Two steps forward, two steps back? At least I got some new yarn...

After being sick with mono
and not walking more than 15 or so minutes one way,
I walked yesterday afternoon to my
local yarn store.
It was so WONDERFUL to get out.
I learned the technique,
'M1 ~ make one'
while I was there,
learned of this website and got a new needle to keep
working on the baby blanket.


I got some new grey yarn
for the elephant I wish to make and
practiced the M1/make one technique.

So I bought my first fancy yarn.
I am hoping it can be enough for two elephants, as it is
160 yards/skein but the pattern did call for
175 yards so not holding my breath...
but still wishing all the same.
*
I learned enough to start the pattern...
I am trying to get the baby blanket done first...
Have new ideas for the centre duck/s
and can't wait to try it!

I have begun the second row of yellow;
once that is done, I just have the sides to knit.

I really am captured by this pattern...

In not so distant news,
last weekend Mr. Husband and I suddenly
had a very leaky faucet;
water slowly wetting the kitchen tiles,
soaking our rugs.
A pool of water visible when we opened the
cabinets under the sink.
At first the landlord was not sure about
when it could be fixed;
he valiantly got us an 8 AM Saturday morning plummer
who diagnosed the problem... the landlord for
good reasons did not have the plummer fix the
problem in the end
but suddenly we realized, after the plummer left
that he did not re-hook up the hose right and
we suddenly did not have just a leaky sink but
an unusable one.
So the landlord
thank the Good Lord
came after vespers Saturday night and installed a
a completely new faucet.
It works so well, much better than the original.
But boy,
was it unexpectedly stressful to suddenly be
without a kitchen sink!
Never thought about how much it is used
for food prep, filling the water pitcher,
washing dishes, etc.

 

I have been trying to make some changes
in my daily living to have a more disciplined use
of the computer..
Really appreciated Juliana's post on this.
It echoed so much of what I have been
thinking about and experiencing.
Two things I am trying to do is set times for when
I will do computer time
and trying to do some regular noontime prayers
other than for lunch, etc.
It's really a challenge for many of us who find ourselves,
for various reasons,
feeling isolated and at times lonely,
to not want to be by the computer a lot...
*
I could really,
by the way,
use your prayers.
Between some huge insomnia I've been having
{insomnia last night was for hours,
knit a whole skein of blue on the baby blanket!}
and the ongoing mono flares,
I am more and more wishing just
to be better
and be able to take walks to places
like yarn shops, grocery stores etc.
And have these walks be a normal part of my
my everyday ~ instead of a huge wonderful
after many months of not taking walks ~ existence.
I have a phone consult with my doctor tomorrow
that I am hoping can move me along in this direction.
Can you remember me in your prayers? 
I find the hardest part of this illness is that
it came in month 5 of marriage when I was just
starting to feel settled and get to know people.
I've been often so unwell that I can't go out
and so I am at home pretty much day-in-and-day-out
and well, ahem, it gets a tad lonely at times,
esp. as Mr. Husband cannot work at home all the time.
The only person I know outside of Mr. Husband
in my small little NJ town is the yarn shop owner
who is nice but it is not a 'friend-to-friend' relationship,
if that makes sense.
*
I know that I am really blessed to have such a good
husband, great church families and a nice place to live,
and lots of fun knitting and using yarn
but I really would like to get better so
I can at least get out and take more walks...
It's funny what one takes for granted until it is taken away!
*
Yet, I thank the Lord for His mercy
for the Mother of God and
all the Saints...

A quiet Tuesday

It's been quiet around here today.
I've been thinking about quilting and
how Mat. Anna is doing it.
*
Some day I may learn to sew or even quilt;
it is sounding more fun all the time!
Meanwhile,
I am continuing my learning to knitting.
I am working on a blanket
made up of squares
while thinking about other projects I hope to do
or finish
(like the 15 scarves by Christmas
for nieces and nephews).
*
I just discovered another yarn website that
I can get some yarn at even better prices
for some things.
But first I had to remind myself of what
I have in my stash.
So I put it all on the couch! :) :)


I realized I had more of somethings
than I thought!

