Friday, March 02, 2012

Candleflame cowl.



Tired of goldenrod yet? Me neither! Here's my first of two goldenrod cowls. What a cute pattern (Rav link) and a fun knit! If you knit it, be sure to use a really stretchy bind-off; I went up a couple needles sizes for the bind-off, and it still wasn't enough. But it fits over the head, so we're square.

Contagion!

Ben, Bee, and I had a super-flu of PURE EVIL for a little over two weeks. Ben, who never misses work, stayed home for three days, two of which were for the purpose of taking care of the toddler while I languished in my sickbed, delirious and dry-mouthed.

Not to boast or anything, but I had it the worst. I can really do a flu (and sinus infection) up right, guys! At one point, I felt that I did not even have the energy to lie there, and it fleetingly occurred to me that probably more than one soul has left this world (although maybe not due to a sinus infection) because they just didn't even have the energy to lie there anymore. I also suffered some terrifying fever dreams, and at one point dissolved into tears because I was heartbreakingly thirsty and felt certain that my husband did not love me enough to ever come in and check on me again, much less bring me a glass of water.

Midway through my illness, during a brief coherent period, I did find the physical power to get up and try to perform some basic hygiene exercises -- and, Dear Reader, I truly and honestly thought I was going to have to cut the knots out of my hair after lying motionless in my sickbed for four days. It took a quarter of a bottle of hair conditioner to get me out of that mess. (Did you know you can just put rinse conditioner in your hair and leave it there, and the hair care police will not come and arrest you? Voilà! Leave-in conditioner and a narrowly-avoided pixie cut!)

If my Facebook feed is any indication, this flu and/or ones like it have been sweeping the nation and reducing families everywhere to wool-blanketed lumps. So wash your hands a lot, and freeze some soup in case it hits you. Okay? Please! I admit I've been avoiding other humans* for the last several days, for fear of reinfection. Ours was one of those bad and apparently highly contagious chest/sinus/head flus, not a throwing-up thing, although poor Bee did have one inexplicable night of puking. (Ben sat up with her and played the intro to Fraggle Rock over and over. Netflix Instant saves the night.) But, we're all better now. I've got a bit of a lingering cough, no biggie, and Bee and Ben are both back to normal. And I once again have the energy to exist, if only just.

* More than usual, and especially children.