ISO: Natural Migraine Remedies or Preventions

There is knitting content here, it's in the second paragraph.

This is a serious year for migraines!! I have always had migraines. They started when I was about 11 or 12. Never too often, but bad when they happened. I would go through cycles of not having any for up to 2 years or so, then wham!! they hit again. About two years ago (it was the year that Hurricane Katrina hit) they were bad. I would get them about every other day, sometimes a couple a day. By that I mean, the aura would come back even though I had already had one earlier in the day, and the pain would be even more intense. I finally went to the doctor and he diagnosed a sinus infection. Now, I hadn't been sick at all, so where had this come from? Fast forward to last year, it happened again, long about the beginning of September. Not too bad, but by October I went to the doctor again. No infection this time. This year, it's like the first year. Pretty bad!! Like 3 migraines in a 26 hour time period. This is the part I hate. I can handle a migraine here and there. But this many is just too much. The only thing we can figure is that it is something in the air that is affecting me. Usually once November hits, I am fine. Oh, and I can't take any of those supposedly good migraine meds out on the market. They don't work on me. They make by scalp crawl and feel weird, but do nothing for the pain. I can take Fiorecet, a muscle relaxant, acetaminophen and caffeine. It works somewhat. I also use a cream that my sil gave me. It has lavender, butterbur(?), wild yam and some other things that are used for migraines. It helps too, plus it's fragrance is light, not over powering. SO....as to the title, does anyone out there have any ideas for some more natural remedies and/or preventatives?


Knitting content!! Umm, I finally figured out why the gauge was off on the second Fetching. You are going to laugh. I did!! I started the first one on Saturday evening, after having a migraine and taking the Fiorecet. I didn't get too far into it though. I did most of it on Sunday morning/mid-day. The second one I started mid to late afternoon on Sunday, had the second migraine, took more Fiorecet, and took Kim to the dance, taking Fetching with me. I did most of it at the dance. You would think the the music would make me tense, but it didn't. I had just enough of a buffer for it not to be too loud for me. However, the Fiorecet in my system must have made my knitting even looser than it normally is. So, I am going to rip it out and do it again. But I don't know when I can reknit it with all of these migraines coming and going. I did good on Monday and Tuesday, but woke up this morning with a headache already (yes I get them while I am sleeping) and proceeded to have a full-blown aura + headache this morning already. And if you are worried about me driving while under the influence of Fiorecet, it has no effect on my driving that I am aware of. I drove dh to work this am and I think he would have said something. It doesn't make me sleepy, on the contrary, all that caffeine makes me jittery.

Costumes, Dances and Fun

It's amazing what a year can do for one's body. Last year at this time, we had just made this dress and it was tight on Kim. We could have bought the next size up. This year she has grown taller and leaner and it fits so much better. The shoulder's though are built for a football player, I had to do some tacking here and there to make it not fall off.

She went to her first dance last night. It was off to a slow start, but picked up after she met some other girls who didn't know anyone there as well. She is excited for the next one which looks like it will be in January. (She started feeling better on Saturday evening and woke up feeling fine on Sunday)


Reference to this post from last year.

I HATE Gauge!!

There are days when I wish I could_________!! Fill in the blank at your own discretion.


Fetching for my mom, same yarn, same needles, same number of stitches, same day even!! The one on the right is slightly bigger, looser, etc. I am not doing them over, but next time I am, going to do two at a time on circs! Same reason my socks are done that way. See why I hate gauge?

3 in 1

I just posted two of these to two different swap blogs, but decided to post them here as well.



My partner got lost along the way for the last ISE......................


BUT, Dorothy one of our swap moms sent me the best package ever!!! A beautiful green (keyhole?) scarf out of Malabrigo. I've never touched Malabrigo before, but it is so soft! There were all kinds of other little goodies in the package as well, some Forte tea in silk purses, with the little trays to hold them after you take it out of the teacup, a Christmas ornament, some locally made soap and lipgloss, some little samples of creams and soaps, and a collector's spoon with a Canadian Loony on it!! Oh, and a White Chocolate bar with strawberries in it. It was gone shortly!! Thank you Dorothy!!! You need to go check out Dorothy's blog, she has some really great patterns that she has designed!! She sent me the Wrapped in Cables pattern. It is really lovely and I can't wait to make that one for myself.


Second post goes to the Knitter's Tea Swap 4.

We were supposed to have a Halloween Tea Party today at our house, but my daughter is sick, so we had to postpone it. Instead, I received my swap package from Dorene!!

A teapot!! And it is a good size for tea!! Many different kinds of Bentley tea to try, Jasmine, Raspberry, Mint, Pomegranate, Mango, Vanilla, Blueberry, Key Lime and Orange Spice. YUMMY!! Strawberry jam from a local farm, a beautiful needle case and the softest suri/mohair from Rhinebeck!! Thank you so much Dorene. I am off to have some tea on this Saturday morning.

And last but not least, I finished a pair of socks this week!!! I started them in August for the Socktopia Mystery Sock. They are Dream in Color, Smooshy, in Visual Purple, done on US 0's. I am wearing them today!!




Now, off to knit on a test knit!! It's a fun knit. Oh, and to brew up some tea.

Happy Birthday Baby

Today is a bright and sunny day here in Oregon. It is not always sunny on October 25. In fact, I think there has only been one other day in the last 18 years that it did not rain on John's birthday!! 18 years ago after midnight on the 24th, as we were headed to the hospital, it was raining and I felt every bump for that five minute ride. :)

Happy 18th Birthday, my first born.

Our month of birthdays

The flowers that Kim and I did this last Friday for church. They actually came home with us this time since they are for 3 birthdays that happened or are going to happen this month.

