Warming Up

Just a quick post to prove that I'm still alive. It's warming up around these parts and we've had a few sunny days to melt most of the snow piles. The ground in our yard is mostly bare now except in areas of extreme shadiness.

I've been working on the India Stole most of the time and I'm about a third of the way through the second half. It's moving right along even though it doesn't seem like I get to work on it very much. I'm thinking it's going to be really beautiful when it's done.

I'm also working on the Evenstar Shawl (part of the Lord of the Rings Series by Susan Pandorf). Clues come out every other Friday and since it's still in it's infancy it's quite easy to finish a clue before the next one comes out. We've finished Clue #2 and are awaiting #3 which will come out this Friday. Here's a photo I took after I finished Clue #1.



It appears that I'm going to have surgery on my left shoulder very soon so the knitting will be on hold for a while. I somehow partially tore my rotator cuff and need to get it fixed and rahabed in time for mowing this spring. I hope the doctor can fit me in soon.

The start of our local minor league season is only a month away and we're looking forward to that as we do each spring. Here's hoping that we get a break and have some warm weather for our first home stand.

Oh, My Aching Head!

Sinuses, do we really need them? Must we have these holes in our faces that fill up with gunk and ache so badly? I got a sinus infection last week. It really put a damper on my activities over the weekend. I took a sick day on Monday and managed to snag a doctor appointment. She listened to me explain that it felt like my upper teeth on the left side were being pushed out of my jaw against their will. Now I'm on antibiotics and sinus meds.

It hurt so bad I didn't even feel like knitting. That's when I know I'm really si....

WE INTERRUPT THIS BLOG POST FOR THE FOLLOWING IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!
I just now received a phone call from someone wanting to verify the model number of the photocopier in our office. Now my momma didn't raise any fools and I didn't just fall of the turnip truck yesterday so I told the dude that I know he's participating in a scam and that he should be ashamed of himself. He says "this is not a scam" and then hangs up on me. Way to protest your innocence there, Buddy.
If you ever get one of these calls, don't give them any information. They will send you supplies for the copier that you didn't order and then bill you or even worse just bill you without sending you anything.
WE NOW RETURN YOU TO THE BLOG POST ALREADY IN PROGRESS...

...ck; I loose interest in doing the things I love.

The snow from last week is still hanging around. Here are some photos of the lacey remnants along our driveway.



I did force myself to knit a little over the weekend but the only thing that kept me going was this beautiful Malabrigo Twist yarn. The pattern is The Amanda Hat (Ravelry link) and I think I did something wrong on the crown. It's a little small. I may open it back up and rip out the crown and add some extra rows between the decrease rows. I really like it though. It fits good around my tiny head and should stay one better when I'm shoveling. Not that I want to do anymore shoveling. I've had enough of that to last me quite some time. But I found that the various hats I've knitted don't stay in place during hard manual labor.


Meanwhile, I've started the Evenstar Mystery Shawl KAL, a pi shawl inspired by Arwen's necklace that she gave to Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings. When I finished my first and only pi shawl last summer (Girasole by Jarad Flood) I was fairly certain that I wouldn't be doing another pi shawl any time soon. I'm just not fond of round shawls. But Susan Pandorf's motif for this shawl was so lovely and I'm such a sucker for all things LotR that I immediately signed up. I commissioned Nicole at No Two Snowflakes to custom dye 1800 yards of lace-weight silk for me and purchased 3000 beads.

The first clue was released Friday night but I didn't start it until Tuesday evening because of the pain in my head and mouth. I didn't even look at the pattern. It hurt just to think about a circular cast-on in 100% silk lace-weight. When I did started it I remembered one of the reasons that I don't care for pi shawls - the circular cast-on. I tried 3 different methods and after starting over at least 10 times and having to cut off the worn-out end of my yarn, I settled on Emily Ocher's method. Now I'm almost done with the first clue. No photo yet.

I'm using a the recommended needle size, US#3 and it's producing a looser, more open lace than I usually allow. I've decided to continue with this needle size though because I want this shawl to be large. I'll get used to the openness, I guess.

Bad Things, Man!

