How do you pay tribute to a great woman? I can try.

My aunt, Amparo DeCastro, passed away today, in her sleep, in her apartment, all alone, at the age of 80.

She was one fantastic crocheter, making stuff without patterns. I'm not sure if she even knew how to read patterns. She just did them.

She was also one talented seamstress, sewing us clothes of all kinds since we were little and even now.

You see, she never got married. All of us, her nieces and nephews, were her kids. When she migrated to the US, she would send us, who were left in the Philippines, huge boxes of stuff, from candies to shoes, clothing, goodies, etc.

Admittedly, she wasn't that easy to live with and that's probably why she preferred to live on her own, even when she got sick. She never fully trusted people, even her own sister. Well, she trusted my dad, who was her oldest brother.

I remember her being sick most of her adult life, from diabetes to high cholesterol, and lately, congestive heart failure. Yet, she still preferred to live alone.

Last time I saw her was Christmas eve, when we took her to the hospital because of edema. Living an hour away from her, I called her on the phone, but not often enough.

I am so sorry that she died all alone. I thought about calling her yesterday but never did. That is one regret I have, never had the chance to hear her voice for the last time.

I love you, Ninang, and I will miss you.

I am "cowled-out". I won't finish cowl #3 in time (deadline Feb 29th). That means I don't get cowl #4 for free. Oh well. The current cowl is a massive 368 stitch cowl using plain stockinette stitch, around and around, on size 3 needles, fingering weight yarn. For you knitters out there, that is total madness. I will finish it though.

I am thinking of doing my own Knitalong. A fingerless mitt, a hat, cowl maybe, or a scarf? We'll see. And it will be free. I have so many already written patterns in my computer that I need to post, most of them free.

Gotta get busy.

a better nose for me bear, eh?

This is what we did on Valentine's day:

Emily did the top picture. You can see she has some talent.

This one I did. hahaha! It was almost a disaster except it tasted good. White chocolate and dark chocolate.

And this we bought from Freeport Bakery:

BTW, I'm taking a cake decorating class next month. I figured, if I had to go back to work, might as well have some talent I can use to do something I like. Plus, you can tell by my strawberries that I really need help.

Here's cowl number 2 of the Great Cowl Knit along. Since I finished the Flurries cowl before the deadline, I got this second one for free. And I finished it by the Feb 16th deadline. I got the 3rd one free as well. Cowl number 3 has to be finished by Feb 29th. I like working on a deadline. Keeps me on my toes.

Now, here's A Very Good Cowl Indeed:

It's funny but all three pictures are of the same cowl. It's the camera's fault--- lol!

Here is the finished teddy bear from Gregory Patrick's pattern. There is something wrong with the nose. I've removed this version and embroidered a new one. With this style of nose, Emily says it looks like a Koala.

And here is the finished Flurries Cowl from the knitalong. I ended up using one one skein of Mini Mochi.

Here are some pictures of what I've been working on:

I giggle everytime I look at these babies. I am addicted to crocheting them. The fiddly part is sewing on the eyes and buttons. This lot I crocheted in one afternoon. Emily picked most of the colors. She actually wants me crochet some pink ones. Pink owls ??!! lol

These are the beginnings of a knitted bear. I know. Just another bear but the history behind this bear and the pattern is heartwarming. The designer and knitter is Gregory Patrick, a homeless man, who pulled himself from rock bottom by knitting the bears and selling them.

You can read his story HERE. You can help him by buying his pattern.

A new KAL

Come join a new KAL. Find the information HERE. It's one of Liz Abinante's pattern called Flurries Cowl. And it's free.

I'm using Mini Mochi yarn (2 skeins) and here's what I started:

My Dirty but Healthy Salad

Before the year ends, I want to share a healthy recipe with my readers. Why dirty? With the balsamic vinegar dressing and ground flax seed, it looks like I dropped the salad in the mud-- lol!

I'm following a Fuhrman Nutritarian diet, eating mostly Greens, onions, mushrooms, berries, beans, and seeds. I don't do measurements well. Everything is a dash of this or that, following your taste. Here goes:



1 cup black beans ( I boil my own, no salt added) or use one in cans but low sodium

1 mango

1 stalk of green onion

1 clove garlic, chopped

a few sprigs of cilantro, chopped

1/2 avocado

salad greens or romaine lettuce

a handful of raw cashew

1 tsp of ground flax seed, sprinkle on salad last



for dressing:

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp sesame oil

1 tsp Stevia sweetener, or organic raw sugar (optional)

sprinkle of black pepper



enjoy!

For the coming year, I will dye more yarn and wool roving, knit more, quilt more, and design more free patterns to share with everyone. And I plan to sell yarn from my stash, yarn that I know I will never use. I will clean out my whole house, one room at a time.

That's my New Year's resolutions. Let's see how I fare.

Happy New Year to all of you. Here's to a healthier 2012!

I'm writing this as I'm listening to a BBC 4 Global News podcast of Kim Jung Il's funeral and knitting at the same time.

I'm knitting the Bandana Cowl from the Purl Bee. Chunky yarn, yes, chunky, fat yarn, using jumbo needles as well. That means, I will finish fast--lol!

Day after Christmas, we went and saw Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. The theater was packed but we found seats. I never thought I'd say this of a Tom Cruise movie but I liked it. Totally enjoyable. Missions 1, 2, and 3 were forgettable. I saw them all but barely remember what they were about. This one was so much fun that I didn't want it to end. I love his supporting cast of Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg and Paula Patton. I have been following Jeremy Renner's career and knew that he will be famous one of these days and it looks that has already happened.

