I stole this from Jen’s blog. Jen, feel free to steal anything you want from me! 🙂

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer high- and/natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Or is it all the same to you? –I’m not a yarn snob, I don’t mind blents or acrylics, and I only started using non-acrylics in my fibercraft in 2004. The only thing I don’t like is when an acrylic knits or crochets up and feels like plastic.

2. Do you spin? Crochet? –I crochet. I would even go as far as calling myself an expert crocheter, can create my own patterns, have made blankets, sweaters, toys, dolls. Haven’t done lace crochet but that’s just ‘cus I know it would take forever on those tiny hooks.

3. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, pets, fibers, perfume, etc.) –No.

4. How long have you been knitting? –Besides learning when I was a kid then abandonning it, I’ve been knitting non-stop for exactly 1 year next weekend- Superbowl Sunday.

5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? –Yes, at the side of my blog in the sidebar.

6. What’s your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.) –I like vanilla and mint the best, then fruit smells, either berries or citrus. I also like scents of pies or cakes or cookies. I just can’t stand flower scents.

7. Do you have a sweet tooth? –No. I prefer carbs like chips and popcorn. I have a salty tooth. 🙂

8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? –I do it all. I knit, crochet, cross stitch, paint, draw, sculpt, etch onto glass, write. I also do DIY stuff like build my own bookcases and install computer software.

9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD) –I like all kinds. I love 80’s music, but my personal music collection ranges from musical soundtracks like Andrew Lloyd Weber, French ballads like Francis Cabrel, modern stuff like Gwen Stephani and Black Eyed Peas, older metal like Rob Zombie, pop like Pink and Bon Jovie, and just weird like the soundtrack to the 1 musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And my car stereo can play MP3s. Not my house one.

10. What’s your favorite color? Or–do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? –I used to think my favorite color was black. Now I’d say blue and/or pink. I like and would wear or knit with all colors though.

11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets? –I’m the oldest of 4 kids, my parents are still married. I live with my boyfriend and we have a cat, Sam.

12. What are your life dreams? (really stretching it here, I know) –To get married and start a family.

13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? –I don’t have a favorite.

14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like? –The only thing I don’t like so far is knitting with those polar yarns, like polarspun or snowflake. Ugh, like knitting with plastic. And they hurt my teeth.

15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s? –Dog sweaters, but that’s ‘cus I’m selling them. I’ve been doing a lot of socks and mittens lately, but that could just be the season. I love it all!

16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? –everything but sleeves. (unless they’re challenging)

17. What are you knitting right now? –9 wips, but right now a dog sweater.

18. What do you think about ponchos? –I think they’re cute but wouldn’t look good on me.

19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? –circs all the way, even for straight knitting, except for socks with anything smaller than 4-ply. For that I prefer straight dpns to circs.

20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? –addi Turbos all the way, unless it’s a slippery yarn, then I’ll use my Denise set.

21. Are you a sock knitter? –yes.

22. How did you learn to knit? –my grandmother taught me when I was a kid, but most recently I started again and the internet and books were my biggest help, then after 2 months of “on my own” I joined a knitting class, and that was the greatest thing.

23. How old is your oldest UFO? –about ten months. It’s a mohair sweater that I just need to figure out how to seam.

24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird? –I used to collect Daffy Duck but grew out of that. Right now my favorite animated character is probably Puss ‘n Boots from Shrek 2. I like all animals and birds, so no fave there.

25. What is your favorite holiday? –Hanukah.

26. Is there anything that you collect? –Besides yarn and books, I have a collection of Charming Tails mice figurines that I’ve been collecting for over 2 years. When I quit smoking I told myself I would spend the $20-ish I was saving on a figurine each week. I stopped buying them for myself, but got quite a few from Yannick and family members.

…but me + sick + knitting deadlines + life + more sick (does not) = productivity.

Friday night I only managed to do 2 rows on the scarf before our friends arrived to play cards. Don’t ask what I did in the 2 hours that only allowed me 2 rows to knit…I don’t know. I have nothing to show for it.

