Inked

Lucky Devil in Barrie did a cancer awareness event last night. Kyle & I went along with my sister Daphne, a bunch of friends from The Mighty Mart of Wal and what looked like half of Barrie!! It was a more popular event than they had anticipated and they stopped taking names at 7:30. A few of us went to a pub around the corner to make the waiting time go faster.

I'm not sure exactly what I thought that it would feel like or how much it would hurt. I'm really not very good with regular needles ... I think that I was trying not to actually think too much about it. It stung like a mo-fo but it felt so good when he stopped!! I was a trooper and didn't even tear up. It felt/feels like a burn while it's healing.
I'm glad that I handled it so well because I really want to have a 1/2 sleeve on my right arm with a few knitting/spinning motifs and it's not going to be a 10 minute affair. I'll likely be doing that when radiation is done.

Daphne made us t-shirts:

And re-started

I have never been a fan of the kfb (knit into the front & back) increase - it just looks out of place, especially in stockinette. But I also like to stick to a pattern fairly closely when I'm doing a store sample. I tried ... I really did. I just wasn't feeling any love at all for it so I tried a few increases using a M1b (make 1 below), doing a yo on the WS row before so that it didn't pull too tightly. The sweater is done from the top down and I definitely didn't want to have the arm shaping too tight - not a good look on anyone! Much better!! The kfb left the single center stitch really showing a smaller stitch on the inc row. The M1b allows 2 center stitches and they are much more even and the incs are more subtly integrated. I'm really lucky that Julie allows me interpretive latitude when I knit for her!! So I ripped it out and am much happier!

My hair is growing back - hard to photograph, shiny white head, fuzzy hair - but it's coming in. I have a couple of baldish spots where there is no fuzz but there is stubble where brand new hair is coming in.
I would love to have it come in curly, even if it doesn't last past a first haircut ... ask my hairdressing cousin Pam, I can hold out on a hair cut for quite a while. But I'm not picky - I'm just happy to have it growing back. I'd really love my eyelashes back soon though!!

Stopped & Started

The interminable rib is still going, kind of. Normally when I have a sense that I'm going to run out of yarn I start knitting faster in an admittedly futile effort to beat the yarn to the end. This time I think that I was trying to postpone the inevitable. I am about 10cm short on the ribbing. Julie is sending out another ball - thank goodness I had something else to knit on!!

Every Last Yard by Amy Swenson knit from Madelaine Tosh DK in tart. I am in lust with this yarn already!!! I know that to most of you this is like preaching to the choir, but for those who haven't had the experience ... get thee some Madelaine Tosh!! The yarn has a nice twist that I think will stand up to wearing but is soft in hand when knitting. I don't know if the depth and richness of the colours are coming through on your monitor but they are mesmerizing. Saying that it's cherry red, merlot and almost sangoire only begins to describe the complexity of the colourway. insert lustful sigh

This is difference in just winding a skein once (on the right) and twice (on the left). It's just a bit tighter with one winding, and while I'm knitting it up right away I can almost hear the yarn whimpering from being so cramped so I wind twice.

I think that Julie is trying to make me a circular needle convert - that's okay, it's giving me a chance to make good on my justification of the collection of Addi Lace needles that I bought in The Netherlands.

CE Elizabeth

So here she is blocking. Just a couple of seams and the interminable ribbing for the collar. I was really hoping to have it done for tomorrow but I've been a bit of a slacker the last few days. No worries Julie - I'm all over it now!!

My hair is starting to grow back!!! I have some fluff of hair that didn't all fall out and is a bit longer but I can see actual new hair growing out of my scalp! Yeah, my wish for the 'not grey' - FAIL. Now just waiting to see if it comes in thicker and/or curly. I don't care - I'm just glad to have it coming back!

I start radiation on Feb 1^st. There is apparently no physiological reason for it to make me tired except for the back & forth to the hospital and considering that I'm back and forth to somewhere almost every day hopefully that won't be a problem. And I will allow the Cdn Cancer Society to drive me most days so that should take some of the load off (and not driving myself will avoid that eating into my knitting time!).

