Feeling far more human

except for a tingling right hand. I went on a crochet bender today. My hand is punishing me for punishing it.

Don't ask me why, but I got it into my head that all the bits and pieces of Cotton-ease in the stash from hell have a purpose - they are meant to be a Project Linus afghan. They're blues and greens and yellows and in a mindless ripple afghan of random stripes, it'll look sunny and ocean-like and soothing. I had to consult Donna Kooler's Encyclopedia of Crochet to remember how to do a ripple afghan, I haven't done one in 30 years, but somehow ripple and the ocean colors work together. A ripple afghan is so retro it's fresh again, and while I wouldn't want one in an adult size, as a colorful, washable, comforting kid afghan it'll be nice, especially in the ripply ocean colors. And I'm baffled once again by the cluelessness of Lion Brand - Cotton-ease was the best stuff they had, maybe the best yarn they EVER had. It's springy and soft and washable and looks as nice as much higher-end cotton blends from Rowan et al. So they ditched it and put out six more kinds of Shredded Muppet. WTF?

Crochet is even more meditative than knitting for me. I'm not sure why this is - maybe because I learned to crochet first, and so long ago I've "always" known how to do it? But crochet puts me into a contemplative state of mind. I spent the day thinking about goals and plans and what I need in my life and what I don't need in my life, and it was good. My cold is much better - I swear the rum toddies worked better than any real medicine. I slept fabulously last night, went to bed at 9:30 and woke up after 8! Imagine my shock when I looked at the clock. I no longer look like death-warmed-over, though I certainly have looked better.

While seriously screwing up my hand on the crochet bender (and such is my addiction that I still want to do it even though my right hand is tingling) I listened to Molly Ivins' "Who Let the Dogs In?" If you haven't read it, do so, it puts so many questions of "How the hell did we get into this mess?" in a new light, as many of her columns from the early 90s foreshadow so much of the bullshit of today. It's also amusing to listen to her collection of essays from the reign of Bush I - I'd forgotten so many of the news stories touching on the Elder's incoherence, temper, sneakiness, etc. It's infuriating and somewhat depressing to hear/read those old columns and really how much of what we're dealing with now was put into place years ago. Her 10+ year old bitching about the spineless jellyfish media is as fresh as today's news.

I've had a slacker weekend - the cold was a fine excuse - but I did do all the laundry, deep-clean my bathroom and replace the shower curtain, take down the Christmas ornaments, cook some good healthy food, and throw out a new pile of crap. There's more crap to go. I rewarded myself with some goodies from One Fine Yarn - some patterns from Knitting Pure and Simple, a top-down v-neck cardigan and a split-neck fitted tee. That tee would be so nice in purple Cotton Fleece from the stash, and the gauge is right.

Tomorrow, Weight Watchers! Girl and I are jazzed, we are so much alike, we both have a relatively small amount of weight to lose but without outside guidance/pressure we'll never do it.

Stole the Seven Deadly Sins from the great Angry Black Bitch.