Thursday, July 24, 2008
Happy birthday, West Virginia Beth!
We found Beth at the Fiber-In a couple of years ago, and loved her so much that we kept her! YAY!
Happy birthday, dear!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
My childhood; let me show you it
I’m sure that this post will have a 50/50 result… either your eyes will glaze over, or you will be amused to no end.
1. Clearly the knit gene runs deep, 2. Just got bit by the bird, 3. Something sure is funny, 4. Breakfast, 5. My god. I fit in a basket?!, 6. That thrilling free feeling of feeling free wheeling, 7. Not so happy, 8. Too cute for shoes, 9. Me, fun, and the bus, 10. Hello, flower, 11. Me and Boots, 12. You can’t bother me, I’m in a fort, 13. Can we be friends?, 14. Hot car, cute kid, 15. This is my happy face., 16. We were going on a hike, 17. Let your geek flag fly!, 18. The little fisherwoman, 19. 1979? 1980?, 20. Hello, sullen teen years
Summer days driftin’ away
What are your summers like?
This is a typical summer day from my childhood, somewhere between 1978 and 1982. Most times, all those chairs were full. There was always a house full of people; good food, good conversation-- and you know that wasn’t just orange juice in G-ma’s glass.
These days my summers are filled with days spent trying to stay indoors in the air conditioning as much as possible, getting up to walk the dog before it gets too hot, and not nearly as many people hanging out at my house eating good food and having good conversations. I think that needs to be remedied… of course, that also might mean buying a new house. One with a pool.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Grandmother Badass, part two
Long-time readers will remember this photo (originally blogged here)
Here’s another one, brought to you by my day spent scanning in old photos…
The years may have changed her figure, but not her attitude.
QOTW - 2008/07/21
And the Question of the Week is…
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Hollow Tree
Fiber: 100% wool
Colorway: Hollow Tree
Yardage/Weight: 101 y/75 g (Navajo 3-ply)
Roving From: Art Clubs CUCKOO FOR CUCKOOBATTS (May 2008)
Saturday, July 19, 2008
We interrupt this blog for a quarterly meeting
We may work six days a week, and we may not get paid on a regular basis, but ... damn! Do we know how to hold a shop meeting, or what?! I love my co-workers (and my job)!
Thus spoke Lorena on 07/19/08 at 10:28 PM in Work, Working outside the home
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Lara’s Berry Mix
Fiber: Wool? Merino?
Colorway: Lara’s Berry Mix
Yardage/Weight: approx. 160 yards/4 oz. (Navajo 3-ply)
Roving From: Uh… I suck. I can’t find that I ever blogged getting this; Lara sent me, a while ago, this roving and a drop-spindle. But I have to come clean… I cheated and spun this on the wheel!
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Poll of the week
This is the poll that never ends… it just goes on and on my friends…
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
The one where I ask “what the fuck am I allergic to? AIR?!”
Brand-new readers to this blog might not know the back-story; so briefly… I have some food allergies (among other things) and a couple of months ago I had a bizarre and random allergy attack that culminated in a trip to the ER.
Just after midnight on Saturday (so I guess technically that would have been Sunday) I woke up feeling like my hands were on fire. I ran them under cold water, trying not to tell myself that it was the exact same itching/burning that I had the day Kristin took me to the ER. It was the same, though, and I sat there for a minute imagining texting Sharon that I couldn’t open the store in the morning, imagining waking Tim up to take me to the ER. Neither thing did I really want to do. So instead, I took two Benedryl and after a while the burning/itching faded away and I went back to bed. If it had not gone down, or my face had started to swell, I would have woken Tim up in a heartbeat. I’m not that pig-headed!
Sunday I just tried to get through the day without thinking about it too much. I mean, I thought about it; but I tried to think more “what did the two days with burning, itching hands have in common” and less “OMGWTFBBQ!!!111!1!!!”
Here are some things those two days had in common:
I knit something (which I do every day).
I ate shrimp (which I do 2-3 times a week).
I drank water (which I do every day).
I took a pain relief product.
Yesterday I called my allergist, and although she is away I was able to get in and speak with her PA this morning. After telling her everything about both situations, and we talked about other things that have happened or not happened when I also have done the above things, here’s what she thinks.
- She doesn’t think I am developing an allergy to wool or mohair, as I work with those products every day; if I were allergic, I would have had more than two instances of a reaction in the last two months.
- She isn’t worried that I’m developing a shellfish allergy, considering the number of times a week I eat shrimp or crab; but I am to go back in two weeks and get tested for allergies to shrimp/crab/lobster, etc. In addition, she’ll test me for dairy allergies, and anything else I can think of between now and then that I’d like to be tested for. (Anyone got any ideas?)
- Obviously I’m not allergic to water, duh.
- Mostly I am a Tylenol girl (when I was first diagnosed with asthma years ago I was told to take Tylenol as it was the one least likely to affect my asthma); however, my new chiropractor suggested that I switch from Tylenol to Advil, being that this muscle in my back is still bothering me. She said that Tylenol will work with the nerve receptors to block the pain, but Advil (ibuprofen) will decrease the swelling and will be better for me. Saturday night before going to bed I took some Advil. Two months ago when this happened, I had taken some Excedrin. Excedrin contains acetaminophen and aspirin. She said that both ibuprofen and aspirin are NSAIDS, which some people can have a reaction to. So she suggested that I go back to Tylenol.
