2012 Draws To A Close

It's been so long since I've had the---time, energy, desire--take your pick, to post anything.  I thought maybe before the New Year passed by I would take a few minutes to type up a quick entry.

Recovery continues after getting through my treatments and stem cell transplant.  I've come a long way but need to keep going to try and get back to feeling like myself and having the energy and stamina to do what I would like.  My goal is to be strong enough to get out in the garden and wrestle it back into shape once the warm weather returns.  Since it's barely 20 degrees today, that seems like a long way off, but I'm sure it will come before we know it.

We certainly are having a much better Christmas this year.  Even though it probably wasn't the wisest idea, considering I still had much to do at home, we took a quick trip to Vegas last week.  Our son was home on break, so the whole family got to spend a few days together with nothing to do but have some fun.  Unfortunately, trouble did hit once we got home.  The guys picked up some kind of stomach flu and we no more than got in the door from the airport and...well, not good.  We even ended up in the ER one day to get some IV fluids.  Not quite sure how I dodged that bullet.  Post transplant paranoid hand washing pays off.

So, we had to miss my family party on Saturday.  We didn't want to be responsible for five families coming down with that mess at Christmas!  We'd be disowned.

Now I'm looking forward to another week to spend with the family before everyone heads back to school and work.  Lots of good movies in the theaters to see.  A few plans with friends.  A fun New Year's Eve ahead.  Fresh snow would be nice, too.

Very much looking forward to 2013. 

Annual Fall Trip to the North Shore (sans donuts)

Due to post-stem cell transplant issues, we've stuck pretty close to home this summer, but with our beautiful fall weather and the other half having a few extra days off from work, we decided to head North.  The colors are getting close to peak, so we were looking forward to a colorful drive.

It was a pretty day and being able to leave on a Sunday meant we were driving against the traffic.  Road construction wasn't a problem.

Even though we're not fortunate enough to live on Minnesota's North Shore, we are lucky to live close by so that we can visit often, and it's amazing how the lake can change from one visit to the next.  Strikingly blue and calm one day and steely grey and forbidding the next.  We've seen it locked in ice one day and free flowing by morning.  What a Great Lake!  Ha, ha.

This year, we happened to hit the colors and the weather just right.  Mostly brilliant blue skies and enough of a wind change to make each day a different experience.

While we were in Duluth it was calm and warm for the season.  We even saw one brave couple go in for a swim.  I can't even imagine what that was like.  I know that can be painful in the middle of August!  We were content to stick to shore.  We did tough out the chills of sharing a malted milk--brave souls that we are.

By the time we got up to Grand Marais, the waves were incredible.  We couldn't even walk out to the lighthouse because they were crashing and spraying over the pier.  Overnight things calmed down and by the next morning it was t-shirt weather and we were able to walk out to the point.

Tragedy did strike at one point, however, when we realized that the World's Greatest Donuts shop had gone to fall hours and would not be open while we were in town.  We could have cried.  Honestly, it's one of the reasons we go to that town.  My plan was to press our faces to the glass and look as pitiful as we possibly could, but the place looked deserted and I don't think it would have made much difference.  Even though it wasn't a freshly made sugar donut, we were soothed by walking down to The Angry Trout for dinner.

How About a Half-Finished Project?

That's right.  Half-finished.  And while that sounds pathetic, I truly feel that it's quite an accomplishment.  The mitten dangling at the end of one side of my Scarf w/Mittens project has been knit and re-knit so many times I'm amazed the yarn held up.

Honestly, it wasn't terribly difficult.  (I don't mean to scare any one away from this pattern.)  I had my own problems.
1. Mostly I was sick of looking at this thing.  It's the project I dragged to the hospital with me this spring, and so it's got a history.
2.  I never seemed to want to work on it long enough to get past the "set up" stage that involved cables, gusset, and palm pattern all juggled on dpns, so every time I sat down to knit I had to spend far too much time figuring out what I was doing.
3.  I'm something of a perfectionist (shocking, right?) and I couldn't get it to look just the way that I thought it should.

This was supposed to be my travel project, and I knew if I was having trouble finishing it at home where it was potentially quiet, I was never, ever going to get it done in a hotel room.  So, I sucked it up, got it out, and kept working on it until it was done---well, half-done.

Now that I've picked up the stitches at the middle point of the scarf to work on the other half and gotten back to mindless knitting for travel, I've packed it up and put it back in my suitcase.  Good riddance for now.

