The Cult of Ellen

Well, thanks to some dirty play by the Capitals (Tom Wilson, you utter dumpster-fire, you should damn well be suspended), some shitty calls by the refs & the NHL (it absolutely was goaltender interference, and that goal was a bloody goal, you incompetent, inept, inconsistent bunch of garage league wannabes) - and thanks to the Pens' sloppy play in the 1st - the Penguins lost game 2. Oh well. As @PenguinsJesus said, that isn't cause to panic - the series is tied up at 1-1 and the next 2 games are in Pittsburgh. I'd keep my fingers crossed, but it makes it difficult to type. And knit.

Last week was a really bad ME/CFS week - I was tired and achy all the time, and last night I washed my hair as I hadn't been able to for 2 weeks, and it wore me out. The last straw. I cried on DH, was tired and fed up at my parents, everything seems utterly hopeless when I'm so very exhausted.

This morning, the sun is (still) shining, I have washing out on the line, I've emptied the bins, refilled the bird feeders, and had a call from The Glen Gallery (out towards Cullybackey) inviting me to a showing of Rowan's new knitwear at the start of June, to which I may also bring my fantastic mother-in-law. Hurrah! So, while I'm still tired, my joints still ache like achy things, I'm feeling a lot more positive and motivated. Hence another post.

The swallows, btw, have returned. I must now take DH's car through the car wash over the road, then park it away from the overhead lines over the yard, as that's where the swallows sit and poo.

I did get some stitch markers made up yesterday; once I've got them packaged, I'll put them up on eBay. Or maybe I'll start an Etsy store. Eh. Still no income, still a source of panic. Feel free to Paypal me a penny or two if you fancy, though it hurts my prideful sense of self to say so. But I must feed my pups (I've still a very limited appetite, have dropped a couple of kgs, don't worry I have plenty to spare) so I'll have to suck it up, buttercup. Meh.

Elizabethan Cowl #2 is over halfway knitted, yay. I've sewed in the ends of #1 and taken some photos - some squinty-eyed selfies (what is that burning ball in the sky? my eyes!) and some close-ups. Today is a pattern-writing day. If I can get the damn thing done and checked, I can put it up for sale on Ravelry.

Determination, deliberation, destination. Go me.

Another update, you say? Whaaat? Yeah, I know, I think my brain chemistry is doing a lot better - still some anxiety, but the clinical depression is a lot lighter at the moment, hurrah. ME/CFS is still kicking my tuchus, but that's not surprising. (Although my dad says his physio overcame ME with a combination of meditation, diet and exercise, which good for him but I don't see that fixing me all the way given that my diet is adjusted already, I get as much exercise as I can without collapsing - I hoovered downstairs today, worked 3 hours in the charity shop and did a bit of shopping in Tesco - and I do some meditation and mindfulness gubbins and it all helps but only so far. I suspect somewhere deep in my dad's brain he thinks if I just pulled myself together, I could shake this off. After 14.5 years. But I digress...)

I hope you've all had a lovely Easter/Passover break, even with spring being such a tease. I'm here! Ah ha! Snow! Got you! I had a lovely day out with my friend Grace (from the charity shop and knit & natter at the library) and unsurprisingly we went in search of yarn shops. We found Specials (eh, okay, lovely layout but all variations on acrylic) and Parlour Yarns (awesome, must visit again as soon as possible with lots of cash, and oh, btw, did I mention they do things like dyeing classes) in a very wet and windy Carrickfergus, had a late lunch in Larne, and finished up with the Factory Craft Shop and The Range in Ballymena. I bought 1 ball of sock yarn from Parlour Yarns (West Yorkshire Spinners, heh) with which to knit socks for Grace.

I have been busy! Yes! I know! I've been working on converting some Elizabethan blackwork (from the cuff of a shift in a portrait of Elizabeth I, gorgeous stuff, have embroidered before, works very well) into a double-knitting pattern. In two different forms. And I have charts! I'm half-way through knitting cowl #1
(in a merino/silk 3-ply sock yarn) and it looks lovely. Once I get it finished I can get on with cowl #2 which is more complicated and in lace-weight yarn so yeah, going to take a lot longer. I even have ideas lined up for my next patterns, so go me! Thanks, brain! *brain high-five* And I'm on the verge of feedback from my test knitter in Canada for my Rio cabled scarf, so I'm hoping I can pop that pattern up for sale on Ravelry sometime soon. Which would be good because, yanno, no income and I'm about out of credit card space to buy groceries and dog food on.

