Wow. We’re getting kind of close to the end of the year. These last two weeks just kind of flew by for me as I spent most of them either 1) asleep or 2) knitting. That’s right. I am drowning in knitting projects, dreaming of color, yearning for more yarn, and pretty much out of control. My two autoimmune diseases, Sjogren’s and systemic sclerosis, also decided to be out of control for several days as I slipped into a flare, loaded up on more drugs, and spent days in bed mindlessly listening to audiobooks that I can’t remember now and watching television that I normally would never consider… last Sunday the idea of a shower was so exhausting that I just stayed in bed all day and watched Russian figure skating. I don’t want to brag or anything, but this may have been an historic low for me… if I end up watching monster truck demolition derbies I will definitely have hit bottom…
In the meantime I have been making lists of things to do in my journal. Good heavens, I am going to need a few more weeks in the year. On the other hand, since we are talking about 2020, it is probably best to just hustle it right out the door as soon as possible and ignore the list!
Anyway, I magically emerged from the flare early this week and I’m back to knitting like crazy and dreaming of new color combos to put together some additional projects. Maybe I ordered some more yarn too. Hey, things are getting crazy out there is Covid-19 land, so best to stock up, right?
Knitting
The next knitting MAL that will be run by Sharon from Security (Casapinka‘s poorly paid and overworked staff member who is currently outraged about the mouse that ran through the palace in an episode of The Crown and is also hiding out from the ringworm that has been brought into the house by a newly acquired staff member joining the Casapinka operation… ) is the highly anticipated Secret Life of Cats (and dogz). I have the yarn, I bought the pattern, and I am waiting with great anticipation for the first instructions to drop on December 1st. Oops. That is like… NEXT TUESDAY!!! I am in the middle of Slipstravaganza (Stephen West), and it is growing into an absolute monster. Must. Knit. Faster.
I am just driven to get this shawl done. I absolutely love the way the colors and textures are working out as I knit the shawl. I did hang back on this project and waited for other people to knit and show theirs off before I cast on; the final product is just stunning and I am motivated to get as much done as I can before Secret Life arrives next week. I don’t think that I will get it all done in time, but hopefully I will be into the final clue soon. It is now too large to show off well on the needles so the big picture will have to happen after I get it all cast off. I understand that the cast off takes about 5 hours… this is the dark side of getting into a MKAL with a lot of other chatty and supportive knitters. 🙂
Meanwhile I did get a few other things done in the knitting world. I finished up my socks made with Hue Loco yarn (colorway Elixir) and wound up the yarn for the next sweater that I want to make. Oh. About that sweater. I am going crazy with the color combos. I wound the yarn that I first chose, and then decided to switch to a warmer fall colored pinkish yarn. Sigh. What do you think?
The sweater is Solvi by Jennifer Steingass, and that picture to the left is her copyrighted photo that I swiped off Ravelry. The soft black yarn will be the sweater body, and the blue Hue Loco was my first pick for the contrast, but I’m thinking that I will be a lot happier with the pinkish Six and Seven Fiber yarn on the far right. The pinkish yarn is called “Forever September” which kind of clinched the deal for me. Best time of the year, right?! All inputs gratefully accepted on my color choices. I also have a fabulous red yarn with black flecks that could be used. I’m drowning in color decisions, people!!
I almost forgot to show off the socks. Here they are… Tada!!
Garden
Hannah and I are are spending more time working with the indoor plants where she excels as a helper. Did I mention that she is shredding the fronds of my palm and carrying the bits that she is able to remove from the plant around the house to use as toys? Still, it is a huge plant and if she is happy, I’m happy, and even the palm seems to be happy as it has started growing two new fronds since Hannah started giving it so much love.
Most of the plants are putting out new growth now and there is very little blooming going on except for the orchids that I brought home from the grocery store. The African violet is getting huge, and the jade plants are putting out lots of new growth in response to the pruning that I gave them last summer. My jade plants don’t bloom, but boy do they respond well to pruning!
Reading
I listened to two silly military science fiction books this week that stole plot elements and characters from at least a half dozen other books in the genre and made endless references to the game of chess, movies, and other science fiction books with reckless abandon. If you have been steadily reading science fiction for over 50 years like I have then you get most of the jokes and catch the popular culture and movie references, which made the dialogue a little snappy with the inside jokes, but it also seemed like the authors were two guys showing off their credentials to help me overlook the fact that they weren’t all that original in their thinking. Anyway, the pace was rapid, the story line inventive (well, if you scramble enough plots together you get lots of twists and turns, right?), and the best part was if I fell asleep and missed a couple of chapters it was no big deal. 🙂
I think that I should allow these books to remain nameless. Just another chapter in my flare last week!
Well, that’s it.
