I restarted the blog with the best intentions but my entire world has been in complete upheaval the last few weeks.
We’ve, rather suddenly, found a suitable house to move into, with ground floor access, and so along with other issues, we are facing the daunting task of packing.
Its amazing how much stuff you realise you have when you need to get rid of half of it!
I’ll be back once we are moved and settled.
…Is how my life seems to be slipping away from me at the moment.
A few months ago I went to see a specialist in Leeds – an immunologist, no less! – who has now officially confirmed what I and my GP already knew. I have M.E.
I’m lucky in that I seem to have settled at the moderate level; the level that on a good day means you can still potter about and still manage some day to day tasks. I’ve only got to deal with the pain in my joints and muscles much of the time, the days when it hurts to hold my head up and the days where making a sandwich seems complicated. It makes a cold – the normal head kind that only last a day or 3 – last upwards of a month.
Think of it like this (and this is a very simplistic explaination); your immune system fights things off for you. Often the symptoms that make you feel bad are those caused by your body fighting the interloper rather than being caused by the interloper itself. My problem is that my immune system keeps switching itself on and attacking interlopers that aren’t there and so I get the flu like symptoms of my body fighting the flu without the virus being present.
Its taken months for it to sink in that I won’t suddenly get better next month, or that there isn’t currently a medical treatment for the illness, only management methods. With my medical history its pretty much a text book case of M.E. and over the few months, I shall hopefully be guided in how to manage the condition with pacing/graded activity.
In the mean time, I really am having to take it a day at a time. I’m just about sticking to a daily routine.
One of the things that is keeping me going is the Spoons Theory.
Written by a lady called Christine Miserandino about explaining her lupus to a friend of hers it explains very well how hard trying to cope with a “hidden” illness, can be. She has a website called butyoudon’tlooksick. My favourite part of the theory that is she would say to people that “they should feel special when I spend time with them, because they have one of my “spoons” “.
I’m doing my best to learn how to keep a spoon or two in reserve.
Just to give you an idea, this post has taken me well over a month to put into words.
I desperatly want to keep this blog going and entries may be sporadic depending on my spoon levels.
Photos will come as and when I feel up to taking them or remember to post them, but I will try and include them as often as possible.
I’ve not forgotten about my blog at the moment, but this illness is making it hard to keep up with it, so I’m going to be on blogging hiatus for a while.
I won’t be away for long, I promise.
I looked at the calendar earlier and realised its been quite a while since I said I would be back with regular posts, and here is the first one, even if it has been a while.
This foot problem and my M.E. have had me having to make myself have enforced rest periods, with my foot raised and its not always been conducive to anything interesting happening to tell you about, or much of anything happening. Its not as fun around here as it used to be and with the not doing much the only thing I have to show you at the moment is yarn related.
I’ve finished the surprise belated birthday present (no pictures till it arrives at the other end) and had a couple of days of feeling like I didn’t want to work on anything.
Since then, I’ve been having another spate of startitis and now I have more projects on the go than I can possibly work on, but I’m enjoying this slower pace of crafting and having different projects so I can fit it to the energy levels I have and in that vein its fitting into the “pacing” I am learning to deal with the M.E.
I’ve continued working on my half granny square shawl; or my Marbled Purple Comfort Shawl as I’ve taken to calling it; The colours of the Marble Chunky (Shade 15) are making a lovely mix on the shawl and its been getting lovely comments when people see me working on it. I finished it last night and I really like it. Its big soft and very comforting.
I’ve started crocheting my leftovers of Countrystyle DK into a granny square. I think I’ll end up with a lap blanket out of them or a large cushion cover to go with the hexagon blanket, which I desperatly need to work on as I got so distracted by learning to crochet that I haven’t worked on it in weeks. No pictures of my hexagons as theres no progress to show!
Crocheting the granny square projects I have started fits into the days when my energy levels allow me to be able to do something, but something thats more automatic than any project that needs more thought.
I’ve been working on my first ever proper swatch for a stocking project. I’ve got some purple acrylic 4ply:
and am finally going to make my purplestockings! Thats right, I shall have the embelm of my blog 🙂
I’ve been learning about negative ease and proper gauge, and am finally understanding it properly. I’ve done a flat gauge even though the project is going to be knit in the round as I decided I wanted to see how different my gauge is in the flat compared to in the round. It differs by a stitch and a row so its a good thing I checked!