Besides sharing the excitement of finally getting this bleeping mitten done--sad what passes for excitement these days--I will pass on a wonderful new iPhone app I discovered for posting this progress on my Ravelry page.  For a mere 99 cents, the Yarma app will post a picture that I take on my iPhone right onto the project page on Ravelry.  Badda bing.  Now that it's so simple, I'm far more likely to keep up with posting my progress.  It does have it's limits, but what do you expect for a buck?

A Finished Project!

 Yes, a finished project!  It's been so long.

I sometimes get the nagging feeling that I haven't accomplished much of anything in the last few months, but here's concrete proof that I have.  A finished sweater.  And I like it, and it fits, too!

When I saw this pattern at the Yarn Harbor shop in Duluth, I thought it would be interesting to knit a sweater on the bias, and I thought it was a good way to knit with two colors that wouldn't end up in a tangle since you knit only one color per row.  I put yarn to needles way back in February and worked on it when I felt like keeping busy as we watched movies and shows we had on Tivo.  There was a long hiatus while I was getting my transplant...and then I picked it up again earlier this summer.

Now that I think about it, there was some weird TV viewing going on with this knitting.  I started it while we were watching last season's episodes of Fringe, and I completed the project re-watching the whole Twin Peaks series.  There should be some strange vibe around this sweater.

As I was knitting, I'll admit that I wasn't exactly sure if I liked it or not, but now that it's done, I do.  It's a good every day, knock around sweater.  Something different.

I did make one adjustment.  Rather than use the directions for a striped neck and button band, I used a single color and knit a band around the entire edge.  I thought it did a good job of toning down the test-pattern look to the cardigan.  It's just garter stitch with some increases around the turns and buttonholes knit in.  Probably something I remembered from an Elizabeth Zimmerman project.

Progress is still being made on my cabled blanket, but I've had a hard time working on my scarf/mittens.  It's the project I took with me to the hospital.  I think it brings back bad memories.  (I should have finished that while I was watching Twin Peaks.  Bob peeking between my dpns.)

Otherwise, it's been a dull summer.  Still restricted on what I can do and working on getting my usual strength and stamina back.  I have been walking.  And walking.  And walking.  By now the neighbors must be used to me going around and around the neighborhood.  I've also kept busy in the kitchen.  No one said I couldn't cook, so I've been whipping up all kinds of things.  Baking.  Perfecting my ice cream making skills.  Trying new entrees.  I can even eat pretty much whatever I want since I need to gain some weight back.

The best news of all is that I am in remission.  After some recovery time from the transplant, we repeated all the tests and it looks good.  I don't think I can quite put this all in the "finished project" category, but for now life is starting to get back to normal.

First Official Week of Summer

Thought I'd better snap a few pictures of the June garden before the month slips away.  By the way, wasn't it just Memorial Day weekend?

It's been more than a little humbling to know the garden looks beautiful even without my daily puttering.  Sure, there are a few weeds when you look up close and some spent blooms could be trimmed, but it's not bad.  In fact, the bees love that the thyme has been allowed to spread past the patch I usually allow as they hover over their tiny flowers, chipmunks are hiding in the oregano that is tall and bushy instead of neatly trimmed, and the birds are feasting on the seed heads that usually end up in the compost heap.  It's a vegetation free for all.

As I sit back and make plans for next spring and dream about all the things I'll get to do next year when I can get back in the dirt, I believe I'm learning a few things about letting nature take its course.

My recovery continues to go well.  Food finally tastes just as it should, and my energy levels get better and better as I gain back some weight and am allowed to exercise again.  No hair yet, but that's not the worst thing on a hot, humid summer day.  I was  thinking I should treat myself to something special with what I'm saving on haircuts and "product", but I've likely already made up the difference buying pretty scarves when I see them.

While the garden tends itself, I try and stay busy with indoor chores.  Cooking is fun again and with our son home off and on throughout the summer I have even more reason to spend time in the kitchen.  In the past few weeks I've tried things I haven't made in years. I even dug out my ice cream maker and whipped up a quart of chocolate gelato.  Lucky we had a skinny twenty-something around to help us with that.

I've been making some progress on knitting projects as well.  The afghan I'm working on grows slowly since there are about 400 stitches per row. It still has gotten large enough that it's often too hot to hold on my lap.  I have to save it for the cooler nights.  My sweater is coming along much faster.  I may even start the second sleeve tonight.  As I've been knitting, I've been thinking I might change the way the bands are knit on the front, but I've got to get there first.

No rush.  I want to continue to savor our summer.

More Pretty Peonies

Summer Arrives

I did it!  I got through the stem cell transplant and am on the mend.  Nineteen days in the hospital is not something I would care to repeat any time soon, but I made it and now a beautiful summer is on the way.

