Slow Going

Yup. Recovery from two surgeries is not just slow, it's rather boring, too. I'd figured that knitting might be a challenge (it is), but had hoped to work on my crochet Summer Garden in the Snow. Well. That's really been slow going.

But in the past couple of days, I've made 3 squares.

I can crochet faster than that of course...normally anyway.

I've also managed to read a novel, and learn to use the Overdrive app on my Nook. Baby steps, right?

I go back to work for 1/2 days next week. I have a feeling it will be a real challenge to still be in this sling and also try to accomplish everything that's waiting for me in 3.75 hours a day. Hmmm?

Ten on Tuesday

Here we are again, Tuesday! And this time it's ten things I did over the weekend:

1. Was squired to My Sweetie's

2. so I could attend his cousin's memorial service.

3. visited with his family most of the day Saturday

4. and stopped by a yarn shop (Backstitches) on the way back to his place, where I didn't buy a single thing but...

5. put something on my wishlist for when I can knit again

6. drove back home that night and ran into my Sis-in-law and niece at our favorite pizza place where we had dinner

7. Sunday we drove up Bent Mountain to Floyd in the Honda del Sol with the top off

8. My Sweetie helped me in and out of the car multiple times, and it's doable, even with this ridiculous sling!

9. We drove back by way of the Blue Ridge Parkway, before he had to return home to go to work on Memorial Day (boo-hiss)

10. My Sis-in-law and niece came over on Monday and planted my two tomato plants for me - Sun Gold cherries are on their way!

Ten on Tuesday

Writing this post on my iPhone so please forgive any typos?

Ten on Tuesday this week is 10 things to bring on a picnic:
1. A red/white checked tablecloth and napkins!!
2. A wicker picnic basket with utensils, wine glasses, real plates (not paper!)
3. A cooler with food and drink
4. Wine in some form (Sangria is nice)
5. Salads: in season veggies and fruit, no mayo, creative dressings -- FRESH is the operative word here
6. Cheese. Real stuff, not processed
7. Bread: from my favorite shops locally, Wildflour & On The Rise
8. For dessert? Big homemade (the same shops) oatmeal cookies & berries.
9. My Sweetheart
10. The Honda del Sol to carry us to our favorite picnic spots (I know where his is)

All of this will have to wait a bit, as I can't get into the del Sol with my arm in this sling. Maybe by fall? And, yes, I'm still alive, on short term disability for a couple of weeks till I get past the worst of this, especially the TWO general anesthetics in 3 weeks. Does that ever drag you down!

Not Ten on Tuesday - Not This Week Anyway

I'm not someone who can speak to this week's topic on Ten on Tuesday (10 TV Mom's) as I'm just not much on watching TV (my favorite all time TV Mom is Sophia Petrillo on Golden Girls. I want to be her when I grow up - or her daughter Dorothy (really I AM her, now).

So that will have to do. I've done something really stupid and typing isn't happening these days. I may be facing more surgery, and won't know till later on today, so will just leave this entry at that.

I appreciate your good wishes, thoughts, and prayers - all kinds.

(((hugs)))

Ten on Tuesday

This week's ten on Tuesday is "Ten Reasons I Knit."

1. Knitting is my passion. It's really and truly something I can't imagine not doing (which is very interesting because this month, I mostly can't knit. And yes, it's bugging me.

2. I'm a very tactile person. I love the feel of the yarn in my hands. When I first began knitting I had no idea of the differing weights of yarn, nor of the textures. I was only in 2004, when I needed something to keep my hands busy as I sat in a booth for Nana Sadie Rose, my handbag business, that I realized knitting would help. And eyelash was the order of the day for yarn. That first year, I knit the eyelash scarves for doctors and nurses I was dealing with during a health scare, but I made enough of them that I started selling them in the booth, too...I now loathe eyelash, tho' I still have times when working with it is okay. Like for instance:

3. I'm also very much a color-person. As much as I want to touch something, I want to SEE the color variation. When I discovered sock yarns - the self-patterning ones - I was a goner. Socks have probably become my favorite project, and I don't even attempt patterns anymore. I just let the colors and variation speak in a plain vanilla pattern I've memorized. Toe-up, picot finish on the cuff.

4. Knitting is portable. I take it everywhere (socks, anyway). My sewing machine definitely isn't. That's critical, as I like being able to stay busy and creative wherever we go.

5. Gift knitting is an important part of keeping the people I love covered in warmth. Whether it's knitting a shawl, or socks, or a hat, or even a toy like the one above, gifts of handknits are an important part of my life. Not really sure that it's such a help to the budget as once it might have been, but my tastes have improved where yarn is concerned. It's less of an issue how much the gift costs as it once was.

