apr2107

Marginal
Notes:

Weather: Seasonably cold and clear. We survived Hurricane Noel on Saturday with just some high wind and rain.

Current projects:

Current Projects:
Trying to make small items for our church Christmas fair.
Struggling with Thrummed mittens.
Vest or sweater for Steve out of some gray/tan handspun. If he is a good boy and quits smoking, I'll add sleeves to it and make a sweater.
Socks for me.

My recovery seems like I take one step forward and two steps back. Some days I will feel good and inevitably attempt to do too much. I will then be sore and miserable for days after. I just allowed myself the past three days to do nothing but rest (it didn't work out that way though). I ran the vacuum around the house earlier last week after which I thought I would die. It has taken me days, handfuls of Ibuprofen and numerous icepacks to feel somewhat better from it. I must limit myself to small low impact chores. My goal today is to clean off my desk and maybe shred up old paperwork.

I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS! I want to be all better NOW!

I've been knitting small items to donate to our church fair. I thought I was too late as they normally hold it on the first Saturday of November. Seeing as I haven't been to and actual church service since Ryan was in grammar school, I was too embarrassed to call them to verify the date. But will wonders never cease? They have a website now. It appears the fair has been moved to the first Saturday in December. I can keep knitting, get my immediate gratification with the completion of small items and they may make some money off of them. Plus it will use up all of my little bits and balls of yarn in my stash.

I used to go to church every week. I was even on a couple of the committees. I used to go with Ryan every Sunday. He was small, but well behaved. I would bring a couple of small toys to occupy him in the pew. He has always been the type of kid that I could take anywhere and he would behave and not make a scene. That's not to say he wouldn't run around and play if he had the chance. He would behave appropriately for the situation. Every week would sit in a side pew by the window (so he could look out if he became bored) and quietly attend the service. But then the church membership started to grow. More families with more small children started to attend. And what would happen? These parents would send their kids over to our pew to "sit" with Ryan and his toys. Only of course they wouldn't just sit. I eventually ended up in the pew as the only adult and about 6 or 8 kids and these kids were not quiet and not necessarily well behaved. I could no longer enjoy the service as I had become an unpaid nanny. The weekly service became more of a stressful event than a refreshing one.

Then our minister retired. He had married Steve and I in 1993. The church just didn't feel the same. I followed the happenings as best as I could without actually attending service. They had a few interim ministers. They had a female minister for a while also. She was the first in the history of this congregation. Considering the early Puritan town folks formed the church in 1644, that was quite a big change. I may start attending once again soon. Now that I don't have Ryan with me, I can just sit there and be a cranky old lady.

I started a pair of child size thrummed mittens last night. I have one ball of homespun in a spunky orange pink color. I found some roving that is similar and I was using that for the thrums. I was having a grand old time knitting last night and counting and following the directions. I thought I would be able to finish the mitt and start the second one today. Then I noticed something. I was following the directions word for word. I had not started a THUMB on the mitten! The instructions for the thumb gusset were on a separate page. The initial page gave instructions to "continue these 8 rows for entire mitten". And I did. Damnit! I think they should have made a note in there that after just 6 rows, I was supposed to start the gusset. Today I have to rip back to row 6 and start the gusset. GAWD I hate poorly written directions!

That's about it for today. I really want to have my strength back.

Recently completed projects-most recent first:

	I finished the Rasta hat for Ryan	Simple baby jacket out of a rust-orange-putty type color. Sounds weird, but it's nice. It's for a woman I talk to on the phone at work but have never met. She is due to deliver in Oct. It seems like a good color for an Oct baby.
Simple blue watch cap. My doctor requested it.	Earth or Autumn color socks for me	Purple socks for Kathy
A Shetland lace scarf out of baby alpaca spun on Prudence my antique Shaker wheel.	Mittens for a woman in my unit made out of bits and pieces of yarn from the stash	Mittens for my supervisor out of some Noro I had in the stash.
Mittens for Ryanne to match the Shetland lace scarf out of the softest Merino wool	Shetland Lace scarf out of pink angora. I need to block it as it seems to have grown when I washed it. It's now about 8' long! I gave this to Ryanne's mother. She loves it.	A blue and multicolored handspun, multidirectional scarf. I gave this to Ryanne's father as a combo Christmas & birthday present.
Finished a hat out of multicolored handspun from roving I purchased at Rhinebeck last year. It's pretty shades of blues and greens. I made it for the Tamarra the temp that left work and now is in school in NH. I need to make her some mittens too and I will mail them to her.	Finished a Shetland lace scarf in greens & orange hand painted Merino from the NH Sheep show. It's for Ryanne for Christmas	Started and finished a quick multi-directional scarf out of the same green homespun for the other temp at work (Tamarra) who was leaving. She's going to school in NH so she'll need it.
Knit another hat for Ryanne. This one larger and out of green homespun. I added a few stripes of orange to make it the colors of the Irish flag. She's very Irish.	A blue hat with pink embroidered flowers and beads. I gave it to another girl at work for her toddler daughter.	Little basket weave socks for a toddler. I gave the to a girl at work for her 18 month old daughter.
A hat for Ryanne out of some blue Merino. I think it's too small though.	A homespun wool scarf in Autumn colors using a Shetland lace pattern. It's my first attempt at lace and I'm enjoying it.	Socks. Two pairs. One for me and I gave the other to Ryanne.
Made a quick scarf to wear to work out of the recycled silk I purchased on vacation.	Ryanne has the green sweater. I haven't seen it or her for a while. I have no idea what stage it is at. She was lengthening the sleeves (I have very short arms) and adding volume to the neck.	Socks. Blue & green variegated yarn. I gave them to Ryanne
Multidirectional Diagonal scarf out of brown homespun wool and alpaca. I gave it to Jack the Therapist. He didn't have a scarf.	Finished the never ending cardigan turned vest! The buttons are sewn on, I just have to make button holes and block it.	Pair of mittens for a child. They are knit out of Blue Wool-Ease from Lion Brand so they will be washable. I gave them to Chef Dave at work for his little boy Michael.
A multidirectional diagonal scarf for Dennis out of blue homespun wool.	A scarf for the scarf swap at our spinning guild made out of a mohair blend I purchased at Rhinebeck and some blue homespun wool.	Mittens for the girl who lives down the street made out of brown alpaca and a wool in autumnal colors.
Another hat for my chiropractor's baby out of multicolored acrylic..	Blue mittens to match the scarf for Ryanne	A simple gray winter hat. It's from the Border Leicester fleece that I bought last year. It's for LP for Christmas.
A turquoise blue wool and silk blend scarf for Ryanne.	Socks out of hand painted wool in lovely muted, "desert" colors. I inadvertently washed them and the wool felted. I now have slipper socks.	A grass green colored angora & alpaca simple raglan sweater
Hot pink hat for my chiropractor's baby.	A cowl from a blend of Cotswold wool and alpaca.	A glittery scarf with yarn purchased from Threadbear.
Hat for Dennis of homespun charcoal gray Corridale wool.	An ugly brown sweater for Dennis out of a mix of homespun wools. He loves it	Multicolored socks for me.