i ve got a cracking migraine and have just necked half a bottle of cooking sherry. want to kill my mother already and shes only been here for 2 days. I knew there was a reason I'd moved 12,000 miles - unfortunately its now standing in my kitchen. (and you can still stop laughing Lynette)

I've only had one bad migraine since Tuesday so have managed to get some yarn washed and dried and start to think about what I'm going to do with it.

This one is going to be a present for Mum at Xmas:




And I've wound the first Late Bloom (Ewe give me the Knits) into a ball and are going to make this cowl from it. It appeared on Ravelry just the same minute I was looking at the patterns page. I cast on for it last night but had wrong circular needle so will try to cast on again for it tonight.


Luke had a fabulous birthday last Friday. I always keep him off school on his birthday so we can have a special day together. Luckily Mike was not working either so we took him to the cinema to see Inkheart (which was great) and went out for lunch.

He LOVES his new drum set and X-box (he wondered why we'd sold his Wii a few weeks before).

Mum arrives from NZ on Monday ... for a month!!! I don't know if we'll survive it but can only hope (stop laughing Lynette or I'll send her round yours when she gets home)

and the best news! Mike has bought me a Feijoa tree!! I adore feijoas and it really kills me not being able to scoff bin bags full. It going to be repotted and sent to MIL's greenhouse for the winter. MMM!


I'm pondering whether to get a weaving loom to use some of my handspun as I'm such a slow knitter. I might get this one here just to have a play and try to get it out of my system lol!

I've mostly slept for the past week. Not out of bed until 3pm, up with Luke until about 6pm and then back to bed for the night.
Its taken me until today to realise that I'm having daily migraines (which ususally cause bad, bad fatigue) WITHOUT THE PAIN! how weird and wonderful is that? I woke up today feeling knackered and took a triptan (I'm allowed 6 a month to abort migraines) and the tiredness abated. So its fabulous that the severe headaches are having a break but just need to get rid of the fatigue now. Its a really nice severe drowsiness tho' - I just doze and lay in bed listening to the telly. I'll be getting bedsores if I aren't careful.

Taking advantage of my increased alertness today I managed to get some spinning done. I'm spinning this from Spindlefrog as finely as I can on the middle ratio on my Rose. I'm loving the colours.
I also got round to setting the ply in 4 skeins I spun earlier in the month/ year as have just been too tired to think about it.

I managed to stay awake long enough to snag this beauty from Pigeonroof Studios tho. Been waiting a LONG time for a roving to be available. Its Romney wool - I had two pet romney lambs when I was in school so this made me smile.



and Mike and I almost died laughing when we saw this lovely item last night. Our current catchphrase is 'it must be true, its all round ASDA's', since one of the neighbours said this on camera when the poor child was finally found ...

I'm not a superstitious person but are not sure I should share this news, the best news (DON'T tell the migraine fairy)...................... I haven't had a migraine for 6 days!! fingers crossed the operation helped and its not just a blip.

I've been spinning like a demon while I can. I've spun 12 oz in the last 3 days for Xmas presents so no photos until after Xmas.

I finished some yarn for me which I LOVE.
Its 4 oz Late Bloom merino from Ewe Give me the Knits plyed with 4 oz pink/ orangey Merino/ Silk blend from World of Wool. Its only 188yds pre-wash which is a bit disappointing but I have another identical lot of both fibres to spin more.




We've put the Xmas tree up much to Lukes excitement. Sparky has taken up residence under it.

I have managed to spin a whole 40z of a lovely merino/ silk mix of blended pinks/ yellows I bought from World of Wool. It was really nice to spin - lovely and slippy!
I'm going to ply it with the 4oz of Late Bloom Merino I also finished this week (photos to follow). This one took me a month to spin.

I've had a good sort through my stash tonight as I want to spin some Xmas present yarn and I needed to choose what roving to spin and what to ply them with. So I had to make another purchase from World of Wool for plying complementary merino.

I've finished one of the fingerless gloves for my niece. She is pleased with it but I need to get up the enthusiasm to make the other one. or chop one of her hands off. whatever comes easiest.

