Sunday, May 29, 2011

Back to Back

Next weekend the Toronto Spiders are competing in the Int'l Back to Back Wool Challenge again. We will be going for the win at Black Creek Pioneer Village on Sunday June 5th starting at approximately 10AM. We're hoping for an awesome sunny day & would love to have you come out and cheer us on!!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Untitled

My hair is growing in ... long enough to run my fingers through it. It's like Rosemary's Baby short but growing and I have to admit that wetting up my hands & drying them in my hair to style it has an ease that has its own appeal. And it didn't come back in "not grey" as I had hoped, but the grey is easily & colourfully remedied.

Chemo is the gift that just keeps giving. I had lost 2 toe nails during chemo from stubbing them. They've grown back in, but not quite the same (2nd toe on the left foot). The big toe nail on my right foot is lifting (and oozy), the one beside it & the big toe on my left foot look totally dead and I'm sure their loss i
s imminent. The "growth rings" are kind of interesting ... while I'm glad that I had my hands sitting in ice during the Taxotere treatments to help preserve my nails I really wish they had done it for my feet.
I've not really been one for pedicures & open toe shoes (the jobs I work at mostly) but sometimes I like to pamper my naked feet. I wonder if you get a discount on pedicures that don't require nail attention? Ah w
ell, this too shall pass.

I've gotten signed off on returning to work May 30th. Yes, I am excited!! It will be nice to see my friends every day and get back into a routine again. I am lucky that I will not have to jump back into Dept Mgr duties and the associated stresses - I'll be working up at the front end; cashier and Customer Service. I love front end - I'm the first one up to a till when they call for "cash trained associates" during busy times - and am looking forward to it.
The HR Mgr has enthusiastically agreed to arrange for a "dress down" day for staff on the day of my return - denim & pink - and the money raised will be to support me & the DKC/Toronto Spiders Relay for Life team!! We'll probably get a couple more in before June 17th too. Even mor
e awesome?? Walmart Canada will match all of the monies raised!!! I know!!

I've been working on a new project for Elise - gorgeous rainbow-bright Wollmeise.

I've also started on Irish Coffee by BabyCocktails for Julie. The yarn is Naturally's Aran Tweed - gorgeously soft!! I should have read ahead a bit more thoroughly in the pattern; I was cruising along to the 9" armhole depth when I read the "switching from ribbing to cable & stockinette" instructions.
Which I should have started 2.5" ago. It'll go quickly enough switching to stockinette.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Frolic '11

Wow - I daresay it was a record for attendance; it was crazy busy!!!
I got there a bit later than I had intended but still had time to peruse the Market and chat up friends I haven't seen in a long time (Denny, Veronik, Linda) & meet some new ones (Heya Wanda!!!).

I had a great time teaching my finishing class - I really love seeing knitters excited about finishing and talking about how they can go home and pick up projects and using what they've learned, finish them with pride!

Then I went down and went around the market again, trying to decide on what was going to come home with me. I have to say that at the Frolic and the KW Knitters fair last fall I kept going back to 2 booths - van der rock yarns & Viola. The colours of their yarns are so enticing and I really did regret leaving without some of their yarns last time so I wasn't going to make that mistake again. I know, but we all know how much more satisfying it is to buy yarn in person.

So after going back to their booths several times, mulling & pondering I decided on 4 skeins of vdr's super sock in Promethium. I'm going to knit Stephen West's Herbivore and I had it in my head that I really had to knit it in a green of some sort. Good thing y'all are used to my quirks by now!! Stephanie was awesome (you are too Peter!) and had introduced herself to me on my last trip back to their booth. We got to chatting and she gifted me a skein of super sock in Carbonite so that if I can find the Sweet Spot in Promethium I can confirm it in Carbonite. They name their colourways after elements which I thought was super cool! Yes, they are aware that Carbonite is not strictly a recognized element but it's recognized by those of us to whom such things matter. They could totally have a blast with some of the other fictional elements!!!

From Viola I picked out a skein of their sock yarn in dew drop. I had mentioned "jaded" on Facebook and a friend said that I'll be faded jaded soon. I thought that sounded like an excellent colourway & was on a mission to find just such a colour for my next pair of socks. dew drop is (to my eye anyway) a perfect "faded jaded"!!! Now I just need to find a perfect sock pattern ... I'll need something a bit more "more" than my go-to stockinette.

As I was checking out The Needle Emporium booth (always well put together!!), Julie called me over. She gave me a gift certificate that Linda S. had bought for me. I got kind of choked up ... Linda reads my blog and has found inspiration and encouragement in my experiences. That means so much to me - sharing my story has been a kind of therapy for me and I am so glad that anything that I was able to share was able to help someone else. Everyone's journey & experience with cancer is unique but there are so many little things that you didn't even know to ask about or expect through treatment and not everyone can get to a support group in their area (and really, you can't have to much support or information). Thank you Linda - for the gift certificate and for letting me know that I've been been able to pay it forward a little.