Tristate trifecta

So it occurs to me that I am now very behind in the news updates. Therefore, it seems only appropriate to start off with a photo of a 3 year old project (as my older greatnephew Thomas will be 3 on April 3rd -- incidentally, also the date of my next chemo, but more on THAT later

Yes, this blankie was one of my first major projects, completed with the assistance of my mom, who could not stand watching me slowly seam the squares together (she is very zippy in all things sewing). It is now in my younger greatnewphew Nicky's room at my sister's house, ready to be thrashed and drooled upon. Excellent! (Since it is made of Plymouth Encore and cotton backing, I have faith in its durability.)

So while I was at my sister's home in CT last weekend, having a lovely leisurely brunch with the other "kids" (2 of whom are married with children now, so child-free time with just the four of us is very precious, and thus, my post-1st-chemo request: they asked, and this was all I wanted) I took the opportunity to finally visit the LYS in Greenwich.

And a good thing I did too, as it turns out The Knitting Niche will be closing. Didn't know that's why they were having a 20% - 5% sale. I just thought it was end of winter clearance. So how could I resist 2 hanks of Elsebeth Lavold angora (91 yds/ea.) for a mere $5 per hank?! (I would have bought more, but they only had 2 left, darnit.)

I grabbed the yarn (the other ball is a deliciously soft Filatura Di Crosa Zarina Baby Print, also on sale for 20% off $9) and a pair of size 13 circulars to start on a fluffy scarf for my sweetie's friend Patty, whose 50th birthday dinner is here in Jersey City today. Since I knit tightly, and that defeats the purpose of supersoft yarn, I thought I'd go in the other direction and knit deliberately loose and lacy.

After several ripped out attempts/trials, I settled on a combination of stockinette, garter, and dropped stitch. And to fancy it up (it is, after all, the big 5-0) I decided to add a beaded fringe to each end, both to give a nice weight for when you wrap the scarf around your neck, and perhaps to eke out another inch of two (one more hank of angora would've been nice) from the finished 5 foot length.

What do you think? I couldn't decide which color beads to use (blue, green, or red), or where to place them (edge/fringe, or near each end), so my engineer suggested alternating blue and green beads, with alternating lengths. (Yes, I am one of the few women who regularly consults straight men for design tips. Not a great stylist am I.)

The avocado on the left here was simply lying around my sister's kitchen counter, and I thought it looked abstract, funny, and vaguely lewd, so of course, I snapped a shot. Heh.

And the crispy crunchy snacks on the right were my variation of a WW recipe. Using egg roll wrappers (less doughy, and therefore, less points), you dice up some Canadian bacon, cheese, and scallions, and bake them after a spritz of cooking spray in each side, or in my case, the olive oil mister. Flip halfway through at about 8 minutes and voila! Crunchy chewy snacks at 2 pts each.

You can bet I'll be trying variations thereof, especially since I now have an entire package of wrappers in the freezer.


Yes, I will be looking for all sorts of cooked food recipes, since I learned this week that I will be having not 6, but a total of EIGHT chemo treatments. Aaaaaahhhh!!! This brings my scheduled finish date from June 5th all the way to July 17th. Double aaaaaahhhh!!! So after a 3 week hiatus, my "5 or 6 weeks" of radiation treatments will start in August, and end somewhere in mid-September. AAAAHHHH!!!

So yeah, this will be My Year of Cancer. I will be living on CST: Cancer Standard Time, as one article in the New York Times so memorably put it. Pretty much, most of my year, and most of my thoughts revolve around cancer: treatment, side effects, restrictions, and other fun things.

Two of my friends will have 9 months of similar symptoms (weight gain, nausea, restricted diets) for pretty much the same dates, but they'll be getting plump little babies out of the deal. I'll merely be cancer free. (Not a small thing I know, but still, I think you see what I mean.)

My mom has also done the math, and after a further 5 years of tamoxifen, she now realizes: no more grandchildren are in her future. She is bummed, but gradually getting used to the idea. I reminded her: health first, kids can always be adopted (as my fabulous engineer was). So okay, we don't plan on kids, but I gotta give the woman a little bit of (false) hope, ya know?

I leave you all with a shot of the lovely tulips my nephew bought for me last weekend.