Flying

 The needles have been flying!

The thumb splint was due to be removed on the day after Thanksgiving but I took it off a day early.  Sarah still did most of the cooking but I helped a little and did most of the dish washing.  The warm water felt really good on my thumb and I think it was a big help in getting some mobility back in it. 

Our Thanksgiving was pretty peaceful.  We only had three in attendance because everyone else had the flu.  

After dinner clean-up, I sat down and knit.  And knit and knit and knit. I'm making a Garter Squish blanket, a free Stephen West design.  Of course I'm not following the pattern exactly.  I added a few extra stitches for little bit of extra width and I'm changing colors much more frequently than suggested.  

It's only been a week of knitting and the blanket is already too big to fit into my sweater plus a hat or two sized knitting bag.  Being knit with two strands of worsted on large needles makes for a wonderfully thick and squishy fabric. (Thus the design's name.)  I'm not crazy about the way my color stripes look when it's bunched up in my lap or knitting bag but it's better when spread out over a bed.  I think - I hope - it's one of those magical projects, like a scrappy mitered square blanket, where the colors clash and look awful until you finish and suddenly, presto-magic, they all blend together perfectly.  That's what I'm hoping.  But even if it turns out ugly, it will be warm and snuggly.

I'm knitting the blanket with two strands of Brava held together.  One strand is Custard throughout and the second is a mish-mash of mini skeins from multiple sets.  It's a very relaxing knit and the fabric knits up super fast - obviously!  The pattern has a knit as you go i-cord border which is pretty cool.  I've never seen it before and while it's not visually noticable, it is super easy to do and does make the edge neater and somewhat sturdier.  

Squish has been a wonderful project to be working on this past week.  It's mindless and exactly what I've needed.  Remember how I said everyone had the flu for Thanksgiving?  Hayden was one of the 'everyone' and it hit her hard.  Really, really hard.  She ended up being rushed to the hospital in an ambulance and gave us a all a pretty good scare.  This year's flu is no joke.  

She's home now, after multiple days in the hospital hooked up to all kinds of tubes and wires.  She's feeling better but still isn't her normal bouncy self.  Now, if we can just get her parents well.... I'm not sure who I felt more sorry for - Hayden hooked up to all the life saving gadgets or her parents, having to sit and worry about her while they dealt with their own flu symptoms.  Zack seems like he's making a little progress getting better.  His fever has finally broken at least.  But Hayden's mom, honestly, I'm not so sure she shouldn't be hanging out in her own hospital bed.  

Meanwhile, I have a giant snack basket with enough snacks to sustain me for several days and I'm hiding out in my room, doing everything I can to avoid their flu germs.  Thank goodness I have a closet full of yarn and my thumb is healed and I can knit once again. 

Oh, and just to make sure my thumb would allow me to use regular sized needles, I cast on a .... well, the first of a set of four somethings for a Christmas gift.   Also being knit with Brava.  I've never liked acrylic yarns but Brava is pretty nice.  I've knit almost exclusively with it since the start of summer and have had zero issues with it.  It's soft, seems to wash and wear well and comes in lots of pretty colors.

Oh, and I started to decorate for Christmas.  I didn't get very far before Hayden got sick.  And apparently I forgot to water the brand new pointsettias.  Hopefully they will bounce back.

I hope you all also had a peaceful Thanksgiving, although for different reasons.  (I've been too busy knitting and praying for Hayden to read many blog posts.)  I also  hope you can stay far, far away from the flu germs but if you do get sick, take care and take it seriously.  It's a nasty, nasty bug this year!