Geeze Louise!

Dear Blog-

Just a word of advice in your ear if you are inclined to take it. Never, ever, at the end of a long and eventful and life-rearranging week, look up to the skies and ask, "Good Lord! What ELSE could possibly happen?" Because I find that God - who so often ignores my rhetorical questions on the many issues taxing me today - just loves to answer that one.

Last night, after coming home from work and settling myself in for an evening of knitting and watching pointless tv while DH worked, I got a phone message from my Dad. He took my Mom to the ER during the day because she has cellulitis in both lower legs. Now let's be clear about this. As far back as the 1840's to the best of my knowledge and perhaps even before then, I come from an unbroken line of nurses (excepting myself, but including my Mom, both of my sisters, and my niece). Mom has had cellulitis before. She ought to know what it looks like, and even if it was all new and different to you, one ought to know that legs don't, in normal, positive situations, leak blood and lymph fluid. But instead she googled for info (I'm sorry, but I am just AGHAST at this) and found someone who said leaking legs were due to dry skin, so she and my Dad spent a week putting tons of cream on her legs, instead of going to see a freaking doctor.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love google. If need to find out yardage on yarns I am not familiar with, I look to google. If I need a phone number for a shop, I go to google. If I need to find someone who sells a particular thing that I can't find locally, I go to google. For nearly any manner of information, I look to google. I do not - and neither do I advise - look to google as a primary source of medical information, particularly if you are only held together with spit and string.

So the hospital decided to keep her, where she is currently drugged to the gills (cellulitis is painful), and being loaded up with enough antibiotics to cure an ebola plague in a third world country. After I drop DH off at work this afternoon I'll take some knitting with me and go over and sit with her for a few hours, giving my Dad a break and her some company.

This also, in a roundabout way, answers the other rhetorical question of why my Dad's surgery, originally scheduled for today, was canceled, and why were were not fated to squeeze him in for surgery on Wednesday.

What does a woman do at times like these? Knit, of course! Knit until your hands fall off and your eyeballs melt. Knit everywhere you go. Knit without pause.

Consequently, I am all caught up on Clue 5 of the MS3, and plugging happily along on Clue 6. I love, love, love the way that the end of the shawl turns into a wing. That woman is a danged genius. I would seriously consider setting up a shrine to her in my home, except that it would require sacrificing yarn balls on a regular basis, and I do that for no one. I'll post photos here in a day or two of my finished Clue 6.

For portable knitting, I am working on the scarf for my shibori scarf design. This is the lovely number that you see at the top of the page, worked in Morehouse Merino laceweight in the Zaandam colorway. I chose that particular colorway because I have something very organic in mind for the finished item. As ever, I love the way this yarn feels, the colors they use, just every darned thing about it. If I could knit with Morehouse Merino forever, I would. If I could move into their store, I would. I am designing the scarf to take advantage of the color changes, knitting it on the bias.

And at least the knitting/money gods are smiling on me, yesterday one of our customers in the shop bought one of my bags that I have had on display there for a while, and I have three private lessons lined up for next week, in addition to my regular classes, Knit Dr. and possible additional hours in the shop.

So, I guess I will go and knit some more, now that I have gotten all that off of my chest. Chin up, Ladies, and keep your yarn dry.

Lynda