Summer of Sock

Half a sock. Not half a pair, but half a sock. That's all I managed this summer. So much for churning out a half dozen pairs for Summer of Socks. Ah, well. I think I'm stuck in close-up photos lately. I'll need to experiment with some outdoor shots this fall. My husband says there's two kinds of people, ones that see details and pick things apart, and ones that see the whole picture and put things together. He is the later and I am the former. Some of the time I don't see any of the picture and get stuck with overwhelming anxiety. Nothing I do seems right and I feel completely off-track with myself. I'm at that point now. It doesn't help that the baby doesn't sleep well (day or night) and I'm so tired some days I don't know which end is up. This will pass and I'll get by.

Look, I really do knit! Bonus moving photos

The little mauve raglan is nearly done, just a few buttons to sew. The yarn is Elann Devon 787 Dusty Plum, US 2 needles. Basic raglan with picot sleeve hems. I worked to the bottom of the sleeve so the picot was last and kitchener stitched down. What a pain. I decided the collar and bottom hem would not have the same lovely treatment.




Top photo: view from the old place, our ground floor, tucked in the back with a cushy green fence snug apartment. Middle photo: view from the new place, top floor, vaulted ceiling, slightly rolling hills near the Blue Ridge outlook. Bottom photo: all that white and a peek at the extra vertical space. The psychological contrast between snug Hobbit hole den living to birds eye view and vertical space will be great. Some boxes of books have been moved over and we've been busy running for things like pantry shelving and child-proof cupboard latches. The furniture will be moved next weekend and I'll finish packing the kitchen, my son's room, and the miscellaneous odds and ends this week. The fun part is unpacking and making the new place home, I will be glad for that as I've been so overwhelmed with everything lately. Too much to do, too little time.

Big Red

Valerie was working on Elsie Vredenburg's Big Red of Holland, Michigan from the Lighthouse series of quilt patterns. She had a few other patterns in the series, but I only found this one in progress. I'll finish it and send it back to my father in law. The quilt is rather small, it will hang on a wall or door. My apartment is a total disaster with the impending move, so there will only be close up photos for another few days. We get the keys to the new place tomorrow, I'm a little hesitant about all the white walls (we'll now have more whiteness with the vaulted ceilings, but hurrah for more space), I'll just have to think white-washed, crisp Scandinavian snowy white and make the most of that.

Red, Orange, and Yellow

It's the first sunny day below 80 degrees in a long time, and while the leaves aren't changing yet, you'd think fall was on my mind. There's a lot on my mind lately, mostly that Anne just learned to crawl burn rubber yesterday. Man, she's quick. She's scooted, rolled, and scootched around for months but yesterday she just took off in a real crawl and the cats are terrified. This kiddo is something else. She doesn't sleep much (I probably can't get this post done while she naps for 15 minutes, and she wakes every hour at night for the last 3 months, so if you wonder why there is no knitting around here it's because I'm just too darn busy and TIRED). Anne also gave up baby food. Won't pass her lips anymore, so she eats what we do. We mostly eat very healthy foods especially with my cholesterol issues and looming diabetes. It's the salt habit I have a hard time letting go of until now, as I have a child who won't eat a thing unless it's from my plate and I hold her while we eat. I feel pregnant again! I really don't mind, I will miss these times when she is older. I may not get to read, knit, quilt or even use the restroom uninterrupted, but it's worth putting these things aside for a while to have a baby in the house again.

Also on my mind, I go in for my surgical consult next week. I've been trying to avoid it, but a routine ultrasound showed bad news this last time around. It's nothing major, tests found no sign of cancer last year. I lose one ovary, so having more children isn't out of the picture. My grandmother died of ovarian cancer, and that along with my mother in law's ordeal has left me a bit gloomy. I'm sure all is fine, but it's just one more thing, you know?

On the less gloomy side of things, shown are my daughter's favorite red crab, Trekking color 283 I picked up at Y'Arnings in Helena. Then there's our orange cat, Robert, a mother and baby pair of *amazing* growing octopuses - these are the first I've found that really expand to many times their original size, I even scored them off CVS's 90% off summer clearance for 23 cents. Amazing! I made a pumpkin bread two days ago and it's nearly gone, we've all been hungry for a little autumn.

