Lace Shawl and a visit from Canada

KNITTING

Just a quicky today to show my lace shawl. its the one from Knit Today June issue. I've done lace on jumpers etc but never a lace shawl. I'm absolutely hooked and love it. I've put all my other stuff aside and keep telling everyone to shush when I'm concentrating! I talk when I'm on a pearl row!!!

I meant to say yesterday was as well as knitting hell, knitting heaven. Why the dicotomy? Three knitting mags arrived together!! Knit Today, Simply Knitting and best of all Interweave knits. I can t put links up. I havnt sussed it out, but all you kniters know about them anyway!!!

Canadian Visit

I'm so excited. my little sis arrives tommorrow from Kingston Ontario with my neice and nephew. Sadly her husband isnt well enough to travel. I havnt see my nephew for 6 years and my neice for 3 years. i cant wait!!! sis came over on her own last Nov to visit Mum who was having Chemo again and we had a great sisterly time, despite mum. This time she's over for much micer things, Mum and Dad golden wedding!! We are so grateful, we wernt sure this time last year, when we heard of Mums cancer returning that there would be a golden Wedding. Our house is going to be over run! and in the midst of having all these visitors Sams Girlfriend is staying, Plus Rachels friend is homeless for one night and needs a bed!!!! it'll be sleeping bags In the bath!!!!

hope my FM doesnt flare up.

On Monday we're having 4 days by the sea in St.Annes next door to Blackpool to show Zak and Talia(Neice and nephew) a real English sea-side. Blackpool, Yuk!!! dorty and common but the kids love it!!!I find it really tawdry these days. I'll sit on the front in St Annes with the old dears and knit!!!! weather permiting!!! I had to laugh Michelle my sister sent me an e-mail asking did she have to change for dinner at the hotel or could she go in off the beach in her shorts and tea shirt!!! Shorts and tea shirt!? I've got the heating on!!!LOL

Proud Mum

we're possitively Kvelling (yiddish for swelling with pride and crowing)in our household. We're so proud, Sam got his A level results yesterday- 3A's and 1B!!! he's got his place at Leeds Uni to study Electronic engineering with computer engineering. Cant beleive where the last 18 years have gone and now my big boy is going and leaving his mamma!!!! We celebrated by having his faveGrilled steak last night. we did want to open a bottle of bubbly but N was going to Tesco so we'll have it tonight.

Cinders had a bird in the garden yesterday. As it was already dead I just closed the catflap to make sure she didnt bring it in and left her to it!!! I just had to go and shovel left over bird body into the bin later so that the boys could play outside!!!

Josh had a Tuna jacket spud for lunch so Sox was on his usual tuna patrole . he managed to jump up and finish the left overs from the bowl when my back was turned!!!

FM

physically The burning has kicked in again. its very odd as it feels like I want to stretch all the time, like my muscles are itchy somehow. Most annoying.
I got very upset by Josh last night.I knew it was only a matter of time before he let rip, but its still not nice. he was tired and grumpy because he'd fallen out with his pal down the street again. they're like an old married couple! He was driving me mad. I said to him go and play on your own for a while. Sam could amuse himself for hours. Josh needs 24 hr entertainig. he fired off at me- 'well what am I supposed to do, you're lazy and just sit there . you do nothing with me.......etc' I went mad at him. How dare he accuse me of being lazy!! does he think I enjoy being in pain and immobile. he got sent to his room for the night and when he did appear I was very short with him. it really cuts me like a knife. I know I cant do what I'd like with the kids. he doesnt have to rub it in.

Knitting

Everything seems to be going wrong. I was doing my lace shawl nicely and then messed up. I got into even more of a mess trying to undoe it. Of course I have no lifeline. Big mistake. I'm going to try and tink as far as the 4 row garter stitch and see if I can pick up from there.

my camisole doesnt suit me. Its modelled, of course on a skinny size 0 model. well I may have a zero in my size , but its after the 2!!! I look an absolute bugger in it. so I'm going to take off the bra top and pick up and knit a vest top instead. I'll need to order some more yarn. Hee, hee!!!! I can feel a shop coming up!!!
The back of the lace cardi is wrong. After I'd finished it I thought the sleeve section dint look right. I realise dthat the pattern said knit until the top measures 22" then cast off. I knitted an extra 2 " on the lenght before the arm shapping and forgot to add it into the final lenght of the top!!!! so that will have to be undone . its a lace pattern again so I'll have to try and pick that up. GGGRRRRR!!!

Sox and Cinders

SOX

CINDERS

How can I have been so remiss as to not mention my 'babies' Sox and Cinders. They're 4 years old now. we got them as rescue cats when they were approx 8 months old. Sox is the male, black and white, with white feet ,hence the name! Cinders is pure black. Cinders is a lady. she is shy and hides most of the day. She seems to know when I feel rough as she will come on the bed and sit on my painful legs and nudge me and lick me. Sox is a grredy cat! he drives me mad to feed him all day and can be miles away but If I go into the kitchen he comes flying through the cat flap!!! I cant leave any food around as Sox pinches it. he's been known to sit on a burning hob to get at a pan of bologneses sauce!!! he's shuddered eating a hot curry rather than give in and leave the chicken! We cant turn our backs for one minute, he pinches chicken legs off your plate and growls under the table if we try and taske it away!!!! They love us so much we get live mice , half eaten mice, birds, bits of birds and a hall of feathers and blood!!! I wouldnt be without the cats.