Saturday I worked, then had enough time to cast on & rib the 60 req’d sts for a lace sock for my knitting class Mondays. The yarn is so fine! I’d done Yannick’s sock with a 4-ply, but this one is a 3-ply and I don’t think it will fit me. Then I met some friends for dinner. I would have loved to have cancelled because I felt so crappy, but I was the one who had organized it last week before getting sick, and didn’t feel right canceling. So wouldn’t you know it, 5 mins before having to leave, Yannick asks me to take my car to go ‘cus he wanted to go to bed, he wasn’t feeling well! So I got stuck going alone, sick, when I was the one who wanted to bail! Dinner was good though, and we wound up seeing a movie after, which was kinda a punishment for Yannick ‘cus he’d wanted to see “Meet the Fockers” and I ended up seeing it without him. I was so drained though, and had coughed so much through the movie, that I got home and crashed immediately.

The lack of oxygen must have gotten to me, ‘cus for the first time in over 6 years I slept through the entire night, not waking up until 12 pm!!! I NEVER sleep past 10, and am usually up between 8-9 even on weekends, earlier when I have work that day. I couldn’t believe I fell asleep at 12:30 am and slept straight until 12pm. I must have really needed the rest.

Yannick and I lunched at Montana’s ‘cus we had a coupon for -$10 that expired that day, then did some groceries and went to my parents’ house for the night. My dad needed Yannick’s help installing something, so we went there for dinner. It was such a horrible day for me! Not the company, just the sickness. I don’t know how many times I burst into tears at Loblaws, ‘cus each time I got into a coughing fit, my throat hurt so much and my brain felt like it was trying to squeeze out my left eye socket, that I couldn’t control it and started crying. At my parents’ I took a cough syrop with codeine twice in the space of 4 hours (3 hrs between doses) and STILL kept coughing so much I was so weak and exhausted. The only good thing that came out of it was my dad saw I was really still sick and felt bad about forcing me to go to work each day 🙂 He was actually the one who suggested I go back to the doctor.

While we were there my mom was busy finishing a scrapbook and Yannick was helping my dad, so I lay in my parents’ bed, watching TV and knitting. I finished the Vegas scarf! Woo hoo! Now I can develop the pictures and send them to Paulette Lane and next year we’ll see my Knitting Game in the 2006 calendar!

This is the scarf surrounded by the 6 balls of yarn I used. I can’t wait for the pic to be developed from my camera so you can see the true colors, ‘cus it’s not really purple, more blue/mauve/navy/gray/silver.

This is a closeup. Again, way too purple, and due to the Palm’s fuzziness, you can’t see much difference between the stitches. I hope the camera pics come out better!

This morning I had my knitting class. I really look forwards to going each week, even though it means I can only sleep in on Sundays. My dad said if I was so sick I shouldn’t be going. I told him if I’m well enough to go to work, I’m well enough to go to my class! Besides, if it was contageous, it would have been earlier last week when I had my fever, not any longer. It’s been a week already, I think it’s just a lingering cough now.

In class we came to the conclusion that the 3-ply was just too thin. I switched it for a nice cream-colored 4-ply and managed to do 5 rows in rib (after casting on and doing 2 rows in 1×1 rib before remembering I prefer the look of 2×2 so starting over!). I’m really looking forward to next week’s class, we’ll be learning fair isle. I’ve never done colorwork other than stripes, so I’m really interested in learning. I have books on the subject, but I really prefer learning in person, with others. You get to learn from eachother’s mistakes, have hands-on help and support, and besides, Nicole has so many little tricks for different techniques, I’d prefer to learn from her than from a book. We’ll be making headbands, and the plan is to work on that in class next week while working on the socks at home, so hopefully by the following week we’ll all be at the heel. She will be showing us 2 heel techniques, the square and the triangle (I’m making up names, I don’t know what they’re called). I’ve done the square one, and it looks fine on the person, but when the sock is off it looks a bit weird. Acceptable, but weird. The triangle version looks more polished and sleek, so that’s the one I want to learn.

I called my doctor’s office before leaving the shopping center where my LYS is. I don’t want to make an appointment to see my Dr. if it really is just the virus I have which you can’t treat, so when the secretary answered the phone, I told her when I got sick, what my symptoms were, and what I was doing for it. I asked her to ask my Dr. if there was any point in me coming in to see him, or if I should just keep “self-medicating” the way I’ve been doing all week. She’s supposed to call me back and let me know.

Now my plan is to get moving and do the 2 commissioned sweaters for the pet store. I also told her I’d bring her an aran sweater, but I really want to make Yannick a pair of sweetheart mittens for Valentine’s Day and that’s 2 weeks away. If I rush I can have the 2 commissioned sweaters done by Wednesday (I hope!) which will leave me a week and a half to squeeze in 3 mittens (1 for me, 1 for him, 1 for both of us). I was smart and measured his hand while he slept this morning so I know I can make it to fit him. Now I just need the time.

