Knitting Blues

I said it out loud in the car on Saturday on the way to our little yarn adventure to Roberts, but yep, I have it, the knitting blues. (or in my case the knitting greens, since I seem to buy a lot of green yarn, also lucky for me NK did not kick me out of the car) While I have finished several projects:

• 2 baby sweaters
• 2 multi directional scarves
• 2 pairs of clogs to be felted
• 2 bags to be felted
• 1 pair of ballet slippers to felt
• 1 pair of fair isle mittens
• 1 alpaca sweater (for GBT)

This knitting has almost all been for the silent auction to raised money for MMT and I go to on Mission Jamaica. I feel like it is a task, a job, a chore. I need to be done with this and knit something for pleasure. I do feel somewhat proud of myself, I have knit almost everything for the auction from scraps, so I don't feel like I am spending a lot on yarn for the auction. I have a hat left to finish for the auction and then I am pretty much out of scraps and can move on to another more fulfilling project. I did buy yarn on Saturday for a sweater, perhaps I can get that started over Thanksgiving break. The auction is not until February, so I think I can take a break for a little while.
Great outing to Roberts on Saturday! I have had a couple of flashbacks of "chatty" girl, but the time with the guild, the stop at the DQ and the laughter definitely out weigh the negative effects of chatty girl.

Where is the camera?

Yes it has been a very long time. And I have all kinds of knitting to show you and I can't take any photos! Argh!

One jacket needs to be blocked

One top down alpaca sweater needs to be blocked

Two top down baby sweaters, needs buttons and to be blocked

Three Spirit Scarves COMPLETE

One pair of socks

Heaven help me, I am going to look for the camera

Who knew?

It all started at 1 am on Friday morning, MMT woke me up with a bad stomach ache. I told her take 2 ibuprofen and some Tums and it would be fine. At 3am the husband and I both awoke to the terrible sounds of MMT being violently ill. We got the situation contained and went back to bed, only to go through it all again 20 minutes later. This continued on and on and on and on. It was awful. At 4:30 am MMT went downstairs (how she had the strength I don't know) to check WEB MD, convinced she had appendicitis. She continued in her miserable state downstairs from that point on, at 5:30am she was a wreck, I was a wreck and the situation was deteriorating rapidly. At 6am I called her swim team carpool to them the that MMT had the flu and would not be needing a ride to swim practice that morning. She stopped throwing up around 10 am and was finally able to take a short nap. She was unable to eat even a cracker or much more than a sip of water. The day progressed, she did not throw up, but spiked a low grade fever and her pain was increasing, at 5:30 I checked WebMD for appendicitis. She had all the classic symptoms. I said "let's wait for dad" . Dad came home at 6:30pm with a pizza for dinner. At that time I caved and called Urgent Care, the nurse, said, "go to the ER, that sounds like appendicitis". So after I had a couple of pieces of pizza (don't want to be hungry and crabby at the ER) we headed to Luther. By 8pm, after the doctor exam, she started drinking the dye for her CAT scan. 9pm off to CAT scan. 9:30 back to room 9 (of the newly built Menard ER at Luther--oh baby, very nice!). As we passed the ER doc, she says to me "her white count is through the roof, I think it is her appendix. 9:35 CAT scan results are uploaded, guess what?!?! Appendicitis. By 10 pm we had met with the surgeon (it was his 2nd appendix of the night) . By 10:30 she was in surgery.
The doctor spoke with us about midnight and said for some one whose attack started less that 24 hours earlier, her appendix was in bad shape. Dad stayed in the room with MMT I came home to catch a few hours of sleep with the dogs. Driving down Water Street at bar time is a real experience!
She was released from Luther about 2pm today, and is now resting comfortably in the recliner.

Who knew???? MMT knew!!!

