Normalcy Please

Well it's been a little over a week since the F5 tornado went right thru the heart of my city. The amount of damage is unimaginable, never in a million years would I have thought a tornado could do this to my city. It's all in the news so there's no need to go into detail but it's going to be a long time before it looks like a normal city again. Right now it looks like a bomb went off for a 14 mile stretch, from one edge of town all the way thru to the other edge of town. It makes me sick to my stomach to see it, & I've seen it everyday for the last week but it's still just as disturbing. My work had some damage so the building had some damage & we had to evacuate all the pets and the clinic has not been up and running. They did have a tent set up for us to help take care of the search & rescue dogs and also any pets found trapped in the rubble. But I got to go back to work yesterday, just got a lot of cleaning up done, but today we are going to open! I'm so glad to be able to work a sort of normal shift. Just being in a sort of normal routine I think will help a lot with healing. The amount of support and compassion coming in is overwhelming, it really makes me proud of my community. Everyone is working together to help one another & it is amazing. People are coming from states away with trucks of supplies, hot meals, bottled water, places to shower, do laundry, it's nothing short of incredible! There will be months of clean up alone before rebuilding can begin but with the amount of help coming in I'm hopeful that normalcy will return one little bit at a time.

A Case of the Blahs

Well I have 2 friends expecting babies this fall and had wanted to knit them up something as a gift. I had picked out a dinosaur hat for one baby, still not sure what I'm doing for the other baby as we don't know yet if it's a boy or a girl. I ordered the yarn I needed for the dino hat & also ordered some yarn for upcoming christmas projects on my list. Now that the yarn is here I just can't seem to get motivated to do any knitting. I'm very intimidated by the pattern for the hat so I'm sure that is part of it. I also have several christmas projects on my list that I need to get going on, after the baby gifts, but my motivation seems to be on vacation. So I'm blogging instead and searching patterns and yarn to see if my motivation will come back. I've been busy with other things, wedding stuff, kids sports & band, yard work, holidays, etc. I also made some awesome crab legs & steaks for a cookout last weekend, it was so declicious! It seems like there's always something going on, but I really need to get out of this funk.

At a Loss

I don't know what to title this blog, I don't really like blogging about stuff like this but there's something important to take away from this today.

The world lost a beautiful person today, a friend of mine passed away after some complications following a routine knee surgery that was done a week ago. She was only in her 50's and had a lot of great things to still give to this world. She was a selfless person willing to do anything she could for others in her family, community & the four legged community as well. She was an advocate for stray cats that were dumped in her community and would do whatever she could to tame them, get them necessary veterinary care and most importantly give them a home with a warm place to stay & food to eat everyday. She was one in a million and this place will never be the same without her.
Life is really so short & we should enjoy every moment. I'm so happy to be able to come home to my family and kiss them goodnight & tell them I love them. I get to celebrate mother's day this year with my mother, grandmother & my sister, that makes me feel pretty lucky. I am so blessed & hope that I'm able to serve my family & community the way I am meant to. The same way that my friend did when she was here.

Swapping!

I participated in my first yarn swap on Ravelry this month, it was great! We had a budget for coffee and/or tea, yarn, and then the rest for the theme which was regional goodies. We also included a handmade item in the package. I made a irish hiking scarflet for my swap partner, found some knitting goodies, a jar of local made jam, some yummy knitpicks yarn & a tea cup & saucer from my hometown (my partner collects them) We all have a deadline & send the packages out in the same week. I got my package last night & was SO EXCITED!!!! My partner did a fabulous job and really spoiled me, she sent some local coffee with a chocolatey after taste, some candy that I've never had in my area, some beautiful locally dyed sock yarn,a pair of wrist warmers from her own handspun yarn and a book called the natural knitter. I am thoroughly enjoying every bit of the package & would encourage all of you to participate in a yarn swap on Ravelry! It's great fun! Here are some pics of the box I sent and the one I received.
Enjoy!

Here is the box I sent

Here is the box I received!

I would like a day to knit please

It has been one crazy work week this week! I've only knitted twice this week & feel like it takes me forever to finish anything. I read on other's projects that they knit up this hat in a few hours or a scarf in a weekend, REALLY?! I'm no where near that kind of pace. I've taken about 5 weeks to knit this scarflet I'm working on, only about 3 repeats left then blocking. Does this amazing speed come with experience? I really hope so. I've got a list of things I want to knit this year & I know there's no way I'm going to get them all done. Maybe I'll get half the list done. I'm way to ambitious with my knitting. I also have projects for me that I want to get started on. There's just not enough time. And with the oldest boy's sports starting up there will be practices to go to along with the band concerts, there are 2 weddings & bridal showers to go to & I've got my own wedding coming up in August so tons of stuff to do there! And don't forget all the holidays & add in 5 birthdays & my schedule is PACKED! ha ha Just listing all that I have going on makes me tired, I think I'll go to bed early tonight!

Time to Knit

For our final day in the knit & crochet blog week we are asked to talk about our crafting time.

About 9pm, the house is quiet, I'm in my recliner kicked back with my knitting in my lap. There's usually a beverage on the side table and maybe some secret stash of candy or something sweet nearby too. I've got the tv on but I'm not really watching it, I need to focus on my stitches. You can almost guarantee that my chihuahua is laying up here too and maybe even my cat, Eli. He knows to stay on the footrest as he gets kicked off if he sits too close to the yarn that he can't help but play with it. I will occasionally knit on saturday or sunday afternoons depending on what else is going on with our busy schedule. There's a group of us girls that will try to get together when we can at our local starbucks or one of our homes for some knitting. I've tried to knit while in the car but I get carsick. If I think I'll be sitting for a while like at an appointment or during the kids' football games I'll bring along a knitting project. If only I could knit while I'm at work . . .

Something to aspire to

On this 6th day of Knit & Crochet Blog week we are asked if there's a pattern or technique that we hope to tackle. Well I have a lot of things I want to learn to do still, since I'm a newer knitter there's a lot that facinates me & lots of things I want to make. I think at the rate I'm going right now I'm hoping to knit fast enough to get all the projects on my list done in time. I always seem to bite off more than I can chew in life & knitting is no different. But the challenge is what keeps me going. I have several patterns for fingerless gloves that I keep adding to my ravelry queue but they all are done on dpns, something I have not figured out yet. I think once I get those down though, sock knitting will probably capture my attention for a while. And I also want to learn how to crochet as well. Who says you can't know how to do both? Maybe what I'm needing to learn more than anything is patience, patience to take one project or technique at a time. I'm like a kid in a candy store wanting to try a little bit of everything! Did I mention I also want to learn about spinning & dyeing & such? :)

This is a photo by Sharon Dreifuss,or SheKnits, this is one of her patterns on Ravelry & the one I can't wait to try when I get brave enough to learn dpns.