Good Post

Post as in mail.

The great thing about only checking the post sporadically, is that when I get a good postal day, I sometimes get an excellent postal day!!




That's my Rowan 58 and membership gift. I'm saving this for post-op perusing.

My August Ipsy bag is the pink package. I was skeptical about this at first thing. I don't wear a lot of make up, and the first couple of months were kind of meh for me. But since then I have gotten so many lovely bits and bobs that I really use, I'm totally sold!! And if it's items that I don't use, Amanda usually will. I'll save it for stocking stuffers. Win-win!!

The last package is my Sugru! Awesome stuff, and if it does nothing more than extend the life of my iPhone cords, it's worth the investment.






The carrot cheesecake was a unanimous success!! Christina declared that, "it tastes like more", Shanyn vowed a hatred for me for putting such a thing before her, Tammy joked that she would lick the crumbs off of my face, (I don't really think that she was joking!!), and Teresa just hugged me. It *was* good. Definitely a new fave.

Almost no sleep last night; hoping for a significant improvement tonight!! Damn stimulants. It's a tiger by the tail, but I choose it over the pain. And shortly I'll be done with that too, so I can deal.

W
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Slow start

I could feel the migraine, but I just couldn't summon up the energy to get out of bed at 3AM to take the Zomig.
I slept poorly all the way 'round. Migraine, codeine buzz, breakthrough pain in my uterus, waiting to hear from Amanda, (she had a bad but hard to narrow down pain so she went to ER. She's seems better, but a mother's love/concern is like that), and just my mind free associating.

I did have my codeine & T3's at my bedside, so I kept on top of that. Petey and Chica let me lay in until 11. I love these two; they really do take care of me. I took the Zomig after I fed my puppies, downed a cherry Coke, and we went for a bit of a stroll. Rx kicked in, and I've been knitting on the Secret Project today.

I finished Criminal Minds through Ssn 9 on TurboFlix, and started on Sons of Anarchy.

Hoovered, roasted the carrots that I bought at the market at the Steampunk festival yesterday (so sweet and delicious!!!), practiced my fluting.

Pains still significant so despite the itching, I've been taking an oxy with my meds. I just need to make it 11 more days and nights. I can do this. I've made it this far; I'm in the home stretch. A powerful reminder though how things happen the way we need them to sometimes.

I tried a tape highlighter for checking off where I am on my pattern. A regular highlighter won't work as I have the pattern in plastic sheets.


I'm going to try dry erase markers; I know it'll rub off after some shifting, but I don't need it *really* permanent, just as I'm working.

I have decided on a cowl for my Mountain Colors (it's weird typing colours without a "u", but I respect their spelling) Perspectives Twizzle gradient kit. The Filan Cowl.

Oh, and I forgot to show you my sock! I finished it in the road yesterday.


I am thrilled with it!! I love the flow of the green.

Chica has made a lot of progress with letting me pet her and have my feet on/around her while she's gnawing on a chewy.





So that's where I'm at. Feeling rough physically, but emotionally I've come a long way. I'm quite content with my life as it is - puppies, fibre endeavours, musical learning, friends galore. I'm still getting used to not having Lee to reach out to, I don't feel like it's the yawning void that it was. I have a lot going on for myself, and I let myself forget about that. Thank you all for reminding me and keeping me from losing sight of that.


To my friends. Sláinte!!


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We went looking for a yarn store ...

We set out early, Starbucks & Panera fueled is up. the soufflés at Panera are seriously delicious. It is my fave breakfast item.





We got to Coldwater, looking for a simple yarn store, as nd then this happened:






















OMG!! One of my fave sci-fi/fantasy authors, Julie Czerneda, was signing autographs!! Bonus - she's Canadian!! More bonus - Toad was there!!!


Red Hat steampunk ladies - the fucking bomb!!!

We did get to The Purple Sock


and enjoyed a nice poke about.
They also have a wide range of loose teas; Helen bought several and I'm going to try one later.

We stopped at Purl3 in Orillia, but my phone had died by then and I have no pics.

The pain has kicked off the last few days, I'm on the max Rx, so I am looking forward to a few days with nothing on the schedule, except knitting, flute practice, and puppy loving.

Starting tonight





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Things That Are Done

Another pain dazed day. I cant focus on much when the pain is so intense that it requires the most codeine. So I mostly just lay in bed, scrolling through Instagram, and playing solitaire quite badly. I let myself doze off. I check the time, but it doesn't really register unless it's 11:00, 3:00, or 7:00 when I can take medicines.



