Keeping My Head Above Water

I'm still here, everyone. Keeping my head above water, putting one foot in front of the other, moving forward. Most days, honestly, I still feel like I'm trying to swim through Jello, but I'm here. My friends are a real blessing to me, and hopefully I have let them know that I appreciate their efforts to keep me connected to the real world.

So what have I been doing? You can "friend" me on Goodreads to check out the copious amounts of books I have devoured since the beginning of 2012.

I have also been knitting, of course.

December had me knitting hats for family members...

I knit a snowman afghan square for a swap. This one went to a friend in Europe.


I knit another icky scarlet and grey hat for a good friend who lost the first one I made him, and mailed it to him as a surprise.

Worsted weight yarn on US size 3 needles is a pain. I'm just sayin'. I told him to take this one to the vet and get it microchipped!

These socks were made on size 3 needles from a yarn called Induldgence, which has sadly been discontinued. It would have made a great Baby Surprise Jacket.

I also knitted a Chickadee Cowl (free pattern on Ravelry) for a charity auction to help a friend's loved one with medical bills related to cancer.

A whole group of knitter friends got together and sent knitted items and she was able to create two big basket of knitted items for the auction.

I made a red, white and blue scarf for Honor Flight participants.


Honor Flight of NW Ohio takes WWII Veterans to Washington, D.C. to see the war memorials, specifically the newer WWII Memorial built in their honor. It is the goal of Honor Flight to make sure that all WWII vets see their memorial before they die. On each flight, a goodie bag of treats is given to each Veteran. Yarn Cravin' knitters got together and knitted EIGHTY scarves to give to the participants of the first flight of 2012, which will leave for DC on April 25. Sometimes participants get a pin, or a hat and a pen and little trinkets. We wanted to make sure this group was wrapped with love!

My darling daughter, Mayhem, turned 13 recently, had her tonsils out right after that, and requested a special stuffed toy to love. Introducing "Gort."

Poor Gort is still missing his mouth in that photo. If you are looking for a fun, quick knit, look up Rebecca Danger's Big Book of Monsters.
He is Mayhem's Track Team monster. My baby girl is doing track and softball this spring/summer. That darn tonsillectomy is getting in the way of everything since she is sidelined until April 27.

Another fun knit, and one for me was this Color Affection Shawl. It's still in the top 20 patterns on Ravelry, and I loved knitting it so much that I am pondering colors for another one!



It's all garter stitch, some short rows, and M1R, M1L. One section is using 3 colors of yarn, though, and keeping them from tangling was a bit annoying, but putting the skeins into ziploc bags helped with that issue.

Two more friends are expecting babies and I have started working on wee little baby knits. Can't show those off here yet, though. Top secret stuff!!

By popular demand, Bill and I are doing another student trip once school gets out. The kids who went to Washington, D.C. as 7th graders last year begged us to do a trip for them this year. So... we are taking 50 eighth graders to New York City in June when school is over the year. Lord help us!

Before that, though, I have one more big event. On May 18 I am doing Race For The Cure with my older sister, who is a breast cancer survivor. She has not yet reached the five year mark to be considered "cured," but is getting closer. Last year, if you recall, I held a raffle in her support. This year, I will be doing that again, and asking you to support our team as I walk with her. More details to come very soon.

If you want to donate already, here is our team page and I will make sure you are entered into the raffle for prizes!

1. Click on this link: Knox County Survivors, Families & Friends

2. Just click on my name (Karen Yockey) to make a donation if you want to be included in the prize giveaway.

3.Then send an email to me at ttownknitiot@gmail.com You will have one entry for each $5 you donate. Your donation is tax deductible as well.

Prize info coming soon, but for sure there will be Wollemeise and one autographed copy of Noni's new flower book, Noni Flowers: 40 Exquisite Knitted Flowers.

Summer Homework

Loved ones. Family. Children. Smiling faces. Adventurous day trips. Playing.

Family. Loved ones. Daytime adventures.

Playing. Fresh fruit.

Flowers in the rain.

A tiny knitted sock. Sunset at the river.

Kids swimming in the pool. Laughter. Telling bad jokes. Sock yarns.

The Photos That
Capture Your Summer

The tiny knitted sock your son helped with

The kids playing together... nicely!

Raindrops on the lilies.

Show me in pictures what has captured your summer moments. Put them on your blog. Then send me a link in the comments. I'll offer up a yarny prize, (maybe two) from my stash by using a random number drawing.

All comments with links to your photos must be posted by midnight EST Sunday July 13.

Now go capture your summer!

Summer Knitting Goals

With no "knitalin" to be found and so many projects going at once, I need some goals here! While reading my daily dose of Stumbling Over Chaos, this morning, I serendipitously found that Chris had posted just what I needed. Look: Summer Contest! If you decide to join, make sure you mention how you found the contest (via me!!).

My Summer Knitting Goals:

1. Finish WIP's (Mayhem's slippers, banana cabana socks)
2. Make a Log Cabin Afghan (started yesterday!)
3. Complete EZ Baby Surprise Jacket as a shower gift (scheduled for July 15)
4. Make Rusted Root Sweater (for me)
5. Bonus: Socks for CJ (Cider Moon Superman yarn arrived for him)

It's gray and gloomy here, so I will hold off on taking photos of my Namaste bag and the newest Cider Moon yarn that came.

17 days of school and then 90 seventh graders and I head to Washington, D.C. and Gettysburg. (I know, I'm nuts!)

All Over The Place

Another blogger, Tiennie, asked what readers have been up to recently. I can say that I haven't been doing nearly as much knitting as I want. I've been up to my ass in alligators at work. Major stress. Being an educator isn't all bad. This week Borders was giving a 25% discount to current and retired eductators. I was able to buy Last Minute Knitted Gifts at a discounted rate.

The past two nights I have been in bed by 10:00 after having napped in the afternoon, and slept all night. Knowing me and my sleeping problems, two nights in a row of sleep usually means trouble. "Are you dying, or what?" my Buddy B asked me today. Not dying, but catching something. I have a fever of 100.6. No major symptoms, just tired and feverish. Not even a sore throat. To add injury to insult, the past two days have been 75 degrees or warmer, absolutely beautiful, and I've felt like a slug.

It's not all bad around here, though. I won another little blog contest, which was a pleasant surprise. Once Stick Chicky and I get our emails coordinated, I will be the proud owner of another yarn prize. Yarn in the mail is always something to look forward to!

Speaking of yarn in the mail, look what arrived from The Loopy Ewe yesterday:

The top picture is a more accurate depiction of the colorway, which is called "Java." This lovely stuff will eventually be socks for my dad. The bottom photo gives you an idea of all the different colors in this deep, dark yarn.

And a little shot of spring for you all, before my crocuses are all gone...

My Lucky Day

Every day I read Stumbling Over Chaos to see what Chris and her cats, Chaos and Mayhem are up to. Chris is great at posting the contests other bloggers are having and once in a while I drop in on a new blog and enter a contest. I usually enter if there are yarn or knitting books involved; more to comment on the new blog I've found, than expecting to win. I've found some of the regular sites I read daily that way.

Imagine my surprise this morning when I opened my email to find a message from Sprite telling me I was one of the winners in her recent blog contest. She had asked about book recommendations and chose winners at random. Lucky me! It looks like I will be the recipient of two balls of Panda Cotton yarn in the Fern (greens and yellows) colorway and some sock-shaped point protectors. Thanks, Sprite! Picture of Prize

Forget jewels or expensive tokens. Just give me a little bit of yarn now and then and I'll be happy. Oh, and something good to drink while I'm knitting.