For Momma

Over the years, my momma has made me several lovely quilts.  When I started learning to loom knit about a year ago, I wanted to make something special for her in return.  Well in May I started a shawl pattern that she liked.  I admit it was a big undertaking and I took several months off during the summer, but I finally finished it and gave it to her today.  I know that if I look closely, I will find mistakes, but overall I am really proud of how beautiful it turned out.  You can't really tel, but the crosses are done in small clear glass beads.

Finally!!!

I am so happy!!  I have someone else in the house now who loves Christmas decorations!  See what a wonderful job she is doing!

Better Posture and Less Pain!

OK so I'm not the fastest person in the world to ever post on my blog, but I find this interesting to see so thought I'd share.  Back in April, I got a new wheelchair through Medicare and my insurance.  It is purple, my favorite color, but you can't really see that in the pictures below.

Sitting in my wheelchair has become increasingly difficult over the years as the curvature in my spine gets worse, and it caused a great deal of pain in my left hip and leg as that is where most of my weight was distributed.  I have always thought there had to be something better.  I went to the local guy here in Ocala that does these sort of things and we decided on a new chair and seating options to try and help my posture. Well it did help some, but not enough to relieve the pain.  Then I remembered reading in a book once about a quad that wore a corset to help her so I did some research on corsets and decided to give it a try.  What an amazing difference it has made!  I sit so much better and rarely have the pain in my hip and leg any more.

Next thing I'm working on is trying out an attachment to the wheelchair that will give me some movement back in my arms.  Going to the OT for that on Tuesday so I'll have to let you know how it goes.

More Knitting Projects

Well here are some more pictures of knitting projects I've made recently.  Momma and Sarah were kind enough to be a model for a few of them.

This first one I made up totally on my own without a pattern and figure it would make a nice bag to take to a farmer's market as it will stretch well.

This second one I also made up. I did a stitch combo that I think I created as I don't remember seeing it in any other pattern. I could be wrong though.  The close-up picture shows the way the stitches look on the back and on the front.

I belong to a Yahoo group that picks a pattern and then does it together. This is one we are doing now for a can koozie, but I altered it slightly to work with Sarah's water bottle. Of course, once Sarah took it home, I had to make one for Michelle too, but I forgot to take a picture of the one without a strap that I did for Michelle.

Here are two more water bottle koozies that I did for Sarah and Michelle with straps.

Sarah is always fussing at me because I never make anything for myself so I made a koozie for the cup I use for my drinks.

Finally, I've done a ruffled scarf which Sarah modeled while taking her own picture in the mirror.

Nook Bag

Sarah (my personal assistant) likes to listen to audio books on her Nook while she's working so I made this Nook bag for her.

More Knitting

Here are two more pictures of my projects. I belong to a Yahoo group for Loom Knitters and Mr. Wobbles the penguin was a recent class/loom-a-long that we did.

Knitting Loom Projects

Here are pictures of projects I have done on my knitting looms since Christmas.

This was done for a friend in OH who went to Ohio State and wanted a scarf with their colors.

The was done with the varigated black/grey/white yarn from the OH project.

This was also done with leftover yarn from the OH project.

This was done for a friend here in FL that went to the University of FL.

This was actually supposed to be twice as big, but the panels got so heavy I decided to make it smaller.  Mom put the five panels of this together for me and crocheted on the border.

Cheryl bought this yarn and sent it to me to make her a scarf.

Cheryl sent me so much yarn that I actually made her two scarves.  She said she was going to give one away as a present.

Pillow made from a pattern in a loom knitting book.  Mom put the two sides of this together for me and crocheted on the border.

These are a pair of footies/slippers I made from a purple yarn that I bought after making Cheryl's scarves because it was just so soft like the yarn she sent me.  I'm also working on another project with this yarn, but it isn't done yet.

Christmas Present

As I've mentioned in a previous post, I've had a hard time not being able to do the things I used to with the decreasing strength in my arms.  Well not being able to do crafty things has been particularly hard since I enjoyed it so much.  Last week I ran across something on the internet which I thought might work so I spent two days watching different videos on You Tube to see what was involved before deciding to buy something that I'd only get depressed over if it didn't work.

A few days afterwards, Eric asked me what I wanted for Christmas so I told him what I had been looking at.  I called JoAnn's and they had just one left so he went out and got it for me.  Of course, I had to start playing with it right away so it didn't make it under the Christmas tree!!  This is what I got Martha Stewart Crafts Lion Brand Yarn Knit & Weave Loom Kit.

I'm thrilled (and I do mean thrilled) to say that at the very least I can handle a small loom configuration.  In three afternoon/evenings I created this scarf while laying in bed and watching TV! It's about 5 ft long.

I know it might not mean much to anyone else, but it means the world to me!!

Girl's Vaca

Back at the end of June, two friends of mine from WA came to FL for different reasons. While they were here, the three of us girls took a little two day vaca down to St. Petersburg. Apollo was the only male allowed to tag along on the trip. As I told Michelle and Sue, I can't remember the last time I was away on a trip without a family member present to help take care of me. It was a welcome change of pace for a few days which we all enjoyed.

