Still Weird...But Harmless

Well...today was the big day! I rolled myself out of bed, passed over the sweats that I have been wearing for three straight days, ran a brush through my hair and even wore shoes. I couldn't have been more excited if it had been Christmas, Easter and Free Chocolate For Sheep Day all rolled into one. I've been waiting for this most glorious of days for a month now. I was originally not scheduled to see this happy time for another month. But, to my utter delight, it came sooner! So excited was I that I may have readied myself a bit early for the main event. Once clad and properly coiffed, I ended up with several hours to spare. I sat on the couch to wait for departure time, vaguely aware of the television in the background and fairly vibrating with excitement.

At 1:00 in the afternoon, the moment had arrived. I leaped from the couch, said a fond, "Fare-the-well!" to my furry, feline roommates and scampered down to my waiting vehicle. I may have been giggling at that point. It may even have been something of an hysterical giggle...at least that's what the looks I got from my neighbors would indicate. I didn't care. For I had earned that giggle. Today was the day, people!

I was finally getting to see the dermatologist about the rash that my doctor, with all her medical type knowledge, saw fit to diagnose as a "Weird Rash." So confident was she in this diagnosis that she wrote it on my medical chart and subsequent referral to the dermatologist. In the event that I should ever lapse into some sort of unexplained coma or develop a tic that causes me to steal underpants, this is what will be read by the professionals who are attempting to review my medical history in the hopes of finding a cure.

Weird Rash, indeed...

At any rate, the rash has lived on my arm in various states of itchiness for two months give or take. Sometimes it is bright red and bumpy. Other times it is a more subtle shade of pink and less bumpy. It is frequently hot. Sometimes it is swollen. While observing the changes and pondering the possible causes has been great fun during those times when summer television program has been lacking, I am really ready to by done with it. I have treated it as little as possible with the prescription hydrocortisone; just enough to keep the itching from driving me utterly mad. Getting in to see the one dermatologist in the area isn't exactly easy. I wanted to have something interesting to chat about once I got in there. Plus, if it was some mutant form of leprosy that should never, ever be exposed to hydrocortisone, I didn't want to get yelled at by the nice people who run the leper colony for my mishandling of the whole situation.

After all the excitement surrounding this big event, the outcome was something of a disappointment. It still all comes back to a rousing, "I dunno..." from the medical professionals involved in my skin care. Near as anyone can fathom, I had a reaction to something. From there, my oh-so-delicate skin condition ( there is a name for it, but it is long, ends in "graph" and basically means that you can trace letters on my skin and then see them come up in nice red welts but I can't remember the whole word) did what it always does and became inflamed. I then scratched it to the point of no return.

At least that's the theory. And it makes perfect sense, really.

So, it's back to the hydrocortisone and antihistamines. I am leprosy-free. Nor do I have to live in a plastic bubble courtesy of some previously undiscovered skin condition. And yes. I actually asked about the bubble. The doctor said that it was highly unlikely that this would become necessary. He is also reasonably sure that, after two weeks of liberal application of both remedies, the rash will be no more.

Thank heavens I only have a $15.oo co-pay. This all seemed rather anticlimactic...but preferable to the bubble scenario. Or leprosy.

With that mystery solved, I must now attend to another. Somewhere out there is my Will To Knit. I don't really remember the last time I saw it. It's been a while. But, at some point, I lost it. I can't think of a single thing that I have the remotest interest in crafting from sticks and string. I'm rather half-heartedly poking along on a variety of projects, but none of them are giving my 'giddy" any "up." It seems to me that I may have over-reached a bit on my summer knitting plans. As I recall, I was really more into the whole thing last summer. Maybe I've just over-glamorized how much I really got finished last year. But, I'm willing to bet that it was more than what's come off the needles this summer.

But the spinning? I'm allllll over that! I seem to want to spin pretty much all the time. When I'm not spinning, I'm dyeing. Or blending. Or plying. It seems to me that I might actually be a little happier with my wool-related progress if I stopped trying to force the knitting and just went with what makes me happy.

This is making me happy. Very happy. The kind of happy where you have a big, sloppy grin on your face for much of the day.

So I ask you, if it's looking like I may just be creating my first ever two ply sock yarn and the prospect of this is making me all smiley, isn't it more likely that I will finish it? It isn't knitting, but a finished yarn is an FO in its own right, isn't it? Heck, I'm so all about the spinning that I finally figured out the whole Navajo plying thing last night on something of a caffeine-fueled whim! I'm thinking I should just spin!!!!! Then, when the knitting mojo returns, there will be yarn a-plenty with which to craft fine, fine socks and mittens!

Maybe I'll even whip out an ointment cozy of sorts for the nice, non-bubble prescribing dermatologist...

SA