Noolie Knits

Catching Up Part 2 - A Spinning FO and Health

I was beginning to think it'd never happen, but it did.  Last week, I finally finished spinning and plying the Campfire fiber I bought at Fiber Revival.  I not only bought that fiber at FR, but I spent that day spinning it and thought I was doing pretty well.  I spun nearly every day since, but it still took me over a month to spin just 4 ounces.  Sheesh! 

That's really okay though. It was a joy to spin; the colors were very soothing to me and the fiber (merino/silk) was so soft.  I think I've accomplished pretty darned close to what I was going for with this.

 
 
Fiber: Sereknity  70% Merino/30% Silk Colorway:  Campfire 2 ply; 22 wpi; 560 yards  

I'm not sure what to use this for. I initially was thinking about Abby, but that only requires about half the yardage I have here.  This is so nice that I want to use it all.  I'm thinking a lacy scarf, but it'll have to wait.  As you may have noticed, my last two lace projects haven't gotten very far; one was even frogged.

 

I haven't had the concentration level need for lace for quite some time.  I hope to regain that concentration very soon though.  Which brings me to the second part of this post.

 

To make a very long story short(er); I've been having some health issues for a while.  When I say for a while, I guess I really mean most of this year.  You may remember back in February when I was diagnosed with thyroiditis.  With this condition, the thyroid goes from being normal, to overactive,  to underactive, and back to normal.  This can last several months.  Back in May I was told everything looked good and to come back for bloodwork in September just to be sure the levels stayed normal. 

 

Well, for several months I've been having pain off and on in my hip area and muscles all over.  It got so bad that the pain was daily and  I wasn't able to sleep.  After I started noticing a lot of my hair in my hands after washing it,  I decided that instead of just having bloodwork done, I'd make an appointment to see the doctor.  Turns out that my thyroid levels did not come back to normal; I now have an underactive thyroid. 

 

This is no big deal; just take a pill every day.  I'm fine with that.  Turns out that the thyroid can cause all the other problems I've been having as well and after just over a week on the meds, I am already feeling a difference.  I actually had a couple of totally pain free days over the weekend.  Today's not as good, but at least I know it's just a matter of time before I feel good again.  I'm not really sure I remember what "good" feels like but I'm anxious to find out!

 

You're probably wondering how my not being able to do lace has anything at all to do with all that.  Well, turns out that lack of concentration is also a symptom of underactive thyroid, so I'm blaming my inability to do lace entirely on that. 

 

That's my story and I'm sticking with it!

Good News; Bad News

First the Good News:

My doctor called last night with my test results (yes, I have the best doctor; he calls me at 6:30 on a Friday night to give me my results).  Obviously, since this is listed under "Good News", the results were good.  This was the final test to rule out Graves Disease or anything serious with my thyroid and the results were normal.  This means that what I have is most likely subacute thyroiditis and I just have to wait it out.  I've had symptoms since mid-February but I don't think it'll be much longer; the swelling is nearly gone and the pain is gone.  I'll have a blood test in 3 months just to be sure that the levels are all back to normal. 

Now, the Bad News:

After finally completing 3 repeats of Twinings  (I haven't had a chance to knit on it much this week), I discovered a dropped stitch - BELOW THE LIFELINE! 

WTF? 

I know I had the right number of stitches when I put the last lifeline in.  I must have made a mistake on the row after the dropped stitch or I wouldn't have had the right number of stitches.  Do you think that dropped stitch could be one of the ones that are just knit or purled each row?  Of course not.  I tried to pick it up with a crochet hook and I was able to bring it up a few rows without issue, but I was lost after that.  

 Twinings now looks like this:


I think it's going to be on hold for a while.  It's not a difficult pattern, but I'm just not feeling like casting on and starting all over right now.  I'm sure I'll pick it up again soon; just not right now.

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Have a great weekend!

WNBP

It’s Wednesday, and even though I don’t always take advantage of the WNBP format (like when I’m too lazy to post anything at all), it’s nice to have it to fall back on.   Here goes:

• I'm glowing.  No, I'm not pregnant; bite your tongue!  I had to take a radioactive iodine pill today for another thyroid test.
• It was a little bit disconcerting when the technician administering the pill got a bit jumpy when it looked like her hand might actually touch the pill (which was encased in a thick plastic tube and dumped out into the palm of my hand).
• She tells me that I don't have to keep my distance from anyone, but that if I hold a baby on my lap, make sure my bladder is empty.
• Hmmm, I don't think I'll be holding Clover tonight.
• That’s not going to be easy; she is, after all, such a huggable baby!

 

• I'm amazed at the response to my contest!  Lots of people accomplishing lots of good things.
• If you have a few spare minutes, read the stories.  Very inspiring.
• Lots of people I haven’t heard from before; welcome! 
  
• I love "meeting" new people and reading new blogs.
  
