Monday mixed bag

Some good, some bad:

* I cleared out a WHOLE BUNCH of mending I needed to do last night. Because mending isn't "fun" in the way that making new stuff is, I tend to let it pile up. Also, several of the things were knitted items that got holes and I had to either seek out the scraps of leftover yarn or find a matching yarn. But finally last night I got sick of them being piled on the little table next to my chair, so I did them:

sewing repairs:
- reattach a button to a skirt (this is one of those buttons-all-down-the-front and the button that fell off was one of the top ones. I could have worn the skirt if it had been the bottom-most button (I never button that one for ease in walking) but this one would have caused an unattractive gap and shown either my slip or underwear)

- repair a tiny tear in my Sanrio sweatshirt (it came that way, I presume it was a factory error. It was small enough and easily enough fixed that I figured it was easier than sending it back and hoping there was a spare one in my size - this was the one out of the loot crate)

knitted item repair

- Fix a strained spot in the toe (threatening to become a hole) on my blue Van Gogh socks. This is a favorite pair so I wanted to be sure to fix them well. (Van Gogh = the yarn was an Opal line with colors inspired by paintings, this one was, IIRC, Starry Night)

- Fix a small snagged spot on my grey cabled sweater that had become a hole. This required me taking back a partial skein of the yarn (I had had lots left over and gave it to my mom for a project. But I retrieved the skein over my last visit up there)

- Fix holes in a pastel-colored hat, probably from me carelessly leaving it out where carpet beetles could get to it. I was fortunate in finding the yarn for this, I had to do a bit of hunting.

- Fix holes in two pairs of fingerless mitts, one probably left in coat pockets over a summer (and so more critter-accessable than my usual storage), the other a pair I had left over in my office that may have got munched when we had the moth infestation (which has been dealt with because the moth larvae were also eating the bird specimens).

I washed the gloves after that and unfortunately discovered another hole in one, so after they dry I have a bit more fixing to do.

* Found out this morning one of the members of my AAUW group, while on vacation in the Grand Canyon, fell on a trail and broke her hip (complication level: she is either on break from, or just finished up with, chemotherapy for a recurrence of cancer). She wound up in surgery in *Arizona*. Fortunately she has family with her. But still, how scary, to be badly injured far away from home and the doctors you know. I hope she has a good recovery. (Her name is Rebecca)

* I think I pulled one of my rib-area muscles, either working to cut brush on Saturday, or hoisting the heavy bags of yarn (I keep most of my stash in roughly 4 ' by 2' by 2' clear plastic rectangular bags - sweater bags, they're called, I think). They get heavy. It's not BAD but it does catch me when I move a particular way.

* Getting the mending out of the way though has energized me for doing more stuff. I have another pair of simple socks nearly finished, and I want to drag out the Augusta cardigan and work on it again. I also wound off a little yarn and am contemplating starting something new - specifically, the Antler Toque. The pattern itself is free but I'm seriously considering buying the eBook that it also comes in - partly to support the designer (and Ravelry) but partly because I like those kind of classic, simple patterns. (ooh, there's a nice sweater with the antler cable pattern in the book...)

I have some dark blue-green yarn (I made a KnitPicks order a while back and got some Preciosa to try) for it.

I also have my "freebee" skein of one of KnitPicks' new yarns that they were giving away with purchases over a certain amount. It's fingering weight and there's not much of it....so I guess it will be fingerless mitts, and I have a couple patterns that should work.

I also want to start another sweater some time, though I really should (a) finish the Augusta cardigan and (b) Pull the owl sweater back out and work on it more. But I found some yarn I had bought and forgotten (some of it Webs closeouts) and I had put the pattern right with the yarn so I'd have them together....the Tilted Duster from an old issue of IK, for example, along with dark-blue yarn in the original yarn recommended....and I found the duck-egg color yarn I put aside for Flax, which would make a good read-and-knit project.

And yes, it's ironic I'm thinking of cold-weather stuff when we're entering the hottest week so far this year (and may it be the hottest week, and it get cooler again after this week is over). But really, many of my hobbies are hobbies that go best for cold weather: making quilts, and knitting (especially with wool, and wool is my favorite fiber to knit with), and even reading - reading is BEST on a cold winter evening when you can curl up in bed under a couple of quilts. And even making stuffies, because when it gets hot like this I thrash around in bed and a lot of the stuffies I have forming a sort of "soft headboard" for me wind up on the floor.

* I did get all of the hanging baskets arranged on Saturday afternoon and I pleased to report I've already seen hummingbirds visiting the lantana several times. (And bumble bees).

* Friday is my blood work and I'm striving to eat lower-sugar (and in general, striving to eat healthier, so I can see if I can drop a few pounds before my checkup - and already I'm noticing that maybe I have dropped a *little*). I need to be more disciplined about that any way but I can TELL that for me eating sweets is a comfort mechanism, and honestly, some days I feel like I have few enough of those. Especially in the heat when things like hot baths and wrapping up in a blanket are out. I've also been trying to work back into something more like the DASH diet. The irony of it is: even as I kind of hate it (so many vegetables, bleargh), I can also tell I feel physically better when I do it....

But Friday morning, after the fasting for the blood draw, I am TOTALLY getting a donut on the way home, because if there's any time you can have a donut, it's right after blood work. (It's probably been several months since I had one at this point....)