I'm so rattled these days :)

Et voila! I have just completed the Better Baby Rattle for my grand-baby, due in August. This pattern, designed by Katie Himmelberg, is taken from Ann Budd's "Knitting Green" book. I love this book. Projects for all ages.

Check out the Eco Vest, another Katie Himmelberg design. It's calling me. Right after I complete the Op Art blanket for the baby.

My lovely daughter, Jennifer Rose Hinton, gets more beautiful every day.

Crazy for quilting?

I have wanted to try my hand at quilting for some time now. Crazy quilting, to be exact.

When a free workshop at our local library was advertised, I loaded my trusty Elna sewing machine and as much fabric as I could fit into one tote bag, and off I went. I learned a lot in those two hours.

A teacup design cut from one of my daughter Jen's theater skirts became the center of the piece. Just about every other scrap of fabric chosen for the square reminded me of some aspect of my daughter's life. The keyboard, cut from an old, silk scarf reminds me of all those piano lessons. (Thanks, Mr. Drackley!) Another scrap, embellished with tiny pink rosebuds, represents Jen's middle name, Rose. My favorite scrap of all is the one I picked up from the community scrap pile. It's black with acorns all over it. It reminds me of walks taken many years ago, where my little girl would pick up acorns that "lost their hats" to take home for her dad to fix.

I picked the pink and blue scraps because our instructor said we needed to tie into the colors in my little teacup scrap. As I look at it now I am reminded that Jen will become a mom sometime in August, 2011. And then we'll find out whether I have a grandson or granddaughter. Hooray!

My marathon experience

Ken and I had planned to take a bus trip to D.C. last Sunday to see the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef at the Smithsonian. He insisted I go without him. What a guy.

Off I went with a busload of friends, knitting all the way.

Pure joy.

In order to actually get to the Museum of Natural History, we found it necessary to participate in the St. Patrick's Day marathon. OK. In all truth, we were told the only way to cross Constitution Avenue was to actually join the runners and exit the race on the other side of the street. Can you say "Why did the knitters cross the road?" We did a little victory dance after we made it to the other side. One more thing I can cross off my bucket list, I guess.

Since I'm writing this on St. Patty's Day, I am saving the actual coral reef info for later. I believe I have never had so much fun while in our nation's capitol.

They even had their St. Patrick's Day parade on Sunday, in beautiful weather, just for us!

I discovered I'm a sucker for team mascots, even though I always believed myself to be a one-mascot woman, that being the Philly Phanatic. Harsh truth, but there you have it. The Washington Nationals had four mascots in attendance, and they were awesome. A beautiful day and a beautiful parade.

Deja vu all over again

Ken's home from the hospital after his second surgery in less than 4 months. Truth be told, if he hadn't had the first surgery for an aneurysm in the celiac artery, he wouldn't have been concerned about the pains in his abdomen on Feb. 23rd. He wouldn't have contacted his surgeon, and he wouldn't have had the CAT scan and blood work that necessitated surgery for a blockage the very next day. The blockage was due to scar tissue from the first surgery but, along with removing that, his surgeon removed a carcinoid tumor , his appendix, and some amount of intestine. Testing revealed the tumor to be malignant. It had spread to 3 lymph nodes out of the 17 the surgeon removed. Prognosis is good and this type of cancer does not respond to chemo, so he will need CAT scans and blood work every few months to rule out any further tumors.

Wow.

I came home from my hospital vigil with more back pain and the old sciatic nerve kicking up, but luckily am able to get in for a therapeutic massage to deal with it later today. And relief.

Springtime :)

I love the colors in this yarn. Reminds me of violets, grape hyacinths, maybe even a crocus or two. Purchased 2 balls of it intending to make mittens, even came with a very nice pattern. Somehow, I never cast on for those mittens and now spring is in the air. Et voila! The Storm Cloud Shawlette popped up on Ravelry this morning.

It was fate.

There's no place like home :)

I have a closet in my bedroom that I call my sewing closet because it contains all things pertaining to sewing, which I do very little of these days. Knitting is more fun.

Well, spring cleaning got to me yesterday and I took a stab at the closet, especially the tippy top shelf that I have used as a treasure chest since 1986 for anything memorable/special pertaining to my children.

A little history here: My daughter Jennifer's Aunt Flo gifted her with a very large Raggedy Ann doll the day Jen was born. It came with a special tradition of photographing Jennifer with Raggedy Ann each year on her birthday. I really wanted to continue the tradition (wouldn't it be a hoot to have Jen in her wedding dress with R.A.?) but the practice waned around 7th grade.

Back to the cleaning extravaganza: I uncovered such memories and treasures. Eventually, duty called, dinner had to be cooked and all was forgotten, mid-cleaning. I left everything on a table in my bedroom for another day, along with some pillows, one a very large"husband pillow with arms".

Here's what I saw when I crawled into bed and glanced across the room last night. The wicked witch of the west perhaps????

Going cold tortoise

How could you not love a face like this? Better yet: two faces like this.

It's so very cold and windy outside, but our tortoises enjoyed a comfortable ride to their vet visit in their mulch-lined plastic boxes, accompanied by hot water filled bottles to cozy up their journey.

I went along on the adventure to lend a hand carrying the guys into the vet's office. In truth, I really was curious to see what a tortoise checkup entailed. It was pretty quick, actually looked like just a cursory glance. One can only wonder what the vet was looking for. Anyway, the guys passed with flying colors and entertained the staff and other pet owners. Now they're back home again, awaiting travel instructions. One day soon, they'll take a one hour journey south to the Plumpton Park Zoo in Cecil County, MD , their new home. I'm hoping we'll pass a yarn store along the way, but I digress.