Waiting for snowflakes

It's been a pretty unsnowy season this year. Not what I was expecting when we moved to Truckee, the 5th snowiest city in the US. I've been watching the crazy weather in all the other places I've lived, and have been pretty glad to not be dealing with their winter - I'm looking at you Ohio! We have some snow forecast this week and next, so I'm really hoping that it comes this time! The dog and I need more snow to jump around in. The snow that is outside, while still very deep, is old and gross now.

The migraine that started last Thursday when I was driving seems to have broken finally. I got a fever in my sleep two nights in a row, which only leads to more tossing and turning and bad sleep. I slept for about 18 hours on Friday/Saturday. I was exhausted, but even when I woke up, I was still exhausted. Migraine sleep sucks. I never really fall all the way asleep. It's like my body keeps tense and always bracing for the next wave of pain. 

I've been reading A Life in Stitches. It's very good. I'm enjoying the way she writes about knitting and her cat. I'm not a cat person, but Digit sounds like the best cat ever. I've never read her blog Yarn-A-Go-Go, but it's being added to my blog roll now! Her stories about being cold all the time and just knitting, knitting, knitting really inspired me. I am a cold person and don't seem to own enough sweaters! I'm not really sure how that is possible when I have been knitting since 2001, but whatever... We won't talk about the 4 or 5 in pieces, half-knit and scattered all over the stash... Shh...

I cast on for Cadence last night. I got the yarn (Sirdar Denim Chunky) at Saver's for $5 a few years ago. I think there were 7 or 8 balls originally. I used some for a hat and really enjoyed the feel of the yarn. I'm hoping I can get through this one quickly! Everyone on Ravelry seems to enjoy knitting it.

Hey!

What are you doing? Trying to sleep? Not anymore!!

