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Hothouse,

My mother and grandmother were the same way. They could knit faster than people who knit the American way. It’s a different technique.

You’re right though, it doesn’t matter what speed someone goes as long as the result is the same.

They had tons of experience and knitting became second nature to them.
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My mother is German and was an avid knitter for many many years. I was always amazed watching how she used her index finger to keep the tension on the yarn and knit extremely rapidly . I could never duplicate it. I do what I do, but will never attain the skill level she reached. I had trouble learning her method, maybe because I’m left handed and just couldn’t figure out how to do it in reverse. But it’s okay, takes me longer but I’m not running an assemby line.
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JoAnn,

The German way of knitting eliminates the need to wrap the yarn around the needle for each stitch. That’s what makes the process quicker.

It’s hard to explain but I am sure that you could find a diagram of it online.

My mother and grandmother knitted and crocheted beautifully. They did many other handiwork also. My husband’s mother and grandmother did beautiful work also.
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Need, how is the German way done because my MIL was English and knitted different than I was taught.
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Alva,

My maternal grandmother’s family came to America from Germany. She and my mother knitted using the German method.

I learned how to knit the German way as well. It’s easier and faster. I haven’t done any knitting in years though. I do enjoy sewing, making jewelry and other craft projects.
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My search engine is saying nitpicking came on board only in 1956 and did refer to picking nits, the eggs of lice, out of the hair. Funny, because lice have been around for centuries. My Dad used to speak of having lice on saucer races as a kid. I still don't know if he was serious and it's too late to ask!
But I love love love knit-picking, because you ALWAYS have to fish those stitches when you drop. Gads, I ruined more stuff and can still not make anything more useful than a hot pad.
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Ali, go to urgent care. (((Hugs))))
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Margaret,

It may be nit-picking! LOL 😆 Thanks for the correction. Also, my ‘smart’ phone has a mind of its own and makes silly corrections to make me look dumb!
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Dear Need, you made me laugh, because I’ve always thought it was ‘nit-picking’, as in going for head lice nits, not ‘knit-picking’ – for dropped stitches perhaps?
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Bounce,

Just life in general. There is way too much knit-picking going on around us.

I would hardly feel like something left unsaid is tragic on an online forum. Besides, I don’t take comments that personally.

Plus, some people have lost their sense of humor! Laughter is good for the soul. I truly appreciate comic relief! It is much needed in today’s world.

So many people over analyze everything! The older I get, the more annoying it becomes to me. Life is too short to take trivial matters seriously.

I appreciate a quirky sense of humor. It’s one of the reasons why I fell in love with my husband! He made me laugh.

So, yeah…sometimes we may respond in a facetious way but we aren’t trying to be cruel to anyone.
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Alva and Ali,

I agree with both of you. How’s that for diplomacy? 😆

First of all, speaking on an online forum isn’t always easy. No one sees our facial expressions or hears the tones of our voices. Misunderstandings occur between posters.

There’s no point to dwell on misunderstandings afterwards. I get a little annoyed when a person doesn’t let something go and they want to drag it out forever.

I do feel that everyone has the right to express their opinion about a subject. Plus, if a person doesn’t want to receive a variety of answers they shouldn’t ask for opinions.

I don’t expect everyone to agree with my point of view and I certainly don’t want to feel pressured by anyone to feel the same way about topics as they do. I like reading various viewpoints, whether I agree or not.

It’s never a good idea to take another person’s opinion personally. It’s simply their opinion on the matter.

There are times when I refrain from commenting because I know that my views will be upsetting to them. Only because I feel they aren’t ready to hear another viewpoint yet.

Everyone travels through their time in life at their own pace. Some travel more slowly, others move along quicker.

