Tiny x's

It has been a lovely day at home. The puppies are getting a bit stir crazy from being inside due to rain, but Chica convinced me to play ball with her, and Petey has been happy chewing on a bone. 

I got some work stuff sorted out, then there was a bit of reading. Helen got me hooked on James Patterson's Women's Murder Club series, and while it's not epic literature, I'm invested in the characters and keeping needing to know what is happening to Lindsay, Rich, and poor Cindy. Yuki is happy, but can it last?? I'll be diving into Unlucky 13 as soon as Helen sends it!!

I had leftover salmon Alfredo for lunch. I've been craving it for weeks and I'm about to have had enough, but it is so good! I could just sit and eat it with a spoon, but I don't think that would be super filling. Or healthy. And I do need to start being more mindful of what and how much of it I eat. I've let my nutritional intake slide away from the nutritional and just be intake. 

I got quite a bit of cross stitching down today. I'm pleased with my choice to use the doubled strand on the gates. I'm now almost halfway through this part of the Clue, so I feel like rewarding myself with some lolodidit yarn and Sweet Spot swatching. 

  

It's been a great day!!

Good mail day

So I read the instructions on my next clue wrong and did the first set of gates with two threads instead of over two threads.  Though the piece is worked over two threads, so it was a redundant instruction that my Brian re-worked to make relevant. Yeah, that's what I'm going with.  

I liked the look, but I wasn't sure, so I also did a set with a single strand. 

 Definitely liking the heavier gate better!! 

I did give some thought to another set of gates further up in the design, and I may have to do them double-stranded as well, though they are a different colour and esthetic, so I'll have to see when I get there. I also went online and ordered more of the purple for the current gates and black for the next gates so I don't run out. 

 

So now I'm going over the 2^nd set of gates again, then moving on to the other 3 corners. 

Happy Mail day today! 

I have been following Lauren aka lolodidit on Instagram for awhile and I finally ordered!!

 

This is going to make an amazing Sweet Spot strip!!! 

I know ... that's a lot of exclamation marks, but I'm that excited!! I know my plan was to cross stitch (especially while I'm between knitting assignments), but I might have to wind and swatch. 

Blur

This week has been a blur of pain work and migraine.

The APSGO meeting was good and I'll be continuing with it. Anyone who has reached out to a support group knows that it is sometimes easier to talk to other with similar experiences than those whom we love and/or who love us.

I had my winter tires taken off (the back two were nearly slicks!) and replaced with all season Matrix tires. I've not been able to find out much online about them; anyone had experience with them?
Now I have a few months to find 2 winter P195/60R15 tires and 4 15" rims. Any leads would be appreciated.
While this was happening I put the waiting time to good use and finished Romi's Mysterious Shawl!!


I love it and it just needs a solid blocking.

Afterwards I spent some time at the courthouse as a moral supporter, and swatched A Hundred Ravens. Totally found the Sweet Spot!! I'd forgotten how much pleasure I get from deconstructing a yarn like this.


I hope that they'll be at the Knitters Fair again so I can get more yarn. Though I will order online if not.

I am so close to starting the next chart on my Châtelaine Mandala.


I find cross stitch so restful in a different way than knitting.

The puppies have been with me for a year - can you believe it??


They have grown so much and not the least amount in my heart.

Lee had given me a gift certificate for Amazon.uk for Valentines Day and after waiting for Broadchurch series 2 to be released, I put in an order. They're here!!


SQUEE!! Tomorrow I'll be purchasing an inexpensive DVD player in the hopes it will play or have a hack to play 15 discs.

The Loft for Lee's Longfellow. Mmmmm - can't wait to start!!

Yesterday I tried pushing and working through a migraine. Not such a great strategy.
I had felt more human after I got home, took the Rx and had some sleep, but it was still not quite fine this morning and I was feeling quite off. Dizzyish and just wrong. And I laid off the T3's while I was taking the Zomig, so it's not that. I'm feeling better now, but my uterus is kicking off hard again, but at least that's a more manageable pain. Lol.

Ok. Early night, make sure I'm fit for duties tomorrow.


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Whatta Weekend

My sweet girl needs your prayers and/or most positive thoughts/vibes/karma. She has gone down a more challenging and trialsome path than most anyone would intentionally choose. She is struggling and needs all the help she can get and then some.
It is said that God takes care of children and fools - I pray that this is true and thus she is the best hands possible.

My mind has been on her and while I have been desperate for distraction, my heart was not fully on baseball and I had poor games on both Friday night and this afternoon. Fortunately the teams pulled through with a win and a tie respectively.

I made some visible progress on my Châtelaine mandala.


It was restful stitching. Almost ready to start the specialty stitch flowers!

I have also managed to get near to finishing Romi's Mysterious Shawl, especially while doing an epic laundry this morning.



I have had my Under Armor slides for going on 5 years; they owed nothing.