Oh, and to Moze from the comments:

I’ve NEVER heard of the onion remedy! I love onions, but in honey???? Yuch. The other idea sounds much better…although I don’t see why I couldn’t add the yummy sugar. 🙂 Thanks for the ideas! It’s nice to have people wish me well. Yannick’s seen me sick for a week now, so he forgets that it’s still nice to hear “hope you feel better”.

…but me + sick + knitting deadlines + life + more sick (does not) = productivity.

Friday night I only managed to do 2 rows on the scarf before our friends arrived to play cards. Don’t ask what I did in the 2 hours that only allowed me 2 rows to knit…I don’t know. I have nothing to show for it.

Saturday I worked, then had enough time to cast on & rib the 60 req’d sts for a lace sock for my knitting class Mondays. The yarn is so fine! I’d done Yannick’s sock with a 4-ply, but this one is a 3-ply and I don’t think it will fit me. Then I met some friends for dinner. I would have loved to have cancelled because I felt so crappy, but I was the one who had organized it last week before getting sick, and didn’t feel right canceling. So wouldn’t you know it, 5 mins before having to leave, Yannick asks me to take my car to go ‘cus he wanted to go to bed, he wasn’t feeling well! So I got stuck going alone, sick, when I was the one who wanted to bail! Dinner was good though, and we wound up seeing a movie after, which was kinda a punishment for Yannick ‘cus he’d wanted to see “Meet the Fockers” and I ended up seeing it without him. I was so drained though, and had coughed so much through the movie, that I got home and crashed immediately.

The lack of oxygen must have gotten to me, ‘cus for the first time in over 6 years I slept through the entire night, not waking up until 12 pm!!! I NEVER sleep past 10, and am usually up between 8-9 even on weekends, earlier when I have work that day. I couldn’t believe I fell asleep at 12:30 am and slept straight until 12pm. I must have really needed the rest.

Yannick and I lunched at Montana’s ‘cus we had a coupon for -$10 that expired that day, then did some groceries and went to my parents’ house for the night. My dad needed Yannick’s help installing something, so we went there for dinner. It was such a horrible day for me! Not the company, just the sickness. I don’t know how many times I burst into tears at Loblaws, ‘cus each time I got into a coughing fit, my throat hurt so much and my brain felt like it was trying to squeeze out my left eye socket, that I couldn’t control it and started crying. At my parents’ I took a cough syrop with codeine twice in the space of 4 hours (3 hrs between doses) and STILL kept coughing so much I was so weak and exhausted. The only good thing that came out of it was my dad saw I was really still sick and felt bad about forcing me to go to work each day 🙂 He was actually the one who suggested I go back to the doctor.

While we were there my mom was busy finishing a scrapbook and Yannick was helping my dad, so I lay in my parents’ bed, watching TV and knitting. I finished the Vegas scarf! Woo hoo! Now I can develop the pictures and send them to Paulette Lane and next year we’ll see my Knitting Game in the 2006 calendar!

This is the scarf surrounded by the 6 balls of yarn I used. I can’t wait for the pic to be developed from my camera so you can see the true colors, ‘cus it’s not really purple, more blue/mauve/navy/gray/silver.

This is a closeup. Again, way too purple, and due to the Palm’s fuzziness, you can’t see much difference between the stitches. I hope the camera pics come out better!

This morning I had my knitting class. I really look forwards to going each week, even though it means I can only sleep in on Sundays. My dad said if I was so sick I shouldn’t be going. I told him if I’m well enough to go to work, I’m well enough to go to my class! Besides, if it was contageous, it would have been earlier last week when I had my fever, not any longer. It’s been a week already, I think it’s just a lingering cough now.

In class we came to the conclusion that the 3-ply was just too thin. I switched it for a nice cream-colored 4-ply and managed to do 5 rows in rib (after casting on and doing 2 rows in 1×1 rib before remembering I prefer the look of 2×2 so starting over!). I’m really looking forward to next week’s class, we’ll be learning fair isle. I’ve never done colorwork other than stripes, so I’m really interested in learning. I have books on the subject, but I really prefer learning in person, with others. You get to learn from eachother’s mistakes, have hands-on help and support, and besides, Nicole has so many little tricks for different techniques, I’d prefer to learn from her than from a book. We’ll be making headbands, and the plan is to work on that in class next week while working on the socks at home, so hopefully by the following week we’ll all be at the heel. She will be showing us 2 heel techniques, the square and the triangle (I’m making up names, I don’t know what they’re called). I’ve done the square one, and it looks fine on the person, but when the sock is off it looks a bit weird. Acceptable, but weird. The triangle version looks more polished and sleek, so that’s the one I want to learn.

