Well it only took me what 2 1/2 years to get back in here wow.
My apologies no real excuses a lot of things have happened in my life wonderful things a few setbacks on some other things but all in all I think I’m OK right now.   Not doing a lot of Machine Knitting right now due to sit a few extra health things that have happened to me.

     BUT  i’m not going to let anything get me down!!  There is a light at the end of the tunnel somewhere ha ha ..😊. Should be back in tiptop form right around the first of the year maybe the second month but I’m hoping for the first month of January 2020.

~Marge~

Had more gastric problems a couple of weeks ago, was in the hospital (Banner Churchill in Fallon, NV) for 3 1/2 days, the main symptoms have settled down, but now I have to make an appointment with an Gastroenterologist.  Ugh.  Now to search through the Prominence Insurance provider list.  

Did get a wee bit of test knitting done on the Brother 390 bulky, really like the interaction of fine silks with the bulky chenille yarn.  Using the fine silk in the 390 carriage for one row, take it off and put it on the far right end of the bed behind the 400 carruage,  then the chenille in the 400 carriage for 4 rows of odd and end tuck.  Will have to do up a larger sample to see if it retains what I liked in the 30 stitches I originally cast on.  We'll see.  Having to have an awful lot of bed rest.  So it may be a few days/weeks before I get enough knit up to show.

Marge

Had the two surgical procedures on the 20th, got the results by the end of the week.  They're FAST at Banner Health Hospital in Fallon, NV!!  And a nicer, caring staff would be hard to find.  

Results?  Colonoscopy -- No diverticula, no colitis.  Did find a polyp in the colon, removed it and it came back non-cancerous.  WOO HOO !!!  

The EBD (?) camera down the gullet thing.  I have some ulcer issues -- no bleeding, Praise the Lord!!  Nothing too drastic that medication & diet can't help repair.  

All in all, DANGED LUCKY!!  Doing multi-happy dances.  Mentally, that is. LOL.  Takes up to 2 weeks to totally recover and that's just about up ... on Monday the 3rd.  

Keep on knittin' ...

Marge

Oh joy, I get to have a Colonoscopy and an Endoscopy  one right after the other.  Next Monday, the 20th.  Wish me well, eh?

Will try to get to some knitting in the next day or two.  Have a couple items knit that need sewing up.

Bye for this visit ...  Keep on knittin'

Marge

I have high hopes that the two doctors I get to see on Wednesday, will tell me something good.  The diet is extremely boring.  But I've stuck to it like glue.  I don't want to go through what sent me to the ER in the first place.  Lovely, kind doctors and nurses and technicians at Banner Hospital in Fallon, NV.  

Now on to other things ... like knitting.  I've been going over a lot of Roberta Rose Kelley's videos and Susan Guagliumi's videos.  I've got a great grand daughter turning 1 in April and I need to get some things knit and off in the mail.  Pretty darned soon!  LOL.  

So.  I've adjusted the patterns on some of the booties to be for a toddler ... she's already walking!  A bit shaky but walking.  And, I've got the yarn wound off the skeins for 3 sleeveless pullover vests in various yarn weights (#2, #3 & #4).  

Maybe more than 3, they do go so quickly. Picot hems & crochet around the armholes and neckline.  The 18mo ones are in pieces/parts right now.  She was an 8lb 15oz baby!!   Still having some vision problems, will try to work on sewing one or two up in the next day or so. 
Keep on knittin' !!

Marge

Well, the results are in.  I have Diverticulitis.  Isn't that a mouthfull to say. 😐  But it's treatable with plenty of rest and LOTS of pills.  BIG pills. LOL.

Did manage to work for a few minutes on the Brother KX390 knitter with both the 390 and 400 carriages.  Tried some chenille yarns and some knitweave.  Not particularly thrilled at the outcome.  It's a very lightweight fabric and soft but I had the wrong color combinations and yarn weights.  

One was an 800 YPP in Balsam Green, another was Placid Blue 1195 YPP.  They knit beautifully.  It was the secondary  weights / colors that just didn't work.   One was Tawny Oak at 2100 YPP another was a red-ish at about the same YPP.  They were too thin for the bulky mode to really show up much when doing EOR knitweave.  Perhaps SLIP / SKIP would have been better on every row.  Or tuck ... love doing tuck!!