The flat gauge swatch that show the colour the best.
I used the swatching directions from Knitty for the flat swatch and these from Ysolda for the “swatching in the round although not actually in the round” method. The pattern I was planning to use was going to be Very Tall Socks adjusted for my legs and 4ply yarn instead of DK; but I was pointed towards the Donna Keaton Elizabethan Stocking Formula via Vintage Stitch-O-Rama. I’ve got all my sums done and I hope to be able to cast on for them soon.
I’ve got some yarn wound for a pair of toe up socks, but its thicker than sock yarn I’d normally use, so I’m not sure what needles to use, especially as I’ve had suggestions ranging from 2.25 mm needles to 3.5mm needles. Very confusing.
To use up some yarn leftovers, I’m making some korknisse when I can get hold of wine corks:
and I’ve had some leftovers of autumnal shades of yarn and I’ve got plans to make an autumnal leaf wreath to decorate my home with later in the year.
Theres a whole mix including yarn d’amour gingercake, rowan scottish tweed, online 100, trekking xxl, and misc that I’ve been gifted, and they are going to make up into beautiful leaves. I’m still looking at patterns but I’ll hopefully show you some progress soon 🙂
Part of my being ill means I’ve been unable to keep up with a lot of things and I’ve had to slow down the rate I work on things and choose more determinedly between things I want to work on.
I haven’t done any work on my hexagon blanket, or sewn my belt bag together yet, mainly because ever since I figured out how to do those twisty crochet stitches I’ve been a little obsessed with them, especially “granny” stitch projects so have been spending my limited crafting energy on those.
I’m still somewhat obsessively working on my little sisters somewhat belated birthday present, which is taking up a lot of time and I can’t show it to you till its finished but I’ve started working on a crochet project for myself:
Using the leftover marble chunky from my pretty neaty cardi, I have started a triangular shawl pattern using the same principles as the granny square but in a triangle instead.
It involves a odd beginning where you seem to be working a semi circle, but then you start to shape it, and the chains at the beginning of each row create a lovely top edge.
Part of this crochet madness is partly because I’m finding crochet easier on my wrists at the moment and till the doctors help me get the pain under control, I seem to be able to crochet more than I can knit!
My blogging is slowing down as well, but i’m hoping to get back to more regular posts soon.
This week has been troublesome.Between pain and sleep issues and working on a secret present for my sister, I’ve not done much to show you.
I’ve not managed to work on my hexagon blanket, or sew my belt bag together, or worked on the granny squares. When I’ve felt like crafting I’ve been working on my sisters project somewhat obsessively and am currently stalled till I get more yarn for it.. Photos as soon as its been sent to her.
I’ll be back next week with photos of pretty things to show you though! 🙂
Take one yarnie with unkempt locks which hasn’t been trimmed, let alone cut in years:
who has been struggling to manage her hair due illness and it just having got so very long. ( I hadn’t realised how wispy it had got!)
To this add a hairdresser who knows what she’s doing and my request that I can still put it up if I need to and for them to not make it look any thinner than it already is.
Normally my haircare consists of washing, conditioning, brushing and occasionally dyeing my hair so when people are talking about feathering and things my eyes start to glaze over as I don’t understand. I’ve been to the hairdressers maybe 3 times in my life, and my mum cut my hair when I was small.
And so I emerged from the hairdressers with the following:
Shoulder length bob, longer in back than in front and with layers throughout. ( I can say layers now I actually know what it means…)
Normally I avoid my photo being on here, as for the most part I tend to hate photographs of myself, but I wanted to share how it looks.
So, what do you think?
Ravelympics Project Update:
Its day 3 and I’m stalled already. The cotton content of the yarn is making my hands very sore, and I’m resting them yesterday and today. If, when I work on the bloomers tomorrow it has the same effect then I will do a different projects, like squares for a couple of ladies in the RAK’s groups comfort blankets.
The weather in my neck of the woods:
Cold, wet. Springlike. Theres occasional spots of sunshine pouring through the clouds. The snowdrops and daffodil bulbs are poking thier shoots above ground, and I’m starting to think about what to plant in my container garden this year.