Sportchek had a sale on sandals, so I went in to see what was on offer. The young man who offered assistance suggested that Nike and UA might not be incl in the sale. "Seriously??? Given that 2/3 of your sandals are Nike & UA, what kind of sale is this?" Needless to say, my 2^nd pair was indeed 50% off. Then I had to have them refund the difference of $34.99 to $29.99 on my Fitbit Flex bracelets. It was my day, monetarily anyway.

Lee made burgers and I've been having some lovely drinks. Tomorrow morning may be a struggle.

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Sock Day

So I knit another frilly scarf for Helen's charitable endeavours. yes, she *is* that good of a friend ;)

I re-potted my ivy plant.






This plant came with my place when I moved in. It had been sorely neglected and I really didn't think it would recover. It's been in the same sad green plastic pot and had suffered my own forgetfulness. But it always comes back, seeking for the sun, growing. It's like my spirit plant.

And I did more stitching yesterday.







I can't wait to get to the flowers to add a pop of colour to the light green areas!!

I declared today Sock Day. I would've had a lot more done if I hadn't had a 4 hour nap.





I use the knitting belt to spare the waistband in my jeans/pants; even with shirt, tiny needles, I still need to anchor my RH needle. 😏though I think that anything more than about an hour is not so much a "nap" as actual "sleep"
Anyway, I turned the heel and finished the instep shaping.





I really love turning heels! Such a simple maneuver, but truly magic. It still gives me a thrill every time!!

Petey has been a naughty boy. He is a Chewer. He tears into and rips apart bedding and toys, chews them and eats the pieces. Always has. Mommy is not pleased and he shan't be getting any more knitted presents.





I know.
Thursday night he was feeling poorly. He was really throwing up, (not just bringing up a hair ball), was not eating, and was really not himself. Turns out he had eaten a length of a seam off a pair of Lee's jeans that we used as bedding and it gave him a bad turn until he pooped it out.
Chica, on the other hand, while she will tear apart toys to get the stuffing out, is quite content to just lay and gnaw on it, like a cat wool-sucking, if she's done playing with if for a bit.






Yes, the 4 hour nap has messed with my sleep schedule. I totally blame Daylight Savings Time and "Springing Ahead". Hopefully I'll get sorted out tomorrow, a day off since I worked Saturday.
Julie's package should arrive with my new project! Keenly looking forward to getting my fingers into a new yarn!!

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X marks the spot

Many, many little x's!!

The last couple of days progress.





The variegated flosses make it so easy to just keep going. Just like my passion and enthusiasm for hand dyed/variegated knitting yarns, the depth and richness of the colours in the silk is intoxicating. I truly can't get enough.

I did finish the afghan.


It is cushy, plush and the turquoise/teal contrasts nicely against the smooth, shiny leather.

I'm still working on my neon socks.


Mmmm - that pink!!!

And I just banged out a frilly scarf.


Helen knits various things for charity but loathes these scarves so I offered to knit a couple. And this brings me to this evening.
What to work on ...


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Outgoing & Incoming

So I finished Elise's sweater for XRX and it is now in the hands of UPS. This is the best picture of it that I can show you ... I can't even begin to hold a candle to Alexis' photographic skills, so I'll leave the hard work to him. Check out the documentation that they needed me to fill out - I put the same info on all 3 pages!!!

Now that that is done I'm back to China Clouds - I cast off for the LF armhole. I'm so happy to be back into this project!! The only problem is is that after working with Alsan Trends 100% alpaca, even Rowan's DK Tweed feels rough!!
Joan & I are heading to Julie's on Saturday - she has been posting so much about all of the new fall stuff that I just couldn't stand it any more!!! I'll be picking up a project using Kauni ... it'll be my first time using the yarn & I'm so exited. You know me ... anything variegated!!!

I have developed some swelling, most likely because, even though I'm sure that I have a whack more, having 7 lymph nodes removed has reduced my capacity for effective drainage. It's still not as painful as before the surgery and doesn't interfere much with my knitting, but it is seriously uncomfortable & distracting. My most trusted non-MD advisor is an RMT and she reminded me that I need to get up from my standard seated knitting position and do some moving & stretching of my arm to help encourage whatever drainage I can. To that end (and because getting up and just stretching really isn't my forte) I have dragged out the Chatelaine Mystery X (which really is no longer a mystery, but still ...) cross stitch to work on. The x-stitching motion fits the bill for arm movement that is lacking in my knitting. I'm excited to be back into this project to - like most x-stitches the picture totally does not do it justice!! I love Martina's Mandala designs!!

Tomorrow we're off to the beach - I promised Amanda and it's time to pay the piper. It's supposed to be sunny & hot so she get's to take a friend (the better to leave me to my knitting) and have fun. I can't wait to get beach pics of her - she's growing up so much. Can you believe that summer vacation is half over?!?