This mitered square sock blanket has traveled to Sweden! And, to the emergency room at least 3 times with side effects of a nasty case of c-diff bacteria. We (we, because My Husband has to do almost everything for me) are working on my second course of antibiotics (second antibiotic). I had to forgo my summer job teaching. Aargh.

Since I have been sick (and traveled while recovering), I have been working on this blanket . . . it is a just-right project that requires just enough thinking to be distracting, but not enough brain power that requires actual thinking. The square knitting becomes like making your favorite cookie recipe. It makes my tummy feel better.

In Sweden, a friend and I traveled to Uppsala, SE; to Tallin, Estonia; to Saterglantan (Insjon, SE), then to Falun, to Goteborg and on to Stockholm for our return flight. At Saterglantan, we took a short course in Natural Dying with Mia Olsson. When feeling up to it, I will post photos of my "lottery winnings" of the yarns dyed in our course. Amazing!

Oh, and I am getting mail from myself . . . yarns! LYS, will not be visiting for quite awhile.

Mending

Last week, I called The Yarnery to see if I could take the second leg of Shelly Kang's Mitered Square class. It was cancelled. Gasp. I know. I was afraid that it would be FULL. So, I printed out all of the information from Shelly's blog and started this blanket. I did not follow directions (for the first stitch and the last stitch of a row) right off, and had some whompy edges, but after re-reading, I was able to replicate Shelly's smart edge.

This whole knitting time, I have been sick with some mystery flu slash virus slash bacterial infection slash yucky stuff. So, this was really nice calm, knitting for me to do in between trips to the sink (hydration) or bathroom (un-dration). I had been sick since May 3 or so but did not start The Blanket until May 29. See why I did not follow directions so swell at the onset?

Today, I proclaimed FIGHT on this thing (not the blanket, the bug). Firstly, I appealed to God, the shaman in Peru, God some more, and for general mucho mojo. Nextly, I went to Wonder Chiropractor for an alignment. I felt like dancing afterwards. Soon following, after a series of kismit, the mucho mojo and action, I received a diagnosis with antibiotics from the medical people.

Back to the blanket--this is all left-over sock yarn of my OWN (so far). Yikes.

That's a lotta socks, sokkgirl.

Great Day for the Mail

Yesterday was a Big day in the mailbox. The Motherlode.

I received a little knitted and felted bag filled with chocolates (my favorite kind) from a delightful friend . . . it is a beautiful little pouch that I will use for necessary items (i.e., card wallet, lip gloss) and hang from my belt, I think. It is such a nice gift!
Thank you, My Friend!


And, I received TWO cards. Really special from really special people. Thank you, Really Special Friends!

And, the Norwegian Textile Newsletter came. That is a huge treat with lots of new knowledge to come when I read it.


And, this . . . a friend (teacher) that I have known for many, many years and see infrequently is kinda famous. I read the article written about his work in the Minnesota Educator newsletter. If all of us teachers put our passion into energy like his, we would probably need less money to give our kids more knowledge and valuable experiences.

All mail today was GREAT! What a warm day!

And, home sick with a "virus", all these mail senders do not even know how much this meant to my recovery . . . and feeling better.

Very nice day for gardening . . .

Today, my spinaches went to the garden. And, while I was dirty, we planted some seeds in little pots.



Parsley,
cilantro,
a sweet pepper,
some cucs
and some basil.

I tried to buy broccolli at the garden store but the woman said the register was broken, so no broccolli.

Getting Started in the Garden

My Husband made a comment about my weeding the garden--getting started on the weeding. It has been a bit chilly and windy this week, so I did not venture out for this opportunity. But, I did get to MFGC (My Favorite Garden Center) and bought some spinaches.

The two with the littler leaves are a petite spinach that I have planted for the past two years--tasty. The other with the bigger leaves are CLIMBING spinach that are supposed to produce until mid-June.

This is the beginning of a slippery slope . . .

Double Pointed

Remember when I had no 7's? I have a gazillion double pointed knitting needles. I have 0's and 1's and 2's mostly because I like to knit socks. I have metal and coated metal and bamboo and birch. They are everywhere, sticking out of everything.

So, when I had to knit some Madrona Fiber Retreat homework on size 7's, I remember bearing sub-zero winter cold temperatures in January, 2008 to walk from one retreat building down (a little hill) about 1/2 block to another retreat building to purchase a set of size 7 Cascade double pointed (bamboo) knitting needles (DPN's). I did all of this begrudgingly because 1) hand surgery had one of my knitting hands in a brace, 2) it was cold, 3) a different brand of DPN's is my preference, not the one available, 4) it was a half block, 5) it was warm inside and I had to go outside.

Yesterday, I was looking in my project stash and came across the end of a skein, AND NEEDLES that I used to make my neighbor's Umbilical Cord baby hat. Size 7' DPN's. This "baby" is 5 years old now.

And, I recently bought some size 7 DPN's to knit Maine Morning Mitts. I bought TWO sets, because I like to knit pairs sequentially and simultaneously.

I got 7's. They're comin' outta my ears.

Seeds and Chocolate

It was my B'day the other day . . . I
got these seed packets. And a little chocolate. Both from My Daughter.
There was a flurry of cards and well-wishes. Some cheese and pizza. Just a very nice day.