The good things

My rant is over for now and Bob did sleep better last night.

My Honka scarf is progressing nicely. Not fast, but nicely. Double knitting is still not an automatic thing for me and I tink at least a few stitches every few rows, but no major problems have arisen so I have knitted more than I have tinked and the scarf has grown. I love the color changes and that alone may make me knit a hat to go with the scarf. The yarn is black Cascade 220 with Silk Garden providing the color.

Bob's sweater has not yet been tried on so no progress to report there. Maybe this week, with the staples out, he will be OK to try it on.

My elemental boatneck has one and a half sleeves sewn in. It will be a priority this weekend to get that finished.

The gift scarf, reversible cables, has grown longer and should be finished this coming week. It should make good football knitting, and maybe I can even finish it on Sunday. I think I've knitted about 3/4 of the yarn. I suppose it will depend on the Ravens skill in the game - will I be spellbound, watching every play, needles barely moving or will I not want to watch a rout and finish the thing in the first half? LOL.

Both the travel sock and the second Spiraling Coriolis are near the ribbing and therefore near completion. I have not yet settled on either yarn or a pattern to replace those socks in my line up. I always have a pair of socks on the needle. Oh! I do have to finish my brother's socks. maybe that can be done during the second football game tomorrow.

Eldest son still does not have a job. It is so frustrating for all of us and very depressing for him. When will the economy turn around enough that companies will hire again?

We had hoped to get out on the boat this weekend but the weather is not cooperating. DH went out yesterday for a few hours and had fun. I require decent (mostly sunny) weather to accompany him and we don't have that today. It's not a possibility tomorrow since my two favorite teams will battle on the football field. Actually, I think the forecast is not favorable for boating anyway. Bummer.

I have started listening to the new Diana Gabaldon book An Echo in the Bone and am now addicted. The minute I think I will have 10 minutes to be alone I turn on the CD player. Terrible for productivity but I am enjoying it so much. I'll call Mom in a few minutes so we can compare notes. She is listening avidly also.

The mums around the pond are loosing their fresh look and falling over from the rain. They are still pretty, but starting to die off. The pond plants are settling into their winter state and the fish only beg for food on sunny days. Soon they won't even do that. Once the water temperature drops into the 60s they don't eat anymore.

The trees are dropping their leaves. The red leaves that I showed you on a previous post were on this tree last weekend.

Have a good weekend. Remember to "fall back" your clock tonight and enjoy the extra hour of sleep.

Staples out!

Bob went to see the surgeon this morning. He is healing well, the staples - surgical clips - have been removed and he can resume normal activities. Yippee! Maybe he'll be able to sleep better now.

We still don't know how much this implant will help Bob to lead a more normal life (each person reacts differently, but the doctor feels that Bob is a great candidate and will do well), but just the fact that there is something to be done, some possible help, is great. One of the things that frustrates me about his vision problems is that there is nothing that can be done about it. Nothing to help improve his vision or even stop the deterioration. I really hope that this implant makes Bob's life easier. He is such a good man - good husband, father, worker, son-in-law and whatever you can think of. A little good luck would be very much deserved and appreciated.

BTW, did you know that none of the news magazines provide large type versions? Apparently people with low vision don't deserve to be able to stay informed about world news and events. And no, he can't read braille and no, he can't listen to audio versions, even the evening news because he is also mostly deaf. Grrr.

We are checking into Kindle and Nook and others but from reading reviews about each, one of the major drawbacks is going to be that they use grey on grey. Many people with low vision (legally blind but not totally blind) need high contrast to read, and none of these devices are black print on white pages. There is no way to test reading ability short of ordering a device (and then paying return shipping if you decide that it doesn't work for you). The next option is to spend several thousands of dollars on a document camera, that then has to be read on a screen. Helpful, but not exactly comfortable for settling down for an evening's reading.

Well. The first step in getting more input for Bob has been taken. Now we wait for November 17.

Fall

Some of the trees in the area around me look like this.





Most others are full of the beautiful fall colors that make me smile when I step outside. Soon enough all of the tress will look like the first picture. Meanwhile, I plan to enjoy as much of this fall as I can.
DH came through his cochlear implant with flying colors. Not that he's wanted to fly recently, (or do much other traveling) but he did well. The pain and vertigo are both lessening. He might even be able to sleep the whole night through some day soon. The swelling has diminished quite a bit and the incision is clean and healthy looking. I would not be a good wife if I showed you the pictures ....

Now we wait for the swelling to go down further and the healing to progress to the point that on 11/17 the device will be activated for the first time. It's not quite the joyous occasion one would think, though it is the first step. That is the beginning of re-learning how to hear, or, more correctly, how to interpret what he hears into what he knows so that it make sense.


Knitting progress -

My travel sock, less than an inch of stockinette to go, then 3 inches of ribbing and I will have a complete pair. Yippee!









My scarf, made with a blend of wool, silk and bamboo. I am going to put this aside for a while to work on my Honka Scarf (double knitting) that I put away when it got too hot.








