It must be mating season...

It must be wooly mating season because my UFOs are increasing in number geometrically, if not exponentially. If I counted ideas for things I've actually decided to make (including my own patterns) it is most definitely in the exponential realm.

Last year I was inching close to smugness when I contemplated my small easily handled roster of started but not finished knitted objects (3 or fewer, usually) but this month has blown that smug tug out of the water.

I'm not certain why, though I can pin down some contributing factors. If I want to make progress on stuff I need to have a project suited for the various levels of focusing power I have during the course of a day or week.

Top of the heap, needing no distractions and a marking utensil to keep track of my progress were the beautiful Delphine Mittens for Rae. Those, thankfully are done.

Next up is the shawl, also for Rae, which is deceptively simple. It is only garter-stitched mitered squares, but since I need to follow the color changes in the pattern exactly, it involved sorting nine yarns into three bags, assigning them the proper letter designation, taping up a 'map' with yarn scraps (labeled with their letters) and creating a code by which I could use hash marks and letter-dash-number indicating the last row on that square worked with the designated yarn; before I could even start. Given that helpful organizational set up, it now goes along with only medium brain power, but it is a largish project. Lovely to work (Kid Silk haze.. yummmm) but I can only get 2 large blocks and possibly an additional 4 small blocks done per day, if my medium brain is visiting.

I also am working on a Sassy Summer Handbag sample for Lynn of Colorjoy. I have made many of them, so it is an easy knit when I have little brain, as long as I keep track of my rows with hashmarks. It is in my beloved Malabrigo, this time in 'Fucsia' (Fuschia) .. very lovely knit.

I am also finishing up the mittens I started as a run through of her 'Toe Up Mitten' pattern. The pair I made don't quite fit my oddly toddler-shaped hands, but they fit Amanda perfectly, so I am finishing them for her. Lets see, that makes UFO # 3, right?

#4 is a shawl for Courtney
#5 is the final sock of a pair of calf-high's for Oscar.
#6 is a shawl for me, that will become an Otterwise Pattern
#7 is another pair of socks, which might go back to their elemental state for use in a new project.

Not yet on the needles, but needing to be finished for photos is a lovely hat for Otterwise Designs.
That would be #8.
#9 is a new version of another Otterwise pattern, one prototype was finished, I need to make a larger size in the intended yarns for photos before the pattern will be complete.
#10, another shawl, the prototype is finished and waiting to be gifted, I need to finalize my notes, decide on the fiber and knit the finished model.
#11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16 are written up, but need prototypes done to work out the kinks.

yes, I have 16 ufos. And I need a new pair of socks.

And I just marked the page of Knitters Almanac that details a hat by E. Z. I want to try with some hand dyed yarn I've been fondling. (no! Back into your cage crazy knitter person!)

(images are of some thankfully FINISHED objects done over the past while)

Has anyone found a confused brain wandering around?

Well, things are a bit rugged these days, and likely to be worse before getting better.
No tragedies or anything, just stuff.

The meds I was taking for my weird muscle pains were less effective, and then began giving odd and dangerous side effects, so I was advised to stop taking them. The med the doc suggested as a replacement was denied by my insurance. Rather than starting a new med, the doc suggested trying a different Rheumatoid Arthritis doctor. The last one was very kind but said I didn't match 'his' definition of fibromyalgia, wrote some pain meds for me and sent me off.

The pain levels we're talking about are quite high(7 out of 10), and separate from either my abdominal pain or my osteo pain. It's like someone turns my muscles to balsa wood, and I can barely straighten up or walk when I'm having a flare up.

The upshot is I am being weaned off the bad meds, and will be without that type of meds until I see the RA doc on the 10th. At that point, if she prescribes something, it may take up to a month to kick in fully, so I'm possibly looking at a month of grumpy mornings. The mornings are worst, as my pain meds for the other stuff don't last the full night, and I need to eat something before taking them in the A.M. The Darvocet and Vicodin are somewhat effective during the course of the day, about 50% I'd say.

So I'm looking at reduced brain/concentration ability, from the pain, AND from the pain pills.
Thanks goodness for garter stitch, and for my husband who helps me in every way possible.

It helps to know I'm coming up on a rough patch, as I have the opportunity to line up non-demanding knitting and books etc.
I am SO glad I finished Rae's mittens, and the shawl is not confusing, as long as I keep track of which row I am on.
I think I need to put off the launch of Otterwise until June or July, though. My own pattern writing is almost at a standstill. I can jot down the ideas and make sketches, but doing the math is a bit problematic :-} Learning Dreamweaver to create the website will also be a no-go for now.

Anyway, thanks for listening to the moany fest.
And here are some spring-themed photos, while we wait for Spring to bring her tardy butt South Eastern Michigan way.

Moany Groany

Oxygen is highly underrated.
I use a CPAP every night, and mine, I guess, has been failing, either that or my need is greater than when I first got it.
I need to have another sleep study to determine the appropriate level of pressure. (Appointment is in the works, it just takes time.)

