PDF Pattern: Lost Souls Skull Shawl

[vitugglan]

Link.

Just in case you're into crocheting.  PDF contains links to videos of how to make this.  Intermediate level.

[spaniardx]

It won't let me see it unless I log into Facebook.

[vitugglan]

Odd. I'll see if I can find a different link. Try this one: www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/lost-souls-skull-shawl

[spaniardx]

That looks really cool! Too bad my crocheting skills don't go in that direction. I know three stitches: chain (which is what starts every project), the binding off stitch and the afghan stitch.  I make HUGE afghans all of one piece. The largest I made took me five years and measured 7' wide and 8.5' long. It was black  and I made it for Davis Gaines (he was doing Andrew Lloyd-Webber's Phantom of the Opera during that time) I found a really nice binding ribbon of music scores and roses that I put as edging around it. By the time I sent it to New York, he was transitioning to D.C. I think for Whistle Down the Wind. As far as I know, the Postal Orifice swallowed it and never gave it up because I never got any acknowledgement that it got there and Gaines (or his "people") were very good at responding, even if only a quick thank you.

I spent the past three years working on a three panel piece for our bed. Its grey and white and so big that it might not fit into the washer. All I need now is to figure out how to "sew" the three panels together. They are currently folded in three large zippered bags that we got when we bought bedding and taking up space in the bedroom.

[vitugglan]

I usually make granny squares. I've made full-bed sized granny squares. I hate to stitch them together. Sometimes, you can crochet them together, but it's a pain. I guess you could just use a huge sewing needle and the same yarn to piece those panels together.

[spaniardx]

I have a huge sewing needle for this (or I could torture myself and use a hook). Main reason I haven't proceeded to put it all together is that pain issues are getting in the way. Couple hours on the couch lately leaves me feeling like I've been thrown down four flights of concrete stairs. That couch used to be my sanctuary where I could stay for hours if need be. Now, I'm lucky if I can watch a James Bond movie on Netflix without being in pain for days after.

[vitugglan]

Maybe you need a new couch or new (or re-stuffed?) cushions. Sounds like a mattress that's getting too old. Really sorry you have those pain issues! Hope things get better soon.

[spaniardx]

We got the couch used (along with a matching chair) for my birthday in either '04 or '05. So, yeah, probably needs to be replaced or tended to. But... $$$.

I had a bad day (not related to the pain issues) back in March that resulted in a trip to the local ER,  and then my first ambulance ride to an ER in a larger hospital and testing the next day by a specialist in that issue.

[vitugglan]

Sounds... educational. No fun.

[spaniardx]

Actually, it was educational. Got back home and a couple days later had to go into the Marvel fanfic files that I have and redo a scene that involved an ambulance trip. And, just to show you how my brain sometimes crawls into dark places.... going from the local ER to the larger one, I realized that you have to have a screaming amount of trust. The route they took was basically "back road" and all I could see was where we had been through a window in the doors of the ambulance. Even going through a town that I'd lived in (granted, back in '74-'75 and its grown a bit since then), if it wasn't for the few signs I could see these folks could have been taking me anywhere and there would have been squat all I could have done about it.

[vitugglan]

I had a ride in an ambulance back once, front seat once. They do tend to go backroads.

[spaniardx]

Well, most of the ones we see on the roads are going faster routes because flashing lights and blaring sirens because the patient has to get to a hospital ASAP. My trip between ERs wasn't with the lights and sirens (thankfully).

We're starting to have those bills trickle in now. And, our insurance has sent their usual update packet (swear, two trees died for that!) of our recent activity. Hubby... one li'l trip that was dealt with by the co-pay. The other eight pages were for my ER adventure. Which means that the rest of the bills won't be a shock as it lists "what you may owe provider" on the paper. That ambulance... not as big a hit as we'd been expecting. $$$ instead of $$$$ (or more).

[vitugglan]

They can be pricey. When the second-born was hit off the handlebars of the first-born's bike it cost us $1,000, and that was back in the mid-1980s. I was just a week or two shy of getting insurance at work. Given that the ambulance cost was more than twice what we paid for rent we had to make payments. The ER cost a bit more, IIRC, and again, payments. We now have insurance. It helps, but some of the co-pays (for instance, a $200 copay for the surgeon and a $100 copay for the surgery center for the cataract surgery) can be eyebrow-raising, and we have the good packet.

[spaniardx]

Our co-pay for the initial ER (local one) was $150. Used to be $100.

[vitugglan]

We have a lower copay, but a somewhat high... membership fee? monthly payment? Whatever. We don't use it much, but as we get older I expect we'll be using it a lot more.