Mojo Hat

My new handspun hat, I'm not good at selfies but I like the hat

Feeling better today, doing a fair bit of wandering around the house and have started taking magnesium as I suspect I'm low in that (I'm also taking iron as I know I'm low in that after bloods).  Got the restless leg thing going on which is a sign and also the leg pain could be related.

In other news I'm thinking about next year's Historical Sew Monthly plans

• January –  Procrastination – finish a garment you have been putting off finishing (a UFO or PHD) or make something you have been avoiding starting.
  
  Not sure on this one, I have a KAL to do with a UFO, but it's not really historical.   Might do some research to find out if fingerless mitts were around in the suitably distant past.
  ETA:  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/knitted-mitten-and-bracelet is proof that they did exist and although my pattern is modern it wouldn't be out of place.
  
  
• February – Tucks & Pleating – make a garment that features tucks and pleating for the shape or decoration
  
  I've got the bits for an 1810's bonnet so I think this might work for thisChange of plan, cos SQUIRREL!  I'm now making a chemisette and the tucks will be in the lace on the neckline


• March – Protection – make something to protect yourself (from weather or injury) or your clothes (from soiling etc.)
  
  I do need an apron for my 1810's dressAnother change, eldest needs a cowboy outfit for his Scout camp, so I'm going to see if I can make him a pair of chaps; they were in use in the 1870's for cowboys so will fit well.
  
  
• April – Gender-Bender – make an item for the opposite gender, or make an item with elements inspired by the fashions of the opposite gender
  
  I'd love to make something for my husband, but don't know that he'd wear it.  Might go with making a military inspired coat for my 1810's outfit instead
• May – Holes – sometimes the spaces between stuff are what makes a garment special.  Make a garment that is about holes, whether it is lace, slashing, eyelets, etc.
  
  Hmm, another hard one, might go back to the 18th century for this and start my 1745 outfit based on the Outlander series
• June – Travel – make a garment for travelling, or inspired by travel.
  
  I really want to make a tartan skirt for 18th century, I think this would be a good practical travel skirt too.
• July – Monochrome – make a garment in black, white, or any shade of grey in between.
  
  My socks for 18th century in grey Perendale handspun.
• August – Pattern – make something in pattern, the bolder and wilder the better.
  
  Will have to investigate the stash before making a decision, or the fallback would be mitts or a pocket with embroidery in the Oriental style.
• September – Historicism – Make a historical garment that was itself inspired by the fashions of another historical period.
  
  Will have to think about this one.
• October – Heroes – Make a garment inspired by your historical hero, or your historical costuming hero.
  
  Something else for the 1745 Outlander outfit
• November – Red – Make something in any shade of red.
  
  This is easy, I have (hopefully) enough boiled wool to make an 18th century hooded cape, this will also cross over to my 1810's outfit.
• December – Special Occasion: make something for a special event or a specific occasion, or that would have been worn to special event of specific occasion historically.
  
  1775 red silk Robe d'Anglaise, I have the fabric and the pattern (Larkin)

Ups and Downs

In general I've been improving, still get pain from time to time and my legs are having pins and needles and cold pain which I believe is due to the surgery as well and will hopefully improve over time.   I've also had other leg pain, but I had that prior to surgery, have had one swelling and heat issue which lead to me having an ultrasound, luckily it wasn't DVT, but I do have sluggish veins so more walking is needed.   I'm super glad of our free healthcare though, didn't cost me to go to ED and even the scan was free which I didn't expect!
I think my remaining ovary might be struggling too, been getting hot flushes from time to time, it may be in shock and if that's the case it should start working again later.   It could be a lot worse though!

The bills for surgery arrived yesterday, so I have now forwarded them all onto Nib and am super glad I have health insurance, it was a little less than expected, but still a huge amount of money!

In other news I've started doing a little crafting.  Before my surgery I bought a linen dress in a colour that is guaranteed to make me look ill, so today I did some block printing on it.

I used a carved block from India and I think I'll be doing more of this in the future.

I've also cast on for a Hill Country Hat using my handspun, I'll be making some changes to the pattern, mostly that there will be a turn-up brim using handspun alpaca with feathers in it.

The main yarn is Romney with some sparkle.

I've also got past the heel turn of youngest's new socks while waiting at doctors and hospitals etc
I may even be thinking about getting back to lace knitting once the hat is done, will see how I go with comfort for sitting.

This is an older Regia yarn, should wear well for my active boy.

Merry Christmas everyone and all the best for a fantastic new year as well.   I'm looking forward to a new year with wellness as my focus.

