It's All About The Socks

Finally, I finished the Wollmeise Socks I'd been working on. I really enjoyed the pattern and the results. I would definitely make this pattern again! It's a very simple pattern, and very easy to memorize. Please ignore the laundry basket in the picture with the sweater hanging over the side. This was the first time I'd used the timer on my camera and had no idea it was in the shot. But, I suppose it was bound to be since I'm in the little laundry area of my apartment. It's not very wide, and not very big. But, since I wanted some natural light for my picture, this was the only place to go since this is where the only windows in the apartment are. To the right of the picture is the set of doors going into my apartment.

About ten days ago, the first graders (and their teachers) at the middle school I teach at had a field trip to one of the theme parks in Seoul. It's the same one we went to last semester with the second graders at the school. At this time, however, the second graders were on a three day field trip down towards the southern part of the country. As well, the third graders were at another theme park. Anyway, the park we went to is called Seoulland. It's ok, but nothing to brag about in my opinion.

On the bus ride to and from Seoulland, I started (and worked on) another sock. I didn't take the Wollmeise socks because I didn't want to mess up the pattern - and trust me, with thirty odd number of boys on the bus, that would be highly possible. Anyway, here's the new sock I've begun:

It's just a simple, plain knitted sock because I wanted some mindless knitting to do on the bus. The yarn I'm using is Lorna's Laces in the Flamingo Stripe colourway. So far I'm enjoying this yarn, and find it nice and soft to work with. I wasn't sure what to expect with the stripes, and must admit that I thought they'd be wider. I'm totally fine with it being single row stripes though.

I haven't been doing much knitting for awhile because my left shoulder/neck has been bothering me. It had felt like I got a kink in it that wouldn't go away. I think it was the muscle though, and it was bothering me for about nine days when I decided that maybe I should try the accupuncture again. Some of the other teachers were mentioning that it might help. Now, I had accupuncture on my lower back when I first got here and didn't have any problems with it (aside from discovering through it somehow that I was allergic to the "heat" patches I'd been using...you know, the kind with adhesive on the back that you put on like a bandaid and it has stuff in it that "heats" up the location where you place it), so I thought I'd give it another go. I went twice and it did seem to help - the entire procedure though, not just the accupuncture.

First I had the accupuncture done, and they stuck about 15 pins/needles (not sure what you call them) in my back/shoulder area, as well as 4 in my right hand in various places, and one in my right foot. Then they attached some kind of electrical impulse thing to some of them and put the heat lamp (or ultraviolet lamp) on the area. After about 20 minutes they took them out and then I had a very hot pad type thing wrapped on the area. That helped to soothe and relax the muscles. After that they hooked up little suction things for about 5 minutes. There were tubes and they would suck the air out of them with this little contraption. I' don't remember the name of the procedure, but apparently is sucks the "bad blood" out....umm, ok. After they took them off, I was left with about 4 or 5 hickey-like marks on my shoulder blade and up towards my shoulder. My favourite part came last. They attached little suction cup things to the area and turned it on - it was a massage! I don't know what is in it - it if is some sort of little prongs, or water, or what...but it was soooooooooooo relaxing!

Anyway, my shoulder/neck area is feeling a lot better, though since I did some knitting and computer work today, I'm starting to feel the area tighten up. I'll have to apply some heat or something to it to loosen up the muscles again. It's not bad, but if I'm not careful, it might end up that way. I don't want to take any chances.

So, I'm off now to do some writing and work on lesson plans for this week. There are only about 5 weeks of school left now, and the last two are after exams. I really don't know why, but they make the kids go to school for 2 weeks AFTER they finish writing their final exams. Makes no sense to me. Oh well.

Happy Knitting!!