green.ketzle.net: knitting

okay, just squeezing in the final update of the year! this month has been absolutely crazy and chaotic and in spite of it all, just the perfect picture of christmas. okay, there was no snow, so it was just shy of being perfect, but i wouldn't have traded it for anything. i'll recap in chronological order, mostly so i don't get lost.

the monday after thanksgiving i had what both my doctor and i diagnosed as a gall bladder attack. so i went for an ultrasound to confirm, and yes, the beastly little stones were sitting in the gall bladder, trying to make my life rather uncomfortable. and, not content to be growing just one type of stone, the sonographer thought he might have seen something else. additional tests were in order.

but first, there was more last minute knitting. jim's brother john is entering the police academy this next year and i decided he could use something to keep his head warm. and bring out the blue in his eyes, since he is a very eligible bachelor. and so was born the sunday beanie, since i started and finished it all in one day.

i went back to the radiologists and had an abdominal cat scan and some x-rays and lo and behold, what to my wondering eyes should appear but a gigantic kidney stone. and i hadn't even felt it! it had already caused considerable damage to my right kidney, so the doctor was keen on getting it out as soon as possible. luckily, asap meant the week after christmas, and not the day before.

so there was a little more knitting, or rather finishing. two flower face cloths in purple chenille for vicki's christmas present. i had planned on making them for a few other people, but those plans were scrapped. maybe next year, since i already have all the chenille i would need.

and then? then it was christmas! and it was magical and fabulous and joyful and full of laughter. jim cleaned the entire house, from top to bottom so the place was spic and span on christmas eve [which, really, would have been enough of a christmas present for me right then and there] and he bought me a new slow cooker and a new vacuum. and don't think these were not appropriate christmas gifts because they made me unbelievably happy. i have been getting so frustrated with the lack of suction in our old vacuum, and the way the slow cooker always seemed to take at least 2 more hours than it should have. both things will be making our lives so much easier and less stressful in the domestic arts department. and, that wasn't all! he continued the tradition of a year of culture with tickets to 2 symphonies and six plays in 2005. he really is the bestest ever.

christmas morning, after all the gift opening, we discovered the car was dead. it is still in the shop needing a new clutch and some other stuff. ah well, it has almost 100,000 miles on it, it is bound to need some work now and then. my parents have a second car they don't used that often, so we are luckily not without transportation.

the days after christmas saw jim taking care of all the little things that needed to be done around the house so we could start the new year off right. in went the new shower stick sophie and he gave me for christmas. and in went the new flushing mechanism for the toilet so it wouldn't run all the time. and in went a new faucet so sophie can turn the water on and off by herself and we aren't at her beck and call. okay, we are still at her beck and call, but at least we don't have to run to the bathroom as often to assist in the washing of hands.

another small knitting break, though not mine. a very good friend of my mother's knit this scarf for sophie, who wore it to bed. of course.

wednesday afternoon, i had outpatient surgery. i'd never been under general anesthesia before and it was very disconcerting, but i felt pretty good for having had someone poking and prying and stretching and lasering my insides. unfortunately, thursday afternoon, i was in the emergency room with excrutiating pain. another abdominal cat scan. another x-ray. and, thursday night, another surgery to realign a stent that had decided to take a wrong turn. thankfully, they let me go right home afterwards so no nights spent in the hospital for this particular ailment; all bets are off for the gall bladder thing which will resurface when i meet with a surgeon late next month.

and that brings us up to today. i am going to sit in the big recliner and make the buttonbands work on jim's mother's cardigan, they have been crocheted on and ripped off more times than i care to think about. i will finish it before the clock strikes 12. i'll have the twilight zone marathon on to keep me company, and jim and sophie popping in and out all evening as they try to stay awake until the new year. and i'll eat the last of the christmas cookies and drink a little creme brulee flavoured coffee and once again, all will be right in my world.

happy new year, everyone; may it be blessed and prosperous for all of you and yours.

12 december 2004 fa la la la la

we've been blessed wth an abundance of christmas spirit this year. unfortunately for the knitting progress, the spirit has moved us out of the house just about every single night and weekend day this month. and while i am having a great time looking at lights and shopping and cutting down trees and seeing christmas plays and and and, i fear the plans for the knitted gifts for my circle of friends might have to be scrapped. i can still give them cookies as i plan to have some serious amounts of dough chilling in the refrigerator later today, but i'm just not sure the other will happen.

now, i REALLY have to knit the collar onto j's mom's cardigan so it can go in the mail.

07 december 2004 panicked presents

we had no idea what to give jim's sister jackie this year. so, after rejecting just about every gift idea either of us could think of, i decided, since she is now living in the cold east, i'd whip her up a hat and scarf. the scarf is just a simple 2x2 rib, two colors -- solid on each end and striped in the middle -- with a third color as fringe. and then i had an inadvertant hayden-along moment, as i wasn't happy with the first pattern i tried for the hat. i remembered laura's pattern and off i went. it is a fabulous, quick to knit pattern and i am thrilled with the results.

03 december 2004 let it snow

the winter layette is all done and on its way to germany and my god-daughter julia. it was a quick knit and i am very happy with how it turned out. it is feminine without being overly girlie, and it can transition well from the holiday season through the rest of the winter.

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