A busy week.....

Well DD1 has done magnificantly this week, and Round One of Bone Marrow Transplant chemo is over, and nary a VomiBag* was used! (we had quite the giggle over the "hipped up" trade name - I mean who thinks up this stuff, really?! Can you just imagine the commercials?!)

Her perm-cath was put in on Monday, Tuesday was spent in the ER for low blood pressure which is being attributed to an over-stimulated flight or fight response (gee, I can't imagine why that's happening! My body would wanna run like hell too), and Thursday and Friday were 10 and 12 hour days of DHAP chemo.

So far the nausea has been well controlled, thanks in part to a new drug called Emend (we are saying Amen to Emend! - which by the way is considered a luxury drug and is not covered by OHIP - imagine that! Like anything to do with cancer is a luxury! Grrrrr!! Don't get me started!) and her portable hydration pump (we call it the hydration spa!) from the Homecare nurses who are in everyday at the moment. Tomorrow most of the heavy duty nausea drugs are done so we'll see how she fairs with plain old Gravol.

Step two - today we start the Neupogen shots again - same as last year, but twice the dose and twice as long to build up those stem cells for collection (step three) next week - the localized, stabbing joint and bone pain associated with super rapidly growing stem cells is not fun, so heavy duty pain-killers will be introduced. I am becoming quite good with giving injections.

My lovely sister-in-law arrives shortly to provide some much needed support, and baring any complications I'm back to work tomorrow. It will seem very restful in comparision I think!

I am knitting in between despensing meds, doing laundry, disenfecting everything in the house every day thanks to H1N1, making toast and soy smoothies, helping with baths and washing hair, and recording everything swallowed! My 2nd beret and scowl in cream and muddied brown tones are done, and I'm working on the set commissioned by a work collegue in a lovely soft heathered grey.

Knit on....

I needed them.... really....

I needed another scarf and hat - an actual set, for the fall. Really. I did. If you can imagine, I didn't have a matched set to my name. Shameful really, for someone who calls themselves a knitter. I needed something for those 6 a.m. forays across the parking lot at work which is the size of a couple of football fields.

And I saw a scarf, more like a scowl (scarf morphing as a long cowl, hence a scowl) at the local department store for ridiculous prices, and since one of the things I like to do is try to re-create run-way looks for next to nothing I got these whipped up in no time:



My beret is standard issue, no fancy work this time. The pattern is Taos Beret - google, you'll find it.


The scowl is really just a long (6ft x 10in) retangular scarf join at the ends, but not a mobius join (don't twist). Just a straight end to end join. Had I been on the ball I would have done a provisional cast on and grafted the two ends together, but now with the cheesy seem, it looks store bought, which was the point of it all!














Lightweight for Fall, made from 4 skeins of inexpensive Bernat Satin at 2 skiens for the price of 1, my cost, with yarn left over for mitts maybe, was about $7.50 for the set.

And to cinch the deal, the very same scarf/scawl and beret style were featured on Oprah as this seasons must haves for fashionistas everywhere!

And now I'm back to my Patons Cardigan, back and fronts done, sleeves and turtleneck to go.

Knit on............

postscript: that Susan asked about the yarn which completely an economical purchase, so only 100% acrylic and was as cheap and cheesy as they come, so not so warm for our Ottawa winters, but lovely and comfortable for a lightweight fall set. I'll do a more practical woolly set for the January freeze. And yes, I own a stupid number of scarves with no hats - I shunned hats until recently, but age has a way of reminding you that suffering for vanity sake is ridiculous - and when warmth looks this good, I say bring it on! Funnily enough I wore my set this morning in the nippy 2*C , and was all but accosted by a collegue (who literally ran across the parking lot) from another building demanding to know where I got them! Happily I confessed my accomplishment, and when she expressed her sadness in knowing she couldn't get a set, I did what any knitter would do when confronted with copious expressions of admiration - I caved and offered to make her a set too! Good thing I like this knitting stuff!!!

Yup.. still breathing1

The days are flying and I've little finished to show you. The baby bibs are finshed and waiting for photos. The Patons Turtleneck Cardigan is well under way, back finshed and front left 1/3rd complete. Clapotis is missing the correct needle size (likely on a WIP I've forgotten about!) and so its start is delayed. Socks on the needles are one down, 2/3rds on second to go.

DD1 and I made an un-scheduled stop on our way home from Princess Margaret Hospital (she went for a second opinion - no real new revelations, which is fine by me and I think by her too, so we are full steam ahead into her Bone Marrow Transplant.) in Norwood, ON when traffic flow ground to a halt. The Thanksgiving Fall Fair was on, and since we missed our annual trek to our home fair in Erin, ON, we pulled in and parked and spent a leisurely 2 hours meandering the fine, fine fair that Norwood puts on every year.

Smitten we were by the ginormous heavy horse competion - magnificant creatures!