The orange and yellow veined leaf is a Ruth Lampi original, made during her cross-country pottery tour this summer. Ruth is Martin's adopted sister, an artist in Philadelphia. Lastly, Anne in yellow wondering in amazement at the University of Wisconsin's Badger Ballad. Hmm, yellow and badgers? We're reading Harry Potter IV aloud to the older child, maybe the sorting hat would put her in Hufflepuff. If you want to be a badger and hear the song, come along with me.... We introduced Anne to the song the other night while watching Antiques Roadshow. I don't know how we made the connection, one minute we were watching the Keno twins and the next we were singing her the catchy tune. That's pretty normal for us, though.

Sweater Season, Almost

Ok, early morning may be the only practical time for sweaters in Virginia right now. It's 86 degrees out, but the start of school and the end of late sundowns makes you almost think autumn could be lurking around the corner somewhere. Anne willingly modeled her gansey for me, and it will fit perfectly for the upcoming months. Her hemangioma tumors are slowly going down and they aren't so bright magenta any longer. MRI scans show no signs of it in her spine. And yes, that is the cat trying to sneak into the photo. Again.

Here is my poor Birkenstock sandal, the hole getting progressively bigger, the cork ground down to nothing in the back. These are my favorite pair and I can't bear to think of the day where I am walking through the library or grocery store and lose a whole chunk of my foot gear like a shredded semitruck tire. I was on my way to the library, pondering if it were best to even go out in public with my holey Birks.





While at the library picking up books for my older son, I ran across Catwings. I've been meaning to pick up this book and the others in the series but I completely forgot with our busy summer. No one cared about my holey sandal, by the way.

Camping

Our trip to Glacier National Park was eventful yet restorative at the same time. Left Helena just before 9am on the 13th. The '87 Suburban over-heated just past Browning so we played MAD LIBS and read aloud a few chapters of Harry Potter II for an hour until the truck cooled down. Lots of smoke from wild fires until we got up in the mountains at the park.

The guys set up the camper, we ate dinner and went to Lake McDonald Lodge for an evening ranger program on night noises, and my boy braved the cold water at the lake - only ankle deep. Over night we were able to identify 2 owls and (luckily) no bears. Tuesday we went up Going to the Sun Road, hiked the trail at Logan Pass.

I worked a bit on a sock while riding in the truck, though I was more engaged with the view. Our last day there we hiked the trail by McDonald Falls, the guys went down to the water to throw rocks while I nursed the baby. We took the west route back to Helena after encountering a lot of construction to the east of Glacier. We stopped for lunch in Kalispell after ribbing Martin while we passed Martin City (cheap thrills, I know) and ogling at that Hungry Horse now has a stop light. The guys pointed out the Assembly of God camp as well, then the quilting store in Kalispell but they didn't let me stop in.

We were 7 miles from I-90 when 93 was closed due to the fires being too close to the road. After waiting an hour at the gas station, the road was reopened long enough for us to get through to the interstate. The photo doesn't show it, but the line of fire was glowing and quite close to the road and houses. Dinner in Deer Lodge at the A&W, the guys gave a quick tour of the town and their old houses. Back home in time to start laundry and get organized to repack for our trip home.

Our three week visit was very intense, it seemed all too short especially with the loss of Mama. It hit me again hard when I arrived home that I could no longer call her up any time I wanted and talk until the cell phone battery died. I want to fit in more here, but I'm now in the middle of moving (we're only moving a mile down the street) and the stress level has increased about 3 points. I have many wonderful things from Valerie to share, she had many amazing talents and interests but that warrants it's own post.

Valerie Fay Van Oort: August 21, 1951 - August 3, 2007

We are grieved that she is gone, but relieved that she is no longer suffering. First battle with breast cancer in 1998, the second in 2004. She fought it the last three years, hoping to be cured until the end. She waited to see her grown children one last time and then she left us. Martin, my husband, saw her at 11pm on Friday after flight delays and she passed at 11:59pm that night.

Martin, the kids, and I will be in Montana until the 20th. I think we are planning to get away for a bit after the last of the visiting relatives go back home. We'll dust off the camper and head up to Glacier National Park - if it's not on fire. Camping plans will be finalized soon. Knitting? I've started and ripped out the same sock three or four times in the past month. With all that's happened, knitting just isn't. I've just picked up the baby quilt Val was working on for Anne. My stitching is noticeably different from hers, one will see the work of two hands on it when it is completed.

