Helena, Paljon kiitoksia!

Hauska paiva!
Today's mail contained a very special surprize knitting magazine. Moda arrived all the way from Suomi (Finland), courtesy of my cousin, Helena! Kiitta (thank you). What a wonderful and thoughtful surprize. There are so many wonderul patterns in this (55 knitting and 47 sewing) that I don't know where to start. The charts are well-written and hopefully some translation programs will have me knitting these beauties up soon!

Helena herself is an accomplished knitter. Many of the family members there are extremely talented. They harvest, spin and weave flax, paint, crochet, embroider, sew and knit.

Someday I hope to travel there and visit. Thank you again!

The proverbial straw

Yesterday that final piece of insurance chaf wafted down from the cruel heavens, pushed me off balance and sent me stumbling down the cliffs of insanity ("Princess Bride" reference). Without dwelling on details here is the condensed version...

Over the course of 6 frustrating months I've spent countless hours on the phone with government agencies, insurance companies, drug manufacturers, doctors' offices, M.S. organizations and assorted others. The goal of these fruitless, circular exercises being obtaining medical insurance and prescription coverage for my husband and myself. The good folks at Verizon Benefits (former employer of husband) refused to send COBRA paperwork until their legal deadline obligation on June 18. All other insurance options failed so this Monday I mailed Verizon a check for $1,935. to cover medical coverage for B & I for part of June, July and August. I enrolled us via the telephone, contacted our former HMO and ordered my medications. Months of research were at an end. We had insurance. All was well.

Yesterday the HMO called to say that Verizon had no record of our COBRA account (I provided the given account number) and that I'd have to pay the $1,475 up front for my shots. After calling back Verizon they informed me that it could be several weeks before they sent confirmation paperwork to me... and they were unable/unwilling to fax anything to the HMO.

Call it tenacity, stubborness or bitchiness, I don't care. The next set of phone calls was to a prescription assistance organization (I'd already registered with them, but my application is still weeks from being processed). Because I enrolled in COBRA my paperwork/application isn't valid with their office and needs to be sent elsewhere. From there I called the M.S. Society... worthless. Next call was to the drug manufacturer. Heck, at this point I was up for expired meds at a discount. I know that prisoners receive meds so holding up a convenience store was starting to sound like a plan.

I tried one more call to a support group for the meds. While retelling this story for the eleventy-billionth time I snapped. All went dark around me, my face burned, my chest began to tighten. I don't know if I screamed or not, but hysterical sobbing ensued and the poor lady at the receiving end of the phone call was at a loss.

B woke up (he sleeps days because he works graveyards at a temp job) and stumbled into the kitchen. The lady placed me on hold and I continued to alternate between ranting and crying.

Several minutes later the nice lady actually came back. She is helping me by locating and having 15 days worth of shots Fed-Exed out on Monday! I'm flabbergasted. This should be enough to get me by until Verizon gets their paperwork out! So, now I'm embarrassed about my behavior and grateful for the kindness and patience of a nice stranger who didn't hang up on me. If I ever win the lottery, find gold in my yard, etc. I will repay this company for the shots and do something really, really nice for the lady. I don't know if she was supposed to do this so I'm not mentioning her name here.

Knitting time was scarce yesterday, but I did manage to cast on a second sock. I'd post a picture, but for some reason they aren't loading. Much redemption is in order following the boo boo pictures divulged in the last post. Heck, the fear of bad knitting juju may have chased away any readers. Cricket, cricket, cricket... hello, is anybody still there?

I hope that Cindy, Jessalu, Dipsy and everybody else plagued by dangerously hot temperatures stays safe and cool. Cheers!

Welcome Karen and a new contest.

My dear friend Karen has started her own blog! Hooray and welcome to Karen.

Knitty Mama is holding a fun contest. She wants to see if any of us knitters out there have knitting catastrophe stories that can equal or surpass her story of knitting an Anouk for her niece. Well Knitty Mama, here are some never-before-seen photos. I may have to enter a witness protection program after fessing up to these "boo boos".

