Saturday, August 11, 2007

A bit of a blur......

Greetings and Dear Laura:

First of all, I'm want to post a great big thank you to my Sockapalooza 4 pal! Johanna from Verona Wisconsin sent me this delightful package:
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The socks are so lovely, and they fit perfectly! I can't wait for it get cool so that I can start to wear them. She also sent that beautiful sock yarn - already I have 2 sil's arguing over it. Too bad for them - can you say "socks for ME!"
I loved finding out that she lives nears Madison WI - Laura, you're gonna have to go hang out in Verona and look for knitters! I had just been poring over a map of the area with my brother, who took a weekend trip there with his wife and in-laws last weekend, so I kept thinking that the town name seemed familiar.
It's been a bit of a blur this week. My dad was in the hospital the week before for tests, and they were going to send him home last Friday. When they changed their minds and decided to run another test, I made the snap decision to head down (about a 4-hour drive) for the weekend. They've run these tests several times in the last 6 months, so I thought I'd run down and stay with mom in the motel, and probably be back Saturday or Sunday. I was 1/2 way there when mom called and said that they had decided to do by-pass surgery the next morning, so I gave it an extra push and got down there in time to help get him moved to the hospital where the surgery would be. That impulsive decision was truly a blessing for all of us. The surgery went really well, and he is recovering quickly. There were some ups and downs, but yesterday they dismissed him from the hospital and sent him back here to recover. He's finally catching up on some sleep, and gets around really well.
I had a couple of WIP's in my knitting bag, which became Finished Objects over the 4 days I spent in Louisville. I finished these fingerless mitts for a co-worker
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which was a challenge because I did them on these small DPN's. IMG_3649.JPG
Any time I put the project away, or jumped up to do something, I lost a couple of stitches. Good thing I'm pretty good at picking them back up!
I also finished this baby hat for a shower that we had last week.
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It's a Fetching inspired hat from a free pattern, and I used some leftover Debbie Bliss Cashmerino from my stash. I had also grabbed a kit for a baby sweater at the last minute, but it proved to be too complex for hospital knitting. When one of my brother's and his wife came down to relieve me, I had her grab a ball of sock yarn for me from the stash (LOVE stash) and so I have another sock cast on.
So, that's all the news I can stay awake to post now - we're all catching up on sleep, and one of my brothers is here now to relieve me, so I'm going to try to catch a quick nap.

Thanks again, Johanna, for the beautiful socks and all the goodies!

Keep knitting!

Cynthia (aka Designated Knitter)

5 comments:

marit said...

Hope your dad recovers well.Sometimes it is best to follow such hunches:-)
That was a cute babyhat!

Anonymous said...

I hope that your father gets better very soon! I am so glad that you like the package! Stitches was very fun. We will have to connect some other way sometime soon. Take care. Johanna

Marie N. said...

Someone gave me three needles, each a different diameter, like the set of DPNS you show here. Silly, me -- I didn't realize they were odd ends! I thought they were cable needles. In fact, I'm using one of them now on the (endlessly cabled) sweater for my husband.

Whatever works, I suppose. On a previous project I rubbed candle wax on a toothpick and used it as a cable needle too.

Marie N. said...

Did surgery go well? Hopefully he will be home and comfortable soon.

Designated Knitter said...

Hi Marie - you know, I do have a set of 3 like you describe that are cable needles, and I really like them - better than the "hook" shape cable needles.
I got these DPN's on a clearance once when traveling - they were the size I needed. Besides dropping stitches all the time, they are smaller than my palm, so the points kind of dig in. I've tried them a couple of times, but I don't plan to use them again.