Air Is Good!

The lungs are working better now. I will be seeing a pulmonologist soon and we hope to go another eight years without troubles. Well, more, really, but let's not ask for too much.

While I have been waiting for air I have worked on a few things (knitting may be the new yoga, but it's not aerobic)

These are a pair of socks I started ages ago. They are from Knitpicks Essential Colorway: Blue Voilet Multi. They have a twisted stitch rib running all the way to the toes. Sadly, this demands too much attention to knit in the dark or in the car (motion sickness abounds). That means this is the first sock. I put the picture up because, Look! Look at the beautiful nails! I bit my nails until I was fourteen or so and chewed on the cuticles until a few years back. Last summer I started to get professional manicures every now and then and give myself a weekly manicure at home. Trust me, if I can do it so can you. Of course, now that I have to wash the nebulizer stuff three times a day, my cuticles are all dried out again. Back to the hand cream......

Every year I try to knit a silly hat for the great nephews (both are under 10). This year's entry is the fish hat. Naturally, Elder Son wants one, too. Younger Son is still hoping for a Viking Hat. It was an easy knit, in the round and fairly mindless. I even got to use up some left over yarns from the stash. Does this mean I can order some more?

These are a pair of legwarmers I made for my sister-in-law. She was in the yarn store while Youngest Niece and I were shopping and she picked up this yarn two or three times to say how much she liked the color. I bought it as soon as she left and took it home. Then I had to figure out what to make. YN says her mom is always cold at the office and could probably use some leg warmers. There they are. No real pattern. I just cast on the number of stitches I would have used for a sock (54?), knit a few inches in twisted rib (two or three) and knit three inches plain then increased two stitches at the center back every five or six rounds until it seemed there were enough (72 stitches?) and then knit to sixteen inches and knit another two or three inches of twisted ribbing. The hard part was measuring out the yarn so I had exactly the same weight in two balls. Good thing I have a digital gram scale. I didn't do any fancy stitching so SIL can wear them under her trousers and not look all lumpy.

Sock Roulette sock! This is New Fallen Snow (which seemed fitting for February) from Pink Lemon Twist. I have loved looking at her sock patterns for more than a year and Roulette gave me the push I needed to buy some patterns. Of course, I bought patterns for 12 socks, but you expected that. As you can see they are a little tight around the leg. A normal ankle will do just fine. With twists across the whole leg it makes it a little tighter. If I knit a pair for myself I will go up a needle size or two for the leg and switch to my usual size 0 for the heel and foot. Details: Yarn, Pattons Kroy socks in cream. Needle: Knitpicks 6" DPN in Options wood size 0. Who ever gets it, don't worry, I washed it and reblocked it so it won't be all stretched out. While I was at it, I thought a nice set of stitch markers with a sparkly winter feel would be a nice add along. What do you think?

What a Ride!

On Wednesday I was having a little trouble breathing. The kids were very sweet (a couple of girls followed me all morning saying, "You're not going to die, are you Mrs. Gordon?") and we were muddling through when we had to go outside for recess. It might have been fine, but one of the other subs was the only person with a key to the back door. Naturally she headed for the side door leaving the rest of us out back. As I was the closest, I yelled to her. The lungs, they closed. I hoped I could get the kids settled at lunch and sit down for a few minutes, then everything would be fine. I headed down the hall with my buddy Sue when she turned to me and said, "You don't look good." The wheezing really took hold and I grabbed the wall for support. Sue took charge and sent for the nurse. The nurse sent for the ambulance (school policy, or so she said), and the ambulance took me to the hospital next door. One breathing treatment and a dose of cortisone and all is OK. Not great, but the air is coming in and the wheeze on the way out isn't as bad.
The best part of the story (aside from the "I lived" part) is how sweet all the people at school were. The kids didn't make my day hard, even the worst behaved was good for me. The nurse took great care of me. The teachers made sure I got where I needed to be. The secretary went to the hospital with me until The Husband could get there. Then again, one of the administrators was only worried about where the ambulance should park so the school day wouldn't be disrupted and which staircase the students should use. And there is the reason I'm a sub. The less I have to do with administrators the happier we all are. Right?
Next post I have some pictures of the knitting I've been doing while on rest leave.