Insta-Grat

Pattern: "Maine Morning Mitts" by Clara Parkes (available in The Knitter's Book of Yarn or for free at Knitter's Review)
Yarn: Noro Kureyon 170 (2 skeins, alternated every 2 rows)
Needles: US 7 dpns (knit entirely in the round)
Mods: lengthened cuffs by 1"

plus: These were fast, cute, and totally rockstar.
delta: You saw the yarn picture on the previous post. Fallish purples, golds, rust, deep greens...how come these came out of the skeins as only rose and teal? I wouldn't have bought rose and teal. Also, the patten is pretty boring, which I'll grudgingly admit may be a good thing since it lets the yarn colors shine.
issues: Why can't I ever knit a thumb join that doesn't need substantial sewing help to disguise the knitting holes?

Now that I've had my selfish fun, it's back to the bigger projects.

I really need a live-in seamstress and photographer. I constantly find great knitting projects that either require or would greatly benefit from lining or attachment to fabric. And I'm pretty sure I can't do steeks without a sewing machine. But I don't WANT to learn how to sew and use a machine. This habit takes all my time and resources as it is! Why venture into more cliched, matronly, addicting crafts? Besides, my little experience with sewing either by hand or machine was pretty unpleasant. As for the pictures, I'm constantly reprimanding myself for slaving hours over a beautiful handknit object, then taking a single crappy picture of it before sending it off. I'm starting to understand that a beautifully taken photograph can capture the luscious texture and color in a handknit so it can be cherished long-term and by many. Need an example?
Jared Flood's Noro Scarf:







Heart-breaking, isn't it?










So, of course, I had to make one, and though it wasn't as perfect as that, it was pretty durned exquisite! You can ask anyone who saw me working on it. It was the first gift project they practically had to tear from my jealous, clutching fingers. Here's the only picture that remains, hastily taken by Jake's camera phone:






Heart-breaking for an all-together different reason, I fear. And no, I did not knit my Noro scarf primarily in grays and browns. It was just as colorful and bad-ass as the one above. Shoddy photo.







SO! I'm hiring a photographer and a seamstress. No resumes or interviews needed. If you know what you're doing, just move on in. The futon is actually quite comfy (Jake is passed out on it as I type). I can't pay anything but kisses, handknits, and black cherry spritzers (the only food in my fridge right now), but that's probably still a pretty good deal in today's economy. What do you say?

Post-op

I met with my obgyn again today to go over the photos from the laparascopy and talk about our next step. Amazingly, I've been feeling really good. After my bowels recovered from the trauma of the surgery, I really had very little pain, lower back, abdomen, or otherwise. My energy level continues to rise, and I've hardly even touched my heating pad. My main question for the doctor? WHY?! She didn't find or remove endo! The surgery was a failure and a waste, right?

Well, the biopsy from the suspicious adhesion can back positive for endometriosis. So, I do have it, she did excise what little she found, and I will need to treat it moving forward. The good news is, she didn't see enough that she feels Lupron will be appropriate, and she doesn't see any evidence that adhesions are affecting fertility (none on the ovaries or the fallopian tubes, for instance). Basically, unless I'm pregnant or trying to be, I ought to be on birth control to keep this stuff at bay. I can handle that.

We also discussed this crazy uterine position. Apparently, it's entirely retrograde, meaning upside-down and resting back against my bowels instead of forward on my bladder and groin. This may very well be the reason I had such terrible lower back pain and digestive problems, and the clipped LUNA may have solved that entirely, simply because the pain it causes...I can't feel anymore! If the pain returns and persists, I may try a therapeutic pessary to physically PUT it in the right position (although that sounds dreadful).

Also interesting (to me): she performed a chromotubation to check on the state of my fallopian tubes. The right one worked, but the left one misbehaved. Apparently, because the method of this test involves sending dye backward through the tubes, it is common that the opening spasmed shut in a moment of, "Hey, what the he--?!" Anyway, we'll probably keep an eye on that. I'll keep the appointment with the fertility doc, and wait on seeing a GI specialist until any pain returns. Overall, I left her office feeling good about the surgery, my health, and our chances of conceiving. Wahoo!

