It's getting better...

Scott still hasn't had his surgery but we are both feeling somewhat better. We went to the hospital for his pre-op screening and after 7 hours of meeting with everyone associated with the surgery and having every detail explained, we left feeling very reassured about the whole process.

Tuesday I went to the dentist and within half an hour, the bad tooth was out and I was on my way home. I didn't realize how nervous I was until it was over. I also didn't realize how nervous Scott was about my tooth extraction until I came out of the exam room and found him waiting in the front office. Totally unnecessary but sweet.

I felt good enough Tuesday to go to my knitting group that night. That always improves my week.

Alek came in from North Carolina today and Ariane is coming home tomorrow. We leave for the hospital bright and early Friday morning. Scott's youngest sister is also coming so I decided that I'm bringing travel games and we're having a party in the waiting room. The surgery is 4-5 hours long so we need something to keep us occupied. I, of course, will have a couple of knitting projects, too.

I finished another flap cap this morning. These are so much fun to make. I think I'm going to start another one.



Bernat Berella 4 acrylic yarn in pink, soft fern, and white
US 7 needles

I have more colors of the Berella 4 that I would like to use but next time I'm going to use a size 8 needle. The pink hat will be warm but the fabric is a little firm.

That's all I have for now. I want to thank everyone who has sent good thoughts our way. It really means a lot.

Big sigh...

That's how I feel about life right now. The past two weeks have not been good and it's not over yet.

On October 28th, Scott went for a heart catherization. He's been having some chest pains when he runs. He's a vegetarian, non-smoking runner who weighs about 150 lbs. He can walk for 6 miles and not be winded so we really figured it was asthma or maybe at the most, he would need a stent or two put into his arteries. Wrong! This Friday, he is going in for quintuple heart bypass. Absolutely everyone who hears this and knows him is shocked! Even the doctor that did the catherization was shocked. But, as he told us, you can't fight genetics. The prognosis is very good as his heart muscle is in fantastic shape. It's just the arteries that are diseased.

Then, as the family was reeling from this news, we received word a few days later that his oldest nephew (45) had taken his own life. While we weren't surprised because he's been having emotional problems the past couple of years, we were extremely upset. He was a very intelligent, charming man with a terrific smile who lost his fight with his demons.

Now on to me. I have a tooth that lost the filling and has been breaking off for quite some time now. Being the procrastinator that I am, I have been ignoring it as it didn't hurt. Well, the weekend of the funeral, it began to hurt so I finally went to the dentist. He said the nerve has been dead for a long time so we could pull it. Unfortunately, after numerous shots of Novacaine, we found that it has an infection at the root and it couldn't be pulled on Monday. So I've been on antibiotics and antibacterial rinse for a week and I am hoping it can be successfully pulled on Tuesday. If it can't be pulled then, it is going to have to wait until after Scott's surgery.

Oh, and tomorrow, Scott and I get to spend the entire day at the hospital for his pre-op session. We will meet with the surgeon, all his staff, be informed in depth about the surgery, and have lunch with people who have had bypass surgery at this hospital. They will do all his pre-op screening, too.

Are you still reading after this less than uplifting post? If you are, I am now going to talk about knitting. Which has been and will be the keeper-of-my-sanity.

The first picture is a progress picture of the Noro Striped Scarf I have been working on lately. I started it on 8/31/09 mainly because I wanted to see how the two colorways of Noro Kureyon would look together. It's now only a few inches from completion because it has been a great mindless knitting project. I may take it tomorrow for the pre-op screening.



Noro Kureyon in #95 and #148 on size 7 (4.5) needles. I apologize for the bad picture. I never should have taken it on that tablecloth. I'll take better photos when it's completed.

The next pattern I think I'm going to find a little obsessive. It's The Flap Cap by Lynda Gemmell (Cabin Fever #109). I bought the pattern and yarn at Adventures in Knitting in Harwichport, MA when we were there in September. It only took two days to knit and could definitely be knit in one day if I worked on it continuously.



Plymouth Encore Colorspun self-striping #7516
Size 7 (4.5mm) needles

I have another started using Bernat Berella 4 yarn. It will be pink with a white, green and pink stranded pattern. Very fun to knit!

And that's all for now. I'm sure you will understand if I don't post for a while. I do hope to have a more positive post after my dentist visit and Scott's surgery.

Alpaca Alert!

Have you ever seen such cute faces?!!



After the wedding in Ithaca on Saturday (wedding post once I figure out how to upload pictures from the new digital camera), we went back to Syracuse and stayed at Scott's sister's house. On Sunday, we went to an antiques show at the NYS Fairgrounds. We've gone to this show for several years and the last few years there has also been an alpaca show at the fairgrounds. Usually by the time we are done at the antique show, it's too late to see the alpacas. This year we were at the antique show by 11 a.m. and done by 1 p.m. so we decided to stop in to see the alpacas.



We all fell in love with these adorable animals! Scott says he wants to buy a couple to keep in the yard. We have just under an acre of yard so it might be doable. I told him that if he does, he has to learn to shear the alpacas and I have to learn to spin.

Scott has Raynaud's Syndrome so his hands and feet get very cold in the winter. He absolutely loves alpaca socks because they keep his feet warm. Last year I knit him alpaca mitten liners for the Malabrigo mittens I am making him. Well, I knit both the liners and one outer mitten. I really need to make the second outer Malabrigo mitten before the snow flies!



Because he loves alpaca yarn so much, he actually bought two skeins of yarn so I can make him a hat! This is amazing because it drives him crazy that I have so much yarn. Well, that just opened the flood gates. While he went to the car to get the old camera so I could take alpaca pictures for a blog post, I went to another booth and bought a softer skein of yarn. The first two skeins were nice but not as soft. Then we were looking at more booths and I found the softest yarn. I bought a 600 yard skein of fingering weight marled alpaca yarn for $29.00!