The porch is officially open.  The guys cleaned it up on a 90 degree Sunday afternoon over the Memorial Day weekend, and we had our inaugural  grilled brats dinner.  Unfortunately, it's a little too chilly to be out there today, but a warm up is predicted again by the weekend.  This is truly the best room in our house.  I'm so glad it's all ready to go.

Even though I've been out of commission and am still banned, the garden grows on.  It was incredible to see the progress that took place while I was gone.  The hostas are huge, the peonies blooming, and the catmint is covered with busy bees.  I've sometimes wondered what would happen to my garden if I didn't do a thing.  It doesn't look too bad thanks to a kind spring, but it will be ready for me to come back next year with all my plans and pent up gardening energy .

It's actually a good opportunity to try and give my niece the gardening bug.  I offered my small vegetable plot to my sister for the summer so the two of them have planted tomatoes, beans, and a few herbs.  So far, I think my niece likes wearing her pretty boots more than she likes to get dirty, but maybe she'll get excited once she can pick some of her own vegetables.

My husband is helping as much as he can with the yard work.  I don't think  he's developing any great love for it though.  (Maybe I should buy him some pretty boots!)  He still seems to be somewhat unclear about which plants are weeds and which are not.  After a couple of mistakes, he has at least learned to ask before plucking.  As a result, I've got more than a few large weeds sharing space with my perennials.  We'll get to them eventually.  Look away.

Rather than focus on what I can't do, I've tried to focus on some of the jobs that I can do but have put off.  I have sorted through a big pile of recipes, cleaned out my pantry, and knit up some new dishcloths to replace the ones that are worn out.  I do like knitting something so useful and practical.  They're like chips--hard to stop after just one.  I know it's not that exciting, but I think they are pretty when they're fresh and new.  Humble knitting.  These are from a freebie pattern: Waffle Knit Dishcloth.  (Check out the blog that goes with it.)

Finally, even though I have gone on and on about the garden.  I just wanted to point out once again the beauty of plants with ugly names.  Blood roots are the first blooms of the spring, bleeding hearts accompany the pretty lily of the valley.  Well now the garden is blessed by the blooming stalks of the gas plant.  True, it doesn't smell as sweet as the peonies, but isn't it pretty?  Really, who names these things?

All That Great Dirt, and I Can't Even Get Near It

Go figure.  A non-winter followed by a beautiful Spring.  I'm not sure what we did to deserve it, but I'm not complaining.

The lawn and garden must be almost a month ahead of what might occur during a "normal" year.  Plants are popping out of the ground at a furious pace and the early bloomers are beginning to strut their stuff.

The downside to all of this is that because of my cancer, I'm not allowed to get into any of it, and it's almost more than I can take.  I'm reduced to admiring and taking pictures.  I'm going to be entering a phase in my treatment where my immunity will be next to nil and dirt is not my friend.  Since I hadn't started yet, I thought it would be okay to do a little spring clean-up as long as I wore gloves, but when I confessed this to my caregivers, I got the big frowns.  I know they have my best interest at heart, but I don't think they realize what they're asking. 

"It's only one year," I keep telling myself.

So, I am getting ready for the next step, and it's a big step.  A stem cell transplant.  There are several phases to this procedure that will all get rolling very soon.  I would imagine that just like anyone else who's ever gone through this, I have mixed feelings about it.  I know it's my best shot at a longer remission.  I also know that it's something that takes quite a while to recover from, so it's going to take patience---not my strong suit.  At this point, I'm ready to get going, reasoning that the sooner I get started, the sooner I can start that recovery and try to enjoy more of the summer.  Myeloma is not an easy cancer to beat, but we're giving it our best shot.

As you can imagine, I'm lining up all kinds of projects and forms of entertainment to get me through the next couple of months.  I have three knitting projects going, a Kindle full of books from friends' recommendations, and an iPhone with the whole new season of "Downton Abbey" waiting for me.  (Talk about restraint!  Not sneaking a peak at even a minute of one new episode, even during my worst nights of insomnia.)  From what I understand, next to the nausea and fatigue, boredom is the biggest complaint patients have.  As a kid, complaining about boredom was never tolerated, and I guess I've never forgotten that lesson.  I'm looking at this as a time to enjoy the opportunity I have to have permission to only do what's fun and, if possible, to maybe get a few smaller projects completed.  I don't have to feel bad about taking a nap or reading in the middle of the afternoon.  How great is that!  Total pass.

If you're reading this, and are so inclined. say a little prayer for me.  I'll take any support I can get. 

Mid-Winter Doldrums and Knitting Success

Not much posting lately since there's not much to post.  Ah, the dregs of mid-winter.

