Hanging In

I was so tired after work last night that I didn't even pick up my knitting. I just had my dinner, watched a little TV, took a relaxing bath, and went to bed. Now I'm behind closed doors at the office, having a turkey sandwich and knitting a few rows on a sock I keep here to work on during lunch breaks.

How I'd love to have a nap, followed by a long afternoon of knitting and sipping cups of green tea! The good news is that tomorrow is my last scheduled day of work this week, so maybe I can get in some relaxing knitting time Thursday. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Back at Work

I'm back to work today....still having some discomfort, but not the dreadful pain I had last week. I've made it halfway through the work day now. I'm very tired, but otherwise seem to be holding up okay. I will be very glad to see quitting time today, though.

Hopefully On the Right Track

After going steadily downhill with the leg pain, I made a trip to another doctor Tuesday. He thought I had a pulled hamstring and prescribed pain pills and pain patches and waiting for it to heal. Two days later I was unable to walk. A third doctor FINALLY gave me what I felt to be a good examination, range of motion tests, reflex tests, x-rays. It's not tendonitis. It's not a pulled hamstring. It's sciatica. *sigh* The good news is that after two days on pain meds, muscle relaxers and Prednisone, I'm MUCH improved. I have to keep an eye on my glucose (because othe Prednisone), but I can't believe how much I've already improved. FINALLY. I even feel well enough to knit a bit tonight. *happy sigh*

Good News & Not-As-Good News

The good news is that I had a doctor's appointment yesterday, and the pain in my leg really IS tendonitis and nothing more serious. The not-as-good news is that I've been doing everything right in my home treatment of it....but it's just going to take a little more time. *sigh* I'm so bored with leg pain. But at least there's some light at the end of the tunnel!

I finished one sock in one of the two pairs I currently have on needles. It turned out really neat. I've got to get it photographed. I also bought myself a Zune to use to listen to audiobooks while I knit. I just LOVE it! But I needed something to carry it safely around the apartment while I'm doing household drudgery and to keep it handy while I'm knitting. So using scrap yarn from my stash I knitted a little pouch for it with an I-cord long enough to go around my neck. It actually turned out pretty cute. I need to photograph it, too.

Last night I picked up my sweater and knitted on it until I got sleepy, which didn't take long. I call it "zen knitting"......knit, knit, knit, around and around and around....no counting, no thinking....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. I also started listening to the second audiobook in the "Women's Murder Club" series. Now that's what i call a good evening....mindless knitting and a good murder mystery! Makes me want to play hooky from work and go home and hit the recliner. But I won't. *sigh*

Monday is the Longest Day of the Week

I'm back at work (lunch break!) after a lovely weekend, wishing I had more than 30 minutes for lunch so I could knit long enough to unwind from the morning. I read a report on MSNBC about The Elkhart Project's coverage of the Yarn Overcomers program that was developed to help relieve stress in these tough economic times. I know that knitting is a wonderful stress reliever for me, personally, and highly recommend it. :-)

I knitted more on my Basic Sweater over the weekend. I have another couple of inches to go on the body before I start the sleeves. Progress is being made!

The End of a Lovely Weekend

Boy, I enjoy those long weekends! I unfortunately lost one day of it to a migraine (phooey), but otherwise it was a lovely relaxing few days.

I didn't get to do as much knitting as I'd hoped, but I did start a bear for the Mother Bear project. I'd printed some directions on knitting it in the round instead of having to seam it up, but couldn't find them....I'm sure I put them "someplace safe" and they'll never be seen again. So, for my first bear I decided to just knit it up by the regular directions. I'm about halfway through it; hopefully by the time I'm ready to knit Bear # 2 I'll have found my circular directions. *LOL*

I managed to knit several more rows on my Basic Sweater. I need to measure again before I go any further to be sure the fit is still what I expect. I just love the feel of the CotLin yarn as I knit. So soft! The contrast between it and the acrylic I'm using for the bear is just startling.

Off to do a few household chores now so that I can relax with my knitting for a bit before bedtime!

What I've Been Up To

So, once again I've fallen behind in my blogging....bad, BAD Cricket!! In my defense, though, I have been pretty busy.

I've been battling tendonitis in my leg which makes it painful to sit at my home computer for more than just a few minutes at a time. I finally realized that I don't HAVE to sit in the chair. I have a wireless mouse and keyboard and can actually use the computer from the bed, where I can prop up all comfy-cozy with pillows, blankies, knitting, and MeggieDog. I'm a bit better now, and hope to be out of pain soon.

A friend asked me to help him with a project for his father (Father's Day gift) which turned into more work than I'd anticipated, but that's coming along nicely. Just time consuming.

On top of that, I'm working four 10-hour days at the office this summer....it's great because I'm off every Friday, but BOY am I bushed when I get home. Between the extra-long workdays and the anti-inflammatory meds I've been taking for my leg, I've been fairly unproductive in the evenings after work. I'm adjusting, though, so hopefully I'll be back on schedule with knitting and blogging soon.

Knitting.....I'm knitting the "Basic Sweater" from Jacqueline Fee's wonderful The Sweater Workshop. It's my very first sweater, and I ADORE the yarn. It's Knit Picks' CotLin in a marvelous color called Pomegranate. I could just sit and cuddle this yarn. I hope it's as comfy after knitting it up! Because of all the stuff listed above, I've only knit about 7 inches or so from the bottom, but it's going well so far. We'll see if I panic as I approach sleeves for the first time. *LOL*

I have a couple of pairs of socks on needles that I've barely touched in the past month. They wait so patiently for me.....

A friend at work is knitting mittens. I hadn't knitted a pair in months and had, in fact, learned to knit on DPNs since knitting my mittens, which were knit on straight needles. I poked around on the internet a bit and found that Kate Atherley, who wrote the wonderful "Socks 101" on knitty.com which is my sock bible, had also written "Mittens 101". JOY!!! The other night during a particularly bad bout with my leg (during which I didn't want to risk messing up my sweater-in-progress at 3:00 am), I knit the "Training Mitt Pattern" in Kate's wonderful instructions. What a joy it was to knit a mitten without sewing a single seam! So now I want to knit more mittens.

Of course, first I should finish my sweater.....and those two pairs of socks I started.....and a Mother Bear or two or three or four because I have the pattern and haven't started a single solitary bear.....and a baby blanket for a friend who's going to be a grandmother soon.....and a couple of birthday gifts....not to mention that I should start my Christmas knitting soon. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!

Okay, Cricket, one step at a time. So right now I'm going to throw a load of laundry in the washer, have a little dinner, take a nice relaxing bath, and crawl into my recliner with MeggieDog, my remote control, a glass of tea, and my knitting....the Basic Sweater, I think. Makes me feel more relaxed just to think of it. *happy contented sigh*