Saturday, January 15, 2011

On the Needles

Here it is Saturday again.  I had hoped to post again last Sunday, but the cold took a serious turn for the worse.  I snuffled and coughed my way through the entire weekend, finally ending up awake in the middle of the night Sunday night with serious ice-pick-to-the-cheekbone style pain in my sinuses.  Finally at 4:30 in the morning I got up, went online, requested a substitute teacher for the day, and typed up lesson plans to send in.  I hate missing school, but there was no way I could make it through the day in the state I was in.  I stayed home on Monday, talked to my doctor, and started on a serious regime of steroid nasal spray to reduce the swelling in my nasal passages, mucous thinners, and neti pot.  (If you have sinus issues and have never tried the neti pot, you must go out to the health food store and buy one immediately!  It really works!) I was skeptical.  I thought I would need antibiotics for sure, but the doctor said to give it 48 hours of the above treatment and then to call back if there was no improvement. I went back to work on Tuesday, still suffering. Well, sure enough, by Wednesday I was starting to improve.  Thursday was a little better. Friday a lot better. And now, here it is Saturday, and I am much improved.  I am still blowing my nose and coughing a bit, but I feel I am on the mend. So - that is my testimonial about using methods other than antibiotics to cure a sinus infection. I am a believer.

On to more creative topics - knitting!  Here is a picture of my first FO of 2011.  (Is it cheating to call it an FO when there is a pair and I only have one of the two completed?  Hmmm....)
This the first of a pair of legwarmers that I am knitting for my Tiny Dancer.  My 13-year old daughter has been dancing on and off since she was three years old, and dancing quite seriously now for the past four years.  She takes classes in ballet, tap, and hip hop, and also does competition tap dancing with a team and participates in her local dance company's production of The Nutcracker each year.  The dance studio is called the Dance Asylum and is where I also take tap, ballet, and jazz classes (though I am nowhere near as good as Tiny Dancer!)  The people at the Dance Asylum are absolutely amazing - really the best part of it all, if you ask me. The pattern for these legwarmers is from one of my favorite blogs, The Purl Bee.  I also ordered the yarn from The Purl Bee, and it is everything they promised it would be.  Easy to work with, soft and cozy, and beautifully hand dyed.  Love it!

I finished the first legwarmer (they are very long!) last Saturday night.  On Sunday morning I wound the second ball of yarn and got started on the second of the pair. 
I didn't have much time to knit on this during the week between work, grading papers, and being completely exhausted from being sick.  Here is what it looks like today:
I had to put it on the floor right next to the back door which opens onto our deck - east facing - to get a shot that wasn't completely dark.  It is January-grey here, with a few snow flakes in the air.  I wish it would REALLY snow - much more exciting that what it is doing right now, which is next to nothing.

Hopefully later today I will do some cooking.  I have been craving chicken and dumplings for the past three days and I have a dill bread recipe I am itching to try.

2 comments:

  1. I am working on this pair of legwarmers and am SO CLOSE to finishing the first one of the pair and it is the longest project I have done so far! It is killing em because I cannot wait to wear them! Nice to see someone else who has done them!

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  2. I know exactly what you mean! It felt like they took me forever - not a hard pattern to knit, but they are looong! Plus, it is a pair, so even when you get one done you still have one to go. Post a pic when you are done!

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