FM

On the fibromyalgia front I'm in alot of pain and burning lately. its waking me up at night again. I'm getting very fed up of waking up every morning in pain. I dont think this is anything to do with the Statins. its just a flare. What has upset me is that I picked up a wheelchair from my cousin on Saturday so that I can get out and about for long trips. A strange thing happened on Sunday night. I have been priding myself on how well adjusted I am to the FM and how I've adapted to the drastic change in lifestyle. I'm not in the least sporty and have always disliked climbing, long walks etc, anything too strenuous so here I was watching Gryss Rhys Jones programme on mountains and watching him huffing and puffing up Ben Nevis . I started thinking,'i cant do that any more' i started feeling very down and very sad for the life i lost and the one I have now. it surprised me a bit. I found myself doing it also watching Coast. Odd how the way ones mind works.

On the knitting front, I've finished knitting the cami. it just has to be sewn togehter. I ripped up the Lace shawl. Rowan Kid Silk Haze is murder to knit with. I've abandoned it and got an ordinary wool laceweight out to do the shawl!

W.I.P's

KNITTING

It seems a while since my last post, but I've finally managed to photograph my current W.I.P's and new stuff which arrived 3 weeks ago!!! Shows how long its taken me to get round to it!!

I'm on the left boob of my camisole ! nearly finished. I'm beginnig to wonder if pure cotton will lie right. the pattern I think calls for a cotton with lycra or something in it!!. The lace cardi is coming on slowly. I dont like knitting with the yarn, Noro Ganpi Abaka Surabu. When I read about it it sounded really intruiging , mad from paper, so when I saw it in a Get Knitted sale I had to have some. its got a hard texture. I originally started to knit the cami in it but it would've been to hard on the skin. I managed to get into my local town centre last week and found a brown cotton skirt with green flowers in of all places Bon Marche. (i'm showing my age if I find things in there!!!). The skirt matches perfectly , so I'm trying to finish the two tops in 2 weeks time for my parents golden wedding anniversary, not alot of chance of that happening I dont think!!!

I also wanted to do somemore lace so i started the shawl from last months Knit Today. I had 4 balls of KSH in my stash, the pattern calss for 5, but as its a shawl sewn in 2 halfs, when I get to the end of my second ball I'll know how far up to knit the second half!!!! I'm not sure that the lace pattern is correct yet, I cant tell!!!!

The blue is my mindless knitting, a vest top from Sirdar knitted In Sorrento from Knitwells sale (£9.00) the lot!!!! I'm making my londer and not sewing up the rib so it'll be like a tunic.

my last stash enhancement parcel. Noro silk garden for a Clapotis and 2 balls of merino Laceweight from Yarn treehouse on E-bay -I havnt sussed out how to make links yet!!!

3 W.I.Ps, 2 are from Beads Buttons and Lace

YAY!!!! I managed to move the photographs !!!!! I'm getting better at this computer lark!!!

FM;

On the FM front Ive not been too bad. I'm in 24 hour pain, but I think prt of you get used to it. I tend not to notice it too much as my pain releif works fairly well. I had this conversation with J, a friend I made over the FM website forum. (see very first post, i must put up a link). We met for lunch and we both agreed that if you spend so long being in chronic pain you tend to learn to live with it and not notice it too much.
My back keeps going into spasm which is hacking me off as \i walk or stand for so long then whamo I seize up, am in dreadful pain and have to sit down to ease it.

I've asked for a wheel chair from the NHS so at least i will be able to go on days out with the family or Josh can push me round to the fields so he can play football. That'll keep him happy.

Wher the pain does drive me mad is in the middle of the night. Despite the water bed if I lie on wither side my shoulders hurt, then my elbows , then my hips, so I end up sleeping on my back. But I snore if I sleep on my back!!!-old git!!! I'd like a nights sleep where the pain doesnt intrude on my night.

General musings

What are we going to do with Josh? An over sexed 11 year old!!! by accident I pressed the computer history to find some rather 'interesting' sites listed!!! Manga cartoons , only porn cartoons!!!! Yup, our son had been browsing!!! Since when we have added a better parent filter!!! I get cross with him as he takes advantage when I'm not so good. I needed a sleep so he thought 'great. I wont get caught'!!! he's been told time and time again not to play football, cricket, anything involving a ball in out tiny garden or on the road. it upsets the neighbours. Does he pay aNY ATTENTION? nO. EVERYDAY ITS THE SAME THING. MY NEIGHBOURS KNOW NOW THAT HE IS BANNED SO IF HE HITS A BALL NEAR their car or window they just confiscate it off him. he wont learn .

The other 2 are lovely. Sams been paid his first wage and has bought a new all singing all dancing computer. it arrived today, so we know what he'll be doing tonight!!

His girlfriend leaves for Israel in 2 weeks so he's going to be like a bear with a sore head

Rachel, as ever is lovely, chatty, helpful and so very mature for her age. we discuss alsorts its lovely.