Deadfish Hat #2

At long last, I have a finished object and I'm very excited! My elbow and just being busy in general slowed my knitting down dramatically these last several weeks. The elbow, so far, feels fine. :) Here's my second Deadfish Hat. This one's for Earl, the gentleman that did my tattoo.

I used "Dark Fantasy" yarn from Backstitches for this hat and to be honest, I didn't like it as well as the "Loops & Threads" I used for the last hat. The Fantasy is too fine, too split-able and it doesn't want to retain the shape as well as the Michaels brand.

Oh, and here's the skein of hand-dyed yarn that I did at WWKIP. :) Can't wait until we do the jacquard next!

Next up: A plum colored wrap, a third (and final) Deadfish Hat for my five year old nephew and the start of the Great American Aran Afghan (I'm using, naturally, Ann McCauley's pattern first). Yes'm...big case of start-itis now.

Self-Medication

Now that this situation is over, per se, I can talk about it. Something strange happened to my right arm after the fiber festival and I had no idea what was going on. First, the muscles in my upper and lower arm, as well as the elbow joint, began to hurt very badly. There were dull aches and at times, sharp, dagger-like pains. Then, I noticed a really large lump under the skin of my forearm. Initially, I thought I had bruised myself helping break down vendor set ups, but the bump kept getting larger and the pain, more intense.


I went to the doctor and had the lump examined. In a nutshell, she said it was either a non-cancerous lipoma (aka "mutant fat cell") or a lymphoma. An ultrasound showed it was a lipoma (whoo! and yay!) and now it was time to deal with the muscular/joint issues. I went to the orthopaedist yesterday and after the examination, he stated that I have tennis elbow.

"Do you play?" Dr. Henning asked.
"Dude, look at me. What the hell do you
think?" I thought.
"No, I knit...rabidly," I replied.
"Well, we'll take care of this right now."

And I was given a cortisone shot in the ligament. I hate shots. Have I ever told you that? I really, really loathe needles. My veins are hard to find and my record of IV attempts is 12 tries! I've spent the better part of my life trying to avoid shots. Ask me sometime about avoiding a series of shots in the Cote d'Ivoire/Ivory Coast Airport in Africa. There's a little man in a dirty lab coat there who thinks Bill Clinton and I are lovers.

One railroad spike later, I do feel better. My arm doesn't hurt nearly as much, but that could be the codeine talking at this point. Anyway, next time my elbow kicks up, I plan on self-medicating...Aspercream and vodka. Wanna join me?

Ten Ways to Enjoy Summer

Ten Ways to Enjoy Summer

1. Let's start with an ice cold Appletini, or a Purltini, or a Peartini;

2. Play with my Sony Reader! Denise bought me one for my birthday and I am eating it up. I've downloaded books, e.g. Eat Pray Love, multiple knitting patterns and the fiber festival photo collection;

3. Visiting with family and friends (my summer was made in May with Julie & Marianne's visit);

4. Swimming at the lake;

5. Strolling the boardwalk - - any boardwalk. There's a small one here in Bedford County and I really enjoy the one at North Beach near my sister's house. I haven't done it yet this year, but I plan to;

6. Watering plants. I've NEVER considered myself a green thumb, but my neighbor asked me to water her outdoor plants while she's away for a month. So far, I've only killed a small peach tree, but everything else is flourishing. I have to admit that I find it very relaxing and honestly, I could camp next to her hydrangeas - - they smell that good!

7. Grilling. I love the smell of grilling food; and

8. Leisurely road trips where you just go somewhere for the beauty of the drive, not the destination.

I can't come up with anything else right now, but that's a good start. I hope you enjoy your summer!