Shartly after publishing the Threes Triangular Shawl pattern, I had an idea for a bias-knit scarf. I love the look of scarves knit on the bias, but they all seem to be either garter stitch or stockinette stitch, and I wanted something different. I found a stitch pattern I like, figured out how to start it and how to do the increase rows, and then things went haywire. For weeks, every time I tried a new way to knit the straight rows, I ended up with two corners instead of one, which meant the scarf wasn't a bias-knit scarf anymore. AAARRRRGGGHHHHH!
Finally, last week, I figured out what I was doing wrong. My personal test knit of the pattern is about 1/2 done. Once that's finished and I've got photos of the result, I'll be creating the PDF and having it test knit by others. If everything goes well with the test knitters, I'll be publishing it here. It's going to be a bit yet, but keep an eye out!
I'm feeling very accomplished right now. Not only did I figure out the problem with the pattern, but this scarf is one that can be knitted for either men or women -- the pattern doesn't scream to made for just one sex. I think I'm proudest of that!
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Good News!
I had an appointment with Dr. Arrogant today. To say I was dreading it would be an understatement -- who likes being talked down to?
I had several surprises in store for me. First, my appointment was earlier in the afternoon than it has been, and my wait wasn't as long -- about an hour, when I've been waiting for nearly two hours in the previous appointments. Second, Dr. Arrogant...wasn't. Or at least, not as arrogant as he has been. He shook my hand, he looked at me, he spoke to me (instead of talking at me), he listened to me.... I had a strong temptation to ask who he was and what he'd done with the doctor!
I told him how much better I was doing on the higher dose of Savella (averaging a 2 - 3 1/2 on my personal scale, which was my goal). He was surprised -- apparently, in his experience, most fibromyalgia patients don't show this much improvement on only one med. He expected me to say that the pain wasn't low enough yet, and I needed narcotics. Since I'm not on narcotics, and apparently won't be needing any other med than the Savella (at least for the present -- who knows what the future holds!), he decided that he doesn't need to see me every month. I only need to go back when I need a refill -- about every six months. He actually seemed happy to tell me that!
I've been thinking about why fibro patients so frequently need narcotics as well as meds like Savella, and I have a theory. I suspect that many fibro people are trying to get back to a pain-free life, instead of accepting that they will have some level of pain every day for the rest of their life (unless, of course, there's a medical breakthrough). I, on the other hand, have known for years that I'll never be pain-free again. I just wanted the pain to be reduced to the point where I could function, at least to some degree, on most days.
Would I like to be pain-free again? Hell, yes!!!! I don't even remember what it's like to not have pain. But until medicine discovers how to turn off the over-sensitive pain sensors in my brain, it ain't happening. Denying that will just use energy I don't have to spare.
I had several surprises in store for me. First, my appointment was earlier in the afternoon than it has been, and my wait wasn't as long -- about an hour, when I've been waiting for nearly two hours in the previous appointments. Second, Dr. Arrogant...wasn't. Or at least, not as arrogant as he has been. He shook my hand, he looked at me, he spoke to me (instead of talking at me), he listened to me