Last Chance!

Hello all! I'm not feeling too well today, but I wanted to gently nudge everyone and remind you that today is the last day to add your knitted tit-bits to the Flickr group to be eligible for the drawing.

Going back to bed now, good luck!

My Beads Smell Like Ketchup

I swear if I have one more sweaty hot-flash I am going to lose my little chemo-brain. My nightly ritual of throwing the blankets off and then grasping and cocooning myself inside of them is causing a weather system in my apartment that is probably good for the plants, but ugh, the humidity!

This sort of metabolic behavior is what I blame for my dropping so many stitches on the Beaded Diamond Fantasy shawl I've been slaving over. Saturday, right before we were supposed to leave for an impromptu taco night at a friend's house, disaster struck and I dropped two stitches, which of course promptly wiggled their way down to the yarn over from whence they sprung. I then spent twenty infuriating minutes trying to get the stitches back up to the needle, but I just could not get it together and ended up frogging sixteen rows back to the lifeline. The tangled mess of yarn that ensued represented three days of knitting and I don't even want to think about how many stitches, but it was worth it to not have a big wonky hole in my masterpiece shawl.

Thank goodness for lifelines! I have been putting in a lifeline every row #37, and the thought of having to toss the entire shawl made it much easier to yank out those paltry sixteen rows. I have dropped a stitch or two in reknitting what I lost, but so far I have been able to do tiny crochet-hook surgery to pull them back up.

And, yes, my beads smell like ketchup. I love these tiny little condiment bottles; if you get anything from me you may find a little jar of mayo snuggled in there.

In other news, I popped over to the yarn shop to pick up our tickets for Stitch 'n' Pitch next week, and as I was popping out Lime 'n' Violet on the iPod, Kevin 'n' Bean were talking smack about the aforementioned event. Hey, at least the knitters got some airtime, huh? Yeah, I'm peeved too, but I think they were promoting an interview on the air tomorrow. Anyone listen to them?

I have good news: my last chemo treatment is tomorrow, yay! Surgery is scheduled for June 23, so I get an extra week of recovery beforehand, so I'm planning a booby bon voyage bbq for the afternoon before. Who doesn't like cupcakes with gumdrops on top?

Update: Now With Pictures!

Before I left home the HusBoy and I went out and bought a brand new mattress in anticipation of my surgery and needing to sleep on either side of the bed without falling out. I came home last night to a bed that is taller than my dresser and requires that I step up on the chest at the foot of the bed to get into it. It is an incredibly comfortable bed, but I feel like I am in the Princess and the Pea. I would be one of the peasant girls that gets sent home, because I slept like a rock.

Want to see what I've been up to?

Becka Vog's On: Done

I'm so happy I finally finished a pair of socks for myself! Me me me me me!

Panda Cotton Shorty Socks: Half-Done

These are for my grandmother who will be visiting next week. I'd better get a move on the second sock...

Beaded Diamond Fantasy Shawl: Getting There

I have making some serious progress on this shawl in the last few weeks. It is now at scarf size, but I'd really like to use up the yarn and go for full shawl status. I'm hoping to get this done in time to submit it to the county fair... Do you think it's worthy?

Circular Stockinette Scarf: Just Started

I love this little scarf. 60 stitches around and around and around, no thinking required. It is perfect for car rides, television watching, and right before you go in to a scary doctor's appointment.

Speaking of scary doctor's appointments, yesterday I met my plastic surgeon. He has Dad and HusBoy's stamp of approval, so I should be getting a surgery date soon. The best part? I'm just fat enough that my little pot belly is the right size to replace my soon-to-be-missing bosom. Just another example of small favors...

Mine Mine Mine

For a while now I've been knitting things for myself that end up going other places. The Reptilian Lace Socks that went to my Quilting Aunt, the Raspberry Sorbet socks that went to my dad's fiance. Now I'm making these plain vanilla socks for my grandmother to give her when she visits early next month and you know what? I want to keep them.

I wish I could post a picture right now (I will later, promise), but the colors are combining in such a way that it looks like camouflage. If you were trying to hide in a winery. The yarn is Crystal Palace Yarns Panda Cotton Print in Chocolate Almond, and if all cotton yarn is this easy on the hands then I have been lied to. I imagine the bamboo makes a huge difference, so I won't vetch too much. The sock in question is knitting up very quickly and should be done in plenty of time to hide from my grandmother, except that the much-neglected Beaded Diamond Fantasy shawl has been making unexpected appearances in the line-up and absorbing some much-needed knitting time.

I was thinking of joining Summer of the Stash 2008, but I've already joined Secret Pal 12, and having someone else send you goodies is just as stash-filling as buying it yourself. I know I'll be in surgery and recovering from surgery and undergoing microwaving (also known as radiation treatments) during the exchange, but I figure I could use the boost during the trying times ahead. Anyway, if I'm simply unable to put something together to send myself I know lots of folks on Etsy who can help me out, right?