Some of my simple pleasures:
Having a new cushion to help support my upper body and back while on the sofa.It doesn’t sound like much but it makes all the difference!
On my bedside table:
A pile of Ironman comic books, some knitting, my meds and painkillers and a bottle of water. Insomnia struck last week and its playing merry havoc with my system.
On my TV:
The Winter Olympics; well that is when I can actually find anything other than the “round up” shows or them focusing entirely on one event in the live coverage…Not everyone can stay up till 2am to watch the events, and you think they would feature more of it on the BBC1 or 2 channels during the day.
On my Mp3 Player:
Stephenie Pearl-McPhee’s Casts Off: The Yarn Harlot’s Guide to the Land of Knitting. I’ve been feeling vaguely rebellious by crocheting while listening to it 😉
On the menu for tonight:
I don’t know, but I’m craving chips…so probably something with chips.
On my To Do List:
Done from last weeks To Do List:
New Recipe I’m thinking of trying next week:
Slow Cooked Sausages in Cider.
Looking forward to:
The weather being warmer!
Lesson learned the past few days:
One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.” A.A. Milne
Well, I’ve been knitting away like a good girl, and have got a couple of inches done on the body of the bloomers, which considering there is around 280 sts in a round isn’t bad.
The cotton, even with its soft additions of silk and rayon is being a little tough on my hands though.
More tomorrow 🙂
The Vancouver Winter Olympics start at 2am on Saturday GMT and I’m really looking forward to them.
For someone who hates the cold as much as I do, I’m oddly fascinated by Ice Skating, Ice Dancing, Speed Skating, Snowboarding, Curling, Ice Hockey, Bobsleigh, Cross-Country Skiing and Biathlon(Cross Country Skiing and Target Shooting).
Luge and Skeleton are just insane, whatever you say.
I’m planning to watch as much as I can but unfortunatly, due to Vancouver’s time zone being 8 hours behind GMT it means that there may have to be judicious use of a recorder to be able to watch more than the concentrated highlights as the coverage seems to be all late night with a highlight show the next day; which is a bit useless for those of us who would like to see the heats as well as the finals.
I’m taking part in the Ravelympics but I may start knitting during the Saturday lunchtime repeat coverage rather than getting up at 2am. I owe it to my knitting to be able to focus on it!
I’m taking part in the WIP’s Dancing event – for those projects that have been stalled for at least a month before the Olympics opening ceremony. I’m going to work on my Blooming Bloomers – using the Knitty Unmentionable‘s pattern.
Knitty’s picture not mine. Thier copyright etc.
I really loved the pattern when I first saw it a couple of years ago, but it was CostumeChick‘s Bloomers and Camisole set (Ravelry Link)that really inspired me.
I’ve wanted to make them ever since, but as always I couldn’t buy the right kind of yarn at prices I could afford – it does need to be some kind of cotton blend. I got a great amount of yarn for my birthday, however, after seeing this lovely stuff on sale at Kemps and so started work on them in September of last year.
The yarn is a 50% cotton/45% rayon and 5% silk mix called Rowan Luxury Cotton DK. It’s deliciously soft and drapes beautifully.
The colourway is called Bloom and is a greyish purpley lilac, with a strand of slightly deeper mauvey lilac twisted though it and it creates a beautiful mottled fabric when knitted up. The only downside is they are those arty type balls that look lovely but, because they are loosely wound centre pull balls, collapse in on themselves in a particularly unhelpful way while you’ve half knitted them!
I’m knitting with Team Purplehaze – the Ravelry group Fog Knitters team. Its the team for people with who cope with ME/CFIDS/CFS/Fibromyalgia and other fatiguing conditions.
This is the stage the bloomers are at, at the moment. This picture was taken back in November and I haven’t worked on them since.
Both legs are completed and joined and the body is half worked.
I’ve broken up the remaining parts that need working on into the following:
Once those parts are done I’ll be having to go back to the other end and working on these:
The Ruffles and Lace on the legs which I’ve broken up into the following parts. Yes I AM a huge nerd.
I don’t know if I’ll get all this finished during the Ravelympics but I’m gonna try!
I’ll update a progress report every couple of days through the Ravelympics.
A Bluestocking in Red Lipstick 