well, it’s been an interesting week!
we started out with a special treat. you may or may not know it, but Paul is a huge coffee lover. as a birthday gift, his brother took us out to try some Civet Coffee (aka Kopi Luwak) … $15 a cup @ a coffee shop in SF that didn’t even have any seating…. but yes, it is *very* good coffee. looking at the board and seeing the beans listed at $695.- per pound was a bit surreal.
came home to find my SP11 package had arrived! yea!! i can believe how beautiful the yarn is that she sent. i carried it around to MIL’s and Sil’s to show off and it was hugged and snuggled by one and all. but i’ll save the package details for another post…
sunday, we had dinner over at my MIL’s house and found out that Paul’s aunt has cancer. again.
monday and tuesday, we went over to BIL’s house and nephew wrangled and helped with chores because they were going a little nuts because the little guy was sick and having a bad allergy episode (hives, fever, etc.)
Monday was also the day that our pastor’s wife finally got some pictures to me so that i could work up the album that will be displayed tomorrow night at the special church dinner. i’d been waiting over a month to get to work on this since i first committed (because i had time to get it done without stress then). so, i had 5 days to get an entire scrapbook completed. i have yet to complete a scrapbook of my own… but i made it. 28 12×12 pages completed.
i was feeling really good about it until i showed it to them tonight. the response was a bit disheartening. it’s not that i was/am looking for praise… but a little respect would be appreciated. it was brushed very casually aside like a trivial thing. i did nothing else all week (except a small bit of knitting to wind down that turns out to have been a waste… ) and killed myself (lack of sleep, etc.) to get it made. but to them, it seems, the fact that i did complete it in a week means it must not be that big a thing. ( i also invested a fair bit of money into supplies… but was happy to do it as a gift to the church… ) like i said, disheartened. i’ll get over it soon… but for the moment, it’s really got me flustered.
the decision had been made, and all holiday knitting was to be pushed aside in the effort of making a special lace shawl as fast as possible for Paul’s Aunt. on tuesday we swung by Article Pract and picked up some Rowan Kidsilk Haze to knit up a prayer shawl (Kiri). i showed it to SIL while we were over there. when we got home, i started working on the shawl and discovered (and have since definitively proven) that i am allergic to mohair. well, i assume it’s the mohair, because i have never reacted like this to silk. i get puffy cheecked, itchy, and prickly throated. BAH! but i had just spent $45 on this yarn and needed to make something special for her fast… so i decided i could soldier through knitting this shawl and then never get mohair again…after 3 hours invested in it, i got through the first repeat of the second chart (chart 2 to be repeated 12 times). then wednesday night SIL called. MIL was over helping out that night and she had told her about the shawl i was going to do… and it turns out that Paul’s aunt doesn’t like purple. the color i had chosen was a pale lilac. ARGHHHHH! so now i’m stuck with needing to get another plan fast!
i’ve never had the types of allergy attacks like this until this year. i know you can develop allergies over time… but i was always happy that i didn’t really have any to speak of. now i have 2 that cause the puffy cheek/breathing issues response… 1. unknown “artificial flavoring” and 2. mohair. just being in the same room with the mohair gives me a touch of it… and it only takes about 20 secs of touching it to see a definite swelling in my cheeks.
i am so glad that i am not allergic to wool or alpaca. i suppose it is good to find out about the mohair this way. i can return the 2 unused balls to the LYS (*if* i can find the reciept) … and the ball i was working from can be given to my SIL who has a shawl she’s been making from KSH for the last year… so she’s definitely not allergic. but i had been excited to work with KSH. i had heard so many wonderful things about it. i’m bummed that i can’t play with such pretty stuff.
now, just so you don’t start thinking all this sounds like just a horrible week, let me remind you of a few things… 1. awesome coffee… 2. SP11 spoilage… and then lets add some really wonderful moments together with my beloved, and you have a very intense, but somewhat balanced week. regardless, i’m just hoping for quiet next week. quiet. oh, that sounds so lovely.
