Mini Star Trek Progress

This is where I'm at on the Mini Star Trek cross stitch project.

All the characters are done. I'm about half done with the names of the characters. Now I have to figure out what I'm going to do for a border and I want to put something at the top. Perhaps the words "to boldly go" or something like that, and a little Enterprise ship somewhere.

After a week of gorgeous weather, we are having a rainy day, which I am enjoying immensely. The cleaned gutter is working perfectly. There is no more waterfall coming down in front of the back door. It was worth the effort.

The knee is healing. I have been able to sleep in my bed the past 2 nights, fairly comfortably too, for the first time since spraining my knee. I have enjoyed the sleep so much, and I think getting sleep is helping the knee heal faster. I've got times during the day with no pain. I'm also getting some energy back.

I've come to terms with sweet hubby going back to school. It could end up being a very good thing, for him especially. Acceptance can be a good thing. I will adapt.

Live long and prosper. \\//

Weekend Projects

As promised, I'm blogging about what else I was working on over the weekend. It was a cold and very snowy weekend. We got 8 inches of new snow. So I had no desire to go anywhere. I decided to see if I'm recovered enough from the surgery to do some beading. I worked on Luis. Before the surgery I was embellishing the front and back with the swarovski crystals. I actually finished that step, but then discovered I'd managed to slant some of them in the wrong direction. You want all the crystals to slant the same direction. So over the weekend  I did a little frogging and fixing. Luis is starting to look decidedly Seahorse-ish.

Christmas is coming soon. As usual, my thoughts turned to the cross stitch picture of the little snowmen that I started 6 years ago (good heavens!). I found myself longing to work on it, so I dug it out and worked on snowman 10 of the 12.

It feels good to be cross stitching again.

Yesterday I worked on the Owling fingerless mitts I'm making for a Christmas gift. I'll have a pic of that project in my next post.

We got rain last night. Lots of rain. Such a surprise. We were expecting a couple inches of snow. It knocked down the snow we had a couple inches. It's all wet, slippery, and gloppy out there now. Tonight we're supposed to dip back down into the frigid zone and get snow again.

Two very young turkeys have taken up residence in our yard the last 3 days. They were born earlier this year. I know this because of their coloring and the fact they still have feathers on their heads. They discovered the Parkarosa Bird Buffet and can't seem to get enough of it. Sweet Hubby blew a nice trail all the way around the house with the snow blower (for the cats) and they've been hanging around in it. This morning they were out front munching on bird seed. Sweet Hubby complimented me on the lovely animated Thanksgiving decorations I put up. Hee hee!

Speaking of Thanksgiving, we are having dinner at our house this year. There will only be 8 of us. My brother-in-law Dan and his family are coming over. I think I can handle that. Especially with Sweet Daughter here to help me. I went shopping for the turkey and fixings yesterday. I wanted a fairly large turkey-I was thinking 20 pounds minimum, but the largest one they had was 17, so I settled for that. It's plenty big enough for 8 people. I was just kind of hoping for a bit more leftovers than we'll get.

I also bought fixin's for The Day After Thanksgiving Dinner. It's a Park family tradition. We all gather at Dan and Sue's house the friday after Thanksgiving and have a huge pot luck. We bring our leftovers (that we're willing to share anyway) and something new to add to them. I'm going to make my well liked Strawberry Jello salad for the occasion.

I have a strong desire to put the Christmas tree up before Thanksgiving. It's the dark. It's getting to me. (I have to turn the lights on around 3:30 now.) I don't have time. Got too much to do before the big dinner. I did talk Sweet Hubby into putting the lights up on the house though. I helped him. It is so nice to have a bit of color out there now.

Today is Tuesday, so I have Rathdrum Knitalong. I'm looking forward to it. I've got an idea to propose to the group. I want to do a lesson on fixing mistakes. I've come up with a swatch that everybody could make with mistakes knit into them on purpose and I'll teach how to fix them. Dropped stitches, a purl where a knit should go, how to unknit one stitch at a time, how to rip and put the stitches back on the needles, stuff like that. They need to know this stuff so they can fix mistakes without my help between meetings.

Live long and prosper.\\//

Current WIPs

 I worked on the lace scarf last night. It's just over 2 feet long now.

Here's a pic of the skein of yarn.

