Will soon feel well enough to continue blogging

I do intend to blog my memories of the accident and its aftermath, accounts of how things are going now and how knitting is helping me on my road to full recovery.

I've just been set back a wee bit; on Sunday, I woke up with that unmistakeable pain that screams "STREP THROAT!!" I thought I could make it through the day so I could go to my doctor on Monday(read: $30 dollar co-pay instead of $150 at the ER, but when my fever got to 103.5 and I hadn't been able to eat all day, Mom felt very strongly that I needed to get to the ER. (Mom and Dad were both here for 2 weeks after the accident to help out, then Dad had to get back. I'm so grateful to have Mom here.) I'm a pretty stubborn gal, and I really didn't want to go to the ER, but I called the doc on call and told him the situation, and he didn't hesitate. He said to get to the ER asap. We got there around 9:00 PM, and waited and waited. They had me come in to check blood pressure, etc, and then a few hours later to do the streb swab and a nasty test for the flu.

Long story short (I'm getting really tired): it was positive for strep, they put me on an IV to pump fluids and get antibiotics in me, got a bit concerned when my fever wasn't coming down (it got up to 103.9), but they gave me motrin and it finally fell below 102 and they let me go at 5:30 AM. I am just starting to feel human again, but it's hard to believe that after IV antibiotics and 3 doses of Augmenten, I still can't swallow w/o pain, and it even hurts to talk. And I'm on major pain meds for my arm . . . I just don't understand it.

I have been thinking that there must be a lesson I need to learn about pain. I am hoping that I can figure it out and learn it sooner rather than later.

I feel like I need to say something knitting-related, so I'll share with you a gift I got with some of my Christmas money: a swift!! I already have a ball winder, so no more admittedly hilarious antics of holding the skein on my arms and winding the ball that way.

Fearless Knitting, Fearless Recovery, Fearless Living

I was in a horrific car accident with my 5-year old son and my beloved canine friend, a beautiful Beagle named Lucy, on the 5th of January. I was on my way home from Christmas vacation spent with family in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, in central Mexico. Ethan and I were singing, playing the alphabet game, really talking to each other and generally having a great trip home. We had played the traditional "Going Home" song (a great Beatles cover sung by Aimee Mann and a singer I was convinced was James Taylor for the longest time).

We were 6.5 hours into the trip (about halfway home) on the outskirts of Monterrey when a small truck pulled out right in front of me, traveling far too slow for highway speeds. I swerved to avoid running into him, and my car overreacted, it seemed. Suddenly, I was no longer in control. I was still thinking that I'd be able to get the car under control and safely continue along when I hit the guardrail, heading toward the median. My eyes shut then, and each bash on my head and the churning of my stomach told me the car was rolling, flipping.

When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was my darling son Ethan walking toward Lucy, roughly 100 feet away (more?) and still sitting up and staring at the road. So my boy was okay... I turned my head and saw a man (two men?) trying desperately to get the driver's side door open, prying and yelling. I hear a man yell "Est`a viva!" ("She is alive!"). I turn my head more and see a woman's face. I say "Y mi hijo?" ("And my son?") and she says (in Spanish) that my daughter is just fine, but they need to get me out of the car now. It's on fire. I say that he has long hair, but that he is a boy. (Funny, what seems important at such a moment.)

I see the black smoke billowing past my face. I look down and notice the blood on my khakis. I wonder where it came from. And now I see my arm, and I think to myself, "I always thought bones were white. . ." What I see is my left hand, the hand I have always been so proud to call my dominant hand, turned at an impossibly strange angle. I see bone, dark brown and mahogany, merlot, jutting nearly three inches, maybe four, out of my wrist. I see my right hand reach over and grasp my left, holding my wrist together. There is blood, but no pain, and I'm glad to see the bright red slowly oozing, not flowing, pumping. Without thinking it, I know that I will not die before the ambulance arrives.

I cannot write much at a time, but this will now be a place to record what happened since that truck pulled out in front of me as well as what is happening on my road to recovery. It is to be a blog about how knitting helps me heal (because I already, instinctively, know that this will surely be the case).

I have a long road ahead, but my son is not only alive, but completely physically unscathed, having, within days, recovered from the scrape and bruise above his right eye, the only injury he sustained. Lucy, the angel that she is, waited to see Ethan, raised her head (to say goodbye?) and, as the adored, selfless, loyal dog she was, gave her life so that her humans could live. It might seem odd to attribute such an act to a dog, but I cannot explain it other than to say that we simply know it to be true. If given the choice, she gladly would have taken the place of any of us if we were to die, and we believe that she did so. We miss her terribly.

Me? I'm alive. God is not done with me yet, so I must focus on recovery. I'm alive, so every moment in my life is a blessing, a miracle. Every single moment, every breath, every peal of my son's laughter, every stitch I can manage, every disappointment, even. . . it's all icing.

