Yeah, I'm Still Alive. If Less Active Than Usual (which is saying something)

Obviously, being sick sucks. But somehow it's even less fun if you don't know what the cause of the sickness is. And this little bout has been all over the place. Allergies! A cold? A migraine? One from column A and two from column B?

Saturday, in addition to the congestion ramping up, I had a sore throat. I was functional, though, so there was that. I was pretty sure it was just allergies again, and thought so still on Sunday morning, when the throat was better but the congestion was still disgusting. Midday, though, I realized that I was, perplexingly, freezing cold, like shivering. I huddled into warm things, then got into the shower. It helped a little, but I was still cold, and also feeling incredibly tired, so I got in bed to warm up and rest. It took a while, but I moved out of freezing and then on into hot, like sweating and why am I so hot? I went to take my temperature more to show that there was nothing wrong, since that's usually how it goes: I feel warm, take my temperature, and it comes up the smallest possible amount of fever, like 99, or more often, 98 (I run below average, usually).

This time, though, it was almost 102. Well then! I kept looking at it like I must be mis-reading it, but no, apparently not. Validation and mystery all at once, because allergies and fever, not usually together, right? I spent the rest of the day going from bed to couch and back, not doing the laundry I had planned, but more sitting around in wonderment at how crappy I felt.

Monday was similar, though less feverish, 99 and 100 but nothing higher. (Clearly I did not go to work.) I managed to summon the energy to shower in the afternoon, and went to the chiropractor--one of the benefits to his office being not only in the same town, but less than a mile away. No energy to stop at the store after, but oh well, baby steps.

This morning I woke up around 3, and had trouble getting back to sleep. It felt more like an incipient migraine, though, head and stomach a bit upset. I had trouble getting back to sleep, but was up and down and asleep and awake for a bit before sleeping again. I got up around 6 thinking I'd be able to go to work, but just reading the paper and eating an english muffin were activities so tiring, I amended the hope to being able to go in later. I rested, ate something...and rested; took a shower...and rested. At that point, I accepted that resting and not pushing it too early was going to be the better plan, and let work know.

I did decide that I had sufficient energy to do some laundry, as long as I spent the intervals on the couch, you know, resting, for a change. In between every trip, I reclined on the couch, listening to hockey podcasts on the iPad (Backhand Shelf is still my favorite: any others you'd recommend?), and playing solitaire (it's a good sign that I was up to my regular level: after the recent food poisoning incident, when I was playing solitaire the day after, I had to dumb it down). Lots of resting, and a good amount of kitty snuggling.

So I now have clean clothing, including Bruins shirts which alone were half a load, it's the playoffs for heaven's sake. Have I mentioned that? Starting tomorrow night at 8 (ugh), it's the Chicago Blackhawks against your Boston Bruins! Or, at least, my Boston Bruins. I'll get to hear that nice anthem singer they have there, and then hopefully the Bruins continue the streak they've been riding: you know, the one where they play really well. I like that kind of game. It's my favorite.

The End of November

Somehow, November has flown by just about as quickly as October did. What's up with that? There are just three weeks, and three and a half weekends, until my Christmas departure. Christmas! Seriously! Wasn't it just ... well ... October?

It was, I'm sure. I was writing about trying to exercise, and how my doctor was concerned about my blood pressure being high. Remember? Of course you do. And since then, I've mentioned how I'm riding the stationary bike, hating it, but surviving it with the help of TV and especially knitting. I am here to report that I have kept it up well this month. See?

Not a lot, necessarily, but the trend is going the right way, and as my strength improves I'll be able to do more. The doctor says 30 minutes at a time is good. Ten still kills me most nights, but give it time, give it time. In the meantime, at least I have this to show for it:

About an inch to the heel. It's funny to think that I'll be able to see exactly how many knitting minutes it takes to make a sock.

Here it is in comparison to the purse sock:

Purse is slightly ahead of bike, though as it has almost a month's head start, the comparison isn't quite equal.

Speaking of the doctor, he said that the results of the cholesterol test were acceptable, and much improved from the previous one (which, since I didn't change anything in response to the first test [in May 2011] is kind of funny, but I'll take it), and my blood pressure today was still on the high side, but better than it was. He's giving me another six months to keep on fighting the good fight with the exercise thing, so we'll see how he likes things in June. Way too far away for me to worry about today (though I had a pang, making the appointment, of wondering if I'll still be at the same job then, my recent history being what it is).

Even funnier, to me, is that according to him I've lost a little weight; funny because my clothes don't fit any different, which is usually how I can tell there's been a change one way or the other. I saw him in early September; then again mid-October, when I was supposedly up four pounds; and now today, when I was down seven. Up four and down seven equals down three overall, which isn't that much, but still, weird. Makes me wonder about their scales, to be honest! Not to mention the blood pressures: I guess I really don't understand how it works, though he tried to explain it to me, because I don't see how the nurse clocked me at 120/100, then ten minutes later he got 138/86. That's just odd!

And I'm not going to worry about it. I'm going to keep biking, trying to eat better or at least not as badly as I want to, and frankly paying more attention to getting ready for Christmas. Three weeks! So much to do! I got a bunch of wrapping done the other night, and another bout like that will get me mostly done. I'm waiting for a few things to arrive in the mail, but I should be able to get to the post office in decent time for holiday arrival. I'd like to send some cards, too; perhaps I will do one tonight, so that I can say I started.

