Posting Madness!

My goodness... I've never posted so much!
I have Arm News. Last night I took one tiny Codeine tablet and two paracetemol. When I lay down, there was no pain. When I rolled over, there was no pain. I slept. Soundly. Right through to the alarm. I was prepared to give it a few days, but it's helped already.
OK - so now my body has slept, it's thinking "oooh - I LIKE that idea", so I've felt really sleepy all day, but I'm off next week, so I'll spend all that time sleeping, knitting and spinning!

A Post! With Photos!!!

I’ve not been wasting my time… Finally there was 10 minutes of light yesterday, so I took some photographs. Here we have three handspun yarns. The top one is the End of September club yarn from The Yarn Yard (Bramble Crumble). The second one is also from The Yarn Yard, and came un-named – as I was spinning it, I realised it made me think of Refresher sweets with all the lovely sherberty colours – so I have named this BFL Superwash Refreshers. Finally, there is Lafant Glas – Falkland from Mam a Mi. You may notice that there are only 2 skeins – more on that later. I got 300 yards or so from each 100g, using my Golding Cherry Tsumani for the singles, and then my Louet spindle for Andean Plying.

I’ve also been a bit busy knitting. Firstly, the reason why I only had 2 skeins of Lafant Glas left to photograph - my Spiraluscious. I love this neckwarmer. I love the yarn, the pattern, just everything about it. It’s an Anne Hanson design, and wow – that woman can design good looking but straightforward lace, can’t she? (Yes - I cast on Friday, and grafted the edging together Saturday - have noted in the "omigoditschristmasnextweekandIhavenothingspecialfor..." file!)

Then, I snaffled some Helena Aran from Posh Yarn a couple of weeks ago, and turned it into a Darkside Cowl by Sarah Fama, and a Woolly Wormhead Spring Cap (wishful thinking!).

And, a pair of Aran Island Slippers from Interweave Knits Holiday 2008 for my MiL knitted in Rooster Almerino Aran.

Oh... and I got them off my hands long enough to take a photo! My Cranford Mitts - from The Yarn Yard Kit I bought at Woolfest.

Busy, busy, busy.

On the spindle at the moment is 2oz of Gotland that I got as part of a Spinners Set from Spindlefrog. The Spinners Set is a brilliant idea - 2oz each of 6 unusual fibres all dyed in the same colourway. I love it, as I get a chance to play, and can decide before I commit to a load of something which may be quite expensive, and which I'm not keen on. The Gotland is lovely. Very silky with a long staple.

On the needles are the Estonian Lace Christening Shawl, my Guess at Tess’ Shawl, a pair of Undulating Lace Socks in Wollmeise Suzanne for a Christmas Present, and a Booga bag (adapted slightly by using smaller needles and more stitches to accommodate finer yarn) in Kauni.

In Arm News, there is little news - still waiting for the MRI Results, however things have Deteriorated, and after having negligable sleep for nearly a week, I went to the GP this morning. So I'm on Codeine, which isn't the best, but it has to be better than lying there, tossing and turning, and trying to find somewhere to put my arm where it doesn't hurt!

Busy, busy, busy… But Fun, Fun, Fun!

Good News!!!

So... I've loved Thunder for years... Have seen them a dozen or so times, and am doing so again later in the month - I've just found I'm going to meet the band after the show in Newcastle!!!!! Excuse the happiness, but this has just made my day!!!!!!!!!

Go See Littleberry

October was Breast Cancer Awareness Month. But no cancer restricts itself to one month per year. Go and see Littleberry and pop a bid in. And let others know.
And check. You know you should.

Just a Quickie!

I need some decent light! I have a nearly finished Forest Canopy in Noro Sock Yarn, a chunky scarf in Colinette Point 5 (knit in one evening!), a swatch of cables lace and general playing in a new yarn from Linzi, the Alpaca Spinner, which I am so going to stalk her for, a little progress on the Estonian Lace Christening Shawl, and 4 lovely skeins of my very own handspun to show off - but when the light's been good, I've been elsewhere, and when I've been here, the light's been non-existent! Ah well - it will come.
In other news, it was a mad week last week... Monday off, Tuesday normal, Wednesday and Friday covering earlies (yawn) and the MRI Scan on Thursday. It's not an experience I want to repeat in a hurry. There was no pain involved, I was seen on time, the scanning team were brilliant - as well as being very capable and experts in their field, they radiated a reassuring confidence - but I did not feel good. It was being out of control in a confined space that did it for me. I was strapped in, with a shield over my torso, and while I had hold of a buzzer, I was in a tube where it felt like the roof was an inch or two above my nose. If (and yes, I know this is a Big If), anything went Really Wrong, and the buzzer didn't work, I was incapable of escape. There was no way I could have wriggled out. But nothing went wrong, I'm here, I'm fine, and now I need to wait for the Registrar at the hospital to interpret the results (I've been told 6 weeks, however when I was told 2-4 weeks, it took 7 and a lot of pressure from me to get them, so I'm not holding my breath).
That's it for now. More if we ever see daylight again while I'm in reach of a camera and my little doings!