Ah, yes, the Noro. I've been in a selfish mood lately. I decided I want a pair of Maine Morning Mitts in Kureyon, but striped a la Noro Scarf. It's gonna rock. You'll want to steal them. I also bought a Super Squishy Silky Skein of Sirdar Juicy DK for a summer hat to hide my bed-head....you know....on those don't-give-a-damn days. I would post a picture of that yarn too, but since you can't squeeze it through the computer, the beige color alone is pretty underwhelming.

My babies

I am over half-way through my Clapotis! I'm positively bowled over by the genius of this pattern. There are many sweaters and blankets that I can now look at and think, "Oh, okay, I can see exactly what was done there." If left with some yarn to play with for enough time, I could figure out a decent imposter pattern. THIS, however, mystified me until I was well into the pattern and could watch it unfold in my hands. Speaking of hands, this yarn has zero stretch. Not sure if it's a property of the alpaca or the tencel, since I haven't worked with either much before. It's just fine for this pattern, which is all about the drape, but I cannot imagine it for socks, such as the Cookie A "Marlenes," which she designed for that yarn.

Also on the needles: a "sweater" for Jake's new laptop. The top is a very glossy, cherry-red material which is very cool and very scratch-prone. He's been protecting it by wrapping the poor thing with a towel before stuffing it in his book bag. SOOOOO hot.

I'm really enjoying both patterns, but I need to get back on Temple's wedding blanket! The shower is this weekend, but I technically don't HAVE to finish it until the wedding, right? Compared to these two, all that garter stitch....feels like putting on a pair of cotton granny panties after wearing a silk thong and a garter belt. Depressing. Comfortable.

It's too darn hot!

i

Locks of Love benefits when the temperature goes up.


I'm so excited! I'm eating gooooood tonight at Jordan Swim's Food Creates Community. He's the best thing to happen to food since Paula Deen discovered butter. Tonight's theme is "Backyard BBQ," and Jake is inviting a few of his recently graduated AVID students.

Breast is...da bomb dot com!

Went to visit my dear friend Hannah yesterday and presented her with this stash-busting dishtowel. In case you don't recognize it, this is the international symbol for breastfeeding advocacy. Hannah tandem nurses her 4 and almost 2 year old kids and is an active member in the local La Lache League community. She has educated me a great deal over the past few years about the profound value of breastmilk, the medical and anthropological basis for "extended" breastfeeding (which I like to now call full-term breastfeeding or child-led weaning), and the social stigma against which nursing mothers fight every day. This symbol, when seen in windows of stores or restaurants, indicates the management's commitment to a breastfeeding-friendly environment.

So many women, while trying to provide the maximum nutrition and comfort to their babies and toddlers, are shamed into hot parking lots or cramped bathrooms when a brief feeding becomes unavoidable. All too often, if they venture to a nearby bench to quickly soothe and nurse, they're rewarded with stares, glares, and eye-rolls; some are even asked by employees to quit "exposing themselves." On the other hand, whip out a bottle full of formula, and nobody's feathers are ruffled. It's no wonder that so many women find this discrimination exhausting. Despite the fact that both the American Pediatric Association and the World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding for AT LEAST one year and as long thereafter as desired by mother and child, only 21% of American women are still breastfeeding their babies at 12 months.

Some of that pathetic number can be attributed to lack of education and poverty (e.g. working mothers need to pump to keep up their supply), but many women claim that it simply becomes too inconvenient to continue. Anything we can do as a society to support mothers in this goal is well-worth it in the long run.

