fit, although I thought the waist shaping would show up more.  But I guess if you don’t have a waist to start with, shaping one into a sweater isn’t going to do any good!  It also looks dreadful buttoned up – really emphasizes the no-waist thing.  But I’m kind of used to that.  On the plus side, a long vest worn open over a tucked in shirt actually makes me look as if I do have a waist.

Yesterday we went down the island for a "Wag and Walk" with Hester.  The event itself wasn’t all that great, but it gave us a day out with her and we were able to try out some leash-free trails.  It was a great day and Hester was beautifully behaved in the leash-free areas.  We had a wonderful day of making memories with her:

Lest you think we discriminated against Kirby, he hates riding in the car and is a nervous wreck around big dogs, so he stayed at home.  Hester, on the other hand, is as calm as all get out in the car and around other dogs.

It looks like I’ll have enough time to finish up my I Love Gansey socks before I go.  I’m past the heel and all gusset stitches have been decreased.  I probably won’t post before I go, but I’ll take a picture and will have internet access at Ben & Abby’s.  See you then!

Update – finished:

I Love Gansey socks.  Pattern by Janine Le Cras.  Yarn – Regia Silk.  Size 0 needles.

 

The Hester vest is finished!

Elsebeth Lavold’s patterns may be short on clarity, but they are certainly long on style.  I love it.  All that’s left are the buttons, but ironically the next time I’ll be able to get over to look for some is when I go to her class in October.  I have the perfect buttons, but only have 5 and I need 7.  Here’s a close up (albeit fuzzy – still haven’t mastered the macro setting) showing the lovely checkerboard pattern and a buttonhole that I’m rather proud of:

Thanks for the input on project packing.  A common theme was "keep it simple".  I’m going to do just that.  Considering that I almost brushed my teeth with the hand soap yesterday, I think my brain is too fried to do anything else.  So, I’ll be taking several choices for plain Jane socks – color will be my variety rather than pattern and the Cookie A pattern will stay at home for another time (like when school is done!).  I will be taking some lovely butter soft acrylic that I found at my LYS and I’ll work on a baby afghan that will probably go to our local Pregnancy Care Clinic.  I love doing baby afghans.  They’re small and portable and once the pattern is learned, they are mindless – no shaping!

Construction continues.  This was the view at the end of our driveway one day this week:

I wonder how that guy would feel to know that he’s the star of a knitting blog!?  Needless to say, I didn’t go home for lunch that day and no mail was delivered.  However, we’re hoping that’s the end of the worst of it.  Once that big hole was filled in, they haven’t been back for almost a week.  But I think all that’s left in our area is sidewalks and curbs (nice!!) and the final paving.

One week to go!  Four days of work.  I am SO ready.  Well, ready in the psychological sense.  Still lots to finish up here and packing to do.  If I really buckle down today and tomorrow with school, I won’t have to do too much while I’m in Orlando.  So it’s off to study and the next post should come to you from sunny Florida.

I am such a dork!  Oh, wait – you knew that already.  So, I located my pattern and started working on the second front to the Hester vest.  Finished it in quick order.  Went to do the three needle bind off to attach to the back and realized that the two sides didn’t match.  I did the first one wrong.  Completely wrong.  As in, the only fix is to frog all the way to the beginning.  D’oh!!  You can’t see from the pictures, but the pattern is a checkerboard and the squares should oppose at the shoulders.  If I had done them both wrong, then two wrongs would have made a right, right?  But having one wrong and one right didn’t work.  It’s a good thing this is a fun, relaxing (???) knit. 

So, to distract you from all that – less than two weeks to go before leaving for Orlando.  Let’s hear a woo! and a hoo!  You know what that means don’t you?  Project packing.  What, oh what shall I take?  It can’t be too bulky, but there needs to be enough so that if I get bored or if a project is not working out I have some options.  You guys understand, right?  So – here are the candidates, in no particular order.

Cookie A.’s "Twisted Flower Sock".  The yarn:  Knitpicks Gloss:

Plain Jane socks with a picot edge.  The yarn:  Trekking:

Horcrux Socks by Susan Lawrence.  The yarn:  Opal Handpaint.

Lily of the Valley Smoke Ring also by Susan Lawrence.  The yarn:  some poor pink laceweight that has been auditioned for numerous projects and frogged.  It’s getting a little grimy.  The last iteration was Icarus, which although quite lovely, just was not working for me:

Oh, and of course the second I Love Gansey sock will go with me to be finished.  So there you have it.  Do I take any?  All?  Some? 

No construction pictures to show today.  The workers have taken a week off, so blessed quiet.  However, hubby did email me this stunning picture.  This is the bridge that comes over to our beautiful island:

I’m sure you’ve noticed the new blogskin.  I have mixed feelings.  The design is quite pretty, but for some reason the pictures come out huge and with low resolution even though I am editing them the same way I always have.  And the print is a little small.  Let me know what you think.  For me, ease of reading is first and appearance second, so I’m not adverse to changing back.

