Officially a Bad Cold

The doctor listened to my chest, took my temperature, looked a little concerned, asked whether I had someone at home to look after me and prescribed antibiotics for the chest and a lot of rest.  He asked whether I had had the flu jab, and when I said yes, he looked doubtful.  I believe I have an official 'Bad Cold' with extra self pity.

Whenever I get something like this, my nose runs so much that it makes Usain Bolt look like a snail.  I've gone through boxes and boxes of tissues and three rolls of flimsy but soft toilet paper.  I can't seem to stop coughing, and I have such a pathetic croaky voice that I'd rather text than talk.  Total pity party here, so I'm making the most of it.  Yesterday I watched Iron Man, the first of the Marvel films, and it was amazing how many hints there were that things could get bigger.  I didn't keep much attention while I was trying to watch Iron Man 2, which is apparently a common problem, and tonight I may see if I can watch some documentaries.  I feel in the mood for dinosaurs.

Now the Bad Cold is slowing down, I may be able to get back to some knitting.  I randomly picked up a ball of Katia Warmy for probably a reasonable price.  I actually had no idea what I was bidding on but I got a huge ball of something extremely fluffy and a pattern for a blanket on the ball band (one ball apparently makes one reasonably sized lap blanket, 36 x 49 inches or @ 92 x 125 cms) and I liked the idea a lot.  I've got to finish up the yak blanket first, as they take the same needle size, but that's just an incentive.  Then I look closer at the pattern.  The pattern is in six languages, and the English version is obviously a translation, but it's all clear.  The actual pattern is a chart, and I'm not a fan of charts as I forget which way I'm heading and get cross, but it won't kill me and I can get over that.  The worst detail, however, is that it uses fisherman's rib as a part of the pattern.  I loathe fisherman's rib.  I hate it with the passion of a thousand fiery suns.  That way lies madness and a lot of dropped stitches.  So while I'm sniffing and finishing off the yak blanket, I have to make the decision - do I follow the pattern?  It will look awesome if I can manage the stupid fisherman's rib, but it's fisherman's rib. 

I found a pic of fisherman's rib stitch, knitted by someone who actually can do it on WikiCommons. 

Image from WikiCommons, taken by Hobbsansak and used under the Creative Commons Agreement

Wikipedia does have a list of stitches, but doesn't cover the dratted fisherman's rib.  It does say that 'Mistake Rib' is also called 'English Rib' which is a perfect commentary on this English woman's knitting, so it has some insights.  There's a 'how to' for fisherman's rib here, by someone a lot more patient than I am. 

As you can tell, I'm feeling a lot better.  I hope that I can get this blanket knitted soon.  Hugs to all.