Friday, August 1, 2014

Friday Mishmash

I have some knitting things to show you today!  Big surprise, I'm sure.  Let's begin...

I made some felted bowls, but they didn't turn out as nice as my previous ones.  Since I used the exact same yarn and pattern, I can pretty much pinpoint the issue as the felting method:  I used my front-loader washing machine for these instead of my friend's top-loader.  The bowls came out creased, not nearly as thick as my other ones, and the edges were uneven.  Now, it doesn't take me too long to knit these up, but considering they were intended as a birthday gift for my mom (Yesterday she turned...older.  Happy Birthday, Mom!), I was pretty disappointed.  I ended up including the smaller one with her box 'o gifts, but I'll be making another one as a replacement soon.
Too bad - they probably would have been pretty.  Oh well...now I know what works and what doesn't when it comes to felting.

I also gave my mom the Barley hat I made with the beautiful Malabrigo Mecha yarn.  I love how the colors are shown so well with this pattern, but I'm still on the fence of being thrilled with how the hat turned out.  It's supposed to be a bit slouchy, and it is, but I wasn't sure if it was slouchy enough.  I didn't block it, because that would definitely make the hat "grow" and I didn't want it to become super slouchy:
If the picture looks slightly photoshopped, it is.  And you're welcome - no one should be subjected to what I look like with 4:30 am eyebags.  This should teach me to remember to put on make up before taking close up pictures...

I almost finished my Zuzu's Petals cowl, made with the beautiful Twisted Fiber Arts yarn that I bought specifically for that pattern.  Only one problem - I was down to the last couple of rows and was nowhere near the last color on the skein:
Barely got into the golden color, as a matter of fact.

So, I unraveled it and started over, this time with the next bigger-sized needles.  You know what?  I wasn't even mad.  The pattern was so easy to knit, and I got to this spot fairly quickly, so I figured redoing it to get what I envisioned as finished product would be worth it.  I should be finished in another couple of days, provided I don't have too many unintentional naps!

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We have new babies in the family - tiny rat babies!  A few months ago little Civi died, leaving her sister Louise lonely.  Our youngest was home for a visit last weekend and after a trip to Petco, came home with these cuties:
They are so sweet!  And teeny-tiny...I don't think any of our rats have ever been this small.  Louise warmed up to them instantly, and when we were up super early for running club the next morning, I found all three of them hanging out together in their bed.  I hated to see them leave, but they went back to north Texas with our youngest on Monday.

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Top five attempts at healing chapped lips; bottom tube is the Rx poison.

I've been dealing with chapped lips for several months now...I'd have a few days where they were fairly normal, and then they'd get painfully red, dry, chapped and slightly swollen .  I tried a bunch of different lip balms, but nothing made much of a difference, so I finally made an appointment with my doctor about this problem (you can make appointments online, and yes, I did feel like an idiot typing in "chapped lips" as the reason for my visit).  He prescribed a steroid ointment, but strongly cautioned me about using it too often, which made me wonder what was this poison I'd be putting on my lips??  It seems to help, but if I go a few days without using it, the symptoms come back.  Weird, eh?

Have a great weekend!

17 comments:

  1. Be careful with that steroid cream -- it's not so much that it's a poison, but long term or overuse can cause thinning of the skin, stretch marks, and overall atrophy/deflation -- none of which you would want on your lips. Could you be licking your lips a lot? Or maybe the A/C is drying out your house too much? Hopefully you can figure out the cause so you won't have to use the cream for long.

    Your new babies are adorable and I love the hat! Have a great weekend!

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    1. Those are some pretty nasty side effects! The thing is, nothing is different this year than any other year, and the issue continued while we were in NC for nearly two weeks, so I figured it couldn't be environmental. Very random and odd thing to last this long, that's for sure.

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  2. The bowls are still super cute. I wonder what would happen if you threw them into your friend's top loader--like, would the crease get felted out?

    Love that new yarn. Totally worth knitting twice!

    Rat babies!! I'm surprised that the old one got along with the babies so quickly.

    And the lip thing? That is so weird, because shortly before The Quilt Show taping, I developed this dry itchy area under my eyes--LOOKED terrible. So of course I checked with Dr. Google, and somewhere or other saw "steroid cream." So I tried my 1% solution at home and it worked like a charm. I told my BF I was afraid I was addicted to it. But I kinda knew it wouldn't be good to use long term. I got a new tube of mascara (even tho my old one wasn't that old) and all seems to be back to normal now.

    Oh, and a while back I had dry lips (splitting) and I got Blistex Medicated Lip Ointment. That worked pretty quick. I just checked--no steroids in it.

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    1. I almost bought some Blistex. I might get some, because you never know. It might be THE one. :)

      I might try refelting one bowl (I sent the other one to my mom). Couldn't make it any worse, right??

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  3. I think the failed bowls are still awesome! I know it's humid in your neck of the woods - can you use a humidifier in your office and then move it to your bedroom at night? Happy birthday to your Momma!

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  4. OMG, I didn't know you have rat babbies! Any type of creature like that (hamsters, guinnie pigs, mice, moles) just flip me out. I don't even really like my mother in law's chiuaua (sp) cus it reminds me of a rat! Greaat hats though! Have a fun weekend!

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    1. Even tiny dogs creep you out? That's funny - I wonder where your phobia came from?

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  5. Just a thought - do you eat a lot of strawberries right now? Maybe you are developing an allergy to them and it is causing problems with your lips.

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    1. I've gone weeks between strawberries, so I don't think that is it...but egads, wouldn't that be awful, to develop an allergy to something that you tend to eat quite often?!

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  6. That sucks the lip problem. I have dry lips often and carry lip balsems with me everywhere and they are in my kitchen and bedroom.

    Love all the knitting projects, very pretty yarns you are using.

    And the little rats are so cute!

    Hope you had a great run with your running club today and have a great weekend.

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  7. Have you tried coconut oil on your luscious lips? That stuff seems to be a cure all.

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    1. I haven't, but I thought about it. Does that count? LOL.

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  8. I'm not into knitting or rats, but I do know about chapped lips (lol). Try using A & D ointment on your lips, that's all I ever use. You can find it at any retailer and in comes in a tube, usually.

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    Replies
    1. Good idea - that stuff used to work wonders back in the day with my babies! Thanks for the suggestion. :)

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  9. Try Bag Balm or cloverine salve for your lips. Both work wonders on extremely chapped lips. Love your hat!

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