Oh yeah, I simply must mention this! I was one of the guests on the latest episode (4) of Knitting 911, the loom and needle knitting podcast by Denise Layman of KnitChat.com and Loom Knitter’s Circle Magazine fame. You can listen on the webpage.
This has gotten me fired up to resume my own long-neglected podcasting and I will be posting more about my plans soon.
I know I have been very remiss in my blogging endeavours, but I have to plead illness.It’s been a very hard month+ for me and talking to people is one of the most difficult things at times so I’m afraid I have just been hibernating away. But today, perhaps because of the spring weather (oh how I wish it were going to last!) or perhaps because I saw mallard ducks in my back lawn (why I have no idea and sadly I didn’t have my camera with me) or because I have a lot of announcements, I have finally felt like talking to the world at large.
But before I say more about what has been going on, here are some piccies for your entertainment:
That is a scarf that I made for my mother last December, didn’t photograph until February and am only managing to post about today. It was made using Trendsetter Yarns Blossom using the Alternating rib stitch (5 rows each direction) on the Knifty Knitter long yellow loom. At least, this is how it looked before I washed it and sadly it is far more anaemic looking now 🙁 I’ll try to photograph it again to show the difference. t says he can’t tell and looking at the scrap yarn I can’t tell differences in the strands individually, but it just looks less fluffy 🙁 I’m very mad at myself for chancing a machine wash (delicate cycle) on a handwash yarn, even though I know my mom will only machine wash it anyway. I feel like I screwed up US$45 worth of lovely yarn and am really beating myself up about it 🙁
Beating myself up about things is sort of the theme lately, as that’s part of what happens in my depression cycle. The big D is what has been making life miserable lately (mentally and physically as it increases pain levels). I’m not really going to talk about it much here as I know people don’t like hearing about that very much and so I’d rather save your illness attention spans for when I may need it in the future 😉 But I’ll just say that it has been the worst episode ever but finally my meds are adjusted and things seem to be on an even keel again. I still don’t feel that my meds are quite right, but I plan to study the meditation course for the prevention of depression relaspe so hopefully the meds will become less important in time.
The big news is that I have decided to go to America for a while this year. Normally this wouldn’t be news as I spend between 5 and 10 weeks a year there but I had actually been planning to *not* go over this year and have my parents come visit me instead. But my dad got sick (another reason I have been silent online is being stressed over him being in the hospital, etc.) and can’t do a long haul flight for a while and now my health problems are just getting to be more than t can handle. We’re going to have to look into getting me a carer but to do that I need to get disability benefits and that’s going to take several months so the temporary answer is that I will be going to the US to stay with my mom for two months to give t a break, then she will come over here for a few weeks to get some stuff organized so that we’re in a better position for the future.
SO: I’m going to be going to North Carolina from late May (ish) to the end of July (ish), with stops in Pittsburgh (and maybe Philly) and Tampa to see my dad (and maybe Disneyworld, that would rock!). I’m going to work on my knitting, practice spinning and maybe do some re-enacting. Also probably doing some scrapbooking and maybe a bit of quilting (Mom’s a big time quilt freak). And buying craft supplies. Oh yes, the best part! 🙂
All that comes after our trip to Paris next week though 🙂
I have more to talk about but I must rest my hands, my spinning class is tomorrow so I can’t afford to be crampy! 🙂 I’ll try to post again soon, really!
Thanks to those who have written me with encouragement in the past two weeks. I’m coming to terms with everything but things got delayed as my father was in the hospital most of last week with blood clots in the lungs. He’s fine now but since his father died from blood clots unexpectedly, we were all more than a bit nervous. And it may be another genetic condition to which I may be predisposed, so I’m awaiting the results of his testing almost as much as he is. Since I have so far gotten every single disease known on either side of the family, and often younger than the “normal” onset, I’m starting to become a little obsessive about knowing just what may becoming down the pike. (And desperately praying that I miss out on Alzheimer’s!) I’m not crazy enough to think that I will get everything, but my odds are batting 1000 against me at the moment so I want to know what to be screened for.
