Knitting Pattern-A-Day Review

I don't know what week it is, and am too lazy to go through my archives to find out.

Monday, July 24 and Tuesday, July 25 -- Marika. Two versions of a lovely sweater. It appears they are made basically the same up to the armholes, and then you can do one or the other. Even though it appears to be different yarns, I guess it is the same. As you can probably guess by my writing, I'm not particularly moved by this -- I don't know why, as they are lovely.

Wedneday, July 26 -- Party Necktie. I don't know if ZMrK would wear a knit necktie. He only wears thin, vintage neckties (when he does). If he would wear a vintage necktie, I'd probably make him one of these.

Thursday, July 27 and Friday, July 28 -- One-Piece Bathing Suit. I had to turn the calendar around on these days. I hate to admit this. It must show my stuffiness or something. I don't think there is anything wrong with a knit bathing suit, but in the photo the model looks really uncomfortable. I think she was reluctant to have her photo taken, and the angle is terribly unflattering. I really hate saying stuff like this; I'm not dissing the design or the model, really, but I am dissing the photo. It gives me the heebie-jeebies.

Saturday/Sunday, July 29 and 30 -- Bluebird Ornament. I'll probably hang on to this pattern because it's cute little bird ornaments, and I love birds! These look simple to make, and I could probably make birds of other colors with it.

That's it for the review! On to other stuff. . .

So, I've mentioned my sleep apnea before, and the sleep studies I took part in. Last Friday, I got my CPAP machine, which uses air pressure to keep my air passage open so I don't stop breathing in my sleep. I used that for a week, but think I need a new mask. To put it bluntly, my nose is fucked. It started off looking like a breakout, but became more blister-like and constantly red. It's way swollen too. I have a natural bump on my nose, but that bump is swollen to look like my nose is busted, and my dark circles are a little more pronounced now, and it looks like someone was beating on me. It's hideous. I don't know what it is, but I can just guess that I'm having an allergic reaction to the rubber in the mask. I slept without the mask last night and my nose looks a little better (even though it's still swollen). I'll try to go the weekend without it, and see on Monday what my options are for a different mask. Maybe I can try one that just goes into my nostrils, and I can try to keep my mouth shut when I sleep. Either way, I don't think I've gotten a good night's sleep all week.

Also, I gave my notice at work on Wednesday. My boss took it a lot worse than I thought he would, and I feel really guilty. I think it really is time for me to move on, though, but I did have a flurry of emotions this week (which weren't helped by my PMS -- Post and Present!). I don't really want to get into it too much, because I don't know who reads my blog and there were a few things I was asked to keep confidential. I know: loyal to the end. I don't know how much loyalty I feel to the firm itself, but I feel loyal to my boss because I do like him, and he's one of the reasons I have stayed on board as long as I have. I honestly don't feel really secure about the future of our office, though, no matter what anyone says. And that's all I'll say on the matter.

We had houseguests this week: ZMrK's brother, his girlfriend, and her daughter were all visiting from Istanbul, Turkey. They only stayed Tuesday - Friday, and were headed to visited ZMrK's mom in North Carolina. It was nice to have people about, but we're not used to it and really, don't have much space for it. Well, we have the space but too much stuff. No, we don't have the space. Stuff is good. Right? It was a good excuse to go to the Cheesecake Factory and eat like pigs, even though I don't think I've recovered fully and have been eating like a pig since. It's been a slightly stressful week, and I'm a stress-eater.

Due to the stress and busy-ness of the week, I don't have lots of knitting news. I've barely budged on the front part of my camisole. I've taken one crochet class at Spark, and the second one got canceled and I can't take the make-up until September (even though they did put me down for an "open studio" in the beginning of August on them). By the time I take my second class, I may have taught myself, but something tells me I'll still be working on my camisole. I may try to make something for my hairdresser, who is having a baby in September. The next time I see her is August 10, which doesn't give me a ton of time, but maybe I can crank out some of those frog-feet booties and a hat by then. Think I can??

Meanwhile, it's hot-hot-hot. I love it. We hit some yard sales this morning, and did a little bit of nature-walking. I nearly stepped on a garter snake at the Charles River Watershed Reservation. I was walking along the grass and it was right beneath my feet, headed towards the bushes. I yelled "garter snake!" and half-heartedly made a grab for it, but I knew I couldn't catch it and also was reluctant to because (a) it was big enough to give me a good bite and (b) I didn't want to get musked because that stuff smells way worse than poo-poo. I've never been bitten by a snake but I've gotten musk on me. Yuck! ZMrK says the bites don't really hurt, but I tend to shy away from being bitten by anything, except maybe Miss Solvie, who bites me often.

We also saw a bunch of geese and ducks. There were some adorable ducklings and wood ducks. Of course they all came up to us, thinking we had food for them, but we didn't. Well, we had some worms we were throwing in the water for fish/turtles, and one of the ducklings ate some worms. I didn't know they did that either, but the animal protein is probably good for them. A large fish tried to take a worm away from one of them, which was pretty funny.

Tomorrow, I think we will get up early and go to Walden Pond!

xoxo. . . Zanti