The August

So this is day three of the neti pot (this is where I got my neti pot) and yoga first thing in the morning routine. So far, so good. I really think the combination of the two is helping more than either one on their own would. I’ve been thinking about projects (mainly crochet) with more imagination and clarity since two days ago. Actually able to problem solve designs better. So this makes me wonder if I wasn’t getting enough quality oxygen to the brain before now, since the few poses I’ve been doing have really opened up my chest and filled my lungs more. Humm… Interesting. Anyway, I started with four poses on Thursday, and added one pose today. Yeah, that’s about all I think I should let myself get into right off the bat. One new pose every other day or so is good. And the really good news: I think it’s already helping to reduce my RSI.

And now a cute dog photo. Poly (that’s not a misspelling) hoping the camera wont eat her. She always strikes that demure pose when I turn the camera on her. We had a nice little walk this morning to add to my nice healthy day (right before I ate like four Krispy Kreme donuts. Hey! It’s mother’s day weekend. Whatever.) Kenneth usually walks her in the morning.

And, yes, my house always looks like the toy bin vomited all over the floor. That’s how we roll.

I had an amazing thing happen this morning and it all has to do with my Gossamer scarf. I’ll have to start from the beginning, though. The scarf is coming along. It was going so well, so quickly that… well, I gave myself an RSI. So many lessons to learn. I guess my project wasn’t about the fun of making something anymore, it was more about finally finishing something (big) that I’ve started. I’ve never actually completed something from a crochet pattern before, and this is the one I promised myself would be the first. You know, something to justify all the yarn I pine for and all the daydreaming I do. So, crap, now it’s “go slow” again, and I’m wondering just when this is ever going to get finished. I have about 40 of the motifs left.

Anyway, I started to realize that the speed hooking I’d been doing was just aggravating something that’s been building up in my body for a long time. Stagnating. I don’t get much exercise. I’m not getting any more flexible as time goes on. I sit in the same position every day when my little guy takes his nap. Bad posture—the works. I decided to try yoga again. It’s never really worked for me in the past, but I keep returning to it for some reason. The principle just appeals to me. Everything I’ve read about basic yoga just makes sense for why it should work for me. So, I got up this morning, I did Jala Neti (which I’ve been neglecting). I felt a little better, nothing special. Then I did the first four poses as instructed by The Women’s Book Of Yoga & Health. That was all I could manage, but I felt a little better. Then, as I was eating my breakfast, I realized I COULD BREATHE DEEPLY. I just felt like, oh my god!

It was one of those “Oh, yeah!” moments I’ve always hoped I’d have when doing something new. But the thing is, you don’t always want those moments. The big “Oh, yeah!” comes when you’re so far gone in one direction that the glimpse of the “right” direction is a big stunner. That means I have a long way to go to get back to feeling the right way.

Oh, and as far as the crochet goes, when I first notices the problem with my pinky and wrist I immediately tried to think of something that would pad the little handle on my hook. I’m working with a Susan Bates 2.35 mm hook. So it’s kinda small. I figured I would try to wrap the handle in self gripping sports wrap, to see if that would pad the handle enough and offer a larger surface to grip. It works great! I was very proud of myself for having thought of it. Although, I’m sure I’m not the first to have thought to use the self adhering bandage as a padding. Looks funky, but it helped.

Oh, and the title, if it doesn’t ring a bell with you, is a line from The Princess Bride.

I finished this suckah this afternoon.

At first I was going to say that it doesn’t look too pretty, but now I think it turned out looking pretty nifty. As long as it holds my bread, eggs, fruit and what-have-you without complaint, then I shan’t either. I just hope it holds up because I know at some point some poor fool is going to try to shove a gallon of milk in there and we’ll see how well that works.

A note on the red yarn I used. I had a sweater that was given to me as a hand me down.

Well, it never fit right, and I’d had an obsession with trying to find any sweaters that I own that I could recycle the yarn from. This one fit the bill even though I still liked the pattern and look to some degree. But it was all cotton and thus heavy and not very warm. All those factors added up to dismantling. I’d read a good tutorial how to unravel a sweater from Neauveau.com The unraveling has worked out well, except that the sweater was apparently worn on the elbows, so the yarn is frayed in several spots. It still makes a good cotton yarn for utilitarian type things, like my shopping bag! The nice creamy denim flecked yarn was a gift from my brother.

So, we’ll be adding this bag to our group of reusable bags that we take to our local grocery stores Trader Joe’s, Sunflower Farmers Market and on occasion, Whole Foods. We have them hanging on our front door knob so every time we go out the door we can remember to take them down to the car. It really didn’t take that long to start a routine and have it stick as habit. Kenneth said to me awhile back, “You know one of the things I like best about Whole Foods, is that when the cashier asks if I want paper or plastic and I say that I brought my own, they don’t give me a funny look.”