One person's treasure is another person's yarn ball...

(I will see if I can convince the phone to put up a picture on the blog tomorrow of my gloves, but don't hold your breath...)

I had some fiber I bought from a lovely lady, since retired, (WAAAAHHHH!!!), ahem, anyway, she had put white, blue, green, red, yellow, and some sort of burnt orange color in the batt.  And there was quite a lot of it, 8 ounces or so.  I finally managed to spin it all, I would just grab hanks and spin, not separating the colors, just seeing what came up.  And it came up looking blended, with random stripes.  Now this was so funny, I fell in love with it because... The wool, and the color blending just reminded me of my Great Grandma's wool rug.  She was the bane of the family for a while, from what I understand, if she even SUSPECTED something was made of wool, she wanted it for her rug.  Now, this was a rug that covered her entire living room.  I was a small kid at the time, but even now, I seem to remember that it had to be about 10 to 12 feet on the long end, and... 7 or so feet the other way?  (It was a flattened oval.)  I can't remember for sure what happened to it, I seem to remember it became someone's 'junk' in a garage and was eventually tossed for being a mess, but I remember all the colors, and how tremendously large it seemed to little me... A big colorful island, of sorts. 

So I finished the spinning, and unlike some of my spinner friends, I don't plan, oh, I need this fiber for this project.  Which could be why I don't get picky about most fiber, I just enjoy the spinning, I will figure out what to do with it...

Eventually.  a-HEM...

I went to the doctor, (hang in there, this IS leading somewhere), and I was talking about my Rosacea.  I have given up chocolate, not fun, but it helps, a lot.  But I told him, please don't think I am crazy, but when I go outside, and it's cold and windy, I get terrible flare ups.  He laughed, and said, not only are you NOT crazy, that's actually a pretty common cause.

It is?  Huh... So, after getting a cleanish bill of health, I remembered to ask about the wind.  Would some kind of barrier to the wind work?  He said sure, as long as it wasn't a latex or polyester, which won't breathe, causing the problem to worsen... (Too bad, that means I can't get this. =:) ), so he recommended a balaclava, or scarf.  He mentioned a few places to buy them, and I said, I knit, would that work?  He grinned, and said, absolutely, you would know what bothers you and such, make yourself something nice!

So, I have the doctor's permission to knit. : D

But what?  My eyes fell on the "Grandma's Rug" yarn I'd made.  I had a pair of gloves and a skinny scarf I had knit a while ago for myself, but, with time, and my less than careful handling, on occasion, they were getting a bit scruffy.  So, I have commenced to knit a pair of gloves, now finished, and a scarf, which I have just cast on for.  I am still working out what pattern I want to use, but it will be a fairly basic, maybe more open looking scarf, so it will keep me warm, but I can breathe, without a wool filter blocking each nostril... (Ewww...)

So, January's 'selfish' knitting continues.  I need to work on some leaves, too... But, I want to make the scarf first.  Please ignore the socks, and at least two other "portables" I have going in the front room.  And no, I have no idea what all those projects are in my craft room.

Cough...

Hats, love 'em or hate 'em.

I have quit with medication for my Rosacea.  It has been going okay, after quitting chocolate and soda.  Oddly, I thought I would be having a big problem with quitting chocolate, but it's not too bad, I even made cookies with chocolate chips, and didn't snitch any...  This from a woman that would buy an extra bag so I could sneak a snack... But it's working.

Also, I am wearing sunscreen, and a hat.  I am to the point now, it's just like putting on any other bit of clothing, but I really didn't like wearing hats.  But, I found a hat or two that I don't mind wearing, and look good with pretty much anything, so it works.  Hats seem to be a thing people either enjoy, or do NOT like...

I find babies despise hats.  One of my friends had a little one, (now a much OLDER one), that like me, had way fair skin, which is just begging for a sunburn.  Mom would put a hat on her, and one of two things would happen.  She would go into Harriet Houdini mode, and get out of it, take it off, and toss it, if it was tied, or just skip to taking it off and tossing it, if it wasn't.  Or, if there was that amazing off chance that the hat COULDN'T be removed, she of the light skin would cry and tear at the hat, and generally act miserable, until shade could be found, and hat removed.  I don't know if I was that picky, as a baby, but I really didn't think much of hats.

I have been knitting hats again, some.  I have the Shop with a Cop group, I have not committed to making a set amount of hats.  That way leads to high stress levels.  I have just been, oh, free time, knit a cap, throw it in the collection box.  That way, they get hats, I can do, or not, as I please, and all is good...  And another part of the station has made a call out for winter clothing.  I asked if they needed hats, it sounds like they do, so I will have to see what I can whip up... I am finding that just doing a few things when I am in a mind to, rather than, oh, we need 65 hats in two weeks, tends to make my eyelid twitch a lot less!

I haven't made up any tags but I have also thought about making a few hats for Loved and Found project. You leave hats in random places as a random act of charity.  It seems like a fun idea...

Now if I get to 500 hats, do I get to nickname myself Bartholomew Cubbins?  (Thank you, Dr. Suess!)