Flying Brussel sprouts and other events -

Well I figured I better update this blog. It has been very busy since I last wrote so this will be rather long..
Thanksgiving dinner was here at our house. Cory, Jill, Shelby and Jamie came for dinner. Aaron had to work so we didn't get to see him. Dinner went well and we had a nice time but Jill is teaching MY Granddaughter bad table manners. No one is supposed to feed the dog at the table so when I caought DD Jill feeding Leda (the dog) brussel sprouts I told her "Do NOT feed the dog at the table". She then gives Shelby (HER daughter) a brussel sprout and says;" You can't feed the dog at the table so throw it into the kitchen." Whizz goes a brussel sprout past Jamies left ear and into the kitchen....................... Scoot goes the dog after the brussel sprout. Now the dog isn't stupid, she knows where the sprout came from and goes back to Shelby's chair hoping for another sprout. This is the woman who gave me heck because I told my DGD she could spit food she didn't like into her napkin..................
Wednesday (the 14th) I went to Vancouver to pick up Donna's magazines and sisal. The magazine box was about the size of a liquor store box but the sisal box was 3 feet high, 1 1/2 feet wide and 1 1/2 feet deep. Pat brought it out on a dolly and we sort of tipped it into the car. Friday I went to Gail's and her DH loaded the sisal box into the back of the pickup truck. We loaded all our stuff for the spinning retreat into the truck, hopped in and left........................ oh, oh ............... we forgot the magazines.................... Guess whaty Donna wanted the most ................ right .... the magazines.

Well we had lunch 20 minutes out of Cache Creek rather than our usual spot which is 15 minutes out of Cache Creek. Then arrived at the retreat center unloaded our stuff and went to greet everyone. The retreat was fabulous as usual and we all had a great time. Lots of laughter, some fruit and way too much food. I was very self restrained and didn't buy anything. I did sell some of my stitch markers and counting bracelets so that helped pay for the quilting retreat the following weekend. Dispite not buying anything I came home with more than I brought. I got a Grden ornament (sheep) fot the yard from the gift exchange,flax for spinning was a door prize, a sheep in a tin from the hostess's, some lovely lace weight yarn from Lynne. hair braids from Isobel and a lovely necklace from Sheila. Then Marie gave several of us some lovely aplaca yarn and challenged us to have it made into something for the next retreat. Speaking of challenges .................. there was the other Challenge................Donna gave everyon a bag of the SISAL to make something before the next retreat................ If I had known she was going to do that I would have left it at Pat's and just taken the magazines................... NOW WHAT TO DO WITH THIS STUFF THEY USE TO MAKE ROPE ..........................WOW what a great weekend you should have seen the show and tell. There are some incredibly talented people at that retreat. Sunday came too soon and it was time to pack and hug people goodbye. I did get the purple fibre spun up and started on the BFL from Lynne. My but it is nice to spin and great colours. If DH ever gets my camera thingy fixed I willl post some photos. Gail and I followed Doris home as she was having trouble with her brakes on the trailer but all went well. I arrived home in time for Shelby's Birthday dinner cooked by the children ( the adult ones). It was a lovely end to a lovely weekend.
To top the weekend off there was a small envelop that had been hand delivered and inside was a small card with the Disney Princesses on the front. Inside the card:
" Dear Karen
The quilting princesses wish to enjoy your company on this coming Thursday for purely selfish reasons on their part. Please say you will come.
Hugs and Kisses from the
Quilting Fairy"
Included in the envelop was enough money to pay for one more day at the retreat. As I have said before I am very blessed to have the friends I do.

