YIPPEEE!!! HE'S HOME!

DH is home, what more is there to say....

good news... I hope.

DH may be coming home tomorrow, it all depends on his blood work. Doc says if his white cell count is down and managable with oral antibiotics he can come home :).

By Special Request

Since Mary was not able to join us knitting this week, for a better pic of Lady E, she'll have to go to Annette's blog, yes I know she's been there already, I saw her comment, but there it is in all it's glory.

Triple tagged - a meme

Tag you're it.

Tagged first by Annette, then by Marie, then by Madge so I'm spreading the love. I'm only doing 10!

10 knitterly things you didn't know about me.
1. I alter just about everything I knit for me to make it shorter, otherwise I'd have things that drag on the floor, or hang at my knees.
2. My favorite color is purple, but you couldn't tell by looking at my stash.
3. It took me 14 years to learn to knit, by the time i finally got it it took me about 14 min once Marie pointed me in the direction of Circular needles. I started crocheing 33 years or so ago.
4. I currently am in posssion of over 5o pairs of Addy Turbos (ok, so maybe you knew that)
5. I collect purses that are big enough to hold my knitting, current count is scary, but I know I could easily go a month or more without ever using the same purse 2 days in a row.
6. I have yet to use a life line when knitting lace, and I still haven't planned to use one.
7. I am a process knitter, I will knit anything and everything I possibly can.
8. I spend too much time knitting, I really am not as fast a knitter as everyone believes, I just get into a groove and have been known to knit as much as 12 - 16 hours a day.
9. I am an ADHD knitter, and I have at least 2 dozen UFO's to prove it.
10. I will be knitting in Seattle by the end of October, if I have my way it will be by the 25th of October.

DH and house news :)

Well DH is doing much better since they drained the rest of that "crap" from his stomach. They took him off the liquid IV's and he's down to just the IV antibiotics. He's eating great. Doc says another day or 2 and he can go home. Both DH and I figure they'll keep him there until Friday.

On the house front, Inspection was Monday, and we passed with flying colors. Appraisal is tomorrow, and we will know for sure that the loan is funding by next Tuesday.

Note to the fates: This is just an update, please don't take it as anything but, I'm really not trying to jinx my life again, just sharing good news.

Knotting and knitting

DH is still in the hospital. Remember I said that they had found a couple pockets of fluid, one found it's way to the drain and is now gone. The other one, they added another drain this morning, and now it's draining. DH is feeling a lot less pressure but is very tired today, they inserted the 2nd drain this morning, so he's resting much more comfortably today. We still don't know when they'll set him free, but things are moving in the right direction. Hopefully he'll be home this weekend and I'll be sleeping again by Monday.

Last night I went knotting with Marie, she knit while I knot. I finished Lady E, much to my surprise, I didn't realize how far I had gotten with her while waiting in the hospital.


Pattern: Lady Eleanor from Scarf Style
Yarn: 6 - 7 balls of tapestry by Rowan (I started with 10 balls and have 3 full balls and 3 partial balls, so i'm not sure how of the 7th balls is actually in Lady E)
Needles: 10's


Moebius returns: this was knit from start to finish in DH's room. I brought up a skein of yarn the day after the surgury, balled it by hand off my knees, cast it on, knit several rounds, figured out that I had misstitched by about 15 stitches, ripped it and started it again. Pattern: Thrummed Moebius by Cat Bordi (I know there are no thrums on this)
Yarn: It's a kit that you can see here
Needles: Denise #13 and #10 condo style
Alterations: I wasn't sure about the thrums, so I started to put them on, DH looked over, frowned shook his head and gave me a thumbs down, so out they came. I'm glad he did because I wasn't liking the look either.

And off the wagon I fell. Well I wasn't really on the wagon, but this started the first night DH was in the hospital, remember this post. The mystry yarn is on the left, it's the blue Araucania yarn. In the middle is some wonderful Prime Alpaca, yardage is over 600 yards, this will go with the yarn that mom brought me back from Peru and become a sweater. The Lamb's Pride worsted, that was picked up after I dropped off all the Escrow paperwork and in a fit of I need to buy yarn, it's destined to become a sweater and has already jumped on the needles.

sorry no pics today, maybe tomorrow

I thought DH was getting better. Well he is. Blood transfusions helped quite a bit. He's even eating solid food. We even went for a short walk today. He is getting frustrated with not being able to come home, so I guess that's a good sign too.

