Well, this was an exhausting and fraught week, wasn’t it. I mean, I struggled to knit the week was so bad, and then if that wasn’t enough I logged some personal drama myself. As in…
Yesterday I couldn’t walk on my excessively ill-behaved legs!! I hit bottom after a couple of days of noticing that I was having more breathing issues and sporting blue lips again. What is up with this, 2021? Did 2020 leave you some type of User’s Manual? Just drop that sh*t in the nearest trash can and behave yourself!!
In a normal year I would have called for help and gotten myself into a medical center, but in this year I stayed in bed on oxygen, drugged up, and snacked on the crackers and bai drinks that I keep upstairs. It’s got to be inflammation, I told myself, so I’ll just sleep this off. Yep. Today I’m up and managing like nothing happened. I blame the weather… I absolutely blame 2020 for lingering bad vibes… I blame too many trips in and out of the cold garage…
No week or year can be absolutely bad, right?! There was also lots to be happy about. I had great packages on the way to me (squishy mail and the 23andMe DNA kit from my last post), a flourishing indoor garden, two really engaging books to read, and my goodness (!!) the Secret Life of Cats (and dogz) shawl is about as cheerful as a piece of knitted work can be. I’m still thinking about my resolutions for this year (but getting my Covid-19 vaccine is at the top of the list), so I’m just going to ignore all the newsworthy events of the week and jump to what was up at home.
Knitting
I have ONLY ONE knitting project going on at the moment, but it is a doozy. Look at this explosion of color wonderfulness!
I totally lost control and ordered yarn for myself last week and I’m practically dying with the need to cast on more projects. Maybe just a little pair of socks? I know that I need to stay away from sweaters, but wouldn’t a cowl be a nice little things to have stuffed into a project bag… I have new yarns with names like “Naughty Chair” and “Troublemaker” that are insisting that I should cast them onto needles as soon as possible. Little projects like that are easier to manage when staying in bed all day with a cat sleeping on you… Do it! Do it! Do it! the yarns chant from the yarn stash…
Garden
Hannah has been spending a lot of time in the indoor garden, and I have to admit that it seems to be doing well even with her knocking plants over and using some of them as toys.
Hannah especially likes the owl in the garden that is supposed to be watching over her… yeah. I had to evacuate the owl to a safe location this afternoon. Several of the jade plants have been staked this week to help prop up the branches that Hannah has shoved over. I think that the problem is that Hannah is growing quickly and spaces that she previously moved through easily are now too small for her so… plants get knocked around, lamps knocked down, and worst of all, she misses some jumps and falls off of ledges that she used to have no problems with. Suddenly that little window sill isn’t quite big enough! Anyway, back to the garden. One of the orchids is blooming and another is putting out a stem, so the winter is cheerier than I first expected. The African violets are still putting out lots of new buds, so the craft room, where the garden is, is currently my happy place.
Books
I started two new books this week and am still reading them, but both have completely captured my attention and I’m planning on finishing at least one of them before the weekend is over.
I’ve been caught up in The Huntress and really enjoying it but yesterday in bed called for an audiobook so I started the second book, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars. Now I have a real conflict as I like the Paolini book so much I want to cast on a new knitting project and just listen to it, but the Kate Quinn book is also excellent and I am so close to finishing it I should buckle down and just finish it off… but I can’t knit as easily while reading a paper book. Life is full of these trade offs. Obviously I should finish the paper book as fast as I can so that I can cast on a pair of socks… in blue yarn… with gold sprinkles… the name of the yarn is “Cloud Atlas” which would be nice to knit while in a sea of stars, don’t you think? That’s the plan.
“Naughty Chair” and “Troublemaker”, don’t worry. I haven’t forgotten about you. I happen to have 3 little project bags and lots of needles!
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!!
Footnotes:
- “Naughty Chair” and “Troublemaker” are produced by Hue Loco.
- “Cloud Atlas” is produced by Uschitita Fiber Art.
- I was officially accepted into the Systemic Sclerosis Study being conducted by 23andMe this week and they have mailed the DNA collection kit to me.
- I have stockpiled the yarn to make three new sweaters!! They should make it harder to buy yarn online, don’t you think?
Yarn, Books & Roses 
So sorry about the inflammation – glad it improved! Don’t fret about ordering yarn – I did the same thing and I have a basement full of it. And I can relate to starting several projects! I think it’s a reaction to the tense times we are living in on so many fronts. We need to not be too hard on ourselves! Take care.
It’s a scleroderma thing. There was a big pressure front coming through and I think that the stress of the Georgia election and the Capitol riot contributed as I didn’t get good sleep. I started on steroids and stayed on oxygen which I think helps.
