Thursday, October 15, 2009

Thelma & Louise

So Aughra and her roommate were exciting last week. Auhgra hasn't been feeling well lately. Not really able to do much of anything. Her COPD is getting worse. Anyway, she was in the bathroom had a dizzy spell and fell off the toilet. (Stop laughing! That is my poor elderly grandmother!) Those of you who have ever used a hospital bathroom have seen there is a call string? Did Aughra use this nifty little device put there to call for help? Nope.

So the Centurian decided to help my grandmother. Did she help her by pushing the call button beside her? Nope. She decided that her 4'4" 95 lbs frame could pick my 5'5" 140 lbs grandmother up. Care to guess what happen next? That's right they both ended up on the floor.

Now of one of them will pull the call string right? Right? Nope. The Centurian crawled out into the hallway to get help. Nether of them were seriously hurt. The Centurian has a nice bruise. Aughra won't admit to anything. In fact, both of them refuse to admit that it even happened. Sigh. I think they may be be bad influences on each other.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Happy Birthday,Mama-san!


Something wonderful happened 55 years ago tomorrow. My Mama-san was born! She was a funny little kid who was desperately wanted by her family. She and her family lived through the Ruskin Heights tornado.She had what I am starting to think is a normal mid-western upbringing. Her parents weren't Ozzie & Harriet but they did the best they were able to. The daughter of a metal worker, she is staunchly pro-union. She was a rainbow girl. As High School honor roll student, she studied 2 languages (French and Spanish). She was a part of the drama club working on costumes for school plays. She grew-up during the Vietnam war. She married a military man right out of High school.

And though that starry eyed girl has been tripped up repeatedly since then, she has managed to hold on to something I lost in childhood. Optimism. She trusts people. She looks at something and assumes it will all work out. Isn't that amazing? I can only see the half empty glass and immediately start planning for the glass to become completely empty. Mama-san believes that someone will come along and help her fill that glass. This outlook on life is why people always under estimate her. It is what I love about her. I hope that she never loses it.

Happy Birthday, Mama.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Oh JOY - an Aughra saga update

I was just thinking today is an excellent day to do an Aughra update.
So let's see when we last left herself, she was being transferred to a nursing home. We got her into what is considered the best facility in my home town by health care providers. Which was no small feat. Anybody want to know what to look for when choosing a nursing home? I knew you did.

First you want to talk to nurses and doctors about the facilities. How often do they get people in the emergency room for fall/wounds from these places? People mistakenly think that bed sores are a sign of neglect. The truth is that bed sores come to anybody who stays still for long periods of time. They come for the skin breaking down from constant pressure. Now the size of the sore or if it wasn't treated properly are things to watch for.

Secondly go for a visit. Look in the corners of the rooms. Is there dirt or dust? Look at the lights. Are there dead bugs? Both of these will let you know how clean the place is.

Third. Look at the people living there. Is their hair brushed? Do they have food on their clothes? Do they smell? I emphasize the 'they' because with that many people with varying degrees of incontinence in one place it is going to smell. You want to make sure they are being well cared for. Thus ends my choosing a nursing house tutorial.

Back to Aughra. Her 1st roommate, Wheels, was a woman who has late stag MS. Sadly her family doesn't visit often and as such she tried to horn in on other people's visits. She had made herself such a pest that the nurses were slow to answer her when she used her call button. So she would make my grandmother call for her. She would wake my grandmother up at 3 am to call for her. sigh

Aughra can be a touch of a hard ass. I have even heard her referred to as 'meaner than a black snake(whip).' She was told that if she wanted to stay in this nice home she had to play nice with the other kids. I must say I am really proud of her. She stayed in that room the second longest of anyone who had Wheels as a roommate. Yep. 3 weeks. Poor Wheels.

