End ... Beginning

2010 has not been a good year & I won't be sad to see the end of it. I have learned that I'm stronger (most of the time) than I thought and that I have more friends than I knew. I've learned to ask for help and I'm learning about caring for myself.

2011 has potential but it's got it's challenges before any of it can be realized.

Cryptic but that's all I've got. I'll be drinking & knitting in the New Year - not so much in celebration but in reflection knowing that it will get better.

Ringing Da Bell!!

Today was my last chemo treatment and they have a tradition in the chemo ward that on your last treatment you ring the bell. I rang the bell baby!!!
The 3-4 weeks until radiation starts will give me time to pretty much recover from the side effects of this treatment.
More good news - the pelvic ultrasound came back with "just" fibroids so I'll get a referral to a gynecologist and see what he/she recommends. My hemoglobin also went up to 105 thanks to all my bovine friends who have died for me.

It looks like a hot mess but I'm onto the body of Elizabeth - it's been perfect waiting room knitting.




Mitten Mania '10 has run into a bit of a sandbar - Amanda declared that she had enough mittens!!! I know - who's child is this?!? She allowed that I could make her a pair of black & white striped ones to match her new zebra hat but then she's kind of mittened out. No worries - I have a few friends & nieces with hands ... I'm Manic for Mittens!!!

On my way back from Julies on Monday I stopped in Mississauga for Krispy Kremes. I totally love those doughnuts and any time I'm close I stop in!! Kyle scarfed down all of the chocolate covered ones & when I called him on it he said, "I'll pick some up at Tim Horton's tomorrow". I told him that Tim Horton's doughnuts are not the same as Kirspy Kremes. He said that they were just as good. Philistine!!! No wonder I don't waste Hagen Daz, Lindt chocolate or real butter on my children - they totally don't appreciate quality in food!!! Seriously ... they think that margarine tastes the same as butter!!!

Oh Wonderful Day!!!

I've gotten lazy about the mail and tend to only send Amanda across the road for it every 2-3 days. I have got to start checking the mail more often. My lovely Signature Needles arrived probably Thursday or Friday and I didn't get to open them until last night. I know!!! Cathy & Daniella included a purple pin - it's the closest that they have to pink right now - thanks ladies!!! Amanda needs to get off of Facebook and wind the yarn for her next mittens ... I need to cast on!!!

When I opened my email this morning there was a newsletter from The Needle Emporium. Sale?!? OMG!!! I have been wanting to knit a Morrigan (Rav link) for myself since I knit the sample for the book and Rowan Calmer being on sale was totally the impetus that I needed. I had my shade cards out but I still couldn't decide on a colour! There is nothing like having the yarn in hand, seeing whole balls of the colours so there was nothing for it -- off to Julie's!!! There was also the Molly scarf that I had finished that really needed to be delivered ;-).

I decided on the Drift - classic off-white which I can also wear to work at The Mighty Mart of Wal - for Morrigan, picked up a skein of DIC Classy in Spring Tickle for Mitten Mania '10 and scored the Holiday IK (I think that it was the last one that Julie had!!). And I got to see Julie - totally worth the drive to Ancaster!!

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?

Progress

Mitten Mania '10 continues - Amanda loves this striped pair the best. I can tell because when we went out she tried not to take them off, to the point of turning magazine pages with them on at Chapters!! That truly makes it all worth it. I think that the Yarn Pirate mittens will be next.

I've been fighting off a cold for the last week, I'm feeling like I'm finally getting the better of it today. Still with the tight cough but the useless exhaustion is pretty much gone. PHEW!!





I finished the Classic Elite Molly scarf and started on the Elizabeth sweater. I know - that is a circular needle!! The sweater is done side to side and I really don't like changing from straights to circulars mid-project, it can really affect your tension so I'm rediscovering my circular needle skills.






The old Beaumark vacuum that I've had for about 20 years has finally given up the ghost. Mucking with it for 10-15 minutes to get it to start is a serious waste of knitting time & when I need it the most I'm afraid that it will not start at all. I've been wanting a Dyson for awhile & I totally got it at the right time - Future Shop had them on sale for $449 (sale runs until the 27th) so I price matched that at The Mighty Mart of Wal so that I could get my discount on top of the sale price. I ended up saving almost $200!!! I did a quick test run with it on the upstairs hallway and OMG - the amount of dust/dirt that it picked up!! Amanda just vacuumed on Tuesday and while she is not the most thorough she's not incompetent!!

I am almost excited to go for treatment on Wednesday - it's my last one!!! Then I've got almost 3 weeks of before I go down to Sunnybrook Hospital for my tattoo - it's a tiny little dot that marks where they need to aim the radiation. Seriously - aim for the scar dude!! It's a specialty tattoo that very few hospitals do. No worries though - I've set up a ride so it will be me knitting all the way there & back!! Then it will be 6.5 weeks of radiation every weekday, but the visits will be very short.
I'm feeling pretty good - tired still and there is a new thing; my eyes just won't stop watering!! It's annoying enough just sitting still, walking around inside creates enough breeze to make it worse and if I go outside ... tears streaming down my face!! I walk around stores dabbing at my eyes with Kleenex and I can see people looking at me like they want to ask if I'm okay but mercifully (or maybe it's a bit sad) they don't.