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!

Spin Fairies

They must exist! Here are the "Never Ending Bobbins"! They just go on and on and on and on....

I swear I've been plying these singles for about a MILLION years now. I don't think it's ever taken me this long to get a couple of bobbins done. (In truth I haven't been spinning that long,...and I am sort of a Drama Queen, but geez!) I'll just keep treadling and hoping.... I want to have them done by the time my Woolee Winder gets here (hopefully SOON!).

As I look at the bobbin it seems like I haven't done much. Maybe it's not Spinning Fairies but the whole universe slowing down. I swear I've been at it FOREVER!!!  (Major whine with some cheese.) 

Today has been totally nervewracking. Spring here will never make me comfortable. I'll still take an earthquake in CA any day. (BIG BIG BIG chicken here....) 

Stay safe and Happy Knitting (or PLYING). 

February's Post

I guess one blog post a month is better than nothing!  Slow motion is my speed anymore! I feel like I'm ALWAYS knitting but where are the projects? hmmmm

My Second Noro Scarf:

I have a fussy Model to contend with. You know how teenage diva's can be. My Models Attitude: "Hurry the Heck UP MOM!!" My fault, she had just got home from school and I wouldn't let her go until I got a decent shot.

She always eventually realizes it will go a lot faster if she just cooperates. Smart Cookie.

Noro Striped Scarf
Colorways: 8, 87 and 282 of Noro Silk Garden.
I spliced my way almost throughout the whole scarf so it's really my own manipulation of the colors mentioned. I cut out mainly the oranges and browns that were in there and some dark green.  It's really so much more colorful in person, it's so hard to capture the real beauty on my camera (I suck at photography).

I love this one so much more than the one made out of Kureyon. It's so much softer and just gets better with each washing. It doesn't itch my neck at all with that mix of mohair in there which is a relief. I love wearing it, it just makes me happy. I'm just glad I got it done while the temps are still cool enough for it's use.

Some Spinning:

4 oz of Corriedale in the Calypso colorway from Black Trillium Fiber Studio's.

I wasn't thrilled with this braid, it felt extra "rough" from the get go. I know it's just one of those things, fiber can slightly "felt", it can sit too long, become too compacted, or be bad product from the processing, but I've practiced on other corriedale that wasn't this rough. I finished it up because I was dying to practice plying more, I did have fun doing that. I got about 288 yards out of this.

I've got socks on the needles currently, one pair for my daughter and one for my cousin. Now to decide what else to put on the wheel...

On the health front I'm back on a low dose of Lyrica (25mg) for my fibro and sleep problems. Three days down and I think I am sleeping a tiny bit better. With the weather getting nicer (slowly but surely) I'm going to start walking again to hopefully combat the weakness I feel in my extremities. I feel like a 200 year old in a 40 something body. Ugh.

Happy Knitting & Spinning! :O)