I thought this day would never come...

You know the one? The one where I'm enjoying and looking forward to time spent knitting. The day where I'm shirking other responsibility (like cooking and cleaning and talking with people) just so I can sit and knit! Yeah, that's the day I never expected to see. It's ONLY taken me 25 months of diligently performing my Domestic Duty of knitting to stumble upon The Project. The one with the perfect yarn and the perfect needles and the perfect me!

Since I hurt my back over Thanksgiving weekend, I've been required to do a whole lot of resting. After talking with my friend Marie about a shawl (Show Your Colors by Spunky Eclectic) we saw at her former LKS (local knitting shop), and how much she loves her finished version, I dug around in my stash and found some Sport Weight Lorna's Laces Wool Yarns I'd bought in California last Fall.


I've since started the shawl, which I intend to use all three color-ways (called: Child's Play, Apple Hill, and Uptown). I'll be knitting them progressing from dark to light (or right to left in the picture). And I just LOVE making it! It's the first knitting project I've worked on that I WANT to do (not just NEED to), know what I mean?

{the above is a photo of the test swatch, not the shawl}

This morning, Tom said "What are you doing?", then looked over to find my head literally bobbing along in time with my stitches. It was so subtle I didn't even realize I was doing it. I was just in a groove and smiling as I stitched away. This is my biggest project so far, and I know it will feel slower going as I move along, but I hope I can keep up my enjoyment with it and that I'll love the finished product as much as I am enjoying making it!


I also love watching the way the color pools together... look how it coagulated perfectly on my needle on this row.


By the way, it's quite a bit bigger now, this photo was from two days ago. ;)

What are you doing on your holidays?

--------------------------------------------------------------------

This is my 400th blog post, and somewhat by the way of noting it, I've updated the blog format AND, ***FINALLY***, created my own blog header. Anyone recognize the objects used in the photo? Mayhap I'll send a prize (I've been cleaning out my sewing studio and I have collected a nice little bag of goodies) out to someone who knows from whence the objects come. I'll give you until noon on New Year's Day to figure it out and leave a comment! ;)

Some of My Ear History

I recently received a comment from Colin about Frank's brush with ototoxicity as a result of Mycin Drugs. As a result of Colin's comment, I wound up writing a very brief bit of my ear history.

It's not exactly the entertaining stuff you've come to expect from me (or perhaps it is), but all the same I thought to document it here. My ongoing Battle with the World of Sound affects me every day.

Everyday I think about my ability to hear (or not) as well as the frequent tinnitus I experience (even now, as I type).

In any case, here's a bit about what's happened/ing with me and my ears:

I myself am very aware of hearing troubles since I've experienced partial hearing loss as the result of a bicycle accident when I was 8.

The hearing loss was the result of the my incus (which is the second smallest bone in your body, not quite 1/4" across) becoming dislocated as a result of my impact with the ground. I also became a "Crack Head" - that is, I fractured in my skull in the accident.


At 25, I had my first surgery to restore hearing. It was more successful than they expected... until a sinus infection caused a rupture which dislocated the titanium prosthetic in my middle ear. I was 30.

Due to other people in my household having more urgent needs of surgery and care, I had to wait two months after the rupture (with the prosthetic through the ear drum the whole time) before having another prosthetic, as well as the ear drum repaired.

Then, some (oh, I'm forgetting the technical name of it) but my body didn't like the "new" ear drum and was growing skin over the ear drum. That's right, it's called cholesteatoma. The doctor ripped it off (during an office visit), and caused pain, as well as a lot of bleeding and a clot.

This was when I was 32.

Oh... I'm going on and on here. The long and short of it is, I need to have YET ANOTHER surgery to replace the prosthetic (with a third one). Every surgery I have gives me an 80% chance of hearing... or a 1 in 5 chance of coming out of it deaf. There's no guarantee that the hearing will be better than it was before the surgery.

