Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Feeling in a lighter mood

I'm feeling a bit better today in spite of it being in the 40s and raining.  I did a lot of sleeping, which I think helped the pain a bit as your body is supposed to repair itself during delta sleep, and since I don't sleep a lot, my body doesn't repair itself as it should.  Or that could be just crap that I read somewhere.

I'm seething a bit.  I've been living for 8 years with bras that don't fit and a prosthesis that has been too small, not to mention mended with duct tape (over 50% of it) because I couldn't afford the $400 for new mastectomy bras and a new prosthesis.  I went online the other day out of desperation (because I'm tired of one boob riding up on my chest because it keeps slipping out of the non-mastectomy bra I bought at StuffMart) and found a site that sells both.  Since I know my bra size and the company has a guide for a weighted breast form (the same kind I was going to get from the pharmacy) it wasn't that hard to figure it all out.  The cost, including shipping and handling was....$47 and some change.  So why on earth was I going to have to spend $400 for the same thing? 

I should get my new bras and boob in a couple of weeks.  The bra is lovely with a camisole feature to it.  I hate that all fat women's shirts are so low-cut.  I have a sunken chest on one side so I can't wear low cut shirts and even ladies' undershirts are low-cut so that doesn't help at all.  I found some men's undershirts that aren't as low as women's but, as you can imagine...not terribly attractive.  So now I will have something lacy underneath.  And if I lose weight I can afford to get bras and prostheses that fit, another problem I had.  I kept putting off getting a new set because I wanted to lose all this weight first.  I mean, at $400 I couldn't afford to keep getting new prostheses very often.  Now I can.

I'm pissed at myself, too, for not checking sooner, but I honestly thought they cost that much everywhere and I thought I needed to be fitted.  But I'm pissed at the lovely health care ripoff system we have in the U. S. more.

I started on two new projects and frogged one old project.  I decided not to knit the Tree of Life afghan.  Fact is, in pictures they look great.  In real life, not so much.  I decided to start knitting things for charity, which I will decide later just who that will be.  I'm working on a pinwheel baby blanket pattern I found in my folders.  I can't find it online yet but I'll keep looking.  I'm also working on a set of mittens, a bit Nordic looking.  I'm not sure about the name of the pattern as it's not on the pages I have printed out.  And of course, the other baby blanket I'm making huge progress on.  I figure I can make lots of baby blankets using lots of great patterns, mittens, gloves, hats and scarves and still have time to make stuff for me.  I've lost interest in the sweater coat though.  Not sure what I"m going to do with the yarn instead.  I don't really need sweaters right now so I might make more blankets and afghans for us out of that yarn.  Between the blue and the off-white, I have enough for a great big afghan.

I tried to print out the Tardis blanket and it's a whole lot of pages of charts and my printer ran out of ink.  Not sure it's going to be worth it as I can't just start printing where I left off and would have to print the whole thing again.  Not to mention how much yarn it takes.  I might save it for next winter and buy up the yarn here and there.  I'll have to use Red Heart Supersaver because I just can't afford anything better than that for a blanket.  But to be honest, I like RH yarn for afghans and blankets.  I have afghans knitting or crocheted from RH that are over 20 years old and they still look great.

I also found a few patterns for lacy curtains I'd like to try out.  My front door has a huge window in it and you can see straight into the bathroom when you come up to the door.  Right now I have an insulated curtain on it, but for the summer, I'd like something light and lacy that will let light through but not let people see in.  So I'll try out some of the patterns.  A couple of them use size 10 crochet cotton, which I'm leaning toward because it's non-elastic and won't stretch out of shape hanging on a rod.  But that would take a long time and I already have some off-white yarn that would work, too.  Except for the stretching thing.  I've had knitted curtains before that didn't stretch out so I might give it a go.

Today is yucky out and I have errands to run and bills to pay and neither can wait so I'll be out and about.  I cleaned my room yesterday, washing sheets and comforter, vacuuming and de-cluttering.  That alone helped my mental state.  Now I just need to do that with the rest of the house.  Either that or never leave my room.  It's a tough choice.

Well, off to get things done so I can get home and get more stuff done.

TTFN

3 comments:

Susie B said...

Glad you're feeling better, Kathy.

Maybe starch in the curtain will help with the stretching?

Kathy said...

Thanks, Susie. I would definitely starch the cotton but I'm not sure it would work for acrylic. I think I'm going to risk the acrylic since I can get that done in a couple of weeks. I don't think the weight will be too bad as it's going to be an openwork lace. But thanks for the suggestion. I wouldn't have remembered to starch the cotton and it would have looked awful without it.

knittingdragonflies said...

I agree, what is the deal with the low cut tops and super short sleeves, who looks good in these?
Vicki