Oops

Well... More tomorrow I said... Oh well. Our computer decided to die on us last week, so unfortunately I've taken a little hiatus from being online. We now have a new computer, and I am getting to grips with it (I love it, actually - it's lovely and fast compared with the old one, and the colours on the screen are a lot better) but that means that I have no photos to share.
I have been spinning - I received my Yarn Yard fibre on Friday, and have spun up about a third of it - and it is beautiful. The Shetland seems to have spun itself on my Golding Tsunami, and it is the most even yarn I have spun. Completely yummy. I love being in the Fibre Club - for a start, I love surprises, and the anticipation once Natalie says she has posted is great. Then when it arrives, I read the letter, and try to guess what the fibre will be like. Then I open the pack - and it's even better! As a beginner, it's giving me the chance to try different fibres and find out what happens with fibre dyed in different ways. I have just finished plying the first of this month's (when it arrived on Friday, it was so lovely that the pack of fibre and my Golding went straight into my handbag and came with me), and I love what I have spun. I need to skein it, but I think it's about a fingering weight, so I'm thinking a delicate scarf...
We've been away this weekend - Jon's dad turned 60 on Friday, so we drove down to Cannock on Friday (it took us 3 hours to do the first 40 miles, thanks to an accident on the A1, but we got there eventually). When we got there, it was great - we'd got his dad a digital photo frame, and Jon had scanned a load of slides from when he and his sister were little - his dad was very touched with it all. Saturday night was his party - which was great. I have now found I am skilled in the art of balloon arch making! Everyone had a great time, and we tootled back up the road yesterday afternoon. 6 hours 30 minutes to get there, 4 hours to get back (and that included a big stop for a cup of coffee, so that was good going). Today, I have been plying my yarn (amazing how much I managed to spin, given how busy we were), am catching up on the 'puter, and then I will be settling down with the last episode of Tess, which I recorded last night (I watched the Harry Potter film, which was just what we needed) and my Estonian Lace Christening Shawl while Jon's out at college.
Back to work tomorrow, and hopefully some photos (maybe).
ETA - I am now booked in for my MRI Scan - this Thursday at 9am - so credit to Alliance Medical who operate this for the Trust - at least someone round here seems able to shift their stumps and sort things out. The good news is, I may know what on earth's going on in a couple of weeks.

Falling Sideways

This post was going to be about my progress with the Estonian Lace Christening Shawl, and a little bit of spinning and gawping at my new Golding Cherry Tsunami spindle. And a little about how my left hand is getting on... That will all come, but sometimes, Stuff Happens.
Firstly, and importantly, READ THIS POST on The Yarn Yard Blog by Natalie. Go on, scoot over there and have a look. I'll be here when you get back (and if you happen to slip and anything falls in your shopping basket while you are there, I take no responsibility - but if you've never been there before - yes, it is all even better than it looks!).
To my shame, I used to be a blood donor. I started when I was in my first job - they put on a mini bus, and took you to the local power station, where you had a wee bit of time off work, a lie down, a cup of tea, and a biscuit. In return, you had a needle stuck in your arm and had to play with a squeezy ball. And possibly, someone lived. Or at least was given a fighting chance.
The statistics are horrifying. At current levels, in England and Wales, there are only 3 days of stocks of some blood groups. If, for some reason, blood donation had to stop tonight, by Thursday, people who were having operations, having babies, or (heaven forbid) were in an accident, would have reduced options if they needed that blood group. And, if there was a major emergency somewhere, those stocks would disappear very, very quickly.
I stopped giving blood after I was on a medication for a short while which meant I wasn't allowed to. And, to my shame, I never went back.
That has changed. After I read Natalie's posting, I went to here, entered my postcode, and found when the next session was, near to me. It turns out it's on October 17th, so I requested an appointment (you can do it all online, it's very quick and easy) - so I'm back. Heaven forbid I or anyone I know needs it, but I've been and gone and done it.
I appreciate not everyone can give blood, and not everyone wants to. That's fine, but if you're OK with the ethical side, and reasonably fit and healthy, and all that's stopping you is that you've never got round to doing it, please give it a go. And I'm speaking as a squeamish person who has a fear of needles (shall we say that when I had to have a General Anaesthetic for a minor operation, they gave up and gave me a tablet after 3 people were having trouble restraining me - I find it proper scary) - when I have given in the past, the person setting me up has distracted me.
Let me just get off my soapbox...
And now to my poorly hand. I have been getting Rather Annoyed in the past few weeks. I had a nerve conduction test on August 12th (I remember it well - it was my birthday, however, I took the appointment, as they're busy people). I should have had the results within 2 to 4 weeks. Nearly 7 weeks later, after 2 weeks of chasing and being Rather Annoying, I have a one paragraph letter dictated by, but not signed by, the Registrar who saw me in July, and was absolutely convinced I had Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. The good news is, I don't. My test came out as normal. The bad news is, he now thinks it may be in my shoulder or neck, and I am going to be booked in for an MRI.
Speaking to his secretary (a lovely lady), I found out the delay was due to him being on holiday. And being behind with his work. Charming. I have got progressively worse over the past two months, to the stage where I am not sleeping, and am in a reasonable amount of pain and discomfort. I didn't book a holiday, as I thought that I may have an appointment that clashed, or that I may get worse, and didn't want to ruin it all. I am keeping all the letters, and notes on my treatment, and shall be complaining bitterly when this is all sorted out. I know that the NHS is overstretched. I know I am small fry. But it ain't free. I've paid my stamp, as has my employer, and let's face it, if I had to wait for a mail order delivery for nearly twice as long as I had been told, and had had no communication from the vendor, I would have cancelled the order. What annoys me isn't the time it takes, it's the attitude.
All I can do is knit and spin, and keep my powder dry. But they've upset the wrong person now...
Hopefully, some pictures of knitting and spinning tomorrow...