Finally

I know, I know, not that the world awaits, but I have been absent for a while. It seems the summer was hot, busy and didn't provide alot of time for blogging. Or at least I didn't make alot of time for blogging.
I did knit some, not alot as seriously handling alot of yarn was not what seemed to be a priority but I did some and pictures are below.
Finished a sweater for A. (9 yo gd) and here she is posing like a goofy 9 year old!


This sweater really does look better in reality than it does in this photo. She didn't seem in the mood to stand still and provide her Grammy with a proud moment !
If I remember correctly she was entertaining her cousins, as my youngest DD and her 3 have moved back to Canada from Osaka and are slowly getting settled here in Edmonton in their house.
The only "possessions" that have arrived are those that have been in storage for 4 years in Ottawa, but any day/week now the shipment from Japan should arrive which will have more of the kids things. I think they did well to pack as they had to plan for a summer at the cottage, general summer, work clothes, school clothes etc. Their suitcases were well organized but the organization seems to have gone away now as they really do need to get their daily use kitchen things etc. Hopefully by the end of the month things will all have fallen into place.
Here is another pic taken on my SIL's birthday. these are my two youngest Grands.
Christopher, with his blond curls that soon will require cutting to identify his gender and his cousin Caelan who is 9 mths younger and weights about 10 lbs more than he does!!

In the picture, Christopher has discovered that playing the harmonica non-stop is kind of fun (unless you had to listen to it non-stop!!) and they are up on the climbing structure in the back yard at DD's. I think Caelan is about to remove the harmonica and pitch it!!

This week upcoming I will be spending a couple of days/nights with the 3 kids as T. has to travel out of town and her DH is teaching at U Victoria so is only home every 2nd weekend. The boys are getting settled in French immersion school and love being in the same school as their cousin Ali!
OTN now are a couple of pairs of socks, (of course!) and a "do-over" for Lori of a shrug I knit for her for Christmas. It didn't really suit, so I frogged it and am making a shawl. Using the same lacy pattern from the shrug but just making it about 18" wide and as long as the yarn let me.
Also trying to figure out an edging for a very plain shawl I made out of some thrift store yarn for myself. Now that things have cooled off, I like something over my shoulders as I sit and knit in the evenings. It is an off white of a mystery yarn which I believe is mostly wool. (Did the burn test and sniff test and all that).
Also knitting a sweater for Christopher out of some leftovers from other sweaters and then will venture on to something for Kiernan and Quinn for school.

Well that seems to catch me up in a rather brief way but nevertheless, I will attempt to post more regularly and keep this blog up to date.
Thanks for reading..

Help

Well it has been a while and I don't really know where the summer has gone, although it isn't over yet!
I received a "comment" from a wonderful lady named Louise, who said I have won some yarn from a contest I entered on her blog! I have no idea what her blog address is and of course dear Blogger doesn't let you access the people who leave comments. So I suppose I am out of luck unless she sees this post!!

I have a couple of pictures I will post of finished sweaters, both for my gd Ali who turned 9 at the end of June.
Knitting continues in a more upbeat way than it has during the heat infest of July and early August, but more onto socks and a couple of other things that shouldn't take too long
Hope you are all enjoying your summer and that you have been able to enjoy your knitting in some way even with the heat we have all had.

take care and Happy Knitting.

Finally

I should be downloading pictures since I haven't blogged in a while but on the last stages of the (*&^%$ horse sweater and also another for my now 9 yr old gd Ali.

The other news which most of you know by now is that DD T. and her DH, AND MY 3 GRANDS are moving back to Canada which we expected to be Ottawa. However, she now has a job right here in EDMONTON!! We are all very excited and the kids can't wait for the snow.!!

We wouldn't mind a bit of snow right now as the temps have been in excess of 30ºC (plus some damn humidity of all things) for several days! My 3rd storey apt is quite warm and doesn't cool much in the evenings as the temps have only been getting down to 20ºor so. Ah the end might be in site as storms are coming tomorrow and with it a temp drop to a cool 25ºC!!

Continuing to pick up new clients with my foot care business, although most of them are seniors, I now have 2 wheelchair bound people as well. Anything BUT seniors for sure. Wonderful and they have both remarked that their circulation has improved many fold! that is good feedback.
I have renewed my ad in the Senior's paper for July and I have already booked 2 appts from it.
Hope that pace continues.
Have been helping with CM as much as I can on my days without appts so that he is able to be occupied inside instead of always being outside in the heat, which he would prefer of course. Unfortunately, DD had him at the Dr. for his annual checkup and less than 3 weeks before his 2nd birthday he weighs in at a whopping 21 lbs!! Also, she has just called to tell me that he has a hairline fracture in his wrist and they are going to cast it! poor guy and poor Lori, in tears and feeling sooo guilty!! She says he fell last week and cried alot but she hasn't seen any other signs of discomfort except for last evening in the bath. she mentioned it to the Dr. who asked for x-rays and that is the result. She feels soooo very guilty and I feel for her, I know how she must feel. He will bounce back but with this heat, she is expecting the cast to prevent good sleeping or anything else for that matter.
I am leaving shortly to go over and see what I can do to relieve them once they are back from the hospital where they are getting the cast put on.
Hope all is well in your world and knitting is on your agenda along with a nice tall cold one!!

Finally some pics

Well not a whole bunch but a couple at least that show C. wearing her dress and another showing the dress & sweater. T. seems to not like having a diaper show, so she doesn't think the dress is any too large and of course C. is growing so much!

