Another Long Overdue Catch Up

When I ever looked at the date of my last post I was horrified to see how sadly I have neglected my blog.  I have to blame it on InstaGram.  It is so easy to snap a pic and upload it with a line or two comment and receive instant gratification from everyone who sees it.  I have no idea who reads this blog but started it originally as a place to keep my latest news in one place.  So I am going to really try to keep up with it.  Plus once I got my iPad, I hate using the computer to compose posts here.  There is a mobile app but lacks the features I need so I would compose what I could with the iPad then have to go back and edit and add pics on the computer.  Wasn't happening!  I will try to force myself to just do it!

The big news is my success this year with Stash Dash!  Remember last year I got a severe startitis itch half way through and never completed the wips I scheduled to cross the 5K finish line.  Well, this year Leslie and Laura added a new category.  A 3K for those of us with knitting ADD (or what I like to refer to as the magpie syndrome; i.e. ooh, new!, shiny! must cast on).  Well - tada! - I have met AND surpassed my 3K goal!  Stash Dash ends on the 14th and if I can finish the last thumb on my Wild Hare Mittens I may even make the 5K!!!!!  Woo Hoo!

I owe most of the yardage to the Great American Aran Afghan.  Another horror was when I looked up here in my blog archives when I cast on this beauty.  2010!!!!!!  That is just pathetic.  BUT, here she is in all her glory.  (except she looks very unglorious because of the contrast I had to add to show off the stitches in the blocks)  I will try to get a better pic somewhere, sometime.

I also finally finished my Gryphon Feathers Shawl.  I was 2" from finishing when I decided it was too small for how I like my shawls.  So I frogged the whole thing, beads and all mind you, and started
over.  So glad I did because the size is now perfect.  I really love it and how the color is just SO Gryphon and will think of him every time I wear it.  (not that I still don't think of him every single day)  It is 100% silk so feels absolutely luscious on bare shoulders.

I went to TwinSet Summer Camp this year and in our goody bags were the pattern and yarn for a little squid.  I named him Inky and he was very fun to knit.  I love fine gauge stuffies.  Have no idea what I'll do with him but loved knitting him.  I do have a friend who loves ocean creatures, real and mythical, so perhaps she could use him.  Or if I knew anybody close having a baby boy, that would be a cute gift.  We'll see.  After some display time, he will go into the gift box.

Then I knit Ernie The Troublemaker.  He is a trouble maker because I spent time knitting him when I should have been knitting ufos.  He was fun anyway, worth the trouble and I gave him to my dear friend Marjorie.  

I knit a pair of Fruit Stripe Gum socks I call Watermelon Slices since that is what they remind me of. These are knit with a 70/20/10 blend of wool/silk/cashmere from String Theory Coloroworks and I just love this base.  I seem to remember the wool is BFL since that is what I buy from her.  A good sturdy sock yarn, but so very soft.

I finally finished and blocked my Irish Moss Sweater.  100% baby merino.  Oh my.  I love this sweater.  I hated to finish it because I loved knitting every stitch.  Have not worn it yet.  Just loving looking at it.  I even sewed the button band with silk ribbon to reinforce.  Love the buttons too.

I finished the Hazel baby sweater.  This was a blast to knit but hated sewing it together.  It sat for ages until I finally bit the bullet and just did it.  I added grosgrain ribbon to the button band that matches the buttons.  I love the way it came out.  Now need a little girl to give it to.

I knit the Sprig sweater by Alana Dakos in ColourMart lambswool.  It matches the Verdure Mitts since I lost my cashmere Maia Mitts at Rhinebeck last year.  I'm still heartbroken over that!

I also finished the Wakame Lace Tuic out of merino/silk but I may add some length to the sleeves.  Not sure I'm diggin' the half sleeves.

And finally the Zodiac Sweater.  Love, love, love this one.  Knit in Knit Picks Galileo which is wool and bamboo, it is simply scrumptious.

OK, now that we are through with the knits let's go on to news about Zephyr.  Well, he contiues to try to eat everything.  We almost lost him a month ago because one day he just wouldnt stop vomiting.  When I started seeing blood in it I took him to the ER.  He had to be admitted for a couple of days on IV fluids because he was dehydrated and started bleeding from the rectum soon after being admitted. We still don't know what happened but best guess is that he ate something really rotten or a critter that had been poisoned because he had hemorrhagic gastrointestinal enteritis!  We would have lost him if we hadn't admitted him.  Boy was it sad to see such an energetic boy laid so low.  Thankfully he is fine now and keeping me busy on our late night walks trying to eat the road kill if I don't see it first.    It is constant mischief management with this guy. Here is a funny pic of how he likes to sleep on my bed and what Stan's glasses looked like by the time I got them away from him.

I've discovered something new about myself.  I have a gluten sensitivity!  A friend of mine is a PT and had been telling me for some time avoiding gluten may help the fibromyalgia pain.  The amount of pain I deal with daily went up a few notches this summer so I was more than ready to do something about it.  I have been gluten free for 3 weeks now and 10 pounds have just melted off.  My pain level is about 50% less, I am sleeping better, not starving all the time and feeling much, much more mentally stable.  Heck, I'll say it - I'm actually happy!  I didn't think I would ever feel happy again after Gryphon died and it has been almost 3 years.  It has been a slow downward spiral all this time.  Now I find myself humming while cleaning or driving.  Humming!  I never hum.  I always avoid music or it gets stuck in my head for months at a time because of the stupid OCD.  Not now!  I can wake up in the am and the songs DO NOT automatically start playing like some kind of twisted alarm clock.  Yay!  I say yay y'all!
Whew, I think that is a long enough catch up.  If I think of anything else, I will make another post.

Thought for the day:  Life doesn't let us choose our circumstance;
but it does let us choose our attitude and response to it.