Wow, Comin up for Air!

It has been awhile since I have blogged. Knitting is taking place but life has taken over!

The boys have had their own bathroom. It is rather small and it seems to take an inordinate amount of hot water over an extended period of time for them to finally get clean. The result is that wall paper will not stay on the walls. My summer project was to strip the walls and paint. Most summers I have at least 4 weeks off. This summer, I ended up with 8 days. I had high hopes.

The wall paper did not come off cleanly, in places it torn off the wall board. I then had to use joint compound to repair the wall board. I really don't mind that process, I even enjoy the sanding, except for all the dust. It gave me time to catch up with podcasts. The biggest problem is that I am a perfectionist and I want it to be perfectly smooth. Well, it is close enough. We used a new paint that has a ceramic base - it is supposed to be scrub and almost bomb proof. They haven't met these boys!

We are almost done, I will install the new ceramic wall plates tonight and a new rubber seal at the base of the tub and floor and we will have one room in the house finished and orderly!!!!

Knitting:
While painting, one of the podcasts I listened to was Stash and Burn. I really need to cut back on my purchases. My yarn has outgrown the craft closet, is on shelves in my sewing area and now in boxes in the living room. I felt like I was starting a 12 Step program listening to them. I have been in denial or at least ignoring the mountain.

The replacement yarn came for the Mystery Stole and it is even more beautiful than the first skein. This dye lot has some teal along with the plum and black and grey. I cast on and while working on the black at night with my Ott light, decided that the new lace needles might be needed. DH had a day off and I fled from the bathroom project long enough for us to ride together to a yarn shop in the area that i knew carried these needles. There had been an accident and with the Friday afternoon tourist traffic, it took 40 minutes. I had my knitting with me, what did I care! Not only did the shop have the needles, everything was 30% off. Well, I fell off the wagon. Details and pictures to follow in another post.

The needles did the trick. I am slowly catching up. I have had to rely on my lifelines occasionally but I should finish Clue 3 tonight. The last clue revealed that the stole will have wings. Hmmm, I'm game. I have decided I am a process knitter, this is something new to me and of interest.

Yesterday, I had to travel to the north end of our county for work. There is a yarn store up there that I drop in on when my travels take me in that direction. The session ended right about lunchtime so I was able to swing by. Imagine my surprise when I parked in front of the store and it was EMPTY!!!! I haven't been by in about 3 months and never saw anything in the paper. It makes me so sad. It was a small shop but she had nice yarns, was a reliable source for needles and they were genuinely nice folks.

The Kanuai cardigan has reached the armholes, for the second time. Pictures to follow.

The sock in being punished. I am using a size 1 needle, it is moving forward very slowly. I am having a difficult time remembering the pattern. It is only a 4 row repeat but I just can't get my brain around it. Sooooo, I stuck it in a bag for later!

DD came home from work Sunday evening at 11:30. Burst in the front door in tears and demanded to be taken to the emergency room. She had found a lump in the clavicle area and was very frightened. About that time one of her brother's friends came in. He is a certified EMS and had her laughing in a little bit and she agreed to wait until Monday to go to the doctor. Her neck and chest area is covered with swollen lymph nodes. They suspected Mono but the test was negative. Her platelet count was very low and her spleen enlarged. We went to the hospital to have blood work. Still negative for Mono, they think maybe a virus infection with mono -like symptoms. We have been rather concerned this week. The blood has been sent off for further testing.

DS had all 4 wisdom teeth removed. It was a difficult process and 10 days later he was still in pain and having difficulty eating. We went back to the Oral Surgeon. Scar tissue has developed at one of the sites and he will need to be put to sleep next week and they will trim away the scar tissue.

I really was not going to blog about all this but once I started, it just flowed from my fingers. If you made it this far, thank you. I promise to return to knitting content and pictures tomorrow.