And darn it, I was without my camera and there was spinning going on in the craft barn!!! You know I spent some quality time oberving that! And DD2 bought super warm Alpaca boot insoles, locally made of course. It was a great afternoon and the best way I have ever spent time out from a traffic jam!

Meandering about in the warm fall sunshine, I was able to soothe the rage (at myself) I had felt moments before the traffic jam, when officer friendly nailed me for speeding (in my defense I was passing some lunatics who could not hold their accelerators steady and I about ready to throw up from the speed up/low down thing that they were doing all along Hwy 7)!

And so I blew past them at the first passing lane I could find (few and far between on Hwy 7 as you might well know!) and Bam! Busted! Lights and all! I completely forgot it was a zero tolerance weekend! It was my first ticket ever in 30 years of driving. I am mortified I can tell you! And to add insult to injury, it seems the G-man forgot to put the new insurance card in the little holder in the glove box, so guess who is paying the second ticket for that!! So $330.00 and 3 points poorer, when the fair came in sight I welcomed the break and a chance to redeem the day.

So there. Now you are caught up, and I am left to figure out if I can wriggle my way out of the points and into a lower fine - my own officer friendly (the G-man, who thought this string of bad luck I was having very funny until he broke his car windshield putting lumber in it and closing the door - hard! See how that 350 bucks hurts dude?), is on the case! Now we will see if it pays to sleep with a man with a badge!!!

Knit on....



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falling behind....

Where on earth did September go?? I bought some mums for the front step (no pic, sorry) and these for the kitchen - such gorgeous colors! As a Libra I am very partial to the richness of fall colors!








And I finished these (exceuse the poor layout - photo blogger upload was not helping at all tonight!):


















and this you already knew I'd finshed :












As the days zoom by, I know I am falling behind (pun intended - you knew it was coming so stop groanning!). I have been madly knitting the Mason-Dixon Bibs 'o Love and am just finishing up lucky bib number seven.

Then I desperately need to get Clapotis on and off the needles as quickly as possible, as it will be required soon by the recipient. I wound the yarn yesterday, details later.

Knit on....

Scrambling for a tissue....

Not much knitting or motorcycling news here, although I have started some Baby Bib O' Love's for a good friend's pending arrival. My cycling classes are on hold until the strike is over, and looking more like it will not be until the spring.

Two weeks ago we received news on DD1's status in her on-going fight to over-come Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Sometime in October she will begin the 1st of 3 rounds of high intensity chemo in preparation for a autologous bone marrow transplant.

This has left us scrambling for tissues, taking a deep breathe and making plans to provide the extensive care she will need. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

Knit on....

just checkin' in...

Not much going on around here. Work is, well, work - never ending, dull, blah, blah, blah... but it pays the bills and fills part of the day.

After work, well, not much else as the drive test folks have not yet settled their strike issues and I am still not able to write my M1 license. That means I have to push out my motorcycle classes by another week! Bummer...

In the mean time, I'm checking on on these folks: Sanna - that's a totally cool vest!!, and that Susan - who has a way cool husband Wayne - look what he has accomplished!!!

I finished my Shrug - as I thought might happen, my substitution calculations require more finessing, so while it fit me, it looked way, way better on DD2 (I'll edit in some pics later), and so she now has something warm to pull on when lounging in her new abode. Yup - she's gonner as of next month, heading off to room with pals, and try her hand at the whole independence thing. I fell better knowing I have have covered her from head to toes in woollie goodness, and hope it will keep her toasty warm while waiting at the bus stop during the nasty winter that I know is just around the corner.

That is all - oh, a pair of socks on the needles of course (doesn't everyone have a pair on the needles?). And now I'm pulling out all the baby stuff for a pending arrival later this fall (not mine, praise be!). Bibs of course, and I've got a charming baby kimono pattern, socks - for sure... and, oh yes, must do a carriage blanket I guess. I've got travelling time this weekend coming up, so must go up and raid the yarn stash to see what I've got that is portable.

Knit on...............

Kate

Grumble, but no rumble....

The strike by the Drive Test folks has left me stranded without an M1 (learners permit) for my motorcycle class which would have started this week, so I have been left on the side of the road, so to speak, until they settle their issues and I can re-schedule my test. I'm all grumble, and no rumble!

And so I'm knitting while i continue to study my handbook, on yes - more socks, and this. Easy, peasy - I'm on the second sleeve and headed into the round and round 2x2 ribbing that serves as the collar and waistband, after just one weekend of knitting here and there. And even better, I used yarn reclaimed from a sweater a few years back that was in my stash, in much the same color as shown. My contrast is much more subtle - main color held double with a new yarn I found at Yarn Forward called Fame Trend, colorway 655.


On a plus note, the G-man has asked to see what kind of bike I'm eyeing (see it here) to purchase next spring and wants to know exactly where I plan to park it in the winters (that's what biker buddies with big garages are for - I know just the one I can bribe with a well loaded Starbucks coffee card!), so I'm taking that as a very good sign that he's accepted my newest hobby, God love him!

Knit on!

Kate