A New Cowl, and New Yarn

I meant to post this yesterday, I really did. But my body had other suggestions. I was incredibly sick, and had no motivation to do anything but snuggle under blankets and sleep. And also whine to whoever was listening about how terrible I felt. I am feeling marginally better today. Enough to write a blog post and possibly even get changed out of my pyjamas before noon.

I bought a cone of yarn the other day at Value Village. It's a wonderful bright blue, textured, and quite thin. I plan on using it held double or triple. Which is what I am doing in my newest project.
Two strands of white worsted weight, and the fun blue yarn, on 8mm needles for a cowl. Fifty six stitches, k2p2 rib. The little red piece of yarn is my marker for the beginning of the round. I started this two days ago, and it's going quite well.
I have decided to continue knitting winter items throughout the warmer months, or for as long as I can stand them, to have stock ready for next year. I will, of course, knit other things, but I think one scarf every other week will be a good start for the winter craft shows, and Made In Windsor stock, next year. Sure, I'll probably look crazy knitting a scarf in July, but it will reduce my work load next year. And hopefully cause less stress, as well.
I now plan on laying down for a while. No need to over exert myself!

I think I spoke too soon

I thought I was going to make it through these holidays injury-free. I hoped, I even blogged about it.
I wasn't quite so lucky.
Sunday, I was scheduled to work from noon until 5, and my boss asked me to stay until 8 to close the department.
Around 4 pm, I was unloading stock in a cooler (I work in a grocery store), came out and went to page the store manager, and felt a sharp stabbing pain my my left chest area. It was hard to breathe, and I couldn't quite see straight.
I sat down on the counter for a bit, trying to relax and take a few deep breaths. That hurt even more. I tried to wait it out, but the pain just got worse.
I eventually called the manager over, saying I needed to go home or something.
I took a cab to the hospital, and waited in emergency for about 3 hours. When I finally saw the doctor, he diagnosed me with what I assumed I had: a pulled/sprained muscle in my chest wall. He suggested just Advil, and ice, and to take it easy. I haven't been able to knit much, which has just made everything boring. I am used to sitting around and knitting, and this whole not doing anything with my hands is an entirely foreign feeling.
It has started to feel better, which is nice. Still not 100%, but I didn't expect to bounce right back.
All this to say, better safe than sorry. Because it was the left side of my chest, and the recent occurence of heart problems among some of my parents friends, I didn't want to take a chance.