Getting Some Things Done

I think I've turned a corner and the pain level has really dropped. Still, this has not been a terrible recovery. I knit an entire shawl already:

This is an Antarktis in a Knit Circus gradient (can't find the ball band!). I thought I had too much yarn, but I was wrong and I had to end a bit early. I can't move around enough to block yet, but I'm sure it will block out to a good size.

I finished the painting I started on a day trip Keith and I took before my surgery to Viroqua, Wis.

This is a beautiful old building. To me, the touching thing is the For Sale sign along the side of the building. I'm not sure painting is the right word because I used Derwent Inktense Pencils, my usual medium.

I packed up a box of hand knits for the folks on Pine Ridge Reservation, one of the most poverty-stricken areas in the United States. You can learn more about this project at the Ravelry group. I mostly sent mittens and scarves.

I've been trying to knit outside for a little while every morning, before the mosquitos swarm! Yesterday I noticed that our yard is dotted with these:

It's a mushroom, not a flower.

Summer break is roughly half over, and it's going way too fast! When I can move around a little better, I need to go into school and start getting organized for next year. I learned the hard way last year that the pace is very fast in high school and I need to hit the ground running!

Whether to Share, Good News, a Lesson and Knitting

I'm sure that none of use bares all online. I certainly don't want to advertise all my short-comings to the world. Then there is the question of tone; I don't want to be moaning and complaining all the time. Who wants to read that? And often the difficulties in our lives involve other people, so we need to respect their privacy.

I've been thinking about what to share online a lot since early May, when I was diagnosed with a skin cancer, Squamous Cell Carcinoma. This is generally a very treatable cancer that stays on the surface of the skin. However, this lesion on my right thigh was misdiagnosed by a dermatologist a decade ago, so has grown unchecked -- until it bothered me enough to see another dermatologist this past spring.

It took the dermatologist less than a second to look at it and order a biopsy. I knew then that it had to be cancer. The biopsy came back positive and a Mohs procedure was scheduled for July 6. Two months is a long time to wait when you don't know the extent of the cancer, but the rush of the last month of school helped distract me, as did the trip to Copenhagen.

The Mohs procedure went well. The doctor is reasonably confident they removed all the cancer, but she is going to put me on a chemo surface treatment when the incision heals. And the incision is healing beautifully so far! If I get through the next week without any signs of infection, I'll be in the clear.

I should mention that my husband is an amazing nurse, and my incredible daughter flew in from Florida to be around at this time. Of course, my mom is here in Madison, too, to help out.

That's the good news. Here is the lesson: Be paranoid about odd things on your skin! I don't know how the first dermatologist missed that this lesion was cancer, but I sure wish I would have gotten a second opinion! It would have been a much easier procedure when a smaller area was involved.

As for knitting ... the photos are of an Antarktis, my second. Until the surgeon went in with the Mohs, we didn't know how deep the cancer was or what the recovery would be like. In the days before the procedure, I set up this project as a mindless, soothing knitting activity. And it has been perfect.

I'm usually careful about keeping track of ball bands, but somehow I lost this one. What I can tell you is that the yarn comes from one of my favorite (and local!) dyers: Knit Circus. Fortunately, the recovery is going very smoothly and I can also work on other projects, so I won't be boring you with endless photos of this shawl!

I haven't been up to reading blogs and commenting, but I'll be starting that today. I look forward to seeing what you've been up to!

One Done And One Begun

We are into the fourth quarter at school. That may sound like the end is in sight. Not yet! I have a growing pile of paperwork. If paperwork was a good strategy for teaching, my students would be geniuses! Alas, that is not the way it is working out.

But there is always knitting to get my mind off work. My Antarktis shawl is ready for blocking. It doesn't look like much yet, but I'm sure it will be wonderful after blocking. It is a really fast and easy knit. I tend to drag my feet on blocking -- am I alone? This photo does not do justice to the Eden Cottage yarn.

I immediately cast on Reyna, another shawl:

It is a free pattern, quite easy and fast. And isn't the yarn gorgeous? It is Mountain Colors Twizzle.

I bought the yarn for both these shawls at the Madison Knitters Guild Knit-In in March, and I'm glad I gave way to temptation. Both are fairly difficult to get, even online!

I'm still reading Jacksonland by Steve Inskeep, and it is turning upside down the history I learned in high school. I was taught that Jackson was a president for the common people. Not! He was quite an elitist. Even more, I'm struck by how some things never change. At the same time he was negotiating with Native Americans for their land as a government official, he was buying up that same land while it was cheap. Sigh.

I'm joining up with Ginny for Yarn Along. See you there!

Shawling Along

While it doesn't make for a very exciting photo, my Antarktis is a joy to knit. Perfect TV knitting, easy and rhythmic. It is going to be the perfect summer shawl.

As for the TV part, we've been watching Better Call Saul, the spin-off from Breaking Bad. It is good, but dark and violent, just like BB.

I finished The Prize, about Mark Zuckerberg's $100 million donation to the Newark School District. It is a great and readable book for anyone who wants to understand what "education reform" really means.

Tonight I start Evicted by Matthew Desmond, a Harvard professor who studied the effects of eviction on a group of families in Milwaukee. It is supposed to be good, but also quite devastating. Eviction is becoming a growing issue for our families here in Madison as the price of real estate and rents go up.

I'm joining up today with Ginny to Yarn Along.

One New, One Old

Let's face it: How many of us can come home with a load of new yarn and not cast some of it on right away? Maybe some of you have more self-control than I do. But it didn't take long for me to set up my swift and ball winder, so I knew that I'd be casting on.

After all, I am on spring break.  So I do have more time on my hands. I decided that meant I could be a little bit virtuous. Before casting on, I pulled out a UFO, one that I really felt I could finish:

This is a market-bag in cotton. At the moment I can't find the name of the pattern or the yarn. I know the pattern is from Creative Knitting magazine. And the yarn was on sale at my LYS. I'm well beyond the halfway point, so I'm hoping to finish before school starts.

Feeling properly virtuous, I cast on Antarktis by Janina Kallio in Eden Cottage Yarn, both of which I picked up Saturday at the Knit-In. The yarn is a wool-silk blend that is going to be perfect for summer. The yarn knits like a dream, smooth and, well, silky.

My plan is to finish it in time for my trip to the West Coast in July.

As for reading, I finished My Brilliant Friend. I liked it but I can't say that I loved it. I'm not sure why it is such a worldwide sensation. However, there is a twist at the end that not only made the book worth reading but also has tempted me to start book 2. We'll see.

Here's what's up next. 

 

This Should Be Written in the Pressent Tense is a literary novel by Helle Helle, who is a star in her native Denmark. I'm also going to start a Jennifer Haigh novel set in industrial Pennsylvania. Haigh is a good writer and I lived in Pittsburgh for a time, so I'm hoping to enjoy this one.

It isn't all fun and games here at Chez Caffeine. A chunk of Monday was devoted to finished my PDP -- the written document I need to renew my teaching license -- and I have a lot of house decluttering to do. Not that I'm complaining. I know I'm lucky to get school breaks!

I'll be joining Ginny for Yarn Along.