Sangria Shawl update

Well, I finished Chart D of my latest KAL just a little while ago.  Then I wet it down good and finger blocked it for a picture, set a fan on it and now I am working on the last knitting chart of the shawl.  I am trying to use up most of the skein of yarn without running out.  Made a few changes from the 1st one I made of it.  Like I forgot 1 repeat of Chart A, I believe it was.  So I made an extra repeat of Chart B.  Now on Chart D, the designer said she stopped on row 154, while I went on to row 164 for the complete chart.  But I put in a life line on row 154 in case I run out of yarn & need to go back so that I have enough for Chart E and the bind off.  I really hope I have enough yarn to do the crocheted bind off again.  I love the way the points zig zag along the edge!

So I have 14 rows to knit before I am ready to try the bind off.  I think I may put in another life line about 2 rows from the end so that if I have to go back to start the bind off again and I don't want to go all the way back to row 154 to start again, then I only chance losing 2 rows of knitting while backing up to do a normal stretchy bind off.

Right now, as I write this, it is thundering outside and my male pom - Fred, is sitting beside my feet!  In fact, his chin is on my foot.  He hates storms - if he is indoors, but doesn't really mind them if he is outside.  So I think it is because he can't see what is happening when he is inside.

Have fun & Happy Crafting until the next time!

Amish in the City series

Yes, I know this series went off the air many years ago - like about 8, I think.  But I still would love to watch it!  I have done many searches online for a download of the series and I have found some - apparently put up originally by someone named FrankenSmith.  And these downloads are fine until you get to episode 6 through 9 and then they all stop about 1/3 the way through and the rest cannot be played,  It seems that finding a torrent to download with utorrent for instance, if supposed to be easier for getting them, but I can't seem to find any that aren't labeled this this person's name & 2 downloads have both resulted in the episodes stopping in the same place.  So I know it can't be that I am not getting a good download, it seems something went bad with the upload.

I found a yahoo group dedicated to this series, but it seems to have been inactive since 2010.  There were at least 2 people on that group who offered to make copies of their tapes or DVD's, but I have had no response from 1 of them and the other email seems to be inactive now.  By any chance, does anyone reading this know of a way that I can get these last 4 episodes to watch?  I haven't even found a way to watch them online, although I would prefer to have the download.  At this point, I feel that I am in the middle of a book & the last pages are blank!

I hope someone can either help me out by getting a copy or can tell me where to go to get good copies.

Have fun & Happy Crafting until the next time!

Knitting update, hair cut & weekend with C

As I am typing this, we have the Muppets Take Manhattan DVD in the player.  C. is watching several movies this weekend as we are having our time together!  I think the kids like to come just because it makes them feel special to visit by themselves, but also because they can do pretty much as their please.  As she put it earlier - when she is here, she doesn't have to even act her age, she can watch cartoons or whatever!

I had dough on rising to make pizza for dinner.  It is now cool enough to actually use the oven again.  I have some pepperoni and some Italian Sausage to put on it.

I finished Chart C of my Earthen Ruins Sangria shawl this past Monday.  I am now about 1/3 the way into Chart D.  I also did some knitting on a pair of socks for the oldest granddaughter.  I will get some more knitting done on those on Monday and then again on Friday.  Monday is about a 2 hour tennis meet for the oldest granddaughter and then Friday is an all day tournament.  So probably will take 2 projects with me, just in case I finish 1 pair.

This past Wednesday I had a hair appointment at the local beauty school & I am sure regretting it right now!  For the 1st time ever, I had a man as a hairdresser and he messed up royally!

 I asked for this:

 I got this:











And it has way short spots as well as way longer spots.  This really upsets me since not only did the owner of the beauty school check it over himself, but next weekend is my 35th high school reunion!  I am making sure I take my vitamins each day so that if anything can help it grow just enough to maybe add a bit of curl to the ends or something, that I can.  In the meantime, I feel like just staying in my house & going no where!  Even hoping no one calls for a job interview until it has a chance to not look like it's a man's haircut.

Have fun & Happy Crafting until the next time!

Old Blog

Well, I haven't yet decided to remove my old blog, but I did copy the old posts that I wanted to keep to this blog.  I changed named to initials to protect the innocent or guilty., as the case may be.  I even kept comments from those posts.  But there could be links that don't work.  I did find a post from the fall of 2010 that there was a comment from Caffeine Girl that I really apologize for missing & not getting answered!  I don't know if she will see this or not though since it seems that her blog is no longer active.  In fact, it doesn't even come up anymore.  I found Caffiene Girl after I posted about her blog not being active anymore.

I have about 4 more rows to finish before I will have finished Chart C of Earthen Ruins Sangria shawl.  Maybe I can still get that done tonight.

I finally found all of the Amish in the City videos - took me forever to download them & may result in a huge internet bill next month, but I have them.  Now I am just looking for a way to download the 2002 Devils Playground.  I did watch it, but haven't found a version that I can download to keep.

Tomorrow afternoon our oldest granddaughter has a tennis match that I will go to watch.  Last time my oldest mentioned me bringing 1 of my canopies & that they would help me set it up.  For sun protection.  Not sure if it is really fesible or not since the last time she played on several different courts, so we would have to dragging it around a lot if she did this time again.  I have though about maybe taking some plastic ties & my umbrellas & maybe we could attach an umbrella to the back of each folding chair with them for some sun protection.  Will have to decide before about 2 pm tomorrow.

Have fun & Happy Crafting until the next time!