I actually haven't got a headache today. It feels really strange after the 4 day wonder I've just had. God it was bad. I couldn't put my head on the pillow the pain was so bad.
But heres a photo of what keeps me going ...


Luke's been mentioning learning to play the drums over the past few months. So we took him to a music shop last week and he lit up when the man played the drums for him. So we arranged for him to have a lesson on Saturday (which I missed because I was in 'bucks yapping to a friend and lost track of time) and he loved it. So guess who is getting drums for his birthday on the 12th. Luckily a friend had a full adult set in the loft that her son no longer uses. Can't wait to see his face when he comes down and spots them. And they have got silencer pads on them too in case of migraine!

I actually made it out of the house to do some shopping today with Mike as escort. We somehow managed to obtain a shedload of tinsel so this house is going to glow this Xmas.

was feeling better when I got up this morning and managed to have a stroke of some of my fibre stash ..... and then got the most exquisitely painful migraine so are drugged up to the eyeballs

It s Rosie dogs 4th birthday today so she has been spoilt - spent most of the day sleeping on the bed beside me. Luke has made some fairy cakes to celebrate.

feeling better today apart from a migraine. Onwards and upwards ...

still feeling very wobbly and SO tired. I just sleep and sleep. I received some lovely flowers from my friend Sonja - they are really beautiful

collapsed and knocked myself unconscious on Tuesday night, then couldn't get up without losing consciousness again. Had 4 paramedics turn up (!) and ride to A&E in ambulance. Really embarassing!

My blood pressure bottomed out and they've spent the last few days trying to get it higher which has been fun. I now know that you feel like you want to die when your BP is 50/30 or lower. and that it makes Dr's move really fast. Have massive lump on back of head where I hit floor.
I had a reaction to the contrast medium they gave me when they were checking to see whether I'd developed a clot in my lungs and are covered in an attractive hot red itchy rash as well now.

Luke was up to visit me every night. He put on an apron and gloves whether he needed to or not and thought he was the new best thing to hit medicine.
SO nice to be back in own bed again. Got hit by an avalanche of labrador when I got in which was almost enough to get me admitted again. going to take it realllly slowly next few days ...

I got this gorgeous fiber thru the post this morning. Its from Spindlefrog again. Its a merino, bamboo and soy mix and is beautifully soft. I adore the colours - reminds me of Tahiti.


I'm now on a fibre buying ban. I've bought 4 lots in the last week just in case I needed it to line my coffin. But I'm now going to have to spin it before I buy any more lol. I was trying to get a selection of stuff I hadn't spun yet.

this is from Enchanted Hues Its Corriedale and the colours are stunning:


This one is from a lovely lady in France Lloer and is Merino:



and finally this one is from FreckleFaceFibers and is Merino again. I've been looking for some of her roving for a while and this one spoke to me:


Feeling tired today. Had a migraine but only a small one which is bearable. The photo below is what I've had put in my heart. The cardiologist called it 'The St. Jude device' which amused me greatly as St Jude is the patron saint of lost causes. I told him he was a cheeky bustid! St Jude is the company that make them and he hadn't realised the 'lost causes' link before I told him.

I'm home again. The operation went OK apparently. The cardiologist said the hole was big and well worth doing. I'm feeling very sore though and spaced out.
Luke was disgusted that I wasn't up and running round as soon as I got home. He thought I'd be fixed straight away bless him so Mike had to explain it would take a few months to recover.
Going back to bed now ...

Thank You!

Some kind person has anonymously sent me a copy of Vogue Knitting Holiday 2008. I was very confused when I received it as I've not long ordered some other magazines and thought they'd sent me completely the wrong thing. and from completely the wrong place. and addressed to 'Rosie and Sparky's house. It did fox me for a few minutes and make me laugh!

so thank you very much to the kind person who sent it to me. It was very much appreciated!

Mike took me out to get a curtain pole for the bedroom. Of course, we ended up going to 3 different places before we found what we wanted. Its a very nice distressed cream pole.

My MIL is coming to get Rosie tonight for a little holiday until after my operation. She will be delighted to stay at Grandma's until she realises she is there for more than one night. The house is always very quiet without the chocolate tank clattering around (or the 'pig in a wig' as she is otherwise known).

