Playing Catch Up

Oy! Life has been insane! After my shoulder break (June), possible unnecessary gallbladder surgery (July), blood clot from said surgery requiring a 5 day hospital stay (Aug), I'm still working on healing from EVERYTHING. Anyone who's had their gallbladder out knows it takes time to, well, ..."adjust'. Lets just say I'm still "adjusting" so I stick close to home.  My shoulder still hurts but my range of motion has improved over time although I've got to get better about doing my stretches everyday.  I'll probably be on blood thinners for about 6 mos for the clot (Portal Vein Thrombosis - Not good!), I have another CT scan mid-November to see if it's dissolved at all (please, please, please...). All of this in addition to the fibro pain and inflammation I suffer from has made life just... dandy. But I'm still here (weaker and shakier but surviving).

And I'm still knitting! (slow as it may be)

Pattern: Just my usual basic 64 stitch sock.
Yarn: Regia Design Line by Kaffe Fassett in Exotic Color Pool Colorway
Hmmm, I wasn't crazy about this yarn. It felt like knitting with Paton's Kroy Sock: sort of rough when knitting up & slighty itchy. Not a favorite but I do love the colors. I'm sending these to my Mom for Christmas and she wears her socks around the house so hopefully they'll feel okay to her. She's not a big wussy pants like I am about the itch factor.

To compensate I'm sending her these too:

Pattern: My same ol' basic pattern
Yarn: Knitting Fever Indulgence in Colorway: 115 (Pinks, greens, white)
Now these are SOFT! I wasn't thrilled that the gorgeous colors in the ball sort of got "muddied" up in the knit fabric but they feel so good it's okay, the pink still comes through some. Mom will certainly enjoy these too! (my photo taking skills are so below par - I blame it on not feeling good and being too lazy to edit right now).

I also finished a simple pair of ribbed fingerless mitts for my daughter for the high school football games but I haven't seen them since they came off the needles in time for last game night - so no pics yet. I have another pair in the works for my other daughter but it's been slow going working with Noro Silk Garden Sock yarn. People are right in saying it's tough on their hands, it does feel like knitting with cotton - no give = pain in your fingers and hands. Not fun.

I also gave up being chicken about getting back to my spinning. When I broke my shoulder I was about 1/3 into spinning some gorgeous hand-dyed Polwarth I picked up at the last fiber festival I attended. I had such an amazing consistency streak going I guess I was afraid to mess it all up after being away from it for so long. I finally got up the nerve, oiled my wheel a bit, and was off to the races again:

I have to find the tag to check the info but I'm pretty sure it's Rivers Edge - Out of Oz (Reflection colorway). It's 4 oz of Polwarth. I'll probably be working this as a 2 ply and it should be a fingering/light sport when it's done. I can't wait, plying makes it all magical for me!

I've got so much blog reading to catch up on. Someday I pray things will be back to normal in my world.
Happy Knitting!

Happy (Late) Mother's Day!

As usual I'm a day (or more) late and a dollar short. I had a nice Mother's Day and hope all my blog buddies did too. It's always nice to be spoiled. I'm very blessed, and I know it and treasure it.

I made these for my Mom:

(Except I can't take a good picture lately for the life of me, I think it's a reflection of how crappy I feel in general.) I really enjoy embroidery though. It seems like there are so MANY tiny stitches, and then before I know it I'm done! It's very relaxing and I've already aquired more sets to get stitching on.  Okay, French Knots are not my thing, but I plan to keep practicing.

This was my Mother's Day present:

A Woolee Winder for my Ashford Joy. LOVE LOVE LOVE.  I'm a spinning fool now. (Got my foot AND my purse in that shot! Photography classes??).

We've had too much anxiety around here lately. My dog Jenna was really sick this last Thursday, we took her to the vet and she thought she may have had a tick-born illness. She had to stay there with an IV of fluids and antibiotics until yesterday. I don't ever want to go through that again. It was heartbreaking and we could've lost her but she's on the mend slowly now and is back to wiggling her little behind.

My FIL has had his second chemo treatment and seems to be doing okay so far this time. We're always trying to keep positive thoughts for him. My Mom finally got in to get her back checked and got shots to help in the mean time while they get her scheduled for the x-rays and MRI's. I think it's her sciatic possibly. I just want her out of so much pain. :(

My health still sucks. Same story, different day. The Plaquinel worked for about 2 weeks - and I was PAIN FREE - for the first time in AGES. But, it wasn't meant to last unfortunately. I don't know why but I'm not happy about it. I'm back on Lyrica too but the pain seems to still peak more than I can manage. I'm due to see a neurologist next I believe, and get PT for my own sciatic problem.  I'm so tired of pain.

I haven't been knitting much lately but my fingers are itching. I have tons of sock yarn but don't want to use it. But I think socks are just right for my mood so I have to break down and wind a ball soon.

Happy Knitting and Good health to all.