6. I also use my knitting in my charity/good works life. I'm passionate about causes, and knitting something (like during the flooding in Vermont 18 months ago) that I know will be used makes me feel as if I'm giving part of myself. I suppose money gives of me (my time), but I do think a handknit is a more personal gift of my creativity.

7. Not long after I started Nana Sadie Rose, I was diagnosed with an auto-immune disease, and I found myself spending a lot of time in doctor's offices and having lots of tests. Knitting kept my hands from shaking, kept my mind occupied while I sat all those hours in medical facilities. It calmed me.

8. I enjoy belonging to an exclusive club. Knitters are neat people, and I enjoy everyone of the ones I know. The social aspect of our knitting groups and Ravelry, well, you just can't find that anywhere else.

9. Knitting challenges my mind. While I haven't ever and may never knit a sweater, lace knitting provides all the mental stimulation I need. Hopefully it's keeping my mind flexible, and I know that My Sweetheart may just laugh out loud at that one, especially since having surgery last week, my brain is foggier than usual - but then, you know, I'm not knitting right now, either. Hmm...wonder if there's a connection?

10. I knit because I love it. It's become a compulsion, a passion, my way to ward off loneliness, a manner of fighting boredom. It's my one true love, beyond My Sweetheart and my family. With everything knitting offers me, as long as I can hold the needles, I'll have them in my hands.

Update! Me and My Knitting, too

The stitches came out this afternoon, and the sling (which is really just another word for a piece of torture equipment) was resized, making it a bit more comfortable but still hot as h-e-double-hockey-sticks!

There will be no PT until after my 4-week visit, so June at the earliest, but I have a few very mild exercises to do, mainly to keep the elbow and wrist from freezing up. I'm starting to wonder if I have the same issue in the other shoulder or if it's *just* that I'm overcompensating and wearing it out since the other one is immobile. Hm.

Before Monday's surgery, I managed to take something off the needles that was desperately overdue for being finished. I finally finished the Blue Jazz Fest Socks (which have been renamed, since the first one was knit at the Richmond Jazz Fest last August). Here's their glamour shot (without The Tonk, who was fast asleep for a change!)

I'm slowly making progress on my huge backlog of WIPs, but for now, knitting is having to wait...at most I can get 1/2 a row on a sock. So instead, I'm trying to catch up on a bit of reading...

Ten on Tuesday

This week"s posr is 10 things I'm looking forward to in May<

1, - 10. Recovery from rotator cuff surgery! (Thank you for your prayers and good wishes!!)

Finally! Wearing O' The Green Gaenor is Finished!

I promised photos of Gaenor, blocked and I've been running 6 ways to Sunday getting to the point where I could breathe, let alone get her blocked. But last night, I managed.

So without further ado, I give you, the Wearin' O' the Green Gaenor with...

The Pot of Gold at the End of the Rainbow Corner! Yes, that's the solution we came to. My friend Anno, who I did NOT know when we went to high school together, but whom I have learned is every bit as much a passionate knitter as I (maybe more so) must be credited with this idea. She did have yarn that might have finished this shawl quite closely to the original yarn, but when she pulled out the Cherry Tree Hill mill end with the golds, yellows, purples, and russets? And suggested it might be the pot of gold? Well. You know I just had to try it.

I thought letting Karen model it as I intend to wear it would be a smart choice for a photo shoot:

My plan is to find a pin that is the POT of gold to adorn this. Remember, I don't wear green, so this will get exactly one wearing each year - on St. Patrick's Day. I think the Pot of Gold is a touch of genius!!

But I have to admit, I don't think The Tonk is too convinced, do you?

*wink*

Problem Solved!!

I'll share the results next week (I hope). It's different... *wink*

Oh, I NEED Green!

Is there anyone with anything similar to this? I need so very little: 20-30 yards at most I'd say.

I bought this at Sock Summit - 2009 - and there was supposedly enough to make Gaenor, but there's not. I'm about at the end (it's a sideways knit) and I've got probably 3 repeats to go - getting smaller as I go. (sigh)

Help?

Wow! He Let Me Drive!

It was fun, it was breezy (note the mussed hair in spite of the scarf?), but it was fun. And the little gray guy hugging the side mirror? That's Arthur Edward Armadillo. We adopted him last weekend as our mascot. He'll show up where you least expect him - at least, My Sweetheart was surprised when he realized I had him up to share the shot with me! *wink*

Ten on Tuesday

I didn't participate last week because ten jokes? Ha! I barely know one. So this week? It's Ten Things You Always Bring on Vacation...and I'm late getting this published because I've been sick with a rotten sinus infection, so without further ado:

1. My Nook - with plenty of new and fun reading material.

2. My knitting. Usually that means one semi-challenging project, like a summer shawl, and at least one pair of socks or sometimes mittens, usually colorwork.

