It's been a Hellova couple of weeks


My doctor changed my blood pressure medication. And gave me samples of allergy medication that wouldn't conflict with the BP meds. Well, the allergy stuff may not conflict with the BP stuff but the package lied about the "non-drowsy" part!! I've been utterly exhausted. I've been able to go back to bed TWO hours after getting up . . . . and sleep soundly for another 3 or 4 hours!! If I don't take the allergy stuff, I cough up a lung - but, in the end, I found something else that lets me breathe without putting me to sleep. Allegra is the winner. What a time I've had!!!

So now that I can stay awake long enough to knit, roll the drums, clash the cymbals, ARVIK is back on the needles!! It's been such a cold spring - what Spring??? - that I decided I had to have some WOOL around me to keep me warm! From the three balls above, I intend to reknit Arvik! Of course, Arvik is a little bigger than this photo at the moment, I think I'm now up to 5 triple increases called Legal Loopholes, invented by Medrith Glover. Legal Loopholes add extra width in the front & back without increasing the sleeve width. This means a raglan sweater for a larger body or bigger bust can be adjusted to add width where it's needed without getting armholes that drop to the waist!!! In the end, Arvik will have seed stitch borders, cuffs & bottom. I'm not sure if I'll put on a seed collar on it or not yet so I just did a few rows of ribbing ,which will be hidden under the collar, if I knit one, to start it off. I'm still planning on using my ladybug buttons on the front but I suspect they'll just be for decoration.

My Danish Working Shawl is DONE!! I even wore it to work last week in the cold warehouse. Worked like a charm. The ends are so long, I didn't even have to put ties on them to tie them in back. I may crochet short ones just to make it easier to untie when I want to take it off. Cozy as it is though, I think I'm still a sweater person in my heart. So, I'm seriously thinking of spinning up some more of this delicious wool - Black Sheep mill ends from The Sheep Shed - dyeing it with my 'Mother Mackenzie's' Dye Kit in Magenta & Cyan & knitting up one of the Kimonos in the "Knitted Kimonos" book that I just had to buy last year. There's some lovely kimono style jackets in there & two that I really want to make. No, Gail, I'm not into long flowing sleeves but the textured kimonos really turn me on, especially the red lacy one on the cover of the book.


And I've finished the Baby Surprise Jacket. As I said before, I wish I'd made one before making this one for someone else. But I finished it & now just have to crochet the trim & sleeves. I thought about knitting up a bonnet to match but the colors are in such long blocks that I'm afraid the bonnet will look silly in only one or two of the colors. But, I'll knit it up anyway just to see what it looks like.

I was considering knitting up the Adult Surprise Jacket for myself but I saw a couple of other options that interest me a little more while still showing off wildly colored leftover yarns. I decided I must have a sweatshirt of some kind to throw into the car for those cool evenings so the Purple Wonderful Wallaby is also still on my list to Things To Do.