What's New......... - originally posted 11/10/10 - last post on old blog

Well, since I last posted I have completed my last days at my former job. The last day was kind of hard. The office manager had gone to visit her oldest daughter & granddaughter in SC and so I spent my last 4 days there in the main office by myself. The last day, every time I did something, it would cross my mind that this was the last time I would do this task. But I made it through and have been unemployed since leaving work at 5 pm on October 29th.

I have applied for unemployment and if I am doing it right, I expect to see something next week. Through this week it is saying that nothing has been processed, but I think that is because there is a 1 week waiting period & last week, which I applied for on Sunday of this week, was my 1st week of being unemployed. I don't know for sure, it's extremely hard to get through by phone and I have never applied for unemployment before!

I have also emailed my resume & letter of recommendation to several companies for consideration. I told the temp agency that they could submit my resume for 2-3 companies in addition to the ones that they submitted it to prior to my last day at my previous job.

I have been doing more cooking than I had been prior, mostly because now I am at home during the day, so even when D works evenings, I can cook before he heads to work. This is something I haven't done a lot in the last 5 years - mostly because I hate to cook for 1 or 2, but I am not miding having left-overs right now. D also has been kind of picky about what he would or wouldn't eat for a while, checking everything to make sure it didn't have hydrogenated stuff in it & so on. But he seems to right now at least, not be being so picky about things.

I also have done some more knitting, crocheting & just plain resting up a bit. I have even turned off the alarm. Am still waking up about 7-8 am, was 5-6 before, so not sleeping in too badly. I have had to fight with myself some to keep from staying up quite so late at night. My more natural inclination is to stay up until about 4-5 am, then sleep in until at least about 10 am.

I took my sister out for her 47th birthday on November 4, made her a cake (wanted to make it look like siamese cat, but after giving it to her & the looking at the pictures I took I realized that I forgot to trim the bottom of 1 ear with black icing) & gave her a crocheted scarf as a gift. I am going to be going out to brunch this coming Saturday with 2, maybe 3 women I went to school with from grade school. We have all reconnected on Facebook (at least 3 of us have, the other is not on FB, but I keep running into her around town, so trying to get her to join us, but she doesn't have a phone) and have decided to get together. It's been 33+ years since we all graduated high school. I remember the one being in class with me in 10th grade, but she left to have a baby. The other I don't remember seeing her at all in high school and she says she doesn't remember either me or J from high school. That is kind of what happens when you combine about 8 grade schools into 3 junior highs, then all into 1 high school of about 1500 people total for 3 grades.

I have had 2 of the granddaughters for their visits with me. The oldest wanted to go to Wichita to the Museum of World Treasures and wanted to invite my youngest to go with us there. We ended up getting in on an "opening" of a redone exhibit. The youngest decided she wanted to go to the movies to see MegaMind and to the Kansas Cosmosphere to go through the museum. I ended up losing a knitting needle somewhere between an Apollo 13 exhibit & going through Wal-mart, so guess it was a good thing I had also tucked in some more yarn & needles just in case. I was able to start a scarf for the youngest during the movie. I got home and was able to transfer the 1st scarf to another set of needles, so have finished it now, except for double checking sizing as soon as I see the kids again. I have decided that at the moment, at least until unemployment kicks in, my time is more plentiful than money, so I will try to use stash yarn & make things for the kids for Christmas this year. Maybe will make a meal or 2 for our adult kids as our gift to them.

I saw a picture of a scarf online that the designer was selling the pattern. But I could tell by looking at the scarf pretty much how she had done it. So I decided to try casting on & duplicating it for the most part. I added 1 more hole to the design on each side, then I decided to try adding a hood to it. The orange one is the 1st set that I have finished. The multi is made from yarn I had left from a project for the same granddaughter from about 5 years ago. She still likes the yarn. I decided to make hers a bit different since I now had a real feel for the design, so I turned every other one upside down & did it in reverse. I think she will like it! I have thought on & off for years about trying to add a hood to scarves so that they are all in one.

I also finished weaving in the ends on a baby blanket that I had done a few years ago. It is now being used by the latest new family member - my sister's newest grandson that was born October 18th.

Yesterday I started rearranging our bedroom. I need to move a few more things & then I think I may take the recliner in there as well as a corner desk. Set the desk up so that D can have his typewriter set up all the time (he refuses to learn to use a computer, but is always wanting to make copies of things to keep - just cannot convince him that things would be so much better if he had it on the computer) and the recliner will allow me to have a place to sit & crochet or read in the bedroom, if I want. Because of D's back, he prefers to lay down on the bed than to sit in the living room in the evenings anyway, so I could sit with him.

I have also done some knitting on another shawl for my mil, but I find it hard to work on in the evenings when the light is lower. So it isn't getting as much progress as the scarves are right now. I have 5 grandkids to get something done for, so that will take a bit of time.

I am also trying to figure out exactly how to add Ravelry Progress Bars to my blog of the projects that I have up on Ravelry. I seem to be missing something because I copy the api info & put it into the bigger box for the widget, but the only thing that shows up in my title for that section. Guess I am going to have to do more digging to get that set up.

Well, probably should get around & get something done for today! Hope you all are having a good week!

Crafts (mostly knitting - maybe all knitting) that I have been working on since I last mentioned any - originally posted 10/21/10

I have been doing a lot of knitting in recent months. Right now I also have several things on the needles & depending on my mood is what I do.

