The Sick Chick Crafts

First, thanks to those who donated for my Fibromyalgia walk, I am pleased to announce that I exceeded my goal thanks to the help of Denise Layman talking about it on her blog and offering a raffle prize  Pictures will be forthcoming once I steal them from t’s Flickr.  

My dad’s health is getting weirder.  They couldn’t find the mass/alleged tumor on the CAT scans so now he’s scheduled for a thorough colonoscopy on the 29th.  Maybe the mass went away?  It’s a medical mystery at this point.  But until we know what it is, the Army is keeping him down in Florida, so it looks like I will be headed to Tampa after all.  Don’t know for how long.

My health — which I try to avoid talking about too much for fear of turning people off — is getting worse in a number of ways and my mom and t think that since I’ve already cleared my schedule for four months it might be worthwhile me staying in the US for some private treatment that I can’t get here on the NHS and so that we can do family weight loss efforts together since it’s getting to be life threatening for my dad and so I’d still be there to support/harass him (if they let him come home or I go to him).  I’ve only managed to lose 8 pounds in the 10 weeks since I was diagnosed with Diabetes so I need to step it up more too as there’s still 40 more to go to be officially in the healthy range.

So it’s still unknown just how long I will spend in the US, what part of the US I will be in when (NC or Florida) and whether I will be over there for my treatments or my dad’s or both.

Thus I may be fairly quiet here until I get to mom’s house on the 25th.  I have swaps to make stuff for, packages to get out and the gargantuan task of trying to pack for 2-4 months in one suitcase and one carryon.

I made this around the end of February but never got around to posting.

I call this the Scooter hat because it reminds me of the hair of Scooter from the Muppet Show.  Inspired by the Rasta Hat of Annie Modesitt, I’ve never seen the pattern just the pictures.  Made with Colinette Prism yarn in the Zebra colourway on the Reader’s Digest circle loom.  Fits me snugly so approximately youth sized or very small ladies.

I just got off the phone with Mom and it looks like it is cancer and they may not be able to operate because of his problems with blood clots in the lungs a few weeks ago.  Even if it’s *not* cancer (we will hopefully find out next Tuesday), he’s still having major problems and they still might not be able to operate.  It’s so serious that the Army is considering sending him home as he’s going to need care.

So my summer of getting care and giving t a carer’s holiday is turning into me looking after me dad and my mom looking after us both. I may also need to stay indefinitely, probably at least through September. So I guess I need to lay in a lot more craft supplies.  Send sock yarn  There’s going to be a lot of sitting in hospitals waiting around this summer, no matter what :/  And lucky me has to remember how to drive again as I’ll have to be the one to drive him to radiation, chemo or whatever they decide to do as Mom only has limited time off.  I haven’t driven anything bigger than my power chair in 5 years so this will be a challenge :/ Mercifully I still have my US license and insurance.

So whoosh, this is kind of heavy and I’m in a weird headspace at the moment. We’re trying to save so that t can go to Australia to see HIS dad, who is still waiting for a kidney transplant, and now my dad has gone from having a minor little cancer that was mostly in remission to possibly having a big huge cancer that they might not be able to treat very well.

This totally sucks.

My walk is tomorrow!  Please consider donating!  I lied about wearing my sequinny All-Stars, it’s a bit too hot and t managed to fix my broken Z-Coils (sandals with springs in the heel, much easier on the back) so that’s the plan.

I’ve started making thank-you cards.  Not quite satisfied with the design yet but I’m still working on it.

I’m also starting to make my packing list for my trip.  I’m trying to be minimal about what craft supplies I take — tools only — but when dealing with things like hand carders and jewelry pliers it’s starting to stack up :/  I need to be less than one suitcase on the way over and will bring three home but one of those will be mostly magazines and the two small quilts we plan to make, plus I’m stocking up on pillows as I can’t get the ones I like over here.  I vacuum seal them but it’s still a lot of bulk.

Homestead Wool and Gift Farm got another batch of new fibers today so I finally placed an order. Several pounds of fiber, about half raw and the other half roving.  That should keep me for most of the summer for spinning and felting, I don’t know when I will find time to dye, quilt and embroider! My beading stuff is mostly going over to do the annual repairs on mom’s substantial collection, including re-knotting all of the pearls this year.  

But I’m worried that we may spend a few weeks in Florida in the hospital if my dad doesn’t get better.  He has a mass that is squashing his intestines that they don’t know what it is yet. I think it’s a hematoma like Helen has, but there’s a chance it may be cancerous  Anyway I may also be stranded in NC when I first arrive as Mom may be down in Florida with Daddy. (Remember he’s only in Florida because of the Army, he’s due to retire any day now but they are keeping him down in Florida until this health crisis is over which may be many more months. So Mom goes to visit as much as she can.)  So I need a lot to keep me busy as my looms may not be in by then!

I also have a ton of beading work to do for her before I go. I don’t want to take beads over if I can help it, so all of the stuff I have bought to make things for her needs to get done next week, ideally.

Plus I have two swaps to do (already started on both but need to finish) and two care packages to send out (Project Superstar and Purlpower).

So I am a very busy bunny the next few weeks!  But unfortunately my body has other ideas and is making me rest a lot so I’m just going to have to prioritize.  But just right now I have cards to make and emails that need writing, so I’d better be off!

I’ll leave you with a picture of some of the fiber I have ordered, a beautiful white baby alpaca…I bought a pound but there is still more for others!

