A Little Yarn On The Side

Wow.  It's Monday again.  I swear that was not a full week.  Or maybe it was a bit too full--depending on how one wants to look at it. A few weeks ago I had twisted wrong and popped my hip out of place.  The probable good news is that because I work the muscles quite a bit, it took a fair bit to get my hip out of place this time.  The definite bad news is that I still managed it AND it hurt like crazy.  I was able to get it back in, but that hurt as well, and in spite of getting back on the medications for inflammation and pain, I still managed to wind up some of the problem muscle spots again.  I had several really bad days, started to get better, and then had physical therapy on Thursday.  The good news is that while the bad spots had gotten tight, they hadn't truly knotted again, which is terrific progress.  The bad news is that it still really hurts whether the muscles are "just tight" or "knotted,"  and physical therapy left me fl...

It might surprise you to learn that I have a rather large number of projects in progress.  Of course, only if you haven't seen my sewing room or followed this blog for more than a day or ever MET me , but still there IS a remote chance you could be surprised. Sometimes a project gets set aside because I have found something more interesting to work on. Sometimes one gets set aside because I am about to send it through the food processor if I have to be around it for even another second.   And sometimes it's because I have reached a part of the project which intimidates me. Which is where our story begins today. Back in 2010 , I started working on a mitten garland for winter/Christmas.  It's actually been a fun project because craft felt is wildly inexpensive, so it was the perfect time to play around with techniques and ideas.  I learned to gimp, tried using decorative thread in the bobbin , played with decorative stitching , and have pretty much just had a grea...

.....(otherwise known as 2009), there was a crafter who thought up a lovely project while on pain pills --not the pain pills for her back which make her nauseous and cause stomach ulcers, but the heavy-duty pain pills the medical community gives one after surgery because making a patient sick, groggy, stupid, and incredibly sleepy reduces the chances of the patient ripping out stitches.  This crafter started a pieced tablecloth that would require 180 quilt blocks without checking to make sure that she had enough fabric for all 180 quilt blocks.  This cannot be blamed on the pain pills because she would have made that mistake without any drugs, but perhaps the idea of 180 blocks might have given her pause.  However, stupid ideas do not even slow our heroine down at the best of times.  While on medication, they seem positively wonderful.  And that is how our heroine ended up with a well-aged set of quilt blocks waiting to be something other than a magnet for c...

There is a finished cross stitch project! Okay, it's stamped rather than counted, but still, how often do "finished" and "cross stitch" end up in the same sentence if "therapy" isn't also mentioned?  It still needs to be washed and ironed, but I'm so giddy with excitement that I'm waiting a bit to double-check everything before washing it. And, the purple chemo cap is also done!  This is a much better picture of the color, which I just find completely cheerful.  The additional chemo cap yarn will arrive today, so I have a blue cap on the needles now, and while 3 doesn't really make a spacial dent in the chemo cap yarn stash, it does make me feel a bit less like a yarn-hoarder--more like a Fiber Protection Specialist........... And Project 93 , is finished as well.  For the past year, 6 of us have been having monthly "New Recipe Dinners."  When I proposed it, I had actually suggested 4 times a year, but we'v...

I was really hoping to be showing you a finished object right now, but at least I'm very, very close.  This is one of the colors I got with my credits, and I love it.  It's a bit brighter in real life, and I think will be quite cheerful--considering it's a chemo cap.  And it might be making me feel good to finish another one while more of this yarn is now making its way to my door.....

IF you had been on a strict yarn diet for almost two years, what would your breaking point be?  I think I've been pretty good--I used my $50 credit to get yarn for a white shawl for me (reward yarn) and the rest I used for yarn for chemo caps.  Then the odd little things I didn't have--the white acrylic, the mens' scarf, the crochet thread, and the one ruffle scarf.  I have to say, I surprised myself.  I have held out against 1/2-off sock yarn, and had even resisted an angora blend worsted at a fabulous price, but this morning I finally broke.  For one day only (of course) the place with the fabulous angora yarn and the sock yarn was giving away 10 balls of chemo cap yarn with purchases over a certain amount--that amount being enough to get the angora yarn and a bit of sock yarn, conveniently enough.  So......................there might be some yarn on its way to my house at this point..........In my defense, it did take $35 of free yarn for my favorite pr...

...the entire state is trying to figure out how time-consuming hobbies amongst heterosexual couples have been caused by gay people, or at least by gay marriage.  Because that, as it turns out, is one of the arguments our governor tried to use in front of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to persuade them to allow Idaho's same-sex marriage ban to stand.  I don't think one is allowed to call someone an idiot in a legal ruling, but they came pretty close in a (for attorneys) rather humorous ruling striking down Idaho's ban today: He a lso sta t e s, in c onc lusory fa shion, tha t a llowing sa m e -se x m a rria ge will le a d opposite -se x c ouple s to a buse a l c ohol a nd drugs, e nga ge in e xtra m a rita l a ffa irs, ta ke on de m a n d ing work sc he dule s, a n d pa rtic ipa te in tim e -c onsum ing hobbie s. W e se riously doub...