Fathers Day

Father’s Day started out just great. We heard a wonderful message at church, came home and had grilled burgers for lunch then went about doing stuff. I was next door visiting when I was called home. Keith had been grooming Oscar and was trying to cut out a knot of hair under his ear. He accidentally cut off a large chunk of skin. Oscar didn’t even yelp—just a small cry. No blood, but a nasty looking wound. We took him to the “doggie” ER where we had to leave him for surgery (he didn’t want the local, so they had to knock him out). 4 hours later we picked him up. He has 9 stitches and a shaved 2” diameter circle! He has to take amoxicillin for a week. He was very groggy for the rest of the day. On Mon. he started to feel better. On Tuesday he was much better. On Wed. he had pulled out 2 of his stitches, so it was a trip to our vet who stitched him right up again (no meds) and put an e-collar on him. He sure does look silly with it on.

I was assured that he would adjust in 2 days, but that I may never adjust—the vet was right!! So now Oscar goes crashing into things all the time—he still wants to be first. Here is another picture of his new attire. Chester doesn’t know what is going on!!


He has to wear this until the stitches come out, which will be after we get back from St. Louis (July 4). He even tries to scratch his wound. So I rub it for him (healing stuff always itches). He can still catch the frisbee with his collar on. Eating is an "event"--I have to hold the dish to his mouth under the collar and then lower it to the floor so he can eat.
Here’s Chester.

Baby Norah

This is baby Norah Evans Woodman, our 7th grandchild, who was born on May 23, 2006. I got to spend a week with her when I helped Momma and Poppa with 2 yr. old big sister Nina. I had help from biggest sister, Haley, who is 14. They live in St. Louis County. We will go back again over the July 4th weekend. Grandpa will get to go and meet Norah then.













I am in my pjs here, but Norah sure is a cutie!


I made this hat for Norah. Now Nina wants one also. There are pink and yellow stripes at the top, but the yellow doesn't show up very well. I see lots of knitting and crocheting (and sewing) in my future!!

Felting Disaster

I was in a "picnic basket" exchange in May (Christmas Crochet group of wonderful friends)where I had to send knitted/crocheted items to Nell and she would do the same for me. I chose to make her a crocheted purse which I would felt. I bought 100% hand-dyed wool yarn in a colorway called "watermelon." This is the purse I crocheted. It was quite large when finished, but that was ok because it was going to be felted. I put it in the washer, used HOT water and waited. Imagine my surprise (to put it mildly) when , after 4 tries, it was still the same large size. I sent off an email to the company in Canada and got a quick response. I was told the yarn does not felt and that info was on a piece of paper that was included (supposedly--I never saw it) with the yarn. So now it was panic time. My package had to be mailed within several days and I didn't have the purse done. I had everything else ready. So I made a quick trip and to get some Simply Soft yarn in colors that were almost watermelony (except for the green) and made a smaller version of the purse. I found some terrific fabric that looks like watermelon rind and used it as the lining. I found the button at a quilt shop. The lining doesn't show in the picture, but it is cute.
This is a picture of the other things I included with the exchange package. Nell took it after she got it (she is better at picture taking than I am). I crocheted and knitted some "condiments" for her--catsup, mayo, mustard, and salt and pepper! They are really dishcloths.


This is what she sent to me . It was a wonderful exchange. I decorate my house in red, white and blue for the summer, so what she sent is perfect!! The red, white and blue saltshakers are lighthouses!!

Secret Pal update

I bought yarn for my secret pal when I was in St. Louis. I mailed it from there. She should get it any day now. My favorite yarn shop is in St. Louis and I've been going there for years. I first found it when I went with Roberta. There is a quilt/fabric shop downstairs and yarn upstairs. They even have a knitting machine dept. in the red barn where there is also a restaurant. The place has changed names several times, so I'm not even sure what it is called now. At one time it was The Hen House and Heritage House. It is just offf I-270 at Graham Rd.
I also heard from the person who has me for a secret pal. She had sent several emails but I thought they were spam because of the name she used. We finally connected. Here's the crazy part--she lives in St. Louis County in Ballwin, right next to where we lived before moving to Michigan! Can't wait to find out her name (have to wait until August).
I will be going to visit my Mom next month and found a yarn shop in Lima right near my brother's house. I will have to investigate it and buy the next skein of yarn from there. If that doesn't work, I know there is a great shop in Chadd's Ford on Route 202.

One Skein Secret Pal exchange

I signed up to participate in this secret pal exchange. It goes from June-August and is based on the book _OneSkein, 30 Quick Projects to Knit and Crochet_. I had to wait for my book to arrive (took longer to come since it was backordered) and I finally have it! It's a great book, I have my partner's name, know what I am going to make for her and am ready to send off the first skein come June 1! This should be lots of fun. The hardest part was trying a to find an anonymous way to communicate with her, so I set up a Hotmail account for this. There are over 700 people from around the world participating in this.....

Boston

We are off (again!) to Boston for a long weekend. Our niece/godchild, Christine is getting married on April 22. It is always fun to connect with family again. It is hard to stay in touch when there is such a distance between families. Clark can't go -- he' s working on a major movie production. Kelly can't go with 4 little kids at home and being clear across the country from Boston. We will be staying with friends who moved from Clarkston to the Boston area last December. I am staying an extra 2 days so Jane and I can "play" (go shopping!).

Boise, Idaho grandkids

The end of March we went to visit our grandkids (and their parents) in Boise. There are 4 of them aged 6 and under! It was a wonderful week with lots going on. Keith helped rebuild a swing/gym set for the kids to use in the backyard. Grant can even climb to the top of the "monkey stars"!! (he's 2). Elise took her first ski lessons. Sebastian had an "advanced" ski lesson so he could learn to turn without snow plowing. They have had lots of rain (Boise) and snow (Bogus Basin ski area) this year and the slopes remained open until April 15. Just a short distance away in McCall the slopes will be open until Mother's Day! I took one of Kelly's spinning classes at the Y and actually enjoyed it!

Outfit from the past

I knit this baby outfit back in 1964 for my friend's first baby. Back then you didn't know the baby's sex until birth, so I used neutral colors. When Rick was born, I used blue ribbons for the ties. Last fall my friend's mother went home to be with the Lord and when Lois cleaned out her Mom's stuff she found this outfit that Rick had worn. She sent it to me (what a great friend) for our grandchild that is coming in May! Since we know SHE is a girl, I changed the ribbons and sent them on to the waiting parents. I don't know if Norah will ever wear the outfit, but it is great to be able to pass things on. (Rick never had children. He got married for the first time a few years ago).
Thanks Lois!!

Sewing for Grandkids

I did some sewing this week. Since I will be going to see the grandkids, I can't go empty handed!! I made the pillowcase for Elise. I love the colors in the fabric--perfect for a 4 year old! I made the fabric book for Grant. He LOVES to be read to. I will probably be doing a lot of reading to him next week. He also loves to eat, so the title of the book is perfect for him. I will take lots of pictures so I can post some when we get back.

Another felted purse

I made this purse for Summer. We saw it in a shop in Pennsylvania and she loved it. Her Mom, Mary, doesn't knit so I volunteered to make it for her. She bought the yarn--aren't the colors great. Well, it's hard to see the true colors from this picture, but they are an apple green, purple, rosey-red, yellow and dark green. The shape is very unusual. The pattern is from Family Circle Easy Knitting magazine (no longer being published), Fall, 2002. The directions leave a lot to be desired. I don't think anyone new to knitting would be able to follow them. But it was fun to do. I would make the handles longer if I were to do another one.