Attending StitchesWest 2020?

Knitivity Posted on by

Are you attending Stitches West 2020 out on the West Coast this weekend?

With all the health and other issues recently, it had slipped from memory that way last fall I had shipped 48 full-size skeins of Knitivity’s Phydlbitz Sock and some Lovely Sock to my friend Lisa to be distributed this weekend for Stitches West.   Lisa and Dez are there this weekend and called me to cheer me up, and reminded me they are sharing my yarns with friends and others there.

Those yarns were marked with a special offer for folks attending StitchesWest.  Since those visiting will land on this page first, I wanted to be sure to let folks know that this offer will be honored as soon as I am back dyeing yarns again.  As I said in the previous post, I’m anticipating this will be by the end of March, so not too far away in real life although for me it seems like an eternity away.    🙂

I hope all my fellow knitters, crocheters, and other crafters are having a blast at Stitches West this weekend, and to drop me a note down in the comments box that you received a yarn.  Even if you don’t order right away, I would love to know what you think of the yarn you received and what you plan to make with it.    🙂   Also, if you leave a comment, let me know where you are — it always excites me to know my yarn has traveled to some new part of the world.

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Hey, You Guys!

Knitivity Posted on by

I could have sworn I put up a post here after I’d been home from surgery, but I can’t find it.  🙁

Anyway, today is four weeks from surgery.  For those who don’t know, I had to have my aorta replaced because of scar tissue build-up all around it, in several places.  Original diagnosis was aneurysm, but it was so much more (and worse).  After the surgery, while in SICU, they discovered I was losing blood and had to take me back into surgery and patched up the leak and gave me 4 units of blood.   And there were some other complications over the first couple days.  Details aren’t necessary; suffice to say I wasn’t the typical aortic aneurysm case.

Prior to surgery, I had the naive belief that by this point 4 weeks later I’d be getting ready to start dyeing again.   Boy, was I mistaken!  I came home on the 9th day and have been recuperating ever since. My daughter has been a terrific help along the way (and several friends have also sent help from a distance), but I’m regaining my independence slowly.  Like, I had already discovered the miracle of DoorDash to bring me meals, but now I have also figured out getting groceries delivered from Kroger!

Outside there is a concrete pad, about 30 feet long alongside the mobile home.  Using a walker I have progressed to taking 2 laps of the pad twice a day, rebuilding my strength and endurance.  I also have to do some various leg motion exercises, at least twice a day.  It is exhausting!

Because of the complications, this ordeal seriously affected my ability to eat, as well as to process food after eating.  I’m down to about 150 pounds — since November I’ve lost almost 1/4 of my weight.  Thankfully, appetite and digestion are s-l-o-w-l-y getting back to normal, but it’s not like normal and won’t be for a long while.  I just have to keep remembering to eat on a somewhat normal routine, take small meals more frequently.  UGH

I have a long way to go before I can seriously consider start dyeing as I used to.  It takes 2 or 3 trips to the kitchen just to stand up long enough to complete washing a load of dishes.  I can’t even fathom standing up for a couple hours to dye a load of yarns.   BUT… in a few weeks I hope to at least try dyeing 2-3 skeins at a time and start rebuilding my strength and endurance.   And regain a normal appetite to rebuild my body.

I do my exercises, I try to eat as best I can, and then sit like a lump to rest in between efforts.  I’m getting there and doing my best to get ready to start working.  The doctors have strenuously warned me about over-doing things; the external incision is healing, but all the internal stuff is trying to mend, and over-doing things can lead to hernias and other troubles.  Fortunately (so far), my body readily tells me “enough is enough, just sit down”.  And I obey.

So, anyway, I wanted to post this so you know what’s happening.  I’m looking toward the end of March to have a load of Blog Reader Specials to show you.  It seems like forever from now, but I am working at it.

 

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Pre-surgery notes

Knitivity Posted on by

Hi there!

As mentioned earlier, I will be having some major surgery next week, which will (I hope) put me on the road back to regular working form.  I’ve been told I will be in Surgical ICU for a day or two, and then a week in a regular hospital bed, and then possibly one or two weeks in a rehab facility which will likely include some OT and PT so I can start building up my strength again.

I don’t anticipate my doctor releasing me to regular work for about 6 weeks, so there should be a new collection of Blog Reader Specials in early March.  To avoid unnecessary duplication, I will most likely be posting any important notices on the Knitivity Facebook page. You’ll be able to check there for updates.  Because this whole health-care journey is new to me, I am posting daily notes on my personal blog, but most are boring little details and little day-by-day things I notice as I discover all the magnificent ways my body can interfere with my life.  🙂

Because of the blood pressure medication to significantly lower my b.p. and safeguard my aorta before surgery, I am not up to doing much of anything.  Any real energy I spend is limited toward doing what I must do to prepare for surgery and being away from home for a while – catching up on laundry, straightening the house a bit, etc.

