Mr. C Goes Trick or Treating

I don't know about you, but I think the pacifier clearly makes the outfit.

Fires

I've been pondering the lives of the people in California who lost their homes. My niece was on alert to evacuate. Yes, she lives there. I haven't heard yet whether or not they had to go. She is pregnant with twins. Her first(s). I'm guessing at this point they had to go and I pray that when they return, they still have a house.

What I've really been pondering is .. what if I knew my house was going to burn and I had 15 minutes to grab things. What would I grab?

Wow.

So many thoughts. After people and pets, photos are the first thing that come to mind but mine would be impossible to haul out. I have huge storage boxes of photos and they are so unorganized that I don't know what is where. I'd want all the 8 X 10 baby pictures of the kids and our wedding photos. But how can you say they are more important than the tons and tons of birthday, first communion, graduation, basketball games, etc. If I lost my photos, I'd be devastated.

I once thought about my wedding gown but I'm over it. The only thing it would be good for these days is a Halloween costume.

I have some sentimental jewelry too. Not great jewelry, but meaningful jewelry. I'd be sad to lose that as well.

I have stupid little things in the china closet that the kids made in school or that they got me at Santa's Secret Shop. They are worthless in monetary value but precious to me. I'd want them, but I probably wouldn't remember to grab them.

Clothes? No. I don't really care about clothes. Give me a white shirt and a pair of khaki's and I'm happy until I can manage to add some other things. Shoes? Man, I'd hate to lose my shoes, but, no, I wouldn't get them.

Knitting... wow. I have a ton of great yarn. But I'd let it. There's more where that came from. I would hate to lose all my knitting books though. That would bum me out. But not the end of the world.

In the end, it's the photos. My heart would ache for the photos. Which just goes to prove that it's not the material things in life that are important. I have a few valuable things. But while I was thinking and deciding what I would grab, they never even came to mind.

I think I might take some time to organize a "grab basket". I may spend some time going through my photos and make a small box of "must haves". And maybe throw in a few other little momentos and treasures that are irreplaceable. You never know.

Anyway, my heart aches for those families. It must be so terrible.

No Knitting News

I love Pennsylvania in the Fall. It's my favorite time of year. My boss said he has trouble enjoying it because it's just an announcement that bad things are on the way. I agree that I'm not crazy about knowing what is directly ahead, but I sure do love being outside right now.

I'd like to report knitting news but I'm still just hammering away at Lady Eleanor and to be honest, I'm not even doing much of that. Thanks to my buddy Yvonne I now have the errata for Colin's sweater and I can't wait to get back into that. I'm half way finished with the wrap and I intend to tackle the sweater right after that is complete. When am I ever going to get the charity knitting done????

Happy Birthday Dad

October 14th, 1927 - Feb. 10th, 2007

My Dad would have been 80 years old today. It was a difficult and emotional day. I miss him so much. He was such a funny guy. He was great with the one liner. He had an extremely quick wit. If you ever needed a pick me up, all you needed to do was go visit him. He continually cracked us up. It wasn't corny humor that is annoying. It was just really funny stuff. I think my younger brother inherited some of his quick wit but it is more evident in the third generation. It seems that some of our children have more of him in them than we do. I still can't believe he's gone and I'm dreading the holidays.

On knitting... no news. I haven't picked up the needles in about 5 days so I have to get back on track so I can have the charity knitting finished for the holidays. I'm starting to panic about Lady Eleanor. The plan was to have that finished by the end of October and I don't think it's going to happen. I didn't want to have another UFO laying around when I started the charity knitting but it looks like that's the way it's going to be. I have SO much unfinished for various reasons. I think I will rip Colin's sweater out and start something else for him since Zoe Mellor isn't interested in providing errata. The pink lace wrap is on hold until I get the Addi Lace needles which I have been informed have arrived and I need to go pick them up. I have socks on needles. I'm sure there is more but I think I'm blocking it out of my mind.