Giving up hope of ever being a good blogger

Well, it's pretty clear at this point that blogging isn't exactly my forte. I'd rather be knitting than writing about knitting, I guess. I could make the time, I know, just like I could make the time to do all of the laundry or mop the bathroom floors (though, admittedly, blogging would be much more f8n than either of those)....

...sigh.....

I do have quite a lot to write about, actually. No pics to post (and I hardly ever read other people's posts without pics. Maybe that's why I stall so much... 'cause I know this'll be boring w/o pics.)

Okay, 'nuff whinin'. Here goes:

WIPs

• Ethan's toesies socks (only 2 toes to go and they're done!)
• Reycled Silk Feather and Fan Comfort shawl --one or two skeins to go, then I'm done. This is reaalllly heavy, but beautiful. "Gee, Allison, can we see a photo?" "No!! Now go eat your soup!" (huh?)
• A surprise for a relative (it's on Hello Yarn)--actually there are two patterns here for 2 relatives, but only one's OTN so far.
• POTW2--Eunny's awesome pattern.
• The Woodland Shawl, by Thrifty Knitter I'm doing it in Silk Garden Light (greens, neutrals, orange--don't remember color#). Great pattern, and it's gorgeous.

FOs

• Grandmother's Shawl. I used the free Kiri pattern. I actually made it twice. Once in KSH "Ice Cream", and I thought partway through that it just wasn't jazzy enough for Grandmother's 80th birthday, so I finished that one and immediately CO another with Kid Silk Night in a deep purple. (Remember the poem that starts "When I am old, I shall wear purple"? I thought of that and knew her shawl had to be purple.) I added beads to the last repeat, and she loves it.
• Apple Laine Funny Girl socks. Very plain, pretty, comfy WARM socks. Not cold enough here to appreciate them yet!

I just wanted to make myself blog some, in the hopes that I can develop a habit at some point. I need to take pictures. And post them.

This is really just for me to have a, well, ya know, log of what I've been doing. Shouldn't be a chore. Or a bore. Somehow I've turned it into both. Need to change my thinking on that.

ok. bye.

It's Crunch Time!

Okay, I have abandoned all hope of finishing Stripes and Torchon Lace from VLT. I like it, but there's something that's keeping me from enjoying this project. Slippery silk yarn, slippery needles, I dunno. I had ple-heh-henty of time to work on this when I first started it, but today I crunched the numbers on it and realized that I'm only a quarter of the way through something I am not enjoying knitting.

Life's too short.

So, I went stash-hunting and found some awesome stuff. I decided on the Kidsilk Haze in a lovely light pink. Almost a light pinkish mauve. I think it was called Ice Cream. I wanted something that won't take forever, as it's a gift that has to be ready in exactly 4 WEEKS! I have wanted to knit Kiri for some time now, and I can't think of a better occasion. I have been hesitant to mention it, because I don't want to ruin the surprise, but this is for my Grandmother's 80th birthday. I haven't told her about the blog, becuase I knew I'd blab, so I'll just make sure not to mention the blog until after the big day. Eeek. 4 weeks. Can I do this with work and the boy, etc?

I have no choice.

My DS started Kindergarten this week. He is loving it. He loves Music and Science, and I am thrilled. I have been really surprised by his intense curiosity lately. About everything, really, but quite a bit about math as of late. He's been figuring out addition and subtraction problems (the other day, with sauce packets at the Chinese Restaurant). When he comes to my room after school he gets the dry erase boards and writes out a problem or two and then we figure them out with base ten blocks or toothpicks (or whatever). It's been so much fun.

Anyway, I'm off to start a new shawl. Wish me luck!

Oh, geez, I can't finish this post! I haven't mentioned getting Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters: Book One.

Oh. My.

I can't sing high enough praises. I didn't know what to expect, but this book is both more ingenious and yet simpler than what I had imagined. Cat's mind mystifies me.

I'm not dead, just ADD

Okay... I said it would happen, but it really wasn't my intention to fall of of the edge of the blogiverse.

ADD, indeed.

You think if you can't ever remember to take the daily second dose of your ADD meds, that they MIGHT not be working?!!

sheesh...

Well, I have no pics (BOring). But I wanted to try to get back in the habit.

Stash Enhancement!!

Is there anything harder than waaaaaaaaaaiiiitinnnnnng for your yarn once you've pored over pages and possibilities, taken the plunge and placed a purchase order?

The wait is ovah! In the middle of sunny Meheeco, I have finally gotten my yarn! Here's your pr0n:

Whole haul: Knit Picks circular needles (sizes 0, 1 & 2, 32" second set of each for either 2 on 2 circs or Magic Loop so I can have 2 socks going at once), Knit Picks Felici in Pebble and Arugula, Knit Picks Gloss in Pumpkin and... Lorna's Laces in Rainbow and Apple Laine Apple Pie in Funny Girl from The Loopy Ewe. Oh. My. Good. Lord.