So I finally bought something on Etsy! (Not for lack of drooling, mind you, just that money is kinda tight at the moment.) I read the Yarn Harlot who was singing the praises of Unwind Yarn Company’s superwash merino sock yarn. Well, I’m looking to build my sock yarn stash (and thanks to those who have given suggestions so far, I shall seek those out!) and if the queen of sock knitting recommend a yarn, well of course I had to look. UYC was having a contest where the 175th person to favourite the shop would get a 50% discount so I just had to click and huzzah, I won! Alas, because of the Harlot it was sold out in a flash but the shop was updated last night (I stayed up til 2 am but didn’t get to see the whole range ). When I woke up I snagged some sock yarn in the Wendy colourway which are the exact colours for my Project Superstar work!

So this beauty is mine:

Click here for more info about the yarn.

I don’t yet know what I will do with it, if I will make something for Project Superstar or just make something for myself as a memento of Project Superstar. It’s being sent to my US address so I’ll have to wait until I get there to see it and decide if I love it too much to give it away — a distinct possibility! I’ll keep you posted about the yarn and my eventual project when it happens!

I strongly suspect that I will be ordering more from the Unwind Yarn Company (craftygirl83 on Etsy and Ravellry) — there are so many yummy colourways that I simply must have, like See Rock City, Riverwalk and more. I also love that she uses her local area (Chattanooga) as inspiration. I’ve been there many a time when I lived in Tennessee during my formulative years.

Because I feel bad about not having had photos today, here’s a pic of my Lagoon legwarmers (Colinette Prism yarn in Lagoon, knit in a 2×2 rib on the Reader’s Digest loom) and my sparkly Converse All Stars that are the closest thing to “dress” shoes that I can get my orthodics into!

PS, yes those shoes are what I will be walking in on Saturday’s walk! Sorry, I’m a long way from my donation goal  so I have to keep plugging it

We had a nice Bank Holiday Weekend (three-day weekend) here, the weather actually warmed up — rather too fast IMO — and the sun has been coming out more than in the last nine months put together.  Which has actually made photography a little difficult, I’m not used to full, bright sun!

Anyway, important reminder: My 5K walk for Fibromyalgia research is on Saturday so please donate now!  If you are new to this blog, Fibro is one of the many diseases that I have and walking 5K is well beyond my normal limits but it was important for me to do this as it’s a very worthy cause.  You can read more about my struggle on the donation page linked above.

So meanwhile, back to other things. We went to the National History show which was genealogy, archaeology and military history all together in one Expo.  Once again I was shocked that no scrapbooking suppliers were there as that seems like a great audience.  We saw some of the Time Team members (Tim, Tony and Phil) doing various presentations and generally found out about new stuff out for the genealogy market, etc.  The only thing we bought was mead from Three Drunken Monks but then we went to the huge Whole Foods in Kensington to stock up on supplies.

I’m still recovering from that day even though I was in the chair. I also seem to have come down with some kind of stomach virus which is unpleasant to say the least.  So my crafting has been pretty minimal.  I made two coffee cozies (which I would show you but my camera doesn’t like bright sun apparently, the colours went all weird) and started a legwarmer for a friend but I started getting hotspots on my fingers so had to give it a rest.  When I can’t knit or do something productive I feel guilty or at least out of sorts while sitting and watching tv or movies but sometimes my body just needs the rest and there’s nothing I can do about it.

I’m off to lay down again and get more rest.  I need to plan the route for Saturday’s walk ASAP and just spend the week resting up that’s going to be very, very taxing.  But I have so much crafting to be done in the next few weeks that I’m already feeling the stress and need to get things done for the sake of my brain,so we’ll just have to see what I can manage in between naps!

iHanna does some of the most amazing things at her blog, you should seriously check it out!  One of the things she has turned me on to are the myriad of challenges around various crafty sites.  I decided to start the Green Pepper Press Crusades which are monthly challenges in various paper-crafting techniques. April’s challenge was cutting your own stencils.  (I want to note that I did technically do this in April, but the deadline for posting was extended to May 7 so I’m on time anyway )

The tutorial Michelle Ward posted on the Crusade site is very good and if you are interested in making your own stencils I suggest you go read it now and come back here later  I do not have a burner tool so I just had to make do with craft knives.

The first step is to decide what you want your stencil to be.  Michelle noted that it’s handy if you can cut the stencil all in one cut so that you will have both a stencil (piece of plastic with a bit cut out of it) and a mask (cut-out shape that stands on its own).  There are good reasons for wanting both to work together, but this post is going to be too long already so I won’t go into them.

I decided that I wanted to start with a letter “J” (for Juliann, of course!).  I scouted around my large collection of fonts and found very many suitable ones but really wanted to draw my own so I doodled a little and came up with a letter similar to my actual handwriting but with clean lines so it would be a little easier to cut. Then on a whim I also doodled with the letters “tsc” (for “The Sick Chick”) and was surprised when I came up with a design I liked for that, too.

Next, I drew out these designs in a larger size onto the backs of used envelopes.  I ideally want something small enough to use for ATCs but figured that a larger size would be easier for this novice cutter.  (As it turns out I think the J will fit on ATCs but only just.)

[You can click on any image for the full sized version.]

So here are my initial doodles, the larger designs drawn in marker, and more supplies for making stencils:

Cutting the Stencils and Masks

Next I taped things to the cutting mat to help steady them.  First I taped the paper template, then I taped the plastic down over it.  This helped a little but things were still a bit wobbly and the masking tape didn’t hold stuck through the whole process.  Still it was better than nothing.

Taking a craft knife (Exacto, scalpel, whatever you have), carefully cut around the outlines *without picking up the knife*. I used a very small mat that I had gotten free from a magazine so I was able to turn the whole thing around any time I needed to change direction which made things a lot easier.  If you do wind up lifting the knife, try to start cutting again as smoothly as possible.  You can always go back and clean up joins later but this is a little hard (and you have to do it on both stencil and mask). Unfortunately, I didn’t think to photograph this stage as visually it was pretty boring and I was too busy trying to keep my knife firmly planted.