I have phone socks up on eBay for sale and no joy there yet, meh. I'll have to knit some TARDIS ones and see if they sell. Maybe I should start an Etsy store instead of going to eBay - what do you think? I have no idea.

No joy with jobs on PeoplePerHour yet, but I live in hope. I'm determined that at some point this month I will earn a pittance. I'm working hard for that pittance, dammit!

As for the cheery mood, that'd be because my beloved Penguins are in the Stanley Cup playoffs for the 12th year in a row, and playoffs start tonight. Woohoo! First round this year is against the Flyers (and we say f!ck the Flyers! Bunch of bloody goons who should be banned!) and the Pens won all their games this season so I'm backing them to win the series in 5 games (it's best of 7 games; 4 such rounds to win the Cup, after an 82-game regular season in which only 16 of 31 teams make it to the playoffs, toughest cup to win in sports by far, given it's a full-contact sport played at a sprint on ice by men wearing boots with knives on the bottom and armed with a big stick, wtf, who thought this was a good idea!!?!) - and then on... At some point, they'll probably face either the Tampa Bay Lightning (beat them a couple of years ago iirc) or the Boston Bruins (really bloody good this year), so it's going to be a struggle. Putting it in context, they've won the Stanley Cup 2 years running, something which hadn't been done in nearly 20 years. If they win this year, it'll be 30 years since the last 3peat. So. Not easy.

Pups are fine - Dante has a bit of an ear infection (again), so I've picked up drops for him and he'll be fine in a few days. Newton is currently burrito-like in his blankies, watching whatever DVD DH has shoved on the telly and Max is full of biscuits with chicken broth, so he's getting ready for his evening snooze. DH is still job-hunting; we've stopped having a fire in the range and I've actually had washing out on the line for the first time this year. My car has new tyres, even though I (probably me, maybe a garage) lost the wheel locking nut key, and 4 new wheel nuts. Thank you, mum! (The bed jacket I'm knitting for her with merino and merino/silk yarn is coming along nicely.)

And I think that's about it. So have a great week and I'll attempt to update within the next 6 months.

If you follow my twitter at all, you might possibly have noticed that I'm attempting to watch all of the Stanley Cup playoff games (or at least have them on in the background while I do other things). If you are unaware of the joy that is ice hockey (closest thing to quidditch you'll ever see on the ground, honestly, joy to watch), the NHL consists of 30 teams (31 next year) which play 82 games through the regular season. The top 16 teams (you'd have to look up about Eastern and Western Conferences and first and second wild card entries) end up in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Each playoff series consists of the teams playing a best-of-7-games format against 1 opposing team. The first round also serves as the semi-finals of the Western or Eastern Conference finals; the second round is the quarter-finals and the third round is the finals. The best team of the Eastern Conference then plays the best team of the Western conference in a best-of-7 series to determine who wins the Stanley Cup.

You may be able to tell from this that the NHL season is pretty much the most demanding (by far) of all professional sports, and the Stanley Cup is the toughest trophy to win. And it's played on ice. At top speed. Sometimes with blood and fights and the threat of serious injury. And all the players are armed with sticks and skates (knives on their shoes. Seriously. Football - of whatever form you prefer - is incredibly wussy compared to KNIVES ON SHOES. Unless it's Australian Rules football. Which is just insane, and the referees start fights and look like butchers, and the players are part MMA fighters, part gymnasts on speed).

So. As of this afternoon, 40 games have been played in round 1. 6 teams are through to the second round, with 4 teams competing for the last 2 spots. I am a Pittsburgh Penguins fan, because they're awesome and lovely and like dogs and they're quite simply the best team out there with the best players in the world, who are also some of the nicest guys you'll find in pro sports. (Yeah, I read a hockey romance, started following the Penguins, then they won the Stanley Cup, so now I have a subscription to NHL tv and spend far too much time cheering them on.) I've watched 35 games (watching my 36th at the mo) and I use the time (surprise) to do a little crafting.

So here's my Stanley Cup Playoffs Round 1 blanket, which is done bar a couple of loose ends needing sewn in. (Dante's in the background, on one of the many dog beds.)


Next up: Stanley Cup Playoffs Round 2 legwarmers. By request from my sister's mum.