I called my doctor’s office before leaving the shopping center where my LYS is. I don’t want to make an appointment to see my Dr. if it really is just the virus I have which you can’t treat, so when the secretary answered the phone, I told her when I got sick, what my symptoms were, and what I was doing for it. I asked her to ask my Dr. if there was any point in me coming in to see him, or if I should just keep “self-medicating” the way I’ve been doing all week. She’s supposed to call me back and let me know.

Now my plan is to get moving and do the 2 commissioned sweaters for the pet store. I also told her I’d bring her an aran sweater, but I really want to make Yannick a pair of sweetheart mittens for Valentine’s Day and that’s 2 weeks away. If I rush I can have the 2 commissioned sweaters done by Wednesday (I hope!) which will leave me a week and a half to squeeze in 3 mittens (1 for me, 1 for him, 1 for both of us). I was smart and measured his hand while he slept this morning so I know I can make it to fit him. Now I just need the time.

Oh, and to Moze from the comments:

I’ve NEVER heard of the onion remedy! I love onions, but in honey???? Yuch. The other idea sounds much better…although I don’t see why I couldn’t add the yummy sugar. 🙂 Thanks for the ideas! It’s nice to have people wish me well. Yannick’s seen me sick for a week now, so he forgets that it’s still nice to hear “hope you feel better”.

…but me + sick + knitting deadlines + life + more sick (does not) = productivity.

Friday night I only managed to do 2 rows on the scarf before our friends arrived to play cards. Don’t ask what I did in the 2 hours that only allowed me 2 rows to knit…I don’t know. I have nothing to show for it.

Saturday I worked, then had enough time to cast on & rib the 60 req’d sts for a lace sock for my knitting class Mondays. The yarn is so fine! I’d done Yannick’s sock with a 4-ply, but this one is a 3-ply and I don’t think it will fit me. Then I met some friends for dinner. I would have loved to have cancelled because I felt so crappy, but I was the one who had organized it last week before getting sick, and didn’t feel right canceling. So wouldn’t you know it, 5 mins before having to leave, Yannick asks me to take my car to go ‘cus he wanted to go to bed, he wasn’t feeling well! So I got stuck going alone, sick, when I was the one who wanted to bail! Dinner was good though, and we wound up seeing a movie after, which was kinda a punishment for Yannick ‘cus he’d wanted to see “Meet the Fockers” and I ended up seeing it without him. I was so drained though, and had coughed so much through the movie, that I got home and crashed immediately.

The lack of oxygen must have gotten to me, ‘cus for the first time in over 6 years I slept through the entire night, not waking up until 12 pm!!! I NEVER sleep past 10, and am usually up between 8-9 even on weekends, earlier when I have work that day. I couldn’t believe I fell asleep at 12:30 am and slept straight until 12pm. I must have really needed the rest.

Yannick and I lunched at Montana’s ‘cus we had a coupon for -$10 that expired that day, then did some groceries and went to my parents’ house for the night. My dad needed Yannick’s help installing something, so we went there for dinner. It was such a horrible day for me! Not the company, just the sickness. I don’t know how many times I burst into tears at Loblaws, ‘cus each time I got into a coughing fit, my throat hurt so much and my brain felt like it was trying to squeeze out my left eye socket, that I couldn’t control it and started crying. At my parents’ I took a cough syrop with codeine twice in the space of 4 hours (3 hrs between doses) and STILL kept coughing so much I was so weak and exhausted. The only good thing that came out of it was my dad saw I was really still sick and felt bad about forcing me to go to work each day 🙂 He was actually the one who suggested I go back to the doctor.

While we were there my mom was busy finishing a scrapbook and Yannick was helping my dad, so I lay in my parents’ bed, watching TV and knitting. I finished the Vegas scarf! Woo hoo! Now I can develop the pictures and send them to Paulette Lane and next year we’ll see my Knitting Game in the 2006 calendar!

This is the scarf surrounded by the 6 balls of yarn I used. I can’t wait for the pic to be developed from my camera so you can see the true colors, ‘cus it’s not really purple, more blue/mauve/navy/gray/silver.

This is a closeup. Again, way too purple, and due to the Palm’s fuzziness, you can’t see much difference between the stitches. I hope the camera pics come out better!

