Monday, June 23, 2008

Knitting question

I have a question. Not too sure if it's feasible or not, but I knitted a sweater for my eldest daughter years ago. My youngest now fits into it and really likes it, but the ribbed band at the waist has no shape anymore.

Is there a way to fix this?
This piece was worked from the ribbed waist, up.


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It's not the best pic, but it shows that there is no shape in this piece. Any help / advise at all would be greatly appreciated!

Knitting again

Well, it's been awhile since I worked on my 'grapevine' sweater, so this past weekend I added 6 or 7 rows to it.
I know, it doesn't seem like alot, until you realize that the body on this pattern is worked in one piece..... so, it's about 245 sts and different patterns:
mock cable, grapevine, twisted cable and moss st are the patterns used.


So, here's an pic of my progress so far....
this is the back:
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(you can see the moss sts, a twisted cable, moss sts, then 3 mock cables, then more moss sts, and then another twisted cable in this pic)

and this is the front, left side:
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(you can see the mock cable, then the grapevine, then the twisted cable, and then some moss sts in this pic)


Since I'm almost done with my paint job, I'm planning on working on my sweater a bit more....

but..... it's also almost summer vacation for the kids, and I'm sure that we'll be spending alot of time at the pool! :)

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Happy Father's Day, Daddy

.
Do I want to post this?



Not really, but I feel I need to talk about it so that it's not so heavy on my heart.
I've been feeling down lately, and I need to release my pain.

There is no need to comment, it's just that I need to release this....
especially since I'm planning a nice bbq dinner for my husband and his father (wishing my Dad would show up as well)





My Father died very suddenly 7 years ago just a couple days before Fathers Day.

Although he was very sick for years and years, he seemed absolutely fine just before he died....... some background is needed, I think....



My Father had Mitral Valve replacement surgery in September 1990. It took him about 8 months to recouperate from it, and then you could hear the replacement valve ticking in his chest, almost like a watch or a clock....

He had a bit of a relapse about a year later, but after that, he seemed strong and healthy.
He stopped his 2 pack a day habit of smoking when he had the first replacement surgery, and he also really cut down on his drinking habit.



After that, he seemed completely fine! Was the strong and healthy bull I remember him being when I was a child....




He came over to visit us for Easter, and then a month later for my son's (then) 4th birthday. At that time, I took this picture of him and my youngest daughter (then just shy of her 2nd birthday) 'talking' and I swear, it's the best picture I've ever taken in my life. You can literally see the love flowing between them.... her just a baby, and him at the end of his life....


Papa and Annaliese




Anyway, two weeks later, I got a call from the hospital telling me that my Father's aorta had ruptured and he was in surgery.
I called my family and told them. We all rushed to the hospital and waited and waited.





About 4 hours later, the surgeon came out and asked me and my sister (who at the time, were the only ones in the waiting room) to go with him.
We went into a secluded room where he told me that although he had done everything he could, my Father had died.






Suffice it to say, I still feel the shock of those words.
Even just now when I typed it, I thought, why, why did it happen like that? I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye, or to tell him how he was my hero, or to tell him how much I'd miss him.... how much I loved him....





I hate that he was taken so quickly from me...

but he would have hated it even worse if he had lingered... suffering.





Good-bye daddy. I love and miss you terribly!
I think of you all the time, and I remember so many things that you taught me....




Rest in Peace, Daddy.


xoxo,
your loving daughter,
Lynn

Friday, June 6, 2008

Only 1 floor left to finish

Well, I've been painting my a$$ off for the past 3 weeks, and this is where I am today....

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I'm completely done the 3rd and the 2nd floors (except for some minor touch ups).

I only have to finish up on the entranceway of the 1st floor, there was an area that was very difficult to reach (yes, even standing on a 6 foot ladder, I couldn't reach!) As well, I haven't done any white painting downstairs.... but it can wait until tuesday, because on Monday, I have a field trip that I'm helping out with for my daughters' grade 3 class (I actually did this same trip with my son when he was in grade 3! hehehe!

It's the High Park ~ Early Settlers excursion.... wish me luck! :)

Monday, June 2, 2008

Poor Guy, what was he thinking?

OMG, I'm still in shock.

I stepped out my front door to go and meet my 2 kids as they came home from school. I stopped for a moment to speak to the two guys that are doing renovations on our home.

Some guy was crossing the street towards my side, not 10 feet away from me. In front of a streetcar. The streetcar driver beeped at the man, and the man then dived down across the tracks and the streetcar would have run him over and cut him in half, if it weren't for the lightning quick reflexes of that poor driver.

I turned really fast, (because I didn't want to see this guy get chopped in half) and opened my cell phone and dialed 911. I turned back to look as the phone rang.... the man was all the way under the front of the streetcar, almost against the wheels.... 911 answered, and I said "I need an ambulance at (where I live), because some man just dived under the streetcar" She asked me if he was alive? "yes". She asked me if he was bleeding? I told her I didn't know. That I was afraid to look. Then I went out and stood near, and told her that they were dragging him out from under the streetcar, and he didn't look bloody. She asked me if he was consious. I told her his hand was moving as a lady was speaking to him, so yes, it seemed that he was consious.

OMG, what could possibly have gone through this poor guys head for him to think the easy way out would be to get chopped in half by a streetcar? And I feel so badly for the driver. Thankfully he was paying attention.... I split second later and it would have been too late.... cause this guy went right under the front.

I'm still shaking, even though I know that the guy will be ok. I hope they lock him up, he has serious issues that he needs to deal with before being let out in public again....