Gratefully, I still have a "good", natural ear. I fear that having chosen that first surgery (in my 20's) has led me to a lifetime of ear surgeries.

I have a lot of environmental allergies and every time one leads to a sinus infection, it risks the integrity of my prosthetic. I am grateful I have options, but I hate having to have the surgeries.

I'm always intrigued by how much such a "simple little surgery" on such a small area of our body affects our lives... ie: no lifting of more than 10 pounds for a whole month, and how dizzy and sick you can feel from ear surgery. Yuck!

Also, my surgeon (who now is more 800 miles from me, because I moved) is a leading specialist of cochlear implants in Southwestern America. I've read quite a bit about it at his office.

Because he's so highly regarded (and I like him so much), I'll go back to see him for my next surgery... traveling (as you know) adds more elements to planning a surgery than when the office and hospital are "just down the road from you".

I'm now 35 and havn't been able to schedule the new surgery. As soon as we can gather the finances, I'll be going back again... currently, if I'm laying in bed with my good ear down, I can't hear my husband, right next to me speaking, but I can feel the vibration of his voice.

Thanks for listening to a part of my story!

Making Progress

Now that I've been on antibiotics for a full week, I can feel my "Bronchitis, Asthma-Like-Flare-Up, Low-Blood-Oxygen, Almost Pneumonia" abating... finally.

While I've been sick these past four weeks, I've done A LOT of reading (over 1,200 pages in the past two weeks alone!), some knitting and a little crochet. Nothing's finished and not much worth mentioning (starting two different styles of sock - with the same yarn (and still not decided on a pattern), making dishcloths and coasters, continuing work on a never-ending-scarf).

Today I played with the scraps from the Happy Hour Quilt I started last July.

I finished the last four blocks of this group of String Pieced Blocks, inspired by Becky, who's inspired by Bonnie.


I was thinking of putting a sashing in between these blocks, to help with the bulk. But, after talking with Becky, I'll probably sew them together just like this (after trimming them up square). Since it's just planned as a 24" square table topper, I may not use batting. I'll have to see how it feels once it's pressed together. The muslin the strings are pieced to was cut 7.5". I'm in love with these blocks, but I'll probably be gifting this quilt away.

I always like to make one extra block, for myself. One day, I'll have this AMAZING sampler quilt full of blocks I've made in the past. Just thinking of the memories it will hold makes me smile.

After listening to my Aunt talk about making scrappy Log Cabins this week AND Amanda Jean blogging about the same thing. I took a page out of Amanda's book and added an inner border in white. I also allowed myself to go a little Wonky, remembering Jacquie's Wacky Tutorial. I'm planning to even this one up to 9.5" for a 9" finished block. I think I'll have to make some more of these fun Log Cabins.


Finally, when I was last in Arizona, Becky and I sat around one evening sewing her "crumbs" together into random little 3.5" blocks. She kindly sent one of her blocks home with me (the non-purple block you see below). So, as I was piecing the Wonky Log Cabin block, I started putting crumbs together and wound up with these two little gems:


I think I'll send one to Becky... kinda a long-distance Feel-the-Love thing. I am so tickled when I look over at the little crumb block she and I made, I think she might enjoy one from me. Actually, it's got me thinking about starting to trade little crumb blocks with my quilting buddies... since we can't always see what the others are doing, we could drop little crumbs in the mail for them. The thought makes me smile, now, to Share the Love!

I like making little scrappy things out of the bits and pieces from a specific quilt... even if you don't have the whole quilt, you get an idea for the feeling of the fabrics and colors in little things like these. As such, I actually PLANNED to do the string blocks when I was cutting the original Happy Hour Quilt, and I trimmed my selvages wide, making sure I had AT LEAST 3/4" at the narrowest point... that way I had plenty of fabric to play with scrappy things later.

It feels good to be putting thread to cloth and creating again!

