Up in the air

Since my last posting Mother Nature has  reinforced the notion that humans really are fragile creatures that really shouldn't be wandering around without proper supervision.  The weekend before the East Coast got munched by Sandy, I picked a fight with gravity. Not surprisingly gravity won. One really shouldn't over rotate while apple picking to look at a squash.  It never ends well. So I spent most of my week with ever darkening bruises where the ladder rungs had been stamped into my left side.  It being November, the call for Christmas ornaments to go out the armed services has come again. So my enforced couch time went to making an army of flying pigs and snowmen. Flying pigs somehow seemed appropriate to both military life and current events.  It's been raining and dark here all week, not the best for photography, but these guys and some hats and slippers have to be shipped. So no time to wait on good lighting. I really should make a light box and avoid these problems. That probably wouldn't stop them from all turning towards the wall though. 

Info on Superstorm Sandy  

maps --- Help ---- FEMA 

The Ships Project  - sending 'Hugs from Home' since 2001

November mailing

 November mailing for the Ships Project always includes handmade Christmas ornaments. So in addition to 7 wool hats an assortment of felt decorations are heading overseas.

For some reason the idea of gnomes at sea makes me laugh. Probably sleep deprivation.

Click the link for more information about this group and how you can get involved.
THE SHIPS PROJECT

wordless wednesday

big holes and small hats

photo from August

 It's dark, trying to rain and there's a bite in the air. I went for a walk to try and break out of the allergy induced funk I'm in this morning; only to fall into a squirrel hole. Stupid digger squirrels. Their making my field look like a bombing range. So after getting my dog to stop laughing at me, he's a very un-sympathetic dog, I returned to the couch and finished baby hats.

The Ships Project people send out baby gifts for babies born into the Air Force Pararescue community. These guys are one of the original groups to receive stuff from the Ships Project. Dad has been deployed multiple times and will be moving from Texas to Alaska this fall with his wife and baby. I would imagine the whole family will be needing hats. Talk about a temperature change! With group membership above 2000, baby Sadie (born on 9/13) should be good to go.

Information about my stuff will eventually be on my Ravelry page, and more info about The Ships Project is here. Next month is the beginning of hat season fro the group so these will the last small things I make for quite so time to come.

What do you do all day?

Don't you get bored?  These are often repeated refrains from friends and family, and most recently my doctor. Post leukemia, post chemo, post moving to 20 acres in eastern Washington. Sometimes I feel like all I do is explain how life is different than before all those posts.
Before I was in school, I worked as a bookkeeper, and did CAD along with everything else in your average life.
Then the big C.  A completely life altering experience for my entire family.
Now I'm allergic to nearly everything, have issues with anxiety, live with chemo-brain and wonky ovaries.
Ah, chemo-brain, a thick brain fog that brings a slightly demented house elf into you're life. It hides things, moves random objects from room to room and leaves weird stuff in the refrigerator. Shortens attention span and makes me hunt for words. In short - chemo-brain is damned irritating!
So getting back to the original question, what do I do? Most of the time I couldn't tell you what I did the day before. I know I was up and doing stuff - just not entirely sure what. That's part of the reason I got into The Ships Project and Knit for Japan. It has clear deadlines and a tangible product. I can look at a pile of hats or cool ties and know where my time went. Outside projects are less obvious unless its something like the wood pile. Which I need to start working on again.
Maybe that's what this blog is for; proof I haven't been nuked into obsolescence.
Anyway I'm never bored.

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Knit for Japan mailing ended July 15. My box included 9 hats, 3 pairs of fingerless gloves, and 1 cow washcloth. All of the pattern and yarn info are on my Ravelry page. (I have become completely obsessed with Ravelry. Thousands of free things and you can see how almost every yarn works up. And membership is free!)

Cool ties are off to Florida and then to parts unknown.

And I made a bench.

I'll have photos just as soon as blogger stops acting up.  It completely changed my wordless wednesday  pic.

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Okay enough about chemo-brain. I'll be back next week with frivolity and a Many-Berry Cobbler.

Summer fiber

I've gone into hat production again. There are no color rules in the Knit for Japan group so I'm trying to do a little stash busting. Stash busting sounds so much better than delving into my hoard. My yarn addiction is taking over the living room at this point. Click the logo for more info, the shipping deadline is July 15th.


Ships Support: The Ships Project  ---->>>>  It's another cool tie month and I have about 40 I need to finish up and get out.
 
The Colville Valley Fiber Friends will host our annual Spin in the Park gathering on Saturday, July 25, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Please bring your spinning wheel and chair, or any other fiber-related project, and your lunch. You may also bring a contribution to the infamous raffle. Vendors are invited to bring their wares at no charge. For additional information call Shannon Henry at (509) 684-8502.

 June 11th thru 19th

March Mailing

Hats : Ellen's Knit Hat
Slippers: Beginner knit slippers

Knitting this month for The Ships Project was kept stalling out on me. The need for solid black wool is waning. It's already in the fifties/sixties in southern Afghanistan and they are starting to think about staying cool. Such news is hard to take while it's 35 degrees here. So with black wool out, the need runs to ships and medical units. They want soft colorful things. Soft is not a problem, Caron Simply Soft and Red Heart Soft are both approved , readily available, and easy care.  The stumbling block for me is this: What is a bright guy color?

Having knit for the men in my family for years, I can tell you anything bright or too patterned will cause carping from the recipient. Granted none of them live in a gray ship or are in hospital. But still, the only way my brother would wear a bright colored hat was if it had horns on it.

In the end I went with the super soft blue and mixed it with a multi color I found in the attic. (Yes, I have so much yarn that I lost some in the attic for a few years.)
Everything goes out on Monday heading off to Florida and from there to parts unknown.

For more information about The Ships Project or the patterns click on the links below.

The Ships Project main site, on Ravelry, and their Yahoo group .

Cheers and have a happy Sunday!