I did finish another Knitted Quilt this week.  I'm not sure why this is such an appealing project, but I loved knitting this one as much as I did the first.  I suppose it's the fun of knitting with multi-colored yarn and the simple construction that is done in small pieces.  The secret is to finish----and I mean finish---each section as you go along.  If I had saved every end to weave in and every seam to do at the finish, the fun would get sucked right out of the whole deal.

There are mixed reviews about the Lion Brand Amazing yarn, but I'm a fan of that as well.  I like the subtle coloring and the "hairiness" of the yarn.  True, I can't vouch for how it holds up over time if it would be knit into something that gets more use.  I like it so much that I am already thinking about using it for another throw, the Mitered Squares Afghan.

To take its place, I've cast on a two-color cardigan pattern that is knit partially on the diagonal.  Now that I've started, I'm almost embarrassed that I had to buy a pattern to knit the darn thing, it's so easy.  That's why it makes good movie watching knitting though.  A no brainer.  Once I get far enough along, I'll snap a couple of pictures.  And...it's not brown.  It's violet and apple green.  Look out!

And I am making progress on my Cabled Afghan even though it's slow going.  Even at my speediest, it takes about fifteen minutes to knit across one row.  Not something I tend to pick up if I just have a little time.  I have to wait until I'm really settled in for the night.  Maybe it wasn't genius on my part to knit the entire width at one go.  I know I'll be happy when I'm done though.  Trust me.  I double-check each cable row to make sure I haven't made a mistake.  That would be deadly to go back too far on this monster.

In addition to mid-winter doldrums, the lack of posting is largely attributed to a lack of activity.  My cancer treatments are keeping me low on energy and very close to home.  No travel this winter.  We drove into Minneapolis last weekend and joked about how that's the farthest I've ventured from home since this whole thing started.  Not that funny though.  I miss getting away.  For now my excitement consists of hanging around home and getting out for clinic visits and treatment.  If there were ever a year when I have wished for an early spring, this has got to be it.  How ironic to wish time would fly by faster when you're not sure how much you might have left.  (Don't mind the gallows humor.  We're getting quite good at it.)

An Apparent Obsession with Brown Cables

January is prime knitting time.  Cold weather.  Long nights.  A great time to polish off some old projects and start a few new ones.

Late in the summer I had cast on a second sweater from A Fine Fleece by Lisa Lloyd.  This time I chose the cabled pullover Two Hearts.   The pattern has a beautiful intertwined cable that adorns both the front and back of the sweater that--like most cable patterns--looks more complicated than it really is.  One of those things that makes a knitter look good.  I love cables.  I love wool.  I love brown wool.  So yes, I loved making this sweater.  The fit is great, and I finished just in time for the first real cold snap of the winter.

I'll admit; this isn't the best picture.  I guess wasn't much in the mood for messing around with a camera on the day I finished blocking the sweater.  You get the idea.  Lamb's Pride Worsted is such a work horse yarn.  I like that you can splice the ends together as you knit to avoid all the sewing in at the end, and it blocks so easily.

Sticking with the brown cables theme...I've also been working on a brown tweed Cabled Baby Blanket with some yarn that I picked up when we visited Duluth in the fall.  I tend to over-buy with yarn and had purchased six skeins for this project.  It wasn't long before I realized that this would need to be one tall baby if I kept going on the blanket, so I stopped progress and grabbed a fresh skein to make a matching sweater, hat, and mittens set before I finished up with the rest of the yarn.  I had never used Encore's Worsted Tweed before and like it very much.  I wasn't (and am still not) sure what I'm going to do with this set.  I'm such a sucker for baby knitting.  And earflap caps.

So, if you finish something, there has to be something to take its place, right?  I like to keep three projects on hand: one to keep by my chair in the living room, one to keep by my chair where we watch sports and movies, and one to keep in a bag on the go.

My new living room project is an afghan that--surprise, surprise--is a cabled pattern made out of brown wool.  Demerits for originality, I know, although technically, it is tan.  The pattern is meant to be knit in strips and pieced together at the end, but I'm opting to knit the whole thing at once.  A single row takes a while, but just think, the faster I knit, the warmer I'll be.

I'm still working on my second Knitted Quilt.  That's a good project for TV watching.  And my new to-go project is a pattern I purchased online called Waffles with Syrup by Carol Sunday.  I'm knitting it in the softest pink blend of merino, cashmere, and angora.  See, I can use color.

As you can tell, I've had lots of time for knitting.  Reading, too. I've already finished two rounds of treatment and while it appears to be working, it doesn't leave me with much energy.  I'm so glad I have hobbies and interests that allow me to feel somewhat productive when not much else seems to get done.  I'm learning to measure progress with adjusted standards.