sweatered

I actually finished this sweater just after the new year… amazing it took me THIS long to uh, blog about the poor thing. I’ve worn it many many times, and it was especially useful when it was below zero in February. I’ve got a turtleneck that Gramma gave me (before I knitted this, actually) that matches that purply color perfectly. I love the way they look together.

The yarn? Five skeins of Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Worsted. I’d originally meant to have rolled edges everywhere, but didn’t have enough grey yarn to do that, so I did a flat 7×3 rib and bound off in knit all the way around as a decorative element. The 7×3 rib really is flat, and the fit of this sweater is good. Maybe it could be a bit smaller around (and maybe a bit shaped), but it’s a worry-free casual sweater, and I like the way it wears. And the sleeves are short enough for me! As is the body. A full sized sweater out of five balls with leftovers, I think I like this small torso thing.

The raglan style is definitely a great fit for me,  and I like the random-looking nonrandomness of the stripes.  I did a 3/6/9/12/15 stripe repeat with four different colors.  And reversed the stripe width order on the sleeves, after I split for the body/sleeves.  The neck really isn’t that lumpy; I’d just had this folded up for a very long time!

 I think I did a good job of pulling three disparate balls of yarn together with the grey.  Would I do this again? Definitely! But I think the next batch will be a cardigan.  This is one warm sweater!

elusive

For my birthday, Tiphanie sent me a boa. Nothing like her boa, but there only should be one Venus Maneater sized boa in this world… mine is a more Rebecca-appropriate one, swirly magic.

With a picot bindoff, no less.

Such swirls. Such twistiness.

Such texture. Airiness, hairiness, tightness, looseness, and just the right amount of delicate heartiness.

circle of friendship

The Tiphanie is way too good to me. See?

Even the Picasso loves it. Don’t see him? His fur is there… somewhere.

I love the mottled look that carrying together a strand of Patons Classic Wool Merino in Too Teal and That’s Pink creates.

This pattern was all her own creation, and I love the i-cord edges she built into the strap.

Mine. All mine. Not yours!

the glass half full

A peek at one completed sock - but I need the other one! I do love a good flap heel.

hmm

What shall I do with two skeins of Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in the most wonderfully perfect pink possible?

true love

This isn’t technically mine, I suppose, but I’ll share it with you all the same, because this little thing is a feature in my life.

Why?

Need I say more? The Picasso, he has adopted The Pink Bear. I have no idea why, but he likes to cuddle with it and carry it around.

Although, most of the time this is where I find it, either thrown down and forgotten on the floor, or up on my bed like here, all aksew.

april showers

I love this coat very much. I don’t wear it a lot, but when I do, I invariably feel… one step above. If that makes sense. It’s just the thing for dressing up a pair of jeans and a black top. Or topping black pinstriped pants and a white blouse.

And I even have an umbrella to match!

saturday sky

I love the blues in this sky so much… nothing like a sky just when the sun is setting, when it’s still blue, but isn’t bright anymore.

in the pink

Debby asked to see some pictures of the pinkly things chez Fraro. I may or may not have a small mountain of pink around here. But in the interest of dragging things out a lot a little, I think I will post one pink thing a day. Just because.

These are my very favorite flipflops for possibly obvious reasons. 99 cents from Old Navy on clearance, and I bought all that they had. It’s not often I can find inepensive just-right flipflops that aren’t made with a rubber thong, which I can’t wear.  Years of living at a boarding school and then in college dorms has me in the habit still of wearing them fresh from a bath.

The only thing that surprises me is that the catchen do not chew on them.

reality

Excited, relieved, scared, wary.

That’s my xray, taken yesterday. I know, you can’t tell much there, except noticing that I have bonus squiggles and hey so THAT’s what her metal plates look like!

The surgeon’s office was unfailingly kind to me, and everyone recognized me despite the ten year gap. The decor was exactly the same, too.

The diagnosis? The metal plates are infected, (which, you’ll note, I really truly knew) and of course, since there’s no blood flow to them, all the antibiotics in the world won’t work longterm, because through the whole thing, I’ve never not housed my little germ factory, despite the multiple rounds of antibiotics.

The treatment? The surgery is scheduled for May third, and both metal plates on the right side will be removed. They will not be replaced, because they were originally implanted to hold together my broken jaw bones ten years ago. The surgery will involve removal and debriding of the area, and possibly video of the spurting infection well! Ok I made up the last one. Maybe.

So removing the plates will ensure the infunktion germies don’t have a safe place to hide anymore.

I’m relieved. I’m really not thrilled at all with the prospect of incision scar #14 within my mouth, and the painful recovery from it…. but it’s a very good first step to getting better.

It’s amazing how much trouble two little pieces of metal have been. And that it really just started from a should-have-been-simple sinus infection.

One year, two months, six days.

And two more weeks.