I'm looking forward to cleaning up my sewing room and getting back on track with Suzy Qute Quilt Patterns again.

Boredom Haiku

Coughing and Hacking,
Killing Time on Computer,
Hacking and Coughing.

After several days of restraint, I'm bored. I'm surfing more, but not really accomplishing much.


I could be blogging more.
I could be editing pictures.
I could be knitting more.
I could be reading.

I still can't talk much.
My sinuses are blocked.
My cough is ever present.

I'm lethargic.
I'm bored.

An Update from the Nearly-Mute Girl

I'm feeling better still today... not so congested.

Tom took yesterday off, but today he's not had ANY calls... so, he's been able to spend the whole day playing on the computer... I mean resting!

Jack and Frank seem to be fine. Hard to keep tabs on their rambunctiousness while nearly Mute myself.

As of this morning, I've finished sewing FOUR Halloween costumes (pictures of all the kiddos will come after they wear them tomorrow) and am about 1/4 done on the second sock to make my FIRST PAIR of socks.

Also, I made my family's Zucchini Brownies Recipe and mixed in some chips / Reese's Pieces. They all sank to the bottom! My neighbor told me I should bake 1/2 the batter for 5-10 minutes, and then sprinkle the goodies on, and top with rest of the batter. I guess every so often, I need to have a cooking attempt flop! Oh well! You live and learn and they still taste good.

I'd thought about carving our pumpkin this afternoon, but it's a VERY tall and skinny pumpkin and I just don't feel like I have the energy at the moment, so, we'll see!

How did October get over? I have so many fun Halloween-y things to do and I did so few of them. I never even got out my Halloween decorations, and I know right where they are and I can reach them... it just didn't happen. And quilting, I have plenty of projects to do for Halloween that involve sewing... but wait, I did sew, and sew, and sew! Costumes times four kids! Se-la-vi (did I spell that right).

Oh yeah, and today's Heather's birthday! I hope you're having a GREAT DAY!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HEATHER!!!

Suzy :D

Recipe - A Couple O’ Bowls of Chicken Soup

Since we've been feeling yucky, I've come up with this Delightful Little Diddy. It's Just Enough Soup for the day, without making you feel like you'll be eating soup all week... even if you will! I know it's simple, but I'm just delighted by my discovery of it and wanted to share with you, for when those inevitable sniffles come. This is simple and quick enough that you can make it even when you feel like... well, when you don't feel well!

A Couple O’ Bowls of Chicken Soup

This is simple and quick enough to make, even when you’re not feeling well. When you’re not feeling great, this makes “just enough” soup, without having buckets of leftovers! I use leftover chicken and pasta if I have them, otherwise, I use frozen components. If your chicken is seasoned, you won’t need as many of the extra spices.

Ingredients:
4 c water*
4 t chicken bouillon
1 chicken breast
½ c carrots (frozen) or other veggie
1 t parsley, dried
2 t onions, dried chopped
1/8 t celery salt
1 pinch garlic powder
2 pinches ginger powder (thanks to Celise's comment!)
4 oz pasta (dried)

Directions:
1. Put water and bouillon in sauce pan on high heat; bring to a boil.
2. Using microwave, defrost frozen chicken breast just until it's soft-frozen, then cut into small bits (or cut up cooked meat). Drop it in the pot.
3. Add veggies of choice and seasoning to taste.
4. Bring to boil again.
5. Slowly add pasta. Return to boil. Cook however long your pasta calls for.

Variations:
1. When I use broken (chopped) angel hair pasta, this feels like a Hearty “Lipton Cup O’ Noodles”.
2. Substitute rice or barley for the pasta.
3. Add another cup or two of water (plus bouillon) for when you need the broth, or just go easy on the pasta/carbs!

* We save our vegetable broth (from whatever veggies we eat) in the freezer. If you have veggie broth, you may substitute it for the water.