As I was knitting away I suddenly realized I'm working with yarn that is older than me. That's kind of weird.

I also worked on the next snowman of Snowman Row.

This is what it's supposed to look like when done, except in color of course.
 

It's sunny this morning. They say snow is coming later this week. I'll believe it when I see it. In the meantime, there are two tulips poking above the ground in my yard. Yay! Sweet Hubby found a Buttercup in the woods too.

You know spring is coming when there's Buttercups. There was a pair of Towhees, and a sparrow at the feeder this morning. I'm keeping my eyes open for Robins. They should be coming along pretty soon. I wonder if we'll have the Red Crossbills this year.

I love spring!

I got almost all the laundry done yesterday. I'll finish up whats left today. I also hope to sit in the sun a bit this afternoon-assuming the coming snow clouds haven't arrived yet.

Have a good day.

Snowman #9

Only 3 more to go. Hurray!

(Yes, I do know there's a stain above his head. Coffee. Not worried. Can you say Oxyclean?)

Have a good day.

Snail Fiddling is Not an Occupation I'd Be Proud Of

The title of todays entry is a quote from a blog I found this morning that is hilarious. Sleep Talking Man is about the things Karen Slavick's husband says when he's asleep. If you need a chuckle, I recommend a visit. (Be warned, some of his night time language is not G-rated.)

You know what's even funnier? I was reading the blog this morning. I looked up at the TV and there was the blog on Good Morning America, along with Karen and her husband. Talk about coincidences!

The new washing machine was delivered and installed. I haven't tried it yet. It was delivered when I wasn't home, so the daughter got to try it first. I'll be getting good use out of it today.

I have finished the first sleeve of the baby cardigan.


No one showed up for my knitting class so I worked on it until it was done. Then I went grocery shopping at Walmart.

I went there because there was a particular item I wanted. Something my local grocery store just doesn't carry. A little piece of heaven that came out last month but I hadn't got around to getting it.


I picked up Susan Boyle's first CD, I Dreamed a Dream. It is awesome. Her voice does something to me. It soothes my soul. When I hear it an immediate peace and tranquility just come over me. Doesn't matter how stressed, sad, angry, frustrated I might be, her voice releases it. I can not stay mad when I hear her. Not very many singers can do that to me.

I also picked up some spring while at the store.


I'm anxiously waiting, though, for the daffodils. They should be hitting the local stores soon.

My snowman has a face!


Tommy was sitting on the couch looking elegant last night. I had to take a pic.


Last, but not least, I found this bib in my knitting room. I'd forgotten about it. It's a model one of my employees, Loretta Smith, stitched for me when I had my shop. I think I'll send it along with the baby sweater when the time comes.


That's all for today. Have a good one.

Washer Update

The washer is dead. Long live the washer.

The computer controller is damaged-we think by a small power surge we had the day before when it got really windy outside. (Lost a couple trees too.) To replace said controller would be $430 plus labor. I don't think so Tim!!!

Don't buy the electronic appliances with the push button controls. They are NOT reliable. The Sears repairman said he'd never buy one. He sees way too many of them in his job.

Anyway, today I went to Sears and bought a new washer. It will be delivered tomorrow. I bought a Whirlpool. It has the old fashioned twist dials on it. It's a model that they've not changed in 35 years cos it's so good. Don't be fooled by that. It has lots of fancy features. They just aren't controlled by a computer.



It has a super gentle handwash cycle for delicates-or in my case, alpaca/wool/silk/cashmere/take your pic sweaters. I have to have a good gentle cycle being such an obsessed knitter and all. Also can be set to rinse twice. I found myself using that on occasion with the broken one.

The deal I got on this baby! It was on sale to begin with. The repairman gave me a coupon for $65 off (to replace the 65 I had to pay him to tell me my washing machine was toast). I also get $125 in rebates (just happened to be there on the right day) AND they're gonna deliver it for FREE and take away my old one for FREE! By the time it's all said and done, I will have paid considerably less than $400 for it. So I'm feeling pretty good about it.

I have 8 rows left and the first sleeve of the baby cardigan will be done. I also stitched the face of the snowman last night. He has eyes and a smile now, and his snowy face is all sparkly. I got part of his roly-poly body done too.

It was a beautiful sunny day today. Nice and warm. I'm gonna be really sad when the winter chill comes back.

