Up A Bit, Down A Bit

I got my new toy yesterday and so far so good. I haven't quite got the hang of the controls yet and the shoulder/neck part of the cushion is a bit high to get the edge of my shoulders and neck as I would like but I need to practise more on getting the settings right. My one criticism of it is that when it is switched off then all the adjustments that I have made revert back to factory settings so I spend the first minutes re-adjusting it to my needs again.

There are two kinds of settings. One just massages up and down the back like a buzzing wave and the second one is more vigorous with the Shiatsu massage which is like revolving balls up and down the spine. What I do like is that I can stop the machine when doing Shiatsu into just the place to give the best pummelling to. In my case my lower spine as it can get a bit uncomfortable on my upper spine as I don't carry as much fat up there whereas on my lower back/butt I have plenty of fat padding. I haven't really used it with the heat on as it says on the brochure that too much use of the heat can lessen the life of the machine. I presume that using the heat will also use more electricity.

I have only used it a couple of times so I can't say what the long term effects will be but when I used it yesterday I could actually bend down to my shoes without straining and my back was still more mobile this morning. I am resisting the tendency to over use it as I feel that it might make my back tender in the long run. I am pleased with my purchase and as it has cost me less than a tenth of the price of that vibrating mattress and has a similar effect on my back, but without the headache, and that pleases me even more.

I have finished the one sleeve of my younger niece's charcoal cardigan and started the second sleeve. I feel like I progress so slowly when I am knitting. I am so tempted to crochet but as I am on a deadline I must push onwards. I am hoping though to do a bit more machine knitting today and make the other pieces for the white baby cardigan that I started before I forget how to do the nice cast on for the ribbing.

It's nice Spring like day. No sun visible but at least the days are getting brighter which lifts my mood considerably. I think that I should hibernate when winter comes and emerge again when Spring arrives. I do hope that we get some summer this year as I love the warmth of the sun. Notice that I said warmth and not heat. Unfortunately in the UK we get so very few days when we can say that it's too hot. My old bones just feel the benefit of a bit of warmth and no dampness in the air.

Coffee time, time to tackle the dishes and hoover and then hopefully tackle the knitting machine for an hour or so.

A Lovely Spring Morning

It's a beautiful spring morning today. The sun is shining and the crocus and daffodils are starting to poke their heads out of the soil. I do hope that this is the start of more spring like weather as I am getting fed up of all the doomy gloomy weather.

Yesterday my ex popped around to see me and dismantled the plastic greenhouse that was in front of my kitchen window. It had suffered during the winter storms and was leaning at a dangerous angle and the plastic cover was pitted with holes rendering it useless for cultivating any seedlings. It has made a big difference to the light in my kitchen but the disadvantage of all of this sunlight is that it shows up my rather dirty windows. I stopped the window cleaner a long time ago as he used to clean portholes in a rectangular window and I knew for a fact that when I wasn't in he didn't clean them at all.Our street now has different window cleaners but I am unsure about starting with them as they use a long handled brush to clean the upstairs instead of a ladder and a cloth. The brush may clean them just as well but I just have this vision of streaky upstairs windows. Plus my back garden is only accessible through my garage so if I wasn't in when they called then they could not clean the back windows.

Last night I managed to make myself go back to the striped knitting but I only did the rib and two stripes. Perhaps if I can do a stripe or two per day then eventually it will get finished.

I am pleased with the red sweater now I have finally got the sleeves sorted out. I buy loads of new patterns and then find out that I like my vintage patterns the best. As you can see from the style, price and hairstyle I have had this pattern since the 60's. It does fit very well and I do think raglan sleeves are more flattering to a larger lady.The wool that I used was 3 x 200 grams of James C Bretts Marble chunky colour MC 14 which is widely available on the net. I got mine from Purplelinda.

I am going to pattern browse and think what I am going to make next. Possibly a pair of crochet slipper socks for my niece. Firstly though - it's coffee time.