This is a sweater I have started for E. I am making it in a brown & a beige Hobby Lobby baby yarn. I started it in April & then it got too hot to really work on it - so will be back to it soon. I did most of the knitting on this while visiting my youngest brother in the hospital as he was being treated for a blood clot in his leg.






These are 2 pairs of socks that I made for my youngest brother who had a blood clot in his right calf just above the outer ankle in April. He is now handicapped, has a dropped foot on that side & since he has diabetes as well, he is a bit worried about keeping his foot dry between the toes. So these are a first attempt as socks to help him with that. I have discovered some things from them that I will change with his next pairs so that hopefully they will fit better next time. the socks on the left are made with Red Heart's Heart & Sole in Toasted Almond. The pair on the right are Deborah Norville's Serenity in Obsidian.


This is a pair of socks that I made for my oldest brother. The 2 brothers have birthdays 5 days apart in July, so since I had decided to give my youngest brother his 2 pairs, I decided I needed to make some for the other brother. I have a 2nd pair for him that are nearly finished, but I haven't gotten pictures of them yet. And since I haven't seen him, he also doesn't have them yet. I have to look to see what the color is, but I know it is Deborah Norville's Serenity again.



This is the crocheted afghan that I finished and gave to my oldest daughter & her new husband for their wedding July 31, 2010. The 4 circles kind of remind me of wedding rings, so I try to make it for weddings. It was actually finished in December 2009. This made with Red Heart's Super Saver in Ecru.









I had a chance to get in on a lace knit a long by Bad Cat Designs this summer, but had to wait until after the wedding to have time (I also made the cakes for the wedding). I used a sock yarn in merino wool. It is knit on a US #4 needle. I did most of the sample patterns in 1 week, but then the edging took a bit. My plan is to give it as a Christmas gift. This was my first experience at knitting a lace project. This is in Cascade Yarns Heritage Paints - a hand painted sock yarn.




These 3 pairs of socks are for me & had been on the needles for quite some time. I alternated between the 3 to give myself a break on the size of the knitting as well as the pattern that I was putting into the blue socks.

The blue pair is done in Paton's Stretch Sock in Mineral on 2.75mm needles.







This pair is done in Red Heart's Heart & Sole in Black Jack on 2.5mm needles. The pair for my brother that I haven't quite finished are in the same yarn.










This pair is done in Deborah Norville's Serenity in Saffron on 2.25mm needles.













Now for the wip's or works in progress (other than the
 pair of socks & the sweater). This is another shawl, but this time it is in lace weight yarn rather than sock yarn & it is to be for my mil who loves orange. But she also had dementia & so for 2 reasons I chose to do it in this yarn. First off, she doesn't really go much of anywhere, so doing this little triangle shawl rather than a long one should fit into her day better - can kind of be worn as a scarf. Also since I didn't pay near as much for the cone of yarn, besides the hours put into knitting it, it won't feel so bad if she were to lose it entirely. It is just some coned yarn that I got off eBay that is made from Mongolian Cashmere on US #4 needles.


This is the start of a baby blanket. I am not real happy with the pattern or the needles. So may change it. It's my pattern for a diamond background - trying to come back up with a similar pattern to one I used to have an afghan from. I had made a graph of the pattern before my computer crashed & I may have lost that pattern now. These needles feel a bit short on the needle portion, so are somewhat annoying to knit with. Don't know if I am going to be able to complete it without feeling too annoyed to do it. The needles are #7 Addi's, but for some reason the shafts are smaller than I am used to with my Addi's or maybe it is just that the needles are larger around so I notice it more. The yarn is Hobby Lobby's baby yarn.




And now the final one is a group of 4 pairs of socks that I am doing again for myself. On the left of the picture is a pair made in the same Red Heart's Heart & Sole in Toasted Almond that I used for my youngest brother. His kids are curious to see what a difference in size & in needle size can do to change the way the patten of the self-patterning yarn can make. Next to that is Deborah Norville's Serenity in Paprika. Next is Patons' Stretch Socks yarn in licorice - remaking the 1st pair I ever did since they turned out too fat around to be comfortable on my feet & too long. Last is SRK On Your Toes (Bamboo & Nylon) in Mardi Gras Multi.

The 1st 3 pair from left to right the toes are increased every 3rd row - will see how I like that. The last pair are increased every other row, which is the way I usually do it. But I might have to change this pair eventually since it seems to be coming out a bit larger than the others, but may not have as much stretch in it. So haven't decided yet.

Original comments:

comment:

1. 
   Caffeine GirlOctober 29, 2010 11:22 AM

   Wow you are amazingly productive. I am not!
   
   So sorry that your job is ending. How hard do you think it will be to find another?

It's been a while! - originally posted 10/8/10

I keep thinking about how I should write a post & then I never do. There are a lot of things that have gone on since my last post including some birthdays, a wedding, etc. The latest, which doesn't really supply an opportunity to post pictures is that this past Monday I was told that due to the hit the economy is taking on the company I work for, my official last day of employment is October 29, 2010.

This was quite a surprise in one way & not so much in another. Last May, I believe it was, I had been told the owners were going to move to SC to be closer to her daughter & granddaughter. The plan at that time was to have me continue to work for them & run the local office until they either sold the building the company is located in or decided to move it to SC or even possibly shut it down. I knew in the past that they had moved the company from AR, so was surprised to think they would, but it meant my employment with them was open-ended & could technically end at any time. But since they were talking trying to move between September & October for themselves, I thought there was a chance that I might have another year to work here before I had to start looking again.

