Catch Up

It's been a long time since that last post! Lots happened in 2009 - I tore the miniscus in my left knee and had surgery in February (got hooked on Facebook and quit blogging), had 2 ribs put out by a bad masseuse at a bad chiropractor's office, found a wonderful new chiropractor (the hubby of my childhood bestfriend's sister!), knitted some more - mostly hats for the kids and socks for gifts, celebrated Mom's 70th Birthday in August (a little early, but family could be there), and made it to Oregon at Christmas to see my Dad for the last time.

Dad had been fighting emphysema and interstitial lung disease for 3 years. He had bleeding in his stomach in December, so was admitted to the hospital. That was the beginning of the end. Dad had his good days and his bad days. He moved to a rehab during the 3rd week and Mom went with him! She stayed with him at night and would do her errands during the day. It gave him a real sense of peace to have her there. He came home overnight during the first week of January and went right back to the hospital the next day. On January 14 he came home for the last time and passed away at home on January 15, 2010. We held his funeral on January 21, 2010 with all of us there, including Uncle Bob Tooker, Dad's only sibling. Things have been good since then. We know Dad is in Heaven and not sick anymore. That is a great comfort! Knitting has been off and on all this time! Just finished a pair of socks for Mom - Trekking yarn - a gorgeous burnt orange colorway! Knitted them all the way to drop her off with the brother, but just didn't have quite enough time to finish! Just started a new colorway from Regia called Hand-dye Effect. It's 70% wool, 25% polymide and 5% acrylic! I know - it's got acrylic...but it's mostly wool! It's fun because it is large rows of color and this is blues! They might just have to be mine! I'm using the Socks a la Carte book - K2,P2 cuff, English Vines for 8 repeats, short row heel and origami toe! Haven't done that toe before - should be fun! Also on the needles is a sweater in a beautiful rose Baby Bamboo. Have to finish that for Miss Emily's birthday in June! Can't wait to see it done! OK, guess that's enough of an update for now. I'll post pics when the socks are done!

2009 So Far

Well - it's been interesting so far!!! The holidays were nice. As a family, my in-laws decided not give gifts to the adults, but to adopt a family instead! We were given a Mom, Dad, 18 yr old girl, Jr. High age girl, 6 yr old boy and 6 mo old boy! It was so fun to buy for the Mom and baby! The family came thru like troopers and we had a huge box of gifts and food gift cards to deliver to them 3 days before Christmas! It made our Christmas Eve celebration all that more fun! Thanks for thinking of this Nicole Two weeks into the new year I twisted funny getting into the car and heard a POP in my left knee. After 2 more weeks of thinking "it's gonna get better" (regardless of the fact I had to use my cane to get around), I finally went in and found I had torn the meniscus and needed surgery! A week ago yesterday I had the surgery and am off on medical leave for another 3 weeks minimum!! Mom, Dad, Andrea and Emily came to stay with me for the first 5 days. I know some would be dreading 3 more weeks off...not me!! I have already finished a baby beret for Emily (she took it with her); a soft, pink baby hat that is 2 sizes too big (hate gauge swatches) and is now a chemo cap for a friend, and have started Andrea's "thank you" socks (from Socks a la Carte) that are the hardest things I've knit yet!! I think I've gone to knit heaven!!!!!!!

The Year's Almost Over!!

So, this year is almost over - thank goodness!! The last 4 months have been the longest on record for me and our family!! More death and illness - not fun. Since the last post, my Tia Licha went to Heaven on November 26, yes, the night before Thanksgiving. She passed peacefully in her sleep with Mom and Arleen at her side. Gil and I were only 2 blocks away from the hospital - coming to relieve Arleen for the evening. We lost a neighbor man that night also and the week before one of my best friend's in the entire world lost her 98 year old Grandma. That makes 6 people for us since Labor Day weekend. Luckily, in another 19 days, 2009 will be here and hopefully it will be a much happier time!! We did have some happy times sprinkled in among all this mess!! My nephew Andrew, a Junior at Nipomo High School placed 23 out of over 140 runners at the State of California CIF Cross Country Championships!! We're so proud of him and all he's accomplished so far! There's only good to come for this kid!! We celebrated Dad's 70th birthday in style!! We threw a surprise birthday party in Sacramento. Actually, Mike and Roxy planned the entire thing!! It was great!! He thought that we were going to a play that Michael was supposedly in, and going to a fundraiser dinner first at their club!! He entered the room to some of Roxy's family (Dixie & Bob were there), John and Connie, and Auntie Bev & Uncle Charlie!! Ron & Donna had flown up from SD!! Mom had sent me a bunch of pictures, so I made a slide show and played that with music from Herb Albert, Nancy Sinatra, Alabama and Tim McGraw (My Next 30 Years)!! He was completely surprised and that's not easy to do to Dad! The down side - he had a minor heart attack 2 days later!! He's fine and they are watching over him, but the joke has now become "OK, OK, we get it, no more surprise parties"!!! We're just thankful that he's doing well and finally taking care of himself!! As for knitting - I have 2 more pairs to make for the family - we'll see if this get's done. I've finished a darling baby hat for Miss Emily - since she's already outgrown the cable one that I made her!! What her Mommy doesn't know is I also made her a shrug sweater to go with it - all out of Sirdar Cotton - it's so soft!! Pinks and yellows - perfect little girl colors!! I do have to get started on the gloves I promised to Emily's brothers!! They have worn their "duck foot slippers" into the ground and Mom's put them away! Time for something more useful! I do have a teal Ella Rae shawl that I started for Tia that is about 1/4 done. I'm thinking I might frog that into a sweater for Mom Garcia! It would still be the yarn I intended for her Sis, but something that she could wear instead!! That's the project for spring. I found a great yarn shop in Ventura - Anacapa Fine Yarns. Great people, great prices, and fun yarns!! That's where I found the Vermont Fibers pattern. It will be the first of theirs that I've tried and I'm looking forward to it!

Sadness Today

I haven't had time to be on here lately. Labor Day weekend my aunt had a stroke and is still in a nursing home. September 8 one of my uncles passed away from pancreatic cancer. September 24 one of my dearest friends was diagnosed with the same cancer and passed away on October 20. Now, today I find out a Great Uncle has passed also. I'm kind of wondering when the merry-go-round is going to stop and let me off. There is an up-side to all this hospital visiting - lots of knitting is getting accomplished! I have finished a pair of socks for Yarnsmackdown, 2 more bookmarks for a Literacy council fundraiser (a total of 4), another pair of socks for a Christmas gift, and have started a beautiful teal shawl for my sick Aunt and an alpaca scarf for me (for a change)!!! Of course, the house is a mess and no one is allowed to visit, but that's a minor detail. It's been very comforting to have the needles with me and something as simple as socks with no pattern - just knitting away! It's become meditative for me - I find I can pray and knit at the same time, talk and knit at the same time, haven't learned to walk and knit at the same time, tho'. It's truly amazing to me how comforting some yarn and bamboo can be!!

Socks, Socks and more Life in General!

Socks are so addictive! I don't know if it's because of all the great yarns out there, or what, but I'm constantly on Ravelry looking for new patterns to go with all the TOFUtsies I've gotten lately! I'm going to have to put myself on a yarn diet soon - I've run out of places to put the stuff. I have this yarn on the needles right now - it's really a brown base, not the red this looks like. I don't like socks that are too tall on the ankle, so, since this pattern calls for 8 repeats, I only did 6. When I'm further along, I'll post pics. I had every intention of posting on this every night, but between the Aunt in the hospital after a stroke and an Uncle pass away, it's been a busy couple of weeks.