Three Things Finished, Two Time Outs

I feel like the title here is kind of Dr. Seuss. And of course, according to some morons, he's "cancelled" --- he's NOT. The Seuss Foundation, the folks in charge of his legacy, pulled a half-dozen obscure titles because of racist depictions. Dr. Seuss wasn't always woke. Actually, a few of his other cartoons are downright nasty, and not in a "let's poke fun at the Nazis" nasty (though there is that). But just incredibly not good. The images in these kids' books were hurtful. 

And of course, some conservative politicians, having nothing to pick on and apparently nothing legislatively going on... decided to make a stink. Even had one of 'em reading "Green Eggs and Ham" (which is still in print, so you're all good). Yeesh. 

Discernment. It's important. 

The Blog...

So I really wanted to be here every day. For pity's sake, a blogger I read who's nearing NINETY is blogging just about every day. 

What's my problem? I just didn't think I had much to write about. Here's what's been going on:

Homework for 500-hour Yoga Teacher Training. I'm in my last module: Philosophy. TONS of reading. Lots of homework. Plus being in a monthly therapeutic apprenticeship, which also requires tons of work. Definitely worth it, and so close to my goal, but a lot of work. 

Still recovering from COVID-19. Three months on, still no taste/smell. Rather frustrating, to say the least. Notwithstanding the lack of these senses, I'm managing to eat. Sadly. I can taste sweet/salty and sharp. But that's about it. I can't taste if I'm eating pork or veggies -- so everything basically tastes like nothing. You would think I wouldn't have an appetite... (sigh).

My nose feels perpetually plugged - like I have to blow my nose but nothing happens. Not even a Neti pot helps. Sorry if that's TMI, but that's the reality of long-haul COVID, and that's with mild cases. 

And words. Words still fail me sometimes. I just...can't think of the word. And for me? That's driving me nuts. 

So - MASK UP, get the vaccine as soon as you can, wash your hands, socially distance. This is TOTALLY not "just like the flu." 

The Politics...

What in the name of heaven is going on? It's like 1999 all over again with the GQP (yeah, GQP) claiming that "on such-and-such a day, #TheFormerGuy (as I shall henceforth say) will miraculously be President." Then, "Oops, not THAT day... THIS day... after all, it was stolen from him." Yeah, because 74 million is ALWAYS bigger than 81 million. In any universe. Even with Common Core Math, this doesn't work. 

And President Biden has big plans, with very little time to get them through. So of course, Dems like Manchin and Sinema have to obstruct every time you turn around. 

Locally, I did postcards for a friend who's running for school board. I've researched our local candidates, marked up our sample ballots and am ready for voting in the local election in April. We're again going to vote early. Mostly because I'm planning on being an election judge again, and we're actually very lucky: our state isn't governed by a bunch of GQP goons who don't want anyone in the Democratic Party to ever vote again, so we can vote in several ways: early, absentee, and at the day. Oh, I heard #TheFormerGuy just asked for his mail-in ballot. What's that? "Mail in ballots are a fraud" is the essence of what he repeatedly said... But apparently -- he will be using one for the upcoming election in his state. Imagine. 

Hypocrisy, thy name is #TheFormerGuy and the GQP. 

They continue to undermine the voting rights of Americans. They want us to go back to the days when a large segment of the population was declared 3/5ths of a person.  

I mean, for God's sake, one of their lawyers even told Amy COVID Barrett "if we don't gut the Voting Rights Act, Repubs will never win another election." So basically, you can't win unless you cheat. And you felt that saying that in front of a Supreme Court judge (still can't believe THAT) was a good idea. I'm hoping (hoping that it's not hoping against hope) that that remark alone would disqualify the whole argument. But you never know. John Lewis is probably spinning in his grave. 

Anyway, if you have a local election coming up, do your research. Don't just vote for a name because you recognize it. You may recognize it but know nothing else. So look them up. Vote for the person who shares your principles, not just because you've seen their name around...