Then in August, her son was found to have some cysts on/in his brain - at least that was the first idea. After testing, they decided they were tumors & it ended up they were skin cancer / melanoma in his brain. So she has taken off most of the last 1 1/2 to 2 months to be with him during the 3 surgeries, etc. Finally has been home about 2 weeks & Monday came in after I had gotten to work and didn't seem to be in a very good mood. So I just figured something had occurred over the weekend and it would work out. But when she handed me my paycheck, she told me they were going to have to let me go after this month. And that she has no idea what they are going to do. Business is so bad that they haven't even been buying/ordering more product to fill orders in what I would consider a timely manner to assure no products going on back order while the product is manufactured. So I knew things were getting bad.

So, at least this gives me a date to work with! I have checked & it seems I am right, I should be eligible for unemployment. I may not even have to worry about the wait week, especially if they were to close the company. And I am certainly being let go through no fault of my own. She is even going to write me a letter of recommendation. I also have reapplied & been accepted by the temp agency that placed me here. I filled out the application yesterday before work & had my interview today. They said that since I am now in the computer I could get calls offering me jobs before November 1, but that starting the last week of this month, I need to start checking in each week.

After being told they were moving, I started making a mental pros & cons list - the cons of getting a new job aren't all that big. There are a few things I have learned that I would prefer not to repeat from working in a small office that is almost all family. Some is just from it being a small office. I kind of like the relaxed atmosphere, but at least here it has meant that nothing much is in writing, so I would love to see vacations & holidays all spelled out so that I know what to expect & not find out on Friday that I have or do not have Monday off, for instance. I also wouldn't mind having the option of having personal days. Here I have pretty much been able to take off & still get paid, if I needed to. But having it in writing I think would make it easier to feel comfortable in asking for it.

A part of me won't be too terribly hurt if no jobs are available until January 1 - as long as I do qualify for unemployment! I do still have a car payment, etc. after all!

Original comments:

2 comments:

1. 
   Mamma has spokenOctober 8, 2010 1:23 PM

   I can't think of any reason why you wouldn't qualify for unemployment. The only reason you wouldn't is if you quit or had a bad job performance review. Thing to keep in mind though, you only get a percentage of your pay. Makes it hard when you are use to having the one set amount in your paycheck.

   
   I say look at it as a nice paid vacation. A time to do some of the things you always wanted to get done around the house but never had the time to do. I know it's been great having hubby home these past 4 months. He now has a new job, starts next week and I'm already missing him doing the house work...

   
   
2. 
   Cindy/KSOctober 8, 2010 2:20 PM

   I know I should qualify, but I think I am afraid to count on it until I actually have the word that I do. I know they pay it, I also know that I looked online & it seems that as long as my being let go is through no fault of my own (can you tell I have never collected on it & neither has D?). They even talk about how the 1 week waiting period can be eliminated if the company files for bankruptcy. So who knows on that - I know I have been told they do not know what they will do or what will happen in the future.
   
   I figure I am not going to get into too big of a hurry to accept the first thing that comes along, unless it starts dragging out. And I have plenty I want to try to do at the house. And since I haven't had a vacation since A & I cruised to the Bahamas, I am ready for one.
   
   The pay may not be that much different than a lower wage I will probably be offered from the sounds of it, my type jobs they told me today will probably start at about 2/3 what I am making right now & then if it changes into permanent employment, there could be a pay increase. Part of that is because the company is paying the temp agency about 1.5 times what the temp agency pays you. But for clerical work, I have been told that it is rare to find a job without going through the temp agency. And I think it is less stressful. When I came here, I had been without a job for a month - if it were to repeat itself, I might just have a job about the time it ends here or if it is about a month after I start interviewing, that isn't too bad either - at least if there is the unemployment there as well.
   
   

Grandson's 12th birthday party - originally posted 5/24/10

Well, yesterday we went to our grandson's 12th birthday party. He was in trouble with his mom & at school, so his party at Sport's World got canceled, but she had a family party at home for him.

It was a very humid couple of days, so my cake wasn't quite the same by the time we got it there & opened the box. But he liked it & that is what counts. He did call me yesterday wanting me to add the words All Stars to it, but I told him that the icing was gone & there was no room to add anything to it. So he was OK with that.

His soon to be step-dad saw some silly string at the dollar store, so got a can for each of the other kids that were to be there, then he kind of tricked our grandson into going outside so that the other kids could get him with it.

He loves Bionicles and at Christmas we wouldn't get him one, even though he wanted one, because he was using a tone with his granddad that was inappropriate & telling his granddad that he didn't care for him, etc. because he wouldn't get him the toy. So I had taken him to get a small toy to finish out his Christmas gift & refused to even let him get a legos toy - he tried to argue with me that it wasn't almost the same, but I held firm. So he was very surprised to get his Bionicles toy yesterday. I told him afterwards that by him not begging for it & getting all upset, etc. that meant he got it. I hope he learns the lesson that this should teach him.

They had blown up balloons to have to decorate the house with, so after pizza, cake & ice cream one of the kids had started bouncing a balloon around that then became almost a game of keep away with multiple balloons & nearly everyone participating. So everyone got some exercise from that 1 little pack of balloons.

We left to come home about 6 & brought the 2 soon to be granddaughters with us to exchange with their mom. Then it was home to finish up things I needed to get done before the weekend was over, then to bed & so, on so that I could head to work today. D still had today off as his 2nd day & then he goes back to days tomorrow for 2 day shifts.