This sun pillar phenomenon is get out of hand around here. This morning was the brightest, reddest one yet. I think it means something really bad is coming. Something like another 6-10 inches of snow on top of the 24" we got over the weekend. Here in the Desert of Maryland we're just not equipped to deal with these amounts of snowfall.

Here's what it looked like around here on Saturday morning.

Sunrise

This is my LYS Y2Knit in Funkstown

Barn yard gate

Our poor shrubbery ("nothing too expensive")

Sunday the sun came out but it was in the single digits so not much melting occurred.

Looking up the driveway to chez Artz

Rime ice on the asparagus

Looking down the driveway

Our hemlocks at sunset

I realize that this amount of snowfall is normal in other parts of the country but it's pretty unusual here. Schools and colleges are closed; Federal Govt. is closed, local govt. is on liberal leave. Most of my coworkers made it in yesterday and today and our county government is functioning normally. Our Highways Dept. employees have done a heroic job getting the roads open and now they have to start over again with very little rest.

We have had a few weather related deaths in the area, mostly due to the fact that rescue crews couldn't get to the victims in time. This despite the concerted efforts of the state and county road crews and private individuals with plows and loaders. It's so frustrating for the rescue workers who try so hard to get to the victims but are thwarted by the weather conditions.

I think most of the residents for Washington County are ready for spring. I know I am.

Another Beautiful Snowy Morning

This morning's sunrise was beautiful in a different sort of way. Snow and fog blanketed the area and it was a little dark yet for good photos. We cleaned off the cars (someday we hope to have a garage) and by then it was light enough to take photos without the flash. They're still a little dark but they capture to eerie beauty well, I think.

Here's the shrubbery in front of the house.


Notice the snow crusted on the neighbor's chain link fence in this picture.


More snowy trees and fog in our front yard.


This one is in the alley I walk down every morning and evening from the parking deck to my office and back. I think it's a pear but I could be wrong. I like how snow is clinging to every little branch.

I am continuing to knit in the evenings, primarily on the India Stole. I'm almost half done and the rows are getting shorter as I approach the point. I think it's beautiful but the yarn is kind of clingy and I think it would have been better made with silk. But then I think just about every thing looks better made of silk.

I've been having a lot of pain in my left shoulder lately and had an x-ray on Wednesday and an MRI on Monday. I haven't heard the results of the MRI yet but the Dr. called about the x-ray and said it showed a significant amount of ARTHRITIS! I go see an orthopedist tomorrow; I suppose he'll tell me, "You're old, get used to it."

Look What I Did!

I wreaked both our cars! See those right-rear bumpers? See how they match? I did that all by myself.














It was a dark and stormy night. The rain was coming down in buckets. I parked the blue car in the turn-around and forgot about it. Later I hopped into the gold car slapped it in reverse, completely forgetting that I had parked the blue car in the turn-around, and backed right into it. I turned the gold car around so the headlights were shining on the back of the blue car and got out in the pouring rain and stood there wondering how I could be such an idiot.

The blue one is in the shop right now being fixed and the gold one goes in tomorrow. It's the first time I've ever been the cause of an accident. I've never had a ticket or a warning or even a stern look and then I wreak both our cars in our own driveway. I had to explain it to our insurance rep and the guy at the body shop. It was so-o-o embarrassing.

On the plus side, both cars were still drivable and no one was hurt.

On Saturday afternoon I spotted a sundog while Doug and I were out and about and he pulled into a parking lot so I could snap a photo.


At first there was only one on the right or north side of the sun but later one appeared on the south side and though they made a good attempt to connect, they didn't quite make it.

This morning there was another sun pillar. The clouds were just right for a beautiful shot. I went back in the house and got the camera so I could capture this scene. It kind of reminds me of the view of Mount Doom from Minas Tirith.

Adios, 2009!

Boy, am I glad that 2008 and 2009 are over. Those will be remembered as "the cancer years" here at chez Artz. I hope they're the last. I didn't make any New Year's Resolutions. I never do because I'm not good at following through on things like that.

We had a lot of snowy weather here over the holidays and it's been really cold and windy most of the time. I took the photo above Friday morning from the front of our house. There's a scientific term for that bar of light going straight up from the rising (in this case) or setting sun but it escapes me at the moment. I've seen several of them this winter so it must not be a truly rare phenomena.

