It's a good thing I can't sing.
Without going into too much detail and making this long post too long, and since not all the I'm Gonna Tell Mom blog readers are on my HIPPA form, I'll condense the adventures of the last month as much as I can.
At the end of March I had a CT scan to check on something (this is the part I will gloss over) which thankfully turned out to be nothing, but which luckily accidentally revealed a rather large aneurysm on my splenic artery.
After hearing the word aneurysm I pretty much got tunnel vision and expected to be told to go straight to the ER, Do Not Pass Go or Collect $200, but apparently I was wrong because I am sitting here, with my aneurysm still lurking in there. I have an appointment on Friday with a surgeon and I hope to leave that office with a surgery date. It has been a long month of waiting, waiting rooms, consultations and scans. I have been assured and reassured that the aneurysm "isn't gonna blow". I have also been told not to exert myself, strain or lift anything heavier than 20 lbs.
A friend (hi Lisa!) then asked "what if you sneeze?"
!
So far, so good.
~Suppress neither sneezes nor laughter.~
With the understanding that surgery Is Something That Is Going To Happen, I came home from that appointment on April 5th and started winding yarn and baking muffins. I was going to need comfort knitting and recovery knitting. And muffins.
Knit on, with confidence and hope, through all crises.
~ Elizabeth Zimmermann
Unlike the Gall Bladder Event of 1999, I have time to prepare for this surgery.
I also don't have a two year old, a puppy, and a Kindergarten Carpool schedule to manage, Praise Be To God!
And unlike Carpal Tunnel 2007, I can knit during my recuperation. If it weren't surgery, this could almost be a vacation!
I started planning projects and organizing yarn, needles and patterns. Soothing, somewhat mindless, comfort knitting projects. Wool.
“Properly practiced, knitting soothes the troubled spirit, and it doesn't hurt the untroubled spirit either.”
~Elizabeth Zimmermann
As it turns out, I had more time for planning than I anticipated, and many hours spent in waiting rooms. I finished all those comfort knitting projects. I've had to start winding yarn and organizing the next batch of projects.
I finished this shawl, which had been AbandonedForNoGoodReason.
This is Dream Shawl. I used Cottage Craft yarn, in Charcoal. I really like Cottage Craft yarn- the wool is wonderful and the prices are fantastic, but sadly I am finding the company unreliable.
I finished the Truly Tasha's Shawl, which is inspired by the shawl Tasha Tudor wears in so many of the photos we see of her.
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| Olive on squirrel patrol |
I used Bartlett yarns for this one. I might go out on a limb and say that if I could only knit with one yarn the rest of my life, it just might be Bartlett yarn. Some may say it is scratchy. Not me. It gets softer with washing. And I like finding those occasional bits of straw in the wool which remind me that this really did come from sheep and hasn't been processed beyond recognition. The things I knit with Bartlett yarn will probably last forever.
Okay, and then I finished this felted purse.
Sooo, now, for the next round of waiting room and recovery projects, I have cast on two projects from this book.
And I have the Long Collared Jacket (in Bartlett yarn) on my needles as well. Stay tuned for photos of that.
Yesterday, I wound the warp and dressed Donna Reed for a rag rug- simple weaving- in case I am allowed to treadle my loom after abdominal surgery. I may have to exercise restraint and save that weaving for post-op. I feel the call of the loom and know that once I start weaving, I will be finished with that rug quickly and need to start another. I know I won't be up to dressing the loom after surgery. I need to think too much and move too much.
I wonder, will I be allowed to spin? That would be good. It would have to be a terribly long recovery if I were to run out of roving!
It's not what you have to meet, it's how you meet what you have.
~Helen Workman
I'll keep you posted. Say a prayer for the doctors and nurses!
Love,
Kim
