Sunday, April 17, 2016

Still very little knitting. Is this a symptom of a deeper malaise? James’ wife Cathy asked me early last week for the Latin for “Help! I’m dissolving!” (Something to do with something she’s writing.) I offered “Subvenite! Liquor!” and have wondered since if I should adopt it as my own motto. I discovered in the course of looking things up that Ovid says somewhere of somebody that she “…liquitur in lacrimas” (= ”…dissolves into tears”). It’s always slightly disconcerting to find a modern phrase in the Bible or Shakespeare or, in this case, Ovid.

I’m sorry for my absence. My husband has another chest infection. Perhaps more accurately, his chronic condition has flared up again. Our GP suspected trouble when he was here on Wednesday, and prescribed a course of antibiotics now half-finished. But my husband continued to weaken and this morning his diabetic nurse told me to phone the emergency NHS weekend number.

A nice doctor came fairly promptly and wanted to send my husband off to hospital yet again. We demurred, and he acquiesced, too polite to ask why we had called him out if we weren’t going to take his advice. My husband has been in bed all day, too weak to totter about, disagreeable but clear-headed. I don’t think he lost ground during the day. Tomorrow we’ll call our own doctor.

Knitting

I have got as far as to hold the shoulders of the Sous Sous up against each other, and I even tried slipping a needle through some of the bound-off stitches on the back shoulder, to see if I could by that means, graft them to the live stitches of the front. It soon became obvious that the answer was, no. And just at the right moment, I read your heartening comment, Mary Lou, to the effect that a grafted shoulder might not be strong enough anyway to hold up this fairly hefty item.


So the next thing is to do the binding-off and start seaming. But all that has actually happened is a few more rows of half-brioche.

11 comments:

  1. Anonymous10:02 PM

    Shoulders: yes - no expert here, but I really like the structure of a shoulder seam. Too bad about the chest infection - hope for good progress all round for your household this week, Jean.
    - Beth in Ontario

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  2. I seem to have lost some knitting mojo myself. Something in the air? Dissolve into tears in Ovid - how wonderful.

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  3. Anonymous1:27 AM

    Very sorry to hear about health issues resurfacing.
    I hope your husband is as comfortable as possible.
    LisaRR

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  4. Be comfortable in your judgment. Thinking of you.

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  5. Carol M5:10 AM

    Glad to see you blogging today.
    I like a strong shoulder bind-off, too. I favor the 3-needle bind-off, but do not bind off as I k2tog - wait until the seam is connected and then bind off (hope this makes sense). The end result gives a bit of extra strength to the seams.
    Sending wishes for your husband's quick recovery and a cheerier week ahead.

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  6. I'm sorry to hear your husband is unwell again. I hope he is able to avoid another hospitalization. I'm not surprised you haven't got much knitting done. There must be a fair amount of stress in your life at the moment. And while knitting can help relieve stress, I think there's a stress saturation point that can be reached that makes it hard to do anything creative. As for the shoulder seams, I've heard the same thing.

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  7. Sorry to hear of your husband's recent flare up. Hope you are getting eough rest. Knitting mojo is a loyal friend. Have no fear, like Pippi Longstocking, she will return!

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  8. Sorry to hear of your husband's recent flare up. Hope you are getting eough rest. Knitting mojo is a loyal friend. Have no fear, like Pippi Longstocking, she will return!

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  9. Hope that your husband's health improves today.
    That cry for help sounds like someone turning to the bottle, rather than dissolving themselves. Let's hope that's not you, Jean.

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  10. So sorry to hear of your husband's setback in health. Knitting is only a relief and comfort when it can be enjoyed as a simple pleasure - it shouldn't be a chore unless it's done for pay. But I hope you're finding something to be your treat each day; Perdita, perhaps?

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  11. I hope as spring takes hold your health and strength will increase with the temperatures.

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