This morning I had my knitting class. I really look forwards to going each week, even though it means I can only sleep in on Sundays. My dad said if I was so sick I shouldn’t be going. I told him if I’m well enough to go to work, I’m well enough to go to my class! Besides, if it was contageous, it would have been earlier last week when I had my fever, not any longer. It’s been a week already, I think it’s just a lingering cough now.

In class we came to the conclusion that the 3-ply was just too thin. I switched it for a nice cream-colored 4-ply and managed to do 5 rows in rib (after casting on and doing 2 rows in 1×1 rib before remembering I prefer the look of 2×2 so starting over!). I’m really looking forward to next week’s class, we’ll be learning fair isle. I’ve never done colorwork other than stripes, so I’m really interested in learning. I have books on the subject, but I really prefer learning in person, with others. You get to learn from eachother’s mistakes, have hands-on help and support, and besides, Nicole has so many little tricks for different techniques, I’d prefer to learn from her than from a book. We’ll be making headbands, and the plan is to work on that in class next week while working on the socks at home, so hopefully by the following week we’ll all be at the heel. She will be showing us 2 heel techniques, the square and the triangle (I’m making up names, I don’t know what they’re called). I’ve done the square one, and it looks fine on the person, but when the sock is off it looks a bit weird. Acceptable, but weird. The triangle version looks more polished and sleek, so that’s the one I want to learn.

I called my doctor’s office before leaving the shopping center where my LYS is. I don’t want to make an appointment to see my Dr. if it really is just the virus I have which you can’t treat, so when the secretary answered the phone, I told her when I got sick, what my symptoms were, and what I was doing for it. I asked her to ask my Dr. if there was any point in me coming in to see him, or if I should just keep “self-medicating” the way I’ve been doing all week. She’s supposed to call me back and let me know.

Now my plan is to get moving and do the 2 commissioned sweaters for the pet store. I also told her I’d bring her an aran sweater, but I really want to make Yannick a pair of sweetheart mittens for Valentine’s Day and that’s 2 weeks away. If I rush I can have the 2 commissioned sweaters done by Wednesday (I hope!) which will leave me a week and a half to squeeze in 3 mittens (1 for me, 1 for him, 1 for both of us). I was smart and measured his hand while he slept this morning so I know I can make it to fit him. Now I just need the time.

Oh, and to Moze from the comments:

I’ve NEVER heard of the onion remedy! I love onions, but in honey???? Yuch. The other idea sounds much better…although I don’t see why I couldn’t add the yummy sugar. 🙂 Thanks for the ideas! It’s nice to have people wish me well. Yannick’s seen me sick for a week now, so he forgets that it’s still nice to hear “hope you feel better”.

…but me + sick + knitting deadlines + life + more sick (does not) = productivity.

Friday night I only managed to do 2 rows on the scarf before our friends arrived to play cards. Don’t ask what I did in the 2 hours that only allowed me 2 rows to knit…I don’t know. I have nothing to show for it.

Saturday I worked, then had enough time to cast on & rib the 60 req’d sts for a lace sock for my knitting class Mondays. The yarn is so fine! I’d done Yannick’s sock with a 4-ply, but this one is a 3-ply and I don’t think it will fit me. Then I met some friends for dinner. I would have loved to have cancelled because I felt so crappy, but I was the one who had organized it last week before getting sick, and didn’t feel right canceling. So wouldn’t you know it, 5 mins before having to leave, Yannick asks me to take my car to go ‘cus he wanted to go to bed, he wasn’t feeling well! So I got stuck going alone, sick, when I was the one who wanted to bail! Dinner was good though, and we wound up seeing a movie after, which was kinda a punishment for Yannick ‘cus he’d wanted to see “Meet the Fockers” and I ended up seeing it without him. I was so drained though, and had coughed so much through the movie, that I got home and crashed immediately.

The lack of oxygen must have gotten to me, ‘cus for the first time in over 6 years I slept through the entire night, not waking up until 12 pm!!! I NEVER sleep past 10, and am usually up between 8-9 even on weekends, earlier when I have work that day. I couldn’t believe I fell asleep at 12:30 am and slept straight until 12pm. I must have really needed the rest.

