Thanks, friends
Thanks to everyone for their very kind words of comfort over my grandmother's death. I really appreciate the support. The funeral was very sad, but also very nice. There were a couple of stories about my nana that made me cry and laugh at the same time. You know how it goes. I feel so much better now that the funeral is over. There was just a lot of stress about the whole trip and the funeral and now that it's over, there's a release. If that makes any sense. I got to see some of my more distant family members, which was nice - especially seeing my second cousin, Phoebe. As I may have mentioned, when I was growing up, I used to spend almost my entire summers between my two grandparents house - I lived in Sioux Falls and they both lived just over the border in southwestern Minnesota. When I was at Nana's house, Phoebe and I spent a ton of time together, so we were really close. I haven't seen her in years - I know I haven't seen her at least since I graduated from law school, possibly even before that. She looked FANTASTIC. She's got beautiful long red hair and it still looks the same. She was very thin and stylish and just gorgeous. I wish we could have spent a little more time together. I was helping my great aunt (whose house I used to love to visit as a girl - she was the only grown woman I knew who wasn't married and didn't have children) get her coat on and leave and Phoebe left before I got back.
The weekend in Sioux Falls was much better than I feared. I picked up my aunt on the way to Sioux Falls and she was much calmer than I thought she'd be. She was actually pretty calm throughout the weekend until the funeral itself. She mentioned she's taking Zoloft now and I really think it's made a huge difference. My mom and my uncle both seemed to be doing pretty well too. It was really nice to have my brother there with me. A lot of times he and I can't go back to Sioux Falls at the same time because of scheduling issues, but it's so nice to have him with me. We're so different than the rest of our family and so much like each other. And obviously so close.
Last time I was in Sioux Falls I checked out a craft sale and found out there's a bead store downtown, so I decided to check it out on Saturday. It's a nice store and I managed to find a few things I can use. Then I met my brother at the used book store. We used to bring all of our books there for years and trade them in for new books. You used to be able to get a pretty good deal if you were trading in instead of getting cash. A few years ago they really cut the amount they were willing to offer, so I haven't been there in a while. Greg and Michael found a ton of good stuff and I picked up Celtic Knits and one of the Outlander books. That night we met my sister Kerry for dinner at a Japanese Steakhouse. Sioux Falls with sushi - I never thought it would happen. The teppanaki was really good and the sushi was pretty good. Only beer and wine, though, which kind of sucked. We also got to see Kerry's new house - she closed on the day I left Sioux Falls last time, so I only got to see the outside. I'm so proud of her for buying her own home!!
We were a little disappointed that we had to miss the Vikings/Packer game on Sunday. It's usually the highlight of the season. At half time I was glad I wasn't there and I may have left the game early. Surprisingly, the boys actually found some heart and came back and won. I'm still kind of shocked and bet it was pretty exciting in Metrodome. I hope they win a couple more games now that I'm back.
The dogs were in a kennel while I was gone and got groomed before I picked them up. They are so pretty and soft! I couldn't get good photos, but here's so bad ones:
I've been busy knitting up the leftover yarn from the Heart Sweater for Saralee's granddaughter too. Here's yet another hat from Tadpoles and Tiddlers:
I think this hat will be way too big for her. The hat patterns in this book do not have any gauge or measurements listed in the patterns. They all call for the same yarn, though, and each of them came out a different size. I don't think I'll be making any of them again. I decided to make socks instead:
These are from 50 Baby Booties to Knit. The patterns are all for babies, but since this is bigger yarn, I think it'll fit a toddler. I didn't follow the pattern after I turned the heel - I decided to decrease the gusset stitches the way I normally do on a sock, knit the foot longer, of course, and then do the toe the way I normally do too. As you can see, they're a bit different. I ran out of yarn before I finished the toes on the second sock, so I ripped back to the heel and re-knit the heel and toe in white. I'll rip out the first sock and do the same so they match.