Back to living in the real world

There has to be a better way. There has to be. You work all day, and when you get home from work there is either something to do, or you are too darn tired. Either way, the job takes away quality time and energy from what is truly important, knitting. The only good thing, is the job provides money for yarn, but I would still rather spend my time knitting.
Since returning from our glorious week on the Island, and my subsequent return to school, I have finished 2 projects. TWO. A pair of felted clogs (lavender and black) and a pair of fair isle mittens (made from the clog left overs---thus my 2nd Indian knitting name: Shewhoknitswithscraps). How lame-O is that? Don't answer that. I did not even think they were worthy enough for a picture to accompany the post.
I am continuing to work on the brown alpaca sweater for GBT, but fine yarn on a size 6 is going to be the death of me, dead from boredom, around and around and around on the brown yarn. I am on the bottom ribbing, however there are 9 inches of ribbing, I still have a long way to go. Knit 2 purl 2 round and round and round.
Otherwise, all goes well, I am loving this warm fall weather! I could live like this year around, who needs snow? The boy seems to be enjoying college and life in the dorms, GBT seems happy to be back at MI Tech and in the full swing of being a college kid again. MMT is finally better after fighting off a virus for over 2 weeks. She swam a 1:16 in her 100 fly at the meet on Saturday, she was very excited! (This will only mean something AJ or other swimmers-sorry)
Let's see, walk the dogs or knit for few minutes???? duh!

Compliments

Well.... I did finish my 1/2 sweater on the island trip and am now wearing it at work and have received many compliments about it and so now everytime I hear I like your sweater I say "thanks I made it". I am very proud that I have FINALLY finished something. I did buy yarn on the island to make another 1/2 sweater and am looking forward to getting it started as soon as I get some of my other project done like my other 2 sweaters and about 3 pairs of socks and many pairs of mittens. Sometime I will take photos of them and get here. If only we lived on the island and could knit all day long, if only.

It's about time . . .

It seems like AGES, AGES ago! But I am finally blogging the chick week at the island! We didn’t all get to go together (bummer) but we all made it there eventually.

CT and I made our obligatory Starbucks stop and headed North. We stopped in Bayfield and ate at Maggies (such good food, such long lines). They off to the island! On Monday we successfully erected the gazebo (usually a four person job), hauled the chairs down to the beach, and set up shop so to speak. We knit in the sun, read in the sun, and swam in the lake! The weather was gorgeous and was the water.


On Tuesday the Birthday Girl arrived! We had her banner and birthday tiara ready to go!. I watched from the beach so we could see her vehicle coming, So we were on the road waiting, waving and jumping! A spectacular sight I am sure. Tuesday was a bit cloudy in NK’s honor, because she was hoping for not-so-nice weather, because it’s better knitting weather!

On Wednesday we were up early and in the water getting ready for our trip back to Bayfield! AJ would be arriving around supper time. She would leave her vehicle in Bayfield for the remainder of the week. So we went over to help her with her luggage and to eat at Maggies AGAIN. Just as good this time, lines not as long!

Thursday and Friday were comprised of sunbathing and knitting. Oh, and a naked lady. Poor CT went for a walk. I passed, and opted to just read on the beach. NK and AJ hadn’t made it down to the beach as of yet. Off she trooped, only to be back way quick. It seems that at 2:00 in the afternoon, a less than young woman decided to take a bath in the lake. As she turned around CT got an eyeful, and managed to compose her self enough to get her self back to our beach!

On Saturday we went to Fly Away Fleece Farms. So here is the deal, if you ever go to Madeline Island, call Fly Away Fleece Farms! Make an appointment to go see Cynthia, her sheep, her looms, her yarn, and her HOME. It is nothing short of amazing. BTW, you can purchase the yarn directly from her on your visit, or there are a couple of shops on the island that carry her yarn. Cynthia and her husband are restoring the farm, and it is beautiful. After we came home after the trip, I was discussing the farm with my mother-in-law. I found out that my husbands family stayed their at the farm when they were building our cabin. My husband was so young, he didn’t remember it! Cynthia has a degree in design if I remember correctly and you can certainly tell it as you walk thru her home. Please note that the bottom part of the bathroom sink washed up on their shore. She would not let her husband burn it!

It was a lovely little vacation for the guild girls. A the serenity and quiet. Except for the occasional gale of laughter! Oh, and a new game. There is a great A.M. radio station out of Ashland, 1400. The game goes as follows, name the artisit, name the song, and dead or alive!

Since we have been back. Well it’s been busy. Three out of the four graduating seniors have been packed off for college! AJ really has an empty nest! School has started for the remaining children in town.

By the way. This last photo. That is all the yarn we brought to the island. Heaven forbid you should run out of yarn whilst on an island!

P.S. We finished many, many projects, and started many, many new ones!

P.S.S. Habib the camel belong to another farm on the island, no Cynthias! In addition to Habib, they have Hudson (an Imu), and a lama, goats.

It was wonderful