Yannick and I lunched at Montana’s ‘cus we had a coupon for -$10 that expired that day, then did some groceries and went to my parents’ house for the night. My dad needed Yannick’s help installing something, so we went there for dinner. It was such a horrible day for me! Not the company, just the sickness. I don’t know how many times I burst into tears at Loblaws, ‘cus each time I got into a coughing fit, my throat hurt so much and my brain felt like it was trying to squeeze out my left eye socket, that I couldn’t control it and started crying. At my parents’ I took a cough syrop with codeine twice in the space of 4 hours (3 hrs between doses) and STILL kept coughing so much I was so weak and exhausted. The only good thing that came out of it was my dad saw I was really still sick and felt bad about forcing me to go to work each day 🙂 He was actually the one who suggested I go back to the doctor.

While we were there my mom was busy finishing a scrapbook and Yannick was helping my dad, so I lay in my parents’ bed, watching TV and knitting. I finished the Vegas scarf! Woo hoo! Now I can develop the pictures and send them to Paulette Lane and next year we’ll see my Knitting Game in the 2006 calendar!

This is the scarf surrounded by the 6 balls of yarn I used. I can’t wait for the pic to be developed from my camera so you can see the true colors, ‘cus it’s not really purple, more blue/mauve/navy/gray/silver.

This is a closeup. Again, way too purple, and due to the Palm’s fuzziness, you can’t see much difference between the stitches. I hope the camera pics come out better!

This morning I had my knitting class. I really look forwards to going each week, even though it means I can only sleep in on Sundays. My dad said if I was so sick I shouldn’t be going. I told him if I’m well enough to go to work, I’m well enough to go to my class! Besides, if it was contageous, it would have been earlier last week when I had my fever, not any longer. It’s been a week already, I think it’s just a lingering cough now.

In class we came to the conclusion that the 3-ply was just too thin. I switched it for a nice cream-colored 4-ply and managed to do 5 rows in rib (after casting on and doing 2 rows in 1×1 rib before remembering I prefer the look of 2×2 so starting over!). I’m really looking forward to next week’s class, we’ll be learning fair isle. I’ve never done colorwork other than stripes, so I’m really interested in learning. I have books on the subject, but I really prefer learning in person, with others. You get to learn from eachother’s mistakes, have hands-on help and support, and besides, Nicole has so many little tricks for different techniques, I’d prefer to learn from her than from a book. We’ll be making headbands, and the plan is to work on that in class next week while working on the socks at home, so hopefully by the following week we’ll all be at the heel. She will be showing us 2 heel techniques, the square and the triangle (I’m making up names, I don’t know what they’re called). I’ve done the square one, and it looks fine on the person, but when the sock is off it looks a bit weird. Acceptable, but weird. The triangle version looks more polished and sleek, so that’s the one I want to learn.

I called my doctor’s office before leaving the shopping center where my LYS is. I don’t want to make an appointment to see my Dr. if it really is just the virus I have which you can’t treat, so when the secretary answered the phone, I told her when I got sick, what my symptoms were, and what I was doing for it. I asked her to ask my Dr. if there was any point in me coming in to see him, or if I should just keep “self-medicating” the way I’ve been doing all week. She’s supposed to call me back and let me know.

Now my plan is to get moving and do the 2 commissioned sweaters for the pet store. I also told her I’d bring her an aran sweater, but I really want to make Yannick a pair of sweetheart mittens for Valentine’s Day and that’s 2 weeks away. If I rush I can have the 2 commissioned sweaters done by Wednesday (I hope!) which will leave me a week and a half to squeeze in 3 mittens (1 for me, 1 for him, 1 for both of us). I was smart and measured his hand while he slept this morning so I know I can make it to fit him. Now I just need the time.

Oh, and to Moze from the comments:

I’ve NEVER heard of the onion remedy! I love onions, but in honey???? Yuch. The other idea sounds much better…although I don’t see why I couldn’t add the yummy sugar. 🙂 Thanks for the ideas! It’s nice to have people wish me well. Yannick’s seen me sick for a week now, so he forgets that it’s still nice to hear “hope you feel better”.

UGH days pass soooooooo ssssssssllllllllloooooooooowwwwwww when you’re sick! And I have a feeling I’m at the lingering part of the virus, where it’s not sick enough that people feel sorry for you, but still sick enough that you feel crappy but can’t complain because they’ll say you’re not really “sick” any more. And I still can’t swallow.

Luckily Yannick’s not home yet and I have at least an hour before he gets here, another hour after that before Julie and Rich show up for our bi-monthly card game. Which means I can finally get something accomplished! I’m having my most unproductive week ever. 3 sweaters due, 1 scarf plus photo of said scarf…and nothing to show for it but a garbage bin of wadded up Kleenexes and a half-empty box of Riccola. No knitting.

