Well, Fibromyalgia

I don’t yet have a recipe for you because, well fibromyalgia. I did quite a bit of cooking over the weekend, in between watering my raised beds and planting cucumber seeds, but nothing special nor original to post. There’s that copyright thing again. I do have one dish left to prepare, which I am aiming to finish sometime today before limping off to tai chi class.  I was going to try a riff on my Hot German Potato Salad recipe using Italian-type flavors, but I think I’m  going to stick with the original. That recipe I can post here, as it is a family heirloom.

Speaking of recipes, the sock I am currently working on is coming along fine, probably because I am using a 9 inch circular needle instead of the five 7-inch double-pointed needles I worked with on the previous and now finally finished number. If you are a sock knitter you can get this recipe (pattern) for Heart Vine Socks as a free download on Ravelry.

Last week I told you how I was trying to better organize my Knitting UFOs by giving all my attention to two major projects and sticking to them like white on rice. Without patting myself on the back (which I can do rather nicely thanks to Ehlers-Danlos syndrome) I have to admit that the sock progress has been gratifying.  We haven’t spoken of the second Big Project yet, and I feel that now is the time.

No, not shawls.  If you know me well, you know that I love to knit shawls. I own a bunch of them (wore one just this morning) and they are probably my favorite knit to gift.  I think of those shawls I’ve given to friends and family as portable hugs.  Shawls are always appreciated. People seem to understand hand-knit shawls, but don’t always understand hand-knit socks. 

I do have a good number of unfinished shawls, but I am steering clear of them, especially the one in Orlando Magic colors. If I pick up those needles, my socks will languish for another six or twelve years. No, my resolve must be as hard as that rock in that old rock-and-roll. Besides, determination is good for my self-esteem and Lord knows I can always use an extra dose of that.

So instead, I am determined to also finish a different major undertaking which I call “The 90 Square Project.” Terribly original. When it is completed, this afghan/blanket/bedspread will fit a queen-size bed. Right now there are 27 blocked knit squares tucked away in a very big box, and I’ve got the 28th square on the needles, ready to grow. If for no other reason than to give my hands some respite from size 1 sock needles, a size 7 needle project sounds practically dilly dilly.

There’s no set completion date, which takes off any lingering pressure to work fast, because let’s face it, my fast knitting days are over. But in the past I’ve managed to knock off quite a few of these squares for smaller projects. BABIES!

They are probably the most fun a knitter can have, and a great way to learn being much more interesting than say, a scarf.

So that’s where I am hobby-wise, at least until my new coloring markers arrive from Amazon.