In conclusion, here is something that has no connection to anything I'm writing about. But how could I not share?

Calendar Moments, Health Thoughts

I looked at the calendar this morning and it really hit me that Thanksgiving is in three weeks. No, really, it is! Sorry if you didn't realize, but it's on the early side this year. Perhaps I should be grateful that we have ours in November, not October, the way our neighbors to the north do (any Canadians reading?): October has been such a blur, as it is every year, and when I contemplate November, well. Here it is already, ready or not.

I hope my November will be a tad less crazy than October. That doesn't seem like too much to ask for. I'm still feeling a little over-stretched today, to be honest, and though you haven't asked, I'll tell you that I haven't gone back to the Y yet. Partly their schedule, partly mine, and only a little I-don't-wanna, really.

I did go for a walk on Sunday, thirty minutes* of striding and puffing and not stopping even up a moderate hill. (I didn't bring my camera, so I wasn't able to stop for all the tempting photo opportunities; this is key for me.) And the amount of laundry I got through over the weekend made for a lot of stairs. But I know I need to get to the Y, and I should be using the stationary bike in my living room as more than a clothes hanger. I don't wanna do that either, but these last few pounds I've gained are past my tipping point, plus my doctor is displeased with my blood pressure**. Sigh. Aging sucks.
*And even after that short amount, the soles of my feet were slightly tender. I have such wimpy feet. Walking as the sole method of exercise will not work for me.

**First time I've ever had that kind of trouble, and I'd rather avoid medication if I can, I guess.

After work tonight, though I didn't get to the Y, I went to Wilson's and loaded up on healthy foods. Have to have them around in order to eat them, right? I had a salad for dinner, not a common happening for me, and it was pretty good. I also got cider, and I'm going to try it in my smoothie and see how I like that.

The cashier at Wilson's was in training, checking with the bagger for which codes to enter, and my, but it seems like a lot of numbers to learn. She would guess on some, though she wasn't usually right, but when she got to the star fruit, she said simply, "I don't even know what that is." And when my mother reads this, she will boggle at the idea that I buy star fruit, since she has a friend who gives them away by the bag from the tree in her yard, and Mum doesn't even like them! I like them well enough, for once in a while. I guess today was that day.
Another Wilson story: I was at a Starbucks recently and someone asked me if I got my bag at Wilson's. I said, "Uh, no?" before I realized what she meant, and she was right: Wilson Leather, not Wilson Farms!

Healthy food to end the day, a cleaning at the dentist to start it ... you'd hardly know it was Halloween, would you?

*****

I had an even happier calendar moment today, or rather calendar/map moment, when I was considering my trip to Webs on Nov 10th (to see Franklin Habit, yay), and realized that on the way back, I could swing in to the Wegmans in Northborough by barely going out of my way. Wooo! Wegmans! I am going to be one happy (and worn out) camper by the time I get home that night.

*****
File this one under both The Kitchen is a Dangerous Place and under I Am Amazingly Clumsy: I managed to give myself a "paper" cut on a piece of tin foil. Yes! It can be done! Without even trying, might I add. It's on the palm of my hand, halfway between the base of the thumb and the first finger. That's going to be all sorts of awkward, I can tell already.

All right, I'm going to watch the Bruins rerun on TV (god bless you, NESN) and move the clothes off the bike. Maybe I'll even ride for a few minutes!

Rhinebeck, Day One (after a short un-health update)

Well, here I am, such as I am. After having a slight headache yesterday, today I woke with a slightly stronger one, that got worse through the morning, until I had to leave work because I couldn't concentrate (on much beyond how my head hurt and my stomach was rolling, anyway). Funny how an editor needs to have her brain to work!

I came home, got in bed with a blanket wrapped around my head and a purr-ball by my side, and dozed for a few hours. Got up around 4 with the head much improved, but the stomach still crazy-upset. My system is weird, right? I've tried a ginger ale and some Tums, but it's still rock-and-rolling down there. At least the head is better! I hope that lasts. Meanwhile, I am making hay while the sun shines, so to speak. Let's talk about Rhinebeck! I don't have pictures of Sunday's haul yet, but we can cover some ground with what I do have.

As always, it's a short trip with a lot crammed in, and so is a little stressful for me. That said, it's wonderful, and I can't imagine I'll ever not want to go. We did talk about going up Friday afternoon one year, to have time to look around the area since it's so beautiful, so we'll see if next year is that year.

Saturday morning I drove to the house of the friend who borrowed her sister's van so we could road-trip it. She's a very experienced, knowledgeable, and fearless knitter, so we'll call her the Wise One. I left my car there (since overnight on-street parking is allowed where she lives), and we went to pick up the others in our party: first, a New Knitter who we had lured into coming with our tales of Rhinebecks past; next, a knitter who belongs to our stitch and bitch group on Ravelry though she Never Comes to Meetings, and who we'd only met when she joined us for the North Shore yarn crawl a few years ago; and finally, Wise One's niece, who I think is 13, and who came last year as well. She's a nice kid, but with an appalling amount of energy (more on that later). Then we were away!