Using the Stencils and Masks

I used rubber cement to hold the stencil down as there we lots of little fiddly bits that wouldn’t stay in place just by taping the outside.  You can rub off the rubber cement later after the paint has dried.

So  here are a series of me painting the stencils and masks…

The Finished Products

That’s just what they look like solo, I hope to make some art projects soon to incorporate them into.

I have enjoyed my first Crusade with the GPP Street Team and hope to be able to be involved in more projects in the future!
 

Alas, in this case I don’t have many pictures. I took video last night but I have yet to edit it and that’s pretty far down the priority list at the moment, so you’ll have to wait. Sorry!

Last night, the Museum of London had its monthly late night opening (link may rot) but for this occasion it had a crafty theme.  There were booths of people making felt mustaches, animals out of pipe cleaners and wool, a diorama of London with plasticine sculptures, a sign language music video about London and in the other room the booths of knitting, crocheting and spinning.  You can guess what room I was in!

First I met up with my acquaintance, the lovely Claire from PurlPirate, who was teaching hyperbolic crochet which makes a coral-ish sort of shape.  She gave me several pointers about the second row issue (using a larger hook to cast on, not trying to get “under the v” when stitching into the chain, etc.) so I hope that I will be able to improve when I try it again next week.  She also had quite a crowd of people trying out the hyperbolic forms, including many totally new to crocheting.  Go Claire!  She was also teaching people how to crochet with plastic bags and gave an excellent demo on how to cut them up into jag-less strips.

Next I met Rachael Matthews and Louise of Prick Your Finger  (their blog), a yarn and fiber shop that I am sad to say that I have not yet made it to.  Especially since they are involved in the Walking Stick Cozy competition with Missability (run by Felix).  (As an aside, I am sad that I have not yet been able to make a cozy for any of my walking sticks, I think I need the Knifty Knitter Bloom Loom for that to get the right sized tube and shall get one this summer but alas, too late for the competition which ended yesterday.) Bethnal Green is geographically closer to me than Waterloo (home of I Knit) but it’s harder for me to get to due to the weird nature of the London bus system, and that’s why I have yet to go to Prick Your Finger.  They were demo’ing spinning and had drop spindles available to play with and a big bag of what I think is Black Welsh Mountain fiber.

I sat there forever and made this bundle of yarn:

Not bad for my third time on a drop spindle, but all the credit goes to the fiber, which was sooo easy to spin and wanted to be spun so fine it was almost scary.  Just in case it was the spindle rather than the fiber I tried a bit of my signature flouro pink roving but it came out crap as always. The moral of the story is that I am not very good with roving but am much better with carded batts, so I need to card my fiber!  I have handcarders but man, I covet a drum carder now.

Black Welsh Mountain is a mountain fiber so it’s very scratchy.  I don’t know that I would use this sort of yarn for much of anything but it was heavenly to spin so I shall endeavor to get to PYF before I leave for the summer to get some more to play with!

Finally, I went to meet some of the lovely ladies of Stitch and Bitch London.  I’d only just signed up for their newsletter about three days ago so I haven’t had a chance to attend their events yet (I couldn’t do their sewing up event on the 30th as I had to rest up to go out on the 1st). But it was very nice to meet people and show off the world of loomknitting.  Photos of me will probably be appearing on their blog in the near future.

I didn’t really have anything to do with the other crafty things,which seemed either aimed at kids or designed for people who aren’t usually crafty to dip their toe into the waters and have a little fun.  I have nothing against that, I just wasn’t in the mood.

Still, it was a very fun evening and many thanks to all of the lovely ladies I met who made it such a great experience!

Some more photos just so I can catch up on the past week.  (I still have several months backlog of photos and events to blog about, but I am at least trying to stay on top of things as they are happen now!)

This week I attempted to crochet:

I didn’t get very far, I’m still having difficulty with the second row issue, but I got lots of tips last night (which I shall blog about in a minute) so I think I shall give it a go again this week with hopefully better luck.  Buthey, at least I did get stitches made in a second row!

I also made a partial gauge swatch:

I was supposed to knit a 4 inch swatch but by three inches in I knew that I didn’t want to use this yarn for that project.  I did get gauge though, so I am chuffed about that  I will use this yarn on a felting project, probably a laptop cover.  But it (Debbie Bliss Soho) is just too scratch for a hat and I don’t really want to have to line it.

Also in the photo is my new temporary wedding ring, I think I have blogged about it but not sure :/  (Brain is sooo not what it used to be, thanks fibro!)  My real one doesn’t fit at the moment but as I *have* to lose weight because of the diabetes I didn’t want to get it resized so I got a temporary one from the same place as t’s wedding ring and he is getting one to match (but wearing it on a different finger, it’s been backordered for a while though ).  I couldn’t wear rings at all for about five years because my fingers swell a lot during the day but that is lessened now and also I don’t need to use two sticks quite as much, I can make do with one, so that makes it easier to wear a ring on my left hand.  It’s just so nice to have *any* wedding ring  Plus I can wear this one on a different finger once I do lose the weight.

I mentioned these last week so here are the pix:

The upper bracelets are plastic beads on elastic cord, the lower (for their mom, Valerie) is glass beads mixing the girls’ favourite colours with a silver awareness ribbon charm, strung on 49-strand silver-plated Beadalon.  The colours here aren’t great since I photographed them on my red flannel sheets but you get the idea.

And, because I thought it was amusing, I snapped a pic of how I have been storing them, on an empty dvd spindle (with my alarm-clock watch):

I actually finished this last weekend but with photographing, tagging and all that am only just posting today. Hope that still counts for FO Friday ;0

I had contemplated sending this in to LKC magazine as a submission but A) it’s pretty basic and more importantly B) it fits me perfectly, which means it will be too small for most adults with hair.  I didn’t want people to get disappointed.