We snuck away for just a bit from the party to go see the place the wedding will be held in 2 months. There is a gazebo on the grounds of the building where the reception will be, so they are going to hold the wedding there - an evening wedding so that it won't be quite so hot. There is a bench built in to the gazebo, so those who can't stand as long - like grandparents, will be able to sit. It's a beautiful place - I should have gotten a picture of it, but had left my camera in the van.

Original comments:

4 comments:

1. 
   Eternally DistractedJune 6, 2010 3:19 AM

   looks like your grandson had a good day and well done you for standing your ground on the presents, I am sure he will be more likely to learn that way.

   
   
2. 
   Cindy/KSJune 7, 2010 7:09 PM

   Thanks! I think he was really thrilled. I know he was disappointed at Christmas because he says the bionicles have been discontinued. But the grandkids try to play my dh & I against each other when it comes to gifts. They will try to tell my dh that he hasn't gotten them anything, even though as far as I am concerned - we got them a gift jointly. I think part of this could come from their dad's parents being divorced, so they get a gift from their grandmother on that side & their grandfather. But that doesn't mean they should get 2 gifts from us.
   
   (Trying to see if this will work - I did see a glimpse of the posts that were missing!)

   
   
3. 
   JoansieAugust 12, 2010 6:22 PM

   Really nice cake! I used to do cake decorating so I can appreciate the hard work/love involved. I tried to respond to your comment on my blog but couldn't find an e-mail addi...none attached to the e-mail, nor one on your blog.

   
   
4. 
   Cindy/KSAugust 13, 2010 9:10 AM

   Thanks Joansie! I have more pictures to get up of cakes, knitting, wedding etc. So really need to update here. I'll contact you privately with the email. Think I saw your request for it as it was publishing yesterday.

T's Birthday Cake - originally posted 5/21/10

This past week 2 of the grandkids have had birthdays. T turned 12 last Saturday and C turned 8 on Wednesday.

Mom is having a bit of a time coordinating the parties for them though. T's is to be this weekend, but he got himself into trouble at school by not doing his math homework & then lying about it - so the trip to Sports World is off. I think he will now just have a family party on Sunday so that Grandpa & his soon to be step-dad will both be able to be there.

Then he is to leave next weekend for a 3 week camping trip to AZ with his grandpa from the other side of the family. An aunt from that side wants to take his next younger sister to Seattle with her for the summer - details are still being worked out on that one. But that also means either C has her party while T is gone, but A can be here. Or she waits until T is back, but A is probably gone. Or the idea I suggested, which I think is being considered, is to wait until the end of the summer when A is back, then have the party.

In the middle there, their mom & soon to be step-dad are to get married. I have no idea if A goes, if she will be here for that - I haven't even asked yet!

In the meantime, I finished T's cake last night & so I don't have to worry about it while having A for the weekend starting tonight. I will pick her up shortly after work, take her & probably B out to dinner & then after we drop By off, we will head back to town & maybe have a bit of a slumber party before going to bed. Then we will see what she is wanting to do tomorrow. I am going to sit the kids down tonight to explain to them that we will need to try to be conservative for a few months or even a year until I know what the job situation is going to be. That may also have an effect on the choice she makes for tomorrow. Sunday we will get up & try to be over for the party about noon, I think. Then Sunday evening will be my own somewhat - D's days off are Sunday & Monday so it will depend on what his ideas also are.

Change - originally posted 5/18/10

Well, when I posted earlier I certainly didn't think my post today would be what it is! This afternoon I found that I will be looking for another job within the next several months.

The dh of the couple I work for hasn't been feeling well. So he came downstairs a short time before we were to close & was talking about going home. Next thing I knew I was being asked how I would like to run the office by myself. Thinking they were going to be taking the vacation they had talked about - including wanting to go back to visit in Australia - where he is from, I said yes & started asking if they were going to take a vacation. They told me that they would be going to SC - to live! They put their house here on the market last night, already have someone wanting to look at it & they hope to have it sold by about August. They had a realtor in last week, I believe it was, to talk about putting the office building on the market. They say that business being slow right now means they have been losing money. They are going to discontinue the MLM side of the business & just sell the products. I will be in charge of putting in orders, packing & shipping them. Pretty much like I do now. Sounds like they don't really think the office building will sell - or at least not any time soon considering that it was on the market for years before they bought it. Until it does, or until they decide to move the company out of state, then I have a job. A job that pays me probably more than I could make anywhere here. The bad news of all this is that since they pay for the previous week the following Monday, when that time comes, I will have 1 paycheck coming period! Good news is that I should be able to get unemployment this time while I am looking for work! Good news also is that I have 5 years experience now in an office that I didn't have before.

So I am going to tighten the belt, either try to pay off my van in the next few months or at least pay it far enough ahead that I could be good while I am looking for work. Good part of this is that I should be able to within 2-3 years from now, have more than a 1 week vacation each year. I won't get paid for days that I do have something come up though, unless I have personal days at my next job. I also can probably look forward to having a regular list of holidays that I have off, unlike right now where we don't really know until the last minute if we will have a holiday off or not. Not so certain I will like giving up the 9-5 with not having to take a lunch break though! Will be giving up a lot of freedom most likely that I have had with this job. And probably will end up with a pay cut.

So, in the meantime, I am considering an adult beverage & some relaxing with my knitting!