We left the final pick-up around 9:30, and arrived at the festival around 1 o'clock. The drive was pleasantly uneventful, with the foliage still beautiful though past its peak. I ate my lunch sandwich early (since part of the fun of being a grown-up is that you can eat your lunch at 10 if you want to), and then took my turn of driving the second half of the trip. And you know where my first stop was:

Hooray for The Fold! Look at all that Socks That Rock, and that's just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. Wowza. I had some fun there (Saturday and Sunday, in fact, but let's stay chronological).

I had a commission from another knitting friend who couldn't come this year (giving the lame excuse of a 25th anniversary trip, whatever), and asked me to get her a skein. I've talked up my STR love so much that she recently decided to try it herself, but the skein she got was mediumweight, and when the socks started coming out too large, she decided to give them to her father (who loves the socks she knits him) and get another skein for herself. I was able to find a skein of lightweight in a similar color to the one she got and liked, so let's hope it will do for her.

I met Drin while I was there, which was fun: I was telling Niece that the button that I'd picked up with the mushroom on it (picture to come) was for the designer, Mushroom Knits, and how she's the designer of my all-time favorite sock pattern, and she was right behind us! We talked about her patterns (which were why I went back Sunday), and she showed me how her Ribbed Mitts pattern looks with yarn held singled versus doubled, as well as with and without a thumb. Cool!

And for me? Two skeins of the lightweight:

Then I got a skein of mediumweight, in a nice teal, for the fingerless mitts. Drin's pattern!

After that? Well, it's a happy blur of yarns and yarn things and yarn people, who are by and large very happy with where they are. I only experienced two not-happy people the whole weekend. The first was on Saturday: I was in line to pay for some yarn, and the woman behind me was a total crab, muttering about how the women at the front of the line were "having a coffee hour" and should "just go on the internet for lessons", presumably instead of talking to the woman from that booth. I can't comprehend how you can stand there with your arms full of wonderful yarn and be so cross! I said something about how I'd only been there for an hour, so I was still excited about it, and she said that she'd only been there an hour, but she was fed up and had decided to get some yarn and go. Huh!

[The second woman was in a different booth; I'd seen her talking to another customer, and thought she worked there, but when I asked her to be sure, she gave a very short, "Yes." So I asked her how much the lovely skein of 100% cashmere was, and she snapped, "Eighty-five dollars," as though I had criticized her mother. So, you're working in a booth that doesn't price the yarn, either on the label or with a posted list, so people have to ask, it's really nice and therefore expensive, and this is how you treat someone who might give you money? Well, guess what, honey, I can afford your yarn, but I choose not to. Thanks anyway.]

Back to Saturday! I had a wonderful wander through a lot of the booths, without feeling the pressure to see everything; hooray for being able to go both days. At one point, I stepped aside for a little out-of-the-crowd time; the area that on Sunday was to be crammed with people watching the punkin chuckin' was quiet and lovely Saturday afternoon.

And as long as I was there, I took some pictures of the yarn so far:

Specifically, the STR that you already saw above, and... a skein of Sock Dream from the Periwinkle Sheep:

I'm hesitant about the color, since knitting in dark yarns really needs good light, but by the time I got to the booth*, it was this or purple, and I think I would wear dark grey socks more than royal purple ones. This is the same yarn that I got last year, with birthday money from my grandmother; it has 10% cashmere, and I really love the socks I made with it. Possibly not the most sensible fiber to use in socks, but really, nothing about hand-knitting socks is that sensible.
*I guess next year, this should be my second stop!

Then there's some lovely blue sock yarn from the vendor that I see at Apple Festival and at Rhinebeck.

I saw this skein before I could reach it, and I knew it was meant for me when a customer nearer to it reached out a hand and I panicked, thinking she was going for it. She wasn't, and I grabbed it as soon as I could. Mine! Blue, soft, and again, 10% cashmere.

There was a non-sock yarn purchase, as well. When I saw this one, I told the woman that she couldn't have dyed it better for me if she knew me. My colors!

There were two skeins, and I took them both (thank you again, mama, for the birthday money!). They're half tencel and half merino, wholly soft and completely lovely.

Wait, I forgot a sock yarn! And yes, another that's, say it with me, 10% cashmere. This one is a new brand to me, from Bittersweet, a line called Glamour Gams.

So squishy soft. Love. And also love this, a little project bag for carrying my sock around in. A little variety soothes the soul.

Photography finished, I took out the sock to work on it a little, which is also soothing. Here's where it was.

Wide stripes are a fun change. This is Felici from Knit Picks. A few rounds, and I was good to go on. I liked this building:

And was so stunned by this man's hair that I had to Kinnear him. Is that all one dreadlock?

It really seemed as though it was. Whoa. Just, whoa.

Now, some lovely mittens on display:

I love that poem.

That's it for festival photos on Saturday, but I did get some pictures of the fun menu at the Eveready Diner, where we had dinner (and breakfast, but I'm getting ahead of myself).

I think I will leave you there for now, as NESN, god bless them, has another Quest for the Cup 2011 game on tonight, and it starts shortly. I heated up a chicken pot pie that I hope will settle my stomach down, and since that's ready too, I believe I will take the hint and get off the computer.

Coming soon: Sunday at Rhinebeck!

