Guess who got sick?

 You've got 3 guesses & 1st 2 don't count.

It wasn't Covid (I tested) but it might have been RSVP. It definitely involved mucus and fever. For about 2 days I lived on water and intermittent peanut butter crackers (I couldn't manage more than 1 at a time). 

I did get some tatting done, before & after. I made snowflakes for several friends (from A Veritable Tatted Blizzard). I gave this year's State Fair Ornament entry to a pair of friends who will appreciate it. 

I'm glad I went to see my family before Christmas, so getting sick didn't ruin that at least. But my other plans, Christmas dinner with my partner's family, sewing, tatting, etc all got kiboshed. 

I was already scheduled to be off work so no need to notify anyone there.

At least I recovered enough that I was both feeling better and not contagious so I could maintain the Christmas/New Year tradition of the party with my friends from high school, plus additions.

I don't think I got many pictures of the snowflakes I made. I'll need to check. I have 3 at least. The picture with 2 flakes are the same pattern that I made a slight error on. But once is a mistake, repeat and it's a design element.

Frosted Flower Snowflake

1st flake in the book, done twice

  

We had a springlike thunderstorm on the 9th. Luckily, we didn't get hit by a tornado but some neighboring communities did.

We got some rain on Jan 9th

 

pocket scarf progress

Kiriki Press kit squirrel

I'm proud of this tag on a coworker's cookies

I also joined a 2024 Temperature Tat A Long (this is as of January 9th)

2024 TTAL January 9th

The metallic is to start the year & remind me where the start is so I don't accidentally join to the wrong end. Beads are for >1/2" of rain. No snow/ice yet.

Projects etc

 I had to drive to Greensboro to take care of something for my mom. It emphasized my desire to take the train instead. But the matter is handled and Mom was happy to see me.

I also gave her a recent picture of me and one of me in my Halloween outfit. That was lovely. It seems awfully self-centered to give her photos of myself, but she seems to like that.

I have finished the embroidery on the Kiriki Press squirrel doll. Next step is to sew the back to the front, cut it out, and stuff it. 

Progress also continues on the bun cover in Lizbeth spice cake. I am doing a better job with the front side/back side tatting.

The Online Tatting Class founded by Georgia Seitz is doing ANKARs right now. Which I don't really have an interest in doing. It's pretty enough and I've seen some truly striking pieces, it just doesn't blow my skirt up (as my mom used to say).

I have an idea for a story. I've written maybe a page and a half. It's a 'former Chosen One' story. I also heard about one with a similar idea. Except in that one kid who's been raised as 'The Chosen One to Take Down This Tyrant' is left with no future when someone else gets rid of the tyrant. Unfortunately, I don't have a title.

I've also started a scarf. Hopefully, it will be a pocketed scarf. I'm using Loomhat's instructions.

Still staying at home

Heavy storm hit this afternoon and an online friend asked for a video. But they were too large to upload to the site in question, so I'm putting them at the bottom of this post. Take your pick.

I made fingerless mitts and a headband/earwarmer to match my cape. The headband isn't done; I haven't affixed the braid.

The mitts don't exactly match; the downside of long run variegated/ombre yarn.

I also made these mitts (too small for the original recipient, but a friend has a teen who wants them).

Played around with this edging. I think I might like it better with dark green instead of the pale green/tan.

The 1st cotton yarn trivet/hot pad is my attempt at a 10-stitch blanket; it works great as a trivet

 This is deliberately a trivet/hot pad. The yarn I plied from 2 strands of cotton worsted; one yarn ombre white and blue, the other solid blue. I ran out, so I plied some more, using navy with an ombre navy/white.

I made some masks. These are the same mask; machine sewn. Below are the masks I hand sewed, including a bit of metallic thread lace I added to one.

 Oh, I finished the feather and fan scarf. I ran out of black (as I mentioned), so I ended with red.

I finished the tatting on this bracelet, now to block it, trim the thread ends, and add fasteners.
Rain

2 weeks already?

I missed last week because I was on my monthly date with CC. We ended early because we were both tired, but still didn't get an entry done after.

Google+ is dying and they're ending elements of it already. Service flickers in and out. I'm trying another couple social platforms to see which ones fit.