Cardiac surgery has been postponed 24 hours until this Saturday. Can't wait to get it over and done with now so that extra day seems like an eternity to wait. Really really bored at the moment. Too bored to do anything at all. Just counting down the hours til operation.

My BIL has almost finished decorating our bedroom for us. He has painted it pale cream/putty colour and is going to wallpaper the back wall on Friday. The wallpaper is a lovely fresh green with a cream flowered pattern. I have matching pale green curtains and have just been out to get a cream metal light fitting - its like a chandelier shape with hanging crystals.
So if I'm really stuck in bed post-op at least it will be in a nicer room. Mike has had Sky TV piped upstairs in case I need it too. But considering I'm expecting my migraines to really kick off post - op I probably won't need that.

Lest We Forget .....

This is my paternal Grandfather, Thomas Simon Mitchell, who was in the Seaforth Highlanders for the duration of WW1. He served in France and Mesopotamia.
He was injured twice - once by a lump of shrapnel while fooling round in a bomb crater with mates and then shot in appendix by German bullet. He died in 1942 from the effects of gassing received in WW1 - he was in the Home Guard despite this in WW2

I'm making Luke a Lord Nibbler from Futurama as a surprise present (yes, I know I have still to make the arms for Bender the Robot but crochet is just SO SLOW!). So I'm knitting this one so its going a lot faster!



I received a lovely parcel full of Pukeko stuff from a good friend in NZ today (thanks Lynette!). And discovered there is such a thing as pineapple lump bars. my favourite sweet made bigger. did I say my FAVOURITE sweet (hint hint!).

Luke is going to stay at Grandma's this weekend (the lucky winner of this particular mini-break does not know the good news yet!) so its going to be lovely and quiet. The hound will go with him as they come as a joint package.

Almost finished one of Sam's gloves. Just got to ribbing round top end. But I mucked up and need to pick up stitches and feeling too stupid to do it properly.

Feeling really rough last few days - really, really, really nauseous. think its the new anti-convulsant, Lamictal, damm it. So I'll stop it yet again and re-start it in a couple of days.
I've press ganged my brother-in-law into decorating our bedroom just in case I end up stuck in it for weeks after the heart operation. Almond white walls and pale green wallpaper on one wall. I went into town today (trying not to throw up - worse than morning sickness this nausea) and got some really nice pale green damask curtains.

I've made some progress with the fingerless mitts I'm making. They were supposed to have a cable pattern on them but you couldn't really see it with this yarn so I frogged and reknit them plain.


Sparky has a new bed for the winter. He is supposed to sleep in the kitchen as he always wants to go out at 4am and I'm not keen on been woken up at this time. So I found a sheepskin Luke had been given as a baby and never used due to his extreme pukiness. Sparky is VERY happy with his new bed.



Have had a really bad migraine again since Saturday but just surfacing again today. Luke is on half term holiday and its so frustrating to be in bed when I could be doing things with him. Luckily Mike is working from home today and tomorrow so was around for him.

I've finished my hand spun socks. They are lovely, thick and warm. They fit really well into my Crocs (which have closed toes to keep the English rain out):



I'm going to make my niece some fingerless gloves. She had a good root round in my spinning box and decided she like this handspun yarn best. Good choice! (I love it too). Its not the best spun yarn tho'. one of my first efforts and is like barbed wire in places ...


I got this loveliness from Spindlefrog. Its SO not the colours I usually go for at all but its beautifully dyed as usual. I keep getting it out to make sure I still like it, which I do!
Its also Falkland fibre which I've not tried yet. I'm going to get some greyish pink or pale turquoise to ply it with I think. I can see socks in its future:


been feeling better today, no headache at least. thank god for hard (prescribed) drugs.
I rang the Dr today to see if she could give me a sick note without seeing me in person - she agreed she had seen quite enough of me lately and also disclosed that she'd had a cracking migraine for days. So I ended up advising her about painkillers and triptans lol! apparently one of the other Doctors and a nurse have been having bad migraines this week. Wonder whether its related to the cold weather system that has moved in this week?