So here it is instead!  I had two skeins of Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk in Aran weight (I still think Alpaca smells of dog when wet but oh well, it’s sooo nice to knit with!) that I had gotten half off at the John Lewis after Christmas sales in Newcastle.  It had gotten lost in my stash for a while until I was looking for something to go with my Harley jacket (the jacket you always see me in in photos where I am in the chair) which has charcoal grey lettering on the back.  So I pulled this out  hoping to make something in time for the Paris trip and I might have succeeded if I hadn’t frogged the first three attempts.  The yarn’s softness was lost in a detailed stitch pattern (frog #1) but I found I wanted a pretty edging rather than purely functional (frog #2) and eventually (after frog #3) settled  on a basketweave border with plain stockinette for the rest.

I used the Reader’s Digest loom and used a little bit tighter tension for the borders as I want a little bit of “grip” like you would otherwise get from ribbing.  I did five rows of k2p2 ribbing, then five rows of p2k2 and then five more k2p2.  Then knit as long as I wanted (28 rows in this case) and do the border again for the neck or closed up for the hat.

The neckwarmer looks insanely long but it actually pulls up over my mouth, nose and the bottom of my ears.  The hat comes down to meet it around my ears and thus is forms a pseudo-balaclava but a little more dainty and of course they can be worn separately and the neckwarmer can be scrunched down when it’s not so cold.  (I have problems in very cold weather with my lungs due to my asthma and doctors have suggested that I breathe through a scarf to help pre-warm the air before it hits the lungs.  It does seem to help.)  I also wanted something that could go under the collar of my jacket so that when it zips up I have a layer protecting me from wind — my biggest complaint with that jacket is that the neckline is a little too big. (My second biggest complaint is that if I am wearing a sweater under it it looks like I have scary uniboob happening around my waist, soooo unflattering, especially as it flattens the actual boobs so they don’t show and I get this weird look instead :/  But I have yet to find a knitted solution to that!)  So this has fit both bills

I have to say that I LOVE this yarn.  It handled the frogging pretty well and I think it will bloom a little when washed, but right now the stitch definition is excellent. It feels a little softer when sliding through your fingers while working with it than in the finished garment, but the end product is still really nice.  WEBS has this for half price (I think it was just under US$5 for a 50g ball) so I got four skeins in an eggplant colour and I hope to do a cabled scarf to go with my burgundy coats (maybe a hat if there is enough left!).  I totally recommend it. 

Oh and for the record the neckwarmer took a little over one skein and the hat a little under, but again that’s because I made the neckpiece longer than most anyone else would want it.

I’m also proud that it looks needle-knit rather than loom-knit.  The flat knit stitch (Isela’s way) really makes sooooo much difference to the finished project that I have switched to it exclusively.

Many thanks to Daniella for pointing out that Malabrigo Organic Cotton is now available at WEBS.  It’s pricey, but with the pound being strong it worked out to be affordable for me.  I also took the time to get some of my new everyday-workhorse favourite yarn, Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk (I need to photograph those FOs), in a deep purple colourway (half-price), some more Arucania Pima Cotton (not organic, but at least fair trade, half price) to go with what I bought last year, and lots of onsies and twosies of other sale items for a total of £52 including shipping (to my US address).  t gave me a budget of £50 since aside from Project Superstar (2 skeins, now used) and the Paris trip (2 skeins), I haven’t really bought yarn since the after-Christmas sales.

My gothpoints are utterly in decline as once again I bought really bright colours  I even considered several blacks and then thought “Well what would I make with that?” (as I haven’t tackled fair isle yet to do the piratey things).  But in my defense, many of these yarns will be used for presents for children and I think children need eyepopping hot pink, right?

For some reason this blog is the top Google hit for Malabrigo Cotton.  How odd.  I’m sure I will lose that status in the future as others come to know and love this yarn, but for now I felt obliged to order two skeins of the organic. I plan to crochet a bag out of it.  Guess I’d best get cracking practicing my crochet first!

I do believe in using organic cotton as much as I can afford to.  It’s hard when the price tag is up to ten times more than non-organic (considering that I have a mill that is localish to me in the States that at least hits my low-airmiles button, which most organics do not).  It’s not so much about the environmental aspects in an altruistic sense but because I believe that the widespread use of pesticides is part of the reason why fibromyalgia and other neurological disorders are so much more common nowadays. (Remember to sponsor me for my walk for Fibro research!) Cotton growing accounts for 50% of the world’s pesticides which is why it is most important to buy organic cotton to prove to the rest of the industry that it can be done. But, I guess the lack of pesticides reduces the yield which accounts for part of the increased cost, although I am sure the rest of it is just the organic fad, alas. But Malabrigo is a higher-priced brand anyway and is fair trade as well as organic and these yarns have only natural dyes.  Pity about the airmiles though

So with looms, swap goodies and now yarn coming my way, I think May 25 is going to be a lot like Christmas  I can’t wait to get there and see all of my stuff.  But first, several projects to finish and a swap package to make!

Thanks to everyone who wore blue shirts and wished the girls well.   Their grandmother says that the transplant went smoothly, but now Marian has two weeks of feeling very rough while her bone marrow hopefully converts to be like Audrey’s.

I finished the bracelets (3 each for the girls in plastic beads on elastic cording, one for mom that is glass beads combining the girls’ favourite colours and a silver awareness ribbon charm on silver-plated Beadlon) but I’m still feeling a bit rough so I haven’t set up the lightbox to photograph them properly.