He will be playing the hero in the movie Bourne Legacy, not to replace Matt Damon, but to play another character. My other favorite actor, Matt Damon, is not even going to be in this movie.

I can't believe that the year 2011 is almost over. Time is just flying way too fast.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Here we are, spending Christmas at my dad's. Everyone's home, lots of food as always. Last night, we took my aunt to the ER and spent several hours there. She's my dad's younger sister, 80 years old. She's had health problems for as long as I can remember. She's never married and lives alone. She took care of all of us, my sister and I, and all my other cousins, when we were still young and living in the Philippines. Being with her last night reminded me of when I was at the hospital with my mom, before she passed on. It makes me sad seeing my aunt like this and it saddens me because she might not recover from this one.

Red Schoolhouse

I can't believe how easy it is to knit this one and it turns out really cute too. Depending on the color of yarn you use, it can be a schoolhouse or simply an old fashioned 1900's house.

You can find the pattern on her website:

Chalklegs.com

or on Ravelry:

1900 House

I'm knitting two more in different colors and will gift them to Emily's teacher. She's one of those people who enjoys hand knitted items.

Here's a mitten ornament on our tree. I was going to make an advent calendar type of banner using mini mittens but I ran out of time. Maybe next year.

Some more handmade ornaments, this one given to me by a crafty friend.

I hate being kept in suspense. Last Friday, I had some blood work done. I've been having these dry eyes symptoms paired with dry mouth. I googled them and came upon Sjogren's syndrome. And, the more I read, the more scared I became. I should have listened to hubby who told me to stop googling my symptoms. The internet can be a good thing and sometimes, a bad influence. I should have listened.

So, come Friday, I went to my doctor and asked him to run some tests. I had to stew for 2 days before I got the results. It was negative for any autoimmune disease. I can breathe again.

Happy thanksgiving to one and all!

What I'm serving today:
Roast turkey with gravy
stuffing
home made cranberry relish
cream of corn from Honeybaked Hams (yummy)
my homebaked ham
carrots and brussell sprouts with almonds in garlic sauce
home made mashed potatoes with garlic
pumpkin bars with sour cream frosting from fresh pumpkin
chinese green salad with sesame dressing
sweet potatoes topped with marshmallows

whew! That's a lot of food!

Finished

Here is the finished Live Oak Shawlette:

A Star!

My daughter Emily is getting an award today for scoring really high in her STAR tests. Although my kids are homeschooled, we are still a part of the public school system. Under Horizon Charter School, we are provided books, curriculum and budget to take elective classes. We report to a teacher every 21 days, who then checks and makes sure we are following "the rules" of the public school system. We've been with Horizon for years now and we like the system.

I also know that homeschooling works for us as evidenced by the high STAR test scores my kids have. These tests are given by the state every year in April. My Matthew also excelled in all 4 test subjects he's taken (Math, Language Arts, Science and History). While home schooling is not for everybody, it works for us. And what about "socialization" as I'm often asked. My kids don't lack in socialization and activities. Our church activities keep them busy every week, non-stop, that Matthew had to give up one or two activities due to lack of time.

So far, this is what I've knitted of the Live Oak Shawlette. I like the pattern. It's very easy to follow and not boring.

This is one of the window displays at the H&M store at the Roseville Galleria. Pardon the blurriness of the picture. I did not have my camera, just my iPod.

We also went to Krispy Cream and got a dozen donuts. Emily picked this one as her favorite.

I wake up at 3 am in the morning and this is what I pick up:

When I was at Tuesday morning, I found some sock weight yarns, Araucania, wool/silk/nylon blend, on sale for $5.99 and 6.99 per skein. Not sure about the price difference but I bought 3 skeins, about 430 yds per skein. Not bad. I have a lot of ongoing projects but this one helps me with the insomnia problem.

The project is the Live Oak Shawlette from Knitscene Fall 2011.

When the anxiety kicks in, I turn to this project to get my mind off of thinking too much. Yesterday afternoon, I felt the anxious thoughts coming on. I decided to dance to the Wii. After 2 songs, it worked. I felt much better. Not only that, I was able to take a refreshing nap. It helped with the shortness of breath. I probably got about 5-6 hours of sleep last night, including the 3 am waking. I was able to get back to sleep, thank God! I have to cope with this perimenopause thing one day at a time.

I have been trying not to write this because it depresses me. I hate being sick and this chronic cough is getting the better of me. There is this one gadget that saved my sanity. It's called a Peak Flow Meter. First of all, my Xray came out fine and so did my Spirometry (breathing test). So, what could be wrong with me? Asthma?

I have been to my doctor 3 times this month and twice last month. No one even suggested a Peak Flow Meter. Finally, with the last visit, he explained to me how it works. My meter reading was very good. I wasn't experiencing an asthma attack at all.

So, I've been using this meter everyday now, for over a week, and I only had to use my albuterol once (before my exercise session with the treadmill).

I am, however, also perimenopausal. And if I was to believe everything I read on the internet, declining hormones can completely get you all wacked out. Big time.

Here are some of my symptoms:
1. anxiety (tightness in the chest, shortness of breath)
2. insomnia ( I wake up at 3 am in the morning, regularly)
3. Acid reflux (gerd)

All of the above happens around dinner time and before I go to bed. I am even afraid to go to bed nowadays, anticipating the oncoming attacks.

What relaxes me? KNITTING and listening to podcasts and audiobooks. AND, my faith in God , that He will deliver me from all of these. I am totally in His hands. If only I will remember to not worry.