Pittsburgh was great. I was so entertained though that I didn't get any knitting accomplished. For what it's worth, the Howard Hanna company is an exceptionally top notch organization. When they do something, they do it right. That was a pretty amazing convention.

Updating progress...

I really haven't had a chance to work on this as much as I'd like, but it is growing, and I am still enjoying the process. I've decided not to block this one out as far as I blocked the last one. I'd like to retain some of the raised texture in the piece.

And check this out:

My first sewing project in about 15 years. This IS part of a Halloween costume for Mr. C. although it probably doesn't look like it. I was rather proud of myself for remembering how to do this after all this time. Sure, it could be better, but it's great for me! It was SO much fun to sew again. I can't believe I got away from it for so long. I can see some cute summer dresses in my future.

I'll be in Pittsburgh for the next few days at meetings. Maybe I'll get in some "hotel knitting".

We'll see.

Lady Eleanor Progress

This could be my favorite thing that I ever knit. Really. I'm loving this yarn and these colors.

To sew, or not to sew... that is the question.

The last time I sewed anything was in 1992. It was also the last time I saw my sewing machine which was a gift to me from my mother a few years earlier. I sewed a lot back then. I made the kid's clothes and I made curtains and toys. I was actually getting pretty good at it until we moved back to my hometown. Then I went back to work, and the sewing went out the window. We couldn't find a house so we rented an apartment for 6 months and moved all of our stuff twice. In the chaos that ensued from putting things in storage and moving things around so much, some things got lost and one of them was my sewing machine. You're probably wondering how you can lose a sewing machine. I'm wondering the same thing. Let me just say that when you have men moving things around unsupervised, stuff happens. (Oh, that box of stuff over there wasn't important, was it??) Nuff said. Anyhoo, it's Halloween time, and Halloween time means costume time, and grandson needs costume. So, will Grandma BUY another sewing machine? You betcha. I only hope it does not turn into a new addiction. Because I do NOT need that.

We went to the sale in Belleville yesterday. Colin enjoyed the horses and buggies. Belleville is a small town with a large Amish and Mennonite population and the Wednesday sale is a pretty big deal.

They also have a big flea market and look what I scored for only $3.00. It's a Pottery Barn pewter ice bucket. The guy obviously didn't know what he had. This is one of the items that my daughter registered for on her bridal registry and it sold for $40.00. So, yay!

And, finally, here is a photo of the sunflowers on my Dad's grave. I planted these seeds very late in the summer and they are just now blooming. They were supposed to be miniature sunflowers that I thought would be appropriate for a grave. They turned out MUCH bigger than planned and as they grew, I just didn't have the heart to pull them out when I saw they were getting too big. My Dad loved to grow sunflowers. I think he'd like them in spite of the fact that they look a little out of place. (But I did learn my lesson for next year.)

My Obsession With "Wrap" Continues

I decided last night to start another "Lady Eleanor" wrap. I've had the Noro yarn for this since last Fall. My plan is to have it finished by the end of this month and still have time for a few small Christmas projects. I am still stalled on Colin's sweater due to a mistake in the pattern and Zoe Mellor has not responded to my inquiry regarding errata. There was an address on the pattern book to contact her and I sent her a letter in the mail (no email address to be found.) That was a month ago and she never responded. I'm guessing she never got it. No knitting designer would ignore correspondence from a fellow knitter. It just wouldn't happen. Right?

The funky two different needle alpaca shawl is blocking. It is a weird shape. (It is shown doubled here. I had to do it this way because I don't have space to lay it out on the floor.) I wonder if that had anything to do with the needle fiasco. I tried to stretch it out into a more triangular shape but it wasn't having any of that.

I finished a sock and started another one at an Open House yesterday. Knitting is getting accomplished. And today, all I want to do is go home and work on Lady Eleanor. Entrelac is SO MUCH FUN!!