I've also been busy buying yarn again. Last spring when I got 1000 Great Knitting Motifs, Ben and Red both requested a scarf with the snake motif on it. It hought it would be cool to make a scarf with the head on one end, the tail on the other and the body all around the back. This chart is supposed to be used on a sweater, so it's pretty large. I figured if I made it in fingering weight, I could use it for a child's scarf. Believe it or not, I don't have plain fingering weight for this in stash, so I went shopping:
The scarves will be black with a red and green snake. I knit the scarf through the head and decided it was still too wide for a little boy, even with this yarn. So, I changed the chart a bit and cast on 10 fewer stitches. I haven't gotten as far, but I think this will work well. Now we'll see if I can churn out two of these before the snow flies. It's getting colder around here, but it's still in the 50s today.
The weekend in Sioux Falls was much better than I feared. I picked up my aunt on the way to Sioux Falls and she was much calmer than I thought she'd be. She was actually pretty calm throughout the weekend until the funeral itself. She mentioned she's taking Zoloft now and I really think it's made a huge difference. My mom and my uncle both seemed to be doing pretty well too. It was really nice to have my brother there with me. A lot of times he and I can't go back to Sioux Falls at the same time because of scheduling issues, but it's so nice to have him with me. We're so different than the rest of our family and so much like each other. And obviously so close.
Last time I was in Sioux Falls I checked out a craft sale and found out there's a bead store downtown, so I decided to check it out on Saturday. It's a nice store and I managed to find a few things I can use. Then I met my brother at the used book store. We used to bring all of our books there for years and trade them in for new books. You used to be able to get a pretty good deal if you were trading in instead of getting cash. A few years ago they really cut the amount they were willing to offer, so I haven't been there in a while. Greg and Michael found a ton of good stuff and I picked up Celtic Knits and one of the Outlander books. That night we met my sister Kerry for dinner at a Japanese Steakhouse. Sioux Falls with sushi - I never thought it would happen. The teppanaki was really good and the sushi was pretty good. Only beer and wine, though, which kind of sucked. We also got to see Kerry's new house - she closed on the day I left Sioux Falls last time, so I only got to see the outside. I'm so proud of her for buying her own home!!
We were a little disappointed that we had to miss the Vikings/Packer game on Sunday. It's usually the highlight of the season. At half time I was glad I wasn't there and I may have left the game early. Surprisingly, the boys actually found some heart and came back and won. I'm still kind of shocked and bet it was pretty exciting in Metrodome. I hope they win a couple more games now that I'm back.
The dogs were in a kennel while I was gone and got groomed before I picked them up. They are so pretty and soft! I couldn't get good photos, but here's so bad ones:
I've been busy knitting up the leftover yarn from the Heart Sweater for Saralee's granddaughter too. Here's yet another hat from Tadpoles and Tiddlers:
I think this hat will be way too big for her. The hat patterns in this book do not have any gauge or measurements listed in the patterns. They all call for the same yarn, though, and each of them came out a different size. I don't think I'll be making any of them again. I decided to make socks instead:
These are from 50 Baby Booties to Knit. The patterns are all for babies, but since this is bigger yarn, I think it'll fit a toddler. I didn't follow the pattern after I turned the heel - I decided to decrease the gusset stitches the way I normally do on a sock, knit the foot longer, of course, and then do the toe the way I normally do too. As you can see, they're a bit different. I ran out of yarn before I finished the toes on the second sock, so I ripped back to the heel and re-knit the heel and toe in white. I'll rip out the first sock and do the same so they match.
I've also been busy buying yarn again. Last spring when I got 1000 Great Knitting Motifs, Ben and Red both requested a scarf with the snake motif on it. It hought it would be cool to make a scarf with the head on one end, the tail on the other and the body all around the back. This chart is supposed to be used on a sweater, so it's pretty large. I figured if I made it in fingering weight, I could use it for a child's scarf. Believe it or not, I don't have plain fingering weight for this in stash, so I went shopping:
The scarves will be black with a red and green snake. I knit the scarf through the head and decided it was still too wide for a little boy, even with this yarn. So, I changed the chart a bit and cast on 10 fewer stitches. I haven't gotten as far, but I think this will work well. Now we'll see if I can churn out two of these before the snow flies. It's getting colder around here, but it's still in the 50s today.
rdladd@arnan.com
