random for Tuesday

I did something to my shoulder; I can't tell if it's a pulled muscle (I hope it is) or something worse (like, arthritis beginning all of a sudden, or that I separated it, or that I tore a muscle). The thing is, I don't remember any big stressor - pulling my empty polycart back up to the house Monday it did tip over and kind of wrench my arm as it went down (they are big and top-heavy and don't always roll as nicely as you'd like them to).

It was hard sleeping last night as it was difficult to find a position in which my shoulder did not throb. I finally wound up sleeping on my back (which I rarely do) and I had to break out one of the eyeshades because it's really too light at night here to be able to sleep comfortably on my back.

***

Some surprising and sad news: one of my old high-school friends e-mailed me to let me know someone we graduated with had died. It still comes as a surprise even though we've now entered our 40s and I suppose it will start to come the time that it needs to be expected. (Or something. That was a bad sentence, wasn't it?).

This is someone I remember well, which is what makes it pretty unsettling. There was my little crowd of friends, there were the "obvious" kids that everyone knew (whether you considered them a friend or not), and then there were people who sort of faded into the background. This guy was one of the "obvious" kids - I remember him as generally being pretty friendly to everyone, too.

We've lost a few others - I include the classes immediately above and immediately behind mine in that. But those tended to be people I didn't know as well or remember as clearly. (I had to look up, for example, the student in the class behind mine who died in the World Trade Center bombing.)

I realize that the alternative to growing older is even less appealing than growing older is, but some of the changes the passage of time brings are not changes you want. I can cope just fine with the grey hair and the occasional aches and pains, but dammit, I don't like losing people around me. Even people I've not spoken to in over 20 years.

***

I traded out projects last night. Part of it was concern over my sore shoulder (I hope knitting isn't making it worse. I would hate to have to give up knitting or quilting just to relieve some dumb arthritis)

I finished the first and second rounds of the "Gates of Dawn" section of the shawl. You have to count verrrrry carefully until the pattern is sufficiently established - I actually found I had either lost or forgotten to do a few of the yarn overs, and so I had to "fudge" them in the next row (luckily, on this pattern, you're not "knitting plain" on alternate rows - every row is pattern - so missed yarn overs are easy to fudge)

I also worked a bit on Thermal. A couple more inches and I can finish off the back. (I hope I will have enough stitch holders for everything. I know, you can use waste yarn, but with the way I flop this thing around I'd be afraid of dropping stitches.)

I'll be glad to have this done, once it GETS done. I'm hoping I can press on and finish it for fall.

The funny thing is, I've been pulling out back issues of magazines - while cleaning up my desk area, I found the spring (I think it was) issue of Knitscene. It's the one with the Tudor Henley in it. Which is very similar to Thermal - knit-round sweater in a fairly simple stich pattern made of very fine yarn. And now I want to make that. (I have the yarn in-stash; it was some undyed fiber from Elann. Though now I'm wondering if I should consider doing a dying adventure to dye it - it's offwhite and I know the first time I wear an offwhite sweater somewhere, I will get invited to join someone in a spaghetti lunch or something. Though I like the idea of it being a light color to show off the cable on the cuffs. Then again, as I said before, I think I'm supposed to hate the Tudors now, as an alleged Plantagenet descendant...)