Bad ribs, good prezzies

Gah.

Remember in my last post how excited I was about doing such a great job with the ginormous pull set at swim practice 2 weeks ago? Well, ever since then, I've been f*cked up - the left side of my upper body, that is. Long story short: I have 2 subluxed (partially dislocated) ribs. I have been in constant pain for almost 2 weeks now. Even sleeping hurts. The chiropractor/ART guy I saw last Thursday worked on me for an hour, but one rib is being completely stubborn and won't go back to where it came from. Last week I ran, taught Spin and somewhat taught abs, and all of that hurt. This week I haven't done anything except for teaching 2 Spin classes (and knit, of course). The first class caused me excruciating pain for several hours afterwards; the second class was better because it was the morning after my doctor's appointment. Hopefully I can get in to see him again this week and he can fix me 100%, because then I can get back at it - running, Spinning pain-free, core work, and climbing. Not quite sure about the swimming yet because I really believe that's what caused this, but I'll ease back into it eventually. I have to - I'm a triathlete!

There are some other things that are frustrating to me right now, but if I talk about them, this post will turn into a novel and I'll lose what little readership I have. So I'll keep them to myself and hope they go away.

On a happier note, I got home from a hard afternoon with Hayden (bad experience at the symphony, aggravating trip to REI, embarrassing stop at the yarn store) to find 2 packages: my Yarn Smackdown hat and a box of prezzies from my climbing swap spoiler! (I'm being lazy and not linking to these things. Yarn Smackdown is a game on Ravelry, and the climbing swap is being played with a group of climbing knitters, also on Ravelry.)

This is the hat that has knocked me out of the first round of play in Yarn Smackdown. Kate and I mailed our hats to eachother on the same day, almost at the same time, so it was a race to see who's postman was quicker. I guess we Southerners just like to do things slowly. It's a great hat, though, so I'm not upset!

The other package was from Lia, my spoiler in the Knitters On Belay swap I participated in on Ravelry. She sent me some great things: Climb On! balm (which I almost bought for my spoilee), a new carabiner (which is the exact biner my climbing partner has - I'm super-excited about that because I have coveted his for so long), labels for me to put in my knitted garments, some beautiful Araucania Ranco Multi yarn (I smell a pair of Monkey or Pomatomus socks in my future!), a toy for Hayden, and some treats for Rudy and Gracie. I love swaps!

Another happier note: I finally finished my Gathered Pullover!

Pattern: Gathered Pullover from Winter 2007 IK
Yarn: Rowan Kid Classic, somewhere around 6 skeins
Needles: size 8 Denise circs and Clover dpns
Discussion: The verdict is out on the happiness level with this sweater. From the moment I saw the pattern in the mag, I wanted to make it. Then I saw one on Ravelry that someone did in Kid Classic (one of my Desert Island yarns) with short sleeves, and the urge to knit it grew even stronger. However, now that it's done, I'm meh about it. I'm not totally in love with the neckline - it's kinda wide and my cami straps want to peek out, and the notch in the middle of the girls is a bit wonky for some reason - and I wish it would be a little more form-fitting. I've toyed with the idea of throwing it in the washing machine and felting it a tad, but I'm scared. I do have another sweater out of Kid Classic that I no longer wear due to the WIIIIIDE neckline (the Greek Pullover from 2006 - although I love the sweater, I inadvertently flash anyone in front of me every time I bend over). I could experiment with that and see what happens, or I can wear the Gathered Pullover as is for a while and see how I feel about it. Here's a closeup of the chest detail - the only thing that kept this sweater from being a complete yawn:


Next up is the completion of my Architectural Rib Pullover. I picked it up again yesterday for the first time in about a month and am working on the neckline. After that's done, I need to do one side and seam it up. I've got a couple of spring projects waiting in the wings, which make more sense to work on right now since the temps are climbing, but I REALLY want to be faithful to one sweater for a while. Maybe once it's done, we'll have a 1-day cold snap and I'll be able to wear it before packing it up until October.