moving!

Okay buddies,
I've started a new blog! A blog solely dedicated to what's going on in my world beyond knitting & purling. Heyawesome! Will continue to be my craft blog - caregiv'r is my blog about being a....err... caregiver.
NEW BLOG IS HERE!

first bump.

When G was first diagnosed with Leukemia in 2007,  I quickly learned not to kick up my heels too soon once things were pronounced 'Done'.

When he was discharged from the hospital 2 weeks ago, we accepted people's congratulations, but we knew we weren't out of the woods just yet. There will *always* be bumps in the road.
I mentioned that he had been experiencing some well known side effects of transplant but that it was being kept under control by his meds. Seems now that maybe those meds aren't really doing a good enough job. He has GvHD of the gut - so he's having a heck of a time keeping things down (and in, as it were). For the past week I've seen him try to eat/drink the smallest portions of things only to have it come back up shortly after.
This morning he felt so weak - disoriented. He called the head nurse & she advised him to get to the ER as quickly as possible. It was then that I realized we didn't have a very good contingency plan in place. He was too weak to take a cab by himself...I could go with him with Frankie in the cab, but then how long could I stay with him for? Do I want to bring the baby to the ER? We thought of who we knew with a car who was around during the day....no one, not really. So the ambulance came.

He'll most likely be kept for a couple of days. They are hydrating him & the probably switching around some of his meds which will hopefully put him back on track.

There is so much going on right now. G's dad is in the hospital in Hamilton - his cancer has metastasized - he's putting in one heck of a fight (32 year kidney transplantee!) I think G gets a lot of his strength from his father - it's so admirable.  I hate that all of this is happening at once. No, wait - I hate that all of this is happening AT ALL. Gord's mom & I said that we should go to an island after this & lay on the beach with fancy drinks "Without a care in the World!" - those words just kept ringing in my head over & over... without a care in the world. Impossible to imagine right now.

Home is where the High is.

Gord's been home for 6 days.
He's pretty exhausted most of the time & is dealing now with some of the well known side effects of transplant but seems to be kind of controlling it with meds.
As I type this he's playing guitar for Frankie who is happily bouncing away in her bouncy chair, letting out squeals of delight & clapping her hands together (her new adorable skill!) It's so nice to all be together again.

I'm feeling way more relaxed now that G is home & I've finally been able to get some pictures of recent finished knitting projects.

First off, Frankie's Halloween costume.

Tiny Red Riding Hood. I used Berroco 'Weekend' from my stash for this. No pattern really, just cast on enough stitches to fit around her (98? I think?, knit even & then k2tog'd a bunch at the neck edge. For the hood I just knit a big rectangle that fit around her head & then grafted the stitches together at the back. Then I knit a little tab for the front & sewed on 2 buttons.

I 'Pretty in Pink'd' her skirt by combining two dresses that are now too small for her. I took the crinoline from one & sewed it to the bottom half of a red checkered dress. Then I sewed rick-rack to some thick black elastic & attached it to the skirt for the waistband. She just wore a white onesie for the top. I made her some boots too, but they didn't fit properly so luckily she already had these snappy red check mary janes already in her closet.














Knitting for Frankie is pretty satisfying - she's small, so projects are pretty quick and also?

   

Totally adorable.

This is the 'Striped Elf Hat'. I used some unidentified sock yarn from my stash. I only had one 50g ball of it & it was more than enough. I cast on less stitches than the pattern said to (170 instead of 180) to fit my little lady's noggin & it worked out to be just right.







And last but not least, a little something for me! I cast on for the River Run Wrap in TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT. Originally I was making it for my friend Susannah, but then she asked me to make her an all over cabled cardigan out of fingering weight yarn so I decided she already received enough of my knitting time.

I ditched the whole 'wrap' idea & decided to knit until I got to the end of the second ball of yarn. I grafted the ends together (conveniently enough this was started way back when with a provisional cast on) and there I have it - a 2 loop cowl. I think I'll get a lot of use out of this. When I wear Frankie in the carrier, I definitely need something around my neck since my coat isn't done up & when I wear scarves she just chews & slobbers all over the ends of them.

I've been sewing a bit too - mostly sleep sacks for Frances. I've been asked to make a little tutorial, so I'm working on that but I'm learning how much I suck at taking photos as I go along. 

So that's it - simple days around here since we're pretty much living in a bubble for the next couple of months. It's okay though, it's a cozy bubble.

champion engrafter.

How's this for an update?

He's coming home today!


(and I got a ton of tidying up to do around here so I'll write more later).