I was trying to find out if I can donate blood because I’m currently breastfeeding. Turns out that’s not an issue. But the fact that I lived on/was associated with a military base in Germany is.

According to the Red Cross web site, you can not donate blood if:

You were a member of the of the U.S. military, a civilian military employee, or a dependent of a member of the U.S. military who spent a total time of 6 months on or associated with a military base in any of the following areas during the specified time frames

• From 1980 through 1990 - Belgium, the Netherlands (Holland), or Germany
• From 1980 through 1996 - Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Italy or Greece.

You spent (visited or lived) a cumulative time of 5 years or more from January 1, 1980, to present, in any combination of country(ies) in Europe, including

• in the UK from 1980 through 1996 as listed in above
• on or associated with military bases as described above, and
• in other countries in Europe as listed below:

• Albania
• Austria
• Montenegro (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia)
• Belgium
• Bosnia/Herzegovina
• Bulgaria
• Croatia
• Norway
• Poland
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Romania
• Finland
• France
• Slovak Republic (Slovakia)
• Germany
• Greece
• Spain
• Hungary
• Ireland (Republic of)
• Italy
• Kosovo (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia)
• Liechtenstein
• Luxembourg
• Macedonia
• Netherlands (Holland)
• Portugal
• Serbia (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia)
• Slovenia
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Turkey
• Yugoslavia (Federal Republic includes Kosovo, Montenegro, and Serbia)

The reason given is that these countries have been associated with instances of variant Creutzfeld Jacob Disease (vCJD) a.k.a Mad Cow disease.

I lived in Germany from 1989-1991, going back to visit until my family left after the 1992 school year.

Each time I’ve worked up the nerve to donate blood, something has prevented me from doing it. The first time, my freshman year of college, I found out I was ineligible for a year or so because I had recently spent two weeks in Africa. The next time I started thinking about it, I had recently gotten a tattoo. Then another tattoo. And two more. Plus, several (ear) piercings. The next time donating blood came up, I was pregnant.

Now I guess I won’t be able to donate blood indefinitely.

People who’s blogs and journals I read seem to be posting about one of two things lately: going back to school (their kids or themselves) and getting sick (their kids or themselves).

Well, Dale and I haven’t gone back to school, but we are both sick. It seems we’ve caught a cold from our one year old niece. Even Olivia has been sneezing a little, though she’s been in a MUCH better mood than either of us.

Please, oh, please, let this be a good school year for everyone, and let everyone who’s sick get over it quickly!

We were sitting at our computers. Dale stretched his arm out towards a roll of paper towels sitting next to my monitor. He wiggled his fingers, unable to reach the roll. I picked it up and handed it to him. Happily tearing off a sheet, Dale then said, “see, The Force does work!”

I’ve dyed with Kool-Aid once before, and I was pleased with the results and wanted to try out some other colors. So, over the past few months I’ve picked up a variety of Kool-Aid flavors at different grocery stores (they don’t all have the same selection). I wasn’t sure what I would make or what color I wanted to make anything with, so the little packets just sat neatly sorted and tucked away in a small storage bin until today. I finally decided to get over my indecisiveness and just mix up a bunch of colors and make dye samples using some Lion Brand Fishermen’s Wool left over from the previous Kool-Aid project.

The colors I used were:

Blastin’ Berry Cherry Soarin’ Strawberry Lemonade Watermelon Cherry Mango Piña-Pineapple Lemonade Artic Green Apple Lemon-Lime Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade Blue Moon Berry

I have more flavors, but 10 seemed like a good number to go with for now.

For the actual dyeing, I cut the wool into very small hanks. I placed each hank into a small microwaveable container, added water to saturate the yarn, then added the pre-mixed Kool-Aid. Next I microwaved the containers for 10-15 minutes in two to five minute intervals. After the heating, I careful removed the hanks, letting them sit on the sink divider until they cooled enough to handle (which didn’t take long, since each hank is only a few yards). I then carefully rinsed the hanks in warm water making sure I didn’t agitate the fibers or shock the wool. Then I put the hanks over child-size hangers, hung those on a portable clothes rack, and let them dry.

I plan to knit each swatch into a small sampler, trying out various stitch patterns. Close-ups of the un-knitted color swatches are available in my Kool-Aid dyeing gallery.

Olivia is 7 months old today!

I’ve completed my first knitting project (not counting the scary, shabby practice swatch made from ugly scrap yarn). It came out quite a bit bigger than I’d originally anticipated, considering it fit over Dale’s head and it was meant for Olivia this winter. Ah well, I can wear it at least, though I think I should unravel about two inches of the hem because it’s too long to sit properly on my head.

Anyway, it’s a really simple stockinette tube with a moss stitch hem, whip stitched closed at the top, with tassels attached at the corners. Yes, there are two corners even though this picture only shows one.

I bought the yarn off Ebay. It’s apparently recycled from a sweater. While it’s predominently pink, it has white, orange, and purple accents. It’s also a single ply yarn that was overstitched with shinier thread in the same colors in a ladder-like pattern, so it’s got a neat look to it. (I keep forgetting to take a close-up shot of the yarn.) It’s also apparently cotton or a cotton blend because it made it through a wash cycle with no problems. (I was willing to risk felting.)

For my first project, I’m quite proud of myself.

Two nights ago I slipped on some water on the kitchen floor. At first, I thought I sprained my left ankle. I sat there clutching it for a minute until the shock wore off and I realized it wasn’t my ankle that hurt. My right knee banged into a stool next to the pantry, leaving some skin behind and coming back with a big bruise. My left foot shot up and out and apparently banged the corner of a cupboard door. I had a red triangular mark on the side of my foot and an ache that radiated from that spot across the bottom of my foot to my instep. I spent the rest of the night and all of yesterday limping around, favoring my left foot.

Yesterday evening, I discovered that more of me was hurt than just my foot and knee. We went to the grocery store and I pushed Olivia in her stroller. After about 10 minutes, my right shoulder and tricep started to ache. By the time we got home, both shoulders and corresponding muscles felt like I’d been lifting weights at the gym. Later, I settled down on the couch to watch TV and knit, and my lower back started in on my too.

Today, I feel pretty pummeled. I have a very sore bruise right on my kneecap, my foot is still making me limp, and my shoulders and back still feel post-workout. My butt, well-cushioned for my landing, is about the only part that doesn’t hurt after the fall.