Knitting Cybrarian

Cough cough, hack, hack

Christmas Day's Unshelved applies to me.

Somehow every year about this time (give or take 6 weeks) my body says "ENOUGH."  Sometimes I get the flu, but it's usually something that turns into bronchitis and if I'm really unlucky, pneumonia (2001 was a doozy).  I've had the pneumonia vaccine, so hopefully that's not in the works.  I get a flu shot every year now. 

I think I mentioned that yesterday was the last day of the wonder meds I got to get me through singing on Advent IV and Christmas Eve.  Yesterday afternoon I could feel things slipping, even though I had one more pill to go.  So it wasn't the last dose of meds, but things getting worse.  The cough really kicked in yesterday evening, so I slept in the guest bed, and woke up in the night coughing and with a runny nose (the kind that makes you feel like a 3-year old waking up at night, sick).

I called my allergist today and talked with the phone nurse.  She suggested that I get the sinus CT done -- the one ordered last week before the Christmas craziness.  I called around and wound up driving to midtown Kansas City for it.  40 minute drive each way for a 3 minute test.  Ugh.  I decided to make the most of it and ate lunch at a Thai restaurant close to the hospital where I had the test.  I took most of the food home, but it was an attempt to have the spices help open up my sinuses.  It didn't work.

So I hope and pray the results have already been faxed to my allergist and that they'll call in a script for something that will clear the sinuses and get rid of the cough.  Cough.  Hack.  Ugh.  Stay well and stay warm, dear reader!

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas

It's Boxing Day (or the day after Christmas) and it's been productive so far.  I've

• cleaned out the linen closet; sorted, washed, put away
• cleaned out my closet; bagged items for donation
• cleaned out my unmentionables drawer
• cleaned out my stash of old sewing patterns-- or at least two boxes worth

I've been sick for nearly a week and I'm on the last day of wonder meds my doc gave me.  I asked for enough to get me through the last Sunday of Advent and Christmas, and they did the trick.  Singing, ringing, driving through slush, snow and on salted roads.

• On the first day of Christmas, my true love cleaned my car, vacuumed and cleaned my car mats.  Romantic?  Well, depends on your definition.  But I was pretty happy -- my car was filthy and I'm so glad it's clean now.  Of course, we've had snow today and that means more salt on the roads.

We had a low-key Christmas Day.  I got home at around 12:30am Christmas morning.  Joel got up around 6am, took items to recycling, baked a pie and did more, all while I slept in.  I woke to find a freshly baked pumpkin pie cooling on the stove.  We ate breakfast.  I started bread dough in the bread machine and then conked out for a while.   We had a modest Christmas dinner and a friend came over to share dessert with us.  I whipped up some cream to go on Joel's lovely pie and it was enjoyed by all.

I'm off for the next few days, and I hope today's cleaning success continues.  I clean in the morning and knit in the afternoon.  What fun!

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

Yeah, where that yellow arrow points

Thanks to the Weather Channel, I can show you that we're going to get covered up in ice. See that little open circle representing Kansas City on the map? I live in the upper right hand quadrant of that circle. And we've got freezing rain coming down now. I've got some knitting planned for the next while.

Oh the weather outside is...

pretty yucky.  Everything is coated with a thin sheet of ice.  Although I got up early to get ready for church, I looked outside and thought I'd worship at the Bedside Church of God (to quote a friend).  I did stay up, but you get the idea.  And the freezing rain is still coming down.  Temperature is 18 F.  Warm compared to the 13 F (with wind chill 4F) a couple of hours ago.

I made scrambled eggs and fried apples for breakfast.  Joel took out the eggshells, apple peels and cut up apple cores to our neighborhood birds.  Judging by the birds on the ground, those were a hit.  We have quite a few birds around, as I've mentioned before in my blog.  We put out the suet feeder a few weeks ago, and the neighborhood woodpeckers and flickers love it.  The suet feeder is designed to discourage starlings from feeding (they can't perch upside down the way the woodpeckers and other clinging birds can), although they stop by to pick up any crumbs.  More entertaining are the juncos and black-capped chickadees who also stop by to pick up the suet crumbs.  Portia enjoys the kitty TV. 

Knitting content:  I don't think I've mentioned the wonder of Etsy before.   Holy cow!  I can get lost wandering around in Etsy for all sorts of handcrafted goodies -- from spun fiber, yarn, bags to knitting notions.  My friend Andrea sells her yarn and fiber at Crafty in a Good Way -- Andrea will also do custom dying!  And then there's Hide and Sheep.  I've bought several sets of stitch markers and two knitters bracelets from them.  I'm particularly fond of the needle hugger markers.  Right now their stock is low, but check back frequently!

Today is a great day to clean house, bake bread and KNIT!  KNIT!  KNIT! 

Joel's Aran

  decknit 001 
  Originally uploaded by lauragayle

I'm knitting this sweater for the hubster.  He's always wanted this kind of Fisherman Knit sweater (also known as an Aran sweater). This is a kit from Grandma on the Mountain.  I modified the pattern a little to knit it in the round and so there will be no side seams, just shoulder seams.  I'll knit the sleeves down from the armhole in the round as well.

While I like this pattern and love the yarn, I found her booklet instructions a little difficult to decipher.  Her instructions use her own abbreviations (which is fine for folks starting on their first Aran, exactly who she's geared this toward), and I wound up writing it out in "standard" knitting abbreviations.  Well, the standard used by most of the magazines and books out there.  Even that's up for debate, as any knitter knows.  It's better than it used to be 20+ years ago.  Anyway, the yarn is a reasonable price for an Aran sweater, and the sweater is looking very nice so far.

Other stuff:

• Freezing drizzle out today.  I went to church to set up the Altar, then ran a few errands on the way to work at the Studio.  En route, I got a call from the Studio folks saying that with the impending weather, I could go home and just not come in.  So I did!  However, the weather is supposed to get worse overnight.  So, we may be in tomorrow (Sunday) as well.
• Some lovely person (NOT) decided to spam using my lauragayle.com domain name as their e-mail.  So if you're reading this because you were routed to my page, I hope you enjoy knitting, nature, and I apologize for the spam I can't control.  I'm getting lots of e-mail bounces from that domain, which is how I know something whacko is happening.
• Did you know Office Depot does spiral binding?  While spiral binding is the bane of my librarian existence, I got my Novello and Schirmer editions of Handel's Messiah spiral bound, and I'm delighted with the job AND the price ($3 each!).

Stay in, stay safe, and stay warm!

Finished sweater and happy baby

Finished sweater and happy baby
Originally uploaded by lauragayle

I think my adorable niece likes her new sweater!