So the results of the CT scan took me for a big loop. They show some pockets of fluids that aren't draining. So he didn't come home today. Tomorrow the doc will figure out what to do, he's thinking they can be removed with a needle, if not, they may have to go back in.

I just want him on the mend enough to bring him home without having to worry about him so much, at least then maybe I could get some sleep.

here's hoping...

DH got 2 pints of blood yesterday, he's doing much better today :). He had a CT scan this afternoon, good results could mean that I get to bring him home in a day or 2. Today, for the first time since he was admitted, he determined that he was ready, physically ready to go home. he's feeling much better. Lots more cuddle time, a couple of sponge baths and DH is on mending path.

I did buy yarn yesterday, but simply haven't had a chance to take any pics. I'll try to take pics before heading out to the hospital in the morning.

Updates and rambiling

DH is doing better today, they removed the stomach pump, and depending on how he does today, he'll be taking liquid meals tomorrow, at least 2 and if he handles that well he'll be moved to semi liquid/solid meals, at least 2 of those and if all goes well solids. They're letting him up and walking without a nurse or aid present, but he's not getting very far right now, but it's progress. Still no idea when he'll be sent home, but I'm hoping it's once all goes well with the solids, so if you count the meals starting tomorrow, Sunday would be optimistic at this point.

He is still very cuddly, and we took a long nap together today. He's ready to leave but he knows that he can't until he can handle solids. I did leave the GameBoy with an assortment of games with him today.

On the knitting front, because DH is being cuddly and alert, there really isn't much time for me to knit at the hospital, but I'll gladly give up my knitting if it helps him heal faster.

Times like this you learn who your true friends are. My SnB group, has been incredibly supportive, following his progress here on the blog and in sending their support via the comments section, as well as at our weekly group "therapy" meeting. My friends on Fertility Friends, my family, and yes even DH's family (who don't think I'm right for him) have been very supportive of both of us. Members of DH's paintball team, have send their well wishes, and some have even come to visit him. But there is one friend in particular who I would like to metion.

I have a very dear friend, who has been incredibly supportive of me during this time, and I am absolutely amazed by her strength. I know this is a very bad time of the year for her, frought with very sad anniversaries, including the anniversary of the loss of her DH and oldest son, yet she has been extremely supportive of me, and has let me babble on endlessly and generally helped me to keep a foot on the ground. She reminds me to eat and to at least try to get some sleep. I really don't know what kind of mess I would be if it weren't for her constant support, whether it be time to knit over coffee, in chat, email, on the phone, she does manage to find the time to listen to me even when she is still grieving her losses. To her I send many many thanks, I can never express how thankful I am for her support during this time, and I will always remember it, even if we do end up on opposite coasts. I will miss her dearly when I move to Seattle, maybe I can convince her she needs to move to Seattle too. To that dear friend, you know who you are and I do want you to know how much I do love you and appreciate your support, and I do wish I could be there more for you during your time of grief.

I am a sock knitter....

Yes, with pair #3 I will admit I am a now a sock knitter.

But first another update on DH. They had to pump his stomach because his body wasn't absorbing anything he had taken orally. The are taking the pump out tonight and he'll be on liquids tomorrow. Hopefully, this time his body will start doing what it's supposed to do. His heart rate is good as is his BP. His white cell count is nearly back to normal today, so the antibiotics are doing their job. He is at the point where he is one frustrated patient, but that's a good sign if you ask me, it means he's better enough to be frustrated. Today, he even insisted on some cuddle time. So I climb up into his bed and cuddled, and actually got in a short but restful and much needed nap in his arms :). I know it's a bit mushy, but considering it's the first time we've been able to cuddle since he got sick, it's a wonderful step. (The latest update as promised to Dim Sum Knitter)

And now back to the knitting content:

Yes another pair of socks. I put them on the only model available to me at this time...ME. The are a little on the big side for me, but they will fit the intended undisclosed recipient.


Pattern: It's the Cat Bhordi sock pattern in the latest issue of Vogue Knitting, which I can't find right now, so I cant find the name of the pattern. They are toe up socks.
Yarn: A little over 1 ball of trekking XXL knit double stranded.
Needles #6
Alterations: I did follow the pattern but I stopped the repeats after 2 repeats, said recipient doesn't like long socks, so these will work beautifully.

