Deer Ticks

Girl-child got bit by a deer tick the other day. I was really surprised how small they are. Just tiny little things! This is her tick next to a bar of poppy seed soap

See? Totally tiny tick! I knew in my head they were small, but really I thought they'd be closer to dog tick sized.

So far she seems fine with no symptoms, but we did decide to put her on preventative antibiotics, so now we've got 2 weeks of that.

On slightly less icky things my hat is coming along well.

My sweater is coming along a bit faster now that I've switched needles.

Housework, ugh!

I hate housework (just like everyone else in the world I'm sure), but what I hate more than housework is being treated like a maid. I'm at home all day & my roommate works, so in her mind there is no reason I can't do the cleaning. While I've no problem washing the household towels & even doing the dishes, but my problem comes from being told I have to do it her way. See if you are stuck doing housework I think the least that ought to occur is doing it your own way.

Like the dishes, if I do them in the dishwasher it can take me 2 hours to unload & load the dishwasher even with my 5 yr old helping. It takes that long because I am disabled & have problems with my joints & very much with my hands. So If I'm going to be the only one in the house who does the dishes I'm doing them my way. Using paper plates (yep eco-bad, but I do recycle them) when possible, hand washing bowls & cups since that is actually easier than all the leaning over & reaching. Plus if I can only put away 1/2 the dishes I can still hand wash a few more later & add them in the strainer, you can unload 1/2 the dishwasher & then add more dirty stuff without making the stuff still in there dirty. I expect I'll get a huge lecture on how this isn't green & I'm ruining the planet, but if you really care that much why can't you load & unload your own dishes?

Halfway!

I am halfway done on the shawl of doom! I'm torn between putting it away for a bit so I can work on some other knitting or just keep plodding along. Part of the problem is this yarn & these needles are a crap combo, but I am worried if I switch to another set of totally different needles (wood to metal) that my gauge will change. Gah!

I'm working on another blanket square & am hoping to make a few of those over the next month. I am also still working on the grey hat, that yarn is so splitty that it kinda sucks to work with so it's going slower than my other hats.

Oh on the red sweater front I finally got another set of needles to work with, I just don't like the addi Lace needles, so now I've some regular addi needles. Will have to see if that helps, those Lace ones always made my hands feel gross.

Rambling Thoughts

I've nothing very interesting to post, nothing super exciting to talk about, but I still feel the urge to post something.

I'm feeling a bit at loose ends, as though a change of some sort is coming & I don't know what it is. I don't like the feeling at all. Maybe it's because girl-child needs to go to Mayo for a diagnosis, maybe it's because my sister's birthday is coming & I miss her, maybe it's because I need to work on my driving phobia, I just don't know.

I feel strange that I'm in my 30s & I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up. That I feel like I'm not really an adult, just faking it. Maybe all the adults out there do fake it, who knows. I feel like lives are supposed to have a plan & a direction & I'm am very much lacking in both.

On the fiber front, I did get some yarn to dye, now I just have to mix up my dyes & get to it. Probably won't for a while, I think I want to get more yarns. I've one skein of fingering weight, 2 skeins of worsted, 2 skeins of aran & one of sport.

My office

I love the space of my office, but hate the look of it. I am planning on redoing it over the next few month/year. It's kind of ended up with a country feel which is 100% not me. It's very, very light purple/blue on 2 walls & wood on the other 2. I am planning on painting all of the walls white. I know the wood panel lines will show through, but I don't think I want to deal with the major work of taking the wood down right now.

After that I need to decide on the color I want to use in the room, am thinking either vivid red or deep purple. Which ever color I pick I'll be getting a couch cover for my loveseat. I was also suggested to use some foam tacked down to change the shape to cleaner lines & remove the "skirt" on the bottom of it.

It's going to be quite a bit of work & am figuring it will take me well in to fall to get it well on it's way to looking like I want it to. Once that's one the bedroom will be next, that's a hideous dark green, ugh!

Shawl Update

Still plugging along, it's a wonderful pattern & great year, I'm just not a fan of how long shawls take to make.

As you can see I've got 7 repeats down the side & then 5 so far across the bottom. I was planning 14 across the bottom, but have decided when I get 7 across the bottom I'll weigh both halves & see if I've enough yarn to do a few more. Will have to see how it looks & all that when I get there.

This is the billionth hat, I know no one really wants to see if, but I like these little hats so here it is anyway.

Clouds

It's been cloudy & rainy for the past few days & the forecast is calling for days more of this. So there are no pretty pictures with nice natural sunlight, sorry.

The shawl is slowly, plodding along. I have 6.5 of the 14 repeats of the pattern done, once I finish the 14 I can do the 7 decreases. It's a lovely shawl, but I don't think I thought this shawl thing through very well. They take a long time.

The sweater doesn't really have anything new going on, the rib is a bit boring so it's going slow.

I started another hat, I love stuff that knits up quick. :D