Much as I love my Short Wristers, I wanted something better. A search at the ever-dependable Crochet Pattern Central ended with Rachel Choi’s pattern for Shell Lace Fingerless Gloves. I liked it so much that I made three pairs — one for myself, another for Donna at the office, and the third for Dana-mee. There are at least two more pairs in the foreseeable future, which I will be working on as soon as time allows. In the meantime:
The first pair took some of the black Monaco thread I recovered from my first unsuccessful project (the black bolero mentioned here). I made an FC of 60ch per glove and a total of 25 rows using a 1.65mm hook. After reaching the end of the last row, I joined the edges of each glove by working downward with single crochet for 4 rows (wrong side out), switched to slipstitch down one edge only for another 8 rows to make the thumb opening, then back to single crochet again all the way to the bottom. Result: a beautifully Gothic FO.
Next I did a pair for Donna, in fulfillment of a promise made way back in September. Her gloves are the same width as mine, but ended up a tad shorter at 21 rows each since I only had one ball of Monaco beige. I also used single crochet all the way down the joins instead of slipstitching for the thumb opening. Neither Donna nor her hands seemed to mind:
Diana’s gloves were made using the leftover Cannon thread from her Renaissance Place Mat. I made an FC of 54ch and a total of 21 rows, and joined the edges with the all-SC technique.
(Now, does that look like a nine-year-old’s hand?)
I’ll be making another pair in silver/grey for myself, and one for Daren in blue, and who knows how many more.
(Yes, I know the shell design is reversed in the pattern photo, but I like them better this way. Hope you don’t mind, Rachel.)
I started working on these last month …
… and decorated my office with them right before Daren was confined.
The original pattern was part of a Cross with Poinsettia Flowers design from Freepatterns.com, and called for only 5 petals per motif. However, my first attempts looked more like starfish, so I used a 6ch starting ring and added 1 petal. I made 26 motifs in all, but one of them ended up embellishing Daren’s jar, which holds my pens and whatnot.
And we’re back. The previous host suspended my account for reasons unknown, so a big thank-you to OnTheHouseHost.com for taking me in.
While we were down, Daren was confined for three and a half days due to dengue. We initially thought her fever was caused by fatigue and lack of sleep — come on, staying up until 5 AM to watch anime IS rather extreme — but after five days of on-off fever and a drop in her platelet count (189 to 164 and then to 143) over a two-day period, confinement was inevitable.
She stayed in a muted pink room in Villarosa Hospital; we hate pink, but at least it wasn’t hard on the eyes and there was sunlight through the windows. Plus, we had cable TV to while away the long long hours. Her major complaints during the hospital stay were not being able to lie on her left side (the IV was in that arm), and the rash which manifested the day after she was admitted (treated with Claritin). I kept her home from school last week following her discharge, on doctor’s orders, and have resolved to buy organic mosquito repellent from Ilog Maria as soon as our supply of Off! is depleted.
I missed out on two days of a major work activity because of said confinement. (Argh.) And on Diana’s First Communion, which was last Monday. (Double argh.) Dern took some photos which I will try to upload over the weekend. Hmm … where have I read that before?
I used my trusty 2.25mm hook and leftover thread from earlier projects to make these coasters for use with my coffee mug:
Well, that’s actually Mom’s mug; we gave it to her on Mother’s Day
of 1989, but I’ve used it ever since I started working. End of
digression.
The coasters were very easy to make; the pattern is here. Am thinking of doing a couple more in Christmas colors in honor of the season.
It’s been a busy time.
The old place is almost exactly the same. The first few days were the strangest; mostly it felt like I had come home after an eight-year vacation. Some disorientation was inevitable, of course — there were many new faces, quite a few old ones (I mean that in the best possible sense), and one I would have preferred not to see!
Ah well.
