Thursday Thoughts……does it never end ?

A good start to a day. Picked the book up at a library sale. Will donate it to the library at the VA when I’m done. The book mark is from Holly, at work. It is a hand painted watercolor, from our shop, I think. Those who know me are never hard put for a gift…..gift certificates for yarn, books, crafts, bookmarks, and coffee. I don’t like to go to Starbucks, but I love their French roast that I get at Food Lion. There is a little mom and pop coffee shop around the corner from Waterworks Visual Art Center…..Koko Java’s…..best coffees in the world and friendly, lovely people….who could ask for a better start to your day ?

A segment of the Grocery Girls Knit podcast is “Sawk Twalk” ( you have to say it with a Brooklyn/NY accent). They are amazing sock knitters and caught me up in the disease, too.

I started out with toe up, 64 stitches (because they are easy to split up on Magic Loop), on #2 circular needles. They are a little loose. Socks should have a negative ease….probably the only thing you will ever knit that does. You want it to not feel like it is on your foot. I have since gone to a 1.5 needle, same stitch count, and it seems to be working. I’m not a consistent knitter….sometimes a little loose, but I’m working on it.

My second pair of socks….the yarn was yummie and I wrote to the indie dyer, but I cannot remember who and what……In the winter, I alternate these with the first pair I knit around the house instead of shoes.
Third pair of toe up….if you look closely, you will notice the stripes are just opposite of each other…..

First cuff down, for my daughter,

These were not difficult….I don’t know why I always felt panic when the thought of top down socks came up. I followed (and still refer to) the three part video series from Craft House Magic for top down socks. She goes step by step and you can go back to whichever part you need to over and over. After that, they just become easier and easier and I try knew things…..like a garter stitch heel, contrasting cuffs, heels and toes, etc. There are literally TONS of sock recipes on Ravelry for free.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH7clgmyBX0

Socks I knit for Holly at work…..Nomadic self striping yarn.in the Hermione coloway.
Socks I knit for Lizz at work…no clue about the yarn….stash busters
I knit these for my boss, Anne Scott…….Gynx yarn…..Sketchbook colorway…..unfortunately, she no longer dyes or sells yarns……you are sooooo lucky if you have any in your stash

Now I have to go rip out the heel on my last “obligation” socks……not that I am obligated to make them, but they are for people other than myself and I want to finish and give them and I want them to be perfect…..and I dropped a freaking stitch when I started the heel and did not notice it until last night. This is not good for a person who can experience road rage sitting on her couch, so I put them gently away until after coffee this morning.

My doctor told me to drink one cup a day….he didn’t specify the size of that cup. I do drink a thermos of coffee a day. Being ADD, what stimulates most people does not have that effect/affect ( I always get those two confused). Most people who take Benydryl get drowsy……..for me it is like taking Speed. I talk faster, work faster…if I take it after 4:30 PM, I am up until 4:30 AM…..usually with a very clean house. So they switched me to Zyrtec for allergies and I don’t seem to have that reaction.

I have taken Adderall for a good portion of the past eight years. It helped me focus when I needed to. I didn’t take it when I didn’t have to concentrate or do something that I had to pay microscopic attention to, because I am not good at taking pills……I have lupus and fibromyalgia. They were always trying to shove something into my system. I had my thyroid out when I was 15 (in a Catholic hospital for two and a half months and drove those poor Sisters of Charity stark raving). So I HAVE to take thyroid…..everything else is ‘eh, maybe today, maybe not’. Anyway, my regular physician took a position as an ER doctor in a hospital and my new doctor wants me, after finding out about my PTSD, to see their psychiatrist before prescribing Adderall again. Not withstanding that her fellow physician has been prescribing it since 2015. I guess they are afraid I will do something drastic ? I do not want to see the shrink…….to re-explain everything over and over to new people is like ripping a scab off a wound and leaving it exposed. Hey, I’m retired, I don’t need to focus as much as I used to and I’ll use the controls I always did before medication. It’s like they think I’ll sell it to supplement my social security and VA pension………

Better get ripping………

oh, look…….shiny