Thank You to All; I'm going to Juneau!

Thank you to all for the well-wishes and Happy Birthday wishes! I don't feel any older today than I did yesterday!
DH and I are going to Juneau tomorrow morning to visit our son and his wife and take the -----! I will be home on Tuesday afternoon; be looking for pictures of the ----- next week. Maybe some shots of the glacier as well.
No real knitting news for now, although I am 2.5 inches down the cuff on sock #1 for my mom. I am ready to start the heel as these are going to be ankle socks. So the socks are going with me on the airplane. What else will I take? Oh, I know, more sock yarn. Oh, and the sockapal-2-za socks? I am working up courage to graft the toes. Maybe next week!

All about socks...

Janet's RAOK sock yarn!
This is the promised photo of the amazing new sock yarn that my sister sent. The colors are all mine, mine! It has some mohair content. I want to carry this around with me until I can knit it...I may have to take it to work with me just so I can look at it often.
Sockapal-2-za socks are all done except for the grafting of the toes and the weaving in of the yarn ends! I'm hoping the headache will be abated enough by tomorrow so I can manage the Kitchener toes...I had to start the socks for my mom, I was so sick of the rainbow socks. slap me.
Otherwise, I managed to give the dog a bath today and drive my sick neighbor to a doctor's appointment.
Oh, and I am handsewing the binding to the back of the -----. I can't say or show a picture until the recipients have the item. It is beautiful, I'm so excited with it!

Thank you, Jackie, for the neat card!

RAOK today
This came in the mail today--how sweet, Thank you Jackie!

...from a paper artist!
Jackie made this lovely card filled with good wishes!

I've been holding out...

The Mother's Day Yarn
Click for a closer view. This is absolutely gorgeous soft, 50% merino, 50% silk yarn, hand made in Sitka, Alaska, from my DDIL and DS. I have a Fiber Trends leaf shawl pattern that should be perfect in this yarn; I have the needles; I am itching to try...but I started on the socks!

Read This!

Read this!
Clicking should make this readable. This is the story about the color of this yarn!

Ok, More Sock News

Socks (not sox) for Mom
How could I not start these? I'm very sorry to have to reveal my mom's secrets, but here goes. She's 86. She just bought fuschia colored shoes from Land's End and she tells me that these shoes (and I quote) "could accommodate such socks". She is referring to a previous statement: ..."I'd be glad to have a pair sometime". She stipulated that she would prefer cotton, so this seemed perfect, delicate pinks, light blue and lavender. Looks like baby yarn, but I think it should *match* fuschia shoes! What do ya think?? (oh, I forgot to say that this communication was via e-mail. yep.)

Ane the winner is: Pammi!

Pammi was the first to bite the hook, so to speak and ask for the yarn. She wants to make some coin purses and cell phone holders for some teens in her church. Thanks to all the RAOKers who wrote...I do want to apologize for this not being random, but some of the stuff I have is best passed along to someone who truely wants it!
Visit Pammi at her site and take a look, wish her well. Hopefully she will send me some photos when she finishes her projects! The yarn will go out tomorrow.
Knitting News: he he. sock 1 just needs to be kitchenered. Sock 2's toe is being worked on and will be ready for grafting tomorrow. Then Alison can put me in the finished column! Pictures then. Also of the mystery marvelous yarn from Janet! Today is a lazy, lay around, tired, headache day. Tomorrow will be better, but it's nice to do nothing and just relax.
(Glad you're back, Laura, and thanks for the encouraging words!)

Say Hello to my new friend

Feel the love!
Isn't this cute?? This was one of the many little gifties sent by my sis. She's sitting next to the computer to remind me of the many blessings in my life!

My first!

ooooh, Cascade Fixation
Thanks Janet, for introducing me to Cascade Fixation! The latest sock yarn! This yarn is wonderfully stretchy and there are almost endless possibilities. Life is hard these days, as my sock yarn is keeping me up at night. As the yarn stash builds, the spell gets more powerful. Gotta get those sockapal socks off the needles or I may go nuts thinking about the next socks...I intend to be able to report a FO soon. I have hope!
Tomorrow: Stay tuned for the latest, most amazing sock yarn. The photos I took today are too dark. Promise to try in the sun tomorrow. This stuff is exquisite.
Please scroll down and take a look at the yarn that needs to be claimed!