I miss my RSCI friends; seeing them on Facebook is not the same as spending time with them. Ste, Pao, Jinx, Chris, Euge and all the rest — I’m sorry I haven’t updated lately; I need to get my own PC at home if I’m to stay in constant touch.
Still, the work is familiar, and reassuring. People who knew me from before say I have changed, apparently for the better.
I’m glad to be back.
I first noticed the lump in my right breast last summer, but thought nothing of it until I went for a physical exam last August 15. After the doctor said it might require surgical evaluation, I hied off to DLS-STI Megaclinic with Dern in tow. After a session with an ob-gyne and the recommended breast ultrasound, I received a report, excerpted as follows:
There is a well-defined, slightly lobulated, hypoechoic solid nodule at the 2 – 3 o’clock position (zone A) of the right breast measuring 3.9 x 3.1 x 2.9 cm
IMPRESSION:
SOLID NODULE, RIGHT BREAST, AS DESCRIBED, SUGGEST FOLLOW-UP
Right. Well, I wanted it out and examined. Who knew what this thing might turn out to be? I talked to Dr. Agno, the surgeon on call, and she scheduled me for an excision biopsy on August 22. I spent the intervening week cleaning up my office files and trying not to think of the procedure.
It wasn’t as bad as I thought. They gave me a local anesthesia and a curtain to keep me from seeing the proceedings in all their gory detail. After about an hour, a lump vaguely resembling a miniature brain was extracted, and I was all stitched up and ready to go home.
We picked up the biopsy results from the lab today. Again, an excerpt:
Sections disclose a benign breast tissue
Highlight mine.
I’m healing nicely now. Thanks to Dr. Agno for her care and attention, and to Dern for being more patient than the patient herself.
Mom and Diana took some photos of me wearing this shrug back in May, but they were sadly blurry and I had to scrap them. My hand was steadier (even though it was the left hand holding my phone, and the photo was taken six days after the biopsy):
I made this an XL size, and it fits more comfortably than the white L-sized Romantic Shrug. I’ll give that one to Daren and start another one in XL for myself.
(And I didn’t notice the fire extinguisher in the background until now. Sigh.)
I had planned on crocheting something for each of my friends in RSCI, but as it was not humanly possible to accomplish that by August 28, I settled for the first three on my list.
First there were the Short Crochet Wristers in Cinnamon, for Ging. She loved my black ones so much that I decided to make a pair for her, using the same pattern and with the same modifications. I started them on August 11 …
… finished them on August 24 …
… and gave them to Ging the following morning.
Next there was the Junior Beret in Navy, requested by Jill for her son Gab. I started working on this on August 13, using a Lion Brand pattern. Had to make some changes because I was using a different weight of yarn than required. I added 3 — or was it 4 — rounds to the beret, then crocheted 1 sc per sc as per pattern for about 1.5 inches. I also made the band 7 sc wide, and it measured about 18 inches long before I sewed it onto the beret edge. I think it turned out well:
So did Jill, who tried it on for size:
And last, there was the Fan Pattern Shawl in Rose Pink, which I started on July 31 for my very good friend Tintin V. I had wanted to make another shawl, but it proved too fiddly given my limited time. It was done on August 21, and I handed it to her today:
Girls, thank you for your appreciation. It was worth every hour.
And to think, I wouldn’t have known if not for Mimi. Thanks for the heads-up!
Here’s my second attempt at the Bride’s Purse design, using the size 3.0 hook:
This would have been the first of a series of Christmas gifts, except that Diana already sequestered it.
I also tried making a pair of Short Crochet Wristers, but the leftover thread from Diana’s shrug was only good for one piece:
So much for stash-busting — I’ll need to buy another ball of this thread if I want to complete this pair. (Plus, I forgot the put the edging on the thumb.) Then I bethought myself of my black Cannon thread and made a second pair. Pardon the photo, my location was none too bright:
These were intended to help ward off the cold in the office, but I doubt whether I’ll be using them much after I return to EEI in September.
Yes, that last bit was the announcement.