Now I just have three cards to make and can finally send off this package!  I’ll be sure to get pictures of everything before they go out. The hats are already on my Flickr and havebeen for a while now but I will post about them properly when the package is sent.  There’s also Playmobil, Hello Kitty, stickers, books and cutie (machine washable!) rat stuffies from IKEA and stuff for the mom.  OK so I got a bit crazy!  (Their dad got left out, as I had no idea what to get him…)

I’ve also been doing a bit of spinning with my uber-cheap spindle and the leftover drumcarded (but a bit mangled after carding) merino that was leftover from my felting class.  It’s super ugly but hey it’s only for practice and the fiber was just going to be thrown out otherwise.  I have two people who have offered me a little raw fleece from the UKKarma group on Ravelry so I am really looking forward to getting those packages! :)  Plus I mega-envy everyone at Wonderwool Wales this weekend.

Well, I have to go put away the beading supplies so that our guest tomorrow has somewhere to sit and eat!

Tomorrow is the big day for Project Superstar: Audrey (age 9) is donating her bone marrow to her sister Marian (age 6).  Please wear a blue shirt (light blue if possible, Marian’s favourite colour) to wish them success!  Marian’s request is on her blog.

The official shirt (but wear whatever you like, just send prayers, vibes, good wishes their way!):

This is really long and photo-heavy.  To save on your downloads I have tried to keep the photos small, but you can click on any of them for the full-sized versions.

Day 1: Galaries Lafayette

We were staying quite near the “Grands Magasins” (big department stores) so on our first day we went to our quasi-favourite*, Galaries Layfayette.  The craft department is a respectable size but I didn’t like any of their yarn.  I did, however, find a delightful set of stamps from a French company:

I didn’t take photos of the store as we’ve been there a dozen times but t has loads of photos, although you may have to search a while as he has sooo many photos from this trip!  I also bought socks and leggings there but I’m only showing the crafty stuff in this blog.

* our actual favourite is Samaritaine but it’s closed for remodelling

Day 2: Flea Markets (Les Puces)

Because it’s not very wheelchair-friendly, I walked this day — with many rest stops of course!  We saw so many wonderful things, but alas our budget was limited. I do somewhat regret not buying the wooden hat block that was only 40 Euros, but it was so old that I think I would have to baby it and I’d rather a sturdy new one, even if that means a plastic one.

We saw:  We bought:  

Again, a lot more pictures in t’s Flickr (see above)

Day 3: Closed shops on Rue Saint Denis

Unfortunately, it was Sunday and these shops were closed.  We never did get a chance to come back to them, but they looked interesting.

Knitting shop: Button Shop:

Day 4: Shop-a-rama!

We made it a point on this day to hit as many craft stores as we could.

L’Art du Papier: a paper goods store with stamps, scrapbooking supplies and lots of journals. This was my favourite craft store from the trip!

I bought a Fleur-de-Lys seal, an Eiffel Tower stamp and a nice “J” stamp

La Drougerie: Famous for its knitting patterns, I found the yarn selection pretty poor, the beads plain but the trims were mind-blowing! I didn’t buy anything as I don’t have any sewing projects at the moment and I couldn’t get the attention of any of the shop assistants as it was packed in there.

Bazaar du Hotel de Ville (BHV): I’d heard great things about this store (a department store with a very large arts and crafts department) but was disappointed as a lot of the material seemed to be American imports. Which is fine, if you’re not able to shop in the US, but as I’m spending most of the summer abroad I only bought a few things (erasable disposable fountain pens by my favourite brand). Their hardware section rocks though and we spent a huge amount of time there, I bought some washers for beading projects and a wooden wheel to make a spindle out of once I find a decent dowel for the stick.

Day 5: Montmartre, at the base of Sacre Coeur

This is fabric store heaven, with several very large establishments to choose from. Unfortunately, many are too crowded to get the wheelchair into so we chose Tissus Reine (Fabric Queen) and got some lovely stuff: upholstery fabric to make a bag, iron-on crystals and pirate patches. They had fantastic wool very suitable for re-enactment gear but it started at 17Euro a meter so was out of my price range.

Diagonally opposite Tissus Reine was a knitting shop that seems to be named “Laines” (”Wool”) that carries a lot of lovely Spanish yarn. I indulged just a wee bit

We saw a really cool shop in lower Montmartre, near the Place de Clichy, called Tombees du Cambion. It sells all kinds of antique bric-a-brac and ephemera. We didn’t buy anything as it was a little bit overpriced but man, they had great taste!  (Creepiness of the photos aside, t was just playing when taking them.)

Last but certainly not least, I finally found some craft magazines at the train station on the way home. The Marie Claire Idees is pretty beaten up as it was the last copy and I found it was nice but I’m not gushing over it. It’s sort of a very girly/romantic version of Martha Stewart and that’s not my thing. The Idees Magazine, on the other hand, is exactly my sort of thing, especially as this is the black and white issue — my favourite!  There were several other mags to choose from but as my French is still pretty limited I decided not to buy any more.

I finally ordered my first “big girl” looms from Decor Accents — an extra small gauge straight rake for dishcloths and an extra fine gauge sock loom (will fit me and t both, yay!) to be delivered to my mom’s house. Now to find some cheap sock yarn to practice on — anyone destashing? Mom has already bought something like 25 skeins of Peaches & Creme for me (she went to the factory outlet unchaperoned and went a bit crazy!) so I’m good for dishcloths for now

I’m sure I will eventually get plenty more looms — I’m especially hoping that Duxall Inarow (love that name!) will resume producing her stunning rakes soon.

I’m also going to try my hand at crocheting dishcloths this summer as I’m feeling a lot more confident wielding a hook now after using it so much for casting on and finishing things on the loom. I sooo need a light-up hook for the road trip, methinks (Oh yeah, forgot to mention we’re driving to PA — I have a sneaking suspicion that there will be many quilt stores on our route!)