Chocolate Cherry Spiraling Coriolis sock, heel almost turned. These are some of the stitch markers I made with the letters on them to assist with navigation through new sock construction pathways.







Heel in progress









This is a gift scarf for one of the parking attendants I see frequently. She is so good with people - remembers names, remembers things about your family, made a few suggestions for jobs for eldest son to apply for. She asked if she could pay me to knit for her. I won't do that, but I will knit a scarf for her. Reversible cables, from this book. I think it's the first or second pattern in the book.







I plan to make a Mondo Cable Cardigan this winter. This is one of the swatches I have made. It's Rowan Felted Tweed Aran I love the look of the yarn for this project. I am a little concerned about the hand of the yarn against my skin (neck and wrists); though I would probably be wearing a turtleneck under it most of the time, I wouldn't want to feel that I had to have one on in order to wear the sweater.








This is Kathmandu I love the look and the feel. It would most likely not be as tolerant of wear as the previous yarn.









I had hoped to complete the sleeves on DH's sweater this weekend, but it's time for a try on session and his head hurts too much (from the surgery) to pull a sweater over it right now. That's on hold.

My Elemental Boatneck has all ends woven in and one sleeve sewn in! I had my doubts about the fit - the armscye looked way too big for the sleeve, but I think it looks good. I will try it on tonight to be sure that it's OK on me and not just lying flat. One more sleeve to be sewn in and the neck edging .... soon it will be wearable .....

I am on a finish the WIPs push right now. (1) Elemental Boatneck will be very soon, (2) Bob's sweater not too far behind it. (3) Travel socks are very close and the (4) Spiraling Coriolis socks should be completed in about a month. I have to wait for my LYS owner to get in the additional skein I requested so that I could make the socks long enough for me. They should go even faster once I have the travel socks done, since they will have no sock competition. The (5) Honka scarf will be worked on instead of other scarves I have in the works (except the gift scarf - I am not putting that aside) since I started that last year. I am planning on all of these being completed by Thanksgiving.

New projects, to be started after I finish these listed projects, include the Mondo Cable Cardi for the KAL at my LYS (after the new year) the Cardi Cozy that I started a while ago from the newest Mason-Dixon book, a gansey style sweater (in wool) for DH and a pair of socks from Cookie A's book. Oh, and the summer version of the Mondo Cable pullover/vest that I have already swatched for. I have to do measurements on the swatch, do some calculations to be sure I am knitting the correct size and then knit. I will knit that before I start the KAL in the new year so that I have knit the pattern before and am familiar with it. I sound busy, don't I? Spinning has to fit in there somewhere, and I am contemplating one of those ear flap hats for each of my sons .....


A last look at fall flowers - this looks like spring/summer daisies, but is really a mum, and it's the last of our mums to bloom. So pretty .....

Bionic Bob

Well. Bob had surgery on Wednesday to place a cochlear implant. We are very hopeful that this will help Bob's interaction with others as his vision gets worse. We won't know about the success of the implant for a month - they don't active it for a month due to swelling from the surgical procedure. Right now he is dealing with sore muscles, swelling, staples and diminished hearing (the implant destroys all remaining hearing in that ear). He is frustrated and tired, but doing well. Fingers crossed.

Knitting news includes casting on the second of my brother's socks, getting down to the last few inches of Bob's sweater sleeve, knitting on scarves and avoiding putting the elemental boatneck together. I've really been concentrating on work and then Bob's surgery. Maybe this weekend ....

The other thing that had me distracted this week was that my mother had a biopsy and removal of a growth on her leg the day before DH's surgery. I wanted to be with both of them and couldn't. Mom's surgery went well. She did have squamous cell carcinoma, but they had good clean margins and so she should not need more surgery. Thank goodness.

I hope to have more to post about in the next day or two and enough energy to take photos and provide more details. I'm tired and heading to bed. I might just cuddle up in bed with my new audiobook. Diana Gabaldon is one of my all time favorite authors and her newest book has just come out. Today I received my copy of the audiobook version of that book and I can't wait to get started on it. It's raining outside and chilly - a perfect night to stay indoors and knit and listen to a great story.

I think winter has come

It's cold and damp and nasty outside - the kind of weather that makes me want to just curl up in the house (possibly in front of a fire) with some chocolate and knitting (or spinning) and not budge. lucky for me it's now the weekend and i can do that - to a certain extent. There is the possibility of snow on Sunday. No boating for me this weekend.

I really feel bad for those attending the NY Sheep and Wool festival this year. The weather forecast is ugly. At the same time, I wish I was one of them. I have enjoyed that festival on the tow occasions I was able to attend. maybe next year ....

I have about 8 inches of sleeve knitted (from the underarm) on Dh's sweater. The end is getting closer. I haven't had time for much more than that knitting this week, though the alpaca garter stitch scarf has been getting a little bit of attention on the way to and from work. Not much progress, though, on other WIPs. I have a lot of plans for the weekend. too many ideas, actually, so tomorrow morning, while I let my Fosamax absorb, I will try to set priorities. Spinning, sewing the elemental boatneck together, knitting DHs sleeve, cleaning, laundry ......

