My First Hat

Harlequin Hat, originally uploaded by dotmom61.

My daughter is modeling my first hat, which was made using Lion Brand Magic Stripes Sock Yarn in Jelly Bean. I used this pattern.

This yarn was fun to work with because of the changing colors, but if I should make another one of these, I will use a sock yarn that makes a definite pattern instead of random stripes.

The Day of Waiting Endlessly

This week is the first week of the second-to-last treatment for my DS. So, I wanted to get to the clinic early so we could get everything done and get on with our day, AND we were really looking forward to visiting with KellyK and sharing some Mexican Ice Cream after clinic! We started the day out fairly well; the kids got up relatively on time, and we got an earlier-than-usual start to the Cancer Center. And, well, I’m sure you are all familiar with the quote re: best laid schemes, etc.

I did what I could to get things headed in the right direction for the day. On the way to the clinic, I placed a call to our Nurse Practitioner letting her know we were on our way. This should have been the impetus for chemo orders to be written so they were ready when DS's blood counts came back.

10:40 am – we signed into the lab, had a short wait, and then DS’s blood was drawn.
11:05 am -- ambled down the hall to the Day Hospital to let them know we were there; started working on this hat.
12:30 pm – It’s been over an hour now; blood counts should be back; no one is calling us. About 2” or so are done on the hat, and the kids are now done reading the magazines they brought along. One of our chaplain friends shows up to visit with the kids just in time to ward off evil spirits.
1:00 pm –still no word on blood counts or when we can get son’s chemo … oh wait! They called us! We go back to have son weighed, etc, but are sent back to wait for doctor’s orders to come through. Kids decide to make a contraption with their hands that will “feed” the yarn to me while I’m knitting. It has sounds. Repetitive sounds.
2:00 pm – Visit with one of our fellow Cancer Center regulars; kids are grateful for someone with whom to pass the time. He’s there for a quick shot. Doctor appears and makes small talk, asks if we’re waiting for blood counts. “No,” I say, “blood counts are back, I think we’re just waiting for orders.” (hint, hint) Doctor finishes chatting, and says he’s going back to write the orders for DS's chemo. On the way into the Day Hospital he apparently sees someone he needs to talk with.
2:30 – Doctor appears (30 mins later) to let us know that orders have been written. Now all we have to do is wait for the pharmacy to mix the chemo. Our Cancer Center friends rolls by in his wheelchair and wishes us a Happy Thanksgiving on his way out.
2:45 pm – Miracle of miracles … they are calling us back!!! We excitedly scurry back to the Day Hospital and are greeted by one of our favorite nurses. I show her the 7” I have been able to knit on the hat while we were waiting.
3:15 pm – We arrive at our car in the parking garage – this is a somewhat lengthy walk, and DS doesn’t walk all that fast. So, yes, what you’re seeing is that 30 mins after we were taken back to the Day Hospital, DS has had his port-a-cath accessed, received his chemo, we’ve said our good-byes, and walked about a ½-mile to the car. Yes, that’s all the time we really needed … 30 mins. But we spent 4-1/2 hours.

Unfortunately, I had to call KellyK and let her know that we would not be able to bring her ice cream – we hadn’t even had lunch yet. “Next week!” I tell her. “Things should move more smoothly next week!”

And we’re off … lunch at Wendy’s and an hour drive home.

After a stop at the library, we finally arrive home at 5:15 pm only to discover that DS now has a Boy Scout meeting to attend that I had forgotten about. Quickly fix dinner – not the one I had planned; no time to wait for the roast. Boston Market leftovers. DS and DH quickly eat and head off to Boy Scouts.

DD fiddles around while I clean up the kitchen, and then I head her off to bed. Hmmm ... what time is it? That chemo delivery was supposed to be here by 9 pm. I sure hope they get here soon, it takes an hour for that stuff to drip through! They should be here soon ... "Yes, DD, we can read for a little while."

9:20 pm – I come downstairs after reading with DD and tucking her in bed. No delivery.
9:25 pm – Call pharmacy – get answering service. They take the information down and promise me that someone will call me back. DH and DS arrive home from Boy Scouts.
9:35 pm – A home care nurse calls. She has no idea what is going on; we don’t use a home care nurse. She promises to contact the pharmacy manager to find out what is going on.
9:45 pm – Pharmacy manager calls – she’s not on call, but she’s tried to contact the on-call pharmacist, and they can’t find her. So, not-on-call, and very upset pharmacy manager says she will track down the courier and find out where he is and why we haven’t gotten our delivery yet. This is the 2nd call they’ve received about him for the evening. I start making Size 3 DPNs out of some bamboo skewers I found in the kitchen drawer. Gee … I really thought I was using Size 3s to make that sock … guess not … they’re Size 2s.
9:50 pm – Pharmacy manager calls back. The courier is on his way. DH takes bamboo skewers to the basement and uses his belt sander to make the tips.
10:00 pm – The dispatcher calls: The courier is 10 mins away. “He’ll be there any minute,” he says. I return to sanding bamboo skewers.
10:20 pm – The dispatcher calls. The courier is on our street, and he can’t find our house. You know, the house with the large numbers both on the front of the house and on the reflective sign on the mailbox. Yes, the house on the street that is less than 1 mile long. I continue sanding new DPNs.
10:30 pm – I call the dispatcher. I get his voicemail so I leave him a message to say that their wandering wonder has not yet located our abode. (I didn’t use the word abode … I was afraid I would be misunderstood.) A little more sanding, and Size 3 DPNs complete!
10:36 pm – The courier calls. DH answers the phone. (I refused on the grounds that I didn’t think I could be very nice anymore.) I hear DH yell into the phone, “NO! Don’t turn around; keep going!”
10:37 pm – The courier arrives with all the supplies we need, and some we don’t.
10:45 pm – I hook DS up to his chemo, send him upstairs to finish getting ready for bed. I put the final touches on the first layer of the hat.