We left my house on Sunday morning. Thinking we were in no hurry and wanted to enjoy the trip, we decided to take what we thought would be the scenic coastal route 19. Well it may go down the Gulf coast, but you sure can't see the water while you're driving down it. No big deal though as the traffic was minimal and the drive was really nice. Along the way Sue pulled over to a roadside stand and bought some peaches. I've never been a huge peach fan, but I have to admit that those were probably the best peaches I have ever had. They were so juicy and yummy!!

We stopped in Tarpon Springs to have a late lunch/early dinner and discovered a large Greek population and what must be the natural sponge capital of the US. We ate at one of the Greek restaurants. We sat outside on the water where we could see the boats. It was quite pretty. After we ate, we walked around the water/tourist area and poked around in a few of the shops before getting back on the road to St. Petersburg. Try as she might, Sue did not manage to find Sponge Bob amongst the people of Tarpon Springs.

We stayed at the Sirata Beach Resort And Conference Center. It was an absolutely beautiful hotel and the room was great too! There was a bedroom that had two queen size beds for Michelle and Sue and a pullout queen size sofa couch in the living room/kichenette area for me. The sofa bed was really quite comfortable. In both the bedroom and living room area there were floor to ceiling sliding glass doors out onto the balaconies with plenty of room for wheelchair access. The bathroom was also quite large and had plenty of room to maneuver my wheelchair or Hoyer lift. I do believe that Michelle now has a true understanding of why I and those who take care of me prefer hardwood flooring to carpeting when one has to use a Hoyer lift!! :-)

The first night we went down to Rum Runner's, one of the two beachside bars at the hotel, and had a few drinks, some snacks, and a very relaxing time just sitting around listening to the band and talking. Here are some pictures from the hotel.

This is our hotel taken from the beach.

These are pictures Sue took while walking on the beach at the hotel in the early morning hours when the rest of us lazy people were still sleeping.

The next day we ate brunch at the hotel and then decided that there had to be at least one coffee shop somewhere in the area so we set off to look for it. We found a wonderful little shop called Steam. It was a family run place and come to find out they were from Kirkland, WA which probably explains why we were able to get a decent cup of coffee. The place offered food made fresh right there on the little grill. It smelled so good, we promised to come back. The friendly people at Steam told us about Ft. Desoto Park since we said we were looking for a good beach to go to so off we went in search of adventures for the day.

Ft. DeSoto Park turned out to be a great place to go with multiple beaches to go to. We were searching for North Beach since that was one of the places our friends at Steam had recommended. While following the signs to North Beach, we found a doggie beach and dog park so we stopped there to give Apollo a good time. He was so happy to see water that he could just run into again instead of our pool at home that scares him. What a happy boy!!! I believe it was while trying to get to the doggie beach area that I got stuck in some sand that Sue and Michelle could not get me out of.  Thankfully there were a few nice guys around who helped pull me out and get me back on solid ground.

After that, we got back in the van and went to North Beach so Michelle and Sue could do some swimming. I couldn't get all the way down to the beach, but I could get close enough to watch them go swimming and lounging in my poolchair float that we brought along on the trip. Apollo and I just kicked back under the trees and relaxed for a few hours.

Michelle really looks excited to be at the beach, huh?

Sue lounging in the poolchair float.

After we left the beach, we went back to Steam for dinner. The food was absolutely delicious! Then it was back to the hotel. We went down to Harry's Beach Bar this time. While we were there, a storm looked to be blowing in and everyone left the beach and pools. We just sat at the table enjoying ourselves, and the clouds blew over with no rain but it did bring a much appreciated breeze!

Here we are at Harry's Beachside Bar.

Tuesday morning we packed up the van and checked out of the hotel. We went back to Steam for breakfast and back to Ft. DeSoto Park before heading home. When we got to North Beach this time, we found a barrier free trail (sidewalk) down to the beach and an area that was hard packed enough for me to get my wheelchair out by the water. Apollo got another little swim time since there was absolutely no one on the beach down there before we headed back up to the area where Michelle and Sue could go swimming. This time, we also found the concession stand area so that is where Apollo and I stayed under the covered area there to wait and relax.

Apollo playing at the beach.

This is where I got to go down by the water via the barrier free sidewalk.

Sue and Apollo on the beach.

Then it was time to head back to the real world so we all got in the car and headed home. They had been calling for rain the whole time we were down in St. Petersburg, but we never got any until we were about halfway home which is fine with me!

Pool Time

Well on Memorial Day Sarah and Michelle came over and we went in the pool. I did fine, but my legs just kept wanting to float out from under me so I had to hold on to Michelle the whole time in order to stay upright. That was nice being in the pool, but not so much fun having to cling to someone the whole time so I only stayed in for about 30 to 45 minutes.

This past weekend, I went out and bought me a floating recliner/chair. Michelle had today off of work so she came over with Sarah again for more pool time. Below are some pictures of today's time in the pool. I had a MUCH better time floating around on my own. It was very comfortable, and I was in there for about 4 hours!!

Oh and believe it or not, Apollo actually came swimming today. We had to pull him off the steps, but once in there, he was actually swimming around and not heading straight back to the steps to get out. When I held on to the handle on his life vest, he would swim around and take me around the pool. It was great fun!!