Michigan, part 3

We didn't spend nearly enough time at the beach, it was mostly too cold. Jonah did go into the lake, it was 55 degrees F. Brrr!

Michigan, part 2

Ok, some knitting. More new yarn than anything actual knitting time. I visited several LYS's, saw my old employer and bought yarn (I have no time now to list yarn names and colors, and I have more yarn to show off, I may or may not get to that with my absence of late - I pack tomorrow for Montana and leave on Tuesday for a month out West). I knit a bit more of a baby sweater while sitting on the second story porch one cool morning while Anne slept, though she didn't sleep much on the trip since everything in her world had changed. I managed part of a sock while in the van to Ohio for an aunt's surprise 60th birthday and retirement party. That was a fun trip-within-a-trip. I have a few large plants my mother is "babysitting" for me until I can take them, the snake plant is getting huge. I got new hiking shoes. We picked mulberries and raspberries.

Michigan, part 1

I am back from Michigan, seeing my family and friends over the last 3 weeks. I did manage a little knitting (and new yarn acquisitions), so more on that next time. Along with reuniting with people dear to me I revisited places I spent much time at and hold close to me as well.

My old school is closed and empty. Jonah, my sister Mary, and I looked around the overgrown and deteriorating property and pulled some weeds. It was more of a symbolic gesture to the memory of the place than doing any real help. The large trees still stand tall by the swing sets, the Welcome sign painted at an entrance nearly faded, and a lone squirrel the only one at play.

"Green" Post and a Brief Note on Family News

I'll start off with the family news. I've mentioned that the kids and I are going to spend 3 weeks in west Michigan starting next Thursday. That will be our vacation trip. My husband and I had planned to save our big Montana trip until next summer when he could take several weeks off. Unfortunately, his mother has been fighting cancer again since 2004, the first time was in the late '90's, it was breast cancer. As of this week, her liver is 70% cancerous and they are running out of treatment options. She will be running through those options today with the doctor and we'll know more soon. While I was planning on spending some time in Montana in August to help out and give them a break, everyone is now dropping everything to get out there sooner and stay longer. It looks like I'll be there from late July to late August, Martin will fly in for a week in early August. Mama's parents are going earlier than planned and they will get to see the baby for the first time as well. I really don't know much more, what the next step is or how much time. We've all been really hopeful for recovery, but this is the first big road block we've come to. All your thoughts and prayers are welcome, even after all these years with cancer it's a shock to think it might win.

What does it mean to this space? Well, I certainly like sharing and documenting my own knitting and sewing, but it may be less frequent or I may have much to share. Now that the baby and I are home from hospitals and doctors offices, I thought I'd have more time for this outlet, but now I won't be home much over the next few months, and we may be moving across town in September. I'll do what I can, maybe set up camp in Montana and devote some of this space to our time with Mama. She's a master quilter, she made part of the quilt shown in the photo below.* So, let's get on with this:

Yes, the baby is now home and appointment free for a few months! She has healed enough that her vision is protected and we can put surgeries and steroids out of our minds for a while. I can now use cloth diapers, something that hasn't been ideal for our situation until now. We have to use a cash card for the laundry, so we may not be saving much money in the end but my husband and I find it worth while for the amount of diapers we'll be keeping out of the landfills. I know there's been a lot of buzz words in the green categories lately, and it's nice to finally get so much main stream attention. It's nothing new to us, but we can always do more.

I'm incorporating this idea into my son's summer schooling, doing more earth and health friendly within our family will be an on-going process. To start, we're looking at the diapers. My son likes math, we can compare costs, amounts of waste, etc of the disposables and cloth. These diapers and the covers came from Cotton Babies. We are also cutting down on as much plastics as we can, especially disposable plastic. I found these Earthwise reusable bags at Giant grocery store for 99 cents a piece to cut out plastic grocery bags from our lives. We've been checking out Low Impact Living, checked out books from the library like It's Easy Being Green, and Mother Earth News, among others. More about our changes later, as well as plastic waste and health risks.

