Dawn Brocco's Life & Design Blog

Doc said the eye is doing fine. I have 4 more weeks of 3 drops to put in 4x a day, and the eye will undilate by 2 weeks after that - SO that's 6 more weeks of crummy sight to put up with. The eye is still quite sore and doesn't allow me to work for long periods as I used to, and has me quit earlier in the evening than I used to, as it has had enough by then.

I've tried various patches on the eye, so that I can just focus out of the other eye, but none are really comfortable/stay put well. It doesn't help that the eye and brow bones are still sore.

I've re-proofed my 2 designs for the next Gazette issue and have started the swatches for my yarn review. This weekend, I gotta start taking the design photos, then digitally enhancing them - THAT should be fun - not! As it means a long time at the computer.

I worked a bit on that Peace Fleece pullover, then decided I wanted something different. That particular design idea really needs a different kind of yarn, something with more drape, and a softer fiber. I may do it in my cashmere, instead.

I did, however, immediately feel drawn to the idea of a cabled design. So, I swatched and CO for that. I want waist shaping or at least delineation, and I've noticed 2 designs in the current VK that are employing similar ideas to mine, as alternative ways to delineate a waist "without" decreasing and increasing sts at the waist. One used eyelets all around, and the other accentuated the waist with cables.

My first design used eyelets just at the sides with ties, instead of all around, and this cabled design will use allover cables at the waist to cinch it.

The first idea was to be a pullover with placket. This cabled one will be a cardigan. They're much more useful than pullovers and I haven't nearly enough of them.

I'm making a size that will allow for a fitted look, not loose and definitely not the baggy look of years past. I think it'll be infinitely prettier as a fitted silhouette.

It's a cloudy day, we're due for rain, so hubby isn't gonna get much done on the endless exterior prep work, so we're actually getting to the mall today! The only places I've been over the past couple of months have been doctor's offices and the ambulatory surgery!

I do need to find a pair of low-rise khakis, like the ones I bought on the Cape that I wore once, washed them, then they shrank. I gave them to my daughter, who's a size or 2 smaller than I am. I also need loungewear slacks. Something a step up from jammies, for working at home. All mine are ancient and falling apart. At least comfortable ones are easier to find than jeans or other slacks, which can be torture to find.

There's a Barnes & Noble finally opening in Kingston. Now if I only had a small fortune, I'd happily ensconce myself in that shop for the day, buying up tons of books. How I love books! There's nothing like holding a book in your hands, and a well-made book is a pleasure unto itself, regardless of the content. This love harkens back to my youth, where books were my only "out" in life. The only escape afforded me. I still love to become so engrossed in a story, that everything in reality falls away. Nothing exists but those characters and that story. "It" becomes reality. And finishing the story is often a let-down, as one's consciousness slides back to where it was before it was allowed the freedom to fly somewhere else!

I don't have the time to leave my reality like that, anymore. Once in a blue moon, typically when a New Harry Potter book comes out and I can finally secure one from our local library, where, even though they'll stock 5 or 6 copies, it can be months before one becomes available for borrowing. The last one, I devoured in a weekend, all 800 and something pages. I don't like to stop, I don't like anything interrupting the flow of the story. I'll end up all stiff from sitting so long, but I don't care, it's just the body. The brain is having such fun on its flight of fancy!