Why is it that the only time we see our family is at funerals? It didn't use to be that way, because we used to have family picnics every couple of years. Now we get together in funeral homes or high school gymnasiums.
My aunt Nancy died and her funeral was last week. She was a really nice woman and barely 60 years old. I didn't know her well, as her husband was my dad's half brother and closer to my age than my dad's age, but whenever we got together as a family I loved visiting with her. Her sister looked so devastated at the funeral, it just made me very sad.
I did get to give my aunt Helen her Fluted Bannister socks. I had to stay up until 1:30 a.m., in order to be able to finish, but I think she really liked them; of course, I had to make her promise to wear them. The pattern was great and the socks turned out very good, if I do say so myself.
I also finished a hat that will be used to make money to pay for someone's chemotherapy. It's the same hat I made for Umma, and it turned out pretty good. Plus it only took me two days, which is even better. I'm going to make another hat, since that one went so smoothly.
I have chosen grumperina's Odessa as the pattern, I just need to make sure I have the designers okay to use her pattern. Because it is going to be used as a chemo cap, I won't add the beads; however, I plan to make one with beads eventually.
Goals for January:
chemo and losing her hair. Staci asked me to make her friend some hats. She also said her friend (we'll call her Nell because that is her name) used to knit but couldn't remember how and asked if I would teach her. Why not?
First, this is the cutest name for a sock pattern I've seen. Second, I love the pattern.
The Traveling Wilbury Socks from the pattern collection of the Knitting Curmudgeon are my latest project, and these socks are for my friend in Texas. I hope she will like them and thinks of me whenever she wears them. 
Yesterday I picked about 50 pounds of apples for mom to make into applesauce, but today she said she didn't think her arthritic hands would let her cut up the apples, so I'm making applesauce. It's strange how many apples it takes to make two bowls of applesauce, but once frozen I'll have enough for the whole family for the whole winter. 
Knitting has taken up a lot of my reading time, so I borrowed the first four Harry Potter books from Staci to listen to while I knit. There is nothing on television during June and I want to finish Helen's socks as quickly as possible, so I've been listening every evening. I must say that I like reading much more than listening, but that's just me.
I enjoyed knitting this cap for UmmaGumma. I hope that she finds it comfortable to wear. The yarn, a cotton/tencel blend, (Cascade Pima Tencel) is incredibly soft and feels like satin to touch. Another good thing is that it only took three or four days to knit. I may have to make more of these in a variety of color. 
Another great sock pattern chosen by the Thrifty Knitters' Sock Club at Ravelry. Of course I screwed up the first sock and had to knit three, but I like the patten and it was pretty easy to do. In fact, the only reason I had to redo sock one is that the body of the sock was just too big. 
I just finished my first sock where the pattern doesn't have easy in the title. Of course, my plan is to finish the other sock of the pair and then rip this one out and redo it so it will fit better.
I am almost done with sock one, which is a good thing since today is the 14th. 
Shopping at Ana Needlcraft in Anacortes was fun today. Didn't buy anything but row markers, but since my interests have been known to change in a heartbeat I don't want to buy too much extra expensive yarn. Still it is so nice to spend the afternoon at Patti and looking at all the pretty yarn is a definite bonus.