Been home for 2 days now

Pain is pretty good now, there's the odd sharp pain which I'm putting down to gas moving around traumatised areas.   I've been walking a reasonable amount and (TMI) my bowel movements are happening 2-3 times a day in the morning and I'm not constipated for the first time in ages!
I now know why I was constipated though, according to the bowel surgeon we were really close to having a total blockage due to the endometriosis which would have been a medical emergency and also explains why my health was so crap for a while.

I've not felt like doing much in the way of knitting or anything else crafty, been on the Xbox instead.   I think there might be a few more days of that as I'm still feeling pretty drained, but definitely improving each day.  I'm not going to push things too much though, but there may be a walk to the local pharmacy today to get some Difflam lozenges for my throat as I'm getting the cough tickle at bedtime and at the moment coughing isn't something I want to do much of.

Update

Well there are no more tubes attached to me, just a single lure. Yesterday started badly with hideous nausea, but that has settled now and is apparently a side effect of losing bowel.
Tummy pain is really low, but I still have some shoulder point pain and a headache.
The bowel that got removed was in a bad way. Some of it had been invaded to the point where it was almost blocked and the it above it was so thick with muscle due to having to work so hard that I believe it came out too.
I've been getting up to go to the loo from yesterday evening and has a reasonably independent shower this morning, hopefully I will get to wash my hair tomorrow!

D-Day

Surgery is complete, I'm a little woozy and very tired but the pain isn't any worse than period pain at the moment and it only gets that bad if I move around too much. My eyesight is currently a little doolally for which I blame the fentonyl and remaining anaesthesia in my system.
I am down by several inches of bowel but no stoma was needed which is great!
I'm also down by one ovary which had glued itself to one of my erethras and was in a very bad state indeed, it's blood supply had to be interfered with too much to save it.
My surgeon believes he got all the endo though which is wonderful news.

Tomorrow I will get to eat, I picked the fish for lunch and shepherd pie for dinner.

Tomorrow

I'm pretty much ready, waiting for the picoprep to take effect now and hungry as a bear after only some boiled eggs for food today (allowed on my diet plan for today).   Birthday party went off pretty well, all the kids seemed happy and that was the last thing to worry about.
Tomorrow I need to put the iPad in my bag along with the charger for it and my cellphone, plus the meds I need while I'm in there that I'm still taking now and then I'll be completely ready.

I got my final lot of spinning finished

Lovely polwarth/silk Navajo plied.  This will be sheep in a Baable hat.

 I also got my warp wound for my next weaving project, it's not on the loom yet and won't be till I'm sufficiently recovered.  My head isn't in the right place for warping up.

8/2 cotton in brown and pink for tea towels; don't have to worry about them getting dirty this way.

So tomorrow I'll be in late morning and then it all happens.  Will get to see how I go with Tramadol and if the pain is better or worse than it was with giving birth; I'm picking better at this point.  I'll be walking as soon as they let me to help with healing.
I'm definitely not anxious at this point, was earlier in the week but not now, no doubt that'll change tomorrow morning though.   I know I'm still stressed though, neck is tight and sleep is poor and I desperately want to buy more yarn despite not needing it; Vintage Purls has the perfect colours for me at the moment.  At the moment I'm being strong and although I'll have the iPad with me in hospital it doesn't have the passwords for banking or for Paypal so I am safe.   I figure being doped up on painkillers is a bad time to be able to shop.

5 Days to Go

The nerves have started to kick in a little, first thing in the morning mostly before I get busy.  I get busy fairly quickly though with getting reluctant youngest to school.
Today was blood tests, groceries etc, yesterday I did my packing and tomorrow is the last minute purchases like the Christmas ham, ink for the printer, possibly some fabric as I have a coupon for $20 off a purchase over $50 and as we all know something you can make things out of is always a good cure for nerves.   I probably won't do that though as we can't really afford it and I did just order some yarn from Europe.

Friday I'll be busy baking for eldest's birthday party, at this point I've heard from 2 of the 4 invited to say they're coming.  It's lunch and there's hideous red sausages (why do kids like those things, they're yuck!) and I'll be making chocolate cake, chocolate brownies and chocolate muffins; there seems to be a theme here.  I need to make them all dairy free for one of the guests, but luckily my recipes work well with coconut instead of dairy so that's all good.   The one thing I'll make dairy is bubble log simply because that doesn't go anywhere near as well without butter.  The bad part about all this?  I'm on a liquid diet on the day he's having his party which will be shear torture.   The good thing, I'm not taking the prep stuff till after everyone has gone.

Keep fingers crossed no illnesses venture into our house for at least another 5-6 weeks and that everything goes smoothly from here.