- She also said that they’d draw some blood and run a few tests when I go back in two weeks, “just to make sure there’s nothing else going on”.
- They’re going to contact the ER from two months ago and get my records, to see what my vitals looked like, etc. She also laughed when I said that the ER doc had suggested it was just stress. “What are you supposed to do about that?!” she said. To which I answered, “I don’t know, spend the rest of my life on Xanex?”
So… there ya go. I’m allergic to… something. No idea what. Hooray.
Thus spoke Lorena on 07/15/08 at 03:51 PM in Personal, My random life
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Saturday, July 12, 2008
Which of these is not like the other?
Left foot? Five columns.
Right foot? Four columns.
Pattern calls for? Five columns.
Would you believe that I’d be willing to overlook this? That it could be wrong and I wouldn’t care? Seriously; I could completely deal with this… except for one small problem. No… six small problems. The side with four columns is six stitches less than the side that has five columns. So the heel on that one would be completely messed up.
Sigh.
Thus spoke Lorena on 07/12/08 at 01:58 PM in Crafts, Yarn, Socks, Works in progress
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I think I lost four pounds of sweat walking the dogs this morning
We’re puppy-sitting Catcher right now, and I decided to take her along while walking Bridgett this morning. And holy crap, is that dog a spaz on the leash! I only walked them a mile before turning around and coming back home… and I worked up such a sweat that I feel like I’ve walked four miles, not two. Here’s an out-take from Catcher’s brain from our walk…
ARE WE WALKING OH MY GOD WE’RE WALKING I LOVE WALKING YAY WE’RE WALKING YAY WE’RE WALKING!!! ARE WE SNIFFING HEY WHAT ARE YOU SNIFFING ARE YOU SNIFFING A LEAF OH MY GOD I WANT TO SNIFF THAT LEAF TOO MOVE OVER MOVE OVER SNIFF SNIFF SNIFF YAY WE’RE SNIFFING!!! OH MY GOD NOW WE’RE WALKING AGAIN I LOVE WALKING YOU WALK WAY OVER THERE AND I’M GOING TO WALK WAY OVER HERE AND OH MY GOD YOU’RE SO FAR AWAY COME BACK I NEED TO WALK RIGHT NEXT TO YOU YAY WE’RE WALKING!!! ARE WE PEEING I LOVE PEEING LET’S PEE IN THE SAME SPOT I PEE ON YOUR PEE THEN YOU PEE ON MY PEE AND THEN I’LL PEE ON YOUR PEE YAY WE’RE PEEING!!! ARE WE SNIFFING AGAIN HEY WHAT ARE YOU SNIFFING ARE YOU SNIFFING A BLADE OF GRASS OH MY GOD I WANT TO SNIFF THAT BLADE OF GRASS TOO MOVE OVER MOVE OVER SNIFF SNIFF SNIFF YAY WE’RE SNIFFING!!!
I need a nap, now.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Ginger BFL
Fiber: 100% Blue Faced Leicester
Colorway: Ginger
Yardage/Weight: 126 yards/about 4 oz.
Roving From: My friend and business partner, Ginger!
The beauty of a headless Queen
Fiber: 100% Baby Alpaca
Colorway: Anne Boleyn
Yardage/Weight: 263 yards/about 8 oz.
Roving From: Black Bunny Fibers (Fiber Club, May 2008)
Notes: Dear Carol; I will spin baby alpaca until the cows come home. Also, I would have spun these colors for.ever! I am in love with this yarn and may have to move to Vermont so that I may marry it. I can only knit something with it if the recipient does not mind that I may have rubbed it all over my body. HAHAHAHAH! Okay, seriously now-- I have recently been teaching myself to Navajo ply, which I suspected would give me much more control over long color repeats in beautifully dyed fiber like this. And… I was right! And… I even did a passable job at this! This is maybe the fourth or fifth yarn I have Navajo plied, and I feel that I’m starting to get the hang of it. (I really do want to marry this yarn.)
What’s that? You want a closeup? Okay, if you insist.
Rosebud
Fiber: 100% Corriedale
Colorway: Rosebud
Yardage/Weight: 114 yards/about 4 oz.
Roving From: Spunky Eclectic Spunky Club (May 2008)
Friday Photo
Thus spoke Lorena on 07/11/08 at 08:22 AM in Personal, My random life
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Thursday, July 10, 2008
The Italian Stallion vs. the Garbage Truck
Thursday is trash pickup day in my neighborhood; I usually forget this and then when walking the dog I feel that I’m being stalked by the garbage trucks. But I am always amused by guys in their boxers running their trash bins out to the sidewalk!
This morning I was keeping a pretty steady pace of being about ten houses in front of the garbage truck. Towards the end of that block as I’m turning the corner, something bright catches the corner of my eye. I turn around and from about three houses behind me, I saw a man in blue shorts and an open pink button-down shirt come tearing out of his yard, pushing the trash can in front of him like a four-foot-tall baby carriage. He swung it around to face the right part to the road, and then flung his arms above his head and danced around in a big circle… just like Rocky at the top of the stairs. Awesome.
Thus spoke Lorena on 07/10/08 at 08:10 AM in Personal, Adventures in dog walking
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