Anyway, all of this has sent my mental health into something of a spiral. I normally have a depressive episode in February each year so it’s probably just a slightly delayed reaction combined with family illness (father inlaw then father) and the upheaval of my new diagnosis. It’s not that diabetes is a problem per se, it’s that I’m having to give up several coping mechanisms and unorthodox (but working for me) treatment strategies so my symptom load is going very high and I just feel like things are still very chaotic. Well, in fact they are, as we’ve yet to decide on new treatment regimes so I’m kinda of flying blind. Hence the “doldrums” part of the title. The grey, rainy weather isn’t helping any and knitting with my brightest yarn isn’t helping there either. When not even beading magazines can cheer me, I know it’s getting bad. So I have a med review this week, one of my four appointments this week when I don’t have the energy to get out of bed let alone trek to the doctors and hospitals. It has to be done though as I can’t handle much more of the way I am feeling…
But enough about that, let’s talk socks 🙂 I have been wanting to order a sock loom but have been put off by how many sizes there are (so if I make socks for myself and my mom I’d need a different loom for my husband and dad) and how long of a wait it is to get a loom. I think I’m just going to have to bite the bullet and order one though as I know that with diabetes foot care is important and that means wearing socks all of the time. I generally try to escape socks as much as possible and right now can only cope with toe socks or part cashmere (luckily I got a bunch of lambswool and cashmere at TJ Maxx last year for $5/pair). I’m hoping though that hand-knit socks will be every bit as amazing as everyone says. I also know from trying to get people to make hats for me that I won’t just be able to lean on folks to get some socks either so like hats I’m just going to have to make them myself. So if anyone reading this has sock looms and likes or dislikes them, please let me know which one(s) you have! I am hoping to use proper sock yarn (and do not like slipper socks or anything bulky!!!).
(As an aside, if anyone has single socks languishing without mates, my husband refuses to wear matching socks so will happily give them a good home 😉 He also could not care less what gender they were meant for or even if they fit him properly or not! So if you have second sock syndrome but can’t bear the thought of frogging the one you already made, he can put them to good use.)
In other news, I’m finishing up the mate to the Lagoon legwarmer. I had hoped to have it done by today but I was getting hotspots again so I am taking it slower. Then I need to really get cranking to finish my afghan for Tricot du Coeur as that is due this month. I made a hat inspired by Annie Modesit’s rasta hat but have yet to photograph it. I think I need to order a styrofoam head form for better hat photos plus I can use it for making felted hats. So another thing I just need to get off my rear and order! I’m just being a bit stingy since we’re going to Paris next month and always waaaay overspend there so we’re putting off nonessential purchases as much as we can just in case. Ooh, I should start looking for the Parisian yarn shops…:)
Oh, and I shall need to buy a spindle as my spinning class is very soon and I’m sure I will want to keep going at home!
Well I have to go, I’ve got an appointment to attend and miles to go before I sleep….
Sorry I am still not doing well, but I thought you might enjoy seeing the complete ragdoll accessories set (which I have yet to blog about) in this picture my husband took last week.
Apologies that I’vve been quieter than usual. This time it’s not out of forgetting to blog, just life getting in the way. I’ve added another disease to my portfolio, which has meant tests, lots of GP visits, angst over the changes required for management (which as usual sound trivial but when put into the jigsaw puzzle that is my other disease management are far more profound), plus the new symptoms to cope with. So it’s been a crazy week. I’m very tired and emotionally worn out and I just need to take a bit of time out to get the lay of the land. I’ll be back to blogging as soon as I am up for it.
This is a self-portrait from Meez.com. You’ve probably seen it on other blogs, as there is a knitting animation that you can have your virtual self doing 🙂 This is pretty close to accurate, but of course all avatars look better than the real thing! Here you see me dressed as usual in a t shirt and pyjama pants in a terribly messy room. I’m not usually in the chair in the apartment (in fact never, there isn’t room here), but they didn’t have an option for canes or crutches or my usual of leaning on the walls as I slink around… Usually if it’s less than 20 meters I don’t bother with a cane, so that can confuse some people who see me walking “normally” (like at my felting course this weekend which was in a small place) and then hear me talk about using a wheelchair.
In other news, I have found a new charity to knit for (after I get caught up on the projects already on the go). It’s pretty near to my heart as it serves people with neuroendoimmune disorders including fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue and multiple chemical sensitivity. (I have two of those for sure, maybe on the middle one.) Anyway, having been the person begging for warm hats a few years ago (when I first had to give up having hair) I feel it’s the perfect place to give back. P.A.N.D.O.R.A. is the organization, but I couldn’t find their request for knitted items on their website, only on their page on Liom Brand Yarns’ charity finder.