2-3 Servings
Prep: 5 min, cook 10-20 min (depending on the type of pasta)

Let me know if you try this and how you like it. :D

PS: The "egg yolk looking things" in the bowl are sliced carrots! :D

From the Sick House

We've all been under-the-weather for over a week now. Here's the Doctors' Reports:

• Jack - Double Ear Infections on Antibiotics for 6 days now. Says he "feels not good" if you ask him, but I think that's mostly for the attention. ;)
  
• Frank - Spider Bite at Dorsum of Nose... needs more aggressive treatment to keep infection away from donor bone (also at the bridge of his nose). Begin taking antibiotic for 14 days. Frank chose PILLS (over liquid). Here's hoping he does well with learning to swallow them (if not, we can crush and put in applesauce). If nose is not improving in 3 days, we'll need a CAT Scan to check the bone. If it's not cleared in 2 weeks, we'll see Dr and probably have imaging done.
• Suzy - Sinus Infection. Trouble speaking (yesterday I spent most of the day Mute, using Baby Signs, Wild Gestures, and Floor Stomping to communicate with the boys). Begin antibiotic for 5 days.
• Tom - Throwing up whole way home (2 hour drive) yesterday. Home sick from work today. Sipping Coke, Peppermint Tea with Honey and Homemade Chicken Soup (mostly broth).
• Internet - Main line is down. Local company has a specialist in working on it. They don't know when we'll have reliable service again! :P

So. How are you feeling?

A Productive Day

I like it when I have productive days. Today was one, even though, by the end of it, I've realized that just like Jack (Saturday) and Frank (this morning), I'm coming down with a head-cold. Now. As far as The Law of Attraction, I TOTALLY called these colds too us... about four days ago I found myself thinking "it's pretty amazing (considering how busy we've been) that none of us has been sick on this trip." Then I thought "I'm glad that we're all feeling well though." So, whether the thought brought the colds, or I just recognized that we were all completely run down, I knew we were about to be sick.

Even with colds all-around today, here's what I accomplished:

• Made bed (easy)
• Sorted LOTS of laundry with Jack's help
• Washed, Dried, and Put away 3 loads with 1 more still drying (remember, my machine does about 2 to 2.5 "normal" loads... for example, one of my "permanent press" loads had 23 articles!)
• Unpacked and putaway all contents and suitcases - THREE suitcases worth.
• Unpacked another large shopping bag.
• Made Well Visit Appointment for Frank (actually, made it last Spring, but the Pediatrician left town, so I had to find another doctor and make a new appointment).
  
• Packaged and shipped two boxes to my Aunt.
• *Forgot* to pick up the mail at the Post Office when shipping the boxes... picking up our held mail was the whole reason we'd gone out! Whoops!!!
• Researched Halloween Costumes. Looks like I'll be sewing:
  
  1. Jack - Indiana Jones Pouch & Leather Coat
  2. Frank - Ash (Pokemon Trainer) Shirt & Hat & Gloves
  3. Jacob - Ash (Pokemon Trainer) Shirt & Hat & Gloves (I'll just cut and sew these at the same time, Jacob's a size smaller, so, I'll probably serge a bigger seam allowance to make his a touch smaller).
  4. Ariana - Witches Costume - My neighbor friend wants to learn to sew and her daughter wants to be a witch. Mom doesn't want a "normal" tunic witch with a green face. She wants something cute and spunky. The costume she likes is quite pricey ($70). So. Desire + Deadline = Perfect teaching opportunity.
• Had School Bookwork Time with Frank

• Cleaned out the boys' clothes. This was a biggie for me! It included:
  Eliminating a whole laundry basket of size 3.
  Loaning another basket full of size 6 clothes to Jacob.
  Emptying four boxes (with smiley faces).
  
  
  Sorting "keep" clothes by size and season, then folding and storing in smiley face boxes, with labels.
  Sorting through four pair of cowboy boots to find a pair for Jack and one for Jacob to wear.
  Hanging up all the new winter clothes I just bought and/or had on-hand.
  