Fiber RAOKers, take a look!

Needlepoint and Crewel Wool
This is 9 hanks of 100% wool needlepoint and crewel yarn. Look at the label pictures below. Each hank is 40 yards and if you are doing crewel work (I don't know about needlepoint) you would separate the plys (it's 3 ply) and work with a single ply. It seems to be fairly loosely plied but I bet you could knit socks if you knit tightly. The color is #55 by Bucilla, and it's a very lovely blue shade. This yarn has been in a stash for a long time, but is in perfect condition. Any takers?? You have to send me your blog address, your email address and eventually a picture of what you used the yarn for. I know there is someone out there who would love this yarn!

another shot

close-up of label 

Seriously ROAKed and BENIGN!

Flower Surprise!
Thank you, everyone for your well-wishes! The pathology on the biopsy indicated a benign fibroadenoma. Relief floods me. Thank you, God! I have much empathy for anyone having to go through this process...it is draining.
These were on my porch when I came home from work today (I only worked a half-day). This was a beautiful expression of caring from my co-workers! It's so nice to have supportive people around me! Thank you so much.
AND, another major ROAK from my sister: a box of goodies in true "secret pal" style. I have only begun to open the little gifties. I plan to savor the experience over the next couple days! One of the surprises was a 3 CD set on managing stress and I am looking forward to listening and taking note! Lovely soft sockies, a chubby notebook and smiley faced sticky notes are what I've managed to open and enjoy so far. Thank you Janet! I Love You! and I will post photos this weekend.
Knitting News: None. Ha. Well, I am working on the everpresentneverending sockapal-2-za socks. These seem to be another episode of evidence for the recently discovered "black holes of knitting". I knit and knit and knit somemore and they don't get any longer. I fully realize that they will probably be ripe one morning over the weekend, and I will gladly (I tell you GLADLY) decrease and Kitchener the daylights out of their miserable little toes. (Oh, sorry, mom.) I am majorly interested in *moving on*. In many ways.
I have yet to show you a picture of the yarn I got for mother's day. Hmm...over the weekend.

"Please wash me"

Hello Whitney! See the bell? She's wearing the new secret pal collar!
Whitney says she needs a bath. How does one little house dog get so grubby? I think she likes her new collar that has a bell. Now she's ready to hike in the woods and scare the local bears!

The socks go on and on and on....

Sock Progress
Here they are yet again. I'm bummed because I believe I am a verrrry sllloooowwww knitter. 'Course these are on 2.25 (US#1) needles and I knit tightly, but even so, I am humiliated to still be posting progress pictures on these. I want them to be done. My mom wants me to knit her some anklets and yesterday I got some cute white and pink cotton sock yarn. Wanna see? Yep, as soon as these are fini!
I have joined the ROAK ring! yes! thank you to everyone that made that happen. I will be working on getting the ring code and button on the site, but I don't know how to do it yet...
I also started an on-line course today, subject "The Internet". Should be fun and interesting.
Please stay tuned. I am going back to work tomorrow. Still awaiting results. I will let all of you know when I finally get the news. Thanks so much for the positive thoughts and prayers.

Biopsy over, the wait begins

Thanks for the good wishes. I had the biopsy this afternoon and even though I felt pretty anxious, it was a very *easy* procedure. It was done using ultrasound guidance and core samples were taken of the mass. The lidocaine was effective, so there was minimal discomfort. The radiologist doing the procedure was one I had worked with, so it was nice to chat and he told lots of jokes. Hmmm. I wonder if a woman doing a biopsy of male parts would have the joviality to tell jokes? Anyway, I, myself, prefer the "light notes". Now the waiting. To all the millions of women out there who have gone through this or will go through this, kudos to you.
I get to take a "mental health day" off work tomorrow, so I will be knitting, and promise to post some pictures...
I am still exclusively knitting for sockapal-2-za, and maybe feel the need to work on something else for diversion. Thanks for listening!

Dr. Susan Love's ______ Book, 3rd ed. 