Her next room was on the long term care wing. So much posher than the skilled care wing. Anyhoo. Her new roommate is the pet of the floor. Centurian is 102 years old. That is right 102. She is a sweet little thing. Blind as a bat and deaf. Centurian might be 4'4". Maybe. She daughter comes in everyday to see her. Which is nice to know since she also kind of looks out for Aughra.

So now Aughra is settled and will let us put pictures up and decorate her room. We are being to clean out her house. I have concerns. My Mama-san and I are fundamentally different people. I am systematic kind of gal. I line projects up and go right down the line doing them. Mama-san is really more of a free spirit. I am concerned that I am going to annoy the hell out of her before this is all said and done. Yes. People who know me in 3D land know I kind of relish annoying people, but only if I do it on purpose. I don't like it to be accident.

Also I have taken on the project of scanning the family photos in to the computer and adding who the picture is of to the summary. Damn we are are picture takin' people. I have 20 photos of Aughra's nose that is out of focus cause she was playing with her new camera. I have 2 rolls of photos her retirement party from a place that doesn't even exist anymore. Tons of pictures of butts from different members of the family. Seriously it doesn't matter how bad the photo turn out, we still have it. So that is going to be great fun. I will be tied to the computer when ever I am home. My knitting is going to suffer.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Brooke & Dover


"Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."~ Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams

Even as small child stuffed toys are magical things, aren't they? They seems to speak to you. They listen when you talk to them even before you can talk clearly. My favorite stuffed toy is the teddy bear. I love how place of the features can completely change the personality of a bear. For example Missy Brooke [Pictured Right] looks
quizzically at you. She seems to saying Huh? Where as Dover [Pictured below] looks very concerned about the whole matter.

In my quest for great knitted toys. I found a lovely book called The Knitted Teddy Bear. This book is full of knitted bears made in the classic bear fashion. They have gusseted heads and jointed arms/legs.I love it and plan to make a few of the bears.

My 1st foray into this book was to make the pattern Elizabeth & Heidi out of some Knit Picks yarns I recieved as a RAK. On the whole it went pretty well. I had trouble with the arms had to remake them a couple of times. But in the end me and Brooke worked it out. Made some alterations to the little dress by adding a Chevon lace edging to the bottom which gave it a nice scalloped edge. While I was making my little 6 in. bear, Mini-me exclaimed her love for Brooke and her wish for a mini-bear of her very own so Brooke's companion, Dover, came into the world. Master Dover is dress in a snappy grey vest of my own design. The notes for said vest are missing and have be stolen by my house brownies no doubt. I will add the notes later if they decide to bring them back.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Everybody Loves A Good Bodice Ripper.

At the being of this year, some females of my acquaintance and myself where having beau problems. I was inspired to make these socks by the tales of woe. They started out based on a lyric from the Gordan Lightfoot song If you could read my mind .
"...With chains upon my feet
You know that ghost is me
And I will never be set free
As long as I'm a ghost that you can't see..."

It really spoke to me. So I designed a sock based on chains and faded love for my friend who strictly crochets.( Though we maybe turning her to the dark side.) After I send them to her she posted on Rav, pictures of them and how much she liked them. Guess what happen then? People wanted to know when I was publishing it! I, of course, took minimal notes as I made them. Just enough to be able to make a second sock. So in order to publish the pattern I had to sit down and recreate them. Which went really well.

During that process, I thought about what I would name them. Relationships really have and ebb and flow about them. Sometimes you wake up in the morning and look over at your love and think "How did I survive with out this person?" other times you look over and think "Dear Lord in Heaven, what the hell was I thinking?" Which this is a normal part of being with someone. As I discussed this with my favorite sounding board, she told me it was just like this story she reading. The two main characters wanted each other, then they hated each other, then they discover what the reader knew all along that they actually loved each other. You got it. She was reading a Bodice Ripper. Voila! They were named! And so after being vetted my test knitters, I give you the pattern.

Bodice Rippers are a toe-up pattern suitable for the begining sock knitter. I have the pattern of chains and hearts both written out and charted. I hope you like them.

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