I am such a dork!  I finished the second Tulip cardigan and decided I needed to organize my projects and finish up a few.  I got things cleaned out and picked up the Hester vest.  I was all snuggled down in my knitting chair, ready to go, when I realized I couldn’t find the pattern.  I searched for almost an hour, going through the bookcase, through piles in my sewing room, under chairs, you name it.  It was only then I realized it was in the stack of magazines right by my knitting chair.  D’oh!  Anyway, I finished the first front and did a three needle bind off to join to the back:

It’s hard to get a good detail shot, but at least you can see the nice shirttail hem – accomplished by short rows.  And here’s a photo of Tulip 2:

This just wasn’t as much fun as the first, but maybe it was my frame of mind.  I also started losing my infatuation for the yarn.  It is incredibly soft, but also incredibly splitty.  And while finishing I kept snagging it on everything, from the needle to a rough spot on my nails.  I don’t have great expectations for this being practical for an active toddler.  But maybe she’ll get one season of wear out of it.  I’m also concerned that it’s a little short.  I followed the instructions and changed color every 8 rows, but probably should have gone every 10 rows.

In addition to trying to get more organized (including organizing my sock yarn stash on Ravelry), I engaged in some stash enhancement.  I was browsing the Knit Picks site – always a danger.  I went there just to order some more needles, but checked out the sale page and found some lovely Essential sock yarn.  Supposedly these were not vibrant enough for their regular stock, but I love the more subtle colors:

 

Wouldn’t you know, the sale yarn was in stock, but the needles I wanted were backordered!

Hester has had a very good week!  On Sunday, after gobbling down her morning chow, she decided that Kirby needed to play with her.  She would run as fast as she could down the hall, run back and do circles around Kirby, poking him with her nose.  Kirby, being 14 years old, was not amused.  He put up with it for about 3 or 4 cycles and then pounced and got her on her back and growled at her.  She meekly obeyed the order to leave him alone.  He may be almost 5 times her age and half her weight, but he is still top dog!

In the continuing saga of road construction, I thought the worst was over.  I thought wrong.  The shoulder work does not consist just of putting in curbs and sidewalks, but digging huge trenches for new sewer lines.  In the digging, a backhoe caught hold of our water line, prompting this emergency action at the end of our driveway:

Thank goodness it happened after my morning shower, but we were without water for most of the day.  By tomorrow they should have moved beyond our driveway and as far as I know there are no other water lines in the area.  And the beat goes on!  I’m posting early this week because I have to work Friday and have lots of commitments coming up.  School has started – I’m taking Gerontology and the Psychology of Motivation.  TONS of reading to do.  My eyes are blurring (but thankfully, not bleeding – yet).  See you next week when I come up for air!

Thank you all for the outpouring of sympathy for Hester.  The response to our sad news has been heartwarming and a little bit overwhelming.  I really had intended to respond to each one of your comments personally, but I’m sure you understand that right now it’s just a little too hard.  But be assured that hubby and I have read every one and it does help ease our pain.

Yesterday morning I had an epiphany.  As usual, I let Hester out of her crate and she sped out the doggy door to do her morning duty.  Then she came running back inside and as usual jumped up and caught her morning biscuit in midair.  This filled me with such joy and I realized that each day that she is like this is a gift!  Rather than worry about what is to come, I’m trying very hard to focus on the good days that we have and enjoy her remaining time rather than grieve in advance and lose the joys she gives us.  Hmmm – sounds a little Biblical doesn’t it?  Matthew 6:34 – "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself."  Good advice.  Hester thoroughly agrees.

 

By the way, in the picture she is waiting patiently for Kirby to finish his dinner.  If he doesn’t finish it all (which he often doesn’t), she gets to pick off the leftovers, but will only do so when given permission.

On the one hand, knitting has comforted me the past few days, but I have definitely been distracted.  The simple little sleeve on the second Tulip Cardigan has been frogged at least four times!  So, I thought I would entertain you with a picture of the tangle of ends waiting to be woven in.

The worst of our road construction is coming to an end.  All the grading is finished and the main roadway is paved.  All that is left is the shoulder work, sidewalks and then a finish layer.  I’ve tried to take pictures that show the massive scope of this project, but it’s been impossible.  Here’s a picture of road down to bare dirt and an idea of how much they lowered the road in our area.  Further down it was lowered even more!

And the paving:

Through it all the workers have been incredibly helpful and gracious, making accommodations for us and allowing us through barriers to get in and out of our driveway.  It was great fun watching the huge machines as they graded and pounded and made the ground rumble.  But we will still be glad to see the end of them!

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers for Hester (shown here with her best bud, Kirby):

Her biopsy came back, and unfortunately the news could not be worse.  She has a rare aggressive form of cancer.  The vet said he could refer us to one of two specialists in the state for chemotherapy and probably amputation of her leg and shoulder.  However, the survival rate for dogs that are treated is not much greater than for those that are not.   Bill and I have decided that we cannot put her through that and will not treat it.   We will keep her on her current level of pain meds and when those no longer work, will end her suffering.  We are devastated.  Hester is only 3 years old and truly the sweetest dog we have ever had.   The good news is that so far she seems unaffected by it all.  The biopsy site is healing nicely and she doesn’t seem to be in any pain at all.  She’s eating well and still chasing Kirby around the house.  It’s hard to take in that she’s even sick.  We don’t know how much time we have left with her.  It may be as much as a year or two – we don’t know.  I just want to get past this overwhelming sadness so I can enjoy her while I can.  Too sad to write more.