Three days at home, clean up after the DGD's party, unpack , do laundry, tidy the house a little ,put away the spinning supplies and pack the quilting supplies, find all the projects I want to take, pack wine and nibbles, try to get some sleep. Thursady morning Jocelyn and I are off to the quilting retreat where again we had lots of fun, Good friends, good wine, good food and lots of quilting. We even did some shopping. I had to get more fabric for my neices wedding quilt as I didn't like some of the fabric I had planned to us. Saturday night some of us were up rather late, when I went to bed at 2:00 a.m. there was still four people up and they didn't go to bed until 6:00 a.m.. Crazy women, I won't tell you what we drank but it was a fair amount. Some people woke up with "Skull Cramps" Sunday morning. I have almost finished the baby quilt for Justin and just need to put hanging tabs on the Manly Man challenge quilt and hand sew the binding. The Halloween wall hanging has most of the faces appliqued in place and some of the blocks are sewn together. I started this last year at the retreat and the way I am going I may actually get it done for next Halloween.
Have to go now...............

I am back, had to go to the Dr. about my knee which is much better this week as something went "kuthunk" earlier this week and I have less pain and more range.

I spent the week after the quilting retreat recovering from the retreats. My friend said "I thought retreats were supposed to be relaxing?" Relaxing YES but restful NO. I was rather sleep deprived.

Last weekend was HALLOWEEN and we went to an ABBA party at Lisa and Rene's. Everyone dressed up and all the kids were there. A good time was had by all including the students that board with L:isa and Rene.

This week has been fairly quiet re: doing things. As far as noise we have the dog and Shelby has been here most days. I have finished a felted bag with matching little zippered bag. My fingerless gloves are almost finished. They maybe for me this time but you never know. The faces are finished on the Halloween quilt and I want to start doing my Dear Jane and Quilted diamonds blocks. I need to finish my neices quilt first and then do her a baby quilt. I am waiting to find out whether the baby is male or female before I make the quilt. That porbably doesn''t really matter as the quilt will be BRIGHT IN YOUR FACE COLOURS because baby's should have bright happy things.
Well I see I have all the seating in the living room covered with knitting and quilting projects so I may have to break down and clean ................ darn........... OH well life must go on and peole who visit do need a place to sit down.

Busy week

Well the dog was sick, my car needed to be fixed, Jill's car needed to be fixed, Cory fell down the stairs, Doris came over , Mo and Barb came over, I went to Jackies, and WNK, Shelby was here for 2 nights, I made three counting bracelets and many stitch markers, I finally mailed Sue"s parcel, almost finished a wee sock, almost finished my car-knitting-socks, dyed yarn for my 'No ducks 'socks.and ripped out the heels as the socks were too short, vacumned (yes you read that right), finished the applique on a gift quilt, did some spindle spinning .......pause for a breath ..............re-organized my bead stash, found a home for three boxes in THE ROOM, send two big bags of fabric home with Doris as well as some patterns and thread, went to Micheal's and the Dollar store, shopped for groceries, hung up my wee sock collection, did dishes several times. Swept the floor, broke a glass dish I liked. I can't remember what else I did but there was more.
What's happening this coming week..................Well
Tomorrow Barb is coming over to do some crafting,
Monday I am cooking Thanksgiving Dinner,
Tuesday is sewing at Jackie's,
Wednesday I go to Vancouver to pick up magazines and sisal for Donna, then knitting at the Pool Hall in the evening
Thursday - I know something is happening just can't remember what. I better phone some people.
Friday- Gail and I go to Desert Mesa Spinning Retreat
Oh on Thursday I have to pack for the retreat. I have a little note book that has retreat information and what I need to bring so every year I review the list and add or remove anything that needs to be changed.

This was my parcel from Rebelyarnmuse on ravelry.My wee timny pickle sock is in the forefront of the photo. I loved all the goodies but the sock is the best. (Gail took the photo and sent it to me)

WONDERFUL FRIENDS

I have been blessed with some very wonderful friends and two of them spoilt me this week. I was unable to go to OFF with them so they each brought me something. Gail brought me a square spindle made by Spindle wood Company and Lynne brought me spinning fibre from Dicentre Designs. It is hand dyed BFL top in a colour called Edmund. Lynne also brought me a small amount of merino/yak that I am spinning on my new spindle from Gail. This spindle is wonderful. It spins forever.