Robert's was on the 11th. He's old!! Mine of course today, and our oldest is turning 18 in a couple of days. I think I'm the most excited about that one!!



I finished the scarf I was making for the ISE5. It is made from Lorna Laces Shepherd Sock in the colorway Black Purl. Pattern is by Cari Luna, a recent transplant to Oregon!! It is called Traveling Vines.






Birthday cards from my fellow Librans on Ravelry. That was a really cool group this past month. Everyday was a birthday and I felt a lot of love from that group!!


And I have 3 new music from the 80's CD's to put on my computer! All original artists.

Happy Birthday to me!

HaHa, I couldn't resist. I'll be back later to blog some more. I am hoping Blogger is fixed with it's picture problem.

A Busy Week

It's been a busy week here. I finished a shawl!! It is Alix's Lace Prayer Shawl, by Myrna Stahman, and the pattern can be found in the book, "Back on Blossom Street", by Debbie Macomber, or on Debbie Macomber's website. It took 2 skeins of Socks that Rock, in mediumweight, though the pattern calls for lightweight. Colorway is Turquoise, and I used size US 3 needles. It was a quick knit, about 2 weeks, plus a couple of days. I really like this pattern and can see using it again.







The kids are into their schedules which is good. Now, if I could only find my schedule.

We have a month of birthdays coming up. It is a good month for birthdays at our home.

Hmm, I have a question for all of you readers. How do you address comments when they are posted to your blog? Do you say "Hi" in your next post, or try to email each person? I have thought about how to acknowledge the comments and haven't come up with a good solutions. I do read all of them!!

It's going to be a semi-lazy weekend, with a super early trip to the airport tomorrow morning. We are dropping off the sil for a trip back to MI. I'm not looking forward to that early morning.

Kim's winnings

Roxie asked to see Kim's prizes from the spinning competition. First though, I have to show you one of the items she bought. There was a booth that was really different. A Peruvian (?) man had a rather large booth with capes, shawls, sweaters and lots of other goodies from Peru. Alpaca goodies. This shawl is alpaca, very soft, very warm and cuddly. It is a pretty cream color and will go nicely with her Halloween costume/dress from last year.










T-shirt, bumps, and ribbon. She plans to ply the two colors together. Should be interesting.


And her own spinning wheel. One of her friends who was at the festival bought this and presented it to her after the competition results. I thought it was cute.

Our local fiber festival

Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival, Canby, Oregon. Just south of Portland about 15 miles.

We went for the Jr. Spinning Competition and for more yarn. (yah, like we really need more yarn)

Kim is in the middle of the girls in the green shirt. There were 4 girls competing.





Setting up the roving, she hasn't started them actually spinning yet.



Spinning their hearts out.




This one on the right end was using a drop spindle and it looked like she was struggling with it. She didn't draft her fiber at all.


The basket stall!! We both came away with large baskets frome here.

Part of the general spinning circle.


The 4 girls getting their results several hours later. They all did very good!! Kim won first in her category of most consistent spinning and even had the longest with 59 yds. The girl who won the spinning wheel? The 2nd one from the left, the one who had been using the drop spindle. They all won ribbons and prizes. Kim came home with a T-shirt and two bumps of roving in green and purple.



Pretty flowers at the farm we stopped at for apples on our way home.



My basket. It's a pretty purple-pink.


Some of our stash.


Soap from Fogwash Soap Company



Lots of Duet Sock Yarn from A Swell Yarn Shop. And some from Butternut Woolens. And a pattern from Gardiner Yarn Works.

A new form at our house

Kim is a designer at heart. She comes up with all kinds of cool little knitted things, or sewn things. (I have to follow a pattern, I can't dream things up on my own) So when she asked for a dress form, I thought it would be great to have one around. I priced them and said, "not yet". So last week I got an email about dress forms on sale at Joann.com. I read the reviews on both that were offered, and placed an order for this gal. She can be used for both Kim and myself. It's weird how we can have similar measurements but have totally different body types.






And a couple of finished objects. A hat for a friend.......


And some interesting "lace" doilies. These have not been washed or dressed out(blocked). These are about the right size to place your drink on.


This one is huge!! It's probably 12 inches in diameter pre-dressing. I think it is so cool how I learned to do these. All of them are made from cotton of the Peaches and Cream variety on size 3 needles.

Socks Done

My most recent Rockin' Sock Club socks. Summer of Love Lace. Vine lace pattern on the cuff is done on US 1's, and the rest of the sock on 0's. Color is Flower Power. Definitely summer socks as they are fairly short. I haven't taken any other pictures, so the lace pattern doesn't show up very well in these pictures.




I spent the afternoon in a lace class. With Myrna Stahmann. She is cool!! I like her idea of what lace is. It's whatever you want it to look like. I go back tomorrow for an all day class. This is the Fall Knitting Retreat with the Tigard Knitting Guild. Worth the money!! And it's less than 5 minutes from my house, so I am not staying the night at the retreat center.

It's all about the Birds!

Pictures from the swifts this last weekend, and a Finished Object at the end!! It's beautiful.




This is one of the hawks that was stalking these little swifts.
As it grew darker, they started spiraling into the chimney.










My Mystery Stole 3 is off of the needles as of Monday night!! I blocked it yesterday/today. I could not get the wing to block the way I wanted it to. The bind off in the pattern is too tight.

The theme ended up being Swan Lake, and this is the wing end. You can see the feathers, I think they are beautiful.


Cat's Paws like the ballet steps.










The stats on it. Grignasco MerinoSilk in Dove Gray from Woodland Woolworks. I might have used half of the ball, maybe. Size US 3 needles.