Sorry I’ve taken so long with getting all of the Paris and spinning class stuff written up but t and I have a stomach virus right now so we’re behind on everything — except our tv watching

[crossposted]

As many of you know, I suffer from a condition called Fibromyalgia among many others. Fibromyalgia — called fibro or FM for short — is believed to be a disease of the central nervous system. People with this condition suffer intense, widespread pain and crushing fatigue. It can completely disable a person and destroy their lives. Up to three percent of the population may get this disease at some point in their life, although many go for years without obtaining a proper diagnosis. There is only one drug so far (approved in the US only) and that only works for a percentage of the population and only dampens some of the symptoms. We usually have pain every moment of every day and can find it difficult, perhaps even impossible, to find the energy to get out of bed, dress or leave the house. It is not a lack of willpower, but a chronic, permanent illness. It is like having the worst case of the flu you have ever experienced and it never goes away.

On the 10th of May, the National Fibromyalgia Association (US) is hosting a walk to raise awareness and funds for research. They have called for others — yes, even in other countries — to help them as Virtual Participants, and I am organizing a team. Walking for me is still a painful process, but I am committed to giving my all in support of this cause. Please honour my pain and hardship (it will take me at least a week to recover) with your support.

London Crawling is a pub crawl through the West End on that Saturday evening. We’re going to walk our 5K (hopefully, fingers crossed!) but take regular breaks to sit down, rest and perhaps have a half. (Alcohol not required, indeed not recommended for many on certain pain medications!) It’s social but socially conscious all in one! We’ll also be pointing out things which are hazards to the mobility impaired along our route for those who have never had cause to notice such things before.

Join our walk, either as an official Virtual participant (Cost: US$35, a non-tax deductible donation, you get an official t-shirt and your name on the virtual walkers roll) or just come along and make a cash donation. Perhaps you can match the pounds spend on beer with pounds given to Fibromyalgia research?

If you’re not in London, I urge you to become a Virtual participant anyway. You (apparently) don’t have to even walk. Maybe just walk virtually Second Life anyone? You can still be on our team even if you can’t crawl with us in person. Join in and help raise funds for this very worthy cause near and dear to my heart!

If participating doesn’t appeal, then I beseech you to consider donating. My personal sponsorship page has some more details of my personal struggle. You can join our team at the London Crawling page. You can donate either to me or to the team. And if joining the team, you can walk in my honour or anyone else you know with fibromyalgia. Let me know if you want more details for that part of the form.

Please spread the word!

I know the fad now is to offer prizes draws to those who make donations but I am not in a position to offer anything special. But I will promise a hand-made thank you card to any donor who requests one. These take my time and energy and can be a bit painful in the making so I hope that this gift will be as meaningful to you as anything else on offer.

The NFA has already helped make my life better and continues to search for ways to improve the lives of allof us with fibromyalgia. Please contribute today to keep the ball rolling and fight against this dreadful disease! I believe that donations are tax-deductible within the United States.

(Photo: Me in the Project Superstar shirt with the view from Sacre Coeur in Monmartre, Paris.  April 12, 2008.)

The Project Superstar photo program is people taking pictures of themselves in the Superstar shirt and sending them to Marian (the very crafty little girl having a bone marrow transplant whom I have mentioned several times here before, see the link for “I’m a Craft Artist” in my blogroll) who is now in the hospital after her chemotherapy.  I’m not the farthest away or the most exotic locations (a family in the Slovak Republic has sent in photos!) but maybe I can be the most posh locations

More photos, click to see larger:

My crafty photos are edited and on Flickr, I just need to write up the post about everything.  Which may be broken into several parts as there are a lot of photos! There are also many more photos of me that t is posting, these are not PS shots but are usually for the wheelchair travel groups or they involve a lot of wine and thus are not appropriate to send to six year olds ;0  If anyone really wants to see those, drop me a line.

So we’re back, and yes we had a lovely time.  Mostly because we abandoned all plans except eating (hitting many of our old favourites) and shopping in what craft stores I could find.  We had some problems with the wheelchair not liking the steep hills (it drained the battery very quickly) so t had to push a lot, and it poured down rain for two days, but in general it was a pleasant and relaxing holiday.  It’s going to take me a while to recover.

Paris has changed a lot in the four and a half years since our last visit.  We used to visit annually when we could afford it (this is not that grand — remember, it’s just the next major town over and only 2.5 hrs by train so it’s one of the cheapest possible vacation spots for us) but I guess the changes seem a lot more pronounced when more time has passed.  I’d read that many French people think that the city is becoming a museum rather than a living, vibrant center of life.  I didn’t want to believe it but I’m afraid it is true.  Maybe models find  places to party but it’s becoming a tourist trap; there are more tourists than locals in most of the city center and the shops and venues have changed to reflect that.  It’s a little sad, really.

I certainly won’t say don’t go if you have never been.  I won’t even say that I won’t go — I’m always researching the history of Paris and/or using the museums as resources for other historical research.  But just to chill out and mellow, I think we’ll go to Provence or back to Italy (where I lived for a while).  Or who knows, maybe somewhere out there is a city that really is wheelchair friendly. I’m not holding my breath on that one though!

We’ve got about 500 photos to sort through and tag, but I’ll try to post the crafty ones (shops and my purchases) as soon as I can.

I’m trying to catch up on everyone else’s blogs so bear with me!

I really hate letting people down. Especially when I know if I had just not procrastinated I wouldn’t have had this problem!

I failed to finish my afghan for Tricot du Coeur. I let other things (Thing-a-day and Project Superstar) take precedence and then in the three weeks I had left — which should have been enough — I was too poorly to do much knitting. Where I normally could do about 2 feet per day I was barely managing five inches. So that just sucks.