I’d like to work even longer tonight but I haven’t mastered the art of knitting while playing cards. If we were doing anything else I could, but I need my hands every second to throw out my cards, and it’s almost not worth it to pick up the knitting when its someone else’s turn to deal, ‘cus I wouldn’t even get a row finished. Well, at least I have those 2 hours now.

*cough, cough*

*whimper*

Someone feel sorry for me?

*sigh*

…is what this stupid virus is doing. RRR I was looking forwards to getting some knitting done last night, for the first time since Tuesday. I sat down to prepare everything…nope. Head swirly. Nose runny. Throat coughy. Feeling sicky. I couldn’t concentrate long enough to get anything done. Then again, I had worked from 9-8 at the store. I think I used up all my energy there. Hopefully I’ll get something accomplished today. What a horrible time go get sick: Vegas scarf picture is due, along with 3 sweaters for the pet store! I don’t want to wind up taking too long and looking unprofessional just ‘cus I caught a stupid virus that’s going around. RRR.

To Stacey from the comments and Auntie Mimi:

Thanks for the info on International Coffees, right in my grocer’s aisle 🙂 I’ll be looking next time I go to the store.

To Orris from the comments:

Thanks for the Buckley’s suggestion. Can I get those in Canada? Right now I’m surviving thanks to gargling with salt water and a nightly NeoCitran. Oh, and thanks for the hot toddy suggestion too. I don’t think it’s a good idea in my present state to operate any heavy machinery…you know, like stoves or microwaves. But I’ll file the suggestion for when Yannick is home to make one for me 🙂 My grandmother also suggested something she learned from her mother-in-law, called a Guggle-Muggle. Basically it’s hot chocolate with an egg yolk in it. You mix some sugar, egg yolk and cocoa powder in a glass, whisking, while warming milk on the stove. Once warm, you slowly add the mixture, then drink. Supposed to be very soothing too.

Phone just rang: dad saying “leave now.” So I leave now.

My throat is killing me!

Sorry for the long gap in posts, but UGH I’ve been unwell.

Although I didn’t post again that night, I did finish the entrelac tam Sunday night. I would have stayed up to post but I was home alone and started to feel a bit sick so I went to bed early. I still need to wash it and block it with a pie plate inside to create the classic “tam” shape, but here are some preliminary pics.

here’s the front, on my creepy mannequin head. I was supposed to paint her and bring her back to work, but I like having her here…she’s a good model for scarves and hats and stuff. In the background you can see the 2005 Knitting-Pattern-A-Day calendar, and the ivory Filatura di Crosa “Brilla” that I undid and restrung with 3 bags’ worth of beads.

here’s the back, showing how the entrelac comes together in a cute star-like shape when you decrease it on both sides of the rectangles. I like entrelac flat with two colors to make it look “woven”, but this hat was really easy. I can see myself making more of these!

here’s the reason I was worried during my last row…this little bit of yarn is all the Alafoss Lopi I had left! Could you imagine having to buy another skein just for a few rows? I’d shoot myself…then use the leftovers to make fuzzy feet or something. That little sketch you see on the white paper was my attempt at illustrating entrelac to someone who wasn’t staying on for the afternoon workshop.

On Monday I woke up and knew right away I was sick. I crack my neck and the minute I went to move it I felt the heat and swollen-ness of my muscles. Still I had a commitment and I went to my knitting class. We have to be at least 5 or the class is cancelled, and I don’t want to be the one who makes everyone else not be able to attend. I love the class, but I feel so bad when I do more than the other “students”. Basically it sums up like this…1 woman didn’t show up, 2 women made little or no progress on their class sweaters…and we haven’t met since early November, 1 woman finished her sweater and made a pair of mittens…and then there’s me. Since our last class I’ve finished the class sweater, made a pair of thrummed mittens, a felted bag, a thrummed sock (1, not the pair), crocheted 3 baby outfits and booties, crocheted (and sold) a pig, knitted 3 dog sweaters, finished a pair of Regia socks, and created a knitting game. And I’m probably forgetting something. Luckily the women in the class are really, really nice and don’t think I’m trying to show off or be teacher’s pet or anything. At least, I hope they don’t! I just probably have more free time than they do, I’m not married and don’t have kids.

