Thursday, May 29, 2008

Touchy Touchy

My birthday present this year is the iPod Touch. I bought it a little early so I can use it during recovery - no mouse ;D - pretty smart huh?!? I also bought the TV Cable Adapter so I can watch the TV Shows, Video Podcasts and Movies I download to iTunes on my "real" TV. Coolness squared!

Still loving Adamas too !!!

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Focus Focus Focus

Oh my goodness gracious. Why can't I focus? I do realize I have a birthday coming up next month that is knocking soundly on the door to 50, but geez.

I did not finish my socks.
I put the Mystic Waters Shawl away again.
I cast on Adamas, where did that come from???

Out of the blue I decided that I wanted to find a simple shawl pattern that I could possibly finish before surgery.

Why???

I love the Forest Canopy shawl and I have two more skeins of Puck's Mischief. I gave the first FC Shawl away as a gift because I want to make a larger size and I already have the yarn. Did I cast on the Forest Canopy shawl - which I know I can knit in about a week???? NOPE!

Why not????

Instead I log into Ravelry and look at all the lace group forums and pull Adamas out of my queue. Hmmm, 48 going on 5 - I have the attention span of a knat. So anyway I am on the 6th repeat of the body aka Chart 2 of the Adamas pattern. The knitting goes surprisingly well with the I Am Legend Audiobook, Netflix picks, National Treasure 2, and the Deadliest Catch marathon. Yay!!! Multi-tasking, or just more lack of focus - you be the judge. I shall add yet another shawl icon to the sidebar projects list.

Oh, and I did not take the pictures I was supposed to take either. But I did order more Addi Turbo Lace needles with my Loopy Ewe Credit, so I can have yet another lace project on the needles soon. I cannot wait to be on pain meds after my surgery so I have something to blame my lack of focus on. 8-P

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Ouch! Shocking!!!

THANK YOU SO MUCH to ALL Our VETERANS.
Including my Daddy who served in the Army during the Korean War and my Uncle G who served in the Marine's during the Korean War and my Cousins who have served and are currently serving in the armed forces.

I am short two stitches on Clue D row 207 of my Schaefer Anne version of the Mystic Waters Shawl. Ugh!!! I have to tink back to the extra decrease I have done somewhere along the way. I completed the heel and part of the foot of one of my Shi Bui Rapids socks and I added another 10 rows to my Felice Clay socks. I will be taking some photos over the 3-Day weekend. My poor little WIP page has not been updated this month.

Oh the pain, I had my nerve conduction study yesterday and IT REALLY HURT!!! 8~{

I have carpal tunnel to the max in my right hand, and symptoms starting in the left hand. Three of my sensory nerves and three of my motor nerves are damaged. So it is confirmed - I will be having carpal tunnel surgery the same time I have the tumor removed. Oh - Joy 8-\ The test showed that the nerves in my right hand have degenerated. So I will be out of service for a few weeks. I don't plan to stay home after the first week though - day time television makes my skin crawl. I will come to work and blissfully delegate my work to others. It's good to have a great support team!! However, I cannot ask them to type entries for my blog! I will have a big long gap in blog entries after June 8th. What will I do without knitting and the computer? I just don't know. If the pain wasn't so bad and the tumor so big I would just ignore the whole thing.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Almost Over

Whew, this is the last day of the conference. So far the sessions were the best part. The last session we got to ask for enhancements to the software and the two my firm asked for look like they are a go. Yay!! The Rumble in the Jungle Night at the San Diego Zoo was a bit disappointing - the few animals we saw were asleep or immobile. Most were missing in action in their habitats. I don't know - do they all look depressed to you when you go to a zoo? The cougars, mountain lions and sunrise bear that were awake were so lack luster and sad looking. The habitats are so small, they just do not look like they are having a good life. The food was inadequate, most people had to go out to dinner when we got back downtown. But I guess for people who have never been to the US, of CA it was an experience. For me - not so much.

I have packed all of my session materials and vendor give aways to be Fedexed home. I even managed to pre code two large invoices for one of my Coordinators. I still have some writing to do tonight, I am revising a manual.

I watched the DVDs I brought and I was able to get through the first leaf repeat on my Leafling socks. I made the cuff a full two inches instead of the 1 1/4 inch called for in the pattern. I dropped all the way down to the small size sock - 60 sts. I have knit many socks with this weight yarn and I usually only cast on 56 sts. So we'll see. I can always give them as a gift if they are too tight. I love knitting. Some times I enjoy it more than other times, this sock is really a fun knit.

