Not Another Knitwit

Michigan has not been the picturesque white wonderland that I remember from my childhood the last couple of years. So this year in protest I didn't go with the "traditional" Christmas tree. I got it at The Rocket in downtown Ypsilanti. I just took my tree down yesterday but I had to post because it was just too cute :) Had to put it up high this year though because Miss Edie thought it was shiny and reallly wanted to play with it. I'll go through a whole re-cap of the christmas fun, but it's off to work for me. Have a great week!

My Great-aunt Gail was deeply loved and will be greatly missed.

Gail E. Mader, age 73 of Gresham, passed away Saturday, January 5, 2008 at her home surrounded by loved ones. Born on December 17, 1934 in Gresham, she was the daughter of the late Edward and Tess (Mouty) Mader. After graduating from the Gresham High School, Gail went on to graduate from the Marquette College of Nursing. Her long nursing career consisted of In-Service Director of the Intensive Care Unit at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Marshfield, Instructor of Nursing at MATC in Milwaukee, Menominee Clinic in Keshena, and as the Director of Nursing at Birch Hill Nursing Home in Shawano for 20 years until retiring in 2001. Gail was a member of the St. Francis Solanus Catholic Church in Gresham and the Gresham Advancement Association. She enjoyed fishing, hunting, gardening, and spending time at her cottage on Beauleau Lake.

Gail is survived by: 1 sister, Carol (Fredrick) Warnecke of Berlin; 2 brothers, James (Letitia) Mader of West Bend, Mark (Barbara) Mader of Gresham; 14 nieces and nephews; and numerous great nieces and great nephews. She is further survived by: special friends, Dolores Quast, Sister Mary Lu Slowey, and Ginny and Richard Kirschling.

Gail was preceded in death by: her parents; sister, Joan (Donald) Bowe; niece, Jill Koch; and great nephew, Mercer Bedwell.

A Memorial Service will be held at 11:00am on Saturday, January 12, 2008 at the St. Francis Solanus Catholic Church in Gresham with the Rev. David Barrett officiating. Burial will be in the church cemetery in the spring. Family and friends may call at the church on Saturday after 10:00am until the time of the service. Swedberg Funeral Home is assisting the family with the arrangements. Memorial funds have been established for the St. Anthony’s Emergency Fund & Food Pantry and the Gresham Dollars for Scholars.

I got my first date night in a while tonight. I went and saw Malinky at The Ark in Ann Arbor. It was a really, really good show and I'm so glad that we got tickets. There were not as many people there as I thought there were going to be, which is both good and bad. It was good because we got really great seats and we got to chat for a bit with the band during the break without feeling like we were hogging all of their time. But it kind of sucked because I though that they were going to get a much bigger turnout than they did. All things considered though it was a great show, and it is their first tour in the States so I think that when they come back to the area the turnout will be much bigger. I already had all three of the band's albums so I got the solo album put out by Steve Byrne, one of the founding members of Malinky. I also got one of their bumper stickers that I had the whole band sign (because I wasn't about to buy a repeat CD just so that I could have them sign it). All in all it was a really good night!

In the land of knitting I got a fair bit done in the car to and from Wisconsin this past weekend. I finished the Palindrome scarf for my cousin's Christmas present. I am so glad that I am done with this freaking scarf. The pattern is really great and I'm going to use it again, but I made the mistake of using black yarn. It took so much concentration to make sure that I wasn't losing stitches that it was just a headache to knit. But I finally finished it and my cousin absolutely loved it. She's going to school at De Paul University in Chicago and so she needs all the warm knitted things she can get. After I recover from the scarf I'm going to knit her the matching hat, but she might not get that in time for this year's cold weather.

I also made some progress on a pair of socks for myself. It's a straight stockinette pair of socks made with Blue Moon STR medium weight in Scottish Highlands. Cast on 64 sts, 2x2 ribbed cuff, short leg heel flap & gusset. This is the first time I've used STR and I'm totally a convert. Next year for my birthday I'm going to to be hard pressed to choose between a Sock Club membership and paying for my car insurance.

This week has been a return to a semi normal schedule. I was still working a little bit more than I really would have preferred but I am not really complaining because in today’s job market I am truly fortunate to have two jobs while there are those out there would be overjoyed with one. There may be an upcoming change on the job front but I’m not going to go into that right now (don’t want to jinx anything!).

I finished the first Highland sock the other night watching Project Runway. I don't think I'm going to get too stuck with second sock syndrome on these, because I love the STR that much. I've already cast on the second sock and I just started the heel flap. I don't have my camera with me but as soon as I can I will get pictures of the progress. I also had total startitis the other night. I cast on for Knitty's Eiffel with "Hemp Wool" that was in the stash. The pattern calls for 100% hemp but this is a 50/50 blend. I don't know who makes it because it isn't really well marked and I got it off of ebay. But it is a really pretty sage green color and I think this will make a really nice early summer tunic with a little cami under it. I'm about 4 inches in already as it is a really easy lace pattern. This will be my first sweater completely in the round which excites me because finishing is definitely not one of my fav things in the world. So between these two projects I'm pretty much being faithful right now. The kilt socks for DW are still in the queue because I have yet to procure yarn for them yet. I just got my Christmas present from my Grandma the other night and it was a gift certificate to Knitpicks.com so I'll be getting that yarn in the not too distant future.

Well, gotta go, my phone is ringing and I'm off to do stuff with people.