Have a good day.

New Sock Pattern for You

I have posted the pattern for Franks Little Cable socks on my pattern blog. Just thought you'd like to know that.

Franks Little Cable Socks

Besides the pattern, I've also been working on my cross stitch snowman.

I'm down to stitching the sparkly white and then it's outline time! I love doing the outlines. That is when the picture comes to life.

The weather has been winterish the last couple days. Periods of clear skies followed by short periods of snow-most of it kind of slushy. Last night we got some freezing rain. Everything was glazed when I got up. Now the sun is shining, it's above freezing, and the ice is falling out of the trees and hitting the house. It's kind of a scary sound so I'll be glad when it's all melted off.

Have a great day.

Making Snowmen

We are having a very rainy weekend. I guess I prefer that to the alternative-snow. It's turning out to be a much milder winter than the past 3 have been. The weatherman says it's because of El Ninjo. Whatever. I'm just happy to have some relief after the past 3 years.

Just because it's raining instead of snowing does not keep me from making snowmen.

I have been craving some time with my cross stitch. I haven't done any since this time last year. Knitting, beading, life-all these things kind of pushed the stitching to the wayside. Anyway, I pulled one of my unfinished projects out a couple days ago.

This is called Snowman Row. It was designed by Ursula Michael and sold as a kit, though it was discontinued shortly after I bought it. I started working on it about 3 or 4 years ago. I work on a couple of the little guys each year.

I have four left, counting the half finished one I started Thursday. I think I'm going to finish it this year. I need to get it done so I can hang it on my wall next Christmas.

I have not cast on for the mystery shawl yet. I should do that this evening. Wow, I'm gonna be pretty busy with this many projects going at once.

We've had a sudden turn in life's road this week. Daughter Ruth is not going back to school for the next semester. She wants to take a semester off. She only has one class and her senior thesis left and she'll be finished and have a degree, but she is showing signs of pretty severe burn out so we've given in.

I am afraid that if she takes it off she will not go back next fall and finish. I hope that won't be the case. Having a degree gives a person such a huge advantage when it comes to earning income in our society. So, anyway, instead of leaving the nest and going out on her own, our little birdie is returning and settling in. I am disappointed, but I suppose I'll get over it.

Have a good day.

WIP Wednesday 10/29/08

Since I have to put my leg up on pillows on a regular basis, and I'm feeling much better, the creative juices have begun to flow and I'm getting things done.

Yesterday I started assembling Pierre the Pirate. He has turned out to be quite a challenge to assemble too. The little pile of black beside him is his pirate hat and an eye patch. The instructions for the hat are hazy at best, so I'm not quite sure how I'm gonna do it. I hope Ravelry can give me some tips. Anyway, I want to get him done before next Wednesday so I can take him to the Knitwits meeting.


I started the sky on Dogwood & Hummingbirds.


And this is where I am on an ornament cover I started a couple weeks ago. I just have to finish the fringe and it's done.


I also knit a couple inches on the Deep Forest sock last night, and I started a pair of baby socks this morning. I've decided I can not go without my letter 'O' for October in the Sock A Month knitalong. Baby socks just take a couple hours or so to knit.

Today it's supposed to get up into the 60's. I see deck knitting in my immediate future.

Have a great day.

Doing the Right Thing

I was losing my battle with the Panic Attack Anxiety Disorder. It took a turn for the worse and I found myself vomiting several times a day, unable to sleep, and feeling miserable. I wake up in the morning and before I've even had a chance to think of anything my brain starts pumping those nasty fight or flight chemicals into my blood stream. By the time I got up I was a basket case.

So, I was sitting in my chair on Wednesday morning, feeling absolutely wretched, and asked myself "Why am I sitting here suffering when all I need to do is go see my doctor?" I picked up the phone and made the call. 2 hours later he was checking me out. I did the right thing. His diagnosis-my body has been under a great deal of stress of late. Thus, triggering the Panic Attacks. He has upped my daily Prozac dose.

