Uli's Creative Corner

About Life, Knitting, Jewelry, Being a Working Mom, Raising Kids

Thanks

Thanks for all the nice comments on JR.  Let me just say this experience has been tough but it is amazing how quickly little kids like that bounce back and how resilient they are.  He is basically recovered very well.  This week was a normal week with daycare and all.  We think he is eating way better and the quality of his sleep at night is just so much better.  It's obvious.  So after all the stress, it was a good thing that we made him undergo this little ordeal.

Now I turn to my toad girl................... she deserves some blog attention, too.

I thought her daycare teacher who painted up her face was very creative with the tongue trying to catch the fly on her nose.  Mind you, after all the cleaning and washing and make-up remover, I think she still has some green face paint around the edges.  She used to never have anything to do with face painting but I guess she's growing up.

Here are my socks of the month for April:

They are just a basic sock, my own sock recipe, 64 stitches on 2.25 mm needles in an Opal Petticoat cotton.  The colours in the picture are slightly off.  The colour combination is subtle but lovely.  The colour match was hard on this yarn but I basically have it perfect except it gets out of whack right at the tip.  I'm not sure what I did but I'm not too concerned.

On Sivia Harding's Yahoo KAL group, we have set out to start her Norwegian Woods Scarf .  I love this shawl and I was set to cast on right at the start of the KAL last Sunday but time got away with me.  I also have an extremely busy weekend this weekend but I am going to carve out some time to cast on.

I've been very pre-occupied with my jewelry.  Last weekend, I had a rush to get ready for a craft show jury.  This was my first ever "big time jury" where I had to formally submit samples of my work, leave them with the jury and go back the day after the jury date to find out if I got in or not and to pick up my pieces.  I was trying so hard to stay positive and tell myself that a rejection would be no big deal but we all know, when we put our heart and soul into a project like that, rejection is utterly disappointing.  I must say thought that I passed the jury, they liked my work, they liked how I presented everything and I'm in.  This is for a 3-day show at the end of November.  I hope it will be a successful show.

As I'm doing all this jewelry, preparing for the jury and filling orders from my shop, I've been listening to lots of podcasts.  Well, last night, I was very inspired by the Yarn Thing podcast.  I listen to the podcast regularly but for some reason, the positive outlook of Marly just kind of kept me going on a very tired night.   Thanks, Marly!!!

I came up with some cute, very simple, fun for summer earrings that I want to show off:

posted by: Ulrike at May 02, 2008 09:03 | link | comments (1) |

Greetings from the Hospital

Well, not quite, we are home now but see, my little guy says Hello with his hospital jammies:

 

What started out as a routine tonsil and adenoid surgery, soon turned a little bit more traumatic when the little guy refused to recover properly from the anaesthetic.  Hubby had gone into the recovery area to be with him because I wasn't sure that I could handle it.  So I kept knitting and knitting.  Well, what was supposed to be only 1/2 hour turned into hours and I only got glimpses of information from the nurse who would be our nurse once he was back on the ward.  Finally, the doctor came out to talk to me.  He was fine but he was having issues breathing etc.  I was told that they were in the process of making the decision about whether he would have to be transferred to the ICU at Children's hospital.  Yikes..... Finally my hubby asked them to have me sent back there as well because he needed a break.  He had been holding our little man on and off throughout recovery and he had oxygen tubes taped to his shoulders so that either way JR was twisting he would get extra oxygen that he needed to breathe properly.  By the time I got there, he was just this little lump lying on this big hospital stretcher.  I lost it.......... Soon thereafter, the decision was made to transfer him to Children's and very shortly thereafter, the infant transport team came along and took him and myself over to the ICU.  I was just terrified. 

Once at Children's he spent the night in ICU being monitored very closely.  It was a scary night.  I slept on a little cot right next to his bed side and hubby wandered the halls finding couches and benches to get a bit of sleep on.  The next morning, he was transferred up to the regular surgical ward where he spent his days terrorizing the nurses and his nights monitored tightly.  Except for one night, I stayed with him day and night.  He finally got to go home on Friday.  He's feeling better but he still has a few minor issues that hopefully will resolve themselves as time goes on.

I'll show you what I knitted throughout this whole process soon.  I'm so glad we're all back home.

posted by: Ulrike at April 22, 2008 16:50 | link | comments (8) |
kids

Hospital Knitting

So, I'm contemplating hospital knitting for JR's little visit to the hospital............. I, of course, have several options.  I think it needs to be small and simple but yet challenging enough to keep my mind occupied a little.  Surgery won't last long so that part of the wait won't be that long.  Recovery might take a little longer.  I'm just thinking that he may be sleepy after the surgery and anaesthetic etc. but I could be wrong.