• If I haven't yet responded to you, don't worry; I plan to respond to everyone and you'll all be entered into the contest.
• I'm thinking I may go for another stash dive and add another prize or two.
  
• If you haven't commented yet, what are you waiting for? (Although, you do have until Monday to comment.)

•   Last night at Chicks with Sticks I nearly completed my first hat for the 300 Hat Project.  I kept stopping to measure it so I could begin the decreases.  

• You know how that goes, especially when you're knitting stockinette in the round; you just want something different to break up the monotony.
• Well, I don’t know how I did it, but I ended up knitting an inch too much.  
• I could decrease every round now, but wouldn’t that make the hat pointy?  I don't think the orphans have pointy heads, so I'll rip back.
• Or maybe I'll just fold the ribbing up.  Hmmm, decisions, decisions.
• I'm hoping to knit a hat a week for the project, but I think I'll mix it up a bit and do some different patterns.  Something to keep it a little more interesting.

• Something interesting came in the mail today.
• Interesting and purty. 
• It was my Harmony interchangeable needle set!  Yippee!
• I’m really excited to try these out.
• As a matter of fact, I think I’ll close here so I can try them out on my Twinings stole.

 

Have a great night, everyone!

WNBP

It's Wednesday and that means it's time for the Wednesday Night Bullet Post, so let's get right to it, shall we?

• As you all know (because I won't stop telling you) I am still fairly far behind on my blog reading.  Because of this, I hadn't read my friend Debby's post about her "Get Your Guts in Gear" fundraiser before posting about helping friends yesterday.  Debby's husband, Chris, suffers with IBD and her lovely spokescat from last year, Charlie, had IBD.  Sadly, Charlie passed away from IBD-related leukemia last fall (apparently this can happen in cats, but not people). Chris is going to be riding in a 210 mile/3 day bike ride to raise awareness and funds for patients suffering with these diseases.  Please read Debby's post here and help if you can.  She's even offering prizes including some yarn dyed in memory of Charlie - it's gorgeous.

• It seems that Wednesday (in our part of the country at least), means it's not only time for the WNBP, but it's also time for more effing snow/sleet/rain and just plain crappy weather. I'm trying very hard to believe that winter really will end sometime (and not just on the calendar), but I'm finding it harder and harder with each storm.  There's no accumulation today, but I'm so sick of the wet and dreary weather I could just scream!

• I'm dreaming of the days of floating in my pool, with the bright, hot sun beating down on me, and a nice Stoli orange vodka & tonic in the cup holder on my float.  Please tell me those days will be here eventually.

• Just as I had hoped, Patti brought her spinning to Chicks with Sticks last night and I was able to get a couple of pictures. 

 

• Can you believe how nicely her yarn is coming out?  She's a natural, I tell ya.  She even mentioned that she'd like a lesson on my back deck with Alice in the Summer.  Of course, she said the summer of 2010, but I know she meant summer of 2008!

• I had hoped to be able to show you a finished Neverending Sweater today, but alas, it truly is never ending.  Actually, I only have about 2 inches left to knit on the hood and I'm hoping to be able to stay awake long enough to knit that tonight.

• Speaking of being able to stay awake; just a couple of days after telling you that I thought I was catching up on my sleep, I took a turn for the worse in that department.  Not that I wasn't getting enough sleep; I've been sleeping really well through the night lately (sometimes going to bed as early as 7 or 8) and I haven't even had any help from sleeping aids for the last week or so.  The problem now is that even though I'm sleeping ALL.THE.TIME (at least it feels that way), I'm still exhausted by lunchtime.  I was scheduled for a recheck with the doctor next week, but have been having some pain in the front of my neck for about a month now, and hubby convinced me to push the appointment up.  Seems I may have an issue with my thyroid (doesn't sound serious); I'm going for some blood work tomorrow.

• Samm got an adorable tattoo yesterday; it's a 4-leaf clover on the inside of her ankle.  It's beautiful!  She wants it to heal completely before I can get a picture to show you, so you'll just have to wait a little while.  Shouldn't be too long.

• There have been rumors of a Dunkin Donuts going in very, very close to my house (not in my town; we're too snobby for chain restaurants), but only about 3 minutes away in the neighboring town.  I checked with my Assessor friend there yesterday to find out for sure, and YIPEEEEEEE; it should be opening in May.  (Why yes, I do like the DD coffee; why do you ask?)  I think I'll be changing my route into work ever so slightly in a couple of months :-)

• Speaking of coffee, I've still been very good about no late afternoon or evening coffee unless I have to teach a class at night (which has only been once since limiting the coffee) and on Tuesday nights so that I don't fall asleep at Chicks with Sticks.  I buy my last coffee on my way back to work after lunch (12:30) and sip it for about an hour or so and that's it.  Any of you who know me, know what a HUGE accomplishment that is.

• Hopefully, my car will remember to turn on my road on the way home from work instead of going straight for another couple of miles once DD opens :-)

I guess that's enough of the random for one night. 

Have a good one!