The Winter...

Well, we survived Snowmageddon 2021. That's me standing before the "snow mountain" in the parking lot at work. Sorry about the angle; I'm short and the mountain was tall. 

I got to wear my Gigantic Hiking Boots. And at work, I promptly took a tumble. Down the stairs. Well, not a whole tumble. What happened was that I was going down into the basement in the office because some idiot had left the lights on and I check the building because I'm usually the last one out the door. The toe of my right Gigantic Hiking Boot caught on the step, and my left leg kept going. My left hand grabbed the railing, torquing the thumb that has been screwed back together, bending it at an angle where it shouldn't really go. I ended up in a half-split on the stairs. 

The words I wanted to holler stayed inside. Thankfully. And thankfully, yoga enabled me to not hurt myself too badly. So the thumb was achy for a couple of days. And now, I'm dealing with a knee thing on the right side. That leg got stretched backward and a bit sideways. 

Knees don't like sideways. I have the feeling something got jogged out of place. I have to figure out how to make it better...without going to a doctor, who's likely to tell me I tore something and tell me that I need to wear a brace. I have one. It sucks. 

The Knitting...

So I finished a thing. Remember that squishy yarn that I was working on with the simple lace pattern? I finished it. It's nearly 7 feet long. SEVEN feet. A Dr. Who scarf without all the colors, and in lace, which was not what I'd intended. But it's what I ended up with. I lost at Yarn Chicken with it and didn't quite finish it off as nicely as I'd planned, but it's for me, and it's SEVEN FEET LONG (did I mention that?) so if someone gets close enough to examine both ends of it, they're likely WAY too close for COVID-times anyway. (Pardon the mess -- I was in the midst of clearing out a bunch of stuff and I wanted to block this so I basically shoved my stacks over to one side.)

I did wear it, and it's surprisingly warm. Of course, we're having a False Spring, or as we call it here in Illinois, "Give it a minute." So I will have other opportunities to wear it, as we'll be getting more "seasonable" temps in the next week or so. 

Which is why I enjoy living here. I can wear my wool socks virtually all year round, and at almost any given moment, except for maybe August, we can potentially wear a shawl somewhere. And then there's A/C when we're able to actually go somewhere else besides our house... In restaurants, they inevitably seat me either next to someone who's loud or directly under an A/C vent, so I'm unable to hear my dining partner and I'm freezing. 

Next up on the Finished Items list: The Step It Up Shawl using a Caron Cake that was a gift; these were or are the rage, and I couldn't figure it out. The ball band said "make a scarf." Another scarf I do not need, so I went to Yarnspirations (the Caron pattern library online) and found this cute thing.The yarn color is Bumbleberry. It's a shawl in the shape of an obtuse triangle (look it up). The whole thing took me just a month of monagamous knitting time - which I've found that I like. Just focusing on one project at a time. Maybe that's slower, but it works for me because otherwise, it seems like nothing I do ever gets completed; and my stash of WIPs is kind of ... large...

Anyway, how did I come by this yarn? Well. My friend gave it to me for Christmas a few years ago (pre-COVID) with a whole bunch of knitting accessories - I was rather impressed because she doesn't knit. I have a little purse thing, big enough for a shawl pattern & supplies, a needle roll, and a project bag that looks almost exactly like a lovely little make-up suitcase. In black & white polka-dots, looking just like something out of a 1920s movie. It's adorable. And it's holding the next shawl. I've put my NEW project into one of the bags: Back to a pair of socks with a pattern I'm fiddling with. I'm not at all a knitting designer, but I was tinkering with math (yeah, another shocker) and I thought I'd try something. 

I only make socks for myself, so if they suck, I don't care - just wear 'em under jeans. And people are usually so gobsmacked that I knit socks that they compliment ANYTHING that comes off my DPNs. So there's no pressure there. Just getting my hands & fingers used to size 1s rather than size 9s. It takes a few rows. 