I am obsessed with wearing my Serge Luten's Ambre Sultan perfume at the moment. I am a real SL fan. Its lovely on a cold day. I've got bell jar full that Mike bought me for my birthday. Its described as
'Essentially a classic amber scent enriched with powdery notes of vanilla, then coriander, oregano and myrtle lend sophistication. The base notes angelica root, sandalwood and patchouli leaves. The fragrance of the Moroccan souk'. I can cope with it when I am feeling ill.

When I have a cracking migraine I can only cope with SL's Louve 'the notes include almond, rose petals, fruity notes, jasmine petals, amber, musk and vanilla powder' This would be the only perfume I wore if it had more staying power - an hour on and its gone.

When I'm feeling really good and non-migrainey I wear SL's Tubereuse Criminelle. I adore the opening petrol note (I know I'm weird) and the tubereuse note is just gorgeous. I loved it so much from the sample I bought myself a bell jar for my birthday as couldn't wait for more of it! But you certainly have to love it and you know you're wearing it! ' Notes: tuberose, orange blossom, hyacinth, jasmine, musk, vanilla, styrax, nutmeg, clove'


Luke has been very busy making a big army base with papier mache. His cousin was over today and they sprayed lots of camoflague colours onto it. Mum's fibre supply came in very handy for making trees and bushes to hide the soldiers in.

Still spinning the fibre in previous post. Didn't spin anything today. I've been engrossed in the Intertwined book. It got some fabulous ideas in it. I'm thinking that perhaps I now want a drum carder to make lovely mixed fibre batts and stuff.

My friend in NZ received the Ribbon Lace Scarf I sent her for her birthday and says that she is pleased with it! I'm glad she likes it as it took me ages to make as I'm such a slow knitter. Here's a photo of it finished (its not as yellow in real life, more green):



Still got the migraine I've had since Sat. night. Had to call the Dr today to get some really strong painkillers. Luckily my MIL could come over and look after Luke and his cousin until Mike got home from work. I couldn't even put my head on the pillow it was just so unbearably sore and it took rather a huge dose of drugs to take the edge off it ...

Sunday: got a cracking migraine today. Mike took Luke to a pirate day at our local museum where he met a Jack Sparrow look a like and had a great time. I curled up in bed for some cat therapy for most of the day.

I ordered a book last night about spinning cool and whacky yarns. It called Intertwined and I'm looking forward to getting it. It will give me lots to think about when migraining if nothing else.

Luke was very excited the the new season of Futurama has started. He is on half term this coming week so I got Mike to buy some pre-made icing today so we can make a Futurama cake together.

My lovely Aunty and Uncle rang me last night from New Zealand. My Aunty is very concerned about my heart operation and I was telling her how terrified I am about it and would rather it was somewhere else in my body like a toe or elbow. She replied ' its not good when they're poking round in the main engine room'.............lol lol lol! is that supposed to make me feel better? i almost wet myself laughing, bless her.

But this is it for migraine 'cures'. Over the years, especially the past 18 months, I've tried lots of nasty drugs, homeopathy, herbal medicine, acupuncture, chiropracty, hypnotherapy (I don't think he's recovered yet!), meditation, food allergy testing, diet restrictions, hormonal therapy, alcohol (purely medicinal of course).
No more I say. I'll just learn to live with them if this op don't work. The only other treatment I'm trying is 6 weeks in the sun (cou cou L'hotel Richard!)

way hey! I'm awake again! I've started spinning up some lovely merino from Ewe Give Me The Knits . Its quite roughly spun as my co-ordination is not as good as it could be but the colours are cheering me up no end. Its really beautifully dyed. I'm not sure whether to ply it on itself (I have two braids of 4oz each) or get some/ dye some plain solid to match ...


I also managed to turn the heel on my second sock after struggling to knit a stitch all week which was rewarding

I bought some Sirdar Denim Aran Sport to swatch with a view to using it to make The Great American Aran Afghan . I was going to spin superwash merino or BFL to make it but thought it may tip me over the edge and stop me actually enjoying just knitting it. I don't like all of the squares so have gathered some others off the interweb to mix in with the ones I like.