Then he started talking about Xanax because it takes Prozac anywhere from 2 to 5 weeks to start working. Xanax is a tranquilizer that stops the brain from pumping those nasty chemicals. Brings it to a screeching halt in my case. It helps with the anxiety until the Prozac kicks in. However, it also makes me very very apathetic and sleepy. I can hardly function when I take it. I expressed my misgivings and the doctor suggested I try something new. So I did, and I love it. Within an hour of taking the first dose I started to feel more normal. The anxiety just dissipated, and I was not drowsy. I was hungry-for lunch. My appetite came back. I will only need to take it for a week or two until the Prozac kicks in, and it's not addictive. So I am a happy camper. The last two evenings I have eaten dinner with enthusiasm (I even cooked them!) and I didn't get nauseous afterwards and throw up. Hurray! I'm still waking up and getting hit with the attacks first thing, but that will decrease over the next couple weeks until it stops all together.

Since I've been feeling better the last couple days, I've been going out on little adventures. I have been looking for an appropriate thread to use for stitching the background of Dogwood & Hummingbird. I ordered the thread the pattern lists, but when it arrived on Wednesday it was way too light. It's a hand painted silk thread called Waterlillies and apparently there is no consistency in it's color from dyed batch to dyed batch. Mine is almost white it's so pale (supposed to be light blue with bits of pink).

I was given several suggestions for threads that might be suitable substitutions. So yesterday afternoon I got in the car and took off for Coeur d'Alene, where I drove from store to store looking for a thread that would work. I was unsuccessful. So, after carefully and thoroughly thinking about it, I'm gonna just use plain blue thread. It's not that important to me that the background MUST be pink and blue. Just blue is fine. As long as it looks more or less like sky. I've dug in the stash and found 2 different threads I'm pleased with. Now, to choose which one.......

This mornings adventure was a bit more strenuous. First I went in for a blood test. After that I decided to go to Walmart. Sweet Hubby has been making comments about picking up the latest Indiana Jones movie that's now out on DVD. So I thought I'd pop in and get it for him. Our Walmart is HUGE! And while I was there, I picked up a few other things we needed-which required wandering from one end of the store to the other, and back again. In other words, I did a lot of walking this morning. I'd say I did a mile, easily. All be it, at a leasurely pace while I looked for the specific items I wanted, but a mile none the less. My leg hardly hurt at all. I got very very tired, but I sure feel good about it. My recovery is speeding up. Once I've got this Panic Attack situation conquered, I'll be set.

Had a moose sighting Wednesday night. Tommy was fast asleep under a pile of blankets on the couch. We know he was asleep cos he was snoring. All the windows and doors were closed cos it was freezing cold outside (frost was forming on the grass). Suddenly, without warning he went absolutely bonkers. Started barking and racing and throwing himself against the back door. I opened it up and sure enough, there was a moose. We have a gate at the bottom of the steps so Tommy could not chase after the moose, but he sure barked his head off at it. I grabbed my paint ball pistol and planted a nice bright yellow one right on the mooses rear end. Boy, did she run!!! Moose can go pretty fast if they want to. What I wanna know is how did Tommy know? We didn't hear anything. Dogs are amazing sometimes.

My daughter, Ruth, is coming home from school for the weekend. I'm looking forward to seeing her. Maybe we can talk knitting.

Well, the washer has sounded it's buzzer. Time to throw the load into the dryer. So I will sign off.

Have a great day.

Major Elements are Done

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to pretend there are no wrinkles, creases, or dirty spots in this picture.

(click to enlarge)

I have finished stitching all the major elements of Dogwood & Hummingbirds. I am quite excited about it too seeing as I started this project over 2 years ago. I still have 2 major things left to do before I can get it ready for framing. The background needs to be stitched in. It requires a color of Caron Waterlilies that I do not have. I've called a shop in Spokane this morning and ordered it. They are going to send it off to me tomorrow. There's a lot of background to stitch. It's all half stitches of one color, single strand. It will probably take some time.

The other thing is the backstitching-which puts in the outlines and whatnot. Backstitching is loathed by most cross stitchers. I, however, love it the most. It makes the picture come to life. In this case, it will add veins to the leaves, definition to the feathers in the wings, and finish the centers of the flowers. While I am waiting for my Waterlilies thread to come I am doing some of the backstitching that doesn't touch the background.