Weekend Reading

I spent some time this past weekend reading the book pictured above. (Trouble today getting blogspot to post properly...) I debated about whether to post about this, but I decided that there might be others out there who are "going through" the same thing. This book is an excellent resource for all things realated to the _____. (I am using caution with certain words, as I don't want my blog to be found through deviant google searches. I'm a nurse; I'm not hesitant to use proper terminology, it's just that this is a Knitting Blog!)
Something suspicious was found on my imaging studies last week, and tomorrow I will have the core biopsies done. The hard part will be waiting for 3-5 days until pathology reports become available. Positive thoughts are in order. Prayers are welcome.
I just wanted to recommend this book. It has now been through 3 editions and is the "_____ Bible". The problem I have is that I am a nurse, and up until a year ago I was an oncology nurse and I also worked with a ______ Cancer Support Group. I know enough to scare myself!
Since I started this, I will end it also. I promise to keep the (very) few of you who read this blog posted, for those who are interested.

Sock Pictures and decisions

Sock two: down the instep
Here's the second sock. Here's the story: I came to a decision a week ago that I haven't written about yet. In my last sock post I was contemplating frogging sock #1 (below). During "knit night" last week, I had the chance to have a very experienced (and calm) knitter look at the socks and comment on them. Actually, I brought the socks hoping she would kindly frog them for me (I was feeling fragile). She offered me chocolate and a listening ear. Wow. She had vast experience with "handpaints" and gave me a hefty dose of reality and reason. She made statements referring to "the beauty of handpainted yarns" and that they often do what they *want to*. She actually liked the sock I wanted to frog better than the one I was ok with. It's good to get another perspective. Soooo I decided to proceed and skip the re-do. These socks are just so different from what I imagined, and in an odd way they are "growing on me". I would wear them, so if my sockapal-2-za pal doesn't like them, I hope she will be kind enough to send them back! As soon as these are finished, I will start a pair that are more "tame", something that can do a stand in act in case these don't end up being loved.

I'm working down the instep on this one, and almost finished the heel flap on the other sock (below). So relaxing, and since I am easily amused, I enjoy seeing how the colors decide to place themselves as I knit. A more intelligent knitter would be bored, as the colors are quite predictable. And the pooling: wow, it's *interesting* to watch a yellow stripe develop and wind its way around the sock. Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in rainbow on US #1s.

Sock one with heel flap
Look how the heel flap striping is totally unexpected from the pooling in the calf. The instep will display another interesting (to me) morphing and blending of colors.

More socks to come...

Here's what I got yesterday!
I'm mad at Barnes and Noble. I was there a week ago looking for this magazine, and they didn't have it. Same thing last night. It was not among the craft magazines in the usual place. Couldn't believe it. Then I happened to look along an adjacent wall and there it was, in a place of honor, with "reader's favorites"! And more copies than could possibly have fit in the rack where it normally lives. Guess the knitters have spoken! So I guess I'm not really mad; but it probably was there last week. They tricked me.
Now, the socks in the book. I am interested in Friday Harbor. But the charts! Can I do the charts??? Perhaps a swatch would be in order. Novel thought...

The Teddy Bear Picnic

My Second Bear Sweater

Saturday was the Knitters of the North (Knitting Guild) Teddy Bear Picnic. I though it would be an outdoor event, but because the mosquitos were hungry, the picnic was held inside. Such a fun event! We even had local TV news coverage; below you'll see a picture of one of the news crews interviewing our spokesperson, Catherine. The bear sweaters are headed for the police/fire department's "Buddy Bear" program. They are given out in situations where children are either victims of a crime or trauma or they are involved in a difficult situation that is eased by the presence of a bear "friend". All together we presented about 45 bears, all with handknitted sweaters to the law enforcement organizations. What a success! We had 5 fire department guys stop by, but I was not able to get a photo: they could only stay for a few minutes because of being called to a "code yellow"! Yikes! We all wished that they could have been present for the TV interviews. but the TV news teams (from two different local stations) did a great job with the story: the reporting was accurate and the guild received very positive publicity. We had a good time!

The Bears Socialize 

Teddy Bear "Picnic" 

Awww! Cute!

Baby Quilt
Here's the baby quilt I finished this weekend. I'm not that great at the actual quilting, but I made it to the bitter end with this one. I had to finish hand sewing the binding on the way to the shower, but it got finished. Click for a closer view. I hope the new baby will enjoy it, or at least mom hangs it on a wall!

The Secret Pal Gifts Arrive!