The scarf I started using Bamboo Bloom just isn't working. I'm going to frog it and start over. OTOH, I've all but the closure finished on CD's scarf. I steam blocked it to get the final width I needed, then sewed up the back to make it a hood/scarf. It needs a toggle closure. I picked up the toggle and I made a kumihimo braid for the loop.

the image is from the link above

the eyelet is invisible

When I saw CC, I gave her some of my excess cotton yarn, plus some red heart I got from mom.

We didn't get that wintry weather. In fact, we had a week of spring-like weather. Then the weekend turned cold and damp. It's unpleasant, but at least it's not icy. Meanwhile, folks in Australia, neighboring New Zealand, et al are suffering through punishing summer heat. It's the opposite of what the Pacific NW US just got (snow, lots of it), but the same reason: climate change.

I made a point of buying some girl scout cookies, especially since I heard their views of trans girls. Yes, the story is 3 years old, but every time I see it, I remind myself to buy cookies.

I tested my tatted temperature scarf. At first I thought  three flowers per day in size 20, but that looked too small, so I tried size 10. But then I did the math and that's too big. I'm going with a row of 7 flowers per week, in size 20. Each flower's rings will be the low temp of the day and the chains will be the high temp. I think I'll mark the extraordinary weather (more than a 1/2" of rain or snow/ice) with a row of split rings.

size 20 prototype

It's still going to be long, ~5', and kind of wide, ~9", but in lace it will be much lighter than my 18 foot 2018 scarf.

I did make a scarf from some of the yarn I got from Mom. I gave it to RW's daughter, Frank (that's her nickname). RW gave me a hair pin/shawl pin from their trip to Costa Rica. Our game on Sunday got cancelled, so we played Lord of the Rings Online. They showed up photos from their trip during our visit.

garter stitch, 2 skeins

Chancellor Folt is gone. She resigned because she knew there'd be blowback from her decision to remove the Confederate monument pedestal. It was definitely the right thing to do; from a safety perspective if nothing else (and there's lots else). Then the Board of Governors were petty and classless and fired her, instead of letting her work 'til the end of the semester.

I started the scarf DB asked for. He's living in California now, so he wants it lighter weight than my usual. He wants a long scarf with bands of color, a la Tom Baker's Dr. Who scarf; but not quite that long and definitely not that dense.

Mom was about 16 in this photo, and in her sister's wedding. She says this dress was ice blue and she wore it for ages after.

I've signed up to donate platelets this week. Hopefully, it will go as smoothly as the last one.

pretty sky

Oh, I found someone who wants mom's bed. I just need to make arrangements to meet him so we can take it apart, etc.

Another week, another post

Thursday was Deadlands again. We had another combat and my character, Alis got in some good shots, and got poisoned. It was fun to use her magic gun to shoot the bad woman's bow out of her hands (hey, she used it to shoot Alis with a snake arrow).

I'm still working on my Blue Rose character. I am reading the world background to fine tune her. I think I will end up changing a couple things, make them into goals instead of accomplishments. I do have most of her family plotted out and her immediate family have names.

my mom crocheted the dice bag, yes there's a metallic filament

 Saturday was Tri-Tatters. Leigh (of somethingunderthebed.com fame) had the second newsletter, with my article about the Bath Tatting Book. I hope someone who reads it finds it helpful. We had 12 people at the meeting, including two people who are learning to tat. One of them brought some of her grandmother's lace. She had some lovely hairpin lace, crochet lace, and a bit of tatting.

I finally figured out TotusMel's pattern she's letting me use. The problem isn't with her pattern; it's that it works really well with needle tatting and take some adjustment to make it work with a shuttle.

However, I cannot find my pink squares for Belgium. Argh! I know what container they're in but I can't find the container.

I haven't started on the 2018 TIAS yet. I've been distracted by my other projects (including CD's scarf, up to 20"+ now).

Sunday it was chilly and rainy so I didn't work on my car. I hope I'll get something done on it, soon.

CD and I watched a movie with Herman's Hermits. He likes the band. The movie was kind of 'meh' but it had some good music. However, quite nicely, it did not have a villain. It was very nice.

Today was part 1 of of a training, Mental Health First Aid. It was mostly what to look for and some of the risk factors for depression and/or anxiety. Tomorrow is part 2, practice and practical.

There were snow flurries this morning. And my neighbor's Bradford pear is blooming. And I think I saw a cherry tree blooming, too (it was pink blossoms and a tree).

Snow Day

It's been cold. And we have snow two weeks in a row. I need to ask my Dad if he is having flashbacks to when he first moved to North Carolina. Apparently it snowed every Wednesday the first January after my parents moved to North Carolina.