I reminded myself that I need to get going on those
orange scarves for my three Ottawa munchkins
and was so happy to find three skeins of baby wool yarn:

 

It will be so fun to use these for
family and friends!
*
I also figured out that I have enough yarn
for my yarn quilt
and for some of my other projects.
*
Meanwhile,
I am loving Google Drive's spreadsheets.
Yes, I love them.
I now have a list of my knitting purchases to see
the cost of things,
another one for my knitting projects and due dates
and it is proving helpful for my BC trip plans
as well.
*
So that is what is going on in my neck of the woods.
What's going on in yours?

Progress for three projects

My yarn came!
The Lord is merciful ~ I have reasons for
wanting this new shipment for some things that need to be done
soon and will have a lot of time to work on them
in the near future,
so I am SO GLAD that it came so quickly!

I am almost done with my
Easter Baby Blanket
and will be casting on for another right
afterwards...

I got this wool for future projects.
A thin cream coloured wool.

Lots of colours for my yarn quilt.
I am getting pretty excited for this quilt!
I am hoping it will be a very
multi-coloured blanket for a loved
almost 5 year old.

 

Two more skeins and this one will be done.
*
For those in the States this weekend is a long weekend;
if I was still living in Canada it would of been last weekend...

What are you hoping to do for this weekend?

Yarn Along~lots of Christmas Scarves and blankets...

On Monday my new needles came
and I had fun experimenting!
This was done on size 19 needles.
Made a looking nice few rows,
but was too loose for
the next baby blanket I want to make...
I am looking forward however to trying this needle
with a thicker yarn...

I started another scarf this week!
I will be doing lots of them
as I have 15 nephews and nieces!

This yarn is really fun to work with
though I find it a bit inconsistent,
as it seems to thin out at times.

I am also having fun,
surprisingly so,
at fixing things.
I got the best socks ever
from a friend and wore them so much
that they already needed to be darned.

I am also slowly fixing up a bunch of slippers
that my Oma made for us over the years
and that I have kept.

I still need to finish off my last dish cloth...

I experimented with the size 15 needles
and have decided to use these for my next
baby blanket.
I am using baby wool English Garden
for the next blanket.

And the first baby blanket is almost done!
I learned a lot while doing it
and look forward to doing another one...

I got a blue and multi-coloured
bands done and am on a pear coloured one again.

I am slowly finishing up two other scarves...
the orange one for my godson,
the green one is a Christmas gift...

 

I could not resist trying out my number 6 needles
and doing a tiny scarf :)
I am thinking it may be for a teddy bear outfit
or something like this...
*
I am still reading,
actually almost done,
with Madeleine L'Engle's
summer of the Great-Grandmother.
It's been a very engrossing read;
I read it years back but so many years ago
in my undergraduate years
and now I am about 8 years past my Master's degree in
Library Science
and dated and married Mr. Husband almost 7 months ago
so I come to her book at a very different time in
my life and find her descriptions of her family,
the many adventures, tragedies and events they
had and lived through
and of course,
noticed the words about knitting in the dark when
candles were too expensive
and making clothes out of old draperies and
ball gowns when poverty was a reality
to these intelligent, resourceful and well-educated women...
*
This week is Holy Week and Mr. Husband and I hope
to go to various services.
I am very thankful for all the prayers for my behalf
as I've still be recovering from the mono that came to me
this past February.
*
Can't wait for Pascha!
*
Won't you yarn along with us?

New Knitting ~ gauge swatch for baby blanket ~ and a question or two

Baby Wool ~ Colours: Blue Bonnet and Pear.
*
My goal is to make a cute baby blanket with
these two colours.
I am thinking of a pattern something like this:
~rows of the two colour strands together
~rows of one colour together
~rows of the two colours together
~rows of the other colour together
repeat as needed.
*
I think it will be really cute and varied!
It will be the first pattern I make on my own :)
I got the idea from a pattern on the
Lion Brand Yarn website called
Sunshine Day Baby Throw.
You have to register on the site to see it
(it's a real cute one! I may try it sometime
but would have to get the yarn colours first).