  

• Dishes
• Garbage
• Visited with neighbor for an hour.
• Watched Pokemon movie with boys - TWICE! (We weren't feeling well).
• Editing and uploading at least 2 dozen photos to have printed for Aunt Lou.
• Called and talked with my Mom.

Through it all, I had a congested/drippy nose, developed a tender throat, AND used my Xopenex inhaler three (or four) times... I've used it more in the past two days than the last six months. Not liking that and trying to determine what the stimulus is that's causing my airway to constrict. :P

I *guess* that about does it for today!

WOW!

Quilt in the Works - Happy Hour Update & Football Splash

Two days ago, I finished the last 14 blocks and did the layout of the quilt. Today, I got the columns sewn together.


The columns are all chain pieced. Next up: Pressing all of the new seams, then sewing the rows together. The blocks are 9" finished with eight across and ten down. So, at 72" x 90", I think it will make a nice "lap size" or small twin just as it is. I'm not planning on any borders.

I've been having so much trouble with my back, now I'm trying to decide between quilting it on the long arm or at home. At home I can do it in little bits at a time. The long arm would require less total time spent, but would be bigger time increments. Still trying to decide...

---------------------------------------

This evening the boys were both sitting on the sidewalk across the street. They were playing with a neighbor-boy, in the water collected during watering the lawn. Pretty soon, they discovered how to splash a football in the water.

When the older boys saw me coming, they ran for it. But not Jack, he just kept on going...


You can see the question in his eyes as he's about to throw the ball.


He had the most amazingly satisfied smile after each splash, which I was unable to capture fully.


And the finish...


Here's a little bit of that smile I was talking about...


One great splash calls for another...


Now, it's Frank's turn. He's always got to get in on the photography action...


Look how casually the neighbor-boy is watching Frank. Now, he's got to show off his stuff...


"Wait!" He says. "I can do better!"


Not to be outdone by his younger brother, the other boy joins in with the biggest Whopper of them all...


Taking pictures of and encouraging the boys to make a mess was a great way to end a day that I found myself stressing over and yelling at the boys too much in. They just wouldn't clean their room up and we're implementing the Accountable Kids program, and my back hurts and it's slow-going and I just get frustrated. So, taking and playing with these water splash pictures was a good thing.

---------------------------------------

I tried to take pictures of my fresh haircut (from today).


Same style as last month, I enjoyed watching they layers fall around my face differently.

Quilt Update - Happy Hour AND What I do with my hands.

27 more Happy Hour blocks finished, 14 to go.

My back is feeling OH-so-much-Better! Today was my first day without extreme pain and or medicine to assist me. I wore "regular" clothes (as opposed to "sick" clothes), but I also kept myself in check. I didn't go any further from my home than six doors down the street, and I didn't do any chores beyond sorting one VERY small box of stuff (like 4" x 12" x 10" little box) and simple meal time preps. On Sunday, Tom made something like eight meals and froze or refrigerated them so I could just warm things up and let my back rest. My boys did the daytime dishes, and Tom washed this evening. One of my friends heard about this and said "Good for you!" That made me feel better about not "doing" things all day.

Actually, I did do some things. I posted 22 auctions to ebay. We could REALLY use some extra cash right now because we've depleted our reserves with the move and my recent back care, so we listed like 50+ WWII 1/72nd scale models that Tom's been meaning to sell off (he also has a pile of 1/35th scale, which have more detail, that he's keeping). I too have things to sell on ebay, but this was a good start today. If your interested, my ebay name is "SiouxzQzz".

Today I also helped my new neighbor. I met her in May and showed her the neighborhood we were about to move into. Well, today their family moved in six-doors-down. So, at 9:00 I walked (the boys ran) down and invited her to send her kiddos (DD7, DS5, DD4) down. They were here off and on from 9 to 4. I also visited with her a few times when she'd come down for a break.

