WARNING! Disgusting pictures ahead!

     I mentioned my foot in the last post, but there is more. In the interest of keeping it real, I am posting pictures of the aftermath of my foot surgery. Anyone with delicate sensibilities should just "move along, nothing to see here."  (Name that movie. $200 question.)
    As mentioned in my last post I kicked my bathroom scale a year ago September, (read about it here). Being an RN, and loving to diagnose my own ailments, I ignored  the pain as best I could for about a month, assuming I had broken my toe. Finally I went to the doctor and amazingly, I was wrong! I had a stress fracture down in the foot. I had to wear a cast boot.  Supposedly, they usually heal in about 2 weeks, mine took 6. Wearing the boot gave me a secondary problem. A neuroma. This fun malady is an inflamed trapped nerve which sent a strong electrical shock pain into my toes when I stepped down.  Time usually heals these and within a couple of months I could tell some improvement.
    Somehow, being Miss Graceful, I tripped just slightly and came down a bit hard on the same foot. Stress fracture number 2 had arrived. This one took 3 months to heal. All that cast boot wearing, led to, of course, increased inflammation of the neuroma. After 5 injections of steroid to help heal it, it was obvious it wasn't going to heal. That left surgery as my only option.
    I had the surgery December 8th. Everything was progressing well until the stitches came out. One week later the darn thing dehissed, (split open). Nothing with this foot can ever go well.  Here is a picture of how it looked last week:

Here is how it looks this week:

    Does it look any better to you? Me neither.
      Time out for a rant:

    Can I be frank? I am sick, sick of this foot!  I feel like a slug as normal locomotion has been impossible for over a year. I have gained one thousand and eleven pounds sitting around on my derriere. I have lost muscle tone. I am sick of going upstairs one at a time.
    (Rant Over)

    I leave you with this picture so as not to leave you traumatized by my disgustingness. 

 
                Thank you for listening and I recommend returning to your regular programming ASAP.

                            Love, Lomelindi

Knitting Fever

A year ago in September I kicked my bathroom scale.

Not in a fit of pique, (even though that would have been warranted), but accidentally, trying to slip past my hair fixing, teenage daughter. I don't believe I have mentioned that I am an RN, so, as usual, at first, I diagnosed myself. (It saves a trip to the doctor as I am always ready to do.) My diagnosis was a broken toe. I carried on with it for about a month with no improvement. So, off to the doctor I go. As no one but me was surprised to find out, it wasn't a broken toe but a hairline fracture in my foot. My right foot, of course, my driving foot. I had to wear a huge clunky boot for weeks and weeks, over a month. The darn thing just wouldn't heal. During my enforced inactivity my dear daughter-in-law taught me to knit. I had always wanted to learn, but trying to teach myself, it just never clicked. I have done tons of handwork over the years: needlepoint, embroidery of all kinds, cross stitch. I have even taken a crochet class. But, I developed carpal tunnel problems while expecting Deedee, (dear daughter), and have had to give up all these hobbies. (Funnily enough, typing doesn't bother me, but the mouse is killing.) Lo and behold, 99% of the time I can knit and knit and no paying for it with pain and numbness later.

I started as most all knitters do with a simple knitted scarf. I can't show you a pic as Deedee has taken it and I don't know what has happened to it. I progressed to a knitted and purled scarf, holding TWO strands of yarn at the same time. Here it is. I was so PROUD. (I have NEVER used the scarf, it is going to Purple Heart next week.)


Next I made a scarf with CABLES! (Please ignore the bag of clothes in the background No.2 son brought home from college. Just sayin'.) This scarf has also never been worn and is going with its sister to Purple Heart.




I made hats: (Variegated hat is dear Belle's)

















Here is dear Ling-Ling in her hat. (Dear Ling-Ling is my niece.)












I made the cowl pictured at the beginning. That one I actually wear, and get compliments on. It looks much better on than it does in the picture. I also made a baby blanket for Baby J, but neglected to take its picture before giving it to the baby.

It has become clear that I have a problem. I am suffering from Knitting Fever. There, I said it. It is out in the open. I have quickly moved from knitting one project at a time, to having multiple projects on the go at once. Unfortunately, the next project always beckons, with the result I am having great difficulty finishing any of them.

Here they are:

Deedee's iPod case two-thirds finished:











A lace scarf for me, barely begun:












Another cowl, barely begun:











Qingwan's poncho, 98% finished:












Baby J's sweater one-third done:













A Guernsey wrap just begun:










So, as you can see, this has become a problem. Besides the projects, I have filled a corner of my guest room with yarn to knit up "someday".


Therefore, in the absence of a cure, I make the following resolutions to manage my Knitting Fever symptoms.

I hereby resolve to:

• Stop trolling yarn shops looking for "good deals".
• Stop dropping by yarn shops "just to take a look".
  
• Finish Xuan's poncho this week.
• Finish Baby J's sweater by January 20th.
• Finish Deedee's iPod case by Valentine's Day.
  
• I can no longer start a new project until a partially finished project, is finished. (The goal is to keep the backlog to a reasonable amount.

Keep tuned to this station for breaking news as to how this story develops.