Tuesday, May 18, 2010

How to live to be 100


Here's a picture of my Oma on her 100th birthday party a few weeks ago. She's the one with the corsage. She's with Colby and Tante Olga, her 95 year old sister who still lives on her own in an apartment.
Going to her birthday party got me thinking about why she's lasted so long and is still in fairly good shape and here's what I came up with.
1. Be curious (i.e. nosy) - people who are wrapped up in their own lives at some point lose interest, because there's only so much you can do yourself at 98 or 99. But there's always something interesting going on around you, so if you're aware and interested that'll keep you going.
2. Eat well -Oma was a great cook and in later years as she ate less she still paid attention to what she ate and had a very balanced diet - a little protein, a little fruit, a little vegetables and of course, a little desert.
3. Don't complain - Oma's never been one of those people who talks about her aches and pains, she always just seems to go with the flow, never makes a big deal of anything and even when she's been sick and in the hospital she's been more bewildered than bitter.
4. Move out of your house before you need to - Oma and Opa moved to the "old folks home" back when she was about 70. At the time they were able to get a small 1 bedroom apartment and she was able to stay there until a few years ago when she moved into the personal care home side. Making the adjustment at that age was so much easier than for some of her other relatives who had to move out of their homes in their 80's due to poor health.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Recent FO's and current WIP

OK, I don't know what's going on with my little slideshow there, but what I'm trying to do is have it link to a set in my flickr account, but there's more than just two pictures in there. I don't know how it decided that those are the only two photos it wants to show.
Anyway, here's some pictures of my recent FO's:
This is a little baby outfit I made for Brittany's mom's baby shower. I really like how it turned out. I made it with Elann ESPRIT which is a nice stretchy cotton - perfect for Houston weather. I'm working on a pattern to post for sale - just need to perfect the little booties to go along with it.These are my "bonus socks" that I made in two different color combinations. I posted the pattern for free on ravelry - Bonus Socks.


And here's the fishtail scarf I made from Zauberball sockyarn . I love the color, but I should have made the center section longer. I can't wrap it around my neck more than once.


And finally, here's what I'm working on now - Ruth Sorensen's Kauni cardigan. I'm using the same colorway of Kauni as she did and I just love the way the colors work together. It makes you want to keep knitting to find out what the next color combination is going to be.