Bringing you up to date....

Hi, all!!!

Just a note to bring things up to date. Since my last post, my stepfather (David) had an operation to remove a tumor from his bladder, and has another surgery and treatment scheduled on May 9th. More news as it becomes available.

We also found out this week that Bill’s mother (Arlene) has a lump on her neck that is suspect, and though she doesn’t give us great detail, the words “oncologist” and “chemo” have been used in her emails.

Prayers are appreciated for both David and Arlene and the families.

 In more upbeat news, it’s May, and spring has come to Seattle (at least for a week). It’s too bright out for me, but the other people seem to be enjoying it. ;-)  

I have a scrapbook crop on Saturday where I’ll be working on scrapbooking our wedding photos (5 and a half years later).  In my spare time, I’m knitting a sweater, testing a pattern for a gal on Ravelry. I’m about 20-25% of the way through it and have until the third week of May to get it done. Wish me luck! That also means all of my other projects are on hold… one of these days I’ll have another pair of matching socks. Right now I have three single socks waiting for mates. I actually have four, but I don’t like that sock so I don’t think I’ll be making another one. I also want to make a pair of Mariners’ colors socks for the July 25th Stitch and Pitch game.  Baseball and yarn! YAY!

I guess that’s about the news for now. Thanks in advance for your thoughts and prayers.

Blessings,

Kristin

Quick Update - Good News!

Hi, all!!

I just wanted to let you all know that we have much to be thankful for. besides God's daily blessings:

We have two new beautiful grandnieces born recently in Minnesota, Morgan and Alyssa. Both are first babies, so prayers as the families get into their rhythm would likely be appreciated. 

Also, I am thrilled to report that after a surgery and a drug reaction and a few days where we thought all was lost, our cat Milla has made a recovery. She's been gaining weight and is being sparky and spunky. We can't treat her hyperthyroidism with drugs, but we'll keep an eye on her weight and hope for the best. it's good to have her back to the little snickerdoodle she used to be. 

That's all I wanted to share for now. Thanks for reading! 

Blessings, 

Kristin 

What's up?

Hi, All!

Spring is springing in the Pacific Northwest, even if there was snow on the ground last Friday. We’re getting a few nice days to break up the rain, so I’m hearing less complaining from my coworkers and comrades. That’s always a good thing.

We’ve had quite an adventure with our cat Milla since the beginning of the year. We took her to the vet because she wasn’t eating, and they discovered a bladder stone and hyperthyroidism. She came though the stone surgery like a trooper, but shortly after getting her staples out, her skin became inflamed ALL OVER. Turns out she had a reaction to the hyperthyroid medication. She’s off that medication and on Prednisone and over the past five weeks and a lot of angst, she’s turned the corner. She was so bad that we thought we were going to lose her for a week or so.  Her skin is now scabbing over (though she’s losing fur with her scabs, so her butt especially is getting bald) and as of this week she’s been acting like the “old” Milla again. We are thrilled and relieved… except for the midnight howling. But she’s calmed down on that over the past couple of days. I think that was just her way of telling the neighborhood that she’s back in town. ;-)

When I haven’t been at work or the vet’s office, I’ve been playing on my iPad or knitting. I started a sweater for me (12 rows down, MANY more to go) and have been working on blocks for a charity afghan with some friends from church. I also found a shawlette design I really like that I want to do soon (and would probably be more weather-appropriate near-term than the sweater). The pattern is in Spanish, too, so that’s been fun to figure out between my 4 years of Spanish 25 years ago and Google Translator. Luckily, the pattern had links to videos for the stitches I’ve never seen before, so that was a HUGE help. I did have to construct a question in Spanish to the designer because the math didn’t add up in my head, so we’ll see what she says. Ravelry is such a cool place!

I also decided recently that I’m going to start scrapbooking our wedding pictures (after almost 5-1/2 years). I got them printed and sorted in order and now I have to gather supplies and get ready for the next evening crop in April (that will be my test run) and then an all day National Scrapbook Day crop in May.  I don’t plan on getting super elaborate with the pages, but titles and journaling take time. And did I mention that I haven’t scrapbooked in over 3 years and had creative block back then? Wish me luck!

I had a couple boxes delivered yesterday that had something besides yarn in them. Since the squirrels have annihilated the cushions of my 11-year-old porch swing, I decided to order a replacement from Amazon.com. This one is all wood and no cushions. One upside - no “umbrella” cover to catch the wind and knock the swing over. One downside - no “umbrella” cover to keep the bird poop and pollen off the seat.  It may be a little while before we get the swing assembled, but we have it. I’m not sure what to do with the old one. The frame and cover are still in good shape, but do I have the ambition to list it on Freecycle? We’ll see, I guess.

I guess that’s about all the news for now. Have a great spring (and summer) until I “talk” to you again!!!

Blessings,

Kristin

Long time, no see!

Hi, all!

I don’t know if I’m too busy or too lazy to blog on a regular basis (probably some of each), but it’s high time I popped in and said hello.

