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!!!

Elizabeth 2.0

I am normally a nice tight knitter, I know how to compensate for that so it's all good. It appears that circulars make me all loosey-goosey. Yes, I swatched but because I have exactly the right amount of yarn that the sweater calls for I decided to rip out the swatch. I must have loosened up and it totally didn't occur to me to check in on it until I was nearly done the sleeve. I checked my tension then because I still had one more increase to do and I was almost at the 18" and even when I match stitch gauge for a yarn/pattern I almost always have a tighter row tension. I usually adjust my increases so that they are spread out nicely. My row tension was 27 sts/4" rather than the called for 28. It's not a big deal but the pattern has just the body increases just 2 rows after the last sleeve increase (by the maths). This doesn't seem quite right to me (usually there is at least the same # of rows after the last increase as between the increases) and I'm debating adjusting the increases to reflect that. ARGH!!!
So I swatched on a 4mm and got the gauge but it felt tight so I ripped out the sleeve and just tightened up my tension on the 4.5mm - golden!! 20 x 28.

I have also made excellent progress on my Windy Valley Muskox design. Gosh this yarn is just buttah in your hands!!

The tattoo for the radiation is a barely perceptible dot. I've been contemplating a real tattoo for a while and I'm totally going to go for it. I just need to find the right place/artist - any suggestions in the GTA?

Takin' it Easy

Just ribbin' along - 2 x 2, 2.75mm needles, 248 sts. Don't feel too sad for me, it's Windy Valley Muskox Majestic Blend for a re-design and totally feels like way more than 15% musk ox!! This is challenging my mental faculties (especially at the moment) - there is shaping and I'll have to sort out the math for 2 sizes in addition to the sample, and my organizational skills ... no winging the pattern, I am taking notes!!

I started on the Molly scarf - it's fun!! I love the way that the CE Liberty Wool get a bit mottled in between the colour changes, it makes for a nice transition. I'm knitting back backwards on the short rows; I think that I'm getting good enough at it that it's quicker than doing so much turning. Give it a go - it has a learning curve and is a bit awkward at first but it's worth persevering. I'll see if Amanda wants to record me doing it & I'll post it.












My legs are deeply achy today. Not quite at excruciating but definitely wicked. There are occasional stabs in my forearms and elbows but mostly it's leaving my essentials alone. Still, I'll be calling the oncology clinic tomorrow to see if they can bump up the Arthrotec or hit me up with something that, if it won't make the pain go away will make me not care so much if it hurts.
It's snowing again but it's the weekend - Kerwyn can be on shoveling duty if he wants to go anywhere and the kids are good. I need to remember to keep up on my management skills - I'd hate to go back to The Mighty Mart of Wal all rusty!! LOL

In With the New

So I've finished up a couple of large projects ... what's a girl to do? Start new ones!!!

Here are pics of the mittens that I knit for Amanda - the blue is Classic Wool & the green is my KoolAid dyed Philosophers Wool. I know, but Amanda loved the lime green so much (me too!!!) & she swears that it's not itchy. "You just think that it's itchy because you're used to working with alpaca and stuff." Okay, I admit that I've been spoiled but seriously - even compared to the CW it's picky. But I give the people what they want!!

After knitting scarves for some of the deserving people in my life I got a bit selfish and knit a cowl from a Trendsetter scarf skein (Thanks Michelle!!!). I added in some Hanah Silk that Amanda had bought for me at Julie's tent sale & some Malabrigo Silky Merino - they worked in perfectly and made for a generous cowl; I was obviously in some sort of blue mood today. Ignore the lack of makeup - it was an at home day & I have an eye infection and I'm afraid that make up will only make it worse. I'm just glad that I have antibiotic drops and that blinking no longer gives me a headache.

I'm on the 2nd sock for Elise ... Top Secret.

The swatches are for a design modification that I'm working on for Windy Valley Muskox. The yarn is their Majestic Blend and let me tell you - it's totally majestic - I'd swear that there is more qiviut in it than there is!! I did three swatches to make sure which gauge I loved the most and I'm going with the largest one - it's airy without making the fabric lacy. (The green is a light sage in RL)

Thank you all for your support and encouragement through my cancer treatments - it really does make a difference, more than you know. I didn't know nearly as much as I know now about breast cancer, chemo therapy and the side effects and I do hope that even if you never have to draw on the knowledge that it helps someone if they need it.