Ouch!

So Monday night my husband and I were playing Monkey in the Middle with Emily (keepaway). In our infinite wisdom, we were using a football rather than a nice, squishy ball. (Toby and I were actually playing catch with the football and Emily jumped in the middle - a pick up game of MITM was born). Anyway, Toby threw a pass to me and it hit the end of my finger just right...Instant pain. I stomped my foot, said a few choice words, then went to see my Mom since no one at my house was giving me any sympathy. (Rather hard to do since they were laughing at me).


Mom and I made a trip to the ER since at this point my finger was rapidly swelling and was bent at a rather interesting angle. Three x-rays and an hour later, the ER doc tells me it's not broken, it's not dislocated, it's merely jammed. I asked him "you sure?" He said "yep." Since he has the fancy medical degree, I didn't question him. Instead I went home clutching my Vicodin and ice pack and went to bed.

The next morning my finger was a lovely shade of purple and it was still quite swollen. I went to work and iced if off and on during the day and kept trying not to bump it since doing so caused near pants-wetting pain. At 4:30 my doctor's office called. With news. "The radiologist read your x-rays and your finger is broken." It took a lot of self-control to not drive to the ER and kick the doc in the knee. Went to my doctor's office and was placed in a beautiful silver splint wrapped with gauze. I get this wonder for two weeks.


Here's a picture of my finger. Day 4. Most of the swelling is gone but I still have a lovely bend to it. In this picture I am attempting to hold my finger straight. Didn't work out so well...

Pop-Up Camper Directions

Cotton Yarn - Solid Color (Peaches & Cream or Sugar 'n Cream or similar)

Size 7 needles or smaller

*I used a size 7 and my finished cloth is 10" x 10".

Cast on 51
Row 1 - knit across
Row 2 - knit across
Row 3 - knit across
Row 4 - knit across
Row 5 - k3, p45, k3
Row 6 - knit across
Row 7 - k3, p45, k3
Row 8 - knit across
Row 9 - k3, p45, k3
Row 10 - knit across
Row 11 - k3, p19, k2, p24, k3
Row 12 - knit across
Row 13 - k3, p18, k1, p2, k1, p13, k1, p9, k3
Row 14 - knit across
Row 15 - k3, p17, k1, p4, k1, p12, k1, p9, k3
Row 16 - knit across
Row 17 - k3, p17, k1, p4, k1, p12, k1, p9, k3
Row 18 - knit across
Row 19 - k3, p18, k1, p2, k1, p13, k1, p9, k3
Row 20 - knit across
Row 21 - k3, p15, k23, p7, k3
Row 22 - knit across
Row 23 - k3, p15, k1, p6, k1, p4, k1, p1, k1, p2, k4, p9, k3
Row 24 - knit across
Row 25 - k3, p15, k1, p6, k1, p4, k1, p1, k1, p2, k4, p9, k3
Row 26 - knit across
Row 27 - k3, p15, k1, p6, k1, p4, k1, p1, k1, p2, k4, p9, k3
Row 28 - knit across
Row 29 - k3, p15, k1, p6, k1, p4, k1, p1, k1, p3, k2, p10, k3
Row 30 - knit across
Row 31 - k3, p15, k1, p6, k1, p4, k1, p1, k1, p15, k3
Row 32 - knit across
Row 33 - k3, p5, k11, p6, k1, p4, k1, p1, k11, p5, k3
Row 34 - knit across
Row 35 - k3, p5, k1, p16, k1, p4, k1, p11, k1, p5, k3
Row 36 - knit across
Row 37 - k3, p5, k1, p1, k7, p1, k6, p1, k1, p4, k1, p3, k7, p1, k1, p5, k3
Row 38 - knit across
Row 39 - k3, p5, k1, p1, k1, p5, k1, p1, k1, p4, k1, p1, k6, p3, k1, p5, k1, p1, k1, p5, k3
Row 40 - knit across
Row 41 - k3, p5, k1, p1, k1, p5, k1, p1, k1, p4, k1, p1, k1, p4, k1, p3, k1, p5, k1, p1, k1, p5, k3
Row 42 - knit across
Row 43 - k3, p5, k1, p1, k1, p5, k1, p1, k1, p4, k1, p1, k1, p4, k1, p3, k1, p5, k1, p1, k1, p5, k3
Row 44 - knit across
Row 45 - k3, p5, k1, p1, k1, p5, k1, p1, k1, p4, k1, p1, k1, p4, k1, p3, k1, p5, k1, p1, k1, p5, k3
Row 46 - knit across
Row 47 - k3, p5, k1, p1, k2, p4, k1, p1, k1, p4, k1, p1, k1, p4, k1, p3, k1, p4, k2, p1, k1, p5, k3
Row 48 - knit across
Row 49 - k3, p5, k1, p3, k2, p2, k1, p1, k1, p4, k1, p1, k1, p4, k1, p3, k1, p2, k2, p3, k1, p5, k3
Row 50 - knit across
Row 51 - k3, p5, k3, p3, k3, p1, k1, p4, k1, p1, k1, p4, k1, p3, k3, p3, k3, p5, k3
Row 52 - knit across
Row 53 - k3, p8, k2, p3, k1, p1, k6, p1, k6, p3, k1, p3, k2, p8, k3
Row 54 - knit across
Row 55 - k3, p10, k2, p21, k2, p10, k3
Row 56 - knit across
Row 57 - k3, p12, k2, p17, k2, p12, k3
Row 58 - knit across
Row 59 - k3, p14, k2, p13, k2, p14, k3
Row 60 - knit across
Row 61 - k3, p15, k15, p15, k3
Row 62 - knit across
Row 63 - k3, p45, k3
Row 64 - knit across
Row 65 - k3, p45, k3
Row 66 - knit across
Row 67 - k3, p45, k3
Row 68 - knit across
Row 69 - knit across
Row 70 - knit across
Row 71 - knit across