Have a great weekend and stay warm and dry. Hopefully I will have photos in a day or so of some finished projects.

One sleeve chore complete

The Elemental Boatneck sleeves are complete! I was watching the Monday Night Football game last night and that's not conducive to weaving in ends or sewing pieces together, so that was not done, but the knitting is complete. Next up, weave in those ends, sew shoulders, knit neckband and sew in sleeves. See - almost done!

Bob's sleeve is an inch or two longer after my knitting time last night. I am determined to knit on that every night until it is done. I have a few more inches to knit before the decreases start. Since this was a top down, knit in the round sweater, there will be no seams to sew. I have been weaving in the ends as I go along, so that's up to date, also. Once this sleeve is knitted, all I have left to do is knit a neck band and it will be complete! Finally.

We are, I hope, making the switch to FIOS today. This art work appeared on our lawn last week, indicating progress in the installation process. Hopefully they won't cut any other important things while they dig to install their cable.

We have Comcast service, but FIOS just became available, and when I checked into pricing, I found that we will be saving money by getting their combination services - internet, HDTV and phone service. Since our home telephone is through Verizon now, we don't have to change the phone number, but we will have to change the email address. I dread that - it would be easier to change our phone number! They tell you to plan on a 4-6 hour installation, possibly longer since we have 2 computers and 6 TVs in the house. DH and eldest son are home today, handling that. I hope it goes smoothly. If all goes well with the installation today, tomorrow we will begin the daunting task of changing all of our accounts to the new email address. Ugh.

Our mailbox was destroyed a few years ago and DH decided to construct one for us. I suggested a flower box to beautify it, and was reminded that I don't do well dragging the hose out and putting it away frequently (required to water any flowers that might try to live in the flower box), but I had a response for that. I actually had in mind an artificial flower box. He liked the idea, too, and it was done. I am especially pleased with the arrangement that I have right now, for fall. What do you think?


More fall photos for you to enjoy. Have a great day.

Fall weekends

It was a wonderful day yesterday. I did not go on the boat, though DH did. I discovered that not only were the Ravens playing yesterday, but my beloved Broncos were also playing. We don't get to watch Broncos games often here in MD and I wasn't going to miss that opportunity, so i skipped out on boating.

While DH was heading out the front door at 6 AM (in 40 degree weather) I was snuggled in my warm, comfy bed. While he was motoring around trying to find fish, I was spinning on the deck. The temperature had warmed up enough that on the deck, in the sun, I was very comfortable in my Ravens shirt and a pair of jeans, spinning away. It was awesome! I enjoy spinning anyway, and to be able to sit outdoors in the sun to do it made my day. At 1 PM the game started , so I went indoors to watch TV. (I did go outside on many of the commercial breaks - I couldn't stay in for long while the sun was up.)

I yelled. I screamed. I cheered and boo'd. It made no difference. The Ravens lost the game. And they deserved to loose, given their performance in the last few minutes of the game. It was a close game, I'll give them that. DH was listening to the radio on the boat. Right after that disappointment, he started catching fish, so I guess his day was made also. He caught lots of fish, mostly small bass but did bring home one keeper that will be dinner on Tuesday. Yum - baked striped bass.

In my short trips out to the deck (on commercial time) I cleaned out the railing boxes because the flowers are mostly dead. I cleaned out the bird feeders in preparation for fresh food. I watered the plants that weren't dead and filled the bird bath. I finished up the last 3 loads of clothes to be washed and dried (on the line).

The Denver game put me in better spirits - they won! During the games I knitted on the sleeve for DH's sweater until my wrists started complaining. I think I have about 4 inches (below the armscye) knitted. Then I moved on to the sleeves for my elemental boatneck. One sleeve is now complete and the other needs only about 4 more rows. That's progress! Soon I will be sewing that garment together. I also managed a few rows on the garter stitch shawl/scarf I started a couple of weeks ago on the boat. (After I dropped 6 stitches down and fixed a mistake. Yes, it is a garter stitch scarf. Yes, I did make a mistake. Yes, I am sometimes an idiot.)

We had supper and I watched some of the Sunday night game, then headed into bed for a few more rows of knitting and a little audio book listening. I am really enjoying this series of books - not deep, not especially realistic, but entertaining. The author is Rose Connors, and I finished the second book in the series of legal mysteries last night. After I should have been asleep. Oh, well.

On Saturday DH harvested the last of the potatoes we grew this year. It was a not well done experiment to see if we could grow them. Despite having used cut up potatoes from the pantry that started to grow on their own instead of buying seed potatoes, and in spite of planting them late, we did get potatoes! We will be doing this next year. Correctly. Our entire harvest will make one meal. LOL.

Fall is such a beautiful time of year. Here are some of the glorious signs of fall around my house.

Mums



Fall leaves

The last Mandevilla


Montauk Daisies