Well, friends and readers, I’m a bit at a loss of words right now, but feel like I should at least start a note about the upcoming months. I was recently (like, 24 hours ago) diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia. I’m sending this note from my hospital room, where I will be confined for the next 4 weeks. The treatment, from what they’ve told me, is very good and has a 85-90% positive outcome. But, my stay will be confining (since I will be spending most of the time in a somewhat sealed room). I have plans to work on some knitting during this time, but I’m not sure how often I will be updating the blog. I’m not sure I want to turn this into a follow-Dan’s-health-blog, but this is such a huge thing for us right now, it didn’t seem right to not say anything. So keep us in your thoughts (especially Virginia, as she starts to pull super duty of housekeeper, supporter, caregiver and partner), and I’ll do my best to scratchcraft away the hours of recovery.
Comfrey
Virginia, with the month or so remaining of winter (optimistically speaking), finished another cardigan. This is Comfrey from Rowan’s Purelife – The Organic Wool Collection. She knit this using a yarn from Thirteen Mile Lamb and Wool — a fantastic small farm in Montana that raises sheep (to quote from their Web site), “without using chemical fertilizers and herbicides on our fields, and the sheep grow on grass, clover and alfalfa with no antibiotics or hormone supplements. The livestock are fenced out of the creeks to protect both local wildlife habitat and the quality of the sheeps’ drinking water. Our principal protection against native predators are our guard dogs and llamas and our own vigilance; because we have chosen not to use lethal control methods against coyotes, bears, wolves, mountain lions, our ranch is certified as “predator friendly”. It is a choice which, like many of our land management decisions, acknowledges risk in the interest of learning how to coexist with native species while caring for the land.”
Not only that, but they also use both naturally colored wool and natural dyes for their yarns. Their color palette is quite something. I think Virginia had a tough time picking between the colors that they have. But, this is, in my opinion, a very suitable choice for this sweater.
I think she agrees, too.
Cake and Yarn (What more do you need?)
I was jonesing for some cake today, but with Virginia fighting a cold and myself not wanting to get one, I figured it would be best to just leave it… unless, the cake was actually good for us.
I’m calling this a good-for-you cake. The recipe is as follows:
In a small bowl, soak then combine (I used a wand blender to liquefy):
1/3 cup finely chopped dates
1/4 cup oats
1 1/2 cups boiling water
Add to mixture:
2-3 Tbsp. sour cream
2-3 Tbsp. canola oil (I wasn’t measuring that carefully)
1 Tbsp. maple syrup
In a medium bowl combine:
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cup white flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. cardamom
Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, briskly mix together until batter is smooth, but not overmixed. Pour batter into greased 9-inch round cake pan and bake for 30 minutes (or until toothpick comes out clean) in a 350º oven. (I actually used a 7-inch springform, but it was a little small for the amount of batter, and I had a difficult time getting the center done without drying out the sides–hey that’s what experimentation is all about, right?).
Because I had a smaller, but taller cake, I cut it into three sections and spread some cooked-down blackberries (with a splash of lemon and 1/2 tsp. corn starch to thicken it) between the layers… and since we had a bit of cream in the fridge, it seemed like a touch of freshly whipped cream on top was appropriate. Perfect with an afternoon cup of tea.
In the spinning department, I finished up another bump of superwash merino. I kettle dyed some top in several 3 oz. portions (I actually thought I had set aside several 4 oz. portions, but I blame that mistake on the vicodin I was taking at the time…).
This skein is actually only 2.8 oz. but I was able to squeeze 220 yards of 3-ply yarn out of it. Probably not enough for a full pair of socks, but I’m spinning all this sock yarn a similar weight, so there will probably be some mixing and matching going on.
Springtime Bunnies and Socks
Inspired by the foraging bunnies in our back yard, a sign that Spring is on its way, I decided to show my support for warmer weather by making some little effigies.
Of course, there’s never just one bunny in the yard. So, true to nature, I started putting together a whole warren.
Although, I have a feeling I did something to anger the weather gods, because I just finished shoveling 8 inches of snow off our sidewalks and driveway this evening. So, looks like we’ll be waiting a little while longer for Spring.
In knitting news, Virginia finished making a pair of socks from the new “Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarn” book by Interweave. Our friend Barb (owner of Wild Geese Fibres) designed this particular pattern in the book, and this pair was knit with Koigu.
On the Mend
I haven’t been forthcoming with much detail on my hip problem (not exactly scratchcrafty news), but since I’ve mentioned it, I feel like I should at least say things are, as far as I can tell, clearing up. (It’s hard not to be a little skeptical at the process of elimination that is often used by the health care industry in trying to determine a diagnosis, but that’s a discussion for another day–or not.)
At any rate, I must have been channeling some healing vibes (or maybe it’s the thought of approaching springtime), because I made a few more happy-go-lucky felted friends. I think it’s important to be reminded every once in awhile that we should not be taking life too seriously. Having a couple of these guys in strategic places around the house provide a subtle reminder of that.
Now that I’m back at work, my spinning production will decrease a bit. I did manage to finish another 4 oz. of sock yarn. This 3-ply yarn (yielding about 300 yards) was spun from some superwash colonial wool that we dyed last summer. It’s always satisfying pulling out and using stash that’s been sitting around for awhile.
And, Virginia is back at making socks. She finished this pair a week or so ago. It’s her own pattern, knit using KnitPicks Essential.