Something to Tide You Over

I'm pretty tired tonight:

•  I'm finishing up a bunch of laundry, which involves many stairs, and tonight also involved some flooding and a malfunctioning washer; lifting clothes out of water and wringing them out is surprisingly tiring, if you've never had the experience and were wondering. 
• I have cramps, and a partial headache probably caused by them, though also possibly influenced by the weather system pushing its way through (Severe! Thunderstorm! Watch! proclaims the weather channel).
• I spent much of the day quasi-working, on the editing test from the 2PIC. I'm out of the practice of work. Brain cramp!
• Also, Carlos has the random meows tonight, and he is Driving Me Crazy. Apparently I am not spoiling him to his satisfaction tonight. Brat.

So! Watch this instead! Cats playing tetherball, how can you go wrong?

Cranky and Whiny

Ow.

While I remain, when I think of it, very grateful not to have cancer (and thank you all for the good wishes), there's no denying that, 28+ hours after the event, the continual soreness has worn on me. I actually have a bruise coming up, about where the hand goes over the heart for the pledge of allegiance, as well as a general ache throughout the quadrant. Perhaps someone snuck up on me and punched me in the shoulder blade, armpit, and breast ... that's rather what it feels like.

The effects on my temper have not been good. Combined with the gray, chilly, rainy weather today, nothing has pleased me. I don't want to go anywhere, but I don't want to stay in. I don't want to read, or knit, or watch TV, or throw in a movie. I picked up the second season of Glee from the library yesterday, and I'm just not in the mood. For anything.

I did finish the mitts I was knitting, having last night got them to almost-done before dropping a stitch and losing my temper so spectacularly that it's amazing I stopped myself before breaking a needle, or five. I am moderately pleased with them. They fit well--they're almost snug--and seem like they'll be warm. Have to get someone to take a picture of them on my hands, but for now here they are.

The bamboo pattern in bamboo yarn continues to amuse me.

But then I wandered around Ravelry trying to decide what to knit next. Couldn't find a thing that I wanted to make and had the yarn for (and believe me, I have yarn). Eventually I decided to make another Wingspan, using the Manos yarn my mother found for me, which should make a nice (non-dirt-showing) shawl for a chilly workplace, assuming I end up in another one of those. Why, no, I haven't heard anything from the 2-phone-interview company, why do you ask? I did learn this week, though, that my previous employer had another round of layoffs in March, and both my boss and two of my compatriots were let go, among others. Can't imagine how the remaining editors will get the work done, but perhaps there just isn't that much work left? Don't ask me.

One more note from yesterday, before I went in, when I still had something of a sense of humor. I went to get dressed yesterday and picked a t-shirt that tickled my fancy, given the circumstances.

Forgive the in-the-mirror reversal, but I assume the Gorey-savvy among you will recognize the Gashlycrumb Tinies. (And if you don't, poor thing, what you've missed.) And the back:

I wore it under a long-sleeved layer, yesterday's weather being much like today's, so no more sensitive person would have seen it (you don't want to flash your gravestones around the Breast Care Center), but it made me feel better going in.

Coming out, of course, I had a whole new appreciation for why wounded animals lash out even at those trying to help them, but then you'd probably picked up on that, hadn't you?

Good News! (No, not job-related)

I am so very, very relieved to say that the follow-up to the mammogram cleared up whatever questions they had about the first one. That's it, thank you, see you next year!

However, my gratitude will have more enthusiasm when my left chest stops hurting. Oh my god, that was one of the most painful experiences of my life. If you've ever had a mammogram, you know it's highly uncomfortable to have your breast pressed between two plates, while you stand awkwardly almost on tiptoe and are told to relax. I knew this; it wasn't my first time at the rodeo, as they say, and after all I was just there last Saturday. Ow, I know, right?

This time, though. This time, in addition to several more shots like that (some preceded by a phrase I never heard before, never want to hear again, and did not find the slightest bit helpful in any way*), she took several shots with a smaller top plate, which pushes down in a much more concentrated way, and I was actually in tears by the end, standing trying not to cry, or even breathe hard. If I could have laughed, I would have on that last shot, when she told me to hold my breath, and I was already holding it in the effort not to start sobbing.
*"I'm going to twist your breast now."

Ow, in other words. Holy hell, ow. And two hours later, while the red marks on my skin had worn off and things looked normal, they felt more like ... well, I felt like this, only in the armpit instead of knee, if you can stand a graphic photo (it's from a recent hockey blog, and you shouldn't look if you have a low pain threshold).

Also, how is it that I bump my breast on everything? My arm brushes it, I graze it on doors, I lean forward on the table at the computer... I'm trying not to do much of anything that requires effort or strength on the left side, including breathing, though my left lung does not seem to have received that memo.

Ow.

My response, once I got past the initial sniffles, and the wanting to curl up in a protective ball and not move for a while, was to proceed with my planned stop at Target. I hit a Starbucks on the way, and at Target I bought what I'd planned and some junk as well. Some people drink through pain, but my self-medication takes the form of Jelly Bellys and Ben & Jerry's. Whatever works for you, right?

Ow, ow, ow. I wonder how many times I will wake in the night because I turned onto my left side?

Fortunately, as long as I don't lean left, I can still knit. So away I go.