I believe we have all said things before that we didn’t intend to offend anyone, yet it was misinterpreted by others. We can’t please everyone! They are entitled to their own personal opinions.
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Alva, it's only in my sinuses. I don't have a cough or chest congestion. I am a little concerned, though, that if I don't get it addressed, it could make its way to my ears, throat, or lungs. A few of my coworkers have had strep and pneumonia in the past few months. Lots of respiratory bugs going around in my area. I have been wearing a mask in public indoor spaces again recently and will probably continue to do that all season.
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I cut my own hair for three years in the pandemic.
It wasn't pretty.
But no one sees 80 year olds, anyway.
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Ali, dark orange isn't a color a nurse likes to see in ANYTHING.
Tell doc that you will take a sputum specimen to the lab, OK. He/she doesn't need to see you, but this needs a culture.
Please do that. Almost kind of worried you got a case of walking pneumonia or something you are missing. Are you able to go uphill without shortness of breath?
That tired thing? That was how I missed my own walking pneumonia 30 years ago when we moved. I could barely make it up the stair and finally got the xray.

Please follow up; I am worried about thick orange. Truly.
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Thanks, Alva. I think it's best to stay away from accusations of attention-seeking. That's where I crossed the line. Even if the poster is doing that, it's not helpful for others who are on this site for supportive, informative opinions and can cause disagreements. I just should have worded it better and then it's fine.

I agree it's helpful to give the tough truth to those who are stuck in their emotions and trying to be overly self-sacrificing in a bad situation. Don't volunteer for martyrdom! It never ends well. lol There has to be a self-preservation limit in caregiving and people struggle with being objective and sensible when emotions are involved. However, in the case of being sexually targeted by a parent, dementia or not, the only course of action is to remove yourself from the situation, at least until fixations subside or can be managed through medication. It's hard enough for paid professionals to deal with that kind of thing. For a child, there's NO WAY that situation won't cause you trauma feelings. Unacceptable.

You sound like a wonderful writer. I'm envious. I struggle with it because these are not essays where I can pick an area of interest like you can with a thesis. That would be fun, at least at times. lol Everything I write is compiling and regurgitating research within a narrow directive. It gets old. And I'm writing several pages a week on top of one 10-page larger paper a month. It's a lot of writing! I did get to experience brick-and-mortar library research methods 20 years ago, including microfiche and all those fun - if much slower and tedious - research methods. I use AI often (Google Bard) to get another perspective on topics. Supposedly my school can check for AI plagiarism, as well as plagiarism from other online sources. I never plagiarize, of course, but we all borrow good ideas from different places. AI is no different in that regard.

I definitely have an infection. Dark orange is the color this time around. lol I called my doc and they don't have any openings so I'm kind of stuck there. It occurred to me that Sudafed plus Emergen-C makes me jittery and shaky. Pseudoephedrine plus B vitamins. Airborne doesn't add B vitamins to their immune-boost formula so I'm switching to that one exclusively. That's part of what's dragging my emotions around lately, I'm sure. Thanks so much for the supportive words. I cannot WAIT until this funk is over.
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@Ali:
Way is right about sinusitis. If not an infection and doc thinks antibiotics not the answer, it is like bronchitis and can go on for two, even three months. Patience wins the day. But anything colorful on the spectrum yellow to green? See the doc again.

One thing to think of is at some point stop ALL over the counter meds. My partner, with his allergies, got into something where it was actually the decongestants and the other OTC meds that made things worse. BAD chronic cough. Could not move the phlegm. Once he stopped everything things started to clear, including his own head. Some meds cause rebound problems. They aren't as benign as we think.

As to the paper, good luck. When will AI be writing ALL papers for us? Soon enough they say and some teachers are not even assigning written stuff anymore because they know they will get an AI papers. I still remember my term paper having to be researched in a library. I loved it , actually and wish I still had all those notecards handwritten on the Titanic. I got 1,000 points out of 1,000 and was told I should consider writing professionally, and don't you just KNOW I still have that yellowing paper: The Titanic: A crisis in Communication. HA!