This time we lost power for about four hours. However, I was dressed warmly, have blankets, and the house's insulation is decent. The snow is also insulating, which helped. I barely got chilly, but when the sun set, I napped. I woke up about 5 minutes before the power came back on.

At least I'm not an American alligator.

I have more than 18" of CD's scarf done. I only have 30" to go. My cables are blargh, but they are my first cables, so it's not a surprise they are loose. Autumn Breeze showed me how to tighten them, but I don't do that until the scarf is done.

I'm working on my class for Palmetto Tat Days. TotusMel was fabulous and let me have one of her patterns. However, she needle tats and I shuttle tat. I am translating it and this is one that needle tatting makes easier (oooh, shocking).

And here's a neat graphic about US immigration over time.

Our Deadlands game is drawing to a close. I'll have to say goodbye to Alis Reeves. She's been entertaining to play. (and I love this picture of her. If you're interested in commissioning the artist, I have her contact info).

DR, the GM, has said he wants to run Blue Rose next. He had been trying to decide between Blue Rose and another game but when I posted 'for my next fantasy game PC, I want to play a woman with adult children, who now that her kids are out of the house is going to fulfill her dream of being an adventurer.' Nahla is about 40 years old, a widow with three children. The youngest is 17, and is a journey craftsperson. Her oldest is married with a child of his own. I also did Nahla's extended family, more plot hooks for DR. Hmm, now that I have an idea what Nahla looks like, I need to ask the artist if she has time for another commission.

I'm still working on my State Fair entry idea. I keep getting distracted by other projects.

Mom is still doing okay. I've convinced her to get out and walk about the halls to get some exercise. The last couple times we went shopping, she was worn out halfway through the 1st store. However, she's really sick right now. She got hit by some stomach bug, which is just miserable.

SR loaned me 3 seasons of The Librarians. I've been watching it and enjoying it immensely.

There was a screw up at the blood drive at UNC (they scheduled appointments right up to the point of 'needles out, not taking anyone else' -which since no one get seen immediately is a definite mistake) and I got turned away by the Red Cross. I went ahead and scheduled a platelets donation during the UNC closed day (no holiday pay). It took 4 hours. And by the way, when your lips and fingers tingle, you NEED the tums. Or unpleasant things happen. I had 4 minutes to go. Ugh. Next time, I need to up my calcium intake a couple days beforehand. At least they can use what I donated. But I can't donate again until late February. Which is annoying but not too bad. Except there's a shortage of blood and the Red Cross has called me 3 times this month. 

I got sick the week of Thanksgiving. I went into work on Monday long enough to check there was nothing needing my attention. I canceled lunch plans with my Dad and had supper with CD's parents. And fell asleep after eating. I was still recovering. I was still a little sick the Monday after, but I felt well enough to go to work without worrying about a relapse.

My Halloween costume

I wanted to practice split chains so I did this tiny basket by Sue Hanson. I messed up but the final result is a cute variation. And yes, it's very tiny.

At work, we went to visit Ramses. We talked to the family who hosts him, and his little herd of goat companions, and his girlfriend and lambs.

Tri Tatters had our 10th anniversary. That's the cake one of the members made. I made lace cookies. They were incredibly sweet, but good. And fast to make.

I'm still having trouble connecting my iPad to my laptop to download pictures.

My 4th place ribbon for my beanile necklace.

I just like how raindrops look on this leaf.

Post-Christmas (sort of)

Sunday, I had Christmas lunch with C's family and R. Monday, C and I drove to my Dad's house and from there we went to my brother's house. I spent Saturday and Sunday morning wrapping while C cooked. I ran out of gift bags and ran to the dollar store to buy some more, and some wrapping tissue.

Oh, there's a 5-disc collection of 20 hours of African-American films, mostly dating from the 1920s and 30s. Here's an interview about it.

Here's a picture of the scarf I made for C's nephew. He loves it. He's even happier that it's machine-washable (Yay, acrylic). I did recommend he use a mesh bag so it doesn't get tangled up in the rest of the laundry. On his behalf, C asked me to make a matching neck gaiter. Glad I got that 3rd skein.

Here's the start of the neck gaiter I made for my brother, but I neglected to take a picture of the finished project. I've asked him to send me one. I did not sew on the buttons, since I wanted to fit it. I just left the buttons on the card and 'buttoned' it, after sewing around the buttonholes to stabilize them.

