THE Scarf

I've had this "Taize" scarf (designed by Susan Pandorf - Sunflower Designs) on the needle now for one whole month and as you can see, I do have quite a bit to go. I drool over the beautiful scarves designed by Susan, but knew I didn't have the skills to ever make one. Then she came out with this design for a "beginning lace knitter" so thought I'd give it a try. Actually, the pattern is quite simple, especially since the scarf is only 66 stitches wide. So you'd think I could get it right. But I have learned I have to be in a room by myself, with no TV, no nothing to disturb me and just knit and pay attention. Some rows I've tinked 3 or 4 times before I get it right. Just when I think I'm going along just great, then the next row I come up short or long and do over again. I'm either going to hate or love this scarf when done considering the hours its going to take me to do it. I do love the yarn, Fibre Company's Canopy Fingering - Baby Alpaca 50%, Merino 30% and Bamboo 20% and the color is Purple Passion - a very dusty light purple/lavender. So wish me luck and patience!

Hubby has had his first chemo treatment and doing pretty good. He gets tired a lot, but that's to be expected. He has had to go in every day for 7 days to get a shot of neupogen to build up the white blood cells. The lump is going down very fast and he hasn't lost his hair yet, but it should be coming out in the next couple of weeks. His next chemo treatment will be in two weeks. The prayers for him are welcome. The prognosis for complete recovery is very good.

We had a niece and her husband from Pocatello, Idaho visit one day this week, and next week our two granddaughters from Spokane will be around for a couple of days, so we're looking forward to that.

Finishing of a Nice Project

Well, I finally finished the cotton 3-Diamond Spa Set and really love how it turned out. Now I need to make a trip to Bath & Body to find a pretty teal colored soap or two, and a nice basket and what a beautiful gift this will make. I'm so pleased with how this turned out, I think I'll do another set or two. As I've said in earlier posts, my husband has cancer and will be starting his chemo treatments later this week, so I'll be spending more time sitting in doctor's offices and have found that working on my Taize lace scarf is too complicated to work on except at home in my craft room. I rip out as much as I knit when I'm interrupted too much or have distractions around. The spa set is mindless once you get beyond the diamond pattern.

Snow and Daylight Savings Time

I don't know why we have to have DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME. It is an energy saver idea from way back in WWII times and should be done away with in my opinion. Having a hard time staying awake and even caught a quick nap yesterday afternoon.

Woke up this morning to SNOW - can you believe it - only 12 days until Spring - what's the deal here. We have had a crazy winter, with a lot of snow for our area here in western Washington. I think I speak for most of us - enough already.

Finished the two spa towels which turned out quite nice. They are 17x13, and together with the washcloths and some pretty soap in a basket will either make a nice gift, or will sell it at our church bazaar this fall. The pattern is by Lynne Love and found here on Ravelry and is free.

Family and Knitting

Well, I have a variety of things to talk about on this post. First and foremost, we had family visiting from Pittsburgh, PA from last Friday until Monday. Our daughter, husband and their two adopted foster children were a delight to have around, and we all got together with our other daughter, husband and two girls several times over the weekend. I was sorry to see them leave. We went to a wild animal park - NORTHWEST TREK which is fairly close to our home. We rode the tram, as well as walked around to see the birds and animals. They are animals indigenous to the Northwest: black and grizzly bears, elk, moose, bison, wolves, fox, linx cats, etc.






My finished object of recent was a green striped dishcloth, and one 3-diamond spa towel. I'm still working on the second towel and then onto two washcloths. I'm also finishing up on the infamous granddaughter's sweater. I just have to redo the ribbing on the neck and weave in the ends and it'll be done. Hopefully she'll still get some wear out of it before the weather turns warm. I'm casting on the Taize lace scarf pattern of Susan Pandorf's design. She says it's a good beginner lace pattern. Also want to start a "real" pair of socks with sock yarn and size 1 or 0 needles. The only pair I've ever made was a "lesson" sock out of Cascade 220.

Tomorrow my hubby goes to see the oncologist and hopefully we'll find out exactly what kind of cancer he has and what the treatment program is and when it'll start. He's getting frustrated with all this waiting and I can't blame him.