I had a good weekend. Especially on Sunday. I got to sit out on the deck in the sun for awhile. It's been so cold, I took advantage of the opportunity for a little warmth while I could. Winter draws closer each day. I read a novel while I was out there, and listened to the birds twittering and the gun shots banging. One of our neighbors has his own shooting range, and he clearly is practicing for hunting season. He must have had some friends over because there was definitely more than one gun being shot at a time. Ah, the joys of living the rural life.

Yesterday was dark, cold, and wet. It got so dark around 2:30 pm I actually had to turn the lights on in the house! I did do a bit of housework, but mostly I stitched hummingbird wings.

Today is another beautiful warm sunny day. So I puttered in the yard a bit-putting things away for winter. I put away the hummingbird feeder (no sense having it out all winter since the Hummers have all gone south), and I cleaned and filled the bird feeders. I also sat on the deck and soaked some sun.

For some reason I am absolutely dreading winter. We're hoping we don't get as much snow as we did last year. Sweet Hubby thinks we won't because our tractor is all fixed and running better than it ever has since we bought it. My nephew Shawn and his friend Don did all the repair work for us-for beer, and the chance to use it when needed. I'm so grateful to them for that because just paying for the parts was hard enough. Anyway, we're ready for snow if it comes. So SH figures it won't. Heh heh.

Have a great day.

Still Fighting the Battle

I have not given up. I had 2 really bad days in a row, but I carried on with the battle.

I think I've mentioned some time ago in this blog that I have Panic Attack Anxiety Disorder. Usually, it's kept under control with medication. However, with all the stress my body has been under the last few weeks, the panic attacks have returned. This is a disease I would not wish on my worst enemy. My brain starts releasing all of those chemicals that cause the flight or fight response-in other words, panic.

Ordinarily, when a human is under our common every day stress, the brain will release these chemicals, and then we think "oh, there's nothing to worry about." Immediately, the brain then releases chemicals which counter act the panic chemicals. They're called Re-uptake inhibitors (or something like that). Unfortunately, my brain doesn't make those chemicals. There isn't anything I'm afraid of. The brains chemical manufacturer is just malfunctioning because it's been under too much stress. So, I have all the physical symptoms of sheer terror, even though intellectually I know there is absolutely nothing to be afraid of. It's a painful thing for me to go through.

Usually when this happens I call my doctor, he prescribes heavy duty tranquilizers to stop the release of the panic chemicals. I'm a doped blob until my meds (that supply the re-uptake inhibitors my body isn't making) kick back in, and life goes on. This time, though, I do not want the tranquilizers. They knock me down so hard. I'm so lathargic, and dopy when I'm on them, and I usually have to take them long enough that I end up addicted and have to wean off of them. My body has enough medication coursing through it right now. So I am dealing with it in a different way. Oddly enough, it's working. I'm actually feeling better today.

Despite yesterday being really hard for me, I made myself drive me to my appointment for yet another blood test (we're down to having them once a week now). Yes, my first time driving since the surgery. Then I ran a couple errands. I went to the drug store for a prescription refill, and the bank to deposit a couple checks. It was a warm sunny day (compared to what we've been having) and it felt good to be out and about.

After I got home I took a little rest, cos I was exhausted, then I set about cleaning my kitchen. I stood at the sink for a good 20 minutes washing dishes and my leg did not bother me. Now, THAT is great! I also did a couple small loads of laundry, and straightened things up around here because we were having company. My brother-in-law and his wife came over after work, bringing dinner with them. They brought chinese style food from Panda Express. We had a great time visiting with each other, and my appetite came back enough that I was able to eat some of the delicious food too. All in all, the day ended far better than it started.

Since my last post I have been stitching away on Dogwood & Hummingbird. I've got this much done on the last bird now.


I started the wings yesterday afternoon, after I was done with my housework. It's all I have left to do on this little birdy. Then, I start stitching the background color. Stitching really is helping me with the panic attacks, anxiety, and negative thoughts that have been plaguing me. I have to concentrate on counting and what color goes where. There is no room for bad thoughts. I'm so glad I know how to do counted cross stitch. It's my therapy of choice right now.

Have a good weekend.

Feet and an Arm

Thank you so much to those of you who left comments in my last post. I really appreciate it. Your answers to my question, "Why do you read my blog?", surprised me. I feel honored and humbled that my knitting and bead work are an inspiration to folks. I am also glad to hear folks enjoy my moose stories.