Bind off. Weave in loose ends.

If you find any errors, please let me know.

©August 2008, Shannon Bachtell, All Rights Reserved

Pattern is designed and copyrighted by me. If you want to make these cloths and sell them, that's fine...just please do not sell my pattern or claim it as your own. Thanks! :)

Elvis KAL

I am trying to catch up with the Mid-Month KAL for the Rachel's Knitting Room group. It was a cast-on of 66 stitches! For some reason I am having a terrible brain freeze on the seed stitch. I think I have it all worked out now though. I talked myself in and out of things last night and finally said to heck with it and went to bed! Funny how you can do something so many times without problems then all of a sudden hit a snag. Sad part is the snag is 95% mental! No more staying up late to watch Olympics while knitting. Overload!

Mailed 3 cloths and a tribble to my best friend today. She told me she loves the cotton dishcloths and I was more than happy to share! She called tonight though and wondered about the tribble. She said she told her husband "it's either a scrubber or a hot pad." :) Been experimenting with knitting tulle along with the yarn but I think my tulle is too fine. Doesn't seem super scratchy anyway.

In other news, the kids are back in school! I have an 8th grader and a 4th grader this year. Funny they are both at the top of their respective groups. The 8th graders (Emily's class) are the head of the Middle School and the 4th graders (Hunter's class) are the big dogs in the Elementary. Hunter had homework already tonight and seemed to think it was a bit unjust. I'm just glad they are back in school! Maybe my house will stay a bit cleaner now. :)

All Caught Up AND My Own Creation!

I finally finally finally got all caught up with my Monthly KAL's! Just in time too because the next one starts tomorrow. :) I thought this one was fun - it was neat how the design was built from the top down. Unfortunately, I saw the finished project before I started mine, so I knew what it was going to be (I HATE that!); otherwise, I'm sure I would have been guessing the entire time!

And here is my very first design! The drawback - this is a BIG cloth! I'm quite proud of it though. I'm working on getting the directions typed up and will post them as soon as I'm done. I can only type up so many lines at a time or I start making mistakes. My family and I love to camp and we have a pop-up. I looked around and couldn't find a cloth so I decided to make one. Aunt Kathy did a wonderful tutorial on designing cloths so a lot of the credit goes to her.

