Look what I won!!!!

KNITTING

I won this beautiful felted knitting tote from Bearium. for her blogiversary. its beautifully made and lined . she also sent me a skein of her home dyed sock yarn Thank you bearium. the bag is in full use already!

I am continuing with the secret projects. nearly finished. The fun bit is going to be when, after felting,I then pin the thing in question out to dry! how do you hide blocking from someone?

I'm also busy with hubby's bee socks which are coming along slowly but nicely. They're really a foil at the mo for when a certain someone is home and I cant knit the secret projects.

But I'm itching to move on. I have an unfinished lace cardi for the summer from last year which I want to finish,plus the cotton top to go underneath it which was frogged. the yarn is still skeined after being re-washed so I have to wind it into balls but havnt the strenght at the mo.

Also, considering I'm broke and heavily overdrawn these balls of lace weight mohair fell into my lap. They're crystal palace and on offer from Knit and caboodle for just £2 per ball!! I decided that having messed up KSH which is expensive at £7 per ball, I would try these.!! This colour might not be to everyones taste but for winter with my brown outfits it'll do nicely. I can feel another cocked up shawl attempt coming on!!!!

I've fallen out with my Fibro!

Now for the boring moany bits so skip this! This is my self indulgence!!

I am no better physically. This is one BIG flare up!! Infact it feels more like CFS than FM! I am totally and utterly wipped out still. From Wednesday last week until Sunday night I literally hardly moved i was so weak.I slept in till 11 am, got up, had a long hot soak with my aromatherapy oils and sat in the garden or lay on the bed. I hardly knitted. I didnt have the strenght. I 've hardly been able to walk. I've shuffled around. I havnt been able to climb the stairs or up the steps into the house. I've been crawling upstairs on all fours with my tush stuck in the air! very dignified. The other problem has been, if I was on my own, once I got to the top of the stairs, how did I stand up? I couldnt pull myself upright, so I perfected this great manouver!! A sort of crab crawl, frog leap thingy!! I'm entering it for the olympics in the gymnastics section!!! Only I didnt end upright with my arms outstretched like when they finish in the real gymnastics..Ta,Da!!!

Infact talk about making choices and using up spoons! I would ensconce myself in the garden with drink, knititng, book ,phone if it was downstairs, if it was upsatirs forget it. But then I'd want another drink so I knew I couldnt climb the outside step to the kitchen so I'd have to go the longway round through the dining room french doors. This meant extra walking. Loo trips were down to a minimum! at least we have one downstairs!

If I was on the bed and needed a drink or felt hungry I was to exhausted to shout for attention so I just lay there waiting for someone to come upstairs. I wondered what do people who live alone do? starve or dehydrate. I have been totally dependent on hubby or the kids for virtually everything these last few weeks. I needed money for school diners and the cleaner and other bits so hubby wnet to the bank. How do you manage if you live alone and cant get out?

At some points I was so exhausted I didnt have the strenght to speak or think and I could see hubby was getting cross as he couldnt understand what I wanted. we resorted to miming!! The diet has gone out of the window. I'm not stuffing myself at all, but I'm eating whatever is made for me and if its oven chips and egg who cares!In fact I indulged in a chip butty-oooh with buttered bread and the egg inside!! loverrrly!! All the butter and egg yolk were running mmmmm. luckily this was a very rare happening! Dont think my cholesterol would like it too often!

Sunday night Josh was out at a disco so I sumoned some strenght from somewhere and we went for a meal. We tried a new restaurant near us which is the wierdest mix I've ever been to a Thai /Indian!!! I have to say stif fried chicken and noodles and naan bread really dont go, But the meal was lovely. The service appaling, but we couldnt get cross coz it was so hilarious. The waitress's were Indonesian, Thai, the chefs were Bangladeshi/Indian. They all had very little English and it was Fred Carno's! We got our starters twice, the wrong drinks were going to the wrong tables, the wrong food!!But the waitress's were so lovely you couldnt get angry! we'd go again.

Monday I was tired , but made it on my scooter to the library. Rachel accompanied me. Then I rested. Tuesday I went by taxi to my art class and massage. When I got home I collapsed again and spent Tuesday evening inbed and all yesterday shuffling around again! I was tempted to try a swim today as I've not been for about 3 weeks, but I'm resting and finishing some knitting instead. I hope I improve soon.

I'm getting very frustrated by it all. The garden has been mowed but not dug over. I cant weed. My next door neighbours father is dying and she's an only child and is nursing him. I'd go with for moral support or to help a bit If my body was normal!!!!

I'm worried incase I get depressed again. Its hard to feel cheerful when you feel like an amoeba all splodgy and plurrrrrp!!

The further adventures of Joshua 'Mole' aged 12 and 1 month!!

He's still going strong with his 'Pandora'. Its hilariously funny watching him in a morning. He straightens his hair. its all across his face like the rock stars have it and he's busy with the Lynx and aftershave. he even cleans his teeth in a mornign without a fight! Young love!!

He's been in trouble again at school this week. Its so exasperating. he's not a horror as his teachers say. They all like him. he's just silly and messes about. I was thinking that it does seem to tie in to my deterioration. I'm often in bed when he gets home and often asleep. I can see him not getting his Wii or x-box, whatever it was he wanted. I wish he's just settle down at school. This year is nearly over-can you beleive it so lets hope next school year is better for him.

In Which I design my first Knit and contribute to Rachels G.C.S.E art!!