Ah well, will try some different things next time I can sit at the machine for any length of time.

Keep on knittin' ...

Marge

 

Hi everyone.  I've been bedridden the past 4 days, but should be up and about soon.  Anxious to get back knitting!!!


Marge

So devastated about the Oroville Dam (Butte County, Oroville, California) and the flooding.  The Butte County Sheriff issued a mandatory evacuation and he was right to have done that.  He cares so much about that community. 

It's affected not only Butte County, but all the cities, towns, farms to the south.  For a LONG way.  Marysville is under evacuation orders as is Gridley and so many more.  It wil impact even to Sacramento and beyond.  

Have been watching all the news shows.  Have heard back from family and friends that they are either living on high ground above the flood plain or have evacuated safely.  Whew!!  Thank the good Lord that all who evacuate are safe tonight.  The crisis, so they say, should be over by tomorrow afternoon.  I have high hopes.  They plan to drop rocks into the areas of erosion.  They need to do something ... more rain coming Wednesday. 

I used to live in Oroville, was married there.  I have lots of fond memories of the area. Pray, my friends, for all those affected by this disaster.

Marge

Here are a couple more wash/dish cloths.

The first one is done on the 390 with the 400 carriage, using the Plating feature.  You'll see that there seem to be two plain rows of the baby cotton white ... not too sure where the medium pink Ticaro flake went to on those rows but it showed up a couple of rows later.  Go figure!  :-)

The second is from a new cone I unearthed last night, Peaches & Creme Ocean Stripes.  Nice and thick, love the color blending.  I'll see how many I can get out of this one cone.  I think they're about $7 or $8 now at WalMart stores.  I remember $6 ones.  Ah, the good old days.  Maybe.

I used to get about 10-12 out of a cone, but that was hand crocheted, the 32 chain ones with a "G" or "H" hook.  But this pattern from Roberta Rose Kelley's video on YouTube.com, is soooo much easier and quicker.  As she says in the video, "it's not square-square nor a rectangle"
.  I think it's more of a diamond shape.  At least mine are.

A BIG THANK YOU,  Roberta Rose Kelley for all the informative videos you provide.  And your website, http://www.hobbyknitter.com is a wealth of information for anything machine knit.  She has numerous brands of machines!!

Keep on knittin' ...
Marge
Visit me at:  http://www.mkdesigner.com

Besides playing with two carriages on my 390 knitting machine, I've been doing a lot of household type chores.  Knitting dishcloths.  Was doing some mending and realized that several of the dish cloths were stained.  Can't put those out again!  So they went to the car/garage/workshop rag bag.  Here's a few that I've made. 100% cotton in a cream color.  Need to get some more Sugar & Creme on cones next time I'm at WalMart. But hopefully they'll have some darker or maybe variegated colors.  That would be nice.

I got very bored knitting dish cloths with white, cream, beige, etc. So decided that since I had a lot of a thinner baby weight cotton white yarn, I would add another color. Didn't work well with the thicker white or cream yarn. So I dug out several balls of left-over Ticaro Flake cotton 8/2. This one is Coral. I have LOTS of Ticaro. Might try plating with 2 strands of Ticaro along with the baby white. Knitting went very easily. No real problems. Except when I sneezed just as I was transferring stitches. Sigh.  Amazing how quickly it laddered down.

I have about a dozen 3-4 ounce balls of Rayon and Acrylic chenille's at the machine right now.  I'm hoping to do some 2-carriage knitting with them today.  Masts on these plastic bed machines all seem to be a bit 'short' and not sure yet how the coned chenille would do.  They're kinda tall.  So testing with the balls first. 

Stay happy, folks and keep on knittin' !!
Marge

More experiments with double carriages on the Brother 390 Convertible.  I'm using the original 390 carriage and also the 400 carriage.  Here is the one I did last week.  I've got Red Heart worsted weight in both carriages.  Green is in the 400, Gold in the 390.  Top one is knit side, bottom one is purl side.  I really liked the gold with the mock seed stitch.  Carriage set to knit both ways -- pull out EON to "E", knit across, now pull out the opposite needles to "E" and knit.  Repeat.  And if you have the 1x1 needle  pusher for your machine, it goes very quickly.
Enjoy!
Marge

Finally, folks .... I think I'm getting my act together.  After lots of medical issues, a move 2 1/2 years and lots of adjustments to my life, I'm ready to get back into blogging!  About knitting, of course.