This was a bad year for sweaters at "But Mom". First we have the multi-colored silk cardigan. The pattern came from my Noro book (I can't remember the title and I've since loaned the book to a friend). The silk is recycled sari yarn, hence the multiple colors and unusual textures. All went well until the blocking. I had no idea that silk would be so heavy and that the sleeves could stretch so much. Also, one of the thin spots broke and unravelled. Lessons learned from this project: first, use the recycled silk in conjunction with another yarn for strength and elasticity. Second, make something small that won't be worn, this shit's heavy. My daughter is modeling it and she is NOT happy about wearing this monstrocity.

Next we have the birthday-present-that-wasn't. This was supposed to be a lightweight summer cardi for my friend Karen (see above). It was made with Knitpicks Shadows using a pattern called "Stella". Once again, all looked well until the end. The sweater felted while blocking and it ended up being a strange, wonky shape which renders it unwearable. Because of the afore-mentioned felting this cannot be frogged. Sorry Karen, I have socks for you! Once again, A1 is thrilled to be photographed.

In addition to these I just frogged my attempt at Picovoli and there are 4 badly felted purses residing under the cardigans. Dang, that's a lot of fiber failings. Maybe I should take up another hobby. Cheers!

Way cool idea!

While blog surfing this morning I happened up on this http://bunchkinknits.blogspot.com/. Bunchkin has made and documented the making of her very own duct tape dress form. I rarely sew (hopefully this will change soon) and lately I knit mostly socks so it wouldn't be of much use for knitting. I have no idea where we'd keep it either, but I still want one.

Cabin Cove Dave is hilarious!

Okay, so this afternoon I was enjoying my daily dose of blog. I lurk a lot and even comment on several peoples' sites. One of my favorite reads is Cabin Cove Dave's knitting and quilting blog(s). Dave lives the life of my fantasy alter-ego. He is a talented quilter, knitter, dyer and he can sew up a storm. And obviously comedian can also be added to his resume'. He has posted an answer to that age-old joke and philosophical question about why the chicken crossed the road. I do not know if he wrote this or not, but the humor is appreciated regardless.


DR. PHIL: The problem we have here is that this chicken won’t realize that he must first deal with the problem on THIS side of the road before he goes after the problem on the OTHER SIDE of the road. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he’s acting by not taking on his CURRENT problems before adding NEW problems.
OPRAH:Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he wants to cross this road so bad. So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I’m going to give this chicken a car so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.
GEORGE W BUSH:We don’t really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road,or not. The chicken is either for us or against us. There is no middle ground here.
COLIN POWELL:Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite image of the chicken crossing the road…
ANDERSON COOPER - CNN:We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed to have access to the other side of the road.
JOHN KERRY:Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it. It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken’s intentions. I am not for it now, and will remain against it.
NANCY GRACE:That chicken crossed the road because he’s GUILTY! You can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.
PAT BUCHANAN:To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.
MARTHA STEWART:No one called me to warn me which way that chicken was going. I had a standing order at the Farmer’s Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave me any insider information.
DR SEUSS:Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I’ve not been told.
ERNEST HEMINGWAY:To die in the rain. Alone.
JERRY FALWELL:Because the chicken was gay! Can’t you people see the plain truth in front of your face? The chicken was going to the “other side.” That’s why they call it the “other side.” Yes, my friends, that chicken is gay. And if you eat that chicken, you will become gay, too. I say we boycott all chickens until we sort out this abomination that the liberal media whitewashes with seemingly harmless phrases like “the other side.” That chicken should not be crossing the road. It’s as plain and simple as that!
GRANDPA:In my day we didn’t ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough.
BARBARA WALTERS:Isn’t that interesting? In a few moments, we will be listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heart-warming story of how it experienced a serious case of molting, and then went on to accomplish its life-long dream of crossing the road.
JOHN LENNON:Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together, in peace.
ARISTOTLE:It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.
BILL GATES:I have just released eChicken2006, which will not only cross roads but will lay eggs, file your important documents and balance your check book.Internet Explorer is an integral part of eChicken. This new platform is much more stable and will never cra…#@&&^( C … Reboot.
ALBERT EINSTEIN:Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?
BILL CLINTON:I did not cross the road with THAT chicken. What is your definition of chicken?
AL GORE:I invented the chicken!
COLONEL SANDERS:Did I miss one?