Knitting

well I've done it. Made my first ever design. Now Dont laugh, especially those of you who regularly design stuff. I am no Euny jang!!! Rachel asked if I could knit a dolls size dress for her Art GCSE. so we chose the yarn. some of my home dyed sock stuff which I'd been looking forward to making inot socks for me! Then she drew what she wanted. I knitted a tension square and worked out the maths for the design. It had to have a bottom frill and a different stitch for a waist band. (she doesnt ask for much!). So here it is.... Ta, Da!!! Do you think They'll ask me to design for Rowan next???LOL!!





You cant really see the waist detail on here or the frill but there you go! The start of big things! (I dont think so!!)

I've done some more sock stash enhancing and bought this lot off E-Bay for £8.50!!! -sock yarn BTW




I got them from Forest Greener By the time postage was added it all came to£16 Which for the amount of yarn I've got is amazing. I can knit some Fairisle socks now. I want to try FairIsle and it really isnt for my body shape so I'll stick to socks and Mitts and such like unless I can get it going in Vertical stripes.



FM

Oh Boy! Its another FM whinging time so scroll on if you dont want to be bored!!

Last week actually I had some good days. Tuesday I made it to my art class, wednesday I went swimming. I managed 6 lenghts. Thursday was the pits. My cleaner normally comes at 11 ish so I can sleep in but she wanted to come at 9am. Now as you know, I dont do mornings. I got up at 7.30am and by 1.30pm I was on my knees and went to bed. I slept till 4pm but I was done for for the rest of the day. I spent most of it back in bed. Friday I felt good. The sun was out so decided on a little excursion. I got on my trusty steed (my scooter) and whizzed up to the docs for prescriptions, to the gym for a little swim and hydro pool, to the chemists to collect said prescriptions and to Subway for my lunch. Then home again . Saturday I felt O.K again so Hubby took me up to Holmfirth to the headquarters of the Knitting And crochet Guild of GB. we finally found them in a dark satanic mill (a la Jerusalem) in the back of beyond. it was an old damp mill with wobbly floor boards and wobbly stairs. But I bought some undyed lace yarn and undyed lace weight silk for 1p per gram. It all cost me £2.80!! Then we went into Holmfirth which is a lovely little English village, but very hilly and the shops and pavements are not disabled friendly. still it was a good ride out.

and theres more!



my contribution to Rachels GCSE's and Rachels contributons to my FM!!



Dear darling daughter! i woke up Sunday lunch time absolutely exhausted, aching etc from 2 days excursions. i planned on doing zilch and resting to recover. Enter RAchel. She announces that she has to do some textile designing for her exams and can she dye some white cloth using my acid dyes? O.K. But Mum has to show her what to do and she conveniently keeps dissapearing upstairs leaving someone else-namely me- to stop the stuff boiling dry!!! so I'm up and down to the kitchen like a yo-yo.Then she asks can I knit a doll size skirt for her today? O.K . then the skirt becomes a dress. so Off I went and did a swatch then did the maths. Now I suffer from the Fibrofog at the best of times and thinking is no good for me these days!! Thinking and being tired is def a bad mixture. By the time I'd worked out the rows and measurements for this little dress I was exhausted mentally and in a fog. Then I sat for a few hours and knitted these 2 sides up. Normally I knit a bit and when I get tired I stop and rest. Not with this. It had to be done to meet the deadline!! I was collapsing with exhaustion by the time I'd finished. I went to bed and stayed there all day yesterday too.I felt terrible, absolutely wipped out and in awful pain.

The things we do for our kids!! I was getting shooting pains in my hands and fingers they were so bad. yesterday I was like a boiled lettuce leaf. all Limp and saggy!!!

Anyway today I felt alot brighter and I've been to my art class and for an aromatherapy massage on my scooter again. its sunny and the sun always makes me feel better. I hope I get some credit in these exams!!!
today being wednesday-its taken me 2 days to blog, I'm exhausted again. One day I'd love to wake up not feeling like I've done 10 rounds with Mike Tyson. There is hope. anyhow the sun is out , the sky is blue (break into song here) so I'm off to put my i-pod on U2 ofcourse and sit and knit in amongst the weeds-oh, er garden!!



Books

Some musings. I love reading. I measure how well I am by what type of book I can read. When I was very depressed I couldnt read at all. Then I increased bit by bit , fist to trashy magazines like Bella and Best abd even Hello. Blimey I was stooping low! then onto easy reading novels like Emma Blair and lillian Harry. easy romantic novels that dont tax the brain. I slowly made my way up. It varies now what I read as to what mood I'm in. Lately I've been worming my way through a few of Richard and Judy's book list. I loved Notes on an Exhibition by Patrick Gale and have read some more of his since. I also loved The Book Theif by marcus Zusak. But not keen on the Rose of Sebastapool by.. cant remember.. but its in my list at the side!-I've discovered CJ Sansom and the Shardlake misteries. I lvoe these. These are my favourites to date. Not on the R&J book list my dad gave me Winter In Madrid to read. I would never have picked it myself. at the back was a chapter for one of the Shardlake books and I was hooked. again aginst the grain. Whilst I love historical novels. I dont like murder misteries normally. But here was one, like a latter day Cadfael and I cant get enough of them.
unfortunately my reading is very unsatisfactory at the mo. we are broke and so I've turned to the library instead of buying a book a week. But my local library is crap and so I've had to resort to Barbara Erskine. Same old plot same old characters different time, and some others I've never heard of!! I might just have to go and buy a novel again. its like knitting and yarn, good for my well being , therapeutic and so therefore all part of my therapy and needs to be funded!! Thats my argument anyway!! I dont buy full priced novels anyway. Only from Play.com and places like that.