A lot happening - originally posted 4/25/10

My last post was done a few hours before I got word that my youngest brother was being taken from one hospital to another because of a blood clot about 5 fingers above his right outer ankle. So things have been a bit busy since then.

He had 4 1/2 hours of surgery that same night for it, got very upset with his wife/so the next morning when she wouldn't give him something to drink or eat (he was still on nothing by mouth), so he told her they were finished. She told the nurses she was leaving his room since her being there & not giving him something was agitating him. She found a couple of chairs & went to sleep. Later that morning (Thursday the 8th now), I got a text from his 20 yo daughter that the dr wanted to do more surgery, said he hadn't gotten it all, but my brother wouldn't even consider it until he saw his wife. I couldn't get her on the phone - didn't realize she had my brother's cell phone & she had changed #'s & I didn't know it - so was sending texts to the wrong # for her. Finally, my boss said leave, so I left & drove the 75 miles there. Was able to calm him down some by touching his arm, talking to him, etc. He very much wanted a cigarette - was a 3-4 pack a day smoker - was refusing the patch to help him with the cravings - I even told him I would stick it where he couldn't reach it, if they would give it to me. But he never agreed to it. He was in ICU from Thursday morning until Friday, then in a normal room until Monday.

Before I left on Thursday night, he told me if I left, I didn't love him. I told him if he didn't take the patch, he didn't love me! He also told his daughter - after she found a ride to get there, that if she went to work the next day, Friday, that she didn't love him either. I told him he was definitely being the spoiled youngest brother!

I went to work on Friday, then drove up Friday night to see him. Came home, Saturday about noon, I left to drive up again. On Thursday I had sent a text to my sister & oldest brother asking if they would like to ride up with me on Thursday evening, if he were allowed visitors. They both had turned me down. My sister was moving. So when I left about noon Thursday, I didn't even ask if they wanted to ride with me - figured if they couldn't ride up in the evening, why would I think they could a few hours earlier. On Saturday was told by my oldest brother that he would have riden with me - don't know what had happened to the helping my sister move that would have allowed him to be free. But anyway, the 2 of them & their s/o & her 2 youngest children drove up on Saturday - only stayed about 30 minutes before saying they had to leave to find a motel.

Sunday I stayed home to do all our taxes. Got a call Sunday morning from my oldest brother asking if the youngest was still in the hospital - said as far as I knew although there had been some talk of a possible dismissal, if he walked at least with a walker (the foot was still cold, a lump had developed higher on the leg that was painful, but the warmth seemed to gradually be moving down into the foot) - which he didn't do until Monday. So he was held until Monday after he walked. I understand the sister & oldest brother did go back for about another hour on Sunday.

Monday I got a call that he was on his way home & wanted me to come up & spend the night. I told him I did have to work on Tuesday, so he said Tuesday night (I also was still really tired on Monday). I suggested that I wait until the weekend when I wouldn't have to hurry back for work. So the plan was that I would go up on Saturday & spend the night. Which I did. Friday I called to make my Avon deliveries & then after doing all except 1 by noon on Saturday, I headed out. Saturday evening, we went to Salina to pick up his prescription for diabetic monitoring items - he has been diagnosed as being diabetic and was told that the smoking probably was the cause of the clot. His blood is very thick, so currently he is on coumadin & a 325 mg aspirin each day to thin it. So while he hadn't 100% quit smoking, he has cut way down, says when they are all gone, he won't be buying more & his wife says the same. They also are all planning to follow his diet at home so that he doesn't feel singled out. Which isn't a bad idea anyway - pretty much the whole family is overweight by at least a few pounds & most by a lot.

While I was going, I took along some DVD's that I had bought recently from Amazon that are movies we watched as children. Although the ones we watched as children were 8mm silent movies & we never knew there was a sound track to them - Abbott & Costello in the Foreign Legion and Hop-Along Cassidy in Bar 20 Rides again. My brother's son loved Abbott & Costello. Hop-A Long Cassidy meant more, I think, to the 2 of us since we had always watched it, but no one else really cared for it. Anyway, we watched those on Saturday evening, Sunday morning before I left to come home.

He had a Dr visit this past Tuesday to check his coumadin levels. Then he stayed in the car while everyone else did some grocery shopping, so ended up with his leg & foot hurting a bit. Then a PT session on Friday which left him pretty sore. He also went to a band concert for his youngest daughter. Saturday was his wife's family reunion, which he didn't want to go to, but she told him he needed to go. I told him the same - he needs to not think he needs to hide his physical disabilities now (he already had some with his spine & his heart). So he was tired after that.

On a better note, I got quite a bit of knitting done during this time, but also found out I misread my instructions for shaping, so ended up taking most of it out. I currently have the 2 sleeves & the front of E's sweater on the needles. Should have that about done by the end of this week.

Have been looking online for patterns & such to be used in the May newsletter for the Carolinas Machine Knitting Guild I belong to & help with the newsletter for. I try to have all that done by the 15th of each month so that the editor can have it all put together for us to proof-read before the end of the month as we must publish on the 1st of each month. So I am behind on that. We had a couple of back ordered products at work come in, so we had to work on getting those orders all right back out the door. And now the owners have decided to launch a fundraising plan for churches, so we have been printing, signing, folding & stuffing & printing envelopes for that this past week or so. So lots of things going on at work.