Speaking of moose, I haven't seen any for a few weeks. Lots of deer, but no moose. Not even a sign they've been around during the night. However, my brother-in-law, who lives a mile from us on the creek that runs through the Parkarosa, is seeing them. So I suspect they have moved over to his house for the winter since that is what they did last year. Of course, after posting this, there will be a dozen or so of them strolling on the back lawn this evening.

Winter. Wow. It's on it's way here. We shouldn't actually be getting any snow until mid November, but it's been so chilly lately. Right now, as I write this, a large quantity of grey clouds has moved in, and it smells like snow. No snow in the weather prediction, but I'm starting to wonder.

Yesterday Sweet Hubby mowed the lawn for the last time this year. That led him to decide to blow out the sprinklers. Then to empty and roll up the garden hoses-which were full of ice! He had to thaw them out. Then he decided, since he was at it, he better winterize our little camping trailer. Some of the pipes were already frozen! (Thankfully, none were damaged.) So it took him awhile to get all the water out of it. He made a little pile of ice on the front lawn. It was still there this morning. Even though the sun has been shining, and the thermometer says 54F, it hasn't been what I would call warm.

Over the weekend I got just a bit of knitting done. Pirate Pierre has 2 feet and an arm.


I also made good progress on Dogwood & Hummingbirds. I finished the last flower, and I'm now working on the last Hummingbird.


Yesterday I went grocery shopping with Sweet Hubby. My leg was feeling pretty decent, so I decided to find out where it's at on the recovery gauge. I got through about 3/4ths of the grocery list, then I had to hand it over to SH and go out to the car. The leg starting throbbing in a most painful way, but mostly I got dizzy. Really really dizzy. Almost didn't make it to the car. A lady saw me staggering in the parking lot and helped me the rest of the way (I didn't let SH help me cos I thought I was gonna be just fine). Once I sat down, I started feeling better immediately. SH thinks maybe my blood pressure dropped because I was getting exercise for the first time after almost a month of laying around. The store was just a bit too much for me. Well, now I know. I need to build myself up a bit before I try that again.

The swelling in my leg is almost gone, and I have minimal pain when it's up on pillows. Standing and walking is still painful, but the pain is definitely decreasing each day. Now, if we could get my digestive system back in good order. I suspect exercise will help with that.

That's all the news for today. I am in the mood to make Pierre another arm, so I think I'll dig out the knitting needles.

Have a great day!

Dogwood and Hummingbirds

I had intended to post this yesterday, but obviously didn't manage to do it. So I will post it today.

In my last post I talked about getting out one of my unfinished counted cross stitch projects and working on it. I have done that. I'm just not in the mood for knitting and beading this week. The hardest battle I've been fighting since becoming afflicted with the blood clot of doom is the mental battle. Trying to stay positive is hard for me because I'm naturally a half glass empty kinda girl. Counted cross stitch is the ultimate stress releaser for me. I have to concentrate totally on it, whereas with knitting and beading my thoughts can wander all over the place. So, I need to focus the thoughts away from the bad things, and this is how I'm doing it. It's working.


This picture is called Dogwood & Hummingbird. It's based on a painting by Canadian artist Sue Coleman. I love her paintings. Most of them feature Pacific Northwest animals, and have the northwest Indian symbol for that animal in them.


The cross stitch patterns are available through her own stitching business called The Stitching Studio. As you can see above, I only have part of one flower and one bird left to do, and the blue background. I'm stitching the picture on a piece of 28 count evenweave Lugana fabric in a butter yellow. I'm stitching over 2 threads, and using DMC cotton floss. I started this picture a couple years ago. I really need to finish it.

The weather prediction for today is 20% possible snow showers. I don't think it's going to go that far, but it is pretty chilly outside. There are grey clouds scudding across the sky, but we get bits of sunshine every so often. We got a hard frost last night, so the flowers are done for the year.

I walked to the mailbox and back yesterday afternoon. That is quite an accomplishment. And I did it without painkillers. Yes, I have taken myself off the brain muddling meds. I'm not without pain now, but it's at a level I can put up with. I can't stand the prescription pain killers. They so mess up my brain, and they give me bad dreams. I had a very peaceful nights sleep last night. I see light at the end of the dark tunnel I've been in. Now, to make sure I don't OVER do it!

Have a great day!