Needles, IV, Blood and Sleep

Today was interesting for me. Number one, it involved needles, I hate needles. Then we proceeded to getting an iv into the top of my right hand. Ouch! I have veins that are perfect for iv's. This should tell you where I am possibly going with this statement. I have no clue what the scan says, I have to wait for a couple of days and then they will let my doctor know.

After the scans, they did two of my foot. I showed up, they injected me with a radioactive solution, no iodine...thank God. They took some scans. Then they told me to go and do whatever and come back 2 hours later. Okay, we can do that. I hit the local Michael's to get the scrapbook for the new chapter. Then Gary wanted lunch so we hit P.F. Chang's. He has been wanting to go there for a while now and I said fine. I had the lunch bowl with egg drop soup, honey coated chicken on brown rice, it was really good and hit the spot. We went for a small drive and then turned around to head back to the imaging place for round two of the scans. I was on the table for a while. Then I was free! I was so happy to be out of there.

I get home and I am fine, I am thinking I would go to my sister's house to pick up a few things she has for me. Uh no...it hit. The most horrible feeling. My hand was in major pain and the nausea almost did me in. I was shaking, and so, I called her to let her know that I wasn't going to be able to make it. She said she had been waiting for that phone call since she knew the procedure would do something to me. I am predictable with this. So, I had a huge glass of water and fell asleep on the couch. I woke up at 7 pm, starving and in a seriously bad mood. I had a huge headache. So, I went with Gary to get something to eat. No way was I cooking.

We came home and watched some tv together. I dealt with some DAR business and then my second to oldest sister called to talk. She is sick with some freaky allergy issues and is on antibiotics for them. She said my sister, Gayle is sick with the same thing and Melinda is also sick with the same problem. So, I am avoiding anyone who is sick, I have enough issues going on here.

I am slowly digging through my yarn bag that Pam sent back. I thank her so much for sending it all back to me so quickly. Now I am waiting on a response from a customer who loves one of my yarn bases so much she wants more of the yarns. I have to look around to see if I have more of the yarn around here. My wholesaler can no longer get it. It is such a shame because the yarn is delectable.

The mitten is going to be my project for tonight before bed. I want to finish it. I didn't get to finish it last night, I was too tired. Now, I am hoping to get the last bit of the main hand done so, I can get the thumb taken care of. I want to do that thumb. Then I can weave in ends and start the second one. :)

Progress

As you can see, I have been busy working on the mitten. Here it is so far. I have plans to try and finish the main part of the mitten tonight and work on the thumb tomorrow.

I tried it on and it is still too tight for my hand. I am hoping after I wash and block it, it will stretch some. I don't want it too tight on my sister's hand. We don't need her hands falling off because her circulation has been compromised. Nope, not good.

I was working on the shop sock and it is coming along nicely, I am on the foot of the first sock. I love that sheaves of grass pattern, it really showcases they yarn and the pattern is visible with a variegated yarn as well. It just keeps giving and giving. I will be working on more sock patterns for more of my yarns. I just have to sit down and take the time to do it.

Ahh...How Sweet!

Tonight was hot dogs and burnt tater tots. I am not cooking well right now with everything happening with me. I blame it all on the foot! I looked in the fridge tonight and spotted two tubs of Greek yogurt...OMG! I love the fig one and he bought me a tub of it. Oh, how sweet. He also bought a tub of the honey and orange. yummy! He then tells me he bought the Activia for me as well to help my body get back some of it's resistance. OOH, isn't that so nice?

I wrapped pork chops today in freezer paper and stuck them in the deep freeze. Those big family packs save some serious money. :) I love my deep freeze. It needs to be defrosted. I should have bought the frost free one. Oh well, maybe next time.

I realized something today, I am seriously obsessed with yarn, I am talking, this is worse than usual. I have balls of wound yarn all over the place. I will have to be knitting socks until I am old and gray for me to use the yarn up. The pair for the shop are coming along nicely. I am on the heel flap and should turn the heel tomorrow and start the gusset.