3. Sunscreen. Whether in the mountains or the beach (which I rarely go to), there will be a constant of sunscreen.

4. Epi-pen. Because you can't leave home without it, if you're allergic to bees, and I am.

5. A swimsuit or two. Primarily because there will be a pool, or a hot tub or best yet? BOTH!

6. My iPhone: Because it's my camera, my contact with friends via Facebook (yes, even on Vacation, and maybe especially so - I have time to enjoy sharing what's up with friends).

7. Birkenstock Sandals. What ELSE would one wear on vacation? This is presuming the vacation is in the warmer time of year, or going to a warmer climate, if not.

8. A HUGE sun hat. Along with the sunscreen, as I am determined to avoid skin cancer at all costs. My favorite is a extra-large brimmed hat that has rings of color from the tip of the brim to the top of the hat. I can wear it with ANYTHING!

9. My big straw knitting basket. Purple and navy it color-coordinates with most of my wardrobe, and holds everything I need for a day at the beach, a picnic in the mountains, or a 3-day jazz festival in Maymont Park in Richmond!

10. Hmm...I don't actually PACK this one, but it's what we will be packing ourselves into to enjoy the summer travels we'll be taking, my Sweetheart and me. It's what we went shopping for last weekend in a whirlwind trip around the state, buying the car in Yorktown, then trundling up to Richmond to show it off to Sweetheart's son, and then back to Central Virginia via Charlottesville. We did a bit of shopping along the way, too, but *gasp* I did NOT buy yarn.

Oh! I forgot to tell you what #10 IS:

(And yes, I'll also be bringing headscarves, because that baby is a vintage Honda del Sol, with a Targa top (which lifts out and stores neatly above the luggage in the trunk! A convertible!)

Ten on Tuesday - Powerball!

Okay, this week's Ten on Tuesday post is about the 10 things I'd do if I won the Powerball jackpot. Hm. Well, first of all, you realize I have to buy a ticket to do that, and I've never bought one of those (just one for our little Lotto here, and only on rare occasions - I really don't believe in gambling, even tho' I know that the proceeds from this go to our educational system, which at least is a good thing). But I will play along today, since it won't cost me anything to dream!

1. Pay off debts. (Doesn't everyone say this?)

2. Buy a home. Here's a dilemma. I'm not sure if I'd buy the loft, or town/patio home, or if I'd head out to the country to buy the small homestead I've always wanted - where I could grow veggies and herbs, have the chickens. I do know what My Sweetheart would say to that - I think we'd end up with the former, rather than the latter! ;)

3. Fund my retirement and school funds for my 4 grandchildren.

4. Do something nice for my friends and family (not sure just what, but I'd try to help them with the things that are the toughest for them right now).

5. Create endowments for the nonprofits I've worked for. And probably give nice gifts to some of the others in town - I'm particularly interested in the arts, so there and public TV/Radio is where most of the "contributions" would go. I have a few kitty shelters that would benefit, too.

6. Make sure My Sweetie has the cute little sports car he's always wanted - I don't exactly know what that is, as I've heard about a few of them. But HE will know.

7. I'd think about maybe opening that yarn/book/coffee shop I've always wanted (but not sure I'd really do it...see below)

8. I'd quit my job. I know there are a lot of folks who say they wouldn't but here's my reasoning: I'm getting older, and would enjoy retiring now. I'd make sure the replacement person was in place, and get them well trained (volunteering my time), but I wouldn't just up and quit. That would open up a decent job for someone who maybe doesn't have one right now. I'd like to think that someone in need might benefit from my abdication! I'd make sure that My Sweetie could also retire now, if he wanted to.

9. I think I'd travel. I'd love to buy a little vintage camper to redo to my heart's delight, and I'd pack up the knitting, and the cats, and head on out. Sweetie is of the same mindset, I think, so we could have great fun trundling all over this country that I, for one, have never seen much of. I think I'd like one that looked like this one but I expect I'd have to rethink this if Sweetheart comes along - it's just too girly for him!

10. Mostly? I'd make sure there was enough money left that when I learned of someone in need, I could just leave the money necessary to help them out, in an anonymous way. While money doesn't answer everyone's needs, if you don't have to worry about the money, you can move on to do the things you really want to do in life.

Yup...Makin' that Move...

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