I am just dying to get going on new knitting projects and am seriously thinking of buying even MORE yarn with that stimulus check that they sent me. I have this thing where I cast on something and that means that I have to finish it, right?! It’s a crazy way of making tons of goals to stay busy. 🙂
We all had so much expectation on 2021 to be so much better I think it struggled to cope with the world’s expectation. It will eventually realise it’s stronger than it thinks and pull itself together and move onwards and upwards. I nearly bought another jumper quantity of yarn but managed to resist…I think being in decluttering mode is what stopped me…but I still hear the yarn calling me. 😂
Yeah, I had some concerns about 2021 as the pandemic is so bad here that the vaccination program is like using a garden hose to fight a forest fire, and then there is the growing political problems and the economic consequences of not dealing with the pandemic effectively. Sigh. Me, I am going to settle down and knit my way right through it ass. 🙂
I am going to stop watching the news the next few weeks and focus on decluttering and getting something started on my loom
I brought the drum carder and an alpaca fleece into the house thinking that I should get going on spinning it. Hannah hides in my loom and has been pulling all the tie-ups for the treadles down; I’m not sure how well weaving will go at the moment. I worked on the quilt yesterday and you wouldn’t believe how hard to quilt it is with an interactive kitten messing with the quilt while you try to machine quilt around the applique pieces. At one point she started tunneling under the fabric… 🙂 Kind of foretells a weaving disaster!
So sorry to hear you were so unwell this week, but glad that things are going better for you again. Your plants are looking lovely, as is Miss Hannah! Take care of yourself and enjoy your books and yarn 🙂
I usually don’t mention my scleroderma too much, but this last episode was pretty bad. I have a bad hip that is anxiously awaiting a surgical intervention (but on hold because of Covid-19) and this time both knees decided they were not going to play nice. Good thing my doctors have prescribed me “just in case” drugs which worked really well! I love my doctors!!
The plants are really doing well which is nice for January. I brought in the geraniums and they look like they are getting ready to bloom too! Hannah loves her garden.
It must be so frustrating to avoid other medical assessments because of Covid. I would find it difficult, but I am sure you are right. I knew there was a reason I can’t have two books on the go at once.
It is a little hard but these are the times we live in. Right before the lockdown in March I had a MRI on a bad hip and they discovered that the joint was severely damaged and inflammed in addition to a ruptured tendon. The surgery that I need is not considered to be critical so I need to wait for things to calm down. What’s a bad hip when faced with possible Covid-19?!! I’m happy to wait, but it can be challenging. I can do a video chat with a doctor on demand if things get really bad so I’m not losing any sleep over this stuff.
I finished one of the books last night, but am thinking about starting another paper one…
Having had a hip replacement ten years ago I have some idea of the pain. I’m pleased you are not losing sleep
My sister had both hips and knees replaced some years back so I kind of knew this was coming. I’m high risk for the surgery because of my scleroderma but at some point we will have no other choice. Covid needs to stop first, though!!
Indeed
So happy your flare-up didn’t last too long! Poor Miss Hannah…getting too big to play in her usual places. I am sure she will find new places and continue with more mischief making. 😸 Your indoor garden looks like the perfect spot to read and knit! I have been buying yarn because it has brought me a little bit of joy in all of the craziness. Have a great week!
Seriously, it was really short as flares go, so I am grateful for that. I feel a little bad for Hannah; she fell backwards off the table yesterday and I think it was that she is a little longer then she was and she misjudged her footing because of it. She was so shocked to fall that she cried a little as she went down. I’m keeping good track of her these days…
They shouldn’t have sent me a stimulus if they didn’t want me to buy yarn, right…
Oh…poor Hannah! Hope, she gets used to her growth spurt. Best use of a stimulus payment! 🧶🧶🧶
Congrats on being accepted into the Study! Glad you’re feeling better – I’ve bought some fabric online also and would buy a lot more but have no space for it. I just need to sew faster!?!
My problem is that I can always find space for new yarn. I am happy about the study acceptance… it was really fast as the kit was in the mail the morning after I applied and the official letter came two days later. I have a lot of online friends who have been trying to get in… I wonder if being in Kaiser helped me.
Such gorgeous, cheerful colors in the flowers and the yarn!
Seriously, these are the wildest yarns that I have ever knitted together. Fun times!!
Hannah is adorable, even when she’s messing with your indoor garden. You’ve snapped some gorgeous photos of her. I’m sorry you had a rough day in bed, but what good news that it seemed to resolve so quickly this go around. Your knitting projects always fascinate me. So far, 2021 is hugely disappointing, but I guess we shouldn’t be surprised. It’s depressing. Thanks for cheering me with your lovely post.
Hannah is just so endearing. I loved MacKenzie, but he wasn’t a very lovable cat. This time I have the world’s most lovable and endearing kitten, but she hides from anyone else so no one else has actually seen her! At least this cat won’t bite unsuspecting visitors… I am already looking for more yarn online even though I just bought more than I need. I absolutely plan to spend 2021 knitting!!
Cat’s have such unique personalities, don’t they. We have three: a peaceful, serene 18 year old, an often aloof, then equally snuggly tortoishell, and our male bruiser who is a toddler at heart (pick me up, hold me, sit down, stay put, I’m the center of the universe). We adore them. Happy knitting. xo
I sure wish that I had three cats now. I have had so many cats and they were all really loved and special in their own way. The last two cats, MacKenzie and his companion cat, Yellow Boy, were lots of fun but they both kind of viewed me as the help. I’m so lucky that now that I am disabled and homebound for the most part, I have adopted a kitten who had bonded to me to this extent and kind of thinks that I’m her playmate.
There is nothing quite so special as a cat that chooses you, trusts you, and to the extent they can, loves you. I’m so glad she’s a part of your life.
She really is a loving cat. It has reached the point where she has become my weighted blanket… I need her to settle down on a pillow next to me that pulls down on the covers so I can sleep. She is very attached, but I think that she regards me as a playmate. 🙂