oh oh oh...

Monkey socks
Originally uploaded by jacquichris.

such sorrow. such pain. a serious knitting injury. okay. maybe only sort of knitting related... but first a knitting update.

i did indeed finish the monkey socks on Friday. i had been very stressed about running out of yarn, but ended up having plenty. well, not exactly. the leftover yarn is to the right of my feet and there was obviously no danger of running out but... i hit a knot when i was moving into shaping for the second toe. as will be apparent to any knitter, the yarn downstream was definitely from another dye lot. i considered frogging and making something else with the yarn but in the end decided not to. i don't wear socks with sandals so no one but me will know. given how delicious it is, this won't turn me off of Jitterbug but i will make sure to watch carefully for knots when the hanks are wound.

Easter socks!
Originally uploaded by jacquichris.

Friday, after picking up Esther and getting her shoe situation sorted out, i stopped by the local Hancock's Fabrics. it is a remarkably hideous place and is actually being closed. yes, indeedy. you know where i am headed with this- Store Closing Sale.

yarn was on sale 50% off but because it is an awful store, the purchases were quite limited. in the end, although i could find no yarn, i did find a reasonable amount of happily colored crochet thread (DMC Senso) that i suspected would work for socks. i have been wanting to make the Yarn Harlot's tulip socks so this made for a lovely opportunity to test drive both the thread and the pattern. i am almost done with the second sock and think the light cotton will make for perfect summer socks. (Note: they shouldn't be baggy on the intended recipient.)

the injury? oh yeah.

yesterday i woke up to discover i had dislocated my TMJ meniscus in my sleep in spite of my splint. OW! can i say OW again? this is worse than a standard dislocation because it doesn't reduce the way a lockjaw does. how does a jaw problem tie to knitting? most of the problem is from my jaw conformation and ongoing financial and emotional stress, but i do wear a splint at night and guard against things that may exacerbate my TMJ. while knitting yesterday, i suddenly realized that i may have caused the new dislocation myself!

i am a bit of a sock scofflaw. to avoid ladders in my socks, i track the needle stitches- you know, Needle 1, Needle 2, Needle 3- with safety pin stitch markers and knit two extra stitches across the end of each DPN so the work migrates, if that makes sense. this means i end up with an empty extra needle for two stitches three times a round. i am working on sliding it into my hand to increase my speed but still have a tendency to hold the extra DPN in my mouth. what i hadn't realized was how much strain this places on my jaw.

oy. OY!

talking, eating, yawning- all bad. my plans for Easter at Denny's are out. it could only make things worse. instead i am home being as quiet as possible and limiting my food intake to mushy items. sigh.