This and That

 I finally found my rhythm, for the mosaic cowl that I talked about yesterday. It is going so much faster and looking so much better now that I found my rhythm. Hopefully I can finish that tomorrow and start my sheep and treat, area 51 hat for Halloween.

Recovery from the dental surgery is still driving me nuts. It’s still draining my energy too. Hopefully this too shall pass. I really hope the follow-up surgery for this tooth will not be as bad.

I’m really not liking the mashed diet. for the surgery follow-up for the next 3 to 4 weeks. The only thing it’s good for is losing between 1 pound and a half a pound a day. I did find one new food to add today that is low on the glycemic index, the Korean glass noodles. Made with yam starch. They are not very flavorful plain, but they are filling. Which is more than I can say for most of the mashed diet. If you’re wondering about the mashed diet, just think of putting graham crackers in a bowl of applesauce and mashing them till all you have is a paste, and you get to eat the paste, no texture, just paste. Soup is put through the blender until you can drink it with a straw, except that I can’t use a straw because of the stitches. You can see why find this diet so boring. If you have any good mashed food recipes, I’d be interested. I have already pulverized chicken to death, vegetables, I’m eating two bowls of oatmeal a day, and of course there’s the yogurt. 

In other news, It was bound to happen someday. Today was the day I burned my very first pan. Because of the dental surgery and the swelling, I’ve lost my sense of smell and couldn’t smell the pan was burning. Oops. Well, tomorrow I go get a new fry pan. Apparently when you have surgery on back molars, you lose your sense of smell, I wish somebody would’ve told me that in advance..

Well, it’s getting late. So I guess it’s TTFN time.  

The Gentle Current Cowl

 I finally made it to row 63 in the Aklori Design, Gentle Current Cowl. I only have to make it to row 83 before I can cast off. That is only 20 more rows.  What I initially thought was a mistake, is actually part of the pattern.  I am on the second row of mosaic, Tunisian crochet. It is fairly easy.  This gives me the confidence and courage to try to finish another mosaic design by Aklori Designs.  

Since I am at the beginning of row 63 I might pull back a few stitches to get the stitch right from the beginning of the row.   

I bought this pattern as a kit.  If I were choosing the yarn I would choose a lighter contrasting color to make it easier to see what I am doing during the mosaic Tunisian crochet .  The Ott light is helpful, but not as helpful as I would like.  This dark color requires daylight and the ott light combined.

A Flare Up

 The dental surgery on Wednesday has lead to to a full scale Sjögren’s flare up today.  After a few activities this morning,  I slept the entire afternoon.  Now the fever has kicked in.  It has been years since I have had such a bad flare-up.  So I am going to be resting and cutting back on my activities for the duration.  I am in Croissant mode.   

This means that there will be lots of craft projects to complete and since I am already behind in taking photos of my completed work, I will have to catch up on that. So expect to see lots of pictures soon.

Well it’s time to complete the next project. 

TTFN  

I Survived

 I had unscheduled dental surgery this morning. Even though the local anesthesia is wearing off, I think I’m doing pretty good. I did not have a full blow panic attack either. I did a lot better than a few of the Doctors pieces of equipment that broke during the procedure. Although I am not sure whether doing the procedure being awake was the right thing. Although it’s to late now to change my mind. 

I am currently on the mush diet for three weeks. I have no idea how that’s going to effect my blood sugar. It’s mostly mashed potatoes, yogurt, oatmeal, protein, drinks, and pasta, scrambled eggs and anything you can eat without chewing. I am going to try pancakes, I picked up a couple mixes. I also picked up some pea protein To make milkshakes, this will be a great way to eat the last of my summer fruits. Also no straws so I will have to squeeze my applesauce pouches onto a spoon to eat. 

I am currently eating Cocojune plain, unsweetened Organic Greek style cultured coconut yogurt. It’s pretty decent and it has 10 g of protein so I guess since it’s the first food I had since last night it should be ok to break the fast.  

What is going to annoy Me for the next three weeks, is the fact that I can’t have bread or crackers untill the stitches come out and possibly three weeks after that. No bagels or bread for up to 6 weeks agh!!!

In four months, I get to have dental surgery again, to put the implant in to hold the new crown. I think that should go pretty easy. Then a couple of months after that and my mouth should be better than it is right now.  

It is surprising To me that doctors appointment appointments right now are being scheduled into next year. Sunday morning I had a crown fall off. Monday morning I got a dentist appointment. Tuesday morning I had the dental surgery. I think this might have something to do with the economy with people thinking dental work is not as important to their health or not covered by health insurance that they skip it if money is tight.

Well, it’s time to go fill out the paperwork for my next appointment of the week and then to put my feet up and rest.

It’s Not a Good Day to Eat

 Today was not the best day for eating.  In the middle of the night one of my first dental crowns just decided to fall off.  I think I got it in my late 20’s thanks to my very dry mouth, which over a decade later was linked to Sjögren’s.  But the cavities started in earnest when I was about 8 thanks to a very dry mouth. But I regressed a bit.   I rinsed the crown off and put it into a Ziplock bag, and then into my purse.  By the looks of the crown I can see another dental implant in the very near future.  It’s not the first implant that I have had and it will not be the last.  