Luke is not impressed that Sparks has decided to help him out with his computer games.

still struggling with new drug. stayed in bed and slept all day until Luke got home from school. Going to reduce dose until I wake up again ...

absolutely punch drunk on new drug. Did not get out of bed until midday. in fact, did not even wake up until midday. just as well mike got up and took Luke to school or he would have had an unexpected day off.
had nasty migraine yesterday so no spinning/ knitting/ anything at all to report ...

I've managed to finish one of my socks, despite having to frog the top 5 times as my hands wouldn't work in sync with my brain. Doh! I really really wish I didn't have such enormous feet as it takes forever to knit the bloody things.



I managed to ply my free range BFL with the pale blue BFL I dyed to match it. My hands can work to ply but not to spin which is frustrating. It took forever to ply as its come out as fingering weight, I think. Its not the colour I thought it would be but I really love it. Its got quite an overall green cast and its going to make some yummy socks or a scarf. Its about 343 yds prior to washing which is a bit weird as I'd have thought I could have got a lot more yardage for 8oz of roving spun as fingering weight. But I quite possibly counted how much I've got completely wrongly due to my current brain spasms.



Heres a photo of the chocolate alpaca fleece I acquired last week. Its about 2kg and is from an alpaca called Aubergine:



feeling very speshel on my new anti convulsants - can't pick anything up without dropping it, have spilt every cup of tea I've had in the last week and keep lurching over when I walk. And I'm coming out in welts this morning. I'm trying to convince myself that they are flea bites and have sent Mike out for new flea collars for the herd. Sparky is such a flea taxi he should be in the circus. But I actually think they might be due to the new drug as I've had a massive flea blitz in the past few weeks due to finding some on Sparky. What a bloody stupid name for a cat. Never let a kid name a cat, I tell you. I think he would be great called Boris.
And I keep replacing words in sentences with the wrong ones. ie Coate Water for Cat food. wtf?
Again, Mike says 'whats new?'. Bastard.


Ajahn Chah said:

"Do everything with a mind that lets go. Do not expect any praise or reward. If you let go a little, you will have a little peace. If you let go a lot, you will have a lot of peace. If you let go completely, you will know complete peace and freedom. Your struggles with the world will have come to an end."

done nothing today but knit and spin. another perfect day then. turned the heel on my sock and was going well ... until I realised it was too tight round the instep because apparently the depth of my instep is bigger that distance round ball of foot by 1". So I had to frog all I'd done today and add 6 stitches grr. just as well I'm enjoying knitting them.

Is this colour too green? you know who I'm talking to so answers on a postcard ...

we had a bit of an Alpaca chase today. Mike mentioned that he'd passed a field of alpacas while out on his motorbike a few weeks ago (why this important news was not passed to me on the day I'll never know).

Mike was working from home, Luke and his cousin were off due to a teacher training day and I can't drive at the moment due to new anti convulsants ... so Mike had to take us all out to look at the alpacas.

We then went to see a friend whose birthday it was and one of her other friends mentioned an alpaca 'shop' just down the road. So off we went to try and find this farm. And find it we did.

I am now the pround owner of 2kg of chocolate brown alpaca fleece - half a bin bag full. Its really clean with no vegetable matter in it at all so I'm thinking I can just spin it without washing it (I rinsed a small bit and nothing came out of it at all). So I've officially got enough fibre to last me for the next 10 years ... hopefully I can borrow the Guild carder next month and make some alpaca batts. The farm was great - alpacas, sheep, goats, chooks, a well hard turkey, geese and lots of dogs. The kids loved it.

I've started my stripy handspun socks and done about 5" so far. They are really thick and warm.



have you ever heard the saying 'as useless as a chocolate fire guard' .... ?


I rang the hospital this afternoon to get a date for my operation - its going to be on Nov. 14th unless they get a cancellation earlier. It seems a long time to wait

I had a really lovely day at the local spinning guild yesterday. The sun was out so we sat spinning outside - it was really hot and lovely. I finished spinning the lovely batts I received from Helen in the spinner's swap. I've never spun batts before and they were lovely to spin. I've bought some really fine gold thread and some gold beads to knit with it, hopefully into a scarf ...