Oh my! Look at that bag!!!
I have a story to tell. The other day I got an email from my secret pal telling me that she had sent a package. Then an email telling me that there was a hold-up on the "shipment" in customs! Customs! Now, when I posted about my felted mittens, my secret pal said she lived in a warm climate and did not know what mittens were used for. (That's me taking some liberty with what she actually said.) But nevertheless, I learned that she lived in a land far away. Talk about interesting, and this was just after Rox posted about secret pals and world peace! So now I *know* where my secret pal lives....(that part is hard unless you have secret pal packages drop shipped from some other location than your home town!) I am going to spill the beans: she lives in Malaysia. Wow. Here's to you, and to all the secret pals out there that are challenged by international shipping! Bravo and Kudos!
Now back to my package. Please, please, take the time to click on the picture to better appreciate the cables in the marvelously lovely knitted gift bag! It is soft and lavender and perfectly knitted and a work of love. It has a soft and unique furry cuff at the top. Now, the customs officials did open the package, but I do not think they took anything. (Here's where I am very glad that they are obviously *not* knitters.) They must have appreciated the love and thoughtfulness that was devoted to this sweet package traveling around the world! It even included a gift for Whitney--the cutest collar! She is very lazy today, laying here amid my quilt fabric stash, snoring loudly. She will definitely model the collar, at least in the next few days...The two balls of yarn pictured say "Cashmere Lamb's Wool" on the label. It is luxurious, a beautiful rosy-burgandy color...Oh, thank you, secret pal! It will be medicine for the hands to knit with this yarn...the label is in Japanese or Chinese (please forgive me) characters, so I don't know too much about the yarn, except that it will make something lovely. Can you see the chibi?? And the thread cutter? These will come in very handy to tote in my knitting bag, especially with the airline scissor problems! Look at the darling origami doll! Amazing! I got a set of origami papers: a kit to make something lovely. It has pictured directions which will come in handy! Thank you secret pal, you waaaay outdid yourself! I can hardly wait to meet you on your blog! I have lots of questions!

And This, Double time wowee!
Unbelievalbe. This arrived at the same time! Lorna's Laces: 2 hanks in Amethyst Stripe. Beautiful! My secret pal said that sock yarn was hard to come by where she was living...and no wonder. Do people in the south Pacific even wear socks? Whenever we travel to warm climates, we wear sandals. Hmm. This was sent from my secret pal via Sue at Little Knits. I have not checked out this site yet, but she said her yarn is on sale. Thank you secret pal! You have gone way above and beyond the call of secret pal fun making! You know I love Lorna's Laces and purpley colors! I have sooo many socks I want to make, and so many different patterns I want to try. (I am definately at the SABLE critical point.)
Off work today because I don't feel good...So this was a very bright spot after another doctor visit yesterday!

Oh yes, don't forget to take a close look at the cutie heart beaded bracelet! Love the stretch and I will wear it to work tomorrow! Thank you!

Sock News. Frightening.

Cousins??

This is so hard. I think I will bid a fond fairwell to
sock #1 (actually the one on the right). The one I
introduced last week. I have worked with this guy. I frogged (because of a mistake that I couldn't overlook). I have spoken nicely and severly. I have thought both good and bad thoughts. This sock won't behave. I even moved the yarn and continued on in a different sequence. I don't know my sock pal well enough to know if she is into "strange and funky" socks. I'm kinda mad because I kinda want to just go on with it and if they are too funky, I could keep them for myself and start again with a less behaviorly challenged yarn for my sock pal. (I am a product knitter.) Thanks, Alison. It's too far gone to be a gauge thing, I think. The one on the left (the second sock I started) is much more "normal" and behaving like a perfect child. I even like it better, much better. The trick is exactly how to start again in the same place in the color sequence. It's a very good thing that I have a couple more months to get this "better" (notice, I did not say "right"). I still enjoy the LL yarn, but until I figure this out, I am sticking with a yarn that is more well-behaved color-wise!

Flip Side...still very strange

Tame Knitting

100% Cotton Chenille from Crystal Palace

There's more on the needles, but I am only admitting to this one today. It's just a washcloth. New knitters be comforted. I am one, and soft washcloths still are "fun". Dishcloths too. This yarn was for the flower facecloth pattern, but it's going to be a plain basketweave facecloth so I can test the yarn for absorbency. It's a scientific experiment. Hmm. Maybe I could get some funding, a grant perhaps, to conduct knitting experiments.
I suppose this is "comfort knitting" when the sockbehaviouly-challengedmisbehaving knitting gets to be too much.