When I think about it most of my friends spoil me and I am very blessed to have them in my life.

I have been busy spinning, knitting and quilting. I planned a lot of things for the past weekend to try and make up for not going to OFF. I stopped to see my friend Jackie then took Shelby to see the baby alpacas. We went for lunch at a Japanese restaurant where they were a little slow taking our order. Shelby got up and went over to one of the waitresses and asked when someone would wait on us as she was HUNGRY. One of the waitresses was right over (with a big smile on her face) to take our order.

We then went to Black Sheep Yarn shop as they were having a sale. There was some very cute knitted animals in the shop and Shelby really liked the elephant so I bought the pattern. Shelby checked out all the grey wool in the shop and picked out a good one for an elephant. I said "I suppose I need to knit your elephant right away".
NO ............... Shelby said" GRANDMA - you have been working on Briannes dog for months and it is NOT finished. When we get home you need to work on that ." ....................... BOSSY child. I have now finished all the pieces for the dog and just need to sew it together. .........................Have I said how much I dislike sewing knitted projects together? ........................ in case I haven't I REALLY , REALLY DISLIKE SEWING KNITTED PROJECTS TOGETHER. That is probably why I like to knit socks and shawls
....................no sewing of the knitted project.

Well today I have to go out and get a new battery for my phone as the one I have won't fully charge any more. Lets see ........
I need to do dishes, laundry, vacumming and other house work.............................. if I go to the phone shop, then the library, followed by Micheals and the loony store that may take me until 4:30. Time to think about supper before I leave for the Pool hall for the evening......................... Housework will always wait until tomorrow. In fact you can do it today and still do it again tomorrow so I THINK I WILL DO THINGS I LIKE.

My camera downloader thingy is still not working. DH took it to get it fixed so now I think it is lost forever in his truck. I really like blog postings with photos but will have to do without for now.

Why would she give us an empty teapot???

My friend Molly and I went out on Monday to do something we will never do again ...................... we went to Value Village 50% off sale................ aaaaaauuuuaghhhhhh ...................... toooooooooo many people pushing buggies and waiting in line and I think all the good stuff was already gone. I came home with 2 bead bracelets and I can't remember what Molly bought.
I think I have teflon brain ............ nothing sticks. Anyway all this doesn't explain about the empty teapot.
Molly is a tea drinker so when we went for lunch at Tim Horton's we ordered tea with our sandwich. Now the girl wants to know what size we want.
Molly asks " You will give us one teabag right no matter what size of cup we get?'
The girl says"Yes".
Molly " So you are going to charge us more money for a bigger cup of hot water."
Girl " I guess so "
Molly " Do you have tea pots?"
Off the girl goes to find a tea pot and finds some so Molly says" We want 2 small mugs, 2 teabags and two teapots full of hot water." Not hard to do right .................... WRONG............. There is a young man putting our order on a tray and he gives us our sandwiches. and 2 small mugs full of hot water with the teabags in the cups. At this point the girl says to Molly " OH here is your teapot." Are you ready for this ............................ I hope you are sitting down ..........................she hands Molly an EMPTY TEAPOT. Now why would anyone go into a restaurant and order an EMPTY teapot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Really what would you want with an EMPTY teapot?
Molly hands it back and asks for it to be filled with hot water. We finally got 2 teapots full of hot water..................... this was no trouble ............ right.
I only ordered tea because I was with Molly as I am annoyed ( that is putting it mildly) with Tim Hortons. Did you know they make this "SPECIAL'" tea ................ it is steeped. How $&(&F else do they think you make tea. If you don't want this "SPECIAL " tea you get a cup of hot water, the cost is determined by how big the cup of HOT WATER is. THIS MAKES ME CRAZY SO I GUESS I NEED TO WRITE A NASTY LETTER AGAIN.