Of course, there's always the "go happy, go lucky" simple pair of socks.  I have many on the needles and can start another.  It's not that I lack sock yarn.

I could pick a slightly more complicated sock with a pattern and I have a couple of patterns in mind.  Oh, of course, I could muster up the energy and string the beads to finish up Sivia Harding's wonderful Reptilian Lace socks.  I finished one sock up ages ago and just never got around to the second.

My next really simple choice is a fun hat that I have in my head - I'm submitting entries of my work to a jury for a large craft show next November.  My submission has to be in by April 28.  I need to send a representation of my work.  Of course, most of that is my jewelry and I will heavily focus on my chainmaille since I think that makes me more unique as an artist and crafter.  But, last season, I always tucked some knitted things at the edges of my table and a lot of them sold.  So I'm debating whether to throw in a few knitted items so that if the jury accepts me, I can be free to add some knitting.  So, I'm thinking of making up this fun hat from 6-ply sock yarn as my submission.  That would be good and simple.  Lots of round and round stockinette stitch.

And last but not least is Sivia's River Rock scarf. I picked that pattern up as soon as it came out last week.  I think it's fun and funky.  The beads might be a challenge to manage.  I have yarn I'm thinking of - some hand dyed Sweatermaker yarn that I got from Shelley up at Fun Knits. I don't have beads yet but that can be fixed.  I'd have to find the time to string them all this weekend.  I'm a bit worried about managing lots of beads on a ball of yarn while hanging out at the hospital.  Hmmm....

Of course, there are many other options, too.  Too many to mention as my stash is full of possibilities.  I'll have to see what inspires me this weekend as we prepare for this event.

I must admit that I keep telling myself that it's only "minor surgery" and that I'm making myself stay fairly calm about it all.  But really, inside, I'm not calm.  I'm kind of freaking out a bit.  Someone told me yesterday that what was the hardest for them when their child had surgery was the IV.  I didn't even contemplate the thought that he would have to have an IV.  Of course..... what a dough head am I?  I don't have a good relationship with IV's as they always have to call the IV specialist nurse to administer mine.  IV's and I don't have a good history together.  So of course, that really got to me.  And I know it's silly but yesterday, as I was watching my boy be his humorous and silly self (he's just such a happy go lucky boy, that never stops getting up to mischief and never stops smiling), I really started to worry whether the surgery somehow would make him lose that whole sense of humour and fun.  I know he won't be thrilled after the surgery but I was more worried about down the road when he feels better........ silly, I know, but I was envisioning him not smiling and laughing any more.  That was hard.  Hubby just lauged at me - but I can't shake the feeling.

So, send us all good vibes on Monday.  Alright?

posted by: Ulrike at April 11, 2008 08:38 | link | comments (4) |

I Do Have Some Socks

I promised I would come back with some socks and my intentions were good - I was going to take pics of every sock in progress and show off.............. :-)  Well, I managed to get a not very good picture of the finally finished Eagle's Flight socks that I had started ages and ages ago and then finally picked up as my Socks of the Month for March.  They are done............... don't look too closely - one leg has one extra pattern repeat.  When we were travelling down south of the border a couple of times in March, I forgot to bring the first sock and did then length of the leg of the second sock from memory.  Obviously, my memory wasn't that good.... and I'm being a rebel and not fixing it - WHY - no one will tell when I'm wearing them.

The yarn is Opal Handpaint in very bright shades of green.  I did them on 2.25 mm needles and they are MY size.... :-)

JR is scheduled for surgery on Monday.  Way faster than we ever anticipated.  We were on a 5-6 month waiting list.  We saw the specialist who will be doing the surgery just before spring break and they called last Friday that they could fit him in this coming Monday.  Now, of course, with it so close, I'm a bit anxious about the whole thing.  It's not major surgery - tonsils and adenoids - but he'll still have to be put out completely and will have to stay over night.  I'll stay by his side................... Mommy is being Momma Bear!!!  Think of us on Monday......... send good thoughts our way, please.

I've been making shawl pins  -  here is one of my favourite ones:

My latest personal favourite was a new stainless steel chainmaille bracelet with a lovely sterling silver flower charm:

Off I go for the moment - I feel terribly sluggish today.  There has been a stomach bug making it through the house and I'm just feeling very blah and tired today.

posted by: Ulrike at April 09, 2008 13:05 | link | comments (2) |
kids, sock knitting, etsy, chain mail

Easter at Our House

I wasn't going to come back until I had pictures of socks........... I still don't have pictures of socks.  My lovely bright green pair still has just the last few stitches on the needles.  All I need to do is thread my tapestry needle.......... but somehow with the last pair of socks, I lost that needle from my Chibi and now I have to find it or find a new needle which in my sewing/yarn/bead room might be a tad of a challenge.  The aliens took over and turned it into a disaster zone.............