Tuesday: Appointments, Knitting, Bonus Cat

Within 24 hours, I visited the dentist, the eye doctor and optician (they work together, and in fact are father and son), and the hairdresser. Exhausting! No big problems, thankfully.

• The dentist used all his fancy hi-tech tools to take pictures of my teeth, and check suspicious ones for decay, before sending me off with a cheerful "See you in October!"
• The eye doctor, a new one to me and rather painfully young, applied his own high tech tools all over, and was pleased with my eyes generally. The optician is concerned* with the one trouble spot on my cornea, a spot he has been watching for twenty years, no exaggeration. (We're going to try a new type of contact lens to see if that helps.) Otherwise, though, my corneas apparently look like I don't even wear contacts, which by his tone is the highest praise. I like to hear the word flawless in a checkup, though corneas are not an area I'm particularly vain about. But I am fond of vision.
• And the haircut was fine. She tidied the part of my bangs that went over-long last time, and I feel a little less scraggly, which is always good. And I also learned that the Tall Ships will be in Boston this summer for the bicentennial of the Constitution (the ship, not the document), which sounds pretty cool.
  

*Poor John, he sounded like it was a personal affront. His family gave me my first glasses when I was 7, and he is officially in charge of my eyes, so I sort of like how seriously he takes it, while maintaining his sense of humor (he didn't even make a token protest when I pointed out that he is never allowed to retire).

In craft news, I did also go to that other stitch and bitch last night, and it was a good-sized group (two of whom I already know), and a lot of fun. I almost finished the third tulip there, but put the final touches on it at home. Then this morning, I did a half-assed crochet garland, thus:
And wrapped it around the flowers in a pot I had. Looks pretty cute!
If I do say so myself. More to the point, I think Grandma will like it, and for the 98th birthday of the woman who taught me to knit, it seems fitting tribute.

Finally:

Yes, I'm laying on the cardboard-for-recycling. And your point is?

Updates, All Sorts

Health Update: I am feeling a lot better than I have been recently. I still have some extra congestion, and since this started two weeks ago, perhaps it really is allergies and not a cold, but whatever the reason, I'm not coughing much, and only needing cough drops when my throat gets dry.

Walking Update: Like when I go for a walk, which I did yesterday and again today. I always tuck a tissue in my pocket when I go for a walk, but these days I need cough drops, too. Also, my feet are very unhappy tonight, sore and almost blistery on the balls of my feet. What kind of super-smooth socks do I need for walking in? Distances of two or three miles shouldn't leave me hobbling. I've tried a couple of different sock types, not just my hand-knits, but it's not working. Maybe I should ask in a sporting goods store.

Weather Update: I don't regret it even so, for we are having ridiculously good weather here these days, and one simply must get out in it! As in, around 80 yesterday and today, and forecast for more of the same tomorrow and Thursday. I love it! Now, it's dropping after that, as you can see by the 10-day forecast:
But no one in their right mind* could complain about this nice weather in March.
*By which I mean, of a like mind to me. I know there are people who find this too warm, or unnatural, or something. I don't care, they're crazy, I love it!

Coffee Update: A couple of days ago, I thought my morning coffee tasted a bit funny. I was trying a new flavor, so the next morning I tried the old kind, and something was still off. I looked at the ingredient list of the cocoa I just bought. It's the same kind I've been using, plain old Swiss Miss, but [danger, danger!] it's New & Improved! And do you know what it has now? Sucralose. I swear I can taste that in anything, and not in a good way. Ugh. Waste of money, and of cocoa unless I can find someone who wants it. Yuck. I bought more cocoa today, store brand, checked the ingredient list carefully first. We'll see how that tastes. So complicated, isn't it?

Knitting Update: I managed to go ten days from finishing the Wingspan scarf with only my socks to knit on. In a strange corollary, I've made terrific progress on the socks. Go figure! The first one is done, the second past the heel and moving along the foot. Tonight, though, the lure of all this fabulous new yarn was too much for me. I've just cast on another Wingspan, this one to be larger due to using a heavier yarn. Two yarns, in fact, as I'm planning to alternate triangles of the Noro Cash Iroha and the Colinette Iona that have made a home with me recently. We shall see if the reality works as well as it does in my head.

Cat Update: Carlos continues to be super-cute. He has enjoyed having more open windows the last few days, since apparently things smell different out of the others than his usual window. Or something.

It's a cat thing. You wouldn't understand.

Hockey, Brief Health Gross-Out, Then Yarn

Sometimes you read something that's so bad, it's truly funny.

The local sportsradio station WEEI has a blog for the Bruins, called the Big Bad Blog after the Bruins' nickname of the 70s (they were referred to as the Big Bad Bruins in those days). After each game, they post about it, summing things up under the headings WHAT WENT RIGHT FOR THE BRUINS and WHAT WENT WRONG FOR THE BRUINS. As you can imagine, these days there's been far more wrong than right, and after last night's game, they got straight to the point, listing several wrongs before getting to the heart of it:

WHAT WENT RIGHT FOR THE BRUINS

– The months of November and December.

Exactly! Ow, but funny just the same.