OK typing this has killed my fingers so I guess they need more rest. I’ll try to write up about the felting course tomorrow, achy fingers crossed! 🙂
Lene of The Seated View has just posted a wonderful entry entitled Thoughts of Pain & What Comes With It. I encourage you to read the whole thing, but here is the bit that moved me the most:
Chronic pain teaches you that pain isn’t the worst thing that can happen. Not living your life is the worst thing that can happen. And so, you develop filters that mask the pain, block your perception of it and get on with your life. I once tested this – convinced that making a cup of tea in my microwave didn’t hurt, I decided to pay attention and discovered that it indeed did hurt, but on the days where I have adequate pain control, isn’t loud enough to make it through the filter. One of my favourite barriers to pain is the fun filter – you’re out, with friends, dancing, talking or whatever floats your boat and you are fine. Absolutely fine. You’re so fine that you may stay out having fun for longer than you should, but you ignore this, because the music is playing or you are about an hours worth of debate away from solving the world’s problems. It is not until you come home and close the front door behind you that the fun filter abruptly falls away and in a nanosecond, you go from an entirely manageable level of pain to wanting to curl up in a fetal position, whimpering in a corner. It usually takes days to recover from something like that, but what you quickly learn is that it’s worth it.
That is not only 100% true in general, it’s also exactly what is going on right now. I spent all weekend getting up in the wee hours, sitting outside in the 27F cold for over an hour each day waiting for trains and buses, having a truly fabulous time at the feltmaking course — and then I came home and SPLAT! I had rubbed my hands so raw (and bloody) that touching anything was excruciating agony. I can’t type or move or even cough without high levels of pain. I laid down for a nap at 6 pm and woke at 6 am. I’m gonna be paying for this all week. And it was worth it.
But it’s going to be a few days before I can type enough to do justice to my writeup of the course, so I’m afraid that you shall have to be patient. As shall I, as t says I can’t wet felt again until my hands heal up. And I have about 20 hours of sleep to squeeze into this week else my body will not be as forgiving as I insist it must be. After all, the Stitch & Creative Craft expo is next week, so I’ve got to rest up! (Bunnies to pet there, ya know..)
I had started this thinking it would be a thing-a-day but the blasted thing took me twelve hours over two days. Knowing that has put me off doing its mate until thing-a-day is over.
Anyway, the gory details: One legwarmer, extra-long (I like em to come up over my knees), made in K2P2 (2×2) ribbing on the green loom that came with the Reader’s Digest set (does this thing have a real name?). Made from one skein of Colinette Prism in the Lagoon colourway, to be worn with the Ponytail hat. With lots and lots of flaws where I purled instead of knitting and vice versa. Doing ribbing for a few rows isn’t so bad, but for over two feet is a lot harder than I thought! But I guess part of knitting, especially when something is meant as a utility garment rather than stylish one, is that you have to learn to live with the mistakes. Still, I think I have a lot more love for storebought legwarmers after this. (And the ones I shall be making for friends will be ribbed at both ends but e-wrapped in the middle!!!)
This is probably boring to most of you as it’s very basic hats like we all make when starting out with loom knitting. The purple one on the right is what I made the very first night I loom knit, it took me about three hours while watching tv in a hotel room in Virginia. Thats Red Heart Light & Lofty, which we’ll see more of soon as I’ve just done a more fun project with it. THe gray hat is the Bernat soft boucle that I hate, again the basic hat form with a brim, blahblah. This one’s for t, and has a scarf and fingerless mitts that go with it (but they’re not photographed yet). The teal one I made because I wanted something without a brim for sleeping in — Ifind the brim annoying under my neck. So I took some Moda Dea Metro (more of that to come, I like this one) and whipped up a hat quickly with a garter stitch border instead of a brim. Perfect for keeping the draft off my scalp.
This photo was taken at the end of the day but as these hats are pretty boring to me I didn’t feel it was worth taking the shot again another time. I’m a very lazy photographer, I am finding, which in some ways disturbs me as I’d love to have gorgeous, professional-looking shots like on other blogs, but just can’t manage to go into the other room, set up the lightbox and tripod and all the other faff that is involved. I think I will have to do all of that for my beadwork though, we’ll see.
This has been all over, starting with a gorgeous Union flag mohawk hat in a punk knitting book and with variations all around the net. I just made a hat in 2×2 (k2p2) ribbing on the Knifty Knitter red round loom and then added the “hair” in the same way you’d add fringe to a scarf (lark’s head knots, I use a crochet hook to pull things through).
Yarn is Colinette Prism in Cherry for the body of the hat and Colinette Marshmallow in Lagoon for the mohawk.