I brought a pumpkin! I'm so nice I brought 2 toys to wake you up with! 

~~~~~~~~

My puppy is insane, but really cute.

I had one hell of a migraine yesterday. Everything hurt. I was just restless and uncomfortable all day yesterday. Finally around 8, it seemed to break a bit. I took advantage of feeling better by doing the dishes (including the 3 cast iron skillets), scrubbed out the sink, wiped the countertops, and then scrubbed the hood of the stove. It was gross!

I kept trying to knit or get online to get a few things done, but it was not one of those evenings. I think I maybe knit 3 rows of a handtowel and each time I sat down in front of the computer, that awful pressure would start up again behind my left eye.

I finished a wonderful book last night, The Song Of Achilles. Very good book! I've been in kind of a reading slump after getting through a bunch of books right at the beginning of the year. I'm hoping I can knock some of these half-read books off my list soon. I have quite a few books/series I want to re-read this summer, so I'm trying to get some of my wishlist taken care of before then.

I'm doing a bit of an upgrade/refitting of my Central Park Hoodie. I was about 50 lbs heavier when I knit it, so it's pretty large on me right now. I'm going to felt it slightly after I knit the pockets for it. I put in a fake seam across the neck with a simple crochet line. It had a really bad habit of slouching off my shoulders since the back and hood were knit in one piece, but the shoulders can't take all the weight of the hood, so it just spreads like a slug across your back. It never really looked that nice on except as a very bulky outer layer. The "seam" helps put some stability in it. I'm debating moving the buttons over about an inch. I sewed them on close to the edge because I liked the way it looked... but it leaves a gap where wind flies right in... I'm still not sure if I want to move them. I may read through my notes on the sweater to see if there was another reason I placed them where I did. Either way, I'll debate and decide it while I'm knitting the pockets.

Behind

I've been pretty useless this week. I've had a migraine almost all week. It's been sort of on and off, so that's sort of a relief, but also a bummer... Each time I think it might be gone, that stabby, sharp pain ripples under my scalp again or my eyes burn. I'm going to spend most of tomorrow on the phone trying to get the ball rolling on getting disability. I need medical care and a chiropractor.

I've been working on a lot of slippers as gifts. They're all at a stopping point right now. I really need to just start on another little piece and get through them.

I'm also working on a few different hats: some actually on the needles, some just scribbles in my notebook, or ideas I'm working on inside my head. I am hoping that a Netflix marathon of something good and a few good snowy days will get my list down to a manageable size.

I've taken some time this week to update my Kindle. I needed some new books. I also added some children's book to my Kindle Fire. I don't use the Fire for reading much since the backlight hurts my eyes, but the colors are so nice on it!!

And to finish off, here's Mister Shinobi chomping some lunch. 

Stitch by Stitch

I have quite a collection of vintage knitting books. I've decided to list a few on etsy.

I just listed this one. It's a very cool book with tons of photos. It has knitting, crochet, sewing and needlecraft instructions.

Catching Up.

We got back from Ohio last night. Whew! The visit was fun, I enjoyed myself -- the drive back was sucktastic. We had waaaaay too much stuff in the car and I didn't have a whole lot of room to stretch out my leg.

I saw my doctor in Columbus while we were there. He's a great doctor. He confirmed that I do need surgery, but sent me for an MRI to check that there are no other issues going on. I finally got the results Friday (a week after the MRI) and was told that there are no tears but my meniscus is deteriorating badly. Now I just have to wait... my doctor is in New Orleans with the Buckeyes (he's a team doctor) and won't be back for a bit. Then I have to arrange everything so I can fly there, have surgery, recover a bit, then fly back home.

Let's see --- CHRISTMAS and my BIRTHDAY were good. I got lots of goodies. Piles and piles of great books, including a nice collection of Edward Gorey from Vince and a stack of new and not-yet released books from Julie (Vince's sister) and my very own copy of Last-Minute Knitted Gifts. The Planet Earth DVD set. A new camera. (Thank goodness! My old one was dying a quick death.) Lots of makeup and bath goodies. A purse, some cute t-shirts, a few really nice sweaters - including a cashmere one from Vince that I want to wear everyday. A copy of Brain Age 2 for the DS. I got a gift certificate from Shuttles, Spindles & Skeins and piles and piles of yarn from Oma. So much yarn. I am trying to figure out where to put it all!

I got lots of great stuff and I hope everyone I gave gifts to enjoyed theirs as much as I enjoyed mine!

I'm off to try to figure out how to use my new camera and try to take photos of things I knit over the break. I should have more tomorrow.

Oh and the most important thing of all GO BUCKS!!!!!!!!!!

More books!

I finished two more books yesterday. I actually read them both in one day... an amazing feat.

Grace

I finished this today.

It took me a while to read. I think it's something about Susanna Clarke's style of writing. It's very, well, I don't really know how to describe it. I thought I'd give this one a try because I'm having such a difficult time getting through Jonathon Strange and Mr Norrel. I thought it was the size of the book, or my sickness, or me just being dumb for a while or something, but it really is impossible to read. I will read it for hours and only make it through 15 pages. That's not me. I can read a 200 page book in a day, especially when I'm home all day.

Both are written in almost the same style, so I know I'll make it through JS & MN, but it will take a long, long time.

I do highly recommend this book though. It's a great collection of short stories. It's a good introduction to her style. The book itself is very attractive too. I love the cover art and the illustrations inside are quite nice too.


ETA: I'm trying to read a book each week this year. So far I've been documenting them solely on my Vox Blog, but I wanted to add them here too since I've found so many great books through knitters.

*waves*

HI!

Just a quick update to let my 5 readers know that yes, I am knitting. I have a rug almost finished, some hats on needles, a ballband guest towel for my Mom and some mittens brewing in my head. It's winter so I want wintery things!

I need to take lots and lots of photos tomorrow of my Holiday Loot. Lots of goodies!!!

I went to the library tonight and destroyed their knitting section by checking out about 2/3rds of the books. Oops. I'm looking for ideas to use up the stash!