{"id":184,"date":"2012-12-15T10:27:28","date_gmt":"2012-12-15T10:27:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tuesdayfortnite.co.uk\/?p=184"},"modified":"2013-02-01T15:45:52","modified_gmt":"2013-02-01T15:45:52","slug":"life-gets-in-the-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tuesdayfortnite.co.uk\/?p=184","title":{"rendered":"Life gets in the Way"},"content":{"rendered":"

OK, I’ve been good and written two LONG blog posts.\u00a0 In fact the one I’m going to post now I wrote 2 weeks ago and haven’t posted it because I wanted to include photos.\u00a0 But I’m giving up, I haven’t had chance and I’m at the point I want to get the post up so that I can do the follow up info – which I also have written up.\u00a0 So apologies for a long post without photos – I will get to them, I promise….<\/em><\/p>\n

I can\u2019t believe I haven\u2019t updated since the 4th<\/sup> November!\u00a0 I keep promising myself that I\u2019ll get the camera out and photograph the bits I want to share with you, and then life gets in the way.\u00a0 I have so much to update with you, this post is going to seem a bit random \u2013 so apologies in advance!<\/p>\n

First up a \u2018hands\u2019 update \u2013 the consultant has announced (as of the 15th<\/sup> of this month) that it\u2019s probably \u2018mild tenosynovitis\u2019, I\u2019m not in *that* much pain (says who?!) and rheumatology only deal with arthritis (utter nonsense) so there is nothing more they can do for me. I asked for referral to physiotherapy, but \u2018there is no clinical proof it works\u2019.\u00a0 I asked for referral to a nutritionist \u2013 \u2018no clinical proof\u2019.\u00a0 I even asked about steroid injections \u2013 guess what?, yeap. \u2018no clinical proof\u2019.\u00a0 The recommendation is for me to have total<\/strong> rest, don\u2019t use my wrists\/hands at all <\/em>but they weren\u2019t prepared to sign me off work.\u00a0 The consultant also recommended I take naproxen (along with a stomach lining medication as naproxen is nasty stuff for your liver) for at least <\/em>12 months.\u00a0 It works on a \u201ccellular level\u201d don\u2019t you know \u2013 though it won\u2019t help with the pain at all.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t write me a prescription, just a note for my doctor to write one.\u00a0 The upshot is = Go back to my GP, so I\u2019m back to square one.\u00a0 I was shaking with suppressed anger by the time I left the consultant meeting.<\/p>\n

However the chiropractor does seem to be having an effect and my wrists have been slowly improving over the last couple of weeks, so fingers crossed for me.\u00a0 I\u2019ve had a couple of \u2018good\u2019 (almost normal) days which have made me realise just how much this has been affecting me, but the \u2018bad\u2019 days are nowhere near as bad as they were \u2013 so hopefully we are finally in to the \u2018healing\u2019 phase.<\/p>\n

We are firmly on the slippery slope to the annual round of liver testing known as Christmas.\u00a0 A season which challenges my ability to process vast amounts of alcohol and rich foods, and makes me gain weight just as I want to look my slimmest in all my party frocks.\u00a0 As a result I\u2019m \u2018out\u2019 more than usual and therefore doing a bit less crafting than usual.\u00a0 I wouldn\u2019t change this for the world, it\u2019s great to catch up with people I haven\u2019t seen in months and I do love the whole sparkly event in all its kitsch-ness.\u00a0 You\u2019ll see more of *that* in my next post!<\/p>\n

Coupled with the less crafting I was already doing because of my hands, me being out three or four evenings a week means my crafting time has been almost non-existent \u2013 not a good state when you are trying to finish a baby blanket!\u00a0 I\u2019m a lot further along than I was though, and with a tail wind I am on target to get it done by my own self-imposed deadline of the 20th<\/sup> December.\u00a0 If I don\u2019t it\u2019s no big deal \u2013 the baby isn\u2019t due till February.<\/p>\n