As to that thread you mention? I came to your defense on it, and I think you were DEAD ON right! As to our OPs, I don't believe in the white glove treatment. I think it holds them back. I think sometimes we need HONESTY even when it shakes them up. Sympathy holds us back. Praise for our attempts at Sainthood makes us arrow-pincushions with nothing but the comforting praise of others. Little recompense. And some come to us to argue. I think that honesty, and even tough love works better for those in habitual ways of acting and reacting that are self-harming. That said, you used a word that is entirely appropriate to that thread: "Made me suspicious of motives".
To my mind you nailed it.
It was entirely suspicious!
Don't question your advice. I have received a few notes that my tough love shook someone out of complacency and habit. And if they more need loving sympathy then I comfort myself they can just scroll up or down to find it.

Best to you and hoping you feel better.
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That was the common sense talk I needed right now, Bounce. Thank you.

Life is stressful. Work+school are a lot to juggle. And then feeling poorly over the last couple of months has just added to the stress. I've had a reaction of feeling poorly after a covid booster before so that could definitely be part of things. Any booster reaction should clear up soon. And I definitely have a sinus infection, not just congestion or sinusitis, so I'll get that dealt with... and get this final paper done. Onward and upward. Appreciate you!
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Ali: You're welcome.
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Honestly, Bounce, I was over the line with my initial post in that thread. Sometimes there are topics on this forum that trigger me. I was already feeling really agitated, or I'd like to think I would've handled it a lot better by just avoiding that thread altogether. So it's not like the criticism was completely unfounded, though OP repeating and repeating about it made me more suspicious of their motives. I know we never truly know who's on the other side of these posts, but I found the tone so at odds with what being sexually targeted by a parent does to someone. But. This is where it's best to scroll by and not say anything. :)

I just can't understand why my moods have been so unusual lately, and why I'm doing things that are out of character for me. I take a mood stabilizer and it works well. I sometimes think these mood issues are due to HRT. I use an HRT patch to prevent panic and hot flashes at night, and it works very well for that. But my hormones feel so noticeably up and down, it's like having PMS every week. I'd love to not use HRT but when I try to stop using it I have a recurrence of sleep issues.

I'd bet there are some natural therapies out there, and I bet maybe some of you might have some ideas for me. Please PM if you'd rather share that way. But that's something else I'd like to sort out. The patch causes a lot of problems and if the sleep issues weren't so bad, I'd never deal with the side effects.

Darn it. :( I've had a rough past three months. Thanks for letting me whine about it. It helps to share here and try to get a grip on figuring out any changes I need to make. First things first: This sinus infection must go.

*And, right. That paper looming over my head... sheesh. I have it outlined but no pages written. I will launch into tomorrow with a hopefully decently clear head. Thanks.
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I'm glad I checked in with you guys about my sinus infection. It was a needed reminder that I have to stop the Sudafed and Afrin and see where this infection is at outside of using those things to constantly clear up the congestion. I'm REALLY hoping that the flushing with a weak peroxide solution will help. I'll see where things are tomorrow morning and decide whether to call doc or not.

Llama, I ordered some Vick's saline spray. I've never tried it, and as often as I get sinus issues, it's always good to have another tool. So thanks for mentioning it.

Does anyone else get emotional ups and downs when you have an infection? I've been acting differently, especially in the past month. Just a lot more agitation than normal. It's like one day I'll be very anxious, and then I'm having a really hard time sleeping.

Anyway, just wondering if anyone else has ever noticed extreme mood swings when you have an infection of some kind. These past weeks have been strange. I'm going to bed early and hoping that I'll feel better after some rest.
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Ali: Have you tried Vicks Saline? When I feel a sinus headache/possible sinusitis coming on, I use it. A miracle that I have discovered. Some of my sinus headache medication is now a little too strong for my smaller size elder self - about to turn 77 in about a month and and a half. Maybe you'll want to try it and I think you asked for advice.
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Feel better Ali.