Chica lays with me during the day because she can jump up on the bed. Petey gets nights; I lift him up. Or he sleeps in his crate. Depends on our moods. They are steadfast guardians, doing their utmost to keep all harm from befalling me. And when pain assails me, they kiss me better, tails wagging earnestly, understanding in their eyes.

The pain is easing off now, which is to say that I can take less codeine; it's ridiculously relative.

I finished Georgitte



& the Favourite Soft Mittens





a few days ago. I'm finally getting to blocking out the Linen Stitch Scarf. The bind off edge is tight, despite my being deliberately loose in the doing of it.





(The colour is way off - hideous lighting in my bdrm!!) I think that next time I'll do a plain seed stitch row before casting off; that should alleviate some of the tightness.

I have been working on a sock for me. Easy, mindless knitting; just what I need. I love when the colours spiral like this!






I'm not sure what the yarn is, it's stash.

Early to bed again tonight. I'm exhausted despite massive bed rest. Pain and drugs are exhausting and I am counting down the days to their end like a prisoner getting released.

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All the Things

I knit in the baby blanket last night while out with some colleagues for a going away drinks do at my local.
This morning I slept in a bit, walked over to Tim's for a coffee as I'm out of Tassimo pods. I know, I don't know how this happened. Then I was fit for Churchmouse linen stitch scarf. Progress was made.
After a nap, I packed up the CEY Moss Cardigan and headed to Crabby's to watch the FIFA ladies Canada vs China match. Happy for a win, even if it was in the last minutes.


I made excellent progress! I calculated my yarn consumption at .04km/hr. This includes eating time and alcohol consumption. It doesn't sound very fast, but I don't have much to compare it to.

Anyway, I'm 5 days T3 free! Stomach bug notwithstanding its been a decent week. Though the abdominal pain was kicking off today, I got by. Taking it one day at a time, I won't endure pain I don't have to but I like the clear-headed feeling.


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End of Clue 4

I'm way behind the pack on this one, but that's ok. I'm thoroughly enjoying each stitch.
Have I mentioned that this is my first Wollmeise project? I had stashed a number of her skeins and nothing seemed quite special enough until my first Romi knit came along.




Petey loves it at Lee's, not in small part because Lee leaves socks all over and Petey brings them to me like the most precious gift.


Chica doesn't bother with these humble offerings, but Petey is persistent, much to Lee's chagrin. But not so much chagrin that he picks his socks up!!

Rough day for pain; had to go to the higher dose codein, but I am grateful for the relief.


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Rough week

Inventory prep at work kicked into high gear last week and over the weekend. Of course this coincided with me period. I felt like calling in just wasn't an option, so I doped up on all the Rx and zombied my way through. Monday was a migraine - same story.
But I got through, the store was ready, but the numbers were not good. I'm sure that there will be a game plan by the time I go back on Thursday. I've had today and tomorrow off for putting in my time on the weekend.

I've been making decent progress on Romi's MKAL. I am *so* much more pleased with this colour and now that I've added in the 2^nd colour - I'm just giddy!!


The thumb is good. It was warm for a few days, but nothing was infected; it's scabbed over and perfectly serviceable.



Today was a lovely day to be off work. I did errands, hung my laundry to dry, then sat outside for some all natural vitamin D.


I was sitting downwind off the clothesline - it was relaxing to just sit back to the scent of clean wash.

The SmartSilk people were at Costco today. I've been pondering a duvet for a few years now and had narrowed it down to silk or wool. I took the plunge and purchased one, spent ages finding a duvet cover at Bed, Bath and Beyond - Lord have mercy!! I was intimidated and a bit frightened by that place!! - and will give it a go.


(Yes, that's Petey's bed. He sleeps with me when Lee's not here.)
Lee is a fan of down, but he can't possibly dislike silk more than he likes my penchant for layers on the bed.



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Checking In

Not made a whole lot of progress on any one thing. I've felt especially exhausted all week long. Capped off by waking up in the early morning hours with a migraine on Saturday AND Sunday night. that's me off of red wine for a bit!!
But after frogging on CEY Moss Cardigan, again, fortunately not as much ripping as I've had to do before


I realized that I have some sort of mental block about what size I'm working on. I pulled the pattern out of the plastic sheet protector and circled the applicable numbers for the size I am actually to be doing.


I'm trainable. Eventually.
Then back at it.


I'm going to knit on Véronik's project for a bit before bed.

I'm getting excited for the Frolic; only 5 more sleeps!! you can count it on one hand now!! I'll be working at Julie's booth - come by and say hey!

I had put together a good week last week with my pain at a bearable level without taking the T3's. This evening has seen an increase and I'm going to hit the bottle (of drugs). Still trying to change my mindset that it's not "caving" to accept pain management that's available.
Still no surgery date; I did call to make sure that I hadn't fallen through the cracks. Nope, just waiting to get scheduled.