This weekend was the start of the 2 nights in a row plan for the grandkids visits with me. Since I no longer am working at my son's gym 4 evenings a week, I decided to expand what the grandkids got to do with me by 1 night. It also will mean most of the time, that it saves me some gas now that they live 30 miles away. I always take 1 of the grandkids on the weekend that our soon to be sil gets his daughters - their mother brings them to Hutchinson or South Hutchinson to be exchanged, so if I pick them up on Friday evening & deliver them at the same time I pick up a grandchild, I can not only include 1 of his daughter in dinner with us before heading home, but they can bring his daughters back to their mother on Sunday & pick up the grandchild I have. Which means neither of us will need to make two 60 mile round trips on that weekend to get them all exchanged. Except this weekend & the next 2 coming up - he didn't have his daughters this weekend for whatever reason, but will have them for 2 weekends in a row after this, but next weekend isn't my normal weekend with the grandkids & the following weekend is our 33rd wedding anniversary weekend, so unless our son boxes in MO that weekend, I don't intend to have grandkids or anything like that. My dh should be off work on Friday & Saturday as his normal 2 days off. So thinking about getting tickets to a dinner & show for us. They almost closed this theatre, but another group took it over finally. We have gone 2-3 times in the past & I really want to find a time that I can take all the grandkids & the soon to be grandkids to it. They will be doing Jack & the Beanstalk from July 9th to August 14th, so maybe that would be the show to take them to.

Friday as I was heading home with my grandson, it was raining on us. We saw a rainbow. I got out of the van to take a picture of the 2 ends & we found that it was a double rainbow!

Hope everyone has a great rest of their Sunday & a good week coming up!

Original comments:

7 comments:

1. 
   Mamma has spokenApril 25, 2010 12:46 PM

   WOW it sounds like a really busy week! Hope your brother does quit smoking and soon. Nothing is worse than to need more surgery if you are a smoker.

   
   
2. 
   Cindy/KSApril 25, 2010 12:57 PM

   It was 1 busy week for sure. He probably still should have the 2nd surgery, but he was so against it that they gave up. He tells me if he loses the foot, he doesn't want to live. But he would have stood less of a chance of losing it, if he had of had the surgery.
   
   The foot is now completely warm, but a maroonish red on the outer side & was swollen when I was there last weekend. But the good thing of the smoking, I think, is that his wife says she is going to quit smoking also & they are the only 2 smokers in the house.

   
   
3. 
   Bo...April 25, 2010 7:17 PM

   I hope your brother gets better and his foot stays having good circulation. You're an angel for a sister! And how well I remember loving Abbot & Costello in the Foreign Legion! The one with Laurel & Hardy in the Foreign Legion was wonderful, too!

   
   
4. 
   Cindy/KSApril 25, 2010 7:41 PM

   Thanks Bo! Not sure I agree with the Angel bit - I did separate myself for 13 years. But I am trying & his oldest daughter did say that I just had to give him the "look" (could I have really developed a look with him when I was mothering him as a child?) and he would back off.
   
   I never saw the one of Laurel & Hardy, but we always loved running the film backwards so that the jeep went backwards through the bath tent. My bother's son loved the fish with the dentures also! He just kept talking about it!

   
   
5. 
   Bo...May 18, 2010 12:24 PM

   Cindy--the rude commenter on my blog has said she's going to leave a comment on your blog spewing her lies. DO NOT BELIEVE HER. She's taken things out of context. Or else it was contrived.

   
   
6. 
   AnonymousMay 18, 2010 12:41 PM

   This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

   
   
7. 
   Cindy/KSMay 18, 2010 12:55 PM

   Thanks Bo! Like I said - no one makes up my mind for me! And the comments are now moderated! Sorry to those who were already here.

Knitting Questionnaire - originally posted 4/7/10

This was borrowed RenateS's blog.

Mark with bold the things you have ever done, with italics, the ones you plan to do sometime, and leave the rest.

Here's mine:

Afghan
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens
Cuff-upMittens:
Top-down Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting (=modular knitting)Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Baby items
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Continental knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
Teaching a child to knit
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Knitting to make money
Button holes (both hand and machine on knitted garments)
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dying with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cosies...)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items)on two circulars
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
Knitting with dpns
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Knitting two socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars simultaneously
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener
BOPurses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
EntrelacKnitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Baby items
Knitting with cashmere (one of these days)
Darning (I come from an era when darning was mandatory) JewelryKnitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm warmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
RugKnitting on a loom (tried it once and didn’t like it)
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

What about you, if you are a knitter?

Wednesday's This, That & The Other - originally posted 4/7/10

It's been a quiet day here at work so far. Not a single phone call - hope they are putting in lots of orders online instead! You know - job security! Today is my 5 year anniversary here. This is the longest I have ever stayed with a job other than as wife & mother! So a big milestone for me.