I just rec'd these pics this morning so they are hot off the wires! :)
I guess it is the gratification of seeing the things you knit for someone being worn and I know this outfit was well received so here's hoping she gets lots of wear out of it!



So not much other news, knitting hasn't been top of the list this week as I attempt get my "10 pairs of feet" done by Wednesday. I have done the "family" and now need about 4 more. I finally phoned the Women's shelter here and volunteered myself on Monday and Tuesday. They were thrilled so here is hoping I get lots of practice. I frankly think it will be somewhat less stressful doing strangers than doing family. Not sure why that is but that is how I am feeling anyway.

So this week will be a busy one. The weather has been very warm so not feeling like knitting much but must get back at it as I don't like days when I don't knit...strange eh?
Take good care everyone and hope your day is filled with lots of sunshine and warmth!

Socks, Socks & Socks!

Well I did receive my Sockapalooza socks after all, I must admit I was beginning to get a bit worried. However, the wait was definitely worth it as some gorgeous, deep blue alpaca socks arrived along with a skein of Fleece Artist Sock yarn!!!I have cast on for a pair of cabled socks with it already as it is such gorgeous yarn. You can see in the pic it is deep greens, blues and purples. I wanted to knit them up before my sis sees this yarn or she will want it and she is NOT getting her hands on it!

They are definitely a beautiful sock knit by Meghan in Ontario. She is just getting her blog back in shape and you can check her out here Thanks again Meghan, it is a pleasure to meet another Canadian knitter and blogger. They fit so well and are so cozy. For a while, it was very hot here and there wasn't a need for socks so I tucked them away, however yesterday and today are rather cool so they have been on my feet for sure!!
I also have been knitting socks, along with other things and I have managed to finish a couple of pair. I did the Embossed Leaves socks with some gorgeous striped pink Trekking (colour # 133) and although you may question my sanity in knitting such a busy pattern with the variations in the yarn, I am enjoying them.

They seem to be quite springlike and are very pretty. My friend Sandra would not like them as they don't match "exactly" but they are fine for me :)

Then I finished another pair of some yarn that was gifted to me. I don't remember exactly what yarn it is but it is rather scratchy, so I rinsed them in vinegar when I washed them. That seems to have softened them up a bit. Again, S. they don't match exactly but they are fine!

The kids received the parcel and they L.O.V.E. the dress and sweater however I am anxiously awaiting a picture of sweet C. in it!. I had Happy Birthday sung to me in Japanese, French and English so I feel quite priveleged! Of course, it was only the boys as C. isn't quite that talented yet:)
That is pretty much it for now, I am late in blogging about my Sockapalooza socks so I wanted to get the pics up!
Have a great week everyone and oh the "Pedicure" course went very well now I have to complete 10 pedicures before June 7 for my final exam. There is a written part for about 90 minutes and then we do another ped for our instructor to observe. So far so good and I must review my notes every day to ensure I don't forget anything. Quite alot of detail about the foot, its structure and so on.
bye for now

In the mail

Well not all things are in the mail but the items I have been working on are on their way to Japan to my youngest grand. She turned a big ONE at the end of April so I am late with her gift but trust me, she didn't notice! :)
I am quite pleased with the outcome of this little "ensemble" as it can be a jumper, dress, or both with a nice sweater. The sweater of course, can be worn on its own as well.
Again, This is Pattern #30 from the Spring/Summer issue of FCEK. It was recommended to use Paton's Grace but I used the Katia that I think I showed in another post.

Now socks are on the needles as it has been VERY hot here and the idea of a sweater or wool shawl laying in my lap while I knit is very undesirable at the moment.

Not much other news, going to be looking at feet next week...as I have signed up to do the Pedicure course and hope it is successful for me.

Take care and may you have a day full of sunshine and lots of knitting.

Well almost there

I am on a mission to "finish" the dress and sweater today. As this package has to get to Osaka, I want to get it in the mail today if possible.

It needs buttons and the snaps that I will put in for the real closures on both the sweater and the shoulder straps of the wee jumper. It is truly darling and I will post pics once it is all ready to go! I am quite delighted so far except for a bummer with the yarn. On 3 occasions some sort of "dark blue" came out of the centre pull skein which was obviously some sort of dye mistake or splash! I have washed it and in particular tried to scrub those areas but one is on the front (of course!) of the sweater! bummer....

In other news, my Sockapalooza socks were sent off good and early and the USPS tried to deliver on April 29 (almost 2 wks ago) and left a card for the recipient to pick the parcel up at the post office. That has not happened and one wonders if she is away or just not getting her mail. I have sent her a message but sure wish she would pick up the parcel! They are nice socks and I want her to have them!!!:)

I have signed up to take some training in "Foot Care" and in particular for Seniors and diabetics. I am hoping this will be a nice, relaxed way to earn a living and go on about my rather uneventful life. That course starts (3 days) on May 24. Then the "advanced" is in early June!

I have made several enquiries about advertising and getting some business so we shall see.
Yesterday looked after wee CM for several hours..DD is very busy right now..she was recently very successful in bringing in the largest EVER job her company has ever had, almost $300K worth of printing.!! It all seems to be going well and we went to "Swiss Chalet" to celebrate with everyone for a nice family dinner on Tuesday evening. As a Mom, I am so proud of her and the work she does with her long time customers!

That is it for today, I will post pics tomorrow after completing all the finishing on the outfit for Caelan. It is always more than one imagines and I want it to be especially useful for both she and her parents!
May your day be filled with pleasant knitting and nice finishing:)