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Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Well, That Didn't Go According to Plan

So things were going well and then Bruce came down sick with a cold and cough.  Three days later, I got a sniffle.... then a sore throat and the cough came on.  There were two weeks where I coughed my way from day to day.  I sat up in a chair to sleep some nights and other nights Bruce slept in the chair to escape my coughing (where I sounded like a barking seal.)



There was a third week where we felt well enough to be functional but very tired.  We actually took naps  sometime planned.... and some others just snuck up on us when we took a break.  I've never had that happen before!   I'm still coughing but not as much.   It just doesn't want to leave me....

There is an additional problem for me.  The week before the cold and cough hit me, I got a tooth ache and took antibiotics for an abscess and booked a time for a root canal with a new dentist.   Well, you can't do one of those for two hours and have a bad cough..... so the appointment was moved to April.
 That was okay until this past Friday when the tooth woke up again and so now I'm back on the antibiotics again.
There was NO weaving for at least three weeks. I had zero interest and we found that we both were too tired to focus on things.   Eventually, we have slowly come back to life and some lovely sunny days really helped cheer us up.  We have made plans for the garden tidy up, what needs pruning, replacing and maybe even new patio furniture?    Now the rains have returned but it was sunshine enough to know its spring and we'll be back in the sunshine again soon.

Life has gone on around us and very nicely left us alone while we were sick.  I have been weaving two concept shawls  (both the same) and have one finished but not pressed and the other is just as it came off the loom. So they need to be completed and photographed for show and tell.  This is all I can give you for now.


Just as I completed the first shawl, I received a request to weave a special shawl for a client who has three weddings in May. So I got busy winding a warp and here we have 700 ends  of 10/2 tencel being beamed this past week.  Weft will be ivory silk.




So sleying is well under way and then a 12 shaft tie up to be done...therefore nothing to show you there yet.    I sold two of the four recent table runners, and two kitchen towels to one weaver, and also a silk scarf to another weaver!  This must the kindest compliment a weaver can get.  😊   Then I got another commission to weave two silk scarves for Christmas 2017 gifts (so no great hurry)!  So I had better shake off my cough and fix this %$#&  tooth  and get BUSY!

Other fibre news:    I bought some 30/2 silk in what I thought was a clear red or a little to the blue side.   Nope!   Its a rich red with an orange undertone and I will use it. Its a lesson in not trusting pictures on computer screens.    So this....


..... was actually this upon arrival :


The picture doesn't do the depth of shade justice.... its lovely, but not what the client wants for a red. 

The next  bit of news is one of those "special person",  and a "special moment" kind of thing. I frequent (mainly lurk) at some Ravelry weaving groups and follow along. One is a page where people reveal their finished projects and do some show and tell. One weaver, also named Susan, posted about her newly finished  turned taquette towels and I was quite struck by them.  I cheekily suggested she could mail one to me and asked if she would like my new address?   Susan said YES!   I said I was only kidding and she said she wasn't.    Oh, my!

So  big thank you to Susan in Staunton, Virgina!  Its not going to be used as a towel of course and will be in my studio. Fully reversible and impeccably woven on her Glimakra.... and with hand sewn hems!



I was caught a bit short of full sized towels to do an exchange but I did have one guest towel left in the huck lace diamond pattern from this older post and she liked it very much!  I wish you could feel how soft this towel is. Susan used 10/2 American Maid cotton from Lunatic Fringe.   If the dollar ever goes to par again, I would order some and give it a try myself.

Birthdays came and went....  Bruce turned his odometer one more turn, but we were both too sick to do much other than to write a rain check for a better time for his birthday dinner and cake.  

I must say that he did a fine job of  celebrating my recent birthday with me and I had a lovely day and received many calls from family and friends.   But we both agree that the numbers are starting to pile up and there are moments when when you find yourself wondering "where the heck all the time went!!"  I thought it would take far longer to get old. 

Another birthday at the opposite side of the age spectrum is this little cutie patootie, our grand daughter Madison who just turned two. 


I love phone calls with her as she says "hi Nana"..... and then tells me all about everything!


Ethan will be five in April and is very much an active boy and into all the boy toys. Here he is last week helping Dad at a pin ball conference. He's pretty good at it!   That's also the most stationary I have seen him as he's usually a blur!

Well, this post is a mixed bag of news and such and hopefully I will have things back on track for more show and tell and weaving related.   I'm hoping to show you my birthday present to myself as well.  I have a new traveling spinning wheel on order and on its way to me.

I have a lovely Majacraft wheel at home but its heavy and a bit bulky for taking to spinning days at the guild. I also worry about it getting bumped and banged around being lugged around so haven't bothered with it except at home.   So I researched my light weight travel options, took a look at my well made Louet looms and went with the 6.5 pound  Louet Victoria wheel (and carry bag)

It comes in either beech (shown) or oak and I won't know until it gets here! 


4 comments:

Louisa said...

Happy Birthday to you both and I hope you're feeling somewhat better now! You're going to love your Victoria, Susan. It looks like a toy but it's a very functional wheel and the bobbins hold a lot of yarn. I've had mine since they first came out. The new backpack is much nicer than mine!

Susan said...

Thanks Louisa!
I actually recalled that you had one.... your Tori and searched your blog for your feed back and impressions. Ta!
We're on the mend but I can't seem to shake my cough. Dr time I think...
Cheerio...

Lynn said...

I have a tough time with overwhelming coughing during colds, as well. It's so intense strangers move away from me in public, my ribs ache, and I cough until I throw up. My doctor says it's a form of asthma that's only evident when I have a cold. She prescribed Symbicort to be used daily at the onset of cold symptoms, as well as Albuterol up to every four hours while symptoms persist. The combination really helps me. I still sit up at night in the big chair, but I'm actually able to sleep for periods, and the overall coughpocalypse doesn't last as long. Maybe worth discussing with your doctor. Also helpful for throat calming during a cold: Halls Honey & Lemon cough drops. I hope you feel better soon!

Susan said...

Thank you Lynn.... I will be seeing my Dr shortly and will discuss this. I get asthmatic during the intense spring / summer (oh heck, all year long allergy season) and so I have an Albuterol inhaler.

I caught a very bad viral cold or flu in Aug 2014 and was ill for 8 weeks and the cough never really went away, and so now with a fresh cold recently past, its really an issue for me. Sore ribs ? yup.... and many of the other side effects.

There are 5 main reasons for lingering coughs and I have points in each category so its time to get serious about this!
Thanks for writing...