My Eyes Hurt

Have you ever had an allergy attack so strong that you couldn't bear to keep your eyes open or stay awake because they hurt and itch so much, but couldn't sleep because laying down made you feel like you were going to die? Well, that's how I've been feeling. My eyes are red and swollen and itchy. My throat is dry and itchy. My nose goes from completely stopped up to running non-stop. And don't get me started on the asthma attacks. What the hell is going on around here? I checked weather.com and they said all counts were low...so why am I suffering? I've got 4 days and 3 hours to go before I get a day off. YES, I'm counting down. My cellphone will tell me when the exact time has arrived. I can't wait.

Daniella was sweet enough to bring me batteries after my rant about the dead ones in my camera, but I haven't had time to download the pictures. Just be patient with me. I haven't been knitting a whole lot. I started a pair of socks for my uncle's wife. It's a ball of Sockotta I got at the A Mano sale a while ago. I've been having trouble with this yarn. It feels too thin for my size 0 needles and I don't want to go smaller. AND I've mixed my needles all up (need a sizer, not Susan Bates!), I think I've actually lost one in my house! Anyway, I think I've used the 0s and they seem to be working well. I'm doing the Beaded Rib pattern from Sensational Knit Socks, which I got from Crafter's Choice. It was a momentary lapse, but now I've got 5 or 6 crafting books for only $1.00 each! Plus shipping & Handling....They'll be useful eventually. :)

Not that I'm getting burnt out on socks or anything, but I'd like to be able to work on the Lady E. I also want to try one of Mimknit's shawl patterns, maybe Seraphim, but they scare me (charts)....can you imagine the fear that the Forest Path Stole elicits? I have been working on that beautiful aubergine Doucer scarf. I just need more time. Just two more hours in the day.

I did squeeze out about two hours yesterday to check out a new yarn store, Hissy Knits, in Glendale. It's around the block and up the street from me. It's on Verdugo just north of Colorado on the opposite side of the street from Zankou Chicken. Daniella and I met there after I got out of the office yesterday. It's a quaint little shop. Beautifully decorated. Gorgeous selection of yarn. So much Noro! The owner is Annie and she has been open since mid-July. I told her to put a post on the SnB LA yahoo group to drum up some business...nothing like free advertising, right? You should go check it out. Nice patio in the back, great decor inside, nice selection of yarn. I got some baby yarn that's super soft, it feels like angora, in several shades of brown to make a blanket for my friend in NY who's pregnant. I found out about it because of a review on a blog I came across last week. The shop is great and I think even if you didn't purchase anyting she'd be happy to have a little company.

I think that's all I've got for today. I've caught up on my homework, but have fallen behind on my reading. How does that happen?

Whining.

I don't feel like blogging. I don't want to go to work or school, I just want to stay home and sleep and knit and eat, and then start again from the top of the list. I also want to read, maybe I'll add that to the list after eat and that way it will be easier to fall back to sleep. How about that? I'd also like the dishwashing fairy, the laundry fairy and the housecleaning fairy to come by and help me out once a week. Apparently, wanting is not enuf cause NONE of this is going to happen. **sigh**

Oh well, back to reality...oh there goes gravity....oh, it don't matter he....What was I saying? That song just popped up on me.

I have been knitting. Not a whole lot, but I still carry projects around with me. I got yarn for my birthday, beautiful beautiful yarn from Daniella AND one of those cute little Lantern Moon sock bags...you know the ones, they look like shark skin fabic and you can hang them off your arm so you can walk and knit. Yeah, no walking and knitting for me...falling is an issue in my world when the ONLY thing I'm doing is walking and I've got the scars to prove it. I also got a ball of Step from Melissa, and a wool silk blend with a lace sampler scarf pattern from Victoria. There were many other wonderful gifts, just not yarn related....Thank you all! And the celebrations really raised my spirits. I can't thank you SnB ladies enough!!!! It was a good birthday.

I don't have pictures...well, I have pictures I just don't have them to post because the batteries in my camera died and I refuse to pay $7.59 for batteries when I can get the same for a buck fifty at Ikea, but I don't have time to go to Ikea. Argh!!!! If my current job hadn't gone to shit in the last month I'd be questioning my decision to enter this DMS program.

Okay, so I have been knitting, I've been making socks. I made a pair for myself. K6 P2 rib with a regular old heel (I'm sure there's a technical name, but damned if I know or am going to look it up). I did them on the magic loop, which I think I've mentioned here before. I L.O.V.E. the technique. I'll be doing it as often as possible. Although, I think I'll have to get sturdier needles than Addis because I'm a bit tense and I bent the size zeros I have. Not a terrible bend, but when you hold the needles together one of them looks arced...hard to kitchner with them like that. I also finished the green socks for Tara that Dixie marveled at...I did them both at the same time on one circular and they were fine except for the heel flap. That came out awful, but there was no fixing it...actually, the socks don't look all that good. They're done, I don't want to talk about it any more. :)

So, two pairs of socks done. Sizzle started and frogged. Some sleeves started...sort of looks like a shrug but it's just sleeves, not sure why I want them but I do. I also frogged the Gentlemen's Lozenge socks, will "create" a patter of my own design for that yarn. The Candle Flame shawl which I haven't touched in weeks...and the Knotted Openwork scarf in this beautiful aubergine Doucer something or the other, it's like Kid Seta or Kidsilk haze. Okay, enuf of me and my half done things, you can check the archives for the other WIPs or UFOs if you would...

Enuf of my whining. I'm doing fine in school. Work would be wonderful (as wonderful as work can be) if these two women would stop complaining that I'm too noisy and disruptive. Home is fine other than that band of missing cleaning fairies!

Hope all is well with all of you....hope you're ready for this new heatwave that is upon us too. Ugh, if only we had a fall here.

A Blast from the past...

So, I've been SUPER busy with school and work...my stitching is sort of suffering. I have been inspired to work on the blue afghan recently, but it's gone and gotten hot again! Just looking at it makes me uncomfortable. I still have four socks on the needles. The pair on one Magic Loop, the second Magic Loop one for me, and the first Gentlemen's Sock with Lozenge Pattern for my uncle. I've also got the Lady E (still too hot to touch), the Variation on a Frill and the Candle Flame Shawl going....of course there are others, but I don't want to talk about that right now.

School is rough, but going okay. I'm doing fine. I was able to celebrate my birthday and still keep up with all my reading. Although, the only way I could get my friends off my back about not staying out later was to tell them how much I'm paying for the classes. Each and everyone of them, after hearing the amount, told me to go home and make sure I was in school on Sunday!

And my blast from the past....my aunt finally sent me the pictures of the Mother's Day gifts...so you can see the clutch of completed cuffs.





Better late than never, right? And they're soooo pretty! :)

And now I'm off to try to work, while excitedly waiting for my departure for Stitch-n-Pitch!