So I'll show you some Easter pics of the easter egg hunting:

 

I also have a bunch of new key chains in the shop:

 

And later on today, I'll be listing a lovely, lovely spring inspiring earring and necklace set - given that it's snowing outside, anything that inspires spring is a good thing.

The weekend plans are to just be home.......... except a few minor bits of running around tomorrow morning.  So I need to get those socks photographed and I have a bunch of other crafty plans.  If the kids will let me.................. famous last words these days. :-)

posted by: Ulrike at March 28, 2008 08:22 | link | comments (2) |
kids, just chatting, etsy

Hippety Hoppety Easter

I say I will be back tomorrow to show you a variety of socks - one pair finished, one pair with one sock done and one pair just started................ but I need to darn in those darn ends and take some pictures.  So we'll see......... I'll also be back to show super dooper cute pics of the kiddos Easter egg hunting from a big Easter egg hunt tomorrow - i assume I'll get cute pics. :-)

As I move on in all my other ventures, i've been trying to improve my pics and to learn my phot editing software better.  Tonight I was playing around with actually teaching myself how to do a collage.  I focused on my stitch markers that are currently available in my shop.  I've been on a mega stitch marker kick lately.  I'll come back and tell you about the reason for that stitch marker craze as well..... how is this for leaving everyone dangling?

Here is tonight's collage - what do you think?  Okay for a start, for someone who doesn't know what they're doing?

This was just a start................

Oh, and i'm not fishing for comments but could someone, anyone, just leave me a comment, please.  I've seen some weird comment behaviour and was wondering if commenting is even working properly on my blog right now.  I assume it is but I figure I just have nothing comment worthy to say these days. :-)

Happy Easter if I don't come back!!! (before Easter that is - okay, it's very late)

posted by: Ulrike at March 21, 2008 21:36 | link | comments (2) |

Barely There.............

Last weekend, 2 events coincided - one, Fibre Fest International in Abbotsford and two, Bellingham Bead Festival in Blaine.  The bead festival market was on Saturday and Sunday but hubby didn't want to head south of the border on Sunday and we didn't have babysitting services on Sunday so we had to go on Saturday.  And since Fibrefest is only on Friday and Saturday, we had to scoot out to Abbotsford on Friday night.  It wasn't my idea to get dinner at a family restaurant first............ my idea was to grab a fast food bite and be done with it.  But I was outnumbered.  As a result, we got to Fibre Fest at 7:25 pm with the doors about to close at 8 pm.  So, I quickly race around once and visit with the wonderful people I know really quickly, while ignoring the whining children as best as possible.  The venue was different - it was okay and allowed me to scope out the venue since this is where a big Christmas craft show is taking place and I want to try out for it to see if the jury will accept me.  There seemed to be some wonderful yarn and fibres but I barely had enough time to look between visiting with Lynn from Knitopia and Shelly from Fun Knits.

My purchases...........................

Not a whole lot to speak of but absolutely wonderful.  2 skeins of Fiddlesticks Knitting in a lovely lace weight.  The name escapes me at the moment.  That one came from Knitopia.  And then there is the Addi Turbo lace needle - I have a large selection of Addi Turbo's but I hadn't bought any of the lace needles yet.  Well, what would go better with those purchases than a lovely lace shawl pattern I bought earlier that day.  And that pattern is Sivia's newest - Norwegian Woods.  Isn't it gorgeous?  Can't you see that wonderful berry colour and those lovely Addi Turbos turning into a wonderful lace project?  And no, I haven't even had a second to cast on yet.  I barely have had the time to take pictures of the tiny little haul to show off here.

We finally figured out the hubby and his recurring strep throat myth - I wasn't a carrier - but lo and behold.... both kids were.  Have you ever tried to do throat swabs on your own kids?  We did and it wasn't fun but the doctor thought it would be less traumatic on them and of course, it saved us from taking more time off work to get them down to the doctor's office.

The next day, we crossed the border to go to the bead festival.  It was in a lovely location and I really enjoyed having a quiet lunch with hubby in a nice little quaint spot overlooking the water and looking back upon White Rock in Canada.  Really, if it wasn't for the border wait, it would have been a 15 minute drive from home - well maybe more like 20 or 25 minutes but you get the point.  The bead festival was awesome but I find beads in an arena like that even more overwhelming than yarn and fibre.  Maybe it has something to do with how small beads are.......... I could have spent thousands but I spent less than $100.  Part of that was probably the fact that hubby was watching my every move and how often I did actually pull out that wallet and credit card.  I got a few things that I really love. 