No I'm not really speeding along on the knitting, these were actually off the needle before I cast on the PNW shawl, it just took me this long to get around to sewing down the picot edging on the cuff. I am terrible at getting around to the final finishing, and these are a X-mas present so there was no hurry, but after giving Knit Devil advice to just do it, I had to finish these socks just to set a good example. That's a hint Knit Devil, do the finishing on that sweater, I know, socks are not a sweater but ya know what I mean *wink*

Pacific Northwest Shawl done

First an update on DH. He was moved to a cardiac unit Sunday morning, he is looking better, he has color again, even the doctor commented on it :). He is able to get out of bed on his own, but they want him to keep that particular activity down to only when he needs to go to the bathroom because his heart rate is still high. Doc says maybe Friday he can come home. Is it Friday yet?

Many many thanks to the wonderful stitchers in the Pasadena Day timers, this is what the Little Knits GC ended up as:

Here's the PNW shawl in all it's glory, being stretched to within an inch of it's life. It's a big one, that is a double bed it's spread on.

And a close up for more detail:

Pattern: Fiber Trends Pacific Northwest shawl
Yarn: Sea Silk 2 skeins Colorway: Lily Pond
Needles #6

This one took me a little over a week and a half to finish. I really can't believe that's all it took, but I've been in a knitting groove this last week. The edging, all those shells, well 75% of those were done at the hospital. Still not quite sure how I managed to knit so much lace under so much stress, but there is the end result.

I jinxed my life!

Ok, so after that last post my life went on fast forward and high stress. We got 2 more offers on the house, one we rejected, the other we countered on. We went into escrow on Friday, looks like we'll be moving by the end of October. That's not the jinx part, that's the good news.

Now the jinx part, I spent the better part of last night first in the ER then in an OR waiting room. DH's appendix ruptured, and had to be removed Friday night, just gotta love emergency surgury. The up side to this is I've managed to make some major knitting progress, well ok, it would have been major if I hadn't been tinking or ripping every row and reknitting it 2, 3 or 4 times. The sea silk PNW shawl would have been done, but again with the counting thing. My advice and lesson learned, don't work on lace while in an extremely high stressed situation. Same thing goes for Lady E, she's been knit on and reknit on and reknit on. Take all that reknitting and add it up and it would likely equal 2 FO's. As it is, they're still UFO's.

All I'm asking for here, is that you keep DH in your thoughts, and prayers to what ever god you believe in. I'm sure everything will be fine... but... it can't hurt right?

Oh when does that mysterious order from WEBS count against my ticker. I found an email receipt from about 2:30 am this morning, when I checked my email after a dismal 2 hours of sleep. Does it count when I get it? Does it count from today? Do I not count it and just chalk it up to the delerium of having spent a good 6 hours in ER waiting to find out what's going on, then another 3 hours waiting to find out how the surgury went?

Nothing new

I know I've been negligent in posting but there really isn't anything new to post. My life is in a holding pattern until we sell this townhouse.

There has been knitting, but no new FO's. No new yarn purchases. Really quite boring to be me right now. There simply is nothing happening, so please forgive me for not posting, I'm sure something will happen soon.

On the UFO front, I'm working on Fiber Trends Pacific Northwest Shawl and I'm using Hand Maiden's Sea Silk the color way is Lily Pond and considering I'm desperately waiting to sell this house to get to the PNW (Seattle to be a bit more specific), it's an appropriate project to be working on now. The bulk of the shawl is complete and I'm working on the edging, so there should be an FO posted soon, I hope.

I'm also working on Lady Eleanor from Scarf Style using one of Rowan's new yarns, Tapestry in colorway 123, whirlpool. So far this knit has been an absolute delight. I love the way the colors are coming out, this yarn is perfect for Lady E. SOFT...This yarn is so soft. I'm about 3/4 of the way through this one, again another FO soon.

It's just a matter of which one is going to be done first. There are several WIP's going on as well, but these 2 are my main ones for now.

My Seattle Haven

I totally forgot that I didn't post these pics. This is my father's pride and joy, his back yard.

I particularly like this section. When I was growing up there were 2 big Fir trees back in this corner. You can still see the stump from one of them, it's got the basket and shells on it. It's a wonderful place to photograph yarn, to bad I didn't think of that while I was there.

Same corner of the yard from a different angle.


There is this lovely patio that dad is in the middle of redoing to sit on and enjoy the the view and just plain relax.



And here is a close up (well closer up) of the bench of plants along the lower portion of the deck.



Such a relaxing back yard. The grass is a bit on the brown side, but it's August and it costs a fortune up there, just as it does down here, to keep a grass green. The rest of the year it's green, but I'd rather see it green 9 months out of the year and see my parents conserving water.