Playing Catch Up

My Rosy Opal socks!

My basic sock pattern - a la Ann Budd

2.0 mm Knit Picks Harmony needles

Opal something or another

March 21-August 10, 2011

OK...so I'm being a bit ridiculous, but how annoying is it that the stripes managed to match themselves up all on their own?!!! I prefer my socks to be off-kilter, which I think is infinitely more fun than going to the great lengths some knitters do to make sure their self-striping sock yarns match in a pair of socks. This is the second pair that has matched, and I find I'm a bit put-off by it.

That, however, didn't stop me from putting them on just as soon as sock #2 came off of the needles. I was at Starbucks for the day, and it was cold. (The gentleman sitting next to me thought this was hilarious for some reason...) They are nice and toasty, which is as it should be.

Last week at my monthly Knitting Study group (through CWSG) I received this fun leftover ball of sock yarn from our other Janet. Janet has a heart of gold - as evidenced by the fact that much of her knitting seems to be gifts for family and friends. She has a tendency to like fun yarn and color, often coming up with color combinations that I love. Thank you Janet for adding a bit to my blanket!

Before I sign off for the day, I did want to address a comment from yesterday's post. Regarding the Columbia Star Dinner Train, someone questioned our trip because at one point I had sworn off of eating out because of my food allergies. Whoever you were, you were absolutely right. My knee-jerk reaction to my food allergies was that I was never, ever going to go eat out again because it just wasn't worth it.

Time, however, has made me rethink that particular decision with the following conclusions:

1. 
   
   I am not an island, and my family members - husband included - deserve to have normal experiences like eating out.



2. 
   
   Most of the time it is NOT worth eating out, and in fact our excursions (which weren't that frequent anyway) are very rare indeed now.



3. 
   
   Chain restaurants of any variety are no longer an option for me. When we do go out, I need to go to privately owned places with chefs who are able to adjust to my dietary restrictions. The benefit to this is that the atmosphere/experience portion of the meal is infinitely better at those places which more than makes up for the things I can't actually eat.



4. 
   
   I have to be my own best advocate, communicating my needs as clearly as possible to my wait staff. People are friendly, and they want your experience to be as good as possible!



5. 
   
   I am in an unmasking phase where the true nature of my allergies is really revealing itself. It's been an education, and it's been a bit scary at times. (I talked to my allergist this weekend about my reactions...she confirmed all of this is normal.) One thing I've learned is that when my allergens are cooked and of better quality the reactions tend to be much smaller. Therefor if I do go out and something sneaks onto my plate, so long as I'm in one of those better restaurants I'm not likely to have more than a bad tummy ache with some of the more annoying (but considerably less frightening) accompanying reactions.



6. 
   
   Having said that, my EpiPen and Bendryl now accompany me everywhere.

Hope this explains a bit!