I've started to spin some handdyed pale blue BFL to ply with the free range colour I spun earlier and its going well ...


and these are going to be my new stripy 'migraine' socks to wear in bed when my head is killing me and my feet are like blocks of ice ...


had a BAD migraine from Wednesday to Saturday morning. Its 'cause I couldn't tolerate the higher dose of gabapentin (> 2700 gives me awful muscle pains and swelling) so saw GP and I'm going to stay on gabapentin at tolerable dose (2100 - 24oo mg) as it helps with the migraine pain and I've started another anti convulsant called lamitrogine which apparently can really help with the aura and stopping actually getting the migraines ..... so here we go again. Feeling a bit spacey today and hungry but hopefully that will wear off ...

I've finally finished spinning the Free Range BFL I got from Dragon Fibers on etsy.com. It seems to have taken forever. Now I have to spin the BFL I dyed pale blue to ply with it. I'm hoping I'll get a lot of yardage out of this and that the pale blue I dyed does not overwhelm this bobbin too much.


I also managed to get a few more rows of my cabled jacket knitted today. I adore the colour and are really happy with how its knitting up. I adore knitting cables.


I'm finally getting over the flu - like virus I've had. Man I was ill over the weekend. Didn't know where to put myself. And because I've lowered the dose of Gabapentin the swelling in my legs has gone down and I am actually awake!

Don't read this if you don't want to hear me moaning yet again.

I'm feeling really really unwell so have dropped the dose of gabapentin again. Woke up with really swollen legs and ankles and getting breathless really easily which is a known side effect of this drug. Feel really shite. Have spent every day this week in bed as so tired except for Friday when went to see Cardiologist specialist nurse about my operation - did all the pre-op stuff and she is going to try and get me in in next couple of weeks. Au secours! and I came back from that appt. and went straight to bed again.
Sick of being sick and sick of moaning about being sick lol.

Its our wedding 11th anniversary today, 14 years since we first went out. And Mike's best man came over from Holland and they've gone out on their motorbikes (the 'girlfriends') for the day. Really glad Mike is having a good day out. He must get fed up with me being sick all the time.
Luke not feeling 100% so we've had a day of watching films and eating popcorn. And trying to make 3D cardboard Star Wars figures. Yes, me with my befuddled brain trying to follow instructions. Needless to say R2D2 has no legs yet at this point in time.

I dyed some BFL earlier in the week - the blue one is to be spun and plyed with the bird's egg coloured roving I am spinning at present ... which is taking forever because I'm managing to spin it a lot more finely.
The amber one is to be spun and will be sock stripes with the lovely Chica roving I spun earlier and the yellow one is to be plyed with the roving in the previous post - it may be a bit pale tho.


I've decided that I'm going to make myself some fingerless gloves with the lovely alpaca yarn that Helen gave me in the spinner's swap - I'm hoping to use the sequinny (is that a word?) one around the cuffs for a bit of winter bling.


Sparky has taken up residence in the washing basket.


Rosie is not sure whether this is allowed.


And I've been feeling really unwell for past two days. I thought I'd just got Mike's bug he had last week but it turns out I have a raging dental abscess so am on antibiotics - funny thing is I'm not in much pain thanks to the nerve pain killing side effects of the anti-convulsants. So they are good for something then. The dentist is worried I may get endocarditis due to heart defect so hoping it doesn't happen. Like really hoping it doesn't happen.

I've had the most awful fecker of a migraine since Wednesday night. Boy it hurt. but its starting to pass now. God only knows whether Luke got himself any breakfast this morning. Mike had to leave for London really early - Luke woke me at half eight. I got up, put him in the car, let him out at school and was back in bed inside of 8 minutes.
So I'm going to have to put my sunglasses on and go and pick him up looking like death warmed up. I'm sure some of the other Mums think I am an alcoholic as I look so awful sometimes ... and I've been know to be sick in the hedge on the way out of school. How embarassing is that?

My fab mother in law came over at some point during the morning and took Rosie out for a walk - I only know this because she was very wet when I finally came downstairs so had obviously been taken out for a swim somewhere. That woman is a saint, I tell ya.

I bought this lovely roving from Spindlefrog. I managed to do some dyeing on Tuesday and one of the ones I dyed was some lemon yellow to ply this with. I also dyed some pale blue to ply the birds egg coloured one I am currently spinning. I adore this new one tho. It is just so vibrant.