I also finished another thing...(yes, that's THREE THINGS FINISHED -- go ahead, fan yourself, I'll wait...) a long, skinny sash thingie out of some random novelty yarn. Could be worn as a belt or a scarf. Red and white. Ancient. Like over 10 years ago WIP ancient. 

As I recall, this came to me by way of a "raffle basket." A way long, long, long, LONG time ago, my friend Sonda, who owned my very favorite LYS (she has passed, unfortunately, young, from melanoma), was in the same women's group as I was and still am. It used to be our custom to have those of us who owned a business do an occasional meeting raffle prize. Well, the woman who won it was absolutely not a knitter, and she knew I was - so she handed me the basket. It had some needles, a couple novelty yarns and a few other notions in it. I was tickled. In the days when we could do that, occasionally I would win something -- usually a bottle of wine, which for me is useless. So I would pass it on or ask them to draw another name. Karma is a good thing. 

As I dove back into the bag that contained this item (a purse my SIL gave me from Peru -- the country, not the town in Illinois), I found two other ancient WIPs: a bias scarf using Safari Mohair (Lion Brand). Holy crap, why in the name of Ariadne the Knitting Goddess did I buy that??? It got frogged tonight, and I played with the idea of re-knitting it. 

The second just-as-ancient WIP was out of some ungodly Homespun. Don't judge me. At one point, EVERYONE was addicted to it. And that was while it was still half-way decent in quality. It's gone downhill from there, in my opinion. 

That was a knitted scarf, with a pattern that I can't even remember. Frogged it. Thought about knitting THAT as the bias scarf. Then thought about crocheting it. 

Then, had a knitting revelation... Why do that? What joy would that bring? And do I really want another Homespun scarf? 

Rewound it and chucked it in the bag with the mohair. I'll be donating those to the prayer shawl ministry at church. Someone will enjoy them. Not me. 

I have too many things that I really want to knit. I've decided 2021 is going to be the year of knitting stuff that I want to knit. Not worrying about WIPs that I "need" to finish. Who said that? Who made that rule? Not I.

In truth, there are really some WIPs I have that I actually DO want to finish. But I'm going to be culling them; my friend "D" just handed me a crap-ton of yarn that she's off-loading; she's turned to quilting, which is cool because she's outstanding at it. She's a truly epic knitter, too, and I don't use that word as a slang term. The woman is a needlework magician. The yarn is all Good Stuff, because she didn't buy cheap. And there are a bunch of things I really want to knit with that, as well as my own stash. One thing about this pandemic: I have actually been stash-busting to a large extent. 

So then I also thought, "I'd best get skippy on a baby knit just in case," because my mom had mentioned that my nephew and his wife were "thinking about family." I don't want to get caught short, so I picked a couple colors: teal and a darker ivory (taupe-beige but not "dusty") and thought I'd do a color block afghan, or maybe just double them up and do a tweedy thing. Better to have something in reserve. I also have a couple skeins of neutral Cascade 220 Superwash so I can do a sweater. Now I just have to find the buttons I bought. 

I do have a baby sweater done already, but it's blue variegated. And it'll work if the next family member is a boy. I mean, it's REALLY blue. I have an orchid version of that yarn somewhere in a bin...somewhere. It's nice acrylic, so maybe if I find it...

Next time, I hope to have pictures of a sock that's down the calf a ways so you can see my "unvention" of a pattern (an Elizabeth Zimmerman reference). Right now, it's just past the cuff and looks like nothing more than a napkin ring. 

The Reading...

We're doing a book club. So all of us are reading "I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness" by Austin Channing Brown. Disclosure here: I'm a white female who's past 60. I have so far enjoyed reading this book, but I'm probably not at the point where it will make me uncomfortable.