I read through all of the new Ravelry Forum postings for my groups. Now I need to catch up on my podcasts. I listened to Knit Science, and Bean Knits and watched Lets Knit Together, Deadliest Catch and Lion Brands Ruffle Scarf video podcasts. I still have Knitting Uncensored and Sticks and String and a few new ones to listen to this afternoon.

Monday, May 12, 2008

Thank You SO MUCH!!

I want to thank you all for the well wishes. I will be glad to get my hand back to normal!!

I am in San Diego this week, so far the weather has been chilly. I cannot believe it, San Francisco has better weather than San Diego at this time of year. The Conference kicks off today. I am glad I came in a day early, this foggy drizzly weather may cause airport delays. The Hard Rock Hotel is not what I expected. The room is nothing spectacular, it is comfortable though. The turn down service was excellent. But $8.00 for a bottle of water - and I thought the $2.45 at the airport was absurd. I must get out more - I am suffering from sticker shock!! I went to Ralph's and bought a gallon of water and some soft drinks - there are no vending machines and the 10 oz soft drinks are $4.00 from the in room frig. The cab ride from the airport took me past the Cruise ship dock, so I actually got to see where we will be departing from for our cruise in October.

I am waiting for my Fedex from work, I sent myself some work. I had no room in my suitcase and did not want to bring a second bag so I Fedexed some invoices and documents I need to work on. I packed return Fedex packing inside the box. Our San Diego office is about 20 blocks from here, but right now I am not planning a visit. I may change my mind.

I brought my Leafling socks to work on. Based on the Ravelry forum discussion about sizing I am going to make the Medium sized socks instead of the Large. I had only knit the cuff so I don't have much to rip out. I had planned to rip them out several weeks ago, but waited since I chose them for the project for this trip. I love this yarn, again the colorway reminds me of County Clare. I will also probably be using this cuff stitch on some of my future pairs of plain stockinette socks. There is a slight twist to the ribbing with a very pretty result. I cannot really say much more since it is a Rockin Sock Club pattern and yarn, which are for club members only. There has also been a forum discussion on Ravelry about members breaking the club rules. I don't want to be one of those. Thousands of people paid for the privilege of getting these patterns and yarn a year before their commercial release. Members should honor that agreement, and not be selling exclusive sock club patterns and yarn on EBay!! Jusy Saying . . .

Have you seen the KnitPicks lace yarn samplers? Oh my goodness. I want all four, but so far I have fought the temptation. What a great idea, making up color palettes of the various lace weight yarns.

Monday, May 05, 2008

Pictorial Review

I finally posted the pictures of my Laci yarn and the Rockin' Sock Club Kit and 2008 Year of Lace kit. My Sister's latest pair of socks, Sassy Self Striping yarn creates a very nice pattern and the socks are nice and thick. My new toy, I finally have a web cam, dangerous!!! I lost my Yarn Chef and Schaefer Anne pics somewhere along the way, hmmm. I will check flicker and ravelry and see if I managed to get them up there before I deleted them from the memory stick. I am in love with my Mystic Waters Shawl again. So pretty and the pattern is not really hard to read - thank goodness.

Sunday, May 04, 2008

Thursday, May 01, 2008

All Set

I have been scheduled for surgery on my tumor - yay! May 21 is the pre-op exam and June 9 I go under the knife. I am almost finished with Clue D of the Mystic Waters Shawl. It is the one I chose to finish for the cruise. I will get as far as I can before surgery. Unfortunately this sucker is still growing and I cannot do simple things like blow dry my hair or write with a pen for long. Luckily I have the conference coming up which will give me a mouse free week - my laptop has a touch pad. I am really looking forward to the conference. I have received two cocktail party invitations, one for the Skybar at the top of the Hard Rock Hotel. Whohoo.

Sad news, the Mystery Lace KAL went offline. After the first clue the designer was so overwhelmed with whiners and complainers that she did not get an opportunity to post the second clue. Then she was in a car accident. Now that she is ready to proceed she has announced that to continue with the KAL we must Paypal her $10.00 because the time she is spending answering questions is cutting into her real life income. SO, I have removed myself from the Ravelry group and unsubscribed from the Yahoo group. I don't object to paid Mystery KALs, I am doing two of the Knit Goddesses Mystery Shawls. But the group is so negative and the designer so overwrought, I don't need the drama. I knit to RELAX!!!!

Today is my nephew's birthday - Mr. Lebron "Boomie" Cross is 4 years old today. Isn't he lovely? His cousin Indy sent him a birthday card and his Auntie bought him a box full of Dingos. If y'all have never bought Dingos for your dogs - DON'T. It is doggie crack. My pup checks the counter for the Dingo bag and we get no peace until we give him one. Granted they do eliminate doggie breath - but they are so ADDICTIVE. Happy Birthday Boom Boom!!!