The class was fun, we outlined how we’ll structure the next classes, since technically our level 1 class is finished, but we all want to stay on and learn more. We were going to move into fair isle next, but somehow wound up doing lace socks. I don’t mind, I enjoy dpns and haven’t worked lace yet. Plus, I already have the book we’re working from. Now I just need to find the time this week to cast on and work at least the ribbing.

After class I had a doctor’s appointment that was just a follow-up from something a few months ago. While I was there I mentioned to the secretary that I had a low grade fever last night, and was feeling hot again, could she take my temperature please while I was waiting. She did, but I think she was in a hurry. In any case, she said it was normal. When I saw my doc I mentioned feeling crappy, and how when we babysat this weekend, the youngest had a really high fever and I held him most of the weekend. He said there were 2 viruses going around…1 that caused a sore throat, the other that caused diarrhea (sp?). I said I was feeling the former. He said that because it was a virus, there was nothing to do for it. Gargle with salt water, take aspirin, tea, chicken soup. I didn’t push the issue ‘cus other than feeling a bit feverish, I wasn’t feeling that bad.

I came home and started to work on my Vegas scarf. Why was I working on that all of a sudden? When I have 2 orders for dog sweaters? 1 extra dog sweater? A teddy bear to make? I have a very good answer for that:

I spoke to Paulette Lane via email, and my knitting game will be appearing in the 2006 Knitting-Pattern-A-Day calendar! Woo hoo! I’m so excited! But I need to have a photo for her of a FO or at least a WIP by the beginning of February, so that’s why it takes priority at the moment.

Well. Around 3:00pm my throat went from sorta-hurting, to mega-hurting, and I was feeling really crappy. So bad, in fact, that I made myself soup for supper at around 4:30, just so I could go to bed early. I went to bed, lights closed and everything, at 6:00pm. I woke up at 8:00pm when Yannick called, then fell right back asleep…until… WHAM! I woke up again. I think it was somewhere around 11:30 or so. I was SO COLD! Now, I was in a heated waterbed, wearing long-sleeved and long-legged pjs, socks, and under 3 blankets. I had to actually get up and put on my bathrobe over/under all that. I took my temperature… 102.1!!! A hundred and freaking two point one! And the nurse said I was fine! RRRRRRRRR I was so cold I was almost crying just because I felt like I’d never be warm again. And every 45 minutes to an hour I was waking up, freezing. Periodically I’d turn on the light and take my temperature again, it varied throughout the night, but never lower than 101.2.

Needless to say I didn’t go to work on Tuesday. My fever was down a little, but my throat was raw and I hadn’t slept more than 45 minutes straight the entire night. I did sleep most of the day but got a little knitting done. It was hard to make progress though, I’d start knitting one row, pause somewhere to pay attention to the TV, wind up staring at the TV in a daze, then realize 1/2 an hour had gone by and I still hadn’t finished the row.

I took a pic, but it’s hard to see all the luscious colors because of my sucky Palm camera. (Note to Palm Gods, I LOVE the Palm, please don’t curse me. I just mention the camera isn’t the greatest.)

I really, REALLY wish you could see the colors properly. Instead of mauves and purples like this pic suggests, it’s actually blends of blues, grays and a bit of navy and purple. And, of course, the silver “tinsel”. I have to say, I loved the skeins when I bought them, but as I knit, I am stunned at how gorgeous this scarf is turning out! I really, really can’t wait to finish it so I can wear it, because I think it is the most beautiful thing. And yes, it’s “just a scarf”.

Last night I went to bed early again, and was woken up only by Yannick getting home and showing me the ice-cream he’d bought me to soothe my throat. I wish it was spontaneous, but I had called and asked him to pick it up after bowling. Still, he did comply, which is sweet, especially since it meant stopping at 10:30 just to buy me ice-cream. And it was Hagen-Daaz too! Sweetie!

Today I had to go to work. I did take it easy most of the day, but I’m feeling pretty wiped. I pretty much lived on hot stuff…2 hot teas at work (and my mug is about 5 cups), 2 onion soups for supper. I was supposed to have some ice-cream tonight but I don’t know if I have the energy to go downstairs to get it. It was nice though that my parents invited us for supper. At least I didn’t have to cook or clean while feeling this crappy.

So, I didn’t get any knitting done today, but at least I’m able to get another good night’s sleep. And as Scarlett would say, “tomorrow is another day”.

This heading should have been posted on Monday the 24th but I was really, REALLY sick, so I’m posting only now. I’m sorry it’s late!

Love you!

…but I’m too tired to start fiddling with taking pics now so I’ll post it tomorrow. Gives you something to anticipate. 🙂