We have also done more about food and health (I have high cholesterol and had gestational diabetes and am now pre-diabetic), cut out nearly all red meat, continue with more whole grains and fresh fruit and vegetables. I try to cut out as much artificial dye as possible, it makes my son more hyper than any sugar or caffeine ever could, and who knows what else it could be bad for.

We've been using Skin Deep Cosmetic Database for a few years now, but it's been brought to our attention again with the findings on sunscreen safety. We went back through the site and checked our personal products, tossed a few and printed out lists of healthier ones. I ordered Badger SPF 30 sunblock as it's rated one of the best on the Skin Deep site. I also picked up some Dr. Bronner's soap at the local health food store. These are just a very few of the things we're concentrating on, just a glimpse, but maybe someone will take even one of these ideas and put it to their own use. That would make me happy.

As for knitting, it does fit in here a bit. I'm trying to steer clear of synthetic fibers, especially acrylic. That's really not too hard as most of my stash is wool and cotton. Right now, while I was working on the blue raglan cardigan I think I'll put it aside until September so I can work on socks for Summer of Socks 2007 and I have a very little baby sweater in the very early stages meant for another baby girl. I'll get some photos soon, and I'll be packing the suitcase with sock yarn. Probably more than I'll be able to get to, and I'll probably acquire some more on my trip.

*Most of the quilt blocks were made in the 1930's by Mama's great-grandmother. Mama put them together, added a few more blocks with vintage reproductions and hand quilted it for our wedding present.

Knitting Plans and a Plate

One last thing from my yard sale sweep on Saturday, I forgot it in the back of the wagon. My husband tucked it into the "HELP!" box of tools, jumper cables and first aid kit so it wouldn't get broken on the way home and I only spotted it while loading groceries in the trunk (the dash board message system calls it a boot, my German VW is apparently a Brit). I'm not sure what it's original use was, or if it had another piece to it, but I'll call it a small plate, it's about 4" to 5" across.

I've managed to get more knitting done on the raglan cardigan, I'm almost finished with the increases. I'm enjoying such easy knitting, I usually take on more complicated projects but while my little bear is still so little this blog may be seeing more plain knitting. While my summer knitting plans included socks for Summer of Socks 2007, there is a very wee little baby girl at church who would be darling in a very wee little sweater. I'm thinking another raglan cardigan with picot edging and a few eyelet holes. I've ordered Elann's Devon in Dusty Plum for it. While I was ordering, I also picked out another ball of Devon in Dream Blue to go with my leftover brown Devon from the Snakes and Ladders gansey. Then I also ordered the Sock It To Me discount kit, there's not many left if you want this 70% off "standard price" (I forget how much Elann had one skein selling for, but I figure this is a great deal anyway). Lastly, I added Lara in Tiffany Rose for something for Anne.



Other knitting sites I've been perusing latetly, The Shetland Museum's Fair Isle pages for inspiration on the fair isle vest I will one day knit for my dad. I've been ogling Cinemaknits' log cabin squares, so far I've managed not to be bitten by this bug, but her blocks have me wondering how long it will take me to acquire enough Noro if I do it one ball at a time.




This bright ball of cotton (Sugar n Cream Playtime #2741) is destined to become another Little Tent Dishcloth for me, though I think I will use another pattern for my mother's cloth. I'm being ambitious, I don't know when I will get all this knitting done!


This looks amazing! I am sorry to have missed our local market this weekend, we were too pooped after the library and yard sales. I've been thinking about the Diagonal Ribbed socks, pattern at Knitting Daily and All Tangled Up's WIP here, with my CTH in bark. There is more sock yarn in my stash, but I won't even go into it now.

Saturday Morning in Photos

I finished the quilted car strap covers last night and ironed on the velcro.


The little sprout tries them on for size. Works beautifully.


We hit up yard sales and the P'ville library, took a scenic route where everything is so green.


I'm discovering the joys of knitting in the car. Everyone is strapped in and not needing me. My hands are free for once!




Here are just a few of the great book finds we scored at the yard sales, lots of 1940's Golden Books re-prints in good condition, one of the Master and Commander series, and Weird and Wonderful Weaponry. The last one was too good to pass up. Many more in our hoard are not shown.


An owl mug for my mother who collects owls of all sorts.


I think this is my favorite find today, nesting geese measuring cups.