And finally - here's a couple of pictures of the new puppy. The first one is Hunter and Jake. The second one is Cooper and Jake. Cooper continues to adjust to the new puppy and is actually doing much better. He seems to enjoy having someone to play with. :)

Finally!

I FINALLY got around to taking pictures of my cloths. I have one more to go (July) and I'll be all caught up with my KAL's. Between vacation, work, swim meets, and ball games the summer has absolutely FLOWN by!

June

June Mid-Month

July Mid-Month

August

In other news, we have a new addition to our family...a 7 week old black lab we have named Jake. It's much like having a toddler in the house - potty accidents, getting into everything, waking us up at night and so on! We are slowly adjusting. Our 2 year old chocolate lab still doesn't quite know what to think. It's usually a mixture of indifference and disgust with a few affectionate moments thrown in.

So much updating!

Took a peek at my blog this morning and realized it's been a MONTH since I last posted! How crazy is that? I have completed several cloths that I need to take pictures of and have a few other projects going. Been busy with vacation, swim meets, baseball games and work.

Pay It Forward

Here's a chance to receive a gift in the mail. In turn, you are being asked to something nice for someone else.

Here's how it works:

• Leave a comment here with your email address and blog address.
• Make a post on your blog offering your own pay it forward.
• Receive a gift from me within the next 6 months. (after I've confirmed your post)

This is a very simple way to spread some happiness and kindness to others.

Limited to the first 3 replies.

Two more to do...

With MUCH happiness I received two new patterns from Marilyn. She does the most amazing name cloths I have ever seen. And she will personalize if she doesn't have what you are looking for. I was tickled to get my "Toby" and "Hunter" patterns. Now everyone in my family will have their own name cloth. :) (And Hunter was absolutely THRILLED to have something with his name on it!)

If you aren't familiar with Marilyn's work, I urge you to check it out. You won't be disappointed!

Muddy Mud Mud

This post is somewhat of a follow up to yesterday's prayer request. The headline in the paper this morning is that the tornadoes that ripped through here over the weekend were classified as an F-5. I remember watching the movie Twister and someone asked what an F-5 was like and they answered "the finger of God." I think that is a very apt description. I look at picture after picture of the damage and it's completely devastating. There were a total of 7 deaths and 350 homes were lost in the town that was hit the hardest (with another 100 homes receiving "extensive" damage). In the town I work in, 240 of 280 homes received damage of some sort.

Closer to home, went in to work yesterday to discover our warehouse had flooded. From the watermarks on the door it looks like we got between 2 and 3 foot of water inside. A lot of our stuff is palletized but of course pallets only sit 6-8" high. Most of it floated around inside until the water receded then landed. My co-worker and I spent all day yeseterday cleaning. We basically had to open each case of toys, inspect them, remove the damaged cardboard, relabel the foam enclosures, then sort them into clean and dirty piles. Then they got hauled to a storage facility. It was VERY slow going. (Total side note - I am AMAZED at how well those styrofoam enclosures kept out the mud and water!)

Another co-worker, and a good friend, lost everything in her basement...deep freezer, washer, dryer, furnace, water heater, personal items, etc. Even her car in her garage is totaled. And of course, very few people have flood insurance. Ironically, this particular area was just rezoned as a flood zone last week thereby making people even eligible to get flood insurance. (Another side note - THANK the Red Cross. They are an amazing group of people!)

Here's a few pictures of our clean-up efforts at work:

Mud and my co-worker standing in it.

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One corner of the warehouse. This was where we started.

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Storage shelves. You can see the mud caked on the shelving.
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Going towards the back room. The boxes along the side are pedal tractors.
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Pile of trash from inside. Mostly cardboard boxes.

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More of the trash pile.

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And a few more links:

F-5 Status

Photos

Today's Headline Article

Prayer Request

We had some terrible storms go through our area last night. We were very fortunate in that we had no damage, however many people in our area were not so lucky. Our school is closed tomorrow because there are so many families that have storm damage.

Please keep these people in your thoughts and prayers!


Articles relating to the storms:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/weather/05/26/severe.weather/index.html

http://www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080526/NEWS/792288293/1001/NEWS

http://www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080525/NEWS/326681311/0/DEATHNOTICES