SAD Light

I have bought a SAD light in an effort to combat these dull dreary mornings when the sun doesn't shine. My niece went to Argos to pick one up for me. I have used it this morning. It is quite a small lamp but it does give off a bright light. Only time will tell if it works or whether I am the SAD person for buying it. As I paid for half of it with a gift voucher that I received for Christmas I won't feel too bad if it doesn't work. Roll on summer. I always feel better when the sun shines and I can sit outdoors.

I have taken the last of my antibiotics and am off to the GP to give another sample for testing. I hope that this one is OK and I am back on the waiting list again. I just hope that this feeling of well being doesn't disappear now that the medication has finished. I still think that I had an infection after my last operation despite the hospital saying I didn't. I hope that the excessive swelling in my knees doesn't come back again. It has been nice to be able to have more mobility and be able to bend my knees more.

I have started knitting with the vintage Kaftan yarn. Kaftan was a yarn that I used to sell and dates back from the late 70's or 80's. It was donated by a man whose late wife was a knitter but like me had a stash at times bigger than her needles.I had equally vintage patterns in my stash and decided on a cardigan pattern instead of a sweater as if I am running out of wool then I can always have short sleeves. It has been ages since I knitted anything lacy and so I have to keep count of my rows as these days I can't seem to follow patterns by eye as I used to in the past. Too many years of crocheting I suppose. I am having a little break from the hats and scarves although no doubt I will get bored with the knitting and sneak in a couple more crochet hats before I hand them in at the end of the month.

The amaryllis now has 3 flowers and a bud. The second lot of flowers seem a bit darker coloured than the first set. It is a lovely cheerful sight on my kitchen window bottom to greet me each morning when I am making my breakfast or washing the dishes.

My neighbour brought and installed my new PC monitor. I have been borrowing his since my monitor decided to keep switching itself off in the middle of doing things. He has got me a reconditioned Dell so fingers crossed that it stays working as long as the PC does. My printer is now having one of it's moments and refusing to print or let me change the ink cartridge. I will just have to manage without a printer for now as I can't afford any more expenses for a couple of months.

Still Busy Crocheting Hats For The Homeless

I am still crocheting hats for the homeless.I have used up the bag of cream and brown unravelled donated wool and have managed to make 2 cream scarves, 3 cream hats and a brown one. The worst part was sewing all the tails in as some of the balls were really small or had lots of knots in. I need to wash them all before I give them away as they do smell a little musty as the wool has been stored for quite some time.

The multi coloured hat is one I found part made in my stash. I can't remember which pattern I used (or even if I ever had one) so I finished it off hence the difference in the size of the bobbles, It is made from 2 strands of machine cones and I think that I must have stopped making it as making bobbles with doubled wool is a bit of a pain so I made the bobbles smaller as I kept losing threads and having to start all over when I tried to make them as big as the original row.I now have a bag full of hats and scarves ready to take to the Islington Mill Knit Out at the end of February.No doubt I will have made a few more before then although I have got a pattern for some knitted fingerless gloves in chunky that I might try as a change from all of the hats.

I am feeling a little better. The weather is helping as although it is still dull the mornings are a bit lighter. I managed to get a bit of housework done yesterday. I must be taking more notice of my surroundings as for the first time in ages I saw the dust and actually cared about the mess. Today I plan on tackling this room which I always call my mess room as everything gets dumped on the computer desk. It is my filing system for hospital appointments and bills that need dealing with. If I move them anywhere else and try to tidy up then I lose them or forget appointments.

I might start a knitted cardigan for myself with some very old Kaftan. Listers made the Kaftan which was a sort of brushed acrylic aran. I used to stock in when I had the shops. I got given some and managed to unearth an old pattern for it from my pattern stash. I will have to scale it up a bit as what I never noticed with my old patterns is that the largest size a lot of them do is 38". Just shows that we must have been slimmer back in the 80's as I don't remember anyone complaining that the patterns didn't go large enough.

The amaryllis now has one fully opened flower, another part opened and a bud. So I will have had 6 flowers altogether from my Christmas gift. There is a small bud at the bottom that might just grow into a third stem once these flowers have finished blooming. I will try to take a photo of it today if the daylight gets brighter this afternoon.

Time to get showered and dressed. My neighbour has told me that my new computer monitor has arrived and he will come and install it for me sometime this week. My niece is calling tonight with my S.A.D light so maybe tomorrow I will be bouncing with energy.

Thanks everyone for your lovely comments whilst I have been a bit down. They are much appreciated and have kept me going. Ailsa I will try the Cranberry juice when I go to the shops tomorrow. Since I have been taking the antibiotics the swelling in my knees and my stomach has gone down It makes me wonder if I was right all along when I thought that I had infection in my knee after the last operation. My knee is back to a normal temperature. The hospital told me that I didn't have an infection and the heat was due to my arthritis. Some days I could have fried an egg on it.

It's quiet, oh so quiet around here

I have finished my steroid tablets, without success, and had to ring the doctor's today to report on my progress with them. I did ring but he could not understand a word I said as I have now lost my voice, or most of it. The doctor then said I had to come up and see him so he could re-examine me. My chest is still clear and so the doctor is still convinced that I don't have a chest infection. As he hasn't got my chest X ray results back yet he has now decided to pull out the big guns and give me strong anti biotics. I feel so ill today. Up until now I have managed to feel OK in myself, apart from the cough, but today I just feel so tired and unwell. I hope that these anti biotics kick in quickly.

I started crocheting a shawl with a hank of super chunky that Vicky gave to me. I won't have enough wool to finish it but I did have some wool in stash that works in well colourwise. I shall finish it off in the contrast colour and add an edging and fringing also in the contrast colour. I wanted a warm and functional shawl to wear indoors and this will be lovely and warm once it is finished.

I am not going to the knit club at the Kings tonight. I don't feel well enough and am still afraid that I could pass this thing on despite the doctor saying it's not an infection. I would hate anyone else to suffer like this because I have breathed all over them. Charlie who gives me a lift isn't well either so I doubt if she will go along either.

I am going to try to do a bit more crochet before I fall asleep again. Tomorrow is another day and I just hope I have quick acting tablets!