I have a "new-to-me" technique I'm trying out. Dual carriages knitting. My Brother 390, which I use in 9mm mode, has two carriages. The 390 that came with the machine and also the 400 carriage which I have used since I got the machine. It has Intarsia and plating, my two fav things.

Alas, the 390 carriage wasn't functioning for many years. I don't even rember if I ever used the 390 carriage, since the 400 came at the same time. The Carriage Release lever didn't have any 'spring' to it, so it wouldn't get onto the bed. And there was also one lever on the left side that didn't 'click' into place.

they say 'where there's a will, there's a way'. And if there's a Wade Parker around (my son) there's a fix in the future. So he took both apart and found both problems ... and he fix 'em. That's my boy!!!

Thoroughly enjoying myself. Stripes are super easy and quick to do with two carriages. This took literally a very few minutes.

I have a huge amount of odd and end yarns on partial cones and in balls. Another nice thing about the 390 ... it has 4.5mm as well as the 9mm. I see lots of scarves in the future.  More examples soon.

Marge

DOUBLE COUPONS

A Short Story by Margaret S Parker
Copyright © 1997, All Rights Reserved.


"When will you stop naggin' at me, fer cryin' out loud!"


"Hubert, I just don't think we should be doing this," Emma Cavendish frowned at her husband of fifty-three years.


"Why not? You're being a silly old woman," he muttered under his breath as they stood in line. The grocery store was crowded, as usual. First of the month and double coupon day.
Emma glanced around seeing several of her friends from the Senior Citizen's Center. Emma would be embarrassed right down to the roots of her blue-tinted white hair if caught.


Hubert and his gang, as he called them, wheeled four over-flowing carts further into the queue. The checker glanced up and audibly groaned, immediately calling for two box-boys. Shutting her eyes for a brief moment which looked suspiciously like a heavenly plea for deliverance, she let her fingers start flying over the keys.


They specifically chose this old fashioned store because it didn't have automatic scanning machines and they always got into Clara's line moments prior to her shift ending. Clara didn't pay close attention when she was tired.


The other seven in the gang scurried through the line ready to start pushing carts out once they were filled. In case Clara wanted to check an item before entering the coupon's discount into the register. Hubert and Emma remained at the pay counter with the stack of coupons clutched in Hubert's fist.


"Hubert, I really don't want to be here." Emma hated being dragged along on these trips. None of the other wives had to come. Hubert insisted it was her wispy, little-old-lady look that made them a success.


"You look addle-brained and innocent. And when you say stupid stuff like that, you are," he hissed through his loose, clacking dentures. Hubert often said unkind words.


Perhaps Hubert was right. It had been her fault this whole thing had started in the first place. If she hadn't been so careless, she would have noticed. She didn't mean to give the clerk all of the coupons in her wallet, only the ones on the things she'd purchased. Hubert had entered the receipts in his little account book and when he saw the error by the store and the reason Emma gave him, he had smiled.


Emma's years with Hubert made her distrust that smile.


The rest of the gang met Hubert and Emma as they pulled into the driveway at their home twenty minutes later. The women were already in the house.


Emma didn't like them casually making themselves at home in her house. She wondered if the women snooped while they were away at the store. They knew way too much about what she owned. Emma hadn't known any of these people in the gang prior to her mistake at the grocery store all those months ago. They were drinking and gambling buddies of Hubert's.


Emma's dresser drawers were always a little mussed after the `girls' had been there alone. Come to think of it, Emma thought, there were a couple of pieces of jewelry missing. She was positive the pearl earrings now hanging from Gracie's ears were the ones Hubert insisted Emma had lost months ago and claimed on the insurance.


The gang never gave Emma credit for a mind. Not a one of them. They always tut-tutted or smiled as if she wasn't all there. Emma was much more all there than they suspected. She couldn't help the speech impediment from the stroke. Her vocal chords failed her at the worst times.

---

Emma glanced at the calendar. Three more days and they'd be going through the same old procedure. She wrung her hands wishing she could stop this thievery. The gang had just left and Hubert was busy making up the shopping list, matching similar brand coupons.