I’ve been doing a lot of knitting lately (I’m kristinkay26 on Ravelry if you’re a Raveler you want to see what I’ve been up to). I have a sweater I’m in the process of crocheting and I haven’t touched it since October or November. I should finish that up since sweater weather is going away soon according to Punxsutawney Phil. But I’ve really been bitten by the knitting bug. I’ve also been bitten by the yarn shopping bug. That bug is fun at the outset, but when I have to find a place to store all the yarn, well… it gets a little cumbersome. But I have lots of lovely yarn to pet. I just can’t find all of it when I want to. And where to store the leftovers for a scrap project??? I have three socks that need mates and I’m working on a fourth sock. And mittens. And a cowl. I have knitting ADD. Not that we’re surprised by that.

Speaking of pets (how’s this for a segue?), I’m taking my sweet kitty in for surgery this Thursday. She’s got a 1cm stone in her bladder. We also found out that she’s got hyperthyroidism and is on medication now. Bill’s a real trooper getting those pills down her throat. I sometimes try to help keep her still while he pops the pill, but I think he’s got a rhythm down now and I’m in the way when I try to help. I’m told I’m supposed to keep her “quiet” after the surgery. She’s been pretty lethargic so hopefully that won’t be a problem, but she does like to jump up onto the desk and the bed, and that’s about a 3-foot jump or so. We brought an ottoman into the bedroom as a step up to the bed for her, but she hasn’t figured out what it’s there for yet. Hopefully she’ll figure it out before she jumps onto the bed and says “ow” because it hurt to do it.

Other than that, things have been going okay. Ups and downs and all arounds, just life on its normal course. Hope you’re all doing well, and I’d love to hear from you! I’m not on Facebook as much as I could be, but if you leave me a message here or there I’ll see if eventually. :-)

Blessings,

Kristin

Spiffy...

My tracking history for something I bought online:

Wolf Point, MT, United States	07/19/2012	6:00 A.M.	Train derailment.
Hodgkins, IL, United States	07/17/2012	10:54 A.M.	Departure Scan
	07/17/2012	7:54 A.M.	Origin Scan
United States	07/16/2012	9:58 P.M.	Order Processed: Ready for UPS

Whoops.

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Quick update

Hi, all!!

As of late, I’ve been doing some knitting and crocheting (and not much else, like writing blog posts or keeping up on Facebook).

I’ve crocheted some socks and fingerless gloves, and I’ve knitted a tank top (VERY basic pattern). I need to make some adjustments to make it fit. I won’t say my gauge was dead-on, but I don’t know how I could have gotten the width to grow 6” on both the front and back pieces. At least I was consistent.

I’m knitting a VERY basic shawl right now (because the cool Seattle weather is bound to come back eventually) and next destination is socks. I’ve been bitten by the Ravelry bug and have lost mymind. I continue to be optimistic that I can learn the language and techniques that mystify and intimidate new knitters, like “short rows” and “magic loop” and all the abbreviations that seem to make sense to the rest of the knitting world, but not me. I love the internet.

One ball of fun is that Bill and I got to go to Boston for a short vacation at the end of June. I’ve gotten to check off Fenway Park on my list of places I have to go before I die. And on the 100 year anniversary. Pretty cool. We decided not to stay for the rain delay that drove us all from the stands at the top of the 7^th (they made us leave the seating area - there was thunder and lightning) so I didn’t get to sing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” in Boston, nor did I get to hear if the Mariners are the only team in baseball that plays “Louie Louie” for their seventh inning stretch. So far they are. Thank goodness. I still don’t get that. Save it for the Huskies. Od post pictures, but they’re on my phone and I just realized that I thought I had my phone charging for the last 3 hours but the connection was loose so the battery is dead. You can look on FB on my timeline on June 25^th. Make sure you click the picture to see the whole electronic scoreboard.

Well, I guess that’s about all I have right now. If you want to see how some of my projects are shaping up and you’re on Ravelry, look me up (Kristinkay26).

Blessings,

Kristin

Hello, February, as you speed by.....

Time for another update, but I have no idea where to start or what to cover.

Bill and I are both gainfully employed;

Our parents are all in good health (as are we);

I have a sudden obsession with crocheting, yarn, and recently knitting. Many people post their projects to their blogs… but that requires that I TAKE pictures of my projects. I have pictures of a few of them, but no really good ones. I’m thinking about getting a foam head next time I go to Hobby Lobby so I can show my hats and scarves. I’d rather get something with a face, but I’m thinking that the foam head is a lot less expensive than something that has fake skin and eyelashes. Oh, sorry - I looked on the Hobby Lobby site and it’s called a Styro Head. My mistake. ANYWAY, $5 seems pretty decent for a photo prop. If anyone has ideas on how I could dress her up, let me know.

I have a phone that’s smarter than I am. I think I can use it to share pictures on my blog, but I don’t know for sure if I can, and if I can, what it would look like. Stay tuned for experimental posts.

You can find Bill and me on Facebook (but not often).

You can find me on Ravelry (kristinkm) and Twitter (@kristinkay26);

Or you can keep checking here and I’ll “see” you in August or so. Unless I start getting obsessive about sharing my projects or figure out how to share pics from my phone. :-)

Blessings,

Kristin