Monday, August 29, 2011

Irene and iPhone

Hurricane Irene hammered my little costal town over the weekend. Luckily we came through safely with very little damage.

On the downside, we're going on twenty four hours with no power. Not to mention the wire the fell from our house yesterday evening and is drooping precariously close to traffic coming down the street - the garbage trucks barely cleared it this morning. The fact that the crews haven't been by yet to fix it is probably a bad sign. News reports are saying it could take a full week to restore power to everyone.

Thank goodness for my iPhone, which has kept us from feeling cut off from the rest of the world. (My laptop is now simply a large iPhone charging device.) Thank goodness also for my neighbor with a generator who remembered that I'm diabetic. He came over yesterday to take my spare insulin and will store it in his refrigerator until our power is back. It may have lasted the outage, but better safe than sorry - or better safe than insulinless.

I hope all is well in your corner of the world. Until the power is back, you'll find me knitting and reading and cleaning (but not vacuuming).

Sent from my iPhone

Friday, August 05, 2011

Out of Sight, Out of Mind . . .

Have you forgotten I existed?  Have I been away too long for you to remember me?  Yup, out of sight, out of mind, right?

Well, the same goes for knitting!!  I suppose it would come as no surprise if I fess up that my knitting dry spell has stretched on through the summer.  It’s not that I don’t think of knitting often.  It’s not that I don’t admire my pretty yarn and dream of the projects I’ll knit up.  It’s not that I don’t long for yarn running through my fingers.  Because trust me, I do.

Maybe part of the problem is that I’m just too darn neat.  I’ve got my WIPs tucked away in project bags, all tidy and organized.  And since I don’t see them, I tend to forget about them when stolen bits of knitting time are presented.  Because, you know, out of sight, out of mind.

So I decided to loosen up a bit.  I pulled out my sock project and left it splayed out on the living room table.  And I found rows are getting knitted here and there.  A few rounds got done while the morning coffee was brewing.  It rode along to the train station for some knitting while I waited for Pete’s train.

sock
It may not be much, but it’s a step in the right direction!!  And it helped get knitting back on my mind!

Monday, February 07, 2011

Thank goodness for Knit-Therapy

This morning started much like any other Monday.  The alarm clock went off way too early.  I packed a lunch for Pete, threw on some sweats, and headed out to drive him to the train station.  As we neared the end of our street, I heard Pete yell.  Then I heard a crunch.  Then the car began to spin and I realized it was no longer under my control.  Luckily, this all happened in a flash and before I knew it our poor car was wedged into the snow and ice on the side of the road.  We were stuck, but we were both just fine.  Everyone in the other car was fine too.

 

stress

My blood sugars stayed amazingly stable throughout the ordeal.  I knew that once the adrenaline subsided and the stress took over, they were likely to skyrocket.  But I can take it.  All that matters is that everyone involved in the accident is fine.  And now that I am starting to feel completely frazzled?  I’m going to grab my knitting and let it sooth me.  It really is the best therapy around!

What do you think non-knitters do after a crisis?  (Probably drink . . . )

Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Bite me . . .

 

winter

Hey, Sweater Weather, you can kiss my aaaa . . . . ddi turbos!  And while we’re at it, Mother Nature needs a fleecing attitude adjustment.

 

I am so done.

Monday, January 31, 2011

January Sock Fail . . .

In the interest of New Year, Fresh Start, blah blah blah, I vowed that I would get back to knitting one pair of socks each month.  I even paired stash yarn with patterns, printed the patterns, dug out the yarn, and bagged them all up for a Personal Sock Club like many other knitters are doing.  I had a pair on the needles that I planned to finish up in January, and then I could start picking a random bag each month and knit a pair of sock.

 

So, with just over 10 hours left in January, how do you think my plan is going?  Any guesses?

 

SockFail

 

Yup, big fail!! 

 

New plan?  Finish the January socks during the first few days of February.  Then knit really really fast on the February pair.  I could work, right?

Friday, January 28, 2011

Eye Candy Friday . . .

The long over-due one with the Christmas Loot!!!!

ChristmasHaul
Clockwise from top left:  Bare Stroll Fingering to dye, acid dye starter setSock Yarn One-Skein Wonders, a lovely skein of Colorado Merino Wool my brother brought from Colorado - home spun (not by him) and naturally dyed, two yarn ball ornaments, Wool of the Andes Bulky in Wallaby to knit Sigil , and Folk Socks.  In the middle: Interweave Knits Winter 2010 and a crock-pot for acid dying.

Although as far as K.C. was concerned . . . .

Present
she is the only present that needed to be under my tree!!

Tuesday, January 04, 2011

Goals, not resolutions . . .

NewYearI’m great at making resolutions.  I’m a champion list maker for anything and everything.  I’m also really great at picking area of my life that I feel I’ve done an utterly crappy job.  So resolution lists get made every New Year’s, and often at multiple times during the year as well.

As great as I am at making resolutions, I’m not so good at keeping resolutions.  Yes, I do make sure my resolutions are measurable and attainable and all those other tips we read about resolution making.  The problem, I think, is that I try to change too much at once.  I have my long list of what I’m doing wrong and what I need to fix.  And after a few days, I get totally overwhelmed and discouraged and just give up - one resolution at a time.

This year, I’ve decided to do something different.  Instead of making a list of resolutions, I’m going to work throughout the year on improving myself and my life, one small step at a time.  Each week, I will take a baby step toward doing something in my life better.  The next week, I’ll pick something new to focus on - hopefully while keeping up on the “resolution” from the week before.  If I start to slip on one of the goals, there will be no reason to abandon the whole process, because I can just restart that goal again when another week starts.  The idea is to be constantly moving forward throughout the year, one tiny goal at a time.

The first goals that pop into my mind are mainly health related.  My goal for this week is an easy one, yet one that is pretty important.  Throughout the month of December, I’ve been really (really really) lax about taking my cholesterol and blood pressure medication, as well as my iron, Vitamin D and Vitamin C pills - which are all very important for a girl with Type 1 Diabetes like me.  There really is no reason not to take five seconds to swallow down these capsules, other than pure laziness with a bit of forgetfulness mixed in.  So, since January 1st, I take my morning pills while waiting for my coffee to brew.  And I take my evening pills before hopping into bed.  Easy as pie.  (Mmmm, pie.)  A goal that I know I can continue through the year.  Which leaves me feeling good and ready to choose a new goal to work on next week.  Maybe that goal should involve knitting every day???