Aran Isle Slippers & M&Ms

As you've seen in a prior post I have been knitting Aran Isle Slippers as gifts. The pattern is in the Holiday issue of Interweave Knits (pg. 80). I found the single sole to be rather thin and flimsy So I knitted 2 more soles, 2 stitches narrower than the originals, and sewed them into the slippers, wrong sides together. It makes for a cushier sole, puts a stockinette side against the foot for more comfort and stabilizes the shape of the slippers. The slipper soles are shaped to be right and left so the second sole for a right slipper should be a left sole and vice versa. And I made the inner soles 2 stitches narrower so there wouldn't be any bunching when it is sewn in. It fits perfectly.

These are for my SIL Maria.




The M&Ms? I'm eating the red ones as a visualization of red blood cells in honor of my friend Alison who is fighting for her life. She has Lupus which is when the body's immune system goes crazy and attacks its own body in error. One of the things it has done to Alison's body is to cause Crohn's which is a devastating disease all by itself. Alison's doctors have the nearly impossible task of trying to get the immune system toned down enough that it stops trying to kill the whole body and just do the once-in-a-while job it is supposed to do. She has just started on Humira to do just that and stop her from bleeding to death with Crohn's.

When your body is fighting an infection you have a lot of white blood cells running around in your body. Alison has waaay too many. She needs more good, robust, healthy red blood cells so I am visualizing on her behalf by eating the red M&Ms. Does that make any sense? I've been praying for Alison for many years and I thought maybe I could mentally send some more power to her battered body. I hope it's not just a silly excuse to eat red M&Ms. :o)

Alison's blog, http://spindyeknit.com/, is on my list of favorites if you want to take a look. She's a fighter with a positive outlook on life. She is a gentle soul who is always doing something kind for someone else. She is loved and prayed for by many but there is always room for more. She's been too sick to read her email but she can read her blog comments on her laptop without having to sit up. So we are leaving lots of comments on her blog. If you go over tell her Gretchen sent you!