This morning we could smell spring in the air. The air is heavy with the musty smell of wet dirt and rotting vegetable matter. This morning we heard the Robins singing for the first time this year. There are twenty days until spring is official here. I am so excited by the prospect of warmer weather and the beauty of rebirth that happens in the spring. Spring is my favorite time of the year. :)
I frogged my Infinity Peacock Moebius Wrap (IPMW) on Sunday and started over. I tend to be a loose knitter and typically need to go down two needle sizes to maintain gauge. Before I started on the IPMW, I swatched and my swatch (on US Size 4 needles) was on target for gauge. After knitting two section repeats, I checked my gauge and I was way off (too many stitches per inch). I gave some serious consideration to just continuing and hoping for the best. I knit another row and then frogged it (I’m anal about my knitting and an imperfection would drive me bonkers). I reswatched with the US Size 4 needles and my gauge was right. For whatever reason I’m really increasing my tension on the IPMW and this has not been a good thing. I decided to go up a needle size and am now using US Size 5 needles and even though my swatch gauge was off, my actual IPMW gauge is perfect. I have finished one section and I am so much happier with the results. With only the one section completed, the pattern is quite visible and distinct. I’m very glad that I started over on this. Anne put a lot of time and effort into creating this amazing pattern and I want to make sure my finished IPMW does justice to her design work. :)
My next big project is “Faro-Easy” (by Wendy Knits) knit from Lorna’s Laces Pearl in the “Black Pearl” color-way. I do not expect this to be a quick knit by any stretch of the imagination but it does look like it is an easy pattern. Lorna’s Laces Pearl is such a beautiful, silky yarn that just cries out to be knit into something soft and comforting. The Overlook Twins are disgusted by how much time I spend petting this yarn when I should be petting them instead.
I still need to finish Mr. Greenjeans which may end up being a vest rather than an actual sweater (I just want to get it off of my needles). Deep in my heart I know I should finish this sweater as it is a goal (and sleeves don’t take that long to knit in this pattern). I have to admit to wanting to stuff Mr. Greenjeans into a deep dark place and forgetting it exists. Mr. Greenjeans isbeing replaced in my sweaterly affections by the Girl Friday sweater. I plan on using Cascade 220 in the “Wisteria” color-way for Girl Friday and the yarn is already sitting on my desk waiting to be wound into yarn cakes. Maybe if I knit a few rows on Mr. Greenjeans, I won’t feel like I have betrayed it with another sweater?
A slight coffee table avalanche on Saturday revealed the forlorn cuff of the in-progress-but-abandoned Thuja sock. I glanced around to make sure my shame had not been exposed to anyone else and then buried it under a pile of magazines. Maybe the Thuja socks could be Samuel’s 2010 birthday present. I have until August to get them done if they are for his birthday and I will have them done by August, right? :: snort ::
One of the highpoints of our weekend was cooking up our first batch of “red beans and rice”. We’ve made a few basic decisions about how we want to handle this recipe in the future. One, never use two pounds of Andouille sausage in a single batch (good thing we like spicy food). Two, we want to double the beans as they are the best part of the recipe (it would have been “beanier” if we hadn’t used so much sausage). Third, we are adding this recipe to our regular rotation. This is an incredibly easy-to-make, flavorful dish that costs pennies per serving. Rice is easy as we buy that in 25-pound bags and it takes nothing to program the rice cooker in the morning to have hot, fluffy rice ready and waiting for us when we come home in the evening.
As of last Monday, Melody has completed four of her eight chemotherapy treatments. Her next four treatments will use a new combination of drugs which should be much easier on her body than the previous series of drugs were. She still has a tremendous amount of pain from the injection to boost her white blood cell count though. I am encouraged that she has not exhibited any symptoms out of the ordinary while undergoing chemo. Yes, this whole thing sucks and my heart aches at what she has to endure, but at least she is a textbook case as far as the side effects go. I count my blessing that she has not gotten sick (cold or flu) while on chemotherapy. I continue to pray that she stays healthy during the remaining four treatments (two months) of chemotherapy. After chemotherapy, she will undergo a rigorous schedule of radiation therapy. I hope and pray that when all of this is done and over with, she will be cancer-free.