That's last weekend in a nutshell.  It was fun.  As a family, we're having a hard time coping with the time change.  This is the first time ever that it has affected me in a way that I'm really noticing it.  Today is the first day that I don't feel exhausted and behind a veil of tired fuzziness.  The kids have been absolute nightmares at bed time.  I'm hoping that by the weekend, we'll all have settled into the rhythm.  Wahoo..... spring is coming and we got the BBQ out on Sunday and had our first BBQ.  I'm so excited.  BBQ'ing means less cooking for me because hubby is the grill chef in our house.

Now, I'm just mindlessly rambling so I figure I'll show you a couple of things that are new in the store:

On the left is a new yarn and needle cell phone charm.  I love these little adornments and they can be used for just about anything - not just cell phones - they'd be fun on a zipper or attached to a favourite knitting bag.  The rondelle beads I've used there came from the bead festival and I love the colours.  The celtic star to the right is a bit different in that it uses no bright aluminum (aka silver coloured) rings, except for the centre ring that holds it all together.  Instead of using a key chain split ring for this one, I attached a big lobster clasp - it will clip anywhere you want to clip it. 

I also wanted to show off these earrings - this style, is one of my favourites and they're also in the store:

Next week is spring break.............................. Yahooooo

posted by: Ulrike at March 12, 2008 10:49 | link | comments |
just chatting, lace knitting, knitting patterns, etsy

Waiting and Knitting

So yesterday, I was scheduled for my first mammogram............. 40 hit me hard........... I also had blood tests done in the morning............ I guess being 40 and fluffy is even worse.... I had my languishing but very pretty sock in my purse.  I was told it would be about a 15 minute appointment but that I should be there 1/2 hour prior to my appointment time.  Well, I thought, I have my sock - my Sock-of-th-month 5 KAL sock that just didn't look like it would be finished by the end of the month since yesterday was the second to last day of February and I had knitted just past the cuff of the second little sockling.  So I got signed in and sat down.  I waited a good long time - 45 minutes was my first wait.  The whole experience wasn't particularly comfortable but in a way, I expected it to be worse.  They tried to pin point what my doctor had documented she had felt.... So, the finished the first run through and had the film developed right away and a radiologist looked them over and wanted more pictures - while waiting I knitted more.  Then I got put into some more awkward poses and the process started over.  Waiting again to find out what was next, I knitted some more.  Then the tech came back and told me they were going to do an ultrasound on the questionable side next - luckily she happened to mention that they couldn't find anything that the doctor had written up.  Of course, the ultrasound techs were on coffee break at the time so I would have to wait until they finished their coffee break.  Translate that......... more knitting time............ by this time, I had finished the leg, knitted the heel flap, turned the heel, picked up the stitches and was on my merry way knitting the foot.  Was there possibly a chance that I might just finish my sock in time for the last day of the month?  Well, I got seen, finally, and luckily, they told me on the spot that they didn't see anything that seemed suspicious via mammogram or ultrasound.  Phew - relief.  But I tell you, stress knitting goes a long way..................

Little Miss had a 1 1/2 hour gymnastics class last night so I managed to get the foot knitted almost right up to the toe decreases and since I was so close now, once I had kiddos in bed, I finished the toe.  I haven't closed the toe or taken a picture but I can do that when I get home tonight.  Yeah, I did make it..... :-)  Pictures later. :-)

I do have new key chain in the store:

and I re-took the pictures of these earrings because before, they looked really crummy:

They look so much better now.

Enjoy your weekend.  I'm planning on casting on for a new pair of socks and make a bunch of new anklets and at least one necklace for myself.  Have fun!!!

posted by: Ulrike at February 29, 2008 13:16 | link | comments |

Mornings at our House

Just sharing what mornings at our house look like:

posted by: Ulrike at February 28, 2008 10:03 | link | comments |

It's one to treasure!!!

Well, with great trepedation, I am living life in my 40s as of today..................... but I'm dealing with it and since I love birthdays, I kind of have to take them as they come, don't I?  So HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me!!!  La Di Da Di Da...................... here's to a great new decade. :-)

And this is one to treasure :-)

Made just for me by the Little Miss - 6years old and in Grade 1.  Did I ever tell you that she wants to be an artist?

So we're having a quiet day today.  I'm home half the day with JR because he's sick.  Hubby will relieve me at noon so I can go in to the office for a few hours.  It's budget week so it's crunch time for me.  I missed most of yesterday, too.

Tomorrow night, the inlaws are babysitting so hubby and I can go out to a nice dinner and on Saturday we're having both sets of parents over and I'm cooking a nice dinner for everyone.

To celebrate, I'm having a great sale in my store today - to celebrate the 40s, it's a buy one get 40% off the second, lower priced item. 

JR is waking up so I'd better go and check on him.

posted by: Ulrike at February 21, 2008 08:49 | link | comments (7) |

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