Gracious, Emma thought, that was more than usual. When she had the temerity to question the enormous stack, Hubert told her about an article in the paper saying Copper's Grocery was putting in new scanning machines in four months. They had to make big killings until they could locate another store and another overworked clerk. Hubert and his pals weren't going to give up their gambling money without a fight. Emma just shook her head and mumbled that she was going to bed early. Hubert ignored her.


Emma lay awake for hours, listening to Hubert's hideous snoring echo off the walls of their bedroom. An idea began to develop in her mind as she recalled another article in the paper that Hubert hadn't bothered with. When she was finally able to drop off to sleep, she was smiling.


It took dropping into her sweet little-old-lady-who's-had-a-stroke act, but Emma managed to get hold of the necessary items. The main ones she had kept hidden in trunks since the thirties; a small legacy from an uncle who'd spent most of his declining years in the federal penitentiary.


The only thing that worried her was Hubert finding the little shop she had set up in the upper room of the garage before she could put her plan into action. Carefully placed items with the gang's fingerprints were all over the cramped little room. Emma surveyed her handiwork, closing the door to the little room, reminding herself to put the only key back in Hubert's pocket. She buried the latex gloves in the bottom of the giant geranium tub. That TV show had mentioned being able to lift prints from the insides of gloves. Time enough later to destroy them. As she got ready for bed that evening, she felt the tensions ease out of her body. For the first time in months -- no, she sleepily smiled, for the first time in years she could sleep peacefully.

---

Emma was released into the custody of her niece, Gloria. The federal agents were positive Emma didn't have anything to do with the counterfeiting ring. She'd put up a good front and had babbled about her childhood and imaginary things until she thought the agents were going to go crazy. Emma felt a twinge of guilt at the deception. Only a small one, though.
Hubert knew she was faking, and had cursed her fiercely as he, along with his friends were being led off in handcuffs. The agents patted her sympathetically on the shoulder and sent her home with Gloria.


She'd been careful not to put more than one bill in Hubert's wallet each month, until this last trip when all the money had been counterfeit. Emma hadn't run the old style press since working in her uncle's printing shop, long before she married Hubert. But it had all come back to her. Thank goodness Hubert never knew about her uncle's notoriety.


Nor did her uncle ever find out Emma was the one who had turned him in -- she'd only meant to keep the prototype set of plates as a souvenir.

What We're Up To ...

My youngest grandson, Jon (Eric & Susan's son) turned 12 earlier this week.  Sigh.  He's growing up sooo much and way too quickly! I miss the little boy who would cuddle.  Jon is my youngest grandchild.  Adore that boy!! 

Granddaughter, Arrie (Wade's daughter), is doing so very well in school this year.  She's been doing some lovely miniature pottery animals and is so very talented.  Proud of her. I'll have to put up pictures of some of her 'creatures' one of these days.  She is so very, very talented!

Grandson, Jedediah (Eric & Susan's oldest boy) will soon be installed as Master Councilor in the Order Of DeMolay.  Jed has really risen through the ranks of DeMolay quickly and loves the organization.

My husband, Jerry, went through DeMolay and thoroughly enjoyed it. I gave all of Jerry's service bars, books and such to Jedediah when he started in DeMolay.  They don't do service bars, these days.  Jerry had over 30, I think.  HUGE amount of them.  The organization is a great way for boys to have friends with similar beliefs and they are ready to support their DeMolay brothers at all times.  They're all great friends.

Me?  I'm designing several new knit items for Spring. Been spending a great deal of time at the knitting machines, working all the kinks out of several patterns.  Once I get some prototypes done up, I'll post pictures.

Best to all, especially those in the storm-laden midwest and east!    Check in and let me know how you're all doing, okay?

Love & {{HUGS}},
Marge

Family -- Nothing Like It During The Holidays!

What a LOVELY time we had today!!  My oldest son, Eric, his wife Susan and their two sons, Jedediah and Jonathon came over from Sacramento today.  We had such a wonderful time and a great deal of fun, laughter and fabulous food.  My grand daughter, Arrie, roasted two chickens, Patti (Wade's girlfriend) made a fabulous macaroni salad with a dill dressing.  My son Wade (Arrie's dad) and Patti made up batches of fudge, both dark chocolate and milk chocolate.  Talk about a feast!!