And to everyone who left such lovely comments on the last post, Dad is taking excellent care of me and probably would even if I was 80 and feeling under the weather. He appreciates your support!

Going-To-Do List

I've been in a bit of a funk lately. Apparently this is "normal" when you're this close and yet sooooo far from the end of chemo, but I'm tired of hearing that all the horrible things that are going on are "normal". This, too, is normal. So, instead of letting myself obsess about how badly my lace shawl of a life is looking right now, I'm trying to think of how it will be once treatment is all over and my life can be "blocked" into the beautiful shape that it is meant to be.

Towards that purpose, here are my Top 5 Once I Get Well things to do:

1. Lose Some Weight - Now, I know what you're thinking. We're trying to be all positive and I start with that tired old line? I can say with a certain amount of clarity that I have never been and will never anything but a Big Girl, but I've swollen up considerably during treatment and would like to start out not aching and wondering if I have anything to wear out that fits. As soon as I can be more active I am going to (I even got a new bellydance dvd in anticipation of my astounding recovery).
2. Get Out More - I like to go camping. I like to take trips in the car and go to museums. I like hiking and b&b's. Why we didn't do more of this sort of thing before I got sick, I'm not sure, but we're going to do it now. Look forward to more pictures of socks on-the-trail once I'm able to get out again.
3. Meet More Knitters - I've gone to a few knitting events in the area, but I've always been a bit shy and never talked to anyone. Nuts to that. I'm going to Stitches West this year and whoop it up, hope you'll be able to join me.
4. Watch Less Television - If I watch another episode of Family Guy I swear I am going to lose my stitch-picking mind.
5. Be A Better Blogger - My blogging has been, well, sporadic in quantity and quality over the last few years. This isn't how I wanted it to be; I wanted to be one of those bloggers who pours themselves out onto the page and demonstrates decent story-telling ability as well as the latest sock heel. I'll never get a book-deal at this rate...

Dad's telling me that it's nap-time again (would someone tell him that I'm damn-near thirty?), so I'd better go. The Knit-Tit-Along is still in full swing, let's see some pictures!

Can't Type - Squishing

Hi there everyone, just a quick note to let y'all know I'm back out at my dad's for another week or so. I will try to check in and post occasionally, but there are moths the size of your fist floating about and I have to be wary. I only brought so much yarn with me and what if one follows me to the motherstash?

Becka & The Bee

I was powering through the last few inches of my Becka Vogs sock and watching garbage television (COPS is amazing in digital) when I heard this buzzing noise. I thought it might be the hunk of new electronic hooey that makes it possible for the weather guy's previously unseen wrinkles to freak me out, but I powered down and the buzz went on.

I crept over to the window and found a bee (big surprise). A bee in distress, which made it a Bee. The fact that I have a nasty bee allergy then made it a BEE.

Not the BEE, picture swiped from Wikipedia

Thankfully, the BEE had the singular objective to get the hell out of my house, which mirrored my own desire. I tried opening the lower window over the upper pane in which the BEE was buzzing against, blocking the opening at the top and popping the screen open to give the BEE access to the outside world. It took some convincing to get the BEE to go down instead of up (note: yelling "go down stoopid bee" does not work), but in the end a bit of water was utilized to drive the now Bee down into the free area so that it could escape and continue its bee-existence.

Then I finished my sock:

I think I may just follow the pattern next time I knit these socks instead of imposing my short-row heel onto it. All in all a good fit, the pattern breaks up the colors nicely, and my first picot edge, yippee!

Jimmy Beans Made Me Cry

I met with my surgeon yesterday and mapped out a plan for my de-boobing next month. Today I called and made appointments with two plastic surgeons and did not make an appointment with a third (apparently my need for radiation treatments would ruin the aesthetic of his work). Then I sat down at my computer and checked my email, including one from Jimmy Beans Wool with the title "Becca's Last Day"...

Turns out that Becca's Last Day is a very nice limited-edition colorway from Lorna's Laces, but reading that line was just enough to pop that little stress bubble that's been building up and I started bawling. I've decided not to buy this yarn, if only because the overwhelming temptation to the Fates may be too much to resist (and it looks like an over-dyed version of last month's color, but that may just be me being catty).

A now calmer Becka has a Calmer boob:

Tit Bit (C), Rowan Calmer 474 Khaki, knit to 30 stitches per needle on US size 6 & 5

For someone trying to become a (drum roll please) Master Knitter, I have been blowing off gauge in favor of knitting for a while and then doing math to get the right size (we hope). It may not be the most efficient way, but I'm liking the resulting fabric, so there.

And watch out for Random Llama:

She spits.