The burn saga

Warning: This post gets a bit gross, you may want to skip it.


Monday, the 14th of January, at dinnertime, I decided to make Creamy rice, chicken and spinach I vary that recipe slightly, I make regular rice with it, the not instant kind. My stove has 4 burners, the largest one, the right front has stopped working so I've taken to doing most of the cooking on the front left one. That one is very near the sink. That area of the kitchen is tiny. As my rice was bubbling away nicely, steam escaping through a gap between pot and lid, I decided I needed to use the sink for something. I don't even remember what. But as I reached into the sink, my right arm grazed the rice pot in the exact place the steam was escaping.

OW!

At first it didn't hurt especially much, yes it hurt some but no worse than any other burn. I splashed some water on it and continued cooking. It was after dinner with it beginning to hurt more and more that I begin to think something was up. I kept it cool and moist, cause that's the only way it was tolerable and I regretted having killed the aloe plant.

The next morning it was tender and uncomfortable but it didn't hurt quiet so much so I carried on. That evening it started to blister. The whole thing became a blister. The burn is about the size of a quarter, by the way. I was worried about the blister popping while I slept, but I was afraid to cover it. Well it did pop in my sleep.

On to Wednesday. The popped blister skin was laying flat next to the burned skin. It didn't hurt terribly much. The deflated skin started to fill up with blister goo again and since it was stretched from being filled before it poked way out.

This is where I became stupid.

I popped it on purpose. Ya know the body makes blisters for a reason. It began to hurt. So to further my stupidity when the loose skin started to fill up with blister goo a third time I pulled the dead skin off.

It throbbed, my whole arm was one big stinging pulse of pain. Over the next 3 days the burn became a shiny red spot in the middle of a nice swelled patch on my arm. I couldn't touch my arm anywhere between elbow and wrist. The burn kept me up at night, kept me from wearing long sleeves, kept me from knitting, surfing the web or even sitting comfortably on the couch. It was absolute hell!

Fast forward to Sunday morning. I wake up and the burn is starting to scab. AND it's stopped hurting as much. The swelling around the burn has gone down and I can use my arm again. By Monday I can touch the burn without agony and I can flex and unflex my elbow without pain. Today it still hurts if I try to lean on it, but otherwise it's fine. It's completely covered by a scab and it itches like crazy but it hardly hurts at all. I am so lucky it didn't become infected along the way.

So my advice for you . . .
Steam is hot, stay the hell away from it!
Don't be a dumb ass, if you're body says you need a blister, you need a blister!

Stitch Markers From the UK

I really need to keep up with my blogging. I never blogged about the stitch markers I won during the KH New Year's swap. They're from Here and I love them! There are two standard markers and 2 that have hooks so you can hook them on the needle and move them as desired. It's inspired if you ask me! My camera doesn't want to cooperate and take a picture of small things without being so blurry so unfortunately there is no pic, but check out the site linked above to see similar ones.

New Year Swap at KH

I just realized I never actually blogged about my swap goodies. I did mention the 100% cotton that I used to make the dishcloths but i never talked about the other things.

5 hand made stitch markers
* a packet of Lionbrand stitch makers
* 3 balls of 100% cotton yarn, in three different colors
* 2 balls of Paton's Kroy sock yarn
* 2 balls of Meilenweit Cotton
* a photo mouse pad
* a set of size 1 double point needles for the socks
* and a pack of chocolate and caramel covered pretzel sticks

The mouse pad is currently sporting a picture Samantha drew of a Goomba from Super Mario bros.
I'm itching to get started on more dishcloths for the other skeins of cotton. I'm still working up the nerve for those socks. Those needles look awfully tiny! Currently I'm making a set a wrist warmers/fingerless mitts for myself and am using the stitch markers. I loves them!

The joy of a dishcloth

Dishcloth
Originally uploaded by eccentric.scorpion

I recently participated in a yarn swap. Everyone's name goes into a hat and then names are secretly drawn, partners assigned and then you buy yarn for your person and send it along. It was a lot of fun and I have every intention of doing it again soon!

The person who got my name, Samantha, gifted me with some lovely sock yarn and teeny needles to knit them with. But she also included some 100% cotton yarn. I'd never used 100% cotton before and a dishcloth seemed less intimidating than a sock so I tried it first.

I cast on 46 stitches, figuring that'd be about 9 inches (which is the length of my current store bought dish cloth). I knit along happily, until I noticed that I was a row off my pattern. So, as is my way, I repeated the mistake a few rows later to make it a design feature :P

And then I washed dishes, it was amazing. First I must tell you that I can't use metal pot scourer things because I can't stand metal on metal, I always use plastic ones. Since I don't wash dishes as soon as the meal is over, (bad me, bad, bad) I often use the plastic scrubber to get dried food off of plates and bowls. With this handmade dishcloth I didn't have to do that. It handled everything, the purl bumps made excellent scrubbing surfaces. I was amazed.

The only problem I have with it is that it's a bit heavy. I didn't take into account, when I selected a size, that the cotton would be heavier than the flimsy store bought material.

I did manage to get it all dirty, tomato sauce will do that, ya know, so the one pictured up top is a smaller square I worked on to finish the ball of yarn. I think the smaller version will help with the weight issue as well. Plus I can get two or three from one ball of yarn :P

Lol it seems silly to rave about this now but I really am in love with handmade dish clothes now.
Must make more . . . . .

The Real Christmas Tree versus Artifical Debate

I'm hearing, (well I should say reading, cause it's all on the interweb) a lot of people saying that an artificial tree is better for the environment. Truth is, an artificial tree is the worst possible choice for the environment.

Artificial trees might look like the more environmental choice since it's reusable and you're not killing a tree. But they’re usually made of PVC! Do you know how many toxic chemicals are released into the air during production? Let's see . . . mercury, chlorine, oh and the most toxic chemical known to science, Dioxin. Compare that to a tree growing in a field which is producing oxygen. Also when they wear out, and they will wear out, where do they go? that's right the good ole landfill. Artificial tress can't be recycled.

The majority of live Christmas trees are from a farm and grown specifically for that purpose. When they're are harvested, another tree is planted to take their place. It takes from 10 - 12 years for a tree to grow to the standard Christmas tree size. With a growth rate that slow, you can rest assured that most farmers, if not all, are running their farms in a sustainable fashion.

It's true that many farms do use pesticides and other chemicals in their quest for the perfect tree shape, so you should always check them out before buying. Our local Christmas tree farm has birdhouses throughout the fields. Also try to buy local, if you're tree had to travel 300 miles it's caused quiet a bit of pollution on the way.

Artificial trees are crammed back in their boxes after Christmas or taken to the landfill. What do you do with a real tree after the holidays? Many cities have a recycling program just for the trees, they chip them and use them around the town for mulch or give away them away as free mulch (check around and see if you're town has such a program). If you live near a lake or pond, a tree can be sunk to provide habitat for fish and aquatic animals, yet another reason to make sure it's pesticide free. If you have a lot of land you can put it outside to slowly rot back into the earth. Don't forget to remove all your ornaments.

Of course you can avoid the 'what to do with it after' question altogether if you buy a tree with root ball still attached and plant it afterward. If you don't have a place to plant, think of donating it to your town or a local retirment community to be used as a landscape tree. Just make sure you plan ahead and buy a tree that will do well in your area.

If you're still concerned. Try a rosemary topiary. They're often shaved into a Christmas tree like shape and you can use the herb in your cooking and crafts around the house. Or don't have a tree at all. Santa can leave those presents piled on the couch, under the kitchen table, or on top of the book shelves.

Really, he's flexible.