So I signed up for baseball again, the women's league and a mixed league. I'm stoked about this- going to get as much in as I can!! Since the surgery won't likely be until into August, I'll get a majority of the season in, for me & the teams.




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Romi Mystery Shawl Spoiler

Friday was a struggle, but that's alright. By the end of the day I chose to not take any Rx, clear my head and body a bit. I worked some on Romi's Mystery Shawl. I'm not sure about the colour. it's lighter IRL


A darker colour will get worked in later on (this is Clue 2 of 5). It just seems quite pastel. I know, but like baby pastel. I'm keeping on knitting as I'm hoping that the darker colour will help some of the coloured bits in the the Dream in Color Smooshy pop. But I am reserving final judgement and might still use the lighter Wollmeise


(on the far right in the pic).

I slept for 12 hours. Between the constant pain (in varying degrees), and the drugs, my body is exhausted. My choice today has been to accept the pain. Easier when I can just relax (kind of) and knit through it. Not having to deal with people makes it easier to bear as well.

Still working with the hand-pleasing Loft from Brooklyn Tweed. Secret Project. You know.

Enjoying, as ever, the garter stitch. Especially in the variegated CEY Liberty Wool.


I do like the redo better; the colours seem to lay nicer. I know, sounds crazy, but there it is.

Amanda came over for a couple of days to hell with the puppies & Toby. Lee went on an impromptu drive to Boston. He misses the sea.





Don't worry, I explained about Oceans & Seas ... Amanda & I coloured (I bought her her own Enchanted Forest and colouring pencils) and had a lovely time. I should have taken a pic of her colouring - we have very different styles. She walked dogs and fetched bagels - a good daughter.

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Self Pity Day

When I was in treatment a friend gifted me with a book, which I can't remember the title of, but I really enjoyed it.
One part that I personally took away from it was that it's okay to feel sorry for yourself, to wallow a bit; not endlessly, not to your detriment. Put a time limit on it, let go and feel all the sadness and let the self pity wash over you.
When the time is up, move on. Pick yourself up by your boot straps and get on with the business of living.
Today I am just feeling overwhelmed by the relentlessness of the day-to-day pain I'm in, the amount of narcotics that I need to deal with that pain and the effects that it all has on me.
Choosing between the pain or the lethargy/buzzyness, itching, sleep disruption and fogginess doesn't really feel like a choice at all. But I do choose, and I hate that too.

So between being back at work and "whatnot", I've been not been very knitterly. But deadlines loom, and y'all know that there's like a deadline to motivate. And my time limit is one day. So come pain or side effects, it's back in the saddle tomorrow.


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Recovering

So after three days of taking all of the drugs, (and I was good, didn't take more than I should, scared even myself a couple of months ago), medicinal amounts of alcohol, and still fighting through pain to get done what was needful, I am exhausted.

I can feel my body fighting to rid itself of all the stuff I put in it. I've been drinking water like crazy. An Epsom salt bath is running. My brain is struggling to process just about anything; fortunately I've been functioning on muscle memory and instinct.

I have the greatest admiration for women who do this every day.
Fortunately, my day-to-day pain is manageable with T3's and I only have to deal with such an extreme for a few days. even though it seems interminable in the moment And I have surgery on the horizon. though four months seems very far away in those moments extended into a small eternity by pain

So, no knitting done yet today, but I've made it through.

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Never Enough ...

... knitting. So I couldn't help myself. I went stash diving and came up with yarn for Romi's latest MKAL. I greatly admire her design aesthetic and am thrilled to be in on the action.









I am using Dream in Color Smooshy (light colour), and Wollmeise Pure (dark colour).

... Rx Since then my period came (a week early, so kind of caught off guard), and I am on all of the drugs (100mg Codeine Contin, and 2
T3's every four hours), okay, and a few drinks and I am still in nauseating pain. I know that the worse will pass by the end of day tomorrow oh gods please!!! so I am loathe to waste 4-6 hours in emerg.
I see my Dr again ion Wednesday; I'll certainly be asking for some better Rx or combination.

... colour I came across Johanna Basford's
Colouring books. I have purchased Secret Garden and ordered Enchanted Garden online (significantly cheaper online at www.indigo.ca ) and ventured into Curry's for some lovely Copic markers. I will be buying Staedtler or Prismacolor pencil crayons & felt markers from WM when I return, but I am excited to try something new and better. I


While I am no artist, I do have an eye for colour and can't wait to blend to my hearts content.


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