Saturday 10 September 2011

Long time no update...

Looking back, I see I have been woefully lacking in my knitting photos, allow me to amend this immediately!

I started a new Sezession, using some big yarn that's actually i-cord, I pulled out the i-cording (it'd missed a few stitches) and suddenly had metres of this stuff:
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That shawl I had nearly finished? Finished!
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It's soooooo soft and warm! Perfect for the odd evening when I get a little chill but still want to knit.
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No, you're not getting one of moi in it!

I thought I'd found The Pattern for some yarn I'd bought at Coldspring, the pattern was terribly written and had errors on some rows, so first I had to chart the damned thing. But, I liked the look, so I got knitting...
Celine In Progress

That's as far as it got. The pattern never really became doable and about every 6th row had so many yo's and different decreases that my brain went phut and my eyes crossed. I did make the chart available for people though and some have asked for it and gone on to knit it :)

The parental flags afghan really isn't going to be done any time soon. I have finished the second of seven flag rows though:
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*sigh* At this rate, it'll be a retirement pressie for Dad! It's not that I get bored, I love the pattern, but the super long rows and the lack of a thumb dent in the hook mean my right hand cramps after two rows then it goes back in the box and gets forgotten for a month.

My lap blanket is growing though, whenver I miss Tod I dig it out and think of the good times and how I started it at the knitting group in Halifax then tried it at the Bear and realised that was a silly idea.
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I've also been making more granny squares for the bedspread I started yonks ago...
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They block out at 15" square and I'm either making it 5x5 or 5x6. That's dozing again, me and crochet have an on/off relationship, mainly off :s

Oh yeah, I've been well and truly bitten by the Sock Bug...

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Yeah... Still, they are very comfy and take a decent time to knit. The thicker, striped ones at the end are for my new safety boots. I'm starting an electrical installation course on Tuesday and we were told to get safety boots with steel toecaps AND steel shank in the sole. Well, we found some for a very reasonable £16 but the toecap in the left boot rubs my toes, so out came the needles and voila! One pair of thick, warm, comfy safety socks :) Finally, a use for all the single skeins of King Cole DK I dyed.

Last knitting photo... a hambean!
Hamster Bean


Okay, that list I made...
The joys of depression
Just it kicking in now and then. It can make the loss of a beloved pet that bit harder to bear. On the plus side, hubbie pointed out that I didn't self harm this time. So, in a way, I am getting better :)

Living in Preston
Meh. The positives are that town is a 20 minute walk, and we have the big name shops near us again. But, it's busy, it's impersonal. I did go to the knitting group at Jo's church but, I just couldn't click with the ladies there. The conversation was always about someone or other and just wasn't that engaging :s

College soon
Yep, Tuesday is my first day. It's two full days a week, 9:30am to 4:30pm. Fortunately Jo has just enough time each lunch to come home and let the doglet out for a pee. It certainly looks doable, but the negative depression side is saying "you're weak, your nerve damage will make it impossible..." I'm hoping it's wrong.


Hexapuffs (Apologies to Sam if she reads this!)
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This is the latest Thing To Knit on Ravelry, the Beekeeper's Quilt (Rav link). At time of writing, there are 1315 of these in people's projects and another 2589 queued. I admit, the pattern is far too expensive for what it is and the pdf is 12MB which is enormous for 3 pages. Alright, she provides a couple of charts and the instructions, but the instructions are really 5 paragraphs. Yet... these little things are addictive! They're easy enough to knit while watching telly even. Mine is going to truly be a technicolour quilt, I'm using any 4-ply I can get my hands on and even dyeing my own.


Obsessions/addictions
First it was LOTRO, now it's Minecraft. Being able to construct Physics defying buildings, dig deep into the ground, and generally have fun is highly addictive. I will admit to getting a cheat that allows me to make certain things, this is because it's so much easier to generate a load of diamonds and make diamond armour and diamond tools than die rapidly and have to carry a dozen stone tools that wear out rapidly. That's all I cheat though, everything else I have mined.

PCOS
I've been having problems with my reproductive system. When I was 16 I went on the pill, partly because of insanely long, heavy periods and partly because, yes, I was sexually active and wanted a backup for the condoms. I've been on various birth control pills since then, including one called Cerazette, which you take all the time (no skipping a week) and that completely stopped my monthlies. A couple of years ago, Jo and I agreed that we could cope if I got pregnant and so I stopped the pill. Things have been wonky ever since! First it was months of nothing, then irregularity for months, lately I have just finished a 74 day long period. Yep, just shy of 11 weeks of constant menstruation. I had a blood sample taken on Tuesday to check my counts and it took a good 10 minutes to stop bleeding, as opposed to the usual 1minute it used to take. I knocked a scab off yesterday, tiny tiny scab, 3mm long at most, bled copiously all over my arm. Yep, I'm short on the ole platelets! Hopefully now the Period From Hell is over, my body can replace those and we'll both be happy :)

Sleep
I think I'm costing the NHS a fair bit of dosh. I've never had a sleep pattern, my Mum has confirmed this. I *tried* to keep one when I was a lollipop lady, it didn't click. I can sleep for 3 hours and be wide awake, or I can sleep for 24 and anywhere in between. GP ordered a blood test, all fine, so now I'm booked to see a sleep clinic person in October. Between this and seeing the Gynaecologist about the reproductive issues, yeah, I'm not such a well made human.

That's about it I think. Sorry for the long silence. I miss my Tod pals and have been losing myself in online games to cope. Never know, maybe I can make some new pals at college.

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