I have moved along on a few projects though.\u00a0 I finished my \u2018stormy clouds cowl\u2019 and am delighted with it!\u00a0 I\u2019d been terrified of this yarn.\u00a0 Partially because it was gifted and I\u2019m always a bit scared that I won\u2019t do gifted yarn justice somehow, and partially because this particular yarn was hand-spun.\u00a0 I enjoyed making this, 4 short little rows each evening and I\u2019ve been wearing it for 2 weeks.\u00a0 It\u2019s just long enough to go over my head and holds its shape well enough to stand guard against chills and drafts over my collar.\u00a0 It\u2019s beautifully soft, and because I know the yarn was hand-spun by a dear friend I feel like I have a secret hug around my neck, which adds its own little warmth.\u00a0 I had just enough of the grey yarn to add a crochet border on one edge (once the cream had run out) so I even feel like I have two looks for the price of one \u2013 depending on which way up I wear it!\u00a0 I keep meaning to wash and give it a light blocking, but I haven\u2019t got that far.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m now working on finishing a thrummed muff \u2013 which is about to celebrate its first birthday.\u00a0 By \u2018finishing\u2019 of course I mean \u201cI must get it out of storage and pick it up again\u201d.\u00a0 I promised it to my niece last Christmas after she saw me working on it, but then my hands interfered and I haven\u2019t picked it up since March.\u00a0 It\u2019s an easy project, and done purely to learn the technique.\u00a0 It\u2019s made in best acrylic and very cheap (quite possibly acrylic) multi-coloured fibre.\u00a0 This means it\u2019s perfect for niece as I\u2019m not that attached to it, if her mother throws it in the wash it\u2019s not the end of the world, and it\u2019s a fun little project \u2013 I still have my muff from when I was even younger!\u00a0 However I\u2019m not sure I am up-to doing a meter of icord to make the neck strap \u2013 any ideas?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been doing a little more of my continental cowl as well, and am almost at the \u2018competent\u2019 level.\u00a0 I love collecting techniques and skills, and I have found that I now know three different methods of knitting that adjust my tension very slightly from my \u2018default\u2019 throwing or \u2018British\u2019 style of knitting.\u00a0 Portuguese style (where you \u2018wear\u2019 the yarn around your neck) gives me a slightly tighter, but very<\/em> even tension, and Continental style gives me a slightly looser, and not so even, tension.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy is this useful?\u201d you might be asking yourself. Well, it\u2019s all to do with gauge.\u00a0 When I finally get around to making something where the fit actually matters I\u2019ll do a gauge swatch.\u00a0 If I am fractionally<\/em> out on my stitch counts I can change techniques rather than needle size to see if that helps!\u00a0 See.\u00a0 Cool.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m also holding my Portuguese, Continental and Backwards knitting in reserve for the day that somebody tells me I\u2019m \u201cdoing it wrong\u201d.\u00a0 Apparently this happens a lot to knitters \u2013 but it hasn\u2019t happened to me yet.<\/p>\n

With my current lack of desire to take on a bigger project, I\u2019ve been absent-mindedly playing with some Tunisian crochet ideas for a possible workshop in 2013, and I\u2019ve been plugging away at the swatches for a Crochet 102 class planned for early 2013.\u00a0 Yeap, you heard it here first \u2013 I\u2019m confident enough about my hands\/wrists to have actually started planning the long promised intermediate level classes.\u00a0 And you read that right too \u2013 classes<\/strong> plural!\u00a0 The fun I am having with this is a separate long post in itself!<\/p>\n

Written down it seems like I\u2019ve been doing LOADS of crafting \u2013 but in what amounts to nearly a month I have four 6\u201d swatches, finished a small cowl, about 1\/8 of a different cowl, half a Tunisian dish cloth and just over half a baby blanket.\u00a0 I\u2019m aware that if I had started those projects this time last year, they would all be finished by now \u2013 along with working on a more major project such as finishing a sweater or getting at least one of the lace knitted shawls I have queued mostly done.\u00a0 Frankly I\u2019m just grateful I can do anything at all at the moment, and I\u2019m enjoying the bits I can do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OK, I’ve been good and written two LONG blog posts.\u00a0 In fact the one I’m going to post now I wrote 2 weeks ago and haven’t posted it because I wanted to include photos.\u00a0 But I’m giving up, I haven’t … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[3],"tags":[38,5,31,10,22],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5Ifg0-2Y","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuesdayfortnite.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuesdayfortnite.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuesdayfortnite.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuesdayfortnite.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuesdayfortnite.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=184"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuesdayfortnite.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":250,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuesdayfortnite.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184\/revisions\/250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuesdayfortnite.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuesdayfortnite.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuesdayfortnite.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}