And I'm ok with that. I've sailed through my life, for the most part, with the usual bumps that women have had. But I've never given particular thought to what black women go through - not that I've ignored it. I just haven't had to think about it. How "white privilege" is that? So I'm hoping that this book will help me get better insight. As a friend of mine said, "You white women are exhausting." 

I don't want to be exhausting. I just want to be better. 

The Epiphany #1...

No, not the liturgical one. The epiphany (small "E") I had in my head. I'm kind of zoned out about the whole 1-year-anniversary-of-the-pandemic thing. I mean, I'm in a rut. I'm numb. That's weird. 

Though why I would think that is kind of silly. I'm a human like everyone else. I just don't feel much of anything. Looking back at my first paragraph, all I can say is "apathy." I really just. Don't. Feel. That's very strange. And scary. 

The Epiphany #2...

Since this no taste/smell thing, I've eaten stuff that I normally wouldn't eat, like roasted red peppers, onions, etc. I mean, they're supposed to be good for you, right? And I just thought I didn't like the taste or texture, so I avoided them. As long as I'm in this state, I figured that I might as well get some benefit from eating them while I couldn't taste them. They're supposed to be full of vitamins, so what the heck... 

Wrong... My tastebuds may be temporarily out to lunch (yeah, I know...let me have my one pun, please), but my stomach is on alert. 

My stomach does NOT like the things I previously didn't like due to taste or texture. Green or red peppers and onions, mostly. I still won't eat eggplant, no matter how far gone my tastebuds are. That's just as nasty as okra, and I'm perfectly happy to argue the point... 

I ate a Whole-30 approved meat stick that I bought by mistake (Jalapeno flavored), thinking that it would be fine. It went down fine. And my stomach STRONGLY told me in no uncertain terms, "DON'T DO THAT!!!" 

Okey-dokey. Now I know. Believe me when I tell you (without too much extra info) that I am now paying attention. 

Random Picture...

Hubby's orchid bloomed. If you recall, I started by bringing a few orchids home, and researching all different ways to make them grow. Then Hubby kind of "muscled in" --- and I'm PERFECTLY fine with that, because I can literally see his blood pressure go down when he's pottering around with "his" orchids. We have two regular-sized phalaenopsis (Moth) orchids (like you buy at the Target or grocery store), 3 minis of the same kind that we bought at an orchid house, and 2 Cattleyas, otherwise known as those "Mother's Day" orchids - like you'd give your mom a corsage. Or at least that's what they used to do - I've seen them in the stores. The one Cattleya is blooming and she's gorgeous. 

I'm not sure if he's going to split her up or just re-pot after she's done. He keeps saying we have "no more room," but somehow or another, there's always room for just one more. 

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It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

Yes, that is the name of one of the movies that I absolutely do not like. But if the celluloid fits... 

The Toddler-in-Chief uttered a series of incoherencies which ended up with this (once great) country now being in a state of "emergency" so that he can pander to his handler Vlad and his "base." 

Base. Great word. Definition: "the bottom support of anything. The bottom layer." 

That about sums it up, folks. 

Thankfully, the lawsuits are already in place. California has already filed. He signed the deal with Pelosi and then had to turn around and do this because it's all about "winning." Or, as my favorite hashtag is, when referring to this chaos:  #winningnotwinning....

And there was another mass shooting. Which we heard almost nothing about because the news is all about the "national emergency" -- the "emergency that isn't." Only in his small mind and the minds of those who blindly follow. 

I posted a question on my congresswoman's FB page, and predictably, the "OMG OBAMA DID IT TWENTY SEVEN TIMES" trolls jumped on me. I pointed out that Obama DID declare national emergencies in the vein of seizing assets from threats. 

Not building a "wall to nowhere." And yes, by the way, ABC News is legit. I finally refuse to answer anyone else. I'm done knocking my head against bricks. 

Let's talk about something else; I want to get a good night's rest tonight and I won't if I'm all wound up. 

The Gut Reset...