Pictures will be later. Now I am going to go read before bed.

Hand Knit Socks Come to Drooling Over Yarn

This is my first pair of hand knit socks that I am offering up for sale in my shop on ETSY. I am knitting the cuff right now and then I will be deciding on the shoe size.

The yarn is painted earth, it is a merino/silk blend and it is my favorite yarn. I love knitting with this yarn, I find myself reaching for it more and more for every pair of socks I knit. I knit a lot of socks. It paints up incredibly and really shows off the colors of the dyes.

I am knitting the socks on US 3 Addi turbos, my favorite needles. I have several pairs of Addi turbos in this needle size because I am a sock knitter and investing in quality instruments is all part of the game. I can't have them break or come undone while I am knitting. I demand performance in my needles and these babies have never let me down. :)

My goal with the hand knit socks is to offer up my craft to people who have no idea what hand knit socks feel like. If you have never owned a pair, now is the time to get a pair of these wonders. The price of the socks will be dependent on the price of the yarn.

The painted earth socks are being knit with my pattern, sheaves of grass. I love this pattern, it is simple and it is very quickly knit. I like simplicity. I do not like anything complicated when I am knitting. This pattern has the basic sock knitting stitches in it. If you can knit a sock, you can work this pattern.

Mr. Lincoln Blooms in November

Here is my hybrid tea rose, Mr. Lincoln. The rose is in full bloom right now and it is simply stunning in the back bed. I went outside to pick lemons and saw this beautiful bloom, I had to stop, take the picture and then lean over and sniff it. Heavenly! There was a mosquito on it trying to draw "blood". I started laughing. No, no blood here, just a beautiful bloom.

Mittens

Here are pictures of the mittens I am working on. This is as far as I have gotten for the time being. I started a pair of socks today. I have plans to sell the socks when I am done with them. I figure this will give people who can't knit socks a chance at a hand knit pair. The nice part is the yarn is a merino/silk sock yarn and it is hand painted. :) I hope to have several pairs knit up in time for Christmas.

The mitten will be worked on tomorrow. I also need to take my socks with me on Wednesday and work on them while I am waiting for the procedure to be done. I have to keep myself busy so, I don't think about the needles, pain or anything else going on with the foot. Knitting is keeping me sane!

Trouble

I have realized that the ladies with the Socks Squared group on Ravelry are nothing but enablers. As one enabler to the next, I can say this is a bad thing. I love sock yarns, I am addicted to them. Yesterday I tore open my yarns back from YG and I started to really look at them. Oh Lord! I have this horrible habit of feeling those yarns up and then wanting them for my own. Since my life revolves around sock knitting, it really does, ask my family, they love my socks, I have decided to go ahead and knit another pair. I have a killer pattern to work on and then decide what to do about the socks later.

I have a mission, no one is allowed to have cold feet. Everyone must have warm feet. I guess if the socks come out well, I will send them off to another niece or nephew. I still have a line of people who want socks. I just wish they would write down their sock sizes for me and then we can go from there.

My niece, Meagan is marrying into a knitting family, her MIL to be is a knitter! Knit on sister! She said she wants to knit Meagan a pair of socks. Amen, someone else to help with my knitting load. :)

Since I am such a yarn slut...I can't help myself, I find myself digging in my shop stash and yes, I have done it again. I have a skein of yarn on my desk that I have loved from the minute I had painted it. It is by far a gorgeous blend of colors and it has been begging for a while to be knit into a gorgeous pair of delectable socks. Now, here is my big problem...to keep the socks or to part with the socks? I might have to auction them off to the highest bidder since we could use the Christmas cash! :)

Ya'll have a wonderful weekend and for those of you who have been wishing me well on the foot, thank you so much. I am so hoping I am coming to the end of this long painful journey. If I wasn't meant to go through it, I know I wouldn't have learned a few things. Later on those. I am not waxing profound today. Sorry, we all need a rest on Sunday.

