We are making headway here!
First, as I announced on FaceBook, I have completed radiation therapy. Minimal side effects to report even at conclusion of the course. We are now taking a bit of ease to recuperate both from the therapy itself, and having to drive out in the pre-dawn hours for 6:45 am appointments. 40 days of that doesn’t sound too bad when compared to the decades over which we left early as commuters, but once you are no longer used to being part of the Dawn Patrol, it becomes a lot harder.
Special thanks to the radiation crew Mass General Hospital, who greeted me every morning with good humor, efficiency, and a steady tolerance for my unorthodox music requests. I suspect that at least one of them has signed on to read here at String because of a mutual interest in knitting. If so, please pass the word back to the whole gang.
Second, my Italian multicolor piece is zipping along. I’m almost at the halfway point for the outer rim.
I’m 99% sure I will meet my horizontal centerline spot on in terms of thread count. I adjusted the total width to ensure that my corners are identical. There is one tiny mistake I need to go back and fix, but it is not something that has an effect on band width or repeat cycle. I could leave it, but I won’t.
And as you can see I am also making rapid progress on the frog hats – my third front of advance. Frog Hat #1 is now well underway. I admit that aside from the initial cast-on number I have not paid much attention to the general pattern I am using as my source. I’ve used a different cast-on, swapped in K2P2 ribbing for the original K1P1, and arranged the thing so that when the brim is folded, the more attractive side of my cast-on is on the outside of the hat. And yes, I’m working in the round on two circular needles.
Next comes hat depth and the decreases. I want the hat to fit rather sleekly rather than being full and floppy, so I will probably go short on the total depth compared to the written instructions. We’ll see if I follow the pattern’s decrease or if I end up opting for something more rounded.
My goal is to work the boring hat portion of at least four of the batch of hats I intend to make. Once those are complete I will make the eyeballs and eyelids, then finish off by sewing the eye units onto the hat bodies. Given quick progress on first hat (and that done while I still carved out time to embroider), I do hope to complete the minimum of the hard-promised four by the new year. The others are optional and will depend on available yarn, time, and my own rather spotty attention span.
I leave you with a repeat of the somewhat disheveled, early morning bell-ringing photo I posted on FB to celebrate my liberation from therapy. And yes – my last day’s music request was the 1812 Overture. You can’t celebrate an Independence Day in Boston without it. Especially because the MGH hospital complex is close by the river, and on upper floors commands a lovely view of the Esplanade where the annual 4 July celebration takes place.
String-Or-Nothing 
Ring that bell, girl. I accidentally pulled the cord off when I finished chemo.
This just makes me SO happy! Congratulations!
I don’t know if you’ve ever read (and I highly recommend) Rachel Remen’s books “Kitchen Table Wisdom and “My Grandfather’s Blessings.” The first was written with an eye towards her fellow physicians on burnout, the second simply a labor of love to the world. Stories on herself as both patient (she has Crohn’s) and doctor, stories from her patients, straight to the heart of what it means to be human. I reread them every few years to remind myself what I want to be like when I grow up.
She quoted a doctor lamenting, If you make a difference to your patients, you never know. They never tell you.
Reading that changed so much for me. Thank you for thanking yours. Welcome to this side of it all!
I stitched up a thank you to the whole team of PTs, nurses, doctors, nutritionists, admins, housekeepers and just about everyone else who worked to put me back on my feet at Vanderbilt Rehab/Newport Hospital. I stitched a dedication across the bottom and framed it, then sent it to them. I have the delivery receipt but no idea if the thing actually was seen by those whom I thanked.
This is so wonderful. They’ll be showing incoming young doctors about it for years to come. Thank you!
-Alison
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The 1812? There’s nothing like some joyful noise when the occasion suits! I’ve heard a great version where a choir kicks in for the hymn, but my favourite is Abravanel and the Utah Symphony – none of these p*ssweak pop guns, I suspect he ran the mike over to the nuclear test range in Nevada for the cannon. Loud!
Congrats on finishing the radiation treatment. I hope there was nothing for it to clean up, but if there had been anything lurking, sincere hopes that there is no trace of any unwanted cells left behind.
Embroidry is looking fab.
At the annual July 4th concert on Boston Esplanade along the Charles River, for the 1812 it’s the full orchestra, real cannons and fireworks, a massed choir, and church bells from the adjacent neighborhoods. All on cue. We are spoiled here. 🙂
Many congratulations on your successful treatment; so happy for you!
Congratulations to completing the radiation treatments! Here’s to continued forward progress in all areas. I can’t wait to see the frog hats!
Congratulations on the liberation from radiation treatments – that’s a real milestone!