Well, a lot has happened since Ground Hog Day... The doc put me on a "gut reset" program, and the gastro guy called to say, "Take yourself off dairy now, and if that doesn't work, gluten is next." 

So, for a while, I'm dairy-free, sugar-free, caffeine-free (yikes!) and sugar-free. Which means no more Velvet Latte. This is made (for me, at least) with almond-coconut "milk" but there are also no nuts on the gut reset. And this has a bit of manuka honey in it. So again. Nope. 

Surprisingly, I'm not eating air. I'm actually feeling pretty good. I've also lost 4 pounds in 4 days. 

Now, this is eating real food. 

But before I get into the ecstasy of the new food regiment, let us bow our heads and mourn.

No cheese. 

For the foreseeable future. 

Which means this little nibble of my beloved Jarlsburg is it, folks. 

The last bite of cheese I had. 

I'm still wrapping my head around "dairy free," even though a few folks I know said they've cut out a lot of dairy. 

In reality, so had I. I don't drink milk, though I like a shot of half & half in my lattes. I do love my cheese, though. And Icelandic yogurt, which has lots more protein than Greek, and is pretty tart (lots less sugar, too).


Anyway, I digress. I actually have quite a nice list of foods that are recommended for the first part of this, which is about 2 weeks. This picture here is dinner tonight. It's an oval, smaller plate that I've used for years, so it may look huge, but it's not. So, one medium sweet potato, one small, grass-fed steak, and a bunch of roasted asparagus. The asparagus has olive oil, Italian herbs, garlic and salt & pepper. I drizzled some of that olive oil mix onto the sweet potato. 

I also had 1/4 c. of blueberries a bit later for a snack. 

I eat two balanced meals a day and have a non-whey (no dairy, remember?) plant-based protein shake for breakfast. I'm used to having smoothies for breakfast anyway, so this isn't a big stretch for me. 

My tummy feels a bit better. I've cut my GERD meds in half, only taking them at night because I'm horizontal. I'm very excited about this, and it's not technically a weight loss program. It's about clearing out the junk, and then slowly reintroducing foods to see what bothers you. 

The whole program is 75 days. I'm in the first week. Got a ways to go yet. 

That being said, I still miss my cheese! 

The Knitting...

Well. Here's Diamond Smackdown on a human (me). I'll need to figure out a shawl pin for this one. 

The center point isn't quite where I'd like it, but I'm not going to quibble. I got a lot of compliments on it. 

One in particular from my oldest friend, for whom I made that pink + grey Close to You. She asked if "that's how you're supposed to wear it" because this one is similar in shape (though larger than hers). She thought this was pretty too. 

The afghan is coming along. I knit on that mainly on the weekends. This weekend, we're going to an orchid show, so this will be my Saturday Night Knit. 

I'm going to try to walk away from the computer this weekend. This week was a heavy, heavy computer week, and my eyes are feeling it. The afghan will be better knitting for me, even though I'm plugging along on two socks. I need a bigger thing to work on, I think. At least for a few days. 

The Petty Harbour sock is coming along. I'm on the heel flap. The Cascade is splitting a bit, which I'm not jazzed about. The heel flap is going a lot slower than it usually does; I think it's mostly me, though. 


I'm still doing the Doris Heel, which is a modified French heel. It's just comfortable for me, and I know I should revisit the Strong heel, learn the Fleegle, and definitely try the Fish Lips Kiss, but at this point? I kinda want mindless. 

I keep saying, "On my next pair of socks..." that I'll try a new technique. 

Well, let me get my singletons done and the Petty Harbour, which has a busy leg. Then, I'll do something new and exciting. 

My Valentine...

Hubby and I exchanged cards; we've been doing that for a while. I mean, seriously: Christmas, then my birthday, then Valentine's Day? That's kind of rough. 