*****
I am so, so congested. And while I know that when these things become (ahem) "productive" that's a good thing, in the "better out than in" sense, it is so amazingly disgusting, I can hardly express. And that's all I'll say about that, except that I was thinking today of fashioning a belt of some sort that would have a box of tissues on one side and a trash bag on the other, so I would have the needed supplies at hand at all times.

*****
I have another yarn-bargain to report. Like last time, it was at Savers, and can I say that I've never before found good yarn at Savers? When I've looked, there's either been nothing, or nothing but basic crap. But I found alpaca last time, and this time? Well.

Four pretty skeins. This picture is a little lighter than they look in person, but it's a very nice blue, and you know how I am about blue.


They were individually bagged, and at $2.99 each, not the super-deal that I got last time, two skeins for only 99¢. But I saw this label peeking out:
Noro, if you're not aware, is a Japanese company renowned for their wonderful colors. I haven't worked with Noro before, since I find their wools very scratchy. In this case, though, I saw from the other side of the label that this type, a discontinued line called Cash Irona, might be different.
Can you read that? It's 30% wool, 10% nylon, 40% silk, and 20% cashmere.

Whoa.

This photo is probably the best for color. I just wish you could touch it. Not scratchy in the least.

So, what shall I do with 400 yards of aran-weight yarn? That's just shy of bulky. Any ideas?

The Health Details Get a Little Gross; Then Yarn!

(Yes, I do have to talk about the gross stuff. Feel free to skip below the line of stars for safe yarn talk.)

Sorry to have missed posting yesterday. Most of my thoughts revolved around how bloody sick I am of this throat/coughing thing. Then I got a bit of a headache in the afternoon, which fortunately subsided enough to allow me to go out and meet some knitters in the evening, but then got bad again after I got home (what's up with that?). I got to sleep, but was awake around 2AM with the throat/cough, headache, and upset stomach making me truly miserable, particularly since every coughing fit triggered intense head pain. This morning, medication has tamed it at least temporarily, though I'm carrying a tissue with me and the cats are being treated to a regular chorus of cough-cough-hack-spit, "gross-gross-gross!" from me. Unbelievably disgusting.

You're welcome.

***************
Back in January, I posted about some mystery yarn, and I don't think I ever updated. Remember this?

I took it in to stitch and bitch, where two of my fellow knitters were of the opinion that it might be Manos, which is a reputable brand I'd heard of but never worked with. "Interesting!", I thought, then promptly put the yarn aside and forgot all about it.

Until I was in a yarn store last week (where, in an amazing feat of willpower, I did not buy anything), and saw this:
Looks startlingly similar! Enough that I put it on my Ravelry stash page thusly.

And, mother? That would mean that the retail value of what you brought is about $65. Quite a deal!

Health Update (in lieu of knitting update)

More and more, as I get older, my biggest symptom when I'm sick is that I sleep. Enormous, copious amounts of sleep. It may seem odd to call it a symptom, but that's how I see it. I wonder if it's due to my body fighting off the germs, and sucking up all my available energy to do it?

The latest example started last night. I got to sleep using a combo of unisom and a throat drop (non-medicated/herbal-type cough drop, my usual preference), but in the night I started coughing again, waking up with my throat already raw from it. A throat drop did nothing, but I dug out a lone medicated cough drop rattling around the bottom of the drawer, and that stopped the cough enough for me to get back to sleep.

The alarm went off at 8, since this morning was the day for my friend's baby to be dedicated*. I hit the snooze and dozed, coughing, for a little while, but soon got up with an unrelenting cough. Not wanting to go to the ceremony and spoil it for others by coughing all the way through it, I turned on the computer to send regrets, then went straight back to bed. The cough seemed to diminish, leaving me feeling guilty as I fell asleep again.
*I really wanted to go to that, damn it.

Clearly I needed it, though, because when the cough woke me again, it was almost three hours later! And not overflowing with energy even then. I had to have a bowl of cereal* before I had the energy to go down for the paper (one of those rare times when I wish I lived at ground level).
*If you're a caramel fan like me, have you tried caramel Cheerios? Technically Dulce de Leche. I do not recommend. The taste does not strike me as caramel, just as ... odd.

In any case, I think the knitting update will wait until tomorrow, when I will (please god) have more energy, and potentially even coherence! I hope, I hope. And possibly I will also sound more like myself and less like Kathleen Turner (who has a lovely throaty sound that I am normally nowhere near). Cross your fingers?

Somewhere In Between

I'm not completely sick, but neither am I well. I've been dragging around today, sometimes with the energy to knit*, other times not. I'm still ahem-ing, and coughing a bit, but though I feel feverish the thermometer does not bear me out. Not well, but not truly sick. Still, it's nice to have nothing that Must Get Done when I'm in this state.
*That's one of my personal Signs of True Sickness, not having the interest in or energy to knit.

Also, I might not be doing even this well without a super-long night's sleep: I was in bed shortly after 7 last night, read for a few minutes before turning out the light, and while I didn't fall instantly to sleep and didn't sleep all the way through (some vivid dreams, boy), I didn't get up until after 9 this morning. Sleeve of raveled care, partially knit.

So that's about it. Not much of an entry, but it's more than yesterday, so hopefully that trend will continue.

