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!
I created this hat in Mid-December. I was inspired by several Fraggle hats I have seen on the internet, but due to the thickness of the yarn it doesn’t really look like those. Instead, it reminds me of Raggedy Ann, and thus the name 🙂 It’s made of one skein (every last inch of it!) of Colinette Marshmallow in the Fiorentina colourway. I have a small head and no hair and thus the hat fits my 20″ head, but for an adult size you’d probably need more yarn if you want it to be double knit.I made a 12 inch/30 cm long rectangle by double knitting on the long pink Knifty Knitter loom with the figure 8 wrap. I used the lucet cast on. I then took the rest of the yarn and cut it into 6 inch/15 cm lengths and used those pieces to close up the sides, tying in square knots. If you wanted to make this for a larger head (most adults would need a larger size), I’d use the yellow loom and do more rows, but really you can make a long rectangle any way you fancy!It took an evening while watching TV, don’t know the exact timing. I’ve ordered three more skeins to make a matching scarf because I looooove this yarn!