Pattern of Mitten

Here is the first part of the pattern of the mitten. This is the back of the hand motif. I love it. I have more than this done but, I haven't taken a picture of it yet. My camera is up here in my office, I just need to take it downstairs and take my pictures. I just hope my sister is going to love the mittens. I am using US 3 addi turbos with Knit Picks Palette yarns. Simple little skeins work wonders for Selbu style mittens. I have a hat pattern in one of my Norwegian books that I can't wait to tackle. I need to make Gary a new hat since the cats peed all over his hat and I threw it out. Damn cats! He saw the pattern and really likes it. More later on that.

Cuff of the Mittens

Here are two pictures of the cuff of the mittens I am knitting. Top picture shows how I knit the picot edging into the mitten, nifty way of creating the picot edge. Bottom picture shows off some of the cuff details. I am hooked on Selbu style mittens, gorgeous and easy to do.

Kissie Face

I have to share this about Ody, it is the sweetest little thing. He crawls into my lap for his daily hug and a game of kissie face. I kiss his little noggin and then he tries to kiss me back. It is the cutest thing.

I also have taught him to respond to me when I ask him, if he has been a good boy today. He barks his response. That's my little boy!

Today I didn't do a thing, I sent Gary to the grocery store for some much needed items. I ruined dinner, the dogs had it. They loved it. It was just a blah day for me. I did get my yarn back today from Yarny-Goodness. I also got in Kate's Christmas present. I was going to knit everything but, my hands just don't have it in them to do it. I am shopping where and when I can. I only have a few items yet to get and I am done.

Not much else happening here, no knitting at all today. I was watching QVC and drooling...they have some very nice things! If only I were wealthy, I would have at that place and then some.

Mitten Knitting

Last night I sat and quietly knitted in front of the tv and I was able to get some serious work done on the mitten. It is coming along quite nicely and yes, I will do this pattern again. What I wish that pattern writer had provided was the directions on how to do the picot cuff. I had to refer to a Selbu knitting book to realize this direction. I also wish she would have placed in her pattern the M1 on the chart since I had to frog a couple of times because she was too lazy to do this.

Grr.

I am looking at my color choices for this pattern and I am thinking I might add yellow to the mix since it will liven it up some. I think today is stay in my jammies day and knit. I was feeling better today but, the foot has decided to let me know it isn't happy with me right now. Oh come on foot, it is time for you to heal and quit paining me so. I still have it so, I am thankful for this but, dealing with an infection that started spreading again yesterday tells me it wants to experience a main line and the Vancomycin. I don't want to experience this at all, let me tell you that.

I washed Ody's blankie from his kennel. He loves his little blankie and spends his nights rolled up with it. It is the sweetest thing to see, him with his little blankie. :) I love my little boy, he is such a sweetie but, a monster rolled in there as well. He plays the kissie game with me. He tries to lick my ear and my face so, I put my hands up and he tries to get around them. He gets a hug from me everyday.

I Learned Something New

I am knitting a mitten and I learned how to knit a picot edge. I know it sounds simple but, when I first tried to figure this out, it didn't make a lick of sense so, I had frogged a pair of mittens. Well, last night I was determined and when I am really determined, I am not giving up until it kills me. I tried it out and I did it! Pictures will follow later when I remember to take my camera downstairs.

It is the coolest thing out there and I am so proud of myself. Then I tried on the mitten cuff...uh oh, it doesn't fit, too small. So, I called my sister, Cheryl this morning and she said she would love to have a pair of hand knit wool mittens. Well okay, then. Not a problem. I can do that for her.

I received an obituary last night from Melinda, it seems that one of my Dad's cousins passed away and I last saw him at the family reunion in October, he was looking really good. It was his first year to come to the family reunion. So, we were all able to see him one last time. Strange how it works out. He was 82.

Today is wash clothes day since I am literally wearing my last pair of clean undies. I believe in passive laundry these days. I wash it, I throw it in the dryer, hang up what needs hanging up and then fold later. Much later. I guess tonight is clothes folding night. It is also knitting night but, I am just so tired right now that I have no energy for much of anything.