The last planned shipping day is this Saturday.   There aren’t many yarns remaining on the Blog Reader Specials page, anyway, but it would be awesome to empty the bins so that when I am allowed to start working again I can start with a clean slate.

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Yes, there’s an end in sight…finally!

Knitivity Posted on by

Awwwrighty, then!

After a bunch of tests and blood samples and imaging and CT scans, I went to see a second cardiac surgeon (referred by the first one).   It is somewhat worse than I’d imagined from what I’d learned so far.

I will be having surgery on Jan 22, during which they will not just patch the aneurysm on my aorta.  They found another troublesome spot further down and they will be replacing a big length of the whole aorta.  The one single solitary ‘good news’ part of it is that they will not have to crack my chest open.   But it will be a “Y” shaped replacement aorta, so I’m assuming the incision will be similarly “Y” shaped.  Or maybe just a straight line down and they’ll just move my innards around to reach what they need to reach.   (I didn’t realize the aorta was just in front of the spine, behind all the other internal organs!  They’ll go in through the front and move everything aside to do what they do — fascinating!)

I’ll be in the hospital for about a week, and then possibly in a nursing facility for another week or two (if I don’t come straight home), but the doctor said it will be six weeks before I can think about getting back to work lifting wet yarns, moving the loaded steamer, and all the other physical labor of being an independent art yarn dyer.   Even now, of course, I’m not supposed to lift over 10  pounds, but he said not even 5 pounds after surgery if I want to avoid creating a hernia.

I’m already going stir-crazy — can you imagine how I will be when this is all over??   (On the other hand, can you imagine all the brilliant new colorways I can think up?    Aortic Ice!  Incision Iridescence!  Suture Surprise!  Suture Self!)

I’ll be having a sit-down with my daughter this weekend to plan out the essentials of what can or will be done.

Best case scenario, it will be sometime in March that I am able to dye up the next batch of Blog Reader Specials.

The doctor said I probably won’t even feel like knitting until a couple weeks afterward, but I will try to have pen and paper handy.

Feel free to ask what you will — no guarantees of details answers, but I’ll try to answer what I can.

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Last BRS of 2019

Knitivity Posted on by

Well, howdy!  I wasn’t sure I could get this done, but there is a new batch of Blog Reader Specials – the last of 2019.

I’m still on weight/activity restriction until I get the aneurysm fixed, but yesterday my granddaughter Devyn came over and helped dye a batch of Phydlbitz Sock.  She actually messaged me and asked if she could do that, on her day off!  And, actually, she dyed the batch and I mostly sat my sick self on the couch advising her as needed.  I dyed one Twinset and sort of helped with another, but basically what you see is Devyn’s handiwork!  So proud of her.   🙂

I think she did an amazing job.   She picked out her own palette of colors to work with, and pretty much applied the dyes with her own color stylings and technique.  There is loads more to teach her, of course, but I do believe she has a natural talent for this type of work.

Many of these Twinsets will work up into self-striping spiral-stripe socks, while others would do amazing for shawls, scarves, or other larger-than-socks work.

All of these are Phydlbitz Sock, 75/25 Superwash Corriedale/Nylon, 430 yards, and are $27.00 each.   They were all dyed as Twinsets, but I just noticed I failed to underscore the Twinset pairs on the 2nd photograph as I normally do; even so, it should be clear which ones go together.

Because of my clinic visit schedule, and the doctor’s orders to limit my activities, I hope to have these ready to ship by Saturday for you.  I realize this is a little longer than my normal lead-time, but I don’t want to press my luck with my health.

To claim the one(s) you want, just send me an email indicating your numbered selections.  I’ll send you a Paypal invoice, so if you’ve not ordered before be sure to let me know your state or country so I can calculate the correct shipping and handling charges for your destination.

eta:   All the skeins not claimed during the preview have now been posted to the Blog Reader Specials page.

Already Claimed:  881, 882, 885, 886, 887, 889, 890, 891, 893, 894, 895, 896, 899, 900, 901, 902, 903, 904

I am hoping 2020 will be a better year for me than 2019.    As much as I appreciate having access to health care with Medicare, there are things not fully covered — like my insulin and Symbicort, and many of the specialist co-pays and co-pays for certain procedures and tests.  My MedicareAdvantage plan covers a LOT, but not everything.   The last two months have been expensive for me in ways I neither expected nor budgeted for, with more to come in the next few months before it all levels out and I have a better sense of what I can manage and what I’ll need help with.  I think after the surgery I will be able to tackle a more consistent work schedule as well, so it won’t be as bad as it is now.

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