Anything happening?

Well, yes. Not much to show for it at the moment. (Though may finish knitting the Swirling Dervish tomorrow. All the design work is done, the toe, foot heel are knitted and there are about 5 more rounds of the leg to knit before finishing the cuff.)

Other progress: the Design Circle is going strong. We have 7 of us (soon to be 8, and welcoming anyone who's interested.) It's a real working circle and we've got our first round of 7 patterns being worked on. Each of us picked one of our finished pieces to start working up the instructions for in the first meeting. The second meeting we were deconstructing, doing math, looking at the Garment Designer software and writing out first drafts of a couple of the patterns. It feels quite good and I'm very thankful for all the positive energy everyone is bringing.

My first pattern in the circle? Well, I wasn't given much of a choice. I'm writing up the Siberian Collared Cardi.

I haven't even had to list classes on the web site or send out emails, as they've filled up right away. First sweaters. First Socks. Custom Tank. Lots of challenges met with good spirits and happy knitters.

Met with Jackie (formerly of The Knitting Room) this week and we're going to get together with Lyssa (once she's settled in with her new work gig) to work out a schedule for 6 months worth of workshops - including some for sewing. (Have requests? Send them in....)

But really, things have been quiet on my communications output because I'm tending to my dog with cancer. It's heartbreaking. She has a form that is only rarely manageable, so it is likely that I'm doing hospice care. She's such a sweet, dear thing. I can't stand to see her sick. The one consolation is that I'm told she's not in pain. Indeed, she doesn't seem to be suffering. Today, however, there was a development with her eyes that is not a good sign. It looks like Horner's Syndrome, which means that something likely is pressing on a nerve connected to the eye. That may the cancer has metastasized. Or it could have something to do with a weakened immune system. No way to know for sure. Her eyes are drooping. One doesn't open much. It looks like she's squinting it at you. It happened very quickly and I broke down into tears for quite awhile. I hate this process of just watching her degenerate. Again, this symptom does not include pain. And she still can see. But it's not a good sign.

Also, my daughter is on summer break. It's great to have her home so much. We opted to go very light on summer camps. How many more years is she going to want to spend her time with me? So, that keeps me pretty occupied during the day, as well.

Additionally, with the dog's care and the child care, I missed a bit my own medical care and two weeks ago I plummeted symptomatically. Lots and lots of seizures. Got back on track, though, and I'm doing a lot better now. Won't let that happen again. It was pretty dramatic.

So, no pictures right now. Hopefully in a couple of days I'll be able to show off the sock and send off the pattern to the Sock Hop members who are probably cursing me every day that goes by.

That's it for now......