Oh, it's been a long couple of days...

Not bad. Just long.

I was there when they got Mom out of bed, and STANDING!, for the first time on Wednesday, and damn was it hard to watch! But she did it! She did it! And considering she had major surgery to replace her knees 48 hours before, it was a pretty major accomplishment!

Then Thursday morning she did it again. And in comparison it seemed so much easier. She actually stood, supported by a walker of course, for about 10 minutes. It was pretty frickin' amazing.

Now she's at rehab, and the work really begins. They're going to be pushing her hard, and it's not going to be easy for me to watch. It's a helpless feeling, not being able to do it for her. Knowing that she's in a lot of pain, but that she *has* to do it.
I just wish that I could wave a magic wand and have it be all over for her.

And, since I've been doing a lot of sitting while keeping Mom company, I've also been doing a fair amount of knitting too.

I've finished a pair of purple and green mittens for Irina, pulling the color pattern from Knitting Fair Isle Mittens and Gloves and the sizing from the Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns. I've also started a pair of fingerless gloves/mittens loosely based on this pattern for Tony. Glove number 1 is almost finished, and I want to do glove 2 before I do the mitten part so I can make sure that I do them sort of the same. After all, what I read in a pattern is rarely what ends up happening on my needles!
Pictures are coming! I just need to dig up some new batteries for the camera!

Checkin' in

Mom's surgery went really, really well. I haven't seen her yet, but I did talk to her this afternoon and she sounded much better than I had expected her to. Of course, she was still all drugged up and not feeling any pain! I don't envy what she's going to feel like when they start taking her off the drugs!

I've made a hat and most of a pair of mittens for the small one, but pictures are going to have to wait until I have time to take them in daylight. I guess that I should also put the thumbs on the mittens before taking pics.

And then I get to make the tall one's mittens! I'm finding a particular pleasure in doing small, quick to finish projects right now. They appeal to my suddenly very short attention span.

A Four Letter Word Beginning With "S"

Ends with "W". Has "NO" in the middle.

Yup. It's here. I'm having a hard time reminding myself that it had actually snowed in October last year, so it really isn't all that early this year. But, still...

I love snow. I'm just not sure that I'm ready for fall to be over yet.

***

If you could spare just a minute of your time...could you think some happy thoughts for my Mom? You see, she's having both of her knees replaced Monday morning. Great, big, huge, major surgery. I know I'm kind of weirded out by that fact, so I can't imagine how she's feeling right now.

Love Ya, Mom!

I Can't Think of a Title

I'm just feeling a little brain-dead today is all.

Yes, I am feeling *significantly* better than I was the last time I posted! (Thank you for your "feel betters"!) Everybody, and I do mean everybody, at work has managed to come down with this cold! We've had a minimum of three people call in sick each day, and those were just the phone calls that I fielded. It's a vile illness. It hit hard, but fortunately didn't last very long. (At least it didn't for those of us who were willing to give in and be sick.)

There really isn't all that much going on around here. I've got two squares left to knit on the rug (Hooray!), and will likely have it done sometime today. Then all I will need to do is find a yellow shower curtain and bathroom will be done!

Next up will be the kitchen. It's a teeny-tiny apartment kitchen with almost no counter space. I have a small butcher block table in it that I thought would be used for cooking prep; but it turned into just another horizontal surface to collect junk. So it, and an old microwave stand that no longer holds the microwave, are going to go. Once I have the funds to buy the shelving units that I want to replace them with, that it.

Other than that, I'm just seriously fighting startitis! I want to make this hat for the girlie, in shades of green and purple to match her new winter coat. And I think that this afghan is just really quite cool. It would also be a really great way to use up the single skeins of yarn that were left over from other projects. And did I mention that I went ahead and ordered the Peacock Shawl pattern and yarn?

Oh, and Tony mentioned something about needing new mittens, a scarf, and a hat to go with *his* new winter coat...

WaaWaaWaa

Yes, it's here. My first cold of the season.

I'd be much happier now if I'd managed to get any sleep last night, but not being able to breath through my nose kind of nixed that idea.

I've got no knitting to talk about, I haven't the energy to knit. I just needed to moan and complain about being miserable. And now my tea and I are going back to bed.

He's a weirdo

Most cats seem to prefer cuddling up to something soft. Mine?

And I had been planning on using that camera too!

Harrumph

To say that I'm disappointed in the election results would be a huge understatement!

Is it too early to start campaigning for Hillary in '08?

So, anyone for a mini "picturepalooza"?

First up is my bathroom rug. No, it's still not finished. I find that I keep getting distracted.


Next in line is the filet crochet piece that I've been working on. I had a superstitious "need" to work on it while the Red Sox were going through the playoffs and World Series. (Didn't work last night, though. Maybe things would have gone differently. Harrumph.)
I wasn't too sure how much I was going to like it, but once I saw it on a dark background I was much happier with it. It's about one fourth of the way through the pattern I'm using.


And last is a Christmas stocking that will be one of a pair that a friend commissioned for her grandchildren. I'm loving it! It's reminding me just how much I enjoy doing color work. And it's going up really quickly too!

The only thing is, there are two problems with the stocking.

One-The reindeer's body (yes, it'll be a reindeer) is two stitches too narrow. Not a big deal, I can just frog back a couple of rows and fix it.

The second problem is a little bigger. I bought two shades of red for the two different stockings, and grabbed the wrong red when I started this stocking; but that's OK because I've decided I really liked the color. However, I only have one skein of it, it's almost gone...

And the yarn store is out of the dye lot!

So it's decision time: Do I just pick up another skein and hope the color isn't too far off? (A thought that makes my skin crawl. No, no one else would notice it, but I would!)
My other option is to just pick up two more skeins in the same dye lot, frog back to the white band, and continue on from there. It would mean yanking out two nights work, but I'd probably be happier with it.

Today's The Day!

Finally! I am so sick of the political ads and annoying pre-recorded phone calls. Git yer butts out there and vote! (And take your knitting, because it looks like we'll be standing in line for a loooooong time!)

I could go into a long tirade about voting here...but I'm not going to. Suffice to say that I think it's an important thing to do.

For a knitting blog I've been awfully short on pictures lately. Well, it's been a busy week since I last posted, and I don't see it getting too much better right away. But pictures will come later, once I finally get off my rump and take some!