no time for titles

Don't have time for much of a post....I'm on my way to a "Mixed Abilities" dance class taught by Eric Kupers at CalStateUniversity EastBay/Hayward. The Oakland Tribune is coming to interview him and do a photo shoot. I'm going to help fill out the shoot (it's a small class), but I'm glad to be there...I've really wanted to check out the class (I couldnt commit to it for the whole semester this go round).

I wish I had the time right now to reply to recent comments, especially "ashlupa" of FullRadius...but that's going to have to happen later this week. This AmpuT must talk about her prosthesis issues and, her knitting (go figure). But ashlupa, I will get to your to your question...promise!!
;-)

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Yesterday my day got derailed because I needed an "emergency" appointment at the prosthetist, which stinks because I was just there Saturday getting several things adjusted. (fyi: I spent a record 14 hours with the prosthesis on Saturday night, and about 8 hours on Sunday. Sunday also included a whoooooole lot of stair climbing.)

So, guess why I had to go for this emergency appointment!

I cracked a portion of my socket! Wheeee!

The damage is the long crack right underneath my thumb that runs from the rim to that little silver brad used to attaches the grey buckle to my socket...the other little splits to the right of the big crack are intentional...they give my socket some flexibility underneath my pubic symphasis (aka pelvic bone). I need that flexibility for comfort because during my accident my pelvis separated at the symphasis, and there is now a metal plate and screws holding those bones together. Anyhow, clearly that brad (which was installed on Saturday) created some weakness.

How I cracked the plastic: Sunday night I was backstage at the Thrill Kill Kult show (oooo...doesnt that make me sound so cool!--I've never been backstage before*giggle*). It happened when I was going up the kind of stairs that have that little overhanging lip, and the toe of my prosthesis got caught. I didn't actually fall, I just did a little jig and then dumped my LemonDrop all over Probeuluxx (from Space Vacuum from Outer Space) as he so valiantly tried to catch me.

Immediately the leg felt wobbly and after that it kept making a loud popping noise when I took a step. Upon colser inspection, I'd cracked the adjustable panel in the front of my socket. Not a huge deal, but I had to go get it fixed.

Which was a problem. Because I needed yesterday's time for knitting. Not gimping.

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Olympic Knitting Update (notes from my little knitting notebook):

Notes from Friday the 10th/Day 1.
The Olympics rules stated that we could start at 2pm.

I had dance rehearsal from 12-5, I sat in Friday commute traffic, I picked up MyFK from the sitter at 6, then we went out to dinner (cuz I was too pooped to cook). We then raced home to watch the opening ceremonies (and get me to my knitting basket).
So maybe I started around 8pm-ish.

I don't know how I did it, but I managed to do a provisional cast on for both panels of the shawl (I've only done a provisional cast on once, and just for the few stitches of a toe up sock...I'm not very experienced with it). I also somehow managed to knit 6 rows of lace on each panel. Doesn't sound like much but, a) it's my first lace, and b) I could barely see straight I was so tired.

Things I Learned On Friday:
* I'm a fool for waiting until the 4th row to use markers to indicate pattern repeats
* Wrinting each row of the lace pattern on a seperate index card is much a much easier than working from the pattern
* I have a sneaking suspicion I've bitten off more than I can chew with this project because of what else is on my calendar during these 16 days


Notes from Saturday the 11th/Day 2
I woke up in the morning in a bit of a tiz. I immediately grabbed calculator so I could do the required algebra and see if there really is any realistic way to get a gold medal.

Not that you care, but each repear of the lace pattern is 12 rows. At my gauge, I need to knit 10 repeats for a total of 120 rows. 120 very long/wide rows. Especially for a novice lace knitter like me, and especially for a mommy knitter that is constantly interrupted and distracted by her FavoriteKid.

So back to the algerbra. We started with 16 days total. Aside from knitting the body of the shawl, I also need to leave time for picking up and adding the ruffled edge, for seaming, and for blocking (the rules state the blocking has to be finished).

So, I developed this game-plan:
Starting today, day two, on days 2 through 11, I will knit 12 rows/1 repeat of the lace pattern on each of the two panels (and this should get easier very quickly as one of the panels will switch from lace to plain ol' stockinette). 10 days, 10 repeats. No sweat, right?
Then days 12-14 I do the ruffling.
Day 15 I do the seaming.
Day 16 I block.
tadaaaaa. Yes, I see gold in my future.
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SO! Here we are, the end of Day two, and do you think I've finished a pattern repeat?!
I wont even bother showing you a photo of my progress.
Because I'VE ONLY KNIT ONE ROW.
ONE. That's 1/12 of what I needed to accomplish.
*sigh*

My day was spent:
* picking up more t-shirts for TheMIG's band to bring to their gig (they are selling out!)
* at the prosthetist having several adjustments made to the leg
*driving up to Sacramento and spending the day with TheMIG's family before the show
* seeing the show, and then driving back home, arriving around 2am.
No Knitting Time.
I knew this I'd have a hard time squeezing in knitting time, I always do, but when I signed up for the Knitting Olympics, I thought they 16th (after this crazy tour weekend was over), not the 10th. Major mistake.

Notes from Sunday the 12th/Day 3

It's another day of not having enought knitting time. I'm hanging out with TheMIG while he's in town for the SF leg of his tour. He's done the bulk of the driving today though, so I could knit while we were sitting in traffic. I also stayed in the car knitting while he spent an hour shopping for drum toys at the local Guitar Center. Then I knit as much as a could between sound check and the show....check me out knitting backstage:

I'm not caught up yet, but I'm learning more about the lace pattern, and I'm learning more about how to fix mistakes as I go...so I'm picking up speed.

Here's the knitting at the end of the day:

Notes from Monday the 13th/Day 4

Today I'm supposed to have 5 hours of uninterrupted knitting time while MyFK is in school. Supposed to. But I'm at the emergency appointment with the prosthetist. I thought I'd catch up today, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. I think perhaps I've done something to anger the Goddess of Knitting. I must do a little ritual tonight to appease her.

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It's bedtime, and here's where I'm at:

/p>

I've got two repeats on each panel, I should have three.

and here's a close up of the lace:


it's so pretty :-)

Today, Tuesday the 14th/Day 5

Who knows what knitting is going to get done today. After the Mixed Abilities/Oakland Tribune thing, I've got a playdate thing happening over here when MyFK gets out of school. If they are low maintennance, I might actually get some time. My plan is to tuck MyFK into bed, ignore all household obligations, park myself in front of the tube for the real olympics, knit lace until I cant stand it, then switch to stockinette and knit until I pass out.