Last night we finally got the last 2 signatures of the 4 that we needed on the 2 forms giving me permission to handle things for my mom's affairs. I had gone by the Genesis Health Club here in Hutchinson where E is now teaching boxing to get his measurements for a sweater that he wants me to knit for him by next month when he graduates at HCC and while I was there, my phone started ringing - it was my youngest brother's oldest daughter. I didn't take it right then because of 2 things - my phone was about dead & with being inside the boxing room, it was really hard to hear anyway. But when I got to the van & plugged it in, I also had a text message saying that my brother was here in town for us to get together for his & my sister's signatures. After giving him heck for not letting me know he was coming, I drove home & got the 2 papers we needed, called my sister & offered to pick her up - which I did & we drove to 1 of the Dillon's stores where we had been told they had a notary. Well - wouldn't you know it, all the notaries had gone home at about 7:30 pm and it was 8 pm! So then we tried looking in the phone book for someone else - didn't find even 1 listing for a notary. So then I tried calling a friend that I know is a notary (didn't think I had her # & had erased the messages from her on Facebook, so couldn't contact her through a message there), but didn't get her on the phone. Tried driving by her house, but since I had erased those messages, I didn't have the exact # anymore and nothing looked right in the dark. So we went back to the motel that my sister is living at currently and started looking again in the phone book. I thought I remembered a tax preparer on the west side of town that also was a notary. Found her, but by then, it was nearly 9 pm. I felt bad, but I called her anyway, explained that we had been trying to get this done for a month & would she please consider notarizing these 2 signatures. She agreed to - so we quickly got back in the cars & drove out there! Whew! Finally had it!

This morning, I left home an hour early for work to drop off the 1 copy at the post office, for the postmaster. Gave them a note also with my work # & my cell # on it in case he has any questions still. So hopefully in the next few days I will start seeing the mail for my mom showing back up at my house on a regular basis instead of just every now & then when something gets through. I also stopped by the bank to give the copy there to the clerk that we are dealing with on the stolen checks - the lobby didn't open until 9 am & it was just 8:15 am. So I spoke with a woman that I saw coming out of the lobby that worked there & explained what I was trying to do, so she said she would give the copy I had to T. I still need to call T in a bit & give her my fax # as well as the fax # for here at the office so that she can fax the information about the checks to me for me to look at. All of that meant I was at work about 1/2 hour early - so came in & chatted with E after he called me as I was pulling in.

E has chewed for about 15 years now. Had stopped at one point, but his ex-gf had convinced him evidently to restart chewing. But recently D had gone to see E & offered him some cash, if E would stop chewing. Well, E didn't want to do it because of his dad giving him money, so he said no. Later he called me, told me he had been thinking about it & thought he wanted to try, but didn't want me to tell D at the moment. So he started mixing fake chew in with his regular chew - 1/2 to 1/2 to start, then 1/3 to 2/3, then nothing but fake chew. It's been 4 days now of nothing but fake chew & he feels he is doing ok. We will see. But he did finally decide that he needed to maybe also take D up on his offer of the money for doing it, since as a poor full-time college student, he is always low on cash! But he says that if he fails at it, he will be paying D back the money. I am so proud of him for doing it!

Yesterday was a very busy day though. I had forgotten that I had an 8 am dental cleaning scheduled 6 months ago, when 2 months ago I scheduled a 5:15 pm blood donation. So the dogs had a very long day in the crate before I got home to let them out to potty. And boy were they telling me about it by the time I got there - I could hear them all the way to the van! But after Fred got away from D once when he let them out to potty while I was at work (Fred likes to run off & explore and our yard isn't fenced), D won't put them out anymore. I think if he made sure they were securely on their cable before he ever opened the front door and the made sure the front door was also securely shut after bringing them back in the house, but before their cables were unfastened, then it wouldn't be an issue. But he won't do it. So Fred cooked their gooses!

While I was down giving blood, they took my iron levels and asked me if I had ever considered giving double reds as they called it. It's where they just take the red blood cells & put the plasma back. My level was 15.2, which I guess is very good. And I am a type O+ - she said they only do this with O & B types. She said it takes about 20-25 minutes to donate instead of the 10-15 minutes otherwise and that most people feel less tired after donating than they do from a regular donation. So I didn't do it last night since I felt I just needed to get it over with, but the real thing that makes it interesting to me is that while only donating once every 2 visits is enticing, the fact that babies get first dibs at the blood since it is already ready to go & would be all from 1 person rather than a mix, makes it really sound like something I would like to do. I don't like to donate to begin with, but now that I finally have, I keep doing it - I just don't watch while they insert the needle! But the fact that my donation would be able to help babies that need blood feels even nicer to me than just helping anyone. So I think that is what I will do next time. And the fact that I will only go every 2 times is good also!

I have all 3 pairs of my socks past the heels, as I think I mentioned the last time I posted. I took pictures of them today to show them so far.


Paton's Stretch Socks in Mineral on 2.75mm needles

Someone on one of my machine knitting groups had talked a while back about doing a Spiral cap/hat. I thought that sounded interesting, so I decided to do a k3, p3 pattern across 32 stitches (64 stitches total, but wanted the foot in stockinette), moving it to the left 1 stitch at the start of each round. Then after shaping the heel, I picked up a stitch in the center back and started doing the spiral pattern around the entire leg. The picture really doesn't show this, but the color is predominately blue, with rust & black areas & some white with all these colors. I think so far this is my favorite looking sock & color, but the pattern did become a bit tedious to keep track on on the foot.



Red Heart's Heart & Sole in BlackJack on 2.5mm needles


This is a self-striping yarn. I am not 100% satisfied with how it is turning out. So haven't decided if I want to try it again on a different size of needles. It is done over 68 stitches since I am using a slightly smaller set of needles. It is mostly black with stripes of pink & white with some specks or even small areas in an almost yellow, greenish or orangish color. I don't feel like the patterning is coming out to it's best although it did improve when some changes I had made. I also have some black specks in areas that I don't think it should belong.


Deborah Norville's Serenity in Saffron on 2.25mm needles

This is a self-striping yarn. I think I do like the way the patterning has turned on out on it. It is a combination of wider turquoise stripes, thinner lime green stripes and then wider sections of various shades of pinks.