How ironic that as I was hooking DS up, I realized that it had been exactly 12 hours since we signed in at the clinic that morning. :doh:

Book Review: AlterKNITS by Leigh Radford

I've been wanting to get back into writing book reviews. I've done a few at ePinions, but the book I'm reviewing here was unavailable on their web site. So, I'll just post it here!

I seem to find myself drawn to knitting books that are a little “off the beaten path,” so to speak. Books by designers who aren’t afraid to try something out of the ordinary – like knitting with “yarn” made from old t-shirts or leftover fabric. I guess this is driven by my sense of economy coupled with my desire to do things just a little differently. I don’t like to be categorized, pigeonholed, stereotyped, or predictable. To people who know me, I guess that might come as a surprise given my penchant for doing exactly those things to my world, in general. It does help one to make sense of things, but yet, I don’t want to fall into a particular category or predictability.

This idiosyncrasy is probably why I picked up AlterKNITS from the shelf at the library. This is a book with projects that are just a little different, a little unexpected, yet they’re practical and tend to make use of what might be wasted – old sweaters, old t-shirts, odd balls of yarn. And you’re certainly not going to be able to lump this knitting book in with the rest of them. This one wants to be out, sitting on your coffee table. It wants to be read.

Oddly enough, my first trip through this book left me with an unfavorable impression for some reason, and I resigned myself to the fact that I would quickly be returning it to the library, and it would never make it onto my Christmas list! But there was just that one project that I had to look at one more time. If you knit, I’m sure you know how that goes. It’s a little dialogue you have with yourself in your head:

“Paper Lanterns … now, who in the world would knit lanterns? That’s just goofy … hmmm … I wonder what kind of yarn they’re made of. I’ve never heard of paper yarn. they really are kinda cute. Oh … they have such a pretty glow … I bet those would look nice strung in the foyer for Christmas.“

Then, I thought, “Well, I’ll just jot down the page number so I can find this easily when I’m ready to knit those paper lanterns.” As I thumbed through the pages, I found myself taking more notes and finding more projects to add to my list. Why hadn’t I noticed these before?

Not only was I finding more projects, though, but I also began to notice the well-placed quotations throughout the book, and then I actually started reading the Creativity Exercises interspersed throughout. I found myself thinking how they would be a lot of fun to work through with my fellow knitters. Finally, I popped on over to Amazon.com and added AlterKNITS to my Wish List. Leigh Radford has a new fan.

I was enamored with several of the projects in this book, but it really did take me a while to come around. I’m not quite sure what turned me off to it initially. Maybe it was the tattoos on the models – no offense to anyone with tattoos; they’re just not my thing. Or, perhaps it was the crepe paper crown worn as part of a wedding ensemble. Once I got past these two roadblocks, though, I was able to appreciate the other truly creative ideas in this book.

Some of my favorite projects include an adorable sweater for children with a non-traditional construction and embroidery touches that turn it into something you might find in a children's boutique; tote bags made out of recycled and felted sweaters – they’re not unraveled, either; a raglan pullover trimmed in velvet; a necklace knit out of silver; and, of course, those lovely paper lanterns. There are others, as well, but I don’t want to spoil the surprise. The book also comes with a journal to log your creative journey – something I’m not particularly good about doing, but others might make good use of it.

Most of the projects in this book ended up on my “want to do” list, but there were just a couple that caused me to go, “Huh?” I already mentioned the crepe paper crown – not only is it shown with a wedding ensemble, but the other ensemble it’s shown with does the model no favors, either. Leigh Radford shares her inspiration for creating this pattern, and it makes sense, but it just wasn’t appealing to me. The second item that I found to be just a bit odd and something I would never even consider is a knitted screen for a door. It does look very pretty, but it’s not practical, and I don’t think I could ever be convinced to knit 57” of garter stitch using nylon upholstery thread. I found it amusing that the quote that accompanies the picture of this project is:

“The impossible is often the untried.” – Jim Goodwin.

I think I might have changed that to:

“It’s impossible to keep the bugs out; don’t try it.” -- Me

That said, I really have to recommend this book – especially if you have a knitting group. The creativity exercises would be so much fun to share with a group of fellow knitters, and besides, Christmas will be here before you know it, and those Paper Lanterns would look so lovely hanging from the mantle!

A Little Note: If you click through on book images here, and you end up purchasing the book, you will generate a donation to CureSearch -- this is the fund raising organization for The National Childhood Cancer Foundation.