Wednesday, February 23, 2005
hurrah for friends.
it is no secret to anyone who knows me that i've not been in the best of spirits lately- being continuously ill for two months can wear on anyone's ability to be cheerful! i go to bed early, sleep through my weekends with a hot herbal pack on my forehead, and have the occasional day where i *think* i'm better only to wake up the next day as ill (or even more ill) than i was before. i'm not going to say i'm on the mend now, but today was a half decent day. i made it through work and at 9:30, i'm still awake!
several of my friends have been beacons of sympathy and love during my increasingly grumpy sick time. adam has been supportive of my falling asleep almost instantly when he calls at night, jenn and mel send me fabulous emails all day long at work and my lisa (who occasionally keeps a knitblog at countryturtle knitting) sent me the most amazing care package a girl could get. lisa and i met a few years ago through our websites and have met in person a couple of times as well. she is truly a kindred spirit- or a bosom friend as anne shirley would say. lisa's package was a beacon of love and sunshine in my day yesterday, and now i'm going to share it with you!!
first, a general picture of the booty:
please ignore the dirty supper dishes (i hadn't been to the kitchen yet)and my soda can. lisa did not send those. however, she did send chococat stationary and pencils, handmade stitch markers and beads in handmade origami boxes, a set of my favourite cable needles, some jewelry findings, yarn that she spun, a beautiful picture of her and her husband from their wedding (which i was sadly unable to attend), a copy of their cd wedding album and a favour and -- oh, what's that poking out from behind the wedding photo? why, could it be?
A DROP SPINDLE AND ROVING! i suppose she grew tired of my constant whining about how i yearned to learn to spin. all of my 'maybe i'll order this kit, maybe i'll get that kit' etc. lisa learned to spin a year or two and decided to share the hobby with me!. so of course i set to work immediately. my first attempts
two pathetic balls and then the two pathetic balls 'plied'. they are now in a mess on my table - but i tried!
i've already been bitten with the bug. i spent three hours tonight looking up more techniques and giving it a second try. i happen to have a box of roving leftover from a hand feltmaking course i took in university a few years ago (remember? textile major). so i took out some of that roving and went at it. i made this tiny little skein (i 'set' the twist with warm water):
it's terrible. i'm terrible at this. and it is ALL i want to do. someone give me lessons! i want to spin!
i can see how people become very addicted to this. yarn, it's a wonderful thing. i'm off to bed now, only two more days til the weekend, and even though it's an adam free weekend, i'm looking forward to a little more rest before i'm sure this stupid neverending sinus crap is gone. i hope everyone gets a little sunshine in their day, like i got from my friend lisa. i hope everyone has friends who go out of their way to to make your day a bit brighter. i haven't always had this, and having it now- i'm more grateful than you could ever know. xoxo
9:33 PM /
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
i totally lied
about updating tonight. i just got home from the gym (did i mention? i joined a gym. i'm working out (hopefully soon w/ a personal trainer) and taking yoga two nights a week as well. i knew i was fat and out of shape but i had no idea how bad it was. i REALLY let myself go and i have a long long long long long road ahead. anyway, i just got home and i'm totally pooped and have no energy to take and edit photos and write witty things. so the long and short of it is this: still working on fluted bannister socks, will hopefully finish this week. next will be making waves in the sockotta for my sockapalooza pal. i've been making tons of stitch markers, having been inspired by poor miss finch's tutorial. i had never thought to use wire! adam was here for the v-day weekend. we cuddled. i bought him spaced (uk tele series) on dvd, which should be arriving at his place next week. he bought me a new wool winder which should be here in just a few more days (!!!) and i bought myself an ipod mini in pink- i got a fabulous deal and i'm really excited about it. work is good, my sinus thing is finally starting to go away, after four days on the FOURTH antibiotic. i even slept without nyquil last night. i'm unimpressed with most of the spring IK, not a single thing in there would be flattering on a body like mine (save for the socks). i bought an issue of FCEK tonight and will look through it tomorrow on my lunch hour. and that is pretty much it. i'm taking tomorrow off from the gym and tending to my very very messy apartment and my very very neglected socks and my very very neglected weblog.
xoxo
9:15 PM /
Monday, February 14, 2005
soon...
camera charging. post coming tomorrow night.
can you handle the excitement? can you?
9:36 PM /
Saturday, February 05, 2005
sock yarn and sinuses
i seem to have re-found my love of knitting socks. and to go with this love, i've been on a sock yarn buying binge. here are three of my recently purchased future projects:
regia jubilee 'india', sockotta number 14, and fortisima colori 2420
i'm very in love with each of these yarns. the regia and the fortisima are for me, the sockotta will become the sockapalooza socks. i have the pattern narrowed down to three and now i just have to pick. i'll start them as soon as i finish these
as you can see, i've finished the heel flap on sock number two. i started to turn the heel the other night, but was half asleep and half delirious on sinus pain medicine which equalled a total rachel m unable to knit properly. i ripped back and went to bed. i'm going to pick it up in just a few minutes and attempt to get through the turning and picking up of gusset stitches. i've also been knitting, off and on the last two days, on the ugly sock for adam that i started while i was all broken ankle-ed. i hate this sock. so ugly. but he's been giving me a really hard time about owing him socks.
this one is in lion brand magic stripes in ugly baby poop brown and blue and faux fair isle. next pair for him, i pick the yarn!
today i spent a few hours with my mom, helping her prepare for a fancy business trip. she needed clothes so we went shopping. at the store she found her clothes at, i found a fabulous bracelet. i said 'i'm going to buy this!' she said she'd buy it for me (it was fairly inexpensive but so pretty!). this is my valentine present from mom:
it says inspirational things such as 'faith, dream, search, love, inspire' and so on. i love it. i wore it the whole time she was trying on clothes and it just molded to my wrist and warmed up and i love it. did i mention that?
as for the not feeling well,; yesterday, i had a CT scan of my sinuses. my doctor is baffled by my body's refusal to get better. i've taken 20 days worth of antibiotics and still feel like absolute arse. i can't even begin to describe the pain my poor head has been in. i'm basically miserable. luckily, work has been very understanding. yesterday, when i asked if it was alright if i ditched out early to go get the CT scan, my boss said 'i think you better!'. today i managed to function like a normal person until about 3pm. then i left my mum behind, came home and went to sleep. i woke up not feeling much better, but here i am anyway!
and now i'm off to knit for a while, until i have to get back in bed. thanks for sticking with me. xoxo.
8:13 PM /
Thursday, February 03, 2005
due to the plague and my internet being as wonky as wonky can be: i've been mia. again. but i don't THINK anyone (save for meg) noticed. what's up with that? anyway. my point is, updates tonight if i don't fall asleep when i get home from work. xo
6:40 AM /
i'm rachel m, i'm 26 and i live in cleveland, ohio. i knit, spin, and read. i have a steady sweetie, two chubby cats, a full time job
and a messy apartment.