I Have a Bad Feeling About This

Last night, I had a bit of a tickle in my throat. Nothing painful, and not a full-on cough, just something that had me clearing my throat a lot. It wasn't gone this morning, and now I'm starting to feel ... not quite right. No cold symptoms per se, but I'm slumping down, and getting ready for bed at 7 PM, which is not my usual bedtime by several hours. Maybe I'm wrong, or maybe it, whatever it is, will be short-lived, but if things get quiet around here, you'll know why.

Cramps. So Look at the Pictures!

I'm happy (I guess) to say that I didn't miss posting yesterday due to a headache. I mean, I am happy, I AM, that I don't have a headache. But cramps aren't a barrel of laughs either, and I've been kind of lolling around the house the last day or so.

I did go out yesterday! I went and met Mary Ellen for some knitting and conversation. I was working on the bunny baby blanket, and I finished knitting the body after I got home last night. Just some tails and it will be done!

I'm quite pleased with how it's come out. So often one imagines something that doesn't turn out quite how you planned ... but this one is good. And almost done.

I also stopped in the library to pick up some requests that had come in. The woman sitting at the desk was talking to someone as I got there (another employee leaving, I think), and the other woman behind the desk brought a stack of books up to her at the check-out, which I didn't really think much about until it turned out they were my holds--the second woman had recognized me and got my books! As I told them, if I'm going to be known by sight anywhere, it figures that it's the library.

Other news: I got a hyacinth at Trader Joe's the other day. A little spring in the house, for only $2.49. Smells wonderful.

This was on Tuesday; it's already blooming more. Maybe there will be sunlight to photograph it in tomorrow.

Another TJs find:
They're not quite grapes, not yet raisins. Sort of chewy ... I like them, anyway, and you know how rare it is for me to say that about something that doesn't involve chocolate or caramel.

The babies yesterday, playing footsie:

And my buddy tonight. Big paws are helpful for keeping light out of your eyes.

He slept on my lap for hours this afternoon, until I had to roust him and go to the bathroom. My energy levels today have been very well suited to being on the couch, with the TV, and knitting.

I started the Baby Surprise Jacket. So far, so fun!
I think I'm headed back there now. There's only so much sitting up I feel like doing. Slumping suits the day.

Feeling Bearish (Bruinish, that is)

I'm feeling brief and bullet-point-ish this evening.

• The Bruins are up 3-0 after the first period. They won last night 6-1. This is a fun time to be a Bruins fan.
• The NHL 36 program on Bergeron was nothing groundbreaking (ooh, he's a lefty), but I still enjoyed watching it. He's such a nice guy--and such a great player. And he's only 26! He could play for years and years more! (Knock on wood, already.)
  
• I've had an upset stomach most of the day (along with a bit of a headache). I had some saltines and ginger ale when I got home, but right now I'm at that uncomfortable intersection between hungry and "what will stay down?"
• The second period started while I was writing--and Bergeron scored. 4-0! Seguin adds an assist to his first-period goal! Ahhh.
• I picked up the Patricia Briggs book I mentioned from the library tonight--and left it in the car so I wouldn't start it tonight and be up too late with Can't Put It Down Syndrome. Once in a week is enough to miss sleep over even a good book. (I couldn't get it from the library tomorrow: the library closes at 5 on Friday nights, which makes me nuts.)
• Whoops, 5-0! Calgary's coach is about to go postal. I didn't realize I was live-blogging this game.
• I'm finishing up the sock that I started Christmas eve. The second one of the pair will probably take a lot longer!
• Achoo! My nose still hurts.
• 6-0! It's not even five minutes into the second! I've got to go watch this game!
  

All the news that's fit to print!

Go Bruins! The Bergeron, Sore Nose, Patricia Briggs Entry

My brother has a t-shirt that says, "Can't sleep, clowns will eat me" repeating several times in ever-smaller type*, and that's what went through my head as I thought about blogging tonight, and felt slight panic: "Can't blog, Bergeron's on TV!"

*I did a brief web search and found manymanymany options, none of which look exactly like his shirt. Since I don't want to buy one anyway**, I'll leave it there. If you want one, you have a lot to choose from.
**If you're shopping for me, I'd rather have a Don't Blink one, perhaps like this, which combines the Doctor Who saying with the Keep Calm trope. Or, of course, Keep Calm and Carry Yarn, like this one. Not that I'm asking you to buy me a shirt. (XL.)(Just kidding.) Moving on.

My favorite Bruin (as I've said often and often), Patrice Bergeron, was the first (I think)* subject of an NHL special called NHL 36, which follows an NHL player for 36 hours. (NHL NHL NHL!) It's on at 6:30! I have to watch!

*First I cared about, anyway. Proudly biased.

Well, wait, I then realized. I could always blog after the show, while half-watching the pre-game (the team's on the road tonight, so instead of the usual 7 o'clock start, it's at 7:30). The game tonight's not on the local station, NESN* (so it won't even be "my" guys), it's on the NBC Sports Network, the new name for Versus, which used to be the Outdoor Life Network/OLN, and who knows what they'll call it next. "NBC Sports Network" doesn't exactly flow trippingly on the tongue, does it?

*Though actually NESN still does a pre-game, so I don't have tune out the national guys for this half hour (though I'll still half tune out the locals). The game will be enough of them. I like Jack and Brick.