The photo below shows our driveway on December 17th, the day after we received 16-18 inches of snow. We don't often get such large snow events here in Washington County. In fact we don't often get much precip at all. We refer to this area as the desert of Maryland. The rain and snow usually go east or west of us but seldom make into the Great Hagerstown Valley. Last summer was also an exception and I guess it just carried on into winter.


It was certainly beautiful, both while falling and the day after. This is a cedar along our driveway. I took lots of photos during the storm and the day after. You can see more on Flickr. Fortunately I don't have to go out and work in this kind of weather. I'm sure I'd sing a different song all together if that were the case.


Here's the snow piled on the shrubbery in front of our house the morning after. It was breathtaking. It was a very light and fluffy snow because of the extreme cold and therefore didn't cause any power outages in our area. And it shoveled easily. We don't do a lot of shoveling because we have all-wheel-drive Subarus and don't have much trouble making it up and down our driveway despite the little hill we have to go up to get to the house. So we only shovel paths to the cars.


In knitting news, I joined the 10 Shawls in 2010 group on Ravelry. My first shawl is the India Stole by Sylvie Beez. I'm using Perchance to Knit Lace in the Lagoon colorway.

I'm not going to obsess over getting all 10 done. My queue is pretty ambitious so I'll do what I can and be satisfied with what I get done. I've also been watching "Cranford" and "Return to Cranford" on PBS Masterpeice Classics and enjoying it immensely. What an amazing cast!

In which I FINALLY reclaim some Christmas spirit...

In October I had it in spades. My emotional self was ready to get the decorations out but my common sense told me I was crazy so I let it go. I traditionally decorate the week of Thanksgiving and I told myself I could wait. But when Thanksgiving rolled around my Christmas spirit was nowhere to be found.

I blame it on deluge of Christmas hype that starts in late October/early November. By Thanksgiving I was sick of Christmas. We carried our artificial tree up to the living room and there it stands - naked. It's now December 23 and I don't see myself putting anything on that tree this year. If it wasn't for the 16 inches of snow on the ground I would have carried it back to the basement. The indoor stairs are a little narrow for the tree to maneuver so we carry it up through the yard and in the front door. I guess we'll just plug it in and look at the lights.

Doug has been concerned by my total inability to get with the spirit. I'm a little confused myself. We haven't decorated in 2 years and I was really looking forward to it this year, right up until it came time to do it, that is. Last year I was finishing up my chemo and didn't have the energy to decorate and the year before that we spent Christmas in Santa Fe with Doug's sister and her family. Since we weren't going to be home, I didn't decorate very much.

Last night I finally did my Christmas cards (yes, I know, you don't have to say it) and all of the sudden I felt the tiniest flutter of "something" in my heart. I got up and found the scotch tape and hung the cards we've received on the pillars in the living room. It looked so nice. I still don't hold out any hope for the tree but I believe that I'll put up the garlands and hang the wreath on the door when I get home today. Doug will be so surprised when he gets home!

News or Entertainment?

This morning on the Today show they lead off with the couple who crashed the state dinner party, Tiger Woods, and the Jackson Brothers. It's strange, you know, because I thought WE ARE AT WAR! I realize that they can't show the serious stuff all the time but really, to lead off with those stories trivializes the struggles of the men and women fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Am I wrong in thinking this way? Have I missed something along the way? When did the Today Show become an extension of Entertainment Tonight? For a society that is so focused on the media and instant access to the latest information about everything under the sun, it's really hard to find the news.

I listen to NPR (WYPR out of Baltimore) in the car on the way to and from work everyday and it has become my only real source for hard news. The fact that I have a 10 minute commute doesn't allow much time but I really do get more from those two 10 minutes sessions then I do for a whole half-hour of TV news or from our local newspaper. The paper focuses almost exclusively on local news with only one page devoted to world and national news. That's both on one page.

It seems that we can't handle the cold, hard facts anymore. We must be entertained or our attention wanders. I don't think it's really true but the media seems to think that we Americans have the attention span of a fruit fly and that if they don't wrap the facts in a sugary coating and then jamb them down our throats at the speed of light they'll lose us.