I made a lucky penny for my niece, too, but I neglected to get a photo of it. I also gave my SIL's sister and brother-in-law a snowflake I made. I thought I had a picture of it, but I don't. My niece likes her fuzzy fleece blanket and pottery state magnet with crystalline glaze. However, I forgot her calendar. Her fiance likes the corvette calendar C found. So that's good. Dad likes his military history calendar and we had a good laugh over the bobeches I gave K. I still haven't found the red necklace I bought for her. We told the story about her 2 bobeches from last year and 'oh no, her display has five candles.' Then she revealed she set out votives this year, about a dozen of them. Maybe I should make some votive candle frills next year. Bwahahaha.

I made my first ice drop. And the thread (vintage) broke as I was closing the last ring.

I've made one with green and white thread but I haven't taken a picture yet.

I have more wrapping to do. If anyone is interested, I'll talk about the presents I've received.

Knitting, Weather, and Gaming

My SO's (significant other) oldest nephew has joined the Peace Corps and he'll be leaving the country next year. He speaks Russian, so he'll probably go to Eastern Europe, somewhere. It's a teensy bit colder there than it is here, or so I've heard. Said nephew also neglected to send a Christmas wish list, so my SO got the bright idea to give him a scarf. But not just any scarf, a long, thick, handknitted scarf, by yours truly. On Saturday, I went to the craft store and bought some acrylic yarn. I have no idea how well the young man handles laundry and I thought it best not to take chances.

I pulled out one of my Knifty Knitter looms and got started that evening. After I finished prepping for the game I was running on Saturday. The part of the adventure is a bit open, so I got them to make some kind of decision so I only had to prep about 3 encounters. I had already pulled the figures I wanted and just needed to find a good map and review who and what they'd meet. I looked up any rules I didn't already have memorized and took some notes as reminders for those I'm a trifle shaky on.

yarn label

bulky yarn

I have BEGUN!

Progress is made

We were playing on Sunday, so we started a trifle later than usual. And our host found out, just before I arrived, that he had to be on a conference call mid-afternoon. Ah well. The game is also our excuse to gather and socialize, so the interruption was more annoying than tragic. During the game, they were fortunate with their saving throws (3 of them used their once per session re-rolls) and got through it okay. Only one person got badly injured although I think everyone took some damage at some point.

One character was about to be swallowed and in desperation he pulled out a vial of sleep poison. I told him to make a melee attack and if he succeeded he got it down the thing's gullet. He succeeded, so I made the saving throw for the creature. It needed a 4 or greater on d20 to ignore the poison. I rolled a 3. It fell asleep. That was the last encounter of the session and it made a good stopping point. It was the encounter where someone took the most damage.

We went out to eat barbecue afterwards. We wrapped up early enough to go out, even with the 10-year-old. We will get to play Mermaid Adventures with her again. Her father got sick and that canceled the last game.

I knitted while the one player was on his conference call and a bit before the game. I made some decent progress. Stockinette works up very fast.

I did some knitting at lunch yesterday, some last night, some this morning, some at lunch today and have almost 30 inches. My SO thought 5 feet would a good scarf length. I also used up one of the skeins of yarn. I made my 1st Russian join. (the link goes to a how-to video)

If you like tabletop and/or LARP games and know someone else who does, you can buy yourself and that other person a present, thanks to Epimas gifts. You purchase a game bundle (each one has a different set of games) and you get to download the PDFs now. On December 24th, your friend gets an email with download information.

The big winter blood drive was at work today, from 7:30 am - 1 pm. I went as soon as my desk coverage arrived, at 12:30 pm. Alas, they'd had technical difficulties and scheduled blood donors could expect a 2-hour wait. They weren't taking walk-ins at all. I guess I'll make an appointment at the local Red Cross then.

The weather has yo-yoed from warm, to really cold, to quite chill, to almost warm and by the end of the week it's supposed to hit 'quite cold' again. At least, it will be dry. The quite chill and almost warm were a trifle damp as the incoming warm front dumped its moisture, and gave me a migraine.

Here's a picture of my niece's lucky penny. I think it's too tight, so I cut that off and I'm going to do it again. I might also do one for my assistant who is leaving and her fiance. I just need to find pennies from the correct years.

lucky penny

I also signed up for a Secret Santa thing on-line. I got my 1st (maybe only) present. Look!

I've also played around some photo filters.