I haven't written as I have been busy canning and cleaning THE ROOM. There is a floor in the room ............ amazing, and it is carpeted. We have turned 27 lbs of cucmber into dill pickles and 35 lbsof garlic into pickled garlic. Don't know what else I have been doing other than knitting and looking after DGD.

2 socks 2 needles

Well I am trying this again. I find I am quicker with DP needles but I am testing this pattern for a lady on Ravelry and the pattern is toe up, and has sea things in it. So I am knitting 2 socks on 2 circular needles inside out. Yes you read that right INSIDE OUT This means I purl instead of knit but that is fine. Inside out you say ...................... why would anyone do that .................... well when you are doing fairisle type knitting in the round if you knit it inside out the yarn is loose enough so you can get the socks on. I think this is a very important point ........................ who wants to knit socks you can't get on. I did that once................ not intentionally.................. I made these beautiful fancy turkish style socks and couldn't get them over my instep............... yes I have a high instep, wide foot........................ but Turkish sock have a differnt style heel and the sock didn't have any give so it WOULDN"T GO ON MY FOOT. They decorated the wall until I found someone with a skinny foot that could wear these socks.
I want to knot ( that should read KNIT, who wants knotted socks) both socks at the same time so the pattern is the same on both. Normally this is not an issue for me or maybe I should say having identical socks is an issue as I prefer fraternal socks and earrings. Not that earrings have anything to do with this but I just thought I should add that. ( You never know when someone may take it into their head to buy you earrings.)
Oh yes I couldn't find the colour of yarn I wanted for these socks so I food colour dyed two skeins of white. They are now aqua. I found green, blue ,pink, red and orange in my stash.

THE ROOM actually has a floor and I am filling the recycling bin with paper. If it is blank on one side it goes for the printer. Doris has a neice who is starting to sew so I am going to give her some fabric and other sewing stuff that I am parting with. I still have to decrease the pattern section of my room as everything will not fit in the space I have allowed. I was feeling so proud of myself that I had all this floor space and then I looked at the other end of the room. THEN I turned around and walked OUT OF THE ROOM.

Update time

I checked to see when I last wrote on this blogand it was Sunday. Time , I thought to myself to write again ............... only one problem. I CAN"T THINK OF ANY THING TO SAY. Will try again later.

THE ROOM

actually has some room. I have been sorting binders and magazine holders for at least a week or is it TWO ...................... who would have thought there was that much to sort............................. Well that would be anyone who has ever seen THE ROOM. Anyway I am almost done with that............... now if everything fits in the area designated for it that portion will be done. I do hate to say it but I may have to get more ruthless and get rid of more STUFF...................... soon I am going to need a tall person to come over and take boxes off the top shelves. I don't want to climb the ladder as my right knee is bothering me. Believe it or not I am feeling really good about THE ROOM now and may have it sorted by the end of the month. OOOOPS .......SORRY.....were you sitting down when you read that????

CREDIT FOR THIS HAPPENING BELONGS TO LISA as she came and helped me get the deck cleared off so I have a place to sort STUFF. THANK YOU LISA ..... THE QUEEN OF ORGANIZATION.................

The thingy that downloads my camera to the computer is broken, DH took it to get it fixed ..................... he PUT IT IN HIS TRUCK .................It maybe lost forever. The new camera we got for Christmas does movies and stills but it is not compatible with the Mac computer....................... where will I find a space to set up the PC. Maybe I can locate one of those drying racks that hang from the ceiling and rig that up for the PC............ lower it to the cutting table when I want to use it and put it up by the ceiling when I don't.
I realloy would like to put photos on my blog ...................... I may have to dig up some old ones...

I decided I needed to knit something I could finish in a day so I made a felted bowl from the book "Oneskein" by Leigh Radford. I would like to be able to put links in my blog but I don't know how to do that. Now I am making another bigger bowl of my own design. This one is light grey and dark brown The first one was yellow and dark brown.

Time to go work on the room. May do some spinning later.