And I've sorted another dyeing day at Shelridge Farms on March 5^th. If you live in the area (Durham, ON) or area-ish and are interested in joining in on a whack of colourful fun let me know & I can give you more details!!

How I Knit

So CreativeHands wondered how I knit. Here is the video from the International Speed Knitting competition that was held at the Mall of America a number of years ago. No shame at all in coming in 3rd behind Hazel Tindall of the Shetland Isle & Miriam Tegels, Guiness Record holder.

I'm Back

Sorry 'bout that! Had a bit of a rough week after chemo and then it was just plain old busy with Amanda home from school & Kyle off from Honda for the week and I've been going gangbusters on that Windy Valley Muskox sweater. I found out that Dianne wanted it for the VK Live show this week - yikes!! But I don't miss deadlines and I'm still batting 1000!! It's done, my ardent pleas to whatever deities may cast their blessings on Customs Officials did the trick and UPS just has to deliver the goods tomorrow!! You, my friends get a sneak peek, especially if you're not going to be in NY this weekend. I just need to sit down and do the brain-scrambling maths to do a couple of extra sizes.

Today I went down to Sunnybrook for the CT scan & mapping and the tiny dot tattoos (really, permanent ink delivered with a needle but to call them tattoos is misleading & frankly disappointing ). I had a very competent driver (when you're a trained professional driver this perhaps is more important than usual) who took myself and a couple of other people down. We left early since one of them had an earlier appt time and ended up staying later as she had additional tests to be done. No worries ... driving time + waiting time = knitting time!!! I am almost done the 2nd sleeve on the CE Elizabeth sweater. Then just blocking, a big 'ole ribbed collar and finishing. I got this!!

I also met Barb, a lovely lady who was knitting a square for a blanket. Sunnybrook had a basket of yarn that people could knit these squares from - I saw a few people knitting on them so it's a program that works! Anyway I took her picture because I rarely see someone who knits by tensioning around their next. She had the ball of yarn on her left, trailing over her legs, through her right hand, around her neck then into her left hand and she used her thumb to wrap the yarn around the needle. Fascinating!!!

Same Old

I did not start a new project to kick off the new year - not to say that I didn't think about it though!!

I'm making excellent progress on Elizabeth though it's hard to tell. The side-to-side construction makes it hard to block as I go or spread out nicely for a picture. I'm past the halfway point and am really loving it - the yarn is lovely to knit with, the colours flow so nicely and the pattern is easy!!

I am going to work more on the Qiviut sweater tomorrow I think ...

I did wind a ball of yarn today with the intention of knitting socks for myself - a lot of mine are getting old and wearing out beyond reasonable repair. It's a ball of Touch Yarns 4-ply merino wool that I bought at Stitches East a couple of years ago. Yes, I think that it's been aged just right ... I just love the colours but I think that it's a bit of a fine 4-ply so I started thinking of a small shawl/scarf that I could knit. I got lost in the Ravelry pattern database for awhile but came out with Herbivore (Rav link). I think that it will be lovely and am looking forward to knitting it, but I really should get to some more socks.


I am definitely feeling the cumulative effects of the Taxotere with this treatment, the pain set in the next day, but am consoling myself with knowing that if I can feel it working on every other system in my body that it's killing cancer that I can't feel. Yeah, that and the Percocet helps!!
I am having to make a conscious effort to drink more water than I used to; I'm not sure if I'm more dehydrated or I just got out of that good habit.

Thanks for all of your support - it really helps!! I seriously don't know how I would be getting through without my friends - online & in RL!! I'm definitely going to find the best that 2011 has and make the most of it! Hopefully fibroids are the worst health problem that I'll have to deal with this year & from research and advice they're easily enough dealt with. Knock on wood.

I've gotten so spoiled by all of the marathons on TV - especially on Food Network - this past week or so that I don't know how I'm going to go back to regularly scheduled programming!!