But I did buy myself something; it's more in the line of a replacement than a new thing. I have a really nice Jordana Paige fold-over bag in a dark purple. It was a close-out since she's now out of business. Well. The main zipper doesn't work and one of the inner ones is wonky. I'll use it at home for strictly larger projects and deal with it that way. I can't use it as a purse because it doesn't close. 

So, after doing weeks of research (honestly, I looked at bags for a couple of weeks solid), I came up with this. 

Jimmy Beans has apparently bought Namaste. Which is good, because it's nice to have options. 

This is the Knitter's Shoulder Bag. It's not the largest; but not the smallest. I loved the look of the Crossbody bag, but it would've been too small. 

I honestly probably should've spent the money and gotten the Namaste Fold-Over, but maybe this is a way to tell myself to "haul less crap."

This came in a lovely bag you could use as a project bag, and they tucked in a "beanie bag" which is a little canvas tool bag. 

It's got two big side pockets, and a middle, zippered section. The tassel has a stitch marker attached. There are a few inside pockets and a larger outside pocket that fits both my phones. 

And happy day, the fabric lining the bag is light-colored! 

See that little wrapped thingie in the center of the top pocket there? It's a yarn-holder. So that's the knitting side, and I put my wallet, etc. in the center, and my book, calendar, and other stuff in that bottom pocket area. 

It's stuffed, and I'm going to live with it a bit to see how it really works before I write the review. 

The color is a darker teal. When Namaste was Namaste, their teal was called "peacock" and it was a tad more blue. 

This is a tad more green. I still like it. It's also got a cross-body strap, a key leash that's marked in 1" increments (emergency tape measure) and it comes with a tiny journal, a needle sizer and a tapestry needle. 

This is what it looks like when I've got it open and I'm knitting. And there you see the Green Sock. It's also coming along. The "took forever" ribbing is done, and I'm blitzing down the leg. I figure I'll have a sock by spring, since this is my lunch-time knitting. 

My sunglass case (that leopard-spotted thing) is huge. So I can't help but stuff it next to the yarn. I'm used to carrying my knitting in a separate project bag, so this feels a little odd. I can tell you I wouldn't carry wooden needles in this or any other bag. Especially sock needles, which are like toothpicks! But I feel confident that the Karbonz are ok. 

It also comes in Blush, Grey, Black, and a Plum color (which is not what they call it, but I can't think of it right now). It's well-constructed. But I have to find something to condition the "vegan leather." Some websites say "just wipe it down," but Jimmy Beans says to condition it. 

With what???

The Ice Storm Cometh...

This past week, in addition to being buried in work, we were almost buried in ice. For two days it rained and froze. 

These are the trees by the Polish deli near my office. It was freezing - like 11* or so, but I needed to get outside and feel the sun. 

And see the sparkling trees "for real" rather than through a window. 

It was very pretty. I spent a few moments with a broom, too. Knocking icicles off the awning. They sounded like shattering glass as they hit the sidewalk. Those things will hurt!!

Anyway, it's all melted now. It was cold today, but grey and the grass is crunchy. This is the icky part of February. 

I'm holding out for a late winter blast. I still want to get out on the snowshoes. 

We've had the snow, but at -34*? You can't exactly hike in that. At least I can't.

Random Picture...

Madame Tippi is in a pickle. Well, she's in a collar. Having chewed her leg to bleeding, we also needed to have a swelling looked at. 

The vet biopsied the swelling. We are anxiously awaiting results. The leg has to heal, but she's also on antibiotics. The little stinker can STILL reach the leg. 

She's giving me a royal stink-eye, but she got around the inner tube. And got around the cushioned cone. If this doesn't work, she's going into the LARGE cone we have. I don't want to do that because she'll hurt herself. 

We could use some good wishes. She's 11. I don't want that swelling to be anything serious. But it's concerned the vet enough to take a biopsy. 

Praying it's only an inflamed lymph node or something. 

Well, time for me to find my pillow. What do you want to bet that I'll get maybe 3 lines read and be zonked out? I'm hoping! Good night!