And what topic compels me to blog at all? Well, good question. Nothing earthshaking, really. My nose hurts, and I'm reading a good series. Let's go from ridiculous to (relatively) sublime, shall we?

Continued Less-Than-Perfect Health
Or: Achoo--Honk--Ow
My poor nose. I've taken out large bags full of trash twice since I got sick, and I swear each was three-quarters used tissues. I'm sneezing a bit today, still rather congested, and thus still extra blowing. My nose hurts.

On the other hand, I'm glad I had plenty of Puffs in the house when I got sick.

AND enough cat food! It was a close thing whether I'd have had "enough to get past the trip" or more than, and it would have sucked if I'd run out on Thursday. Or Friday. Or Saturday.

I'm also grateful that my mother spent part of last Tuesday doing some of my laundry, so I'm not all behind and searching for clean clothes this week. Thanks again!

Reading Again. Or Still. Are You Surprised?
The author is Patricia Briggs, whose work I first encountered in an anthology last fall. I picked up Down These Strange Streets (from the library, of course) based on its Charlaine Harris story, but went through to see if anyone else appealed to me, author-wise. Some stories I didn't finish, some I finished and wasn't interested enough to delve deeper into, but I liked the story by Patricia Briggs, so I got (again through the library) the first of her books in the related series. I liked it, and have now worked my way up to where the next one I get will be my last catch-up title, and I will be (gasp) reduced to waiting for her to write more. Oh, the horror! And, more practically, to trying some of her other series to see if I like them as much (happily, she has many other things to try).

This series features Mercy Thompson, an independent woman and auto mechanic who happens to be a shifter, meaning she turns into a coyote. She was raised by werewolves, so they're all over all the books, plus there are vampires in some books and fae in others (sometimes both in the same). The human characters too are plentiful and well-developed, and the relationships between all of the above are complex and real and may surprise you.

There are a lot of books out there with supernatural creatures, and while I haven't read them all I've tried more than a few. I was thinking last night that Patricia Briggs may have edged out Laurell Hamilton in my preferences; I've read Laurell's Anita Blake books for years, but as the series gets yet more violent and yet more sexual, I get yet less comfortable with reading them, and stopped buying them a few back. Mercy has much-less-detailed/graphic sex, and less-detailed and in-depth violence, which I find more to my tastes.

Also, Briggs writes well, and very ... thoughtfully, I want to say. She doesn't cut the easy corners. Mercy and her I-won't-spoil-it-for-you love interest like each other (it isn't purely physical attraction, though there's that too), and they understand each other. In the last one I read, she tries to apologize to him after something went wrong, and he points out that she wouldn't have done anything different, she had her reasons, and it didn't call for an apology. He's not happy about it, but points out that she is who she is. (What, no pointless misunderstanding?) Not that he's not upset ... he does some damage to the office, but not to her. I don't know; it felt refreshing. I like their relationship. I like that she doesn't run away from problems, but tries to address them, fix them. She's practical, and she feels real.

Even when she shifts into a coyote. No one's perfect.

Now, the game's started, so I'll leave it at that.

Still Tired, Slight Improvement, Look at Yarn

Gradually, my health improves. Today a friend came over for a belated Christmas, and I also left the house. No, I did! I went to the grocery store! It was great!

So I may still be slightly lightheaded. But I felt like I was safe to drive, and it's nice to have fresh supplies around the house. Such as vitamin C, of which I ran out on Christmas weekend (aka, about three days before I was felled by this bug). I swear, I kind of don't believe it helps with colds, but every time a bottle runs out, I get sick. Every. Single. Time. So, back on the C!

I did decide, reluctantly, that I'd better play it safe and not go out again, which meant no stitch and bitch tonight. I did want to go, but I'm still very tired, and I need to go to work tomorrow. So in lieu of that, I'll share some yarniness here tonight.

My mother suggested that fingerless gloves might be nice for when her arthritis is bothering her. I whipped this pair out in no time:


And was emboldened to try another pair as well:


If you are paying attention, you might see that this photo does not technically show a pair. The other hand is half done. Such is Christmas with a knitter! I'll finish the other soon.

In other knitting, I made a cowl and wristwarmers for my friend:


And in knitting for myself news, I finished the second of this pair on Christmas eve:


And immediately started the next pair. Due to the therapeutic power of knitting during a wonderful but overpowering Christmas day, I was past the heel before night fell. I started the toe today.

Santa also brought knitterly presents. For a start, my cousin got me a GC to my nearest LYS, which cracks me up as she is in PA (the powers of the internet!), and my grandmother gave me a check in a card in which (after the pre-printed "To wish you a joyous Christmas and Happiness throughout the coming year") she had penned "and lots more yarn". Smart woman!

My dear brother went into a yarn store in SF, and told me that when he was questioned about his knitter by the woman there, he told her that "She goes to Rhinebeck." Clever boy! He came out with this fun pattern book:


And this lovely yarn of many colors:


So both giving and receiving went well, yarnwise (and otherwise, but I'm yarn-focused tonight).

In other news, Carlos would like you to give thanks with him for the turkey breast I brought home from the store. (It's not all for him, but he doesn't know that.)


He's been a very comforting presence during my illness. Such a good boy deserves some poultry.