I also take Flonase, Mucinex and Claritin. I have awful sinus issues from my allergies.
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Ali,
Sudafed is a decongestant . If you take decongestants too many days you can get rebound congestion , the worst congestion than ever .
I would check with your doc about any over the counters you are using and only use what he/she says , and let them know what and how long you have been using each product .
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Someone in my family set Dr. appts. for my mom at ungodly hours w/o consulting me, who brings her to all her appts. My mom doesn't wake up till well past that time, and her caregiver isn't due to arrive hours later. I'll have no help getting her ready, and she needs assistance w/everything. She just got out the hospital for ongoing low BP/passing out cold. I'm not even sure I can get her there safely. She needs to see several of her specialist docs ASAP to resolve the low BP. I call to reschedule the appts. to reasonable times, and only options are several months away, as usual. B/w her and my dad, they have 10+ doc appts. every month, multiple severe health issues. I have 2 siblings, yet I'm only one handling all their health/Dr. stuff. I'm missing so much work/$$ for basic necessities, barely scraping by, in massive debt hole, pets that desperately need the vet, all while one *middle-aged* sibling who lives w/our parents does nothing to help. She screams that I'm not doing enough at every opportunity, and leaves asinine post it notes to everyone demanding things of us regarding my parents' care. Holidays will be oh so joyous at their house while my one sibling and I again do everything to make the traditional holiday meals happen for my elderly, sick parents, and I try to bite my tongue. If my heart doesn't give out before then due to stress.
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Hi Way, it's interesting that Flonase and Zyrtec help you. I tried Flonase many times but it never helped me. I went to an ENT doc a year ago and was prescribed Azelastine nasal spray. I don't know how it works, exactly, but doc said it's a non-steroid. Usually, the Azelastine is enough to combat my regular sinusitis.

I've been using a bit of diphenhydramine/Benadryl and hydroxyzine. Those help some but I can only take them at night because they make you sleepy. Zyrtec might be an option for me for the daytime, so thanks for mentioning it.

I've resorted to Sudafed and Afrin to get through the day. They're not ideal meds, especially the Afrin which docs have told me not to use, but they help me function.

I'd really rather not take antibiotics but I'm sure this is an infection and not just a sinusitis flare-up.

I'm just whining. I wish I had a crystal ball that would tell me this thing would go away in a week if I just keep up the therapies... Without that, I'm ready for antibiotics because this just cannot go on.
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Ali ,

I had really bad sinusitis this past August . The doctor gave me Flonase nasal spray and I take a Zyrtec tablet each day . He told me a bad case can take 2-3 months to calm down fully . It was mostly gone by two months but now the heat is on in the house so having some mild symptoms . I have added a humidifier now .
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Feel better Ali!
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I've had an acute sinus infection for a month that's making me miserable. In addition, I had a covid exposure a few months back and I think I had a mild case. Then I got my booster and flu shot on the same day about 6 weeks ago. My sensitive body is just done with all of it, and every year it seems when seasons change here, I get a sinus infection when the indoor heat is turned on.

I'm in finals for this school term, which means I have to complete a 10-page paper by Tuesday. I've already gotten an extension, so that's good, but I still have to write the dang paper while sick.

I'm calling my PCP tomorrow to see about an appointment to get antibiotics. I just can't keep this up, plodding along not feeling good. I've been using/doing Airborne, Emergen-C, hibiscus tea, hot baths, sinus rinsing (with a wee bit of peroxide), humidifier every night, etc., but can't shake the funk. And I better shake it soon because trying to keep up full-time MS school work and keep a full-time job is already hard enough when I feel fine.

End whine. Back to work. :)

*If anyone wants to give input about dealing with sinus infections, please do. I feel like an expert at this point, though, since I get them every year, sometimes multiple times a year. My expert status doesn't keep them from being very disruptive every. single. year. :(
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Thank you Alva!
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Thanks! Alva, it’s looking good! In right direction!
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