I really hate disappointing people. I also hate letting myself down and not being healthy enough to finish things in the amount of timethat normal people could do them in. t has made me promise not to craft to deadlines any more. I really exhausted myself trying to do this and now I’m really overstretched and our vacation is this week.

I’ve got to conserve what energy I have so that I will be alert and not a total drag for our week in Paris! I’m going to give the blanket to the girls of Project Superstar when I finish it. I think I will be able to finish it (except for sewing up) whilst away so I can just add it to whatever I buy for them there. SO it’s still going to a good cause, even if not the one I had intended.

I still feel crappy about it though

Oh yeah, I simply must mention this!  I was one of the guests on the latest episode (4) of Knitting 911, the loom and needle knitting podcast by Denise Layman of KnitChat.com and Loom Knitter’s Circle Magazine fame.  You can listen on the webpage.

This has gotten me fired up to resume my own long-neglected podcasting and I will be posting more about my plans soon.

I know I have been very remiss in my blogging endeavours, but I have to plead illness.It’s been a very hard month+ for me and talking to people is one of the most difficult things at times so I’m afraid I have just been hibernating away. But today, perhaps because of the spring weather (oh how I wish it were going to last!) or perhaps because I saw mallard ducks in my back lawn (why I have no idea and sadly I didn’t have my camera with me) or because I have a lot of announcements, I have finally felt like talking to the world at large.

But before I say more about what has been going on, here are some piccies for your entertainment:

That is a scarf that I made for my mother last December, didn’t photograph until February and am only managing to post about today. It was made using Trendsetter Yarns Blossom using the Alternating rib stitch (5 rows each direction) on the Knifty Knitter long yellow loom. At least, this is how it looked before I washed it and sadly it is far more anaemic looking now I’ll try to photograph it again to show the difference. t says he can’t tell and looking at the scrap yarn I can’t tell differences in the strands individually, but it just looks less fluffy I’m very mad at myself for chancing a machine wash (delicate cycle) on a handwash yarn, even though I know my mom will only machine wash it anyway. I feel like I screwed up US$45 worth of lovely yarn and am really beating myself up about it

Beating myself up about things is sort of the theme lately, as that’s part of what happens in my depression cycle. The big D is what has been making life  miserable lately (mentally and physically as it increases pain levels). I’m not really going to talk about it much here as I know people don’t like hearing about that very much and so I’d rather save your illness attention spans for when I may need it in the future But I’ll just say that it has been the worst episode ever but finally my meds are adjusted and things seem to be on an even keel again. I still don’t feel that my meds are quite right, but I plan to study the meditation course for the prevention of depression relaspe so hopefully the meds will become less important in time.

The big news is that I have decided to go to America for a while this year. Normally this wouldn’t be news as I spend between 5 and 10 weeks a year there but I had actually been planning to *not* go over this year and have my parents come visit me instead. But my dad got sick (another reason I have been silent online is being stressed over him being in the hospital, etc.) and can’t do a long haul flight for a while and now my health problems are just getting to be more than t can handle. We’re going to have to look into getting me a carer but to do that I need to get disability benefits and that’s going to take several months so the temporary answer is that I will be going to the US to stay with my mom for two months to give t a break, then she will come over here for a few weeks to get some stuff organized so that we’re in a better position for the future.

SO: I’m going to be going to North Carolina from late May (ish) to the end of July (ish), with stops in Pittsburgh (and maybe Philly) and Tampa to see my dad (and maybe Disneyworld, that would rock!). I’m going to work on my knitting, practice spinning and maybe do some re-enacting. Also probably doing some scrapbooking and maybe a bit of quilting (Mom’s a big time quilt freak). And buying craft supplies. Oh yes, the best part!

All that comes after our trip to Paris next week though

I have more to talk about but I must rest my hands, my spinning class is tomorrow so I can’t afford to be crampy! I’ll try to post again soon, really!

Thanks to those who have written me with encouragement in the past two weeks.  I’m coming to terms with everything but things got delayed as my father was in the hospital most of last week with blood clots in the lungs.  He’s fine now but since his father died from blood clots unexpectedly, we were all more than a bit nervous.  And it may be another genetic condition to which I may be predisposed, so I’m awaiting the results of his testing almost as much as he is. Since I have so far gotten every single disease known on either side of the family, and often younger than the “normal” onset, I’m starting to become a little obsessive about knowing just what may becoming down the pike. (And desperately praying that I miss out on Alzheimer’s!)  I’m not crazy enough to think that I will get everything, but my odds are batting 1000 against me at the moment so I want to know what to be screened for.

Anyway, all of this has sent my mental health into something of a spiral.  I normally have a depressive episode in February each year so it’s probably just a slightly delayed reaction combined with family illness (father inlaw then father) and the upheaval of my new diagnosis.  It’s not that diabetes is a problem per se, it’s that I’m having to give up several coping mechanisms and unorthodox (but working for me) treatment strategies so my symptom load is going very high and I just feel like things are still very chaotic.  Well, in fact they are, as we’ve yet to decide on new treatment regimes so I’m kinda of flying blind.  Hence the “doldrums” part of the title.  The grey, rainy weather isn’t helping any and knitting with my brightest yarn isn’t helping there either.  When not even beading magazines can cheer me, I know it’s getting bad.  So I have a med review this week, one of my four appointments this week when I don’t have the energy to get out of bed let alone trek to the doctors and hospitals.  It has to be done though as I can’t handle much more of the way I am feeling…

But enough about that, let’s talk socks I have been wanting to order a sock loom but have been put off by how many sizes there are (so if I make socks for myself and my mom I’d need a different loom for my husband and dad) and how long of a wait it is to get a loom.  I think I’m just going to have to bite the bullet and order one though as I know that with diabetes foot care is important and that means wearing socks all of the time.  I generally try to escape socks as much as possible and right now can only cope with toe socks or part cashmere (luckily I got a bunch of lambswool and cashmere at TJ Maxx last year for $5/pair).  I’m hoping though that hand-knit socks will be every bit as amazing as everyone says. I also know from trying to get people to make hats for me that I won’t just be able to lean on folks to get some socks either so like hats I’m just going to have to make them myself.  So if anyone reading this has sock looms and likes or dislikes them, please let me know which one(s) you have!  I am hoping to use proper sock yarn (and do not like slipper socks or anything bulky!!!).

