Tags
9, Circular Sock Knitting Machine, Field Report, Health and Wellness, Hearing Aids, Hearing Loss, Knitting, My Everyday Life, Torn Meniscus
1 May 2024
I’m a bit late with this report, but, as they say, better late than never ;-)
Life in General
Not only did I find a replacement for my favorite tea mug, my friend, V, also got me one for Christmas. Now I have a spare!!
I had to stop Tai Chi – my knees weren’t cooperating.
I told another story in April at Homewood Stories. I got a last minute opportunity to fill in for someone and I went for it. I only had about a week’s notice, but I had had a story that I’d been playing with and I knew I could whip it into shape in that short of a timeframe. I took a chance to try something different this time and I sang pieces of a song that wove the story together. I was very nervous – I no longer have the professional singing voice I used to have . . . but my voice held on and it went very well. I got a lot of positive feedback from the audience and many people came up to talk to me at the break and after the show to tell me how much they liked it.
Had a wonderful birthday lunch with my friend R last week. We hit Wildfire out at Oak Brook. So. Good. Our birthdays are a week apart and we try every year to celebrate them with a very nice (read: spendy) lunch. :-)
Also had a great day at White Sox park with a bunch of my cousins as part of my birthday celebration. We had a WONDERFUL time and the Sox WON!!! My pink face this time was from an afternoon out of doors (I had plenty of sunscreen on).
I headed out today to meet a friend to go to the theatre. We saw The Simon & Garfunkel Story. It was not what I expected, and my friend said it was MUCH different than when she saw it before the pandemic. It was pretty much just a cover concert. That being said, I did enjoy it.
Life in the Time of COVID
Part of me wants to let this section go, but you know as soon as I do that . . . . For the most part, I now go without a mask, but I always have one with me. I generally still mask up on the train during rush hour – too many people in an enclosed space even though I know they have good air circulation. It’s been four months since my previous COVID vax. I think that means that I’m eligible to get my next booster. I’ll check on that.
Health
Well, having torn the lateral meniscus in my left knee back on November 1st, my activity level has been much reduced and I’ve been dealing with a lot of pain. The scale has gone back up a bit but it’s on the way back down now. I was in physical therapy for nine weeks, and while I gained strength and flexibility there was been no change in my functional mobility. That means that walking longer distances is very challenging, as is navigating stairs (it’s one at a time both up and down . . . ).
These are the stairs up to the train platform. My little station is not ADA compliant – the stations to the north and south of me both are. I leave extra time now when heading into the city because I can pretty much only go One. Step. At. A. Time. and I have to do this both going up and coming down the stairs. There’s another shorter set of steps after that landing to get up onto the platform.
Last week I saw the new surgeon. All my questions were for naught since I’m not a good candidate for new knees. Oh well. As mentioned in my previous post, I ended up with a cortisone shot in each knee. I had some unpleasant side effects from them. Here’s my face – it was like this for two full days. Really not a good look for me . . . plus, I felt like crap because I couldn’t sleep. Ugh.
I also had a bad headache and insomnia. But my knees hurt less. Stairs are still only one at a time, however, so I’m just going to get used to that and keep moving forward.
I’m still in Balance365 but I’m very close to stepping away again. It’s more important that I work with my kidney stone prevention coach (don’t worry, no stones), and I can use everything I’ve learned in B365 with her – she’s also big on habit building.
I saw the audiologist on April 19th for my hearing aid fitting and it all went much better than I could have ever hoped for. I’m absolutely THRILLED with my new hearing aids :-) :-) :-) I will see her again on Friday for my first of three checks.
I feel like all I do is go to the doctor lately. Next week is a 6-month check with the dermatologist and the following week is a visit to my OB/GYN.
Creativity
My knitting has been zipping along here. I recently cranked two more pairs of arm warmers – these are larger – done on my 72 cylinder and I hope one will fit one of my cousins and the other one of my friends. They both have larger arms. This pair is for my cousin S – I thought he might wear them when he’s out in the early mornings fishing. Yarn is Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock Lightweight in the Revival colorway. Looks kinda like a cross between water and camo, doesn’t it? Perfect for an outdoorsman! S LOVES them. I’m going to make him another pair that’s another inch and a half longer.
And these are for my friend, R. I made her a pair at Christmas, but her arms are larger and they didn’t fit. But this pair on the larger cylinder was the charm! Yay!! Yarn is Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock Lightweight in the Valentino colorway. I’ve had this yarn for so long that this was the old put up of 365 yards!
I also finished and blocked my second Find Your Fade shawl. There isn’t any reduction in my stash with this because it was made from all leftovers and scraps of fingering weight yarns. I went for the pink/red/purple shades in this one. Hard to get a good shot of this because it’s so long!
Here’s a closer look at some of the yarns and the honeycomb lace pattern.
I just finished a Wendy’s Fern shawlette. This is a gift and I’m knitting some fingerless mitts to go with it. Yarn is Blue Moon Fiber Arts Soft Rock in the Shawol colorway.
I had trouble getting a good shot of the color on it. That shot is pretty close, but here is the yarn. I think this is a better representation of what it actually looks like.
Dunbroch Socks were finished. Yarn is Wonderland Yarns & Frabjous Fibers Mary Ann in the #9 Your Favorite Shirt, Fresh From the Wash colorway.
I cranked three sets of Fluffy and Snug wrist warmers. Yarn is Seven Sisters Arts Meridian in the Beltran (maroon) and Havran (blue) colorways.
Finished my Wickershanks leg warmers. Yarn is Cascade Yarns ® 220 Superwash® Merino in the 48 Deep Ultramarine colorway.
I finished the Red Katana Shawl. Yarn is Kauni Wool 8/2 Effektgarn in the EMH colorway. I only wish it had softened up when I washed and blocked it but it’s still as crunchy as ever. Oh well.
So yeah, a LOT of knitting done in the first quarter and early part of April :-) I’m still working on that Advent MKAL. I’m using all scraps from Socks That Rock Lightweight, and I ran out of new choices :-D The two sets of arm warmers have given me some more to work with so I will be able to get going on it again soon.
Hope and Transformation
This year’s word is Transformation, and I find myself transforming in a number of ways. I am living in an aging body and I’ll just tell you that aging bodies seem to require more care than you might think. I’m dealing with things now that happen to aging bodies – torn knees that have arthritis, hearing loss, three times to the dentist annually instead of two (this guards against gum disease), and keeping up with vaccinations that are keeping my respiratory system in good shape. That I’m dealing with them all at the same time is not ideal, but it is what it is and onward I go. :-) I’m not interested in letting my world get smaller and smaller around me, so I’m stepping up to the plate and learning how to do the work.
It’s clear to me that I’m coming out of my COVID shell. This is important. I would have done some traveling this month if I hadn’t needed that money to put toward my new hearing aids. And telling a story nearly on the fly is awfully brave for this woman who plans and rehearses and edits and trims and times her stories over and over before she feels like they are ready to go! So Yay Me!
Wow! This was quite a field report, huh? :-) I hope you enjoyed catching up with me. I’ll leave you with one of my favorites.