O Happy Day

Yes. Bought myself some happy. I deserve it! This yummy alpaca/tencel blend by Fiesta Yarns will become a Clapotis shawl which I will likely never take off. For those of you who are uninitiated to the world of "viral knitting," you should understand that there are certain patterns floating around the web and bookstores which knitters across the world swoon over and talk about all at once. At the time of this writing, you can browse through photos of 11, 617 different Clapotis shawls on Ravelry, stitched up in every color and fiber under the sun. This thing looks glamtastic on everyone, and I've been searching for just the perfect yarn, colorway, and window of time in which to make one for myself. Eeeeee!!!

I have been through such terrible pain the past few days. Between the bowel prep and the anesthesia and the pain meds, the whole surgery wreaked sheer havoc on my digestive system. Of course, a GI disease is exactly what my ob/gyn thinks is causing all this every-day pain, since we've ruled out endo. Last night, while Jake slept, and I frantically knitted my way through the twisting, stabbing pain to keep from screaming, I slowly turned this over and over in my mind. I've been so depressed over paying for, and suffering through, unnecessary surgery, and so irritated that my self-diagnosis was incorrect, I hadn't really grasped what this new info means.

I am likely not infertile. My uterus is not going to be mysteriously inhospitable due to endo. Yes, we have a problem in Jake's stuff, but there are ways around that which will still allow me to carry, deliver, and nurse our very own child. My fervent baby desires may not be a cruel joke after all! It was such a "Holy Crap" moment, I almost woke Jake up at 6 am to tell him the good news.

Instead, I fell happily to sleep, dreaming about a holy battle between the noble men and women of Middle-Earth, led by Aslan the lion, and the jealous Arabs across the ocean. While Aslan read aloud the Arabian version of "Twas the Night Before Christmas," the Arabs stomped out Middle-Earth's army within the first day and danced on their bones for 39 days. Aslan was not touched but left to watch the torture and desecration swirl around him because his coat had been blessed with immortality by Lorna's Laces.

Caution: Dangerously Low Arches!

So, first sock attempt was interesting. I learned a lot. I completed my first Kitchner stitch graft on the toe. I "turned" the heel without any trouble at all (short rows are cool). I discovered that knitting with size 1 needles feels like crafting with toothpicks, and that I am just stressed enough lately to bend bamboo substantially in my iron Virgo death grip. Obviously, the "arch" is non-existent. In fact, the bottom of the foot sags outward, so I probably picked up too many stitches along the heel. Figures, since that was the part that felt most like guesswork. Although this pair of socks was destined to be a belated Mother's Day gift for Becky, I think I will call it quits here. Maybe I'll stuff the sock full of potpourri and call it a sachet!

The broken yarn diet continues, with emphasis on turn-and-burn. I've used up just about all the old acrylic leftover from Josh's rasta hat by finishing five 11" afghan squares. I've used up all the yarn I have on hand for Temple's wedding blanket and am retiring that until further yarn buying is unavoidable. I'm half-way through a dishcloth that will use up two leftover skeins of cotton, and a sweet little angora baby hat with lace around the trim. I've brought in the tube top from Jake's car so I can put some real progress into that, and I found an awesome stuffed dinosaur pattern that will be great for Ascher in some ugly acrylic yarn his mom dumped on me. Meanwhile, thinking about possibilities for father's day, Jessica's birthday, a sympathy gift for Joan (her dog died), and a thank-you gift to mom for waiting on me hand-and-foot after my surgery.

Speaking of the surgery, that infamous shoulder pain visited me later, and it hurts like a bitch! I'm still cramping and hurting like old times, but at least I know what it's NOT. Yay. It has become clear to me in the last few days that Jake is starting to feel especially helpless and concerned about my physical/mental health. As much as I may want to throw a tantrum and feel really sorry for myself, I've got to stay optimistic and strong for him. He has so much pressure and so many responsibilities as it is. For me to give up or become despondent now would do far too great a damage to our marriage. He loves me so much and is so incredibly empathetic, I know this is eating away at him, even when I keep smiling. What am I going to do with that boy?