Hoping Spring Brings Happier Times

Prayers are needed for a good friend of mine, Donna. 2009 is turning out to be a very difficult year for her and her family. Her husband, Dean, lost his job in March. Donna has been out of work for over a year now, but has been able to find part-time temporary work. As of yet, Dean hasn't found a new job. Their oldest son is graduating from high school this year and plans to attend college in the fall. Their other son is a freshman in high school. Last week, Donna's mother was diagnosed with ALS. The family is devistated. They are praying that the disease progresses slowly so that Kathy and her husband, Fred, have many more years together.

This news is hitting my family hard because Donna's parents have lived across the street from my parents our entire lives. My Mom has commented on several occasions that Kathy and Fred have been the best neighbors that anyone could ever have had. Her parents have been extremely helpful to my parents in the past 9 years since Dad had his first stroke. Kathy and Fred have been there whenever Mom needed assistance. They have come over at a moments notice when Dad has gone into seizures. They have helped with running errands. They even cleaned up a horrid mess in Mom and Dad's house after one of Dad's 'episodes'. (I won't describe the mess, but be assured it was a mess you would think twice about touching even if it was your own family.) They also have a huge garden and share their harvest with my parents. They are angels!! I just pray that God is merciful on them.

Switching to happier news now.

Easter was spent in Cincinnati with my family. We didn't do a very good job coordinating the menu because it was heavy on carbohydrates and desserts. We had two kinds of potatoes, mac-n-cheese, and about 7 desserts. I made two.

First a fruit tart. It was a recipe I improvised from several other recipes and if I say so myself, turned out quite well. Heres a picture. Doesn't it look yummy!!!



My other dessert was a lemon sponge pie. This is an old family recipe from my paternal grandmother. It is Dad's favorite. It didn't get cut on Easter, so I sent it home with my parents so that they could enjoy it through the week. It is like a lemon meringue pie with the custard and meringue folded together.



Here's the latest progress on Decimal. Coming along slowly. I'm through 2 balls of yarn. 10 to go. This first picture is a little blurry, but the color is right.


The second picture is clear, but the color is off.



Yesterday I bought WendyKnit's sock book. I really like it. After I finish Decimal, I'm going to try a few of her socks. My goal is to go through the book and make all of them. It is a nice learning resource.

Happy Easter!

It is hard to believe that it is mid-April already. I feel like the year is passing by in a blur.

Work is a big pain in the butt! I can't remember if I've mentioned it already (forgive me if I have) but I'm on a HUGE project to convert the company's financial systems and business processes. The Go Live data is October 1, 2010. The pace is exhausting and the documentation requirements are extreme. The project management having us document everything, sometimes multiple times in different formats. It is hard to keep up on top of being in meetings for over 7 hours a day. Lately I've been working close to 48 hours a week. I come home in the evenings with barely enough energy to cook dinner and check up on the kids and their homework.

I am gratefull that I do have a job, though. A good friend of ours lost his job last month. He's had a few leads but they were all on the East Coast. He and his wife don't want to think about moving or having him commute long distance yet. I just keep praying things turn soon.

Ed's job is in a precarious state right now. His company has announced that they are trying to sell off the division he is in. Until a buyer comes forward, we don't know what it means. If it gets bought by a smaller company, Ed thinks he'll be safe. But if it gets bought by a larger company, he thinks he'll be out of a job when the companies get merged. The third possibility is if no buyer comes forward. In that case, a lay-off is possible if his company decides to consolidate resources.

On to happier news.

I finished my February Ladies Sweater. You can see pictures here. I love it.

I am now working on Decimal. It is coming along nicely. I love the border pattern.

I hope to have this completed soon, so I can where it during the warm weather.

Speaking of weather, today is a beautiful day. I'm off to enjoy the nice spring day. Hope you can too.

My daffodils aren't blooming well this year. Here's one of the few that flowered. I need to find out what's going wrong.

A Day Off

I decided to take a day off work. Since the end of January my work schedule has been crazy with training and meetings. The craziness has kept me from blogging. Here's an update of my slow progress.

Long ago I started a pattern for a throw made out of Lion's Brand yarn. It got shoved into a drawer and forgotten. Over the winter I pulled it out and finished it. The kids love it now. It was an easy knit3, purl 3 pattern on size 13 needles. A nice project for in front of the television during the winter.


My February Ladies Sweater is slowing coming along. I stopped on one sleeve to start the other. Once I get the second sleeve to be the same length as the first, I'll evaluate how much yarn I have left and how long I want the sleeves to be. As you can see, I already put on the buttons. Once I cast off and weave in a few last ends, this puppy will be done!

Sorry this isn't the greatest picture. Black, especially black with metalic thread intermingled, doesn't photograph well.

I needed some instant gratification last week. I was feeling a bit blue about something that has been on my mind for a while so I decided to stop at one of a LYS on the way home from work last Friday. I found a sample of Fetching sitting right next to a basket of Lorna's Laces Angel. It was love at first sight!!! When I got home I cast on and by Monday evening I had the yummiest pair of mitts.


Yesterday was my birthday and I received a very lovely gift from my sister Patty. This is some yarn that she dyed and spun. It is about 55 yards of sport weight wool. I'm not sure what to make with it yet. Right now I'm just carrying it around with me like a kid with a teddy bear.


I have my next potential project in mind. It will be another stash-buster. I promise I won't cast one until the FLS is complete!

February Update

As the title of this post suggests, I anticipate that this will be the only one I do this month. My track record this year hasn't been very good. It looks like some things in my life will change in March, which I hope means I'll have more time for the things I enjoy instead of barely getting by with only fulfilling my most pressing obligations in life.

Here is the long ago promised photo of my February Lady's Sweater. The photo is crappy because of the lack of natural light in the house. It is getting close to sunset and it is overcast and rainy outside. Not a good day for photographing anything, let alone a black sweater.



I'm in the process of binding off the lower edge. I'm hoping the sleeves will go quickly. I have 3 small balls of the yarn left. I'll take the two that are closest in size and use each to start a sleeve. I'm hoping to get about the same out of each ball. The third ball will be used to finish the sleeves. I'm guessing it will end up with 3/4 length sleeves. My goal is to get it done while it is still Februrary.

This morning I dug out a pair of socks that have been hibernating for a while. I'm almost done with one. The socks were originally started as a 2-at-one-time project, but I screwed up the heel of one so I had to unload one from the needle and finish the good one alone.

I have a 3rd project that is close to finishing. It is an afgan that I started years ago. It's one of those knit until you run out yarn projects. Great for winter evenings in front of the TV. Tonight will be one of those nights.

I'm anxious to get back to knitting regularly. Work has seriously interrupted many aspects of my life. I am working on a project to convert my company's financial systems to new software. We have 18 months to complete the work. It is a HUGE undertaking. I've spent the past 6 weeks in training to learn the software. Classes would run from 8:30 am until after 6:00 pm everyday. I'd come home from work with just barely enough energy to make dinner. After dinner I'd spend a little time chatting with friends on Facebook and then go to bed. Since training is now over, I'm hoping to regain some mental focus in the evenings.

Here's hoping that some aspects of my life come back into my control!!