Fibery Goodness Roundup

Things have been a bit hectic since my last post.  My hubby started a new chemotherapy drug which is leaving him drained and ill, and this week he has several brain radiation treatments,  which added to his chemo, will do a serious number on his energy,  along with some nasty headaches.

My big excitement was having my Brainless Cowl featured on A Baby's Smile blog for Inspiration Monday. To see the post and find out more about the Inspiration Monday linky party, head over to A Baby's Smile and say hello.

http://www.ababyssmile.com/blog/2014/03/inspiration-mondays-8/

My Event Horizon Pi Shawl is in the end stages, with the border going on slowly,  but surely.  I'm looking forward to the Solid Sock Ravelry Group KAL that will be starting on April 4th, and have my yarn set aside for that.

Yesterday,  I found out that our county 4H is going to be giving a fundraiser for us, to help raise money to cover our medical expenses.  Even though we are fortunate to have good health insurance,  copays alone are practically breaking us. I haven't been working because I've been home with him, and,  as you can imagine,  things are just horribly stressful.  I'm going to be knitting a shawl to be auctioned off, and I've chosen to do Annis, from Knitty.com, although I'm going to replace the nupps with beads.

For my quilting friends,  I saw this post over on Bloglovin', and had to share this fat quarter giveaway.  Please head right over and get your entry in, because,  seriously,  this fabric is GORGEOUS!
Seriously..I think it needs stitches.: Purple Punch Giveaway

#WIPWednesday : The Event Horizon Pi Shawl

I love this shawl, and learned a lot from knitting her. I'm finally in the home stretch,  and ready to bind off. I cast on New Year's day, and was supposed to finish on Pi Day, 3/14, but that obviously didn't happen.

The Event Horizon Pi Shawl , by Donna Druchunas, was featured in her book, Stories in Stitches 2, and is only one of many projects, along with accompanying stories, that can be found in this lovely little book.

More information on designer and author Donna Druchunas,  can be found on her website,
Sheep to Shawl

Free Pattern: The Brainless Cowl

I'm happy to say, the Brainless Cowl is just that, brainless.  I was looking for a way to use up some of my many skeins of handspun yarn, and sometimes I could knit on autopilot while I read a book.  Hence, the Brainless Cowl, a giftable project you can complete in an evening while sitting in front of  movie or reading a book.

This cowl is simplicity itself. For the cowl pictured,  I cast on 80 stitches on a set of US 10, 16 in circular needles, and I knit for 5 rounds, purled for 5 rounds, alternating as I  went, ending on a knit set, and bound off loosely when I ran out of my skein of worsted weight handspun yarn.

This pattern is very easy to adapt to any weight yarn. If you are using fingering weight, go down to a US size 6 needle, and increase your stitch count to 120.  If you want a longer cowl, kust add more stitches.

I hope you enjoy this fast, stress free knit.

I Think I Will Take Up Sewing

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I think I'm going to take up sewing.  This has been something that has nagged T me for years,  which is a bit absurd.  After all, I own three sewing machines.  Yes, three. They keep coming into my life and my home,  and amazingly enough,  no matter what I do, I can't seem to make those suckers work.  They always end up with a tangled mess around the bobbin,  or the whole thing just sort of seizes up. At first,  I thought it was the machi2 that were at fault.  After all, I'm a pretty crafty girl. I'm a more than competent knitter. I make my own yarn. Really,  what could be so difficult about running a sewing machine.  Even kids do it all the time.

In an effort to get these machines working,  I had some sewing friends of mine take them for a test drive.  I was completely disgusted to hear that the machines were just fine, and actually worked very well.  Hmm.

Further proof that I'm supposed to be sewing something lies in the fact that I have multiple totes of beautiful fabric,  and by multiple,  I mean no less than five. If the universe didn't want me to do this, I can't imagine that so much sewing paraphernaliaon would have been dumped in my lap to steal space in my house.

So, in the face of all of this evidence,  I think it's time to put some of these lovely fabrics to work decorating my home. If I can ever figure out how to make those stupid sewing machines work!

An Eventful Year

I  couldn't believe it when I saw I hadn't posted in almost a year. Most likely because it has been, long, stressful,  terrifying,  and  more than a little eventful. Last summer,  my husband was diagnosed with cancer,  which announced itself with a seizure.  He went from being relatively healthy,  active,  and working full time,  to being a cancef victim in the hospital over the course of one day.  It totally blind sided us. We had no idea anything was wrong.  After the seizure,  he was in and out of the hospital for several months,  one admission being the result of a heart attack about two weeks after the cancer diagnosis,  almost certainly brought on by stress.

In the meantime,  my son was holding down the home front,  while I stayed at the hospital with my husband. Four days after we found out about the cancer, on the day they started  the preparation to start radiation treatments,  my son called to tell me my dog passed away.  He'd taken her to the vet the day before because she was feverish and wouldn't drink. I was completely devastated.  I literally  cried for two hours.  I'd worked so hard to hold it together for my husband's sake, and this completely put me over the  edge.  I was so bad,  they had a staff person following me around thinking I was having a breakdown.  I probably was.

I think knitting totally saved my sanity. I dragged it to the hospital,  to the oncologist office, pretty much everywhere.  Even though I didn't ever seem to make much progress,  it soothed and absorbed me enough to get me through.

Time just seems to get away from me now.  I'm working part time,  mostly from home, and my husband is popping in and out of work as he's able.  We just seem to live in a whirl wind of  doctor appointments,  chemotherapy,  and down days to regroup.  One thing is for sure,  no matter how crazy life gets, or how much time I spend sitting in doctors offices and hospital rooms,  my knitting will be a constant.   Right now, I'm working on my Event Horizon Shawl by Donna Druchunas. Definitely an absorbing knit.

Below is a small sampling of some of the things I've knit over the past few months.

The beginning of my Event Horizon Pi Shawl

Easy Handspun Cowl: Cast on 75 stitches on size 10 circular needle. Join in the round. Knit 5 rows, purl 5 rows, until the cowl is the size you want. End cowl with 5 knit rows. The handspun was a heavy worsted weight. Easy enough to read while you knit.  A definite winner, and you can finish it in a sitting! 

Baby bonnet. I've knit several of these now. Threaded with pretty ribbon,  it makes a great gift.

Socks I knit from one of the Jane Austen Knits magazines.