I have not been sleeping well, but last night was the corker.
I kept stopping breathing in the night, and waking up with adrenaline coursing through me, usually accompanied by horrible nightmares of being chased, or choked, or drowning.
Yuck.

My IQ has lowered a good bit for today, so all knitting will be the easiest possible, and writing fiction right out the window.

I'd take a nap. but I think that would just make things worse. While I am awake, I keep breathing, you see.

Updates and home brewing

Spring always brings changes, it never fails.
It warmed up to the 40's this past week, though winter still has sharp claws and hasn't lost hold yet (snow predicted on Thursday).
But as soon as the weather warmed up, things started shakin'.
-I found I was able to use that great machine at the fitness center.
-I drove.
-I am planning my website and have anywhere from1 to 5 ideas for patterns every day. (I am only working on one at a time).
-Thanks to Amanda and Oscar, a week from Wednesday the living room and kitchen will be organized such that I can use the wheelchair again.
-Thanks to a local Pagan group, I might have a RAMP this spring. (I still get tears in my eyes when I think of the freedom that means)
-My book is going much better. I get a handle on a new twist almost every day, I will have the outline finished by Thursday morning (and several of the individual scenes sketched in).

I feel like beer brewing, all bubbly and murky, waiting to be sparged, the wort drained from the tun, quick-cooled and waiting for the right celebratory moment.

Doesn't the home brewing lexicon have some terrific vocabulary?
Oscar gets the magazine 'Brew'. I often read it in the bathroom.
I have a strong interest in ancient food stuffs and the uses of herbs.
I have been drawn slowly into a fascination with home brewing...
It really is the perfect balance between ancient alchemy and modern mad scientist.
I am even thinking about writing a few articles for submission.

Busy days Happy Spring!

At last the snow has melted.
It is still threatening to snow now and again, but we DID catch sight of the ground. I have been coming out of my agoraphobic shell, too. Each time gets a bit easier.
Sama on an email list we share suggested taking the same route each time I went to a specific place. This is contrary to the way I used to be. I used to enjoy finding as many different ways as possible to travel to the same destination.
I took Sama's advice, (asked Oscar to drive the route I would take on my own to the fitness center, actually) and it worked!
My visit last week I was really freaked out. I had sweaty shaking hands, and my voice got really tight and rough (I sounded a lot like my grandmother, Lola Metzger, weird... maybe she wasn't grumpy so much as tense?) I made, it, though, and worked on the ergometer (arm-bicycle) for 20 minutes, no problems at all physically.

This week, Friday, I was still tense, but only at about 70% of last week's level. I still had the odd voice, but my hands weren't as sweaty, and my nails didn't leave marks in my palms.
I worked out for 40 minutes and went 7 miles, but set the resistance too high, and strained my abdomen a bit. Not badly, though, I was fine this morning.

This morning, we got up at 7:30 and left for the fitness center an hour later. My anxiety level was much lower, still the odd voice, but no sweaty palms, and I felt close to normal. As close as I get, anyway. Oscar helped me get set up at the ergometer, and left for his Yoga class. I worked out for a bit more than an hour, but left the resistance at level 1. I still went 7.4 miles, but no sore tummy today. I had a good time listening to music and 'pumping' in time to some of the faster songs (about every other song).

When we got home, I made some lovely asparagus, grilled tomato and chicken Lawash wraps.

Then we went to the library, and I DROVE!! The first time since Fall 2007. I was pretty pooped and unfocused after wheeling around the library (on top of my exercise this morning) so Oscar drove us home. Next week, I will drive us to the fitness center, if I don't go on my own, first.

Using the ergometer, I have enough energy to drive home again.
Although I dearly love to swim, getting changed and swimming along with the wheeling around just tires me out too much, I don't feel I can drive myself home safely. When swimming it is all too easy to go past my limits. It feels so fantastic to be weightless and almost pain-free.
After some time spent increasing my strength and stamina, I can swim on my own. Until then, I'll swim with Oscar.
I love the ergometer, though, I can drive there on my own, I can listen to the music, get lost in it, really, and just keep exercising. Then drive home.
I feel really good.

Otterwise Designs Becoming Reality

We have found a host for our household websites, including Otterwise.com!
The best news is the terms for running a business website are ideal, and I am at last able to create a site for selling downloadable patterns in PDF format.

At first, the patterns available will be for knitting and crochet, but as I grow more comfortable with the software, I hope to sell my applique quilt block designs as well. I have created many Goddess blocks and other Pagan-themed applique patterns over the years.

My tentative goal is to have 20 for-sale patterns with additional free downloads ready for a launch by May 1st. As time goes by, I want to add more how-to content, and some essays on historical fiber arts.

Wow. I can't believe it's almost real!

(images below showing some of my fiber art designs)

Not as bad as it could be

I've been complaining about how cold and snowy it still is, and it's March, and it should be Spring (just because I SAY so).
But I riffled through my photo files tonight, and I feel a bit better.

This is a photo taken tonight:

These were taken on April 24th last year or the year before.

I guess I can wait a bit longer..