L-R: 2nd yarn purchase (200 yds for $15.00), 3rd yarn purchase (600 yds for $29.00), 1st yarn purchase (2-200 yd skeins for $15.00 each) (Click on picture for a close up)

That's 1200 yards of alpaca yarn for $74.00. Approximately $.06 a yard!!

I can't wait to start knitting with these yarns. The first skein pictured was from a farm that has it's own fiber mill. I think you can purchase yarn online from them. It's A+ Alpaca Fiber Mill at Riverside Alpacas. I haven't checked out the website yet but I intend to.

And that was my alpaca adventure. I have a feeling that if we go to the antique show next fall, we'll also schedule a stop to the alpaca show!

I'll leave you with one last alpaca picture.



(I wonder if we can teach Isabella to herd alpacas?!)

Blocking rocks!

The wedding shawl is blocked and ready to go! (Click on pictures to see it closer.)
Isabella is not impressed but I'm very happy with it.







I think Megan will be happy with it, too. Too bad the weather report for Saturday is around 50F and rainy. That kind of ruins her plans to walk out of the woods for her wedding march. I feel bad but I don't know what she expected when she planned this wedding for the end of October in New York State. At least it will be a memorable wedding!!

Sunday Ariane and Mike came to visit and brought Lucy with them.



Lucy is their 11 month old French bulldog and boy, is she a handful! We went out to breakfast and left her blocked in the kitchen. We came home to find the trash can on the floor with the bag pulled out. Luckily it was a new bag and empty. All the paper I had hanging on the refrigerator had been tasted and were scattered and her collapsible water dish had been tossed around so there was a large puddle of water to be mopped up.

Isabella (who hates Lucy with a passion) was properly horrified that a dog could do such awful things.



In spite of her naughty behavior, we love Lucy. She loves everyone and everything and is so happy. Isabella prefers that she not visit her house again.

First real lace project

My first real lace project is done! Well, the knitting part is done. Now it needs to be blocked.

Here are a couple of progress pictures that I took earlier in the week.




The pattern is the Vine-Stitch Wrap from Vogue Knitting "Shawls on the Go". I used Mirasol "Nuna" yarn which is a merino/silk/bamboo blend in what I call a pearl white.

I started the shawl on October 5th and finished it last night (October 16th). The shawl is for Scott's niece's wedding on October 24th. Her shower is today and I had hoped to have it completely done but that wasn't possible. In my defense, we didn't get the wedding invitation until September 25th and then left for our week on Cape Cod. I'll take it to the shower to show it to her and then I'll bring it back to be blocked.

It's nice to have the shawl done so I can go back to knitting other things. It was a fun and easy pattern, though.

While vacationing, I bought a couple of hat patterns. I finished up this hat on the drive home.



The pattern is the Spiral Rib Hat by Song Palmese (Ann Norling #54) made in Lamb's Pride Worsted "Limeade". The book "HomeSpun, HandKnit" (edited by Linda Ligon) has a pair of mittens made in the spiral rib pattern that I'm going to make to match the hat. The set will go to charity.

And finally here's a picture is Isabella enjoying a walk on the beach near the house we stayed at on Barnstable Harbor. She's a real beach dog.



And now I have to go do all the housework that I neglected while knitting the shawl. The shower is at 1:30 p.m. and Scott's brothers and one of his sisters are coming over afterwards. I need to vacuum and declutter!

Cape Cod 2009

Yes, I'm on Cape Cod. Today is our 31st wedding anniversary and this is where we are celebrating it. If you have read this blog for any length of time, you know that we have been celebrating our anniversary this way for over 10 years now.

Here is my little "nest" at the house. My laptop is set up on the kitchen table next to the window where I can look out at Barnstable Harbor. (Click on pic to enlarge.)



You can see my knitting sitting next to the laptop. When we are at the house, this is usually where you will find me.

And this is the view that I'm looking out onto -



The house sits about 50 yards from the beach. Across the harbor is a spit of land known as Sandy Neck. There is a lighthouse on the end of Sandy Neck but I don't think I got it in this picture.

Not a bad way to wake up, is it?

My knitting has not progressed very far since we've been here, though. I've been working on some charity items - mittens for a couple of different places and a baby sweater with matching socks for another charity. Here are some of the mittens -



This pair is made from Wisdom Yarns "Fair Isle". I bought it at Webs for $3.99 a skein. Look in their closeout section. It's a 200+ skein of 100% self-patterning wool and it's great for charity mittens and socks. I orginally bought 5 different skeins and think I need to order some more of it.





These are Patons Classic Merino wool. This has to be one of my favorite yarns.

I was hoping to get the baby socks done before tomorrow so I could post them on Sock A Month but I don't think that's going to happen. I have about 1 1/2" done on the first one. Today we are going shopping so I don't think I'll get much more done on them.

Have a good week all. Oh, I'm on Twitter now - SuefayeNY.

Preemie hats are done.

I finished 5 preemie hats for Marykatherine's first birthday. Three are knit and two are crocheted. I used a variety of pattern and yarn to make them. They will be delivered today along with a store-bought set of onesies. I hope the hospital can use them.



Now I'm back to knitting mittens. The purple ones I mentioned in the last post have been set aside temporarily. The yarn is acrylic and after rereading Ann's blog, I realize that wool or wool blends are preferable. So I started a pair in Patons Classic Wool. The first mitten is done and I just started the thumb gusset on the second one. I'll post a picture when they're done. The purple mittens will be finished and I'll send all the acrylic pairs with the wool ones. I'm sure they will all be used.