A Little Yarn On The Side

Anyone remember this? It's an Alice Starmore (she of the lifetime-commitment sweater patterns) design on size 2 needles started in September of last year AND it is the WIP getting attention today.  While I'm incredibly pleased that I am working on an existing WIP, it's not a WIP that I'm going to be able to finish soon.  Unfortunately, that means I am unlikely to stay committed to finishing WIPs.  But I am pleased to say that I finished the sweater yesterday, so one WIP is finished.  My WIP-finishing record is 14 and I have 21 knitting WIPs and a huge stash of unlimited sewing WIPs.  Could I finish 14 WIPs of any sort in a row?  I'd possibly have to make an exception for ornaments so I don't fall behind, but could I do some serious WIP wrestling for the second half of the year................?

Though, to be fair, I haven't relaxed quite as much as Theo. My little sidekick is finally his old self again.  I'm still giving him two kittty meds, but mercifully they are capsules that can be sprinkled on his food.  Of course, being a cat he can still make that extremely difficult, and has pretty much decided that if he has to eat wet food, it must be the most expensive one I can find (Fancy Feast Appetizers but ONLY the fish flavors--can you beat that?), and there are days when I chase him around the house with the container to try to get him to eat enough to get the drugs down, but it's still better than the continual trips to the vet or the antibiotics.  Andy is away on business for a couple days, so there are some new ornaments.  My freehand embroidery skills are still rather poor, but as we have TWO Christmas trees, we also have two backs of trees, so felt ornaments seem like a good way to practice. And--brace yourself--after the ornaments ...

Being summer, the first thing I did this morning was I am a pickle fanatic, and for the last two years we've had a dismal cucumber crop, so I've been growing a bit concerned about our pickle supply.  Commercial pickles contain food dyes, so to me it's worth the effort to make our own, but it does get hot.  Thank heavens for air conditioning. This afternoon, staying out of both the kitchen and the garden, I finished the two in-progress heart ornaments, and made two new stocking ornaments: Can you tell that I love this design for a stocking?  Beads, sparkly trim--what's not to love?  Especially as these bring me to 219 ornaments on day 208, so I am 11 ornaments ahead.  Thank heavens--the tomato canning is coming....................

My back is still sore enough that I have both ventured to take one of the anti-inflammatory/pain pills that caused the ulcer AND I missed my pool walking this morning.  As I am the youngest one there by about 20 years, I am in for some serious ribbing on Monday.  I had even reached a new milestone: I wore out my water shoes and had to make another personal-spending exception for new ones.  The floor of the pool I go to is rough enough to strip the hide right off one's feet, so shoes are a must, and this time I decided to try water shoes with a bit of support.  The sales lady at the local swim and run shop said they would fall apart in 6 months, but she says that about everything.  She said the ones exactly like I had would last less than 3 months, and they've certainly lasted for more than a year.  The weird thing is, she didn't have a more expensive model she was trying to sell me--she seems to be just a pessimist.  I think the swimming suits I bou...

In the last week, we went to see John Hiatt in concert for Andy's birthday, then went to the Boise Blues Society picnic on Sunday, and I think I can now safely say that my back might be making progress, but really uncomfortable chairs are NOT my friends.  Yesterday I finally had to break down and take the original pain medication they gave me--the stuff I've generally refused to take because it knocks me out.  I have an appointment with a specialist on Monday, so hopefully I'll get this sorted out soon.  It's a physiatrist , which I'd never heard of, but from the description, it sounds exactly like what I need.  I had been resistant to call a specialist because I was afraid they'd want to talk about surgery, which I don't think would help and which I would not discuss until all other options have been explored, but what I do want is someone to look at the original injury, the three subsequent injuries, and either give me new exercises, tell me if I'm a...