Thank you Dave, you made my day!

Why am I getting flowers?

Look at what my dear friend, Marta, sent me! Aren't they pretty?

Marta and I met years ago when I worked for the City of Bellingham's Finance Department. She worked for Municipal Court directly across from me. One day I noticed that she had a calendar from Finland on her wall and we started talking. Turns out that her parents were from Finland (my Grandpa is too). We were both called "pahaska housa" (probably spelled wrong) as a term of endearment as children. Roughly translated it means "shitty pants". Don't ask, I don't understand that myself. Anyway, Marta is to this day one of my dearest friends. She'll give you the shirt off of her back and always find something humorous when everything is going to hell. She's been through a lot in her life, including three husbands, being a single mom and worst of all, the loss of her only daughter, Elaine. Through everything she remains strong and positive. Someday I hope to be half as wonderful as Marta.

So why is this wonderful lady sending me beautiful flowers? Tomorrow is my 39th birthday... crap, that's close to 40. Honestly, I've been so busy that I lost track of time and for the life of me, I couldn't fathom why flowers were being delivered. Luckily she had the foresight to have "Happy Birthday" on the card or I would have remained in the dark. Could this be early dementia?

I cast on a pair of socks this morning. Something quick and easy may help offset yesterday's disappointment with Pico-I-don't think so-voli. I've also narrowed my apron choices for the Apron-along down to something that covers my entire front and something with pockets.

Happy Monday everyone!

Frogging, stinging, picking, gifting and joining!

Picovoli is a form-fitting, knitted version of a t-shirt. Picovoli should flow with the natural curves of one's body. It should move comfortably with the wearer. The pattern was meticulously written by Grumperina and countless knitters have executed her design with great success. So what in the world happened here? I did a test guage and adjusted my yarn and needle sizes accordingly... really. I thought it would fit as directed too. The size looked accurate right up until the point that I slipped it on to check my post-bustline decreases. Obviously it's wrong. Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Picovoli is headed for the frog pond. That bites.

Where we live there is a big problem with yellow jackets. Summer months are spent scooping them out of the pool, spraying nests and making sure to not leave food or anything else out that will attract them. We've tried just about every kind of insecticide spray on the market, but they always come back. I average 3 stings per summer but until this year my daughters have been spared. The other night while sleepily digesting an evening meal my reverie was shattered with the most horrible sound imaginable to any mother. A3 was screaming. And this wasn't the "I'm pissed at my sister" or "I skinned my knee" screaming, it was sheer terror. She had wandered too close to a nest of yellow jackets and been stung several times. Luckily the stings were mostly limited to her legs, but one got her on the right eyebrow. We immediately applied a paste of baking soda, meat tenderizer and water and gave her Benadryl. This is what she looked like the next day. Luckily she only suffered local reactions. So now I'm on the prowl for an insecticide that really will work. If any of y'all know of some good (legal) bug killer then please let me know. Most of the stuff that worked has now been outlawed.

Before getting too hot I picked a little bit of lavender from our garden. There were lots of bumble bees, honey bees and butterflies to keep me company. I don't mind the honey or big bumbles, my hatred is limited to the waspy, hornety, yellow jackety kinds of bees. While picking away one of my neighbors came over with some fresh peas from her garden. Because they will be away for several weeks she generously offered to let me have her raspberries while they are away. I hacked ours up so bad during a pruning attempt that they aren't producing this year. Anyway, the peas will be kept raw and added to a garden salad.


In other news, Sherrill has the Apron Along up and running. She even has an awesome button available. Hopefully I'll remember how to post it to my sidebar this evening. Right now I'm off to the garage to look through my fabric stash!