Needles: off and on

It may not look like much, but that, my friends, is a bound off edge. That's right. I completed the knitting on the Siberian Collared Cardi. What started as a little off-the-cuff dyeing of a random skein of wool with Easter Egg dye last spring, has finally resulted in a finished sweater. Well, once the finishing's done that is.

I'll block it tonight, weave in ends and put on buttons tomorrow and be wearing this little number by the end of the week.

That's one big project off the needles. Now, I'm ready to move into pattern-writing mode. My next Circles goal is to get a good set of new patterns published. I have a list of at least 17 in mind. That's right: 17. There are more, but these are the ones that are far enough along to start publishing and getting test knitters on board. They're not all mine. (That wouldn't be very Circles-like, now would it?) Not quite half have been designed by other people. Some of whom have already submitted instructions. Others who are a little daunted by that prospect. Now is the time when I'll be nudging them along.

So, in my Circles life I'm moving off the needles for a while. In my health life I'm moving on them. There is more of an update here, but the quick version is that I'm being taken off of oral meds - because they were making me so sick that I lost energy, sleep and 23 pounds. Instead, I've begun injected antibiotics. A very literal pain in the nether region, but definitely better than feeling like I live in the nether region.

I had thought I would begin the pattern writing extravaganza last week, but beyond my own medical appointments, I now am in the throes of caring for a dog with aggressive cancer. She was diagnosed last weekend and we've had to make some tough decisions. Last week was full of consultations and research and crying. Our dogs have been with us for 10 years and they are siblings to my daughter. The decision-making process is complex. Considerations of quality of life for the dog, emotional toll on the humans, impact on the sibling dog, whether any treatments actually offer hope and, of course, cost. We've learned a lot rather quickly about dogs and cancer. This isn't the place for me to go into the whole experience. This is the place to say that one part of helping myself through this is knitting. After giving her all her supplements and scheduling our appointments, I find that I just want to pick up the needles and pour myself into a project with Morgan right next to me.

And while I'm knitting, I'm begging any entity that might be out there with some kind of vision or compassion in the universe to GIVE ME A BREAK ALREADY!! Back to the needles....