Knit Picks New Felici Sock Yarn in Pebble (not as grey as the pic, but wonderful browns)



...and in Arugula (yes, good enough to eat, and again, not as grey-ish as the pic).




Gloss in Pumpkin (yum-o!)



Apple Laine Apple Pie in Funny Girl (the pic hardly does it justice, folks)



Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Rainbow.

Now. I know that many Knitters out there have hauls like these delivered to their doorsteps on a regular basis, but although I have been knitting (get this!) for 29 years (okay, more "off" than "on"), I have been a knitter, rather than a Knitter, until just about a year ago. I never knew what I was missing. Then my dear, dear Grandmother got me a gift certificate to a real live Yarn Shop. A good one. Now I'm hooked (and enjoying getting to know all of the fab yarns that so many of you already love--getting to know it all for the first time ... *sigh*)

Let me back up a bit. You see, I took up knitting again, like so many of us, when I was pregnant with my son, roughly 6 years ago. I was living in the middle of Mexico, where the only yarn shop in town sells only acrylic (and not the "good" kind) that they wind into cakes for you from cones or huge whe-+els. The selection was sketchy at best, but I wanted to knit, so I made do. On trips to the "city" (about an hour away) I could find better yarns at (gasp!) WalMart. Yes, my friends MUCH better yarns. That should put things into perspective.

It's not that I enjoyed knitting with that crap, but it was the only crap I had. After a while, I finally found the outskirts of the online knitting community, but I couldn't order good yarn because it was way out of my price range (I was living on a peso budget) and the shipping alone would have killed it for me.

Long story short (read: a divorce, online classes in the middle of the night and a move to Austin later) I was finally walking in to my first real-live yarn store. I actually felt faint and giddy at the same time. I stayed until it was clear they had to close and get home to their families, and I couldn't even buy anything that first trip because I was so overwhelmed. I knew I wanted to knit a lace stole or shawl for a dear friend, and I knew I wanted a particular shade of purple (that being her signature colour). I went home and pored the internet for days, as all of the knitting books I'd accumulated over the years were in storage in Mexico (I could only bring what I could fit into a van). I found Eunny Jang's Print O' the Wave Stole and knew it was the one. On the next trip to the yarn shop I found the perfect yarn in the perfect shade: Suri Elegance in Purple Mountain Majesty. It had enough yardage in one skein, which was good, as it was the only skein they had in that colour. It was the most expensive yarn I'd ever bought. $48 dollars per skein. I found out later that the retail price for that yarn is far, far lower, but it really was worth it. That project changed me from a knitter to a Knitter.

I knit good wishes, health and joy for my friend into every stitch. I would wake up an hour early on occasion to sit and watch the sunrise in silence to knit on it (and I am a night-owl kinda gal--I normally don't do mornings). I loved every minute of it. And then I got to block it.

Seriously, if you've never knit lace, you owe it to yourself, if for nothing else, then for the blocking. You feel like a magician or a faerie. It catches your breath. You visit it in the middle of the night to pet it as it dries. It is astounding.

I didn't realize that I was going to get into all of this in this post. In fact, it was meant to just be an update to show off the yarn and to say "Hey, I'm sewing the seams on Butterfly and she'll be done soon." Who knew all this was in there?

Anyhoo, since I waxed poetic about my first Print O' the Wave, here she is:

Post-Block on my son's bed

Obligatory window shot.

My friend cried when she saw it. But somehow, I feel like I got the real gift.

I Got the Fever!!

I am soooo loving the Mystery Stole 3! There are over 6,300 members and counting! Actually, in the time it took me to post this, the number jumped from 6,328 to 6,391 (Hey, gimme a break, I'm new at this!) I did have to go on digest, as there were over 1,000 emails in the account I created just for the MS3 (sheesh!). Anyhoo, I wanted to get started on Clue 2, but I promised AnnaMarie I would post a pic of the MS3 in Lane Borgosesia Baruffa Cashwool.


I tried a close-up, too.

In other knitting news (not world-wide, big, important, earth-shattering news, but private, big, important, earth-shattering news) I blocked the back and fronts of Noro Butterfly, and it's gorgeous. I didn't even take a pic before I sewed the shoulder seams. But here she is, ready for the collar, which I will start today. (the laundry be damned).



Here's a comparison pic of the sleeves (unblocked) and the fronts (blocked) just for you non-blocking-believers still out there.

It's like magic, people.

Hmm... my pictures are lookin' crappy in the preview. I wonder what that's about. Lemme post and see if it publishes that way. And if so, then I've got to fart around with photos instead of KNIT, which is really what I'd rather be doing. Here's hoping!

...I FIXED IT!! And it didn't take more than 3 minutes! (How dorky is it that I'm so excited about that?)