"Twenty-six people were killed in a roadside bombing in Iraq yesterday...oh look, a chicken!"

Come on, do we really have NADD (national attention deficit disorder)?

Time to Get Back on this Horse

I been absent far too long and life is much to short to waste.

Summer and Fall recap: We had a great summer! In July we met family in Cape Cod and spent a week together. It was the first time there for all of us so it was all new and no one was bored. I have a lot of great photos but none are available right now so they will have to come later.

In early November we took Joyce to Buffalo to see cousin Junior. It was the first time I had ever been there but it was such a quick trip that I didn't get to see much. I didn't see the city, the lake or the falls. That will all have to wait for another trip with more time and better weather.

I've been knitting steadily all this time and finished a number of projects.

In June I finished the Aeolian Shawl.




Then I made Girasole as a shawl. I haven't blocked it yet but here's a partial photo:


While I was working on this shawl I started and finished a smaller shawl project, The Feather Duster Shawl. This one was small and quick. I don't have a finished photo of it either (I'm really slacking in the photo department) but here's a partial:


I started another Curved Shawl with Diamond Edging from Victorian Lace Today for a friend and I really need to get back to work on it. But I been busy making slouchy berets and cowls for myself and friends. Right now I'm working on the second mitt of a pair for DH. They're the Flip Top Mitts by Susan Wolcott of Y2Knit. They work up so fast I may have to make a pair for myself.

Hello, It's Me!

Yes, it's been awhile. I missed my third blogiversary, my birthday, all kinds of things. No regrets though, because I've been busy. Doug and I have been mowing on the evenings and weekends, when weather permits. Looks like we're about to have a thunderstorm here any minute.

I've started Zumba! It's been 4 weeks (eight classes) and I can really tell a difference in my movement and energy level. After months of little or no energy and therefore little or no activity I'm finally moving again. Of course, I can just barely walk to the car after class and don't even think of asking me to do anything when I get home but I'm taking baby steps.

I had a check up with my oncologist yesterday and after a very thorough exam she said everything seems fine. I'm scheduled for a mammo next month. I've been putting it off because of lingering tenderness in the incision area, but I guess I'll just have to bear up and get it done.

My hair is coming back like crazy! It's very fine baby hair, mostly white, but some darker strands are coming in finally. I can't say I'm thrilled to have to shave my legs again but it's pretty sparse so I'm not complaining.

And of course, I've been knitting. I didn't get to go to MD Sheep and Wool this year because of a wedding in the family (honestly, what were they thinking?) but I made a list and my wonderful friends went on a treasure hunt and found almost all of it. They also bought a few wonderful things that weren't on the list that they knew I'd like. I've got great friends!


I've bought more yarn since. In fact, I've been on a little spree but it's over now. I've got one more order coming and I'm done for a while. The center photo on the top row of the mosaic below is the Midnight Rainbow/Harlot's Peacock from Perchance to Knit that I ordered from the Loopy Ewe to made a Girasole (Rav Link) shawl. I've wanted it for a long time and since Sheri was offering a 20% discount to those of us buying yarn to join the Girasole KAL, well I had to buy it.


We bought a Canon Rebel Xsi DSLR for our anniversay and I'm slowing learning how to use it. All of the photos about were taken with the new camera. I'll post a photo of my new hair later.

In Heaven There Is No Beer

Turns out that's not necessarily true. On The Universe (History Channel) the other night they talked about huge clouds of alcohol floating about in the galaxy and how prevalent they are. Some are larger then our entire solar system. Though technically not beer, this is the kind of alcohol we drink.

Why am I talking about beer? Because shortly before my last radiation treatment I started craving beer. I have never been a beer drinker (or any kind of drinker for that matter). I drink less then 10 beers a year on average. But all at once I had to have beer, any kind of beer. I dreamed about beer. I longed for beer while I was a work. I drank beer before noon on the weekends. I sent my hubby out on late night beer runs. In the past month or so I have probably drank 5 six packs. That may not sound like a lot to some but it's unprecedented for me.