Kathy sent me the honey and cinnamon recipe guide and I am so inclined to try it out. I know honey in whiskey with some peppermint makes a great cough syrup. After you imbibe, you don't care about much of anything. If I weren't on antibiotics, I might mix some of that concoction up.

I have a serious craving for some french fries. I also want some potato soup. I love the stuff. I have to tell Gary he is taking me to lunch today. I don't have the ingredients for potato soup here. I might have to remedy that one.

I am going to go knit and be a bump on a pickle today.

American Persimmon

I get a little crazy where fruit trees are concerned...I admit it. I went crazy last night and ordered two American Persimmon trees for the back yard. Why you ask? Easy enough to answer. My Dad loved the American persimmon. He had a couple of trees that produced fruit and let me tell you, from my childhood, I can remember the sweet succulent taste of that fruit. Yum yum! It isn't puckery, it is a creamy sweetness. The Japanese version is puckery, and really harsh. I know, I have had several from the grocery store and almost gagged from them.

I broke the news to Gary today about those trees. I have to explain what has been going on for about two months now. We have been arguing as to what to plant in the spot where two dead items are and we have been talking about a dewberry bramble but, he doesn't want to deal with the trellis. So, when I saw the trees, I knew fate had intervened and I was supposed to order those trees. I did.

They start bearing fruit when they reach 6 years of age. I know, a long time for me to wait but, I had to wait a while for my meyer lemon, the key lime and my navel orange to produce fruit. I have fruit on all three trees. The meyer lemon is loaded again this year with fruit. I can't wait until it ripens some more. It has the best damn lemonade out there. I can't even stand to drink Chick-Fil-A's lemonade anymore, it tastes off.

In other news, I started to knit tonight. I am working on a mitten. I tried it on and it is a little snug for my little wrist so, I am thinking that it will fit a lady who has a tiny hand so, instead of a medium, we are looking at a small mitten. My hand is a medium.

I will work on it again tomorrow. I have to keep the foot propped up. I think I was doing too much the other day, it started hurting today. Grr. I am just worn out where the foot is concerned. Totally worn out.

Update

Here is what is happening in my life, more antibiotics and a bone scan. Yep, the doctor has me on 2000 mg of Keflex a day and next week, Wednesday, I have to have my left foot scanned. If it turns out that there is a bone infection, I will then go on to see a infectious disease doctor and this is the freaking scary part, a main line will be put in and I will have to go for 6 weeks to have iv antibiotics put into me. I have Gary taking off on Wednesday for me. I let them know I am allergic to iodine. They said no problem. Makes me wonder what they are planning. Scares the living hell out of me.

I do not do well with needles, being poked, prodded, or ivs. I am not a nice person when this happens. Being a knitter, this will pretty much incapacitate me for a while. Can you say...yarn withdrawl?

I am not knitting right now. Things aren't going well for me, the hands hurt. I have to heal them up and then I can consider getting back to my knitting.

To The Doctor

Well kids, it is that time again, another trip to the doctor for a foot check up. My news pre-doctor is that it is healing! The spot has gotten smaller. Let's see what he says about this. Do I have to get more antibiotics to kill it completely off, or do we think that he will let it be and let my body try to heal it by itself? These are the questions I have today.

I think I am coming down with a common cold. No high fever and after reading an article about the swine flu...I am not getting that crap vaccine. Nope, not going to do it. Did you know this flu attacked people way back in 1976? It is not a new kid on the block...it has been around for a while.

Pretty much from what I have read if you were around in 1976, then you don't have to worry. It is just the little kids who have never been around it and the teenagers of today are the ones who have never been around it.

I am not knitting right now. I am healing my hands up. I am reading though and taking it easy right now with this crap cold. I have been sleeping a lot and that tells me my body is trying to fight it off. I have been consuming protein like a mad woman, I have been craving eggs, this tells me I am getting a cold. No flu since I had a pneumonia and flu shot. I think these are the best two items in my arsenal against anything else. :)

I better get myself ready so, have a wonderful day.