Many Things

 I will start this blog post out with a picture of our really cute great granddaughter, Scarlett, who turned 1 year old today.  She is so much fun to show as she loves the camera as much as the camera loves her.

 I have been knitting.  Here you can see the two front pieces of the cardigan I am currently working on.  And I hope you can see where I have started the increases on both sides of the slip stitch.  These increases will be the beginning of the wide collar.  I have to say I am really impressed with my ability to knit both fronts with the opposing increases.  On the other hand it has been pretty easy and I again will credit having learned to knit two socks at the same time.
                                                                                                               

And speaking of socks, here are my leftover socks.  I have completed one heel and half of the other.  I hope to be done with these this week as I really want to wear these very colorful socks. 

I think I will be making more of these, they are really fun to do. 

I have done a little sewing.  

~

These are some simple blocks

I am making for some easy sewing, trying to get back to it.  I have several applique blocks I need to be working on but I need to get my cutting table cleared off before I can work on them.

The centers of these blocks are these

charm squares that I have had for

quite some time and didn't come up

with an idea for them.  They are being

sewn onto some 2 1/2" strips.  I am

trying to make them as different from

each other as possible.

This is my design wall.  The interesting thing about it is that it hasn't changed since Spring.  Well, that's not quite true.  Some of the blocks that were on it have fallen off and I haven't yet been able to pick them up off the floor and put them back.  However, I am feeling so much better that I am hoping that I will soon be more productive in my quilting again.  I did take the bobbin out of my Handi Quilter and start to  see if I could figure out why the thread is being cut while I was quilting.  And then I will begin to work on the quilts that became UFOs when I became sick.  And then I will have something new on my design wall, I hope.

But for now I will leave you with this terrific picture of Abby, the sweetheart who sleeps under the covers of my bed.  She has to have her nose outside the covers and I think she thinks she can't be seen.  But on this morning she could be seen twice, on the bed and in the mirror.  I had a pretty good laugh before I could get up and start my day.

Please forgive the mess this post appears to have.  Blogger is making it very difficult to write my post and I have been unable to upload a post from Live Writer.  But despite this: have a great week, I plan to.  Gari

                                                            

Wow, A Finish

I haven’t had a finish since May so this is very special for me.  In fact I had the foot done before I got sick so all I had to do was get well enough to want to knit again and then finish the heels and up the leg a bit.  I am really happy with how these look but since I live in the South it will be a while before I can wear them.
Meanwhile I have another pair started and another pair running around in my head.

Since my last post I have had a hip replacement. Yes, that was my third surgery in 9 1/2 weeks.  Since I had never had a surgery before I think this was a bit much but it is what it is.  I have continued to have Home Health which includes an aid twice a week, a nurse twice a week and a physical therapist twice a week.  And to add to that, doctor visits (3) this month.  It’s a good thing I bought that day planner.  I believe that the home health involvement will be tapering off, especially if I can get my walking better.  My lower back doesn’t seem to want to walk straight up. 

I was very pleased with my oncologist visit as he told me the medication that I am taking has improved my bones by 70%.  What this means is that the medication has been killing the cancer cells (most of them) and cutting off the pathways they have been traveling.  He did say the cells that are left will search out different pathways so we are attempting to get a new med/pill that is even stronger.The insurance is trying to get in the way but the doctor is on it and we will win.

I did get a quilt block appliqued but forgot to take a picture.  I am still having trouble standing for very long but I need to draw two blocks worth of applique so I can get the fabric ready and the applique fused.  If I can get these two done I want to do a first block of a new BOM. The fact that I am 5 months behind on my BOMs has only  got me slightly frazzled.

This is Ryder, our great grandson.  He has recently moved to Florida with his dad and mother, a United States Airman.  And in about a week and a half we will be going down to visit him, and oh, yes, his parents, too.  This little family was part of the group that came to our house Labor Day weekend and we were charmed by all three of them.  So you can imagine how excited we were when we were invited to visit them in their new home.  They will be there for the next two years so we hope to become really good friends.  Oh, and they have two dogs which makes them really good people.


And here we have another great grandchild, Scarlett. 

She is showing off her new sippy cup, an Auburn University Tervis cup.  We do try to get these children indoctrinated early.  And from the smile on her face she is fully on board.  I gotta say, we really have cute kids.

So now I need to stop writing this, get some sleep and prepare to do some work tomorrow.  I would like to have some kind of finish for this month, too.

Have a great week,  Gari