I'm proud of all my kids, but I want to tell you about Eric.  He is an amputee and has started a support group for discussing problems amputees face.  I am so very proud of Eric and his adjustment to being an amputee.  He's marvelously grounded, and always has a smile and laughter.  And emotional support for anyone. He doesn't provide any sort of financial support to fellow amputees nor their families.  BUT, he does have a wealth of resources and is always glad to share .  His page can be seen on Facebook at:

http://www.facebook.com/amputeesupportgroup

Please visit his FB page, like it and share with all your followers?

Love to you all this Holiday Season!

Marge
Visit My Zibbet Shop for Handmades, Supplies and Vintage  

ACEO's I'm Collecting Again!

Found some great ACEO's on Zibbet and they talked to me ... so of course, I had to buy them.  :) I think the ACEO's are more of a sideline for her.  Love those little 2.5" x 3.5" works of art!   I can hardly wait until they arrive.  I've got plenty of space in my ACEO frames for them.

      
Her shop is called:  Clarify Wearable Textile Art  and has some stunning fashions for all sorts of sizes. :)   Her work is fabulous, her fashions are REALLY in the realm of top Fashionista!!   The decorative stitching is fabulous.  

Off to hunt for more!
Marge ~ who is taking a couple days off from knitting.

I-CORD FUN by Marge Parker

I love I-CORDS!! They're quick and easy to make and have so many uses. 

Besides making ooooodles of them on the knitting machine when I'm working on a project, I've got one of those Cord Makers (you can find them around the net at dealers sites and eBay ranging from $10 - $25). One of the best little knitting helper investments I ever made. Just make sure it comes with the two original clip weights.

I keep a variety of colors of cords on hand, using up scraps, etc. You can even make them in stripes as well as solids. Or blend 2 strands of thinner yarns for a nice tweedy look. I string mine onto large hand knitting stitch holders

Here are some great ideas for using I-Cord. This list is not comprehensive, just a few to show you some of the diversity of I-Cord.

• Laces for shoes, a tabard vest, chemise closure

• Drawstrings for bags, hats, purses, sweater tops, etc.

• Stitch it onto a sweater outlining a picture.

• Use around the edge of a blanket; such as weaving in and out of a worm edge. (see picture)

• Hang it on as you knit for dimensional embellishment such as captured in pull-up knitweave (see picture)

• Scrunchies / Hair ties

• Braid it for trims on jackets, around necklines, etc.

• Knit long I-Cord then knit potholder, attaching I-Cord as you go for trim.

• Tie into intricate knots such as a celtic design to embellish.

• Knit-weave your thinner I-Cord for a thick lap robe.

• Coil I-Cord and crochet them for coasters and placemats (see picture)

• Intricate loops and swirls glued to a lampshade OR, if you have knit a lampshade, sew into place for embellishment.

Let your imagination GO on this simple project.

Marge

More Yarns Available

 Just finished up winding off MORE luxury and specialty yarns and they're now LIVE in my Shop.  AND, there's also 10% off your order through Dec. 15th.  Discount is automatically taken off.  Just look at all the lovely colors and textures!

These can be purchased in my ZIBBET Shop!


These will come boxed to prevent crushing unless you want me to use bubble wrap and a poly-mailer.  That would save around 3-5 ounces.  Mailing from Sparks, NV 89431.  Please note:   All yarns are stored in a smoke free, but pet friendly environment.Until next time ...Thanks!Marge

Awww .. Too Cute!

This picture is of Buttons.  Jerry's cat.  The one who roamed the house howling and searching for Jerry after he passed away.  Took her several weeks to realize he was not coming back.  She now gets up in my lap for some cuddles.  Snapped this pic of her just this morning.  She's such a sweetie.

Well, back to work! 
Marge

Finding A LOT of Vintage Around Here!!

Other than me, of course! LOL.  Starting to go through a rather huge stack of CD's and have put the following up on Zibbet in my Vintage Music section:

Does anyone ever need men's ties to repurpose?  I've still got about half a dozen or so that are just lolling about in the closet in a plastic hanger bag.  If you are interested, please let me know and I'll put them up on Zibbet in my Craft Supplies section along with all the other nifty craft supplies I have in there.

Don't forget, my YARN sale with 15% OFF any of my yarns is still valid until the 10th of November.  So hurry and get your orders in now!  Use Promo code B0G938 for this fabulous  yarn discount!

Keep on Knittin' !!
Marge