Sick. I Got the Ick.

I had a class on Saturday, and when I came home, I didn't feel so hot, so went to bed early. I woke up before midnight coughing. I had a headache, so I decided to make myself some noodles, take my pills and some cough medicine, since I could tell it was going to be a truly lousy weekend.

At 2am, I was paying homage to the porcelain god, and had a roaring headache, a fever of 101 and chills that wouldn't stop. I went back to bed and didn't move the rest of the weekend.

I can't eat, and I'm not sleeping well. Neck and chest hurt like mad, and I still have a fever, but some of it has dropped. I see the doctor at 1:45 today. I'm a little scared that I won't make it. I was hoping that my husband would take me to the doctor, since I'm really in no condition to drive myself (at least I don't think so), but I have an idea that he has plans to go to his mom's. Of course, when his mom finds out that I was sick, she'll give him heck. That sorta makes me smile...a little.

I'm filling myself up with water and trying to keep hydrated. The fever really did a number on me.

And I'm tired of writing about it.

I feel so bad that I can't even knit or crochet.

My husband KNOWS that when I can't do that much that I am really ill.

I'm going to go to my chair and watch a movie...maybe.

Another Sashay!

I do love this yarn! Just sadly, I purchased quite a bit of similar yarn at expensive yarn stores, because the cheaper yarn companies hadn't followed up on most of the new fashion design yarns....

Then suddenly, Red Heart comes out with Sashay...check out this colorway....

Actually, what appears to be blue is actually tan and brown--amazing how "off" the bathroom light makes the picture (well, at least to me). You'll see a better rendition on the Red Heart website.

Until better pics can be taken, I'm off to Ravelry.

Sashay

And here I go, the first effort with Red Heart's Sashay Yarn

In the blue colorway, which I love.

The only thing I didn't love about this first attempt is that there were two knots in the skein..something I do not like to find. I will update with the other two skeins to see if it's a real problem or not...but this is the result:

This one goes to the store (JoAnn's) as a sample. The last shipment sold out.

A BAM CAL

What's that? You ask.

Well, a BAM is a "block a month" (familiar to the quilters out there, probably), and CAL is "Crochet A-Long".

And there is one going on (well, actually probably more than one) inside of Ravelry, which I joined. I just finished the first block, and it is

um...

blocking on the blocking boards now, and so I took a picture for historical purposes (and so that I could share with you).

The block utilizes many different techniques--there's a little applique, a little embroidery, crochet, of course, and blocking to size. Everything for the crocheter who also likes to quilt! That, friends, would be me.

So, without further adoo, here's the block for January:

of course, you'll note that I accidentally cut off the top border when I took the blurry picture, but it is what it is, I suppose. As you can see, I'm not such an even embroiderer, nor am I good at the blanket stitch (at least keeping the stitches evenly spaced, anyway), but you can't be perfect at everything...can you?

And, if this interests you, you may sign up for the BAM CAL here.

Still Working on the Scarf...

I'm not sure why, but working on this scarf, while it's pretty boring, it still holds my fancy. I'm just not sure why it takes so long to make a triangle! By now, I should be halfway through the second skein (there are 3 skeins to the scarf), but for whatever reason, I'm still on the first skein, and only a few yards of it remain. I'm a little curious why it's taking so long to get some length on it!

Slow and steady wins the race, I suppose, but there are other projects I would like to begin...such as this really fancy dan shawl...

Tomorrow evening, I have a crochet class. Seven students and lots of things to prattle on about. I'm looking forward to it. And soon, I'll have the scarf done and I can post the finished product here...if it ever gets done. But I think it will go in the Christmas present pile....along with the other two crochet scarves that I made.

Stay warm people. I think we're getting our January thaw right now.

Lately....

I called in sick today. Mostly because of nausea and a headache, but I've had a bit of bad news, and just wasn't up to getting it all around and making a day of it. Plus, I'd heard that snow was to begin around noon time, and I SURELY didn't want to drive home in the slippery stuff.

So I stayed home. We've been trying to keep it warm in the house, but we've found something out about wood pellets. They DO NOT keep the house as warm as the field corn. We are freezing our butts off--even though the thermometer in our living room says it's 60 degrees inside the house, you really can't feel it. I got the humidifier going again, and hope that it will help keep us warmer, but the wood pellets just don't do the job. I doubt we'll be using them next year--or perhaps only for when it's 40 degrees out--not the 6 degrees that it's been most of the day.

And of course, I've been doing some knitting on a scarf that goes this way and that way. It's really quite ingenious, but it will need a LOT of blocking before I can do a picture. It puckers everywhere, but I can see that it will be pretty when it's done.

In the meanwhile, we've been watching movies--and staying close to the little bit of warmth that the stove puts out. If the wind starts to blow, I think I'll have to run to town and get some corn. In the meantime, I hope you are safe and warm in your house.

New Projects

I finally finished my slippers, but they turned out a little big. I might have to put them through another hot wash and semi dry...but here they are....

And my cowl, which is made from a new Lion Brand Yarn called Luxe Fur. Three skeins makes the cowl, and I decided I wanted stripes. It's crocheted on 45 stitches (plus 3 for the turning chain), dc's all the way up. Of course, you can switch up the rows with thinner stripes or even some traveling stitches if you wanted. Entirely easy in one color or 3, and you don't have to make it as wide as I did, either. It would even make a beautiful mobius. This stuff is amazingly fluffy.

Word of warning--it's 48% wool--and you can smell the lanolin in the wool. Hand wash only cold water!!