(As an aside, if anyone has single socks languishing without mates, my husband refuses to wear matching socks so will happily give them a good home ;)  He also could not care less what gender they were meant for or even if they fit him properly or not! So if you have second sock syndrome but can’t bear the thought of frogging the one you already made, he can put them to good use.)

In other news, I’m finishing up the mate to the Lagoon legwarmer. I had hoped to have it done by today but I was getting hotspots again so I am taking it slower.  Then I need to really get cranking to finish my afghan for Tricot du Coeur as that is due this month.  I made a hat inspired by Annie Modesit’s rasta hat but have yet to photograph it.  I think I need to order a styrofoam head form for better hat photos plus I can use it for making felted hats.  So another thing I just need to get off my rear and order!  I’m just being a bit stingy since we’re going to Paris next month and always waaaay overspend there so we’re putting off nonessential purchases as much as we can just in case.  Ooh, I should start looking for the Parisian yarn shops…

Oh, and I shall need to buy a spindle as my spinning class is very soon and I’m sure I will want to keep going at home!

Well I have to go, I’ve got an appointment to attend and miles to go before I sleep….

Elevator troubles

Originally uploaded by naughtypixie

Sorry I am still not doing well, but I thought you might enjoy seeing the complete ragdoll accessories set (which I have yet to blog about) in this picture my husband took last week.

Apologies that I’vve been quieter than usual.  This time it’s not out of forgetting to blog, just life getting in the way. I’ve added another disease to my portfolio, which has meant tests, lots of GP visits, angst over the changes required for management (which as usual sound trivial but when put into the jigsaw puzzle that is my other disease management are far more profound), plus the new symptoms to cope with.  So it’s been a crazy week.  I’m very tired and emotionally worn out and I just need to take a bit of time out to get the lay of the land.  I’ll be back to blogging as soon as I am up for it.

This is a self-portrait from Meez.com.  You’ve probably seen it on other blogs, as there is a knitting animation that you can have your virtual self doing   This is pretty close to accurate, but of course all avatars look better than the real thing!  Here you see me dressed as usual in a t shirt and pyjama pants in a terribly messy room.  I’m not usually in the chair in the apartment (in fact never, there isn’t room here), but they didn’t have an option for canes or crutches or my usual of leaning on the walls as I slink around…  Usually if it’s less than 20 meters I don’t bother with a cane, so that can confuse some people who see me walking “normally” (like at my felting course this weekend which was in a small place) and then hear me talk about using a wheelchair.

In other news, I have found a new charity to knit for (after I get caught up on the projects already on the go).  It’s pretty near to my heart as it serves people with neuroendoimmune disorders including fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue and multiple chemical sensitivity.  (I have two of those for sure, maybe on the middle one.)   Anyway, having been the person begging for warm hats a few years ago (when I first had to give up having hair) I feel it’s the perfect place to give back.  P.A.N.D.O.R.A. is the organization, but I couldn’t find their request for knitted items on their website, only on their page on Liom Brand Yarns’ charity finder.

OK typing this has killed my fingers so I guess they need more rest.  I’ll try to write up about the felting course tomorrow, achy fingers crossed!

Lene of The Seated View has just posted a wonderful entry entitled Thoughts of Pain & What Comes With It. I encourage you to read the whole thing, but here is the bit that moved me the most:

Chronic pain teaches you that pain isn’t the worst thing that can happen. Not living your life is the worst thing that can happen. And so, you develop filters that mask the pain, block your perception of it and get on with your life. I once tested this - convinced that making a cup of tea in my microwave didn’t hurt, I decided to pay attention and discovered that it indeed did hurt, but on the days where I have adequate pain control, isn’t loud enough to make it through the filter. One of my favourite barriers to pain is the fun filter – you’re out, with friends, dancing, talking or whatever floats your boat and you are fine. Absolutely fine. You’re so fine that you may stay out having fun for longer than you should, but you ignore this, because the music is playing or you are about an hours worth of debate away from solving the world’s problems. It is not until you come home and close the front door behind you that the fun filter abruptly falls away and in a nanosecond, you go from an entirely manageable level of pain to wanting to curl up in a fetal position, whimpering in a corner. It usually takes days to recover from something like that, but what you quickly learn is that it’s worth it.

That is not only 100% true in general, it’s also exactly what is going on right now. I spent all weekend getting up in the wee hours, sitting outside in the 27F cold for over an hour each day waiting for trains and buses, having a truly fabulous time at the feltmaking course — and then I came home and SPLAT! I had rubbed my hands so raw (and bloody) that touching anything was excruciating agony. I can’t type or move or even cough without high levels of pain. I laid down for a nap at 6 pm and woke at 6 am. I’m gonna be paying for this all week. And it was worth it.

But it’s going to be a few days before I can type enough to do justice to my writeup of the course, so I’m afraid that you shall have to be patient. As shall I, as t says I can’t wet felt again until my hands heal up. And I have about 20 hours of sleep to squeeze into this week else my body will not be as forgiving as I insist it must be. After all, the Stitch & Creative Craft expo is next week, so I’ve got to rest up! (Bunnies to pet there, ya know..)