Ho hum....

Look at this.........2 posts in 2 days! Must be some sort of record for me. Here I sit with a skein of Super 10 cotton on my desk and a ball of Kauni - both are taunting me. They are just begging to be knit into something. Yesterday I wound up some Kauni in preparation for this sweater but I cannot cast on because I must finish my grandmother's sweater. Actually, the list of things to finish extends way beyond just that one sweater - there's also my Sock Wars III socks which now must be frogged because I'm afraid my gauge is off and I don't want to disappoint my target. Don't worry Dora I am going to send you a pair of socks regardless of what happens with this crazy game I decided to play???? There's also the Blue Sky Alpaca Silk Shrug which is gorgeous but consists of miles and miles of stockinette to be finished by 6 (yup! 6)inches of ribbing.....urrrrr! Oh and the Super 10 cotton - well, I want to make the Bacardi sweater from No Sheep For You but don't have the book and am currently fighting the urge of racing to Chapters to buy it! Or maybe I'll make this cuz I can cast on right away - no driving to get the pattern. What the heck is wrong with me?

Hello....helllllooooo!

Ok - Lynn - Sarah - here's the post! No need to worry I'm still alive but busy, distracted, worried, happy, sad.........you name it, I've been it this past month and a half. I'll start with the present and work backwards.........first, our Yarn Crawl last Saturday! Here's our little group from Pick Up Sticks - I stayed behind at the shop and rumor has it, they had a blast!

From left is Sarah with Oscar the Boxer, Meghan, Angela, Claire, Carol, Lisa and Vel.

My dear, dear grandma has been very ill. She's been in the hospital for about 3 weeks altogether in the last month which has kept me with her instead of at the shop or at home. She's home again now, but is still weak and hopefully, will just keep getting better. Her platelet count dropped to below 10 which left her at a big risk for bleeding or stroke - she's been on Prednisone to try and boost her count but it keeps going up and down. I'm extremely close to my grandmother and I'm truly worried sick - she's a very bright, alert and up until now active 88 year old. I cannot stand the thought of losing her but at the same time don't want her to spend the rest of her life in and out of the hospital. This is all compounded by the fact that my 'other' family and I do not see eye to eye on things - they think she's old, and I think I don't care how old she is, I want the same care for her as if she were 38. I've called my grandmother every single day for the last 11 years - sometimes more than once a day and now I find myself wondering what I'll do when that is not an option. We've talked about her death, my grandmother and I and she tells me, never to be sad when she's gone because we've had a wonderful relationship which few have the chance to share. And it's true.........I'm lucky but still....

Prior to my grandmother's hospitalization..my husband's uncle died suddenly which led to 2 trips to London Ontario and then my brother-in-law's parents were in a car accident in Guelph.....really, since we've been back from Florida (which was wonderful, with terrific weather and terrific yarn shops!)we've been dealing with some kind of family crisis or another.....

But now I'm back so let's move on to happier stuff.....

I've been knitting....a Tulips for my Grandmother's 89th Birthday ...this May 22! - almost done the body!

Pascoalina gets a chart reading lesson from Lisa and......

And Mary completed and wears her Alpaca Silk Cardigan - it's fabulous and so is she!

Meet Our Flock!

Maggie sent me this picture of our window - a friend was walking by and snapped the shot. Starting at the left we have Lulu, Pearl, Nellie, Beatrice and Sammy (short for Samantha) - Lulu was a gift from Marion and the rest were gifts from Jeannette - we love them!

A Knitter's Showcase

We usually have a visit every week (sometimes more than once) from Bronwyn and her family - Bronwyn is such a fantastic and fast! knitter and is so great about sharing her finished projects with us - I thought I would share them with you. Here's little India modelling the hat from Knitty. You can find the pattern here. Bronwyn made the hat from Dream In Color Classy Cool Fire and Happy Forest.

And her latest finished project - also for India - also in Dream in Color Classy - Some Summer Sky this time. The pattern can be found here. Lisa is knitting the same dress from Kim Cotton which can be found here.

Next on Bronwyn's list is this dress from Blue Sky Alpaca in Alpaca Silk for India to wear to a family wedding. She chose Kiwi and I cannot wait to see the finished project!

Knitting?

I've been knitting with some of the new yarns that I have in the shop and I love both of these. Cloud Cotton - super soft worsted weight knits up quick!

This is Araucania Ulmo Multi - I stopped into the wholesaler on Monday on the way to my grandmother's to pick up an order that was waiting and was just wondering around and what do I find - but this gorgeous yarn tripped me as I was walking by - I picked up a bag of each colorway, put it down, walked away, went back, stared at it, picked it up, put it down, went to put bags in my cars, came back, picked it up and brought it home. Well - not home but to the shop - it's really gorgeous stuff!

Here's what a knitter looks like when she ties the knot

Here's Aaron anxiously awaiting her arrival - it was such a beautiful wedding - we had so much fun and were so honored to be invited. Who would have thought when I met Sarah at another yarn shop two years ago that we would have become good friends and I would have attended her wedding!