Rats!

I don't know if it is the foot or asthma, but it is hard to post right now. I'm not getting any knitting done either, which leads me to believe I need to be checking my asthma a bit closer. I see the doctor tomorrow about the foot. I'm supposed to be using an Ace bandage to wrap it, but that hurts so much! grump! I would think that after 2 weeks (as of today!) it wouldn't. Poor Howard tries so hard to wrap it without causing pain. As he said tonight in frustration -- it doesn't do any good to wrap it, since it is so loose it won't hold it in place! I am not able, so far to wrap it myself -- I tend to get it too tight, which isn't pleasant.

The sweater that I frogged has gone all of 2 rows. I suspect I need to make it in something other than garter stitch because I just plain get BORED if I don't change colors or something to break up the monotony! Sad but true! I managed a couple of rows of the socks and stopped them too. sigh This is how projects become abandoned! I need something fun but fairly simple to knit. Ideas? NO endless knitting, as in a felted/fulled project. Something that will keep my interest without requiring a lot of thought.

I' ve been chatting about spinning with someone on
Sparkpeople.com and my interest is becoming piqued again. Maybe I'll take the acorn support spindle and the lovely merino from Australia with me when we go to the doc's tomorrow. That will be something fun and different for them to see! LOL Too bad the staff knows me so well there! What is nice, they like to check out what I'm doing! I've thought several times about spinning on one of the wheels since I managed this stupid idiocy of breaking the foot, but am worried that it will hurt too much! I should just DO IT (thanks to the sports commercial!) and see, instead of wondering!

Still not skeined off the yarn so I can over-dye it. Can you say "chicken!" Or is it "lazy!" I think the best idea would be to knit several samples then try different dye solutions to see which works the best. The idea of so much work just to get the right results stops me. Silly me! It isn't going to become a summer shell if I don't! Perhaps it would be a good idea to have more than a warm brown and a gold on hand when I start that off! I have a cool taupe yarn, do I need more colors to change it to the warm spectrum? Since the yarn is linen/cotton/wool, I know that acid dyeing will only over-dye the wool. I'm hoping that will be enough. What do you think? Yeah, I know, sample! I'd still like opinions!

On a completely unrelated front, we've started buying washing soda for laundry. Yesterday I spilled something on my linen shirt. I'm amazed at how well soaking it overnight in washing soda/water did to eradicate the stain! Not to mention my poor hand-knit dishcloths that were so badly stained. Actually, I forgot about them and it went more than 18 hours before I washed them. The stain on the shirt had disappeared, and the dishcloths were so much improved, I was amazed! The dishcloths were knit by a dear friend from New York who has since died of breast cancer. I think of Edie every time I use them. She was getting on in years when we met her, dishcloths and lap-robes were the only thing she knit by then, as she felt anything else was too hard. She sold most of her dishcloths as a supplement to their Social Security and retirement funds. We were honored to receive them as gifts. So, I'm delighted to be able to get the stains out. She would have been hurt if we didn't use them as she intended. But the sad truth is that they will stain as they are used. The color of Peaches and Creme fades. But they were knit with love, and I appreciate that so much!

Howard stayed home with a cold today. I have to be honest and say I'm really hopeful that I don't get it! The poor guy is miserable!