This is where the "what I do with my hands comes in." I'm just SO used to doing something that I found it very odd to just sit and visit... without being in the kitchen cooking, or teaching a sewing / quilting craft, or doing some sort of handiwork (ie: crocheting or knitting). I tried to crochet the other day and the muscle relaxer just made my head spin to follow the hook and yarn visually. So, I just wanted to say that today, I sat. I visited. And it was really weird not having my hands busy. I grew up with my Mom telling me two things that I still think about weekly, if not daily:

Busy Hands are Happy Hands

Idle Hands are the Devil's Workshop

Are there any phrases you grew up with that you often think of or repeat? What little pearls of wisdom has your family passed down?

Quick! POP QUIZ! Stand up. Walk away from your computer. Grab a piece of paper and a crayola (pen, pencil, whatever). Write out your computer keyboard's main numbers and letters. Then, come back and check your work.

My son's have been making "computers" out of folded pieces of paper. Frank usually draws keys, but today Jack gave me one and I was suppose to put my own keys on it.

So. I gave myself the test I just gave you. I wrote the numbers and "Esc" across the top, then I proceeded to try to fill in the alphabet and : ; , . symbols... without pretend "typing". Just from memory, I forgot the Caps Lock (I included Tab and Shift), and I had the B and U in the wrong spot (which I knew something was "wrong" with both of the areas I'd stuck the B and U.)

What about you? Did you walk away from your PC write out the keyboard correctly?

I want to think this is some sort of Mensa test or something, but also, I just want to know if you can do it, or if you'll miss something like I did.

Aah... that's better.

I just finished up the task I gave myself for today... prepping the binding for my husband's Christmas quilt. I have about an hour of "free" time in my sewing room, and still have time to spare. Instead of starting to pin the binding on, I decided to make a project list in my sewing room journal. I made four columns, then thought of everything I could to put in each column. Here's what they were:

• Sewing - Things currently in progress - 15
• Cutting - Things that are being / have been cut and are ready to sew - 8
• Materials Acquired - I have the materials and pattern / idea chosen, they need to be prepared - 15
• Idea - I have an idea to create these items, but have to choose materials - 10

This is a big list, to be sure, but it feels good to see it on paper, and it really doesn't seem like as much as it was when it was all in my head floating around. I feel like if I just pick something off the list and work on it a little each week, I'll make good progress. That, and not adding MORE projects to the list. Of course, I think this is the hardest thing of all, because when you are creative, you want to, well, CREATE!!! When your mind gets-a-whirling, it's hard to stop it and it just wants to keep going. So, I guess I'll allow myself to think of new things (which is a good thing to do) and even choose materials from my stash, but I'd like to use more of my energy to finishing the things I've started. Tomorrow I'd like to have the binding roughly placed on the quilt and have the machine set up to stitch it on (changing the presser foot). Perhaps, I'll even start to sew it on tomorrow, but, since I'm planning a late morning / lunchtime outing, and since I've been sick for quite a while, I'm not going to push the actual sewing thing.


Suzy :)

PS: One thing I've found VERY HELPFUL in my sewing room is a little journal I started keeping. Most every project I work on, I jot the date down and then notes on it as I do it or right after I finish. I've been doing this for a couple of years now. It's nice to look back and reminisce, but more than that, it's helpful when I want to remember how I did something (like I wide was that stitch or did I use a special needle or something like that). Also, I save a lot of time re-thinking things, especially the math of a project. The few projects that haven't found their way into the journal (like the Christmas quilt I just was working on), I spend SO MUCH time searching for my notes, but my journal is always in it's home on the shelf. Also, if I have a good idea, I'll jot it down (along with the date) so I remember it later. I DEFINITELY recommend keeping a journal in your CREATIVE ZONE. Mine is just a little spiral bound notebook about 5 1/2" wide x 8 1/2" tall. It's enough. :)