HAPPY KNITTIN' NEW YEAR!

Here's hoping each and everyone of you have a very happy & blessed 2008!!

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE forgive me for being neglectful of all of you, my many, many online friends. I have been so blessed by God to have made so many friends and yet, I have neglected you...my deepest & sincere apologies! I'm afraid life has gotten in the way of my blogging and, most importantly, keeping up with your blogs! So, one of my 2008 resolutions is to try my best to see you more often! I shall work on developing a working schedule so that I can pop in and say hello, etc. at least once a week...so, please remind me of this when I do the unthinkable, allow "life" to get in the way of your all important friendships!

I'm terribly sorry to have been away for so long. My goodness, many happenings, I was sick, sick, sick during a great deal of Dec., thought I would be hospitalized, but our hospitals were full because we had the "I'm Going To Make You Wish You Were Dead!" bug running rampant through the city and it beat me silly! But, PRAISE GOD, I got better & we had a marvelous Christmas, then went on our annual Christmas vacation...for those of you who don't know, Lonnie and I don't exchange gifts on Christmas, rather our gift to one another is a vacation and then we get what we want....and, OH BOY, you are gonna SO LOVE what I got!

LOL, you think it has something to do with knitting, don't ya?! Not even close! A GORGEOUS, original, new tattoo of a beautiful Chinese cherry blossom branch (pink blossoms) on my upper back, left shoulder and a bit on the neck....I'm afraid I don't have photos yet, she's still healing, I'll post later this week, I hope! I could have done this in town by the AMAZING Kim Reed, but when I decided that was what I wanted it was 2 days before Christmas and we didn't have time...she'll do my Valentine's Day tat....fyi, she does all original art, no duplications! Anyway, I reseached artists in Orlando/Kissimmee area and found the one and only Zachary Sparrows of Scratch the Surface in Orlando. He is amazing, I told him what I wanted, he sketched it and Lonnie dropped me off while he went to check in @ the hotel because the sketch (and his work) was so amazing! Next time I'm in Orlando, I'll be seeing him again!!

Okay, among the other happenings going on ..like one of the usual - with my bones (ha ha-NOT!) I found out yesterday that I have carpal tunnel syndrome (so knew I did, had to have the diagnosis, though!) and something wrong with both elbows. Got shots of cortisone (big OUCH) in all 4 places yesterday and typing is a tad painful...anyway, doc said I need surgery, but is concerned with my walking (lol, I know, sounds funny, can't walk because of surgery on one's hand, LOL!) with walker or crutches. I tried to explain how it can be done (I am a pro on crutches after 20+ years!) but he wants to try therapy 1st, then discuss the surgery. The PA was amazed that he wanted to go that route instead of scheduling surgery on the left right away, but I'm just praying he knows best and that therapy fixes the elbows, anyway! In the meantime, the steroids should take effect (affect? I forget) in the next day or 2 & help relieve the pain, because the shots have considerabley increased it, especially in the elbows where I had none! OH, and braces to wear @ night and I can still knit, yay! Well, let's say I can in a day or 2, still much too painful to do so at the moment.

That aside, hope to have a new sock pattern soon, one for girls this time! And I've done the hat & gauntlets that go with the #15 Lace Wrap from winter Vogue last year (or perhaps the year before)...anyway, pics are coming soon. AND finally finished my A Touch of Whimsy Scarf, too! No pics there, either....Sorry, I'm falling down on all jobs, it seems! Oh, the gauntlets are not derived from the wrap as the hat is, rather, it's the very cool & easy pair from a Knitty Gritty show, as seen here...a very fun knit & warm, too. LOL, when we got to FL it was in the 70s, as we were leaving town it was in the 30s so I packed for warm and cold weather...never know when it can turn on you, LOL!

I have to tell ya'll that I have a couple of surprises coming about this year, but that's all that I can say....tease a bit, but I think them to be quite cool....and these are other than the new tats, too. FYI, for those of you who don't have ink, it's like the chip commercial says (or said back in the day) you can't have just one! This was #7 for me, I had thought it was 8, but I was mistaken....I must have been thinking about the Valentine's Day tat, the one that I've decided I get for VDay and as a treat because of the carpal tunnel mess...LOL, glad I didn't go with having one on the underside of my wrist .... just in case surgery is in the future, LOL!

Ahhh, forgot to mention, Cherry Blossom Tat has put me in the knitting cherry blossoms frame of mind....I'm thinking, hmmm....socks, perhaps?! But, since I am ... finally... pretty close to my lovely monogamous knitting - A Touch of Whimsy Socks OTN & on standby with only a pair of socks for my daughter's friend OTN & almost done now, but, I'm afraid I have 2 projects that must be completed before the Whimsy socks, BUT, they will be done one at a time as it should be!!!

I'll have pics of my FOs next post, so sorry!

My apologies for my fellow knitters who sent me photos for the Knitters Gallery while I was on vacation and recently, my ISP is upgrading & I must learn how to drive the new photo gallery, I think that it will look divine when it's done, too! And, as always, thank you so much for sending your photos of your Whimsical Knitting Designs, I'm so very, very honored, excited, and happy when a fellow knitter enjoys one of my designs....THANKS TO ALL OF YOU. The photos galleries should be corrected this week, too....I so hope!

To all of you....

God Bless

and

HAPPY 2008