Have a great week, everyone!!
Please stay safe.
Read a little, knit a little, and garden like your heart can’t live without it.
And wear your mask!!
Yarn, Books & Roses 
Have a lovely weekend too, hopefully filled with knitting and relatively good health!
I am having a good weekend and should get lots of knitting done tomorrow. The crazy thing about flares is that when you come out of them you have a lovely honeymoon period where you feel pretty good for several days/weeks. I think that it is because I had to double up on some of my drugs, but I’m happy to be here!
Enjoy the nice times then … and knit fast!
Love your indoor garden!
It is just cheap pine shelves that spray painted green and then added grow lights to. I have the lights on a timer and the plants are doing great. It makes my craft room nice to work in. 🙂
I’m glad you’re feeling better after your recent flareups. Your slipstravaganza is looking great – I’m slowly plugging away at mine, but I agree, it’s a bit addictive!
For the sweater, I really like the blue on it’s own, but I’m not sure it goes as well with the grey as the pink does! I think it would look better with a tan in the body of the sweater personally.
It’s good to be back! The slipstravaganza is slowing down because the stitch count is now getting really high, but it is looking so good I am on fire to get it done.
That blue has flecks of gold in it that might be really good for the MC of a sweater made with it as the contrast. I really overthink these things but it saves me from abandoning the project later on because I’m unhappy with it. Well, most of the time it does, 🙂 I’m tending towards the pink too.
Yes same here! I just finished the first row of section 6 and now I’m at 900 stitches and slightly regretting my life choices lol!
I always overthink color too – you should have seen my many attempts at a Slipstravaganza combo!
You are way ahead of me… I’m just now starting section 5 the triangles. At least they will be pink. Oh, I must have set up at least 6 color combos before I went with this one. It is so hard to be sure how they will play in the final product.
I’m glad you are feeling better. I absolutely think you should buy more yarn. You can never have enough. I love the pink with the gray for your sweater. Your Steven West MKAL is looking great.
I’m glad I’m peppy again too. I did buy more yarn!! Claire Garland published another cat pattern (the cat is sitting up) and I ordered the yarn to make it. You can never have enough knitted cats. There is a little mouse too…
I’m pleased you have come out of the flare. Was it you or Hannah who took the selfie?
I flipped Hannah for it and I won this time!! I have discovered that her little paws register on my touchscreens better than my own fingers too so we do battle for control more than you would think!
I can well imagine
I’d go w/the pine – much brighter and higher contrast.
A friend gave us a cutting from a Jade plant in July- I kept it in water for months – just potted it last week. I hope it grows.
Whew! I thought that you were voting for the blue, but I see that you meant pink. I did a check on the values using the black and white camera trick and I do think that the pink will do better contrast wise. Pink it is!!
Oops – make that “Pink”!
I’m sorry you haven’t been feeling well. I hope you’re on an upswing.
The socks are fabulous! I love the new yarn too. I say order more. We’ve got to keep the yarn dyers and shops in business!
I saw on the news that your state is a COVID hotspot. Heard about your governor & husband. I hope they’ll be ok soon. Stay safe and most importantly away from the covid.
I have bounced back and just in time to go back into lockdown! I am upset about Governor Polis… I think that he has been doing a good job in a very difficult situation. The Covid numbers dropped a little after getting really darn high a week ago, but the hospitals are filling up which is really concerning. It is scary being so close to the really hot upper midwest states that are clearly out of control Covid-wise.
I tell myself that I am supporting the indie dyers every time I click the button to buy more yarn! They so need support right now. Thank heavens people are knitting while they are home.
I am glad you are feeling better! The socks turned out great and I am looking forward to your finished Slipstravaganza. My vote is for the pink yoke. It’s going to look great with the gray yarn. Happy knitting and stay safe!
Pink it is! Hannah and I are working steadily on the Slipstravaganza… we are finishing part four now. So much knitting…
I am glad Hannah is helping. 😺
So glad to see your post – I was worried about you! Your plants and knitting are looking amazing, and Miss Hannah is even more adorable than in the last post 🙂
I hate to miss a week because I hate to make people wonder where I’ve gone, but last week I seriously couldn’t get my thoughts together: dang brain fog!! In general I am doing pretty well, but somehow I got myself into trouble again. Hannah is growing up to be the cutest and best little companion imaginable. She doesn’t even mess with knitting. 🙂
I’m just glad you are OK 🙂 Good to catch up with you!
I’m sorry you had a flareup, and I hope you feel better now. I LOVE your kitty. 🙂
Me too, but the thing that I focus on is that I have many more good days than bad ones, and my awesome kitten is great support on bad days as she just cuddles with me. Best kitten ever!!
She’s adorable! ❤