The biggest needles I have knit with so far! 13/9mm.
I am really loving them!
They are circular needles, as one needs this for bigger projects.
The bigger size is making it really easy to knit with two strands of yarn
and to see exactly what I am doing.
Also really easy to hold,
which is great when one's hands get a bit tired
from knitting on smaller needles.
*
I am trying the Stockinette stitch.
I am doing a gauge swatch for the first time.

It seems that this side (above) is the purl side.

And this is the knit side.

I think I must of switched sides towards the beginning
as you can see (picture above and below)
how it changed...
(if anyone can confirm that this is as I suspect,
I would appreciate it!)

I am appreciating the easy instructions that I can review,
 as my class only briefly touched on the Stockinette stitch.
*
Question:
The Stockinette stitch tends to roll up at the ends.
if you were making a baby blanket would you just leave this as is
or do you try to make a different edge to it?
*
I hope you are all having a great start to your day!
It is sunny here and I may try to make cookies
before the day is out!
*
What do you have planned for your day?

Tuesday - cloudy but good

My yarn and needles came!
Mr. Husband saw the box when he came home:
that looks like the orange one wears when hunting.
Mrs. Wife thinks...
oh, perfect for a few nephews of mine....
hmmm...
in truth though,
this orange is already taken for my
three Ottawa munchkins.
My sister-friend's boys, the youngest of which
is my godson.
They have links to Holland and Holland's
soccer team has orange as a colour.
So clearly scarves with orange are
in order.
I am thinking orange and cream, with perhaps
some bright blue...
*
I got a size 8 circular needle
and size 29,
which is gloriously large, for a blanket
I hope to knit in the future.
*
Oh, I got the cutest colours... :)
I told Mr. Husband that we call one's
collection of yarn
one's stash
and he of course said,
hmm, sounds like when one is on drugs and
they have a stash.
Are you telling me something Mr. Husband?
I asked.
He nodded.
Ok, I had to agree, knitting can be seen as
an addiction of sorts.
But I love it in part because it makes me feel
like I am doing something useful with my time.

So I was knitting by the dining room table
after dinner as
Mr. Husband is still doing cleanup
after dinner so I can rest.
Cleo is very fascinated by the yarn.

So she took it for a bit of  a ride last night,
of course I had to take pictures
instead of stopping her...

it was rather amusing.

This morning I was sitting by the couch and
suddenly looked at this lampada and realized
it was still burning from yesterday
and I ran over and
whew, it had not cracked or run dry.
I added more oil...
and am thankful that the new wick holders are coming soon.
The floating kind make me nervous as I
like to leave them burning and
the wick holders I am getting will only let
it burn so long before it will
naturally be snuffed out,
ensuring that it will not run dry or
break...

Mr. Husband loves this cereal.
I do too,
I admit it. I try not to have too much processed
food around the house,
but somehow with Mr. Husband's penchant for
this cereal,
it stays with us...

Candle burning bright for the
newly departed...

These flowers bring me so much cheer.
I can tell that as long as the blooms last,
I will be wanting to photograph them.
I miss my Ottawa flower photograph walks.
Hopefully when I get better
from this mono I can
go on walks again
and find some flowers waiting to be photographed...

So we ordered this cheesecake
for Butter Week.
I'd never heard of this brand,
a restaurant in upper Brooklyn. 

Mr. Husband cut us a piece
each last night.
Oh my.

For once I believe what the box says.
Melt-in-mouth good-enough-for-Pascha-morning-breakfast
Wowzah!!
*
I joked with Mr. Husband that I should
eat some more when he is gone
(Mr. Husband loves, loooovveees, cheesecake)
and then he goes and surprises me and says
I need the calories to get better
and to go ahead and eat more than my share.
I assured him I would not
but how generous can my
Mr. Husband be?
Apparently very.
(shhhh, don't tell him,
since it's almost lent and we are supposed to work
on humility... :) ) 

 

Delft hidden in the kitchen.
I love it.
*
Thanks to those who left comments recently...
I changed my comment settings to open it
up for more to comment...
we will see what happens...
*
I am so thankful for my blog community.
This whole
recovering-from-mono and being-in-house-all-week
can be a bit lonely at times.
*
I am blessed to have Mr. Husband.
It could be so so much worse.
*
What are you thankful for today?