I told my oncologist about this craving and she thought it was very funny. She said it was nothing to be alarmed about. I guess my body is just screaming for yeast. I know that it's the yeastiness of the beer that attracts me. I'm hoping now that my treatments are finished, this madness will end. I thinks it's tapering off a little already. I meant to drink a beer last night, I thought about while I was a Charity Knitting at Y2Kint, but I forgot about it when I got home.

So the next time you raise a glass, think of me and rest assured that if you didn't want that beer I would definitely drink it for you.

Cheers!

Happy Holidays

Hi, everyone. I wanted to post a project update and wish everyone a happy holiday (whatever that holiday maybe) and a happy new year. I've been knitting every free moment and have finished a shawl and started a couple of new projects. You know me, one is never enough.

I finished the Baltic Blossoms Shawl for my step-mother. It's blocked and all I have to do is weave in the ends. I asked Sarah to model it for me but the camera batteries were dead and then later she was busy so here are pictures of it without a human for scale.



I really love this shawl and will hate to have to gift it but I can always make another one, right? This was quite a journey from beginning to end. But I won out in the end and finished it. The yarn is so pretty. Here's the stats:

Pattern: Baltic Blossoms Lace Shawl by Evelyn A. Clark
Yarn: Spirit Trail Fiberworks Atropos Bombyx Silk in a one-of-a-kind colorway
Needles: #2 Knitpicks Harmony
Mods: I added 5 repeats to the body of the shawl and made the rest according to the pattern. I pinned out the points as scallops instead of points. I like that look better. I love nupps!



Meanwhile I've started a scarf from Folk Shawls by Cheryl Oberle. It's the kimono shawl but I cut the repeats from 10 to 6 so it's a little narrower. I'm wondering though if I should have cut them to 4 because it's still pretty wide and I only have 654 yards. I sure hate to rip it out now because I have over 2 feet of it done. I'm using Handmaiden Sea Silk 150g in Ivory. I've long covetted this colorway and finally scored a skein thanks to a generous gift from my wonderful MIL.


This is a boring knit but the yarn is so yummy that it keeps me going. In fact I think it's slowing me down because I keep stopping to admire and fondle. I worked on it at the Ram's Head Tavern in Annapolis last Friday while we drank a couple of beers and waited to see the Bacon Brothers.



I'm also working on a scarf from Knitted Lace of Estonia by Nancy Bush out of Filatura di Crosa Superior. I can't remember the name of the pattern right at the moment and I haven't photographed it yet. It's going fast but the Kimono Shawl is my first priority.

That's about it for knitting right now. I have to wrap up some presents tonight and we're ready for Christmas. We going to relatives tomorrow and the LYS is having a Boxing Day Knit-In so I'll probably go to that for a while. I don't intend to do any shopping on the day after.

Monday will be my last chemo treatment and I'll be so glad to get it over with. Thank goodness it fell after Christmas. Then I start radiation sometime after the first of the year.

I hope you all have great holidays and enjoy it however you see fit. Happy New Year, y'all!

I could survive for 1 minute, 9 seconds

I'm still going...

I can't believe it's been over a month since my last update. I've been knitting like crazy so I have a lot to talk about.

I've been on a lace kick lately. I finished the Swallowtail and gifted it to my lovely co-worker. I really enjoyed this knit. The pattern is well written and easy to follow and the yarn I used, Handmaiden Sea Silk, is just beyond words. I think it's the perfect yarn for this pattern. It was a true pleasure to knit with and I wish I could afford to make more projects with it but it's a bit pricey for my budget. This photo shows the actual color of the yarn much better.


This put me on a path to nupp central. I purchased an online pattern that features nupps, Baltic Blossoms by Evelyn A. Clark and started it right away. I started it using Filatura di Crosa Superior of which I have 660 yards. This yarn is my most cherished possession and I didn't want to waste it. The small version of the shawl would have left me with 200 yards, not enough to do much with but not enough to knit the larger size. I did the body of the shawl before I finally made up my mind that I just couldn't live with the thought of wasting those 200 yards. So I ripped it out and started over using Spirit Trail Fiberworks Bombyx Silk Atropos. I have 500 yards of this so I did the body for the smaller size but I also went down a needle size. After knitting 9 repeats of the body and the first two lily of the valley charts I decided that the shawl would be too small. So I ripped out the LOV charts and added 5 more repeats of the the body pattern for a total of 14 repeats. With the smaller needle size I'm hoping that 500 yards will be enough to finish this.


Here's what it looked like before I ripped out the LOV charts. I ripped it back to the where the first lifeline is shown but unfortunately I had already removed the lifeline (I know, I'm an idiot). So I had a lot of fun trying to pick up all those stitches in SILK yarn but I eventually succeeded. I'm now back to where the first lifeline is shown but with 5 extra repeats of the body pattern. I'm ready to start the first lily of the valley chart. I'll have to do some major improvisation if I don't have enough yarn to finish this because the colorway was one of a kind.

Meanwhile, my friends and I went to Stitches East for three wonderful fun-filled days! I took two classes and really enjoyed them both but especially the Cable Variations class taught by Melissa Leapman. She is a really good teacher and kept the class moving even if it meant leaving some folks behind. The class description clearly indicated that it wasn't for beginners. I felt so sorry for the lady who sat beside me. She didn't know what an SSK was! She didn't even really get started on any of the examples before she had to quit and move on to the next one. I think she was in tears at one point. No one should ever cry over knitting. That's just wrong in so many ways.

I made some purchases at the market preview Thursday night. I bought a skein of gorgeous tencel laceweight Almaza from Just Our Yarn. Yes, that's the real color.


It's seems to be a very fine lace weight, perhaps closer to cobweb. I just couldn't resist the color and shine.

I bought two skeins of Jojoland Harmony, which is also a very fine lace weight. I'm into bright colors right now. Maybe it's because of the gray/brown yarn I'm working with right now.


I haven't worked with either of these yarns so I hope they will lend themselves to an enjoyable knitting experience.

I hung around the Windy Valley Muskox booth a little too long and ended up buying two balls of Golden Crown Suri Alpaca with the intention of making some sort of lacy scarf. They also had gorgeous pima cotton and beads to make a beaded scarf so I bought that as well. I forgot to take a photo of the cotton but here's the alpaca. I've started a scarf that I'll talk about later.


My hubby wants a scarf made from muskox but he's going to have to cough up the cash for that yarn because it's not coming out of my budget. It's nice but there's too many other yarns I'd like to have.

Let's see, what else did I buy? Oh yeah, I bought a skein of Creatively Dyed Beaches sock yarn. Probably won't make socks out of it though.


I also bought a couple books I've been planning to get. It Itches by Franklin Habit and Knitted Lace of Estonia by Nancy Bush. I have A Gathering of Lace on my list but I'm saving it for my Christmas list.


I cast on for the Lily of the Valley scarf using the Suri Alpaca from Windy Valley Muskox and I'm working on it off and on. Here's a progress shot.


This yarn feels so luxurious and decadent that it's hard to describe. It has a cool, silky feel and a fuzzy softness both at the same time even though I think those tactile sensations contradict one another. It also stretches a lot. I hope it blocks okay.

Somewhere in the the midst of all that I bought a skein of Malabrigo Worsted from Susan at Y2Knit and made another Better Bucket for me, since Hubby took off with the first one I made. I haven't blocked it yet and it's way too big for my hairless head but it fits over my head wraps and really keeps the cold off my bare head. The colorway it Noviembre, which suits it fine.


I had my fourth chemo treatment last Monday and spent the week on the couch too tired to even knit. No nausea, for which I'm so thankful, but extreme fatigue and weakness. This week I'm doing better. I only worked half a day yesterday but I'm fine today. Two more treatments and I'm done with chemo. My exams have been good. No new lumps in evidence so we just continue to treat all the side effects of the chemo and hope for the best. I've had to go on insulin and blood pressure meds but hopefully once the poisons are out of my body, I'll be able to go off those. I have to admit that I'm enjoying the hair loss. Bath time lasts about 5 minutes now because there's nothing to shampoo or shave. My eyebrows are getting sparse but may actually make it through without completely disappearing. My lashes are hanging in there too but I've read that they will be the very last hair to go.