Breakfast was very easy.  I made a fresh pot of oatmeal.  I cook it in the rice cooker, making 4 servings at a time.  I eat the first bowl hot and the next 3 bowls cold out of the fridge.  Lunch was another story.  I had made a turkey breast to cover a few dinners.  I should give you my recipe as Thanksgiving is coming up.  Anyway I had enough leftovers to make 2 servings of soup.  I was working at my usual work spot.  I stepped away to get a container of rice to divide between the pot and the freezer container.  While my back was to the soup, somehow a plate left the cupboard, hit the soup pot and broke into an awful lot of pieces.  After we cleaned up our part, my husband set up the Roborock to vacuum and then mop the area twice.  

Then at the same time we said in unison, I guess it’s time to go out to lunch. My second lunch mistake was trying a new restaurant.  I thought that since the restaurant and parking lot were crowded we might have hit on a new spot to eat. Boy was I wrong. Because of the bad experience, as keeping with my blog policy, I will not give the name or location.  We had to wait to order, they promptly forgot about our order. When the food did come out my food was very spicy, I ordered very light spice.  My husband did not even get what he ordered.  Both items came out stone cold..Needless to say we got home just in time for my body to get really sick.  I spent the next hour in the restroom.  

Dinner was hard cooked duck eggs, sourdough bread and 2 mini oranges.  It almost sat well.  I think my tummy was still out of kilter from lunch.  

I hope you hat your Sunday was better than mine. TTFN. 

When a Mistake Becomes a Design Element

 I have to admit that I still have a lot to learn and remember with Tunisian Crochet.  I am currently working on a mosaic pattern.  The directions still confuse me at times.  So I naturally made a mistake in the beginning of making of the pattern.  

Here’s the thing though.  I like the way my mistake gives one side of the pattern a little color boost.  So instead of ripping out so many rows.  Spending days working out the directions so that I understand and can implement the directions, I decided to go with the flow and leave the edge stitch alone on the right side of the pattern.  

Personally I know that this attitude will drive some designers crazy.  Mumbling how stupid the person is that is making their pattern as a newbie.  I also want to state that there are subtle differences between knitting, crochet patterns and Tunisian crochet patterns.  

I have been under too much stress for too long recently, which has brought my dyslexia to a raging forefront. There is no way around this. At this point, even if I read the pattern upside down and backwards or with one eye closed, my mind still would not process the words correctly. Sometimes the pattern directions are so subtle that I would have to wait a few weeks for the stress to leave and things go back to how everyone else sees the pattern. 

Since I want to finish this project as soon as possible, I am using the Sheri Method.  The Sheri Method basically compares a fiber arts pattern to a recipe.  No one seems to have a problem adjusting the ingredients in a recipe, this is called being a great creative cook. So I feel the same considerations should be given to the fiber artist. In my humble opinion everyone who creates with fiber is an artist.  All artists see the same thing differently.  So this is my own version.

I am knitting The Gentle Current Cowl by Aklori Designs The yarn for this pattern was dyed Bad Sheep Yarn, in the colors Witch King and Brooks, both are DK weight. The Della Q “ Support Your Local Yarn Store” bag makes a perfect bag so my yarn does not get twisted or knotted. I just keep center snap closed so the yarn behaves very nicely.  

Lori has designed a great pattern.  Except for the 2 lines I could not wrap my head around ( i.e. my dyslexia)  I think this is a very clear and easy to use pattern.  The yarn from Bad Sheep Yarn is soft and squishy.  So since my ADHD brain loved the design and yarn, my ADHD brain taxed itself and ordered the same set 3 different times in 3 different colors. So I will be making this pattern at least 2 more times.  

A Bitter Sweet Day

 Today was a bitter sweet kinda of day.  Eric’s lift was removed from his old room, now the knitting room. It is fitting that the room is now the dedicated knitting room, because I spent years by his bed knitting in my rocking chair when he was having a bad days. It was bitter because in the end I had no control over entropy, that is all in G’ds hands.  That timing was between Eric and G’d.

The lift was a daily reminder that I failed my only son.  I would manage to hit my head on the lift at least once a month.  So I am glad that I am no longer going to be hitting my head on the lift.  The holes in the ceiling are even patched. 

I will have some good reminders like his favorite stuffed animals and books.  Gone are all the medical supplies. Also long  gone, are all the sick room furniture, like the hospital bed and I.V. pole.

I am still having trouble finding someone who knows how to design a knitting room.   One designer treated it like a big closet at nearly triple the price of the designers who called it a classroom.  Why the heck would I want a classroom in my house when I have 2 perfectly good local yarn shops in driving distance? I really don’t think it should be that hard to design a room with shelves and drawers.  Maybe even a counter to put my drop spindles on display.  A fold down ironing board and a place to store both my sewing machines when not in use.  

I think the easiest part of this project will be to move the electrical outlets and new paint for  the room before the installation of the new cabinets.  Also rehoming 2 bookcases should be pretty easy.  The current plastic storage cases should also be easy to rehome. 

Since I have been busy destashing my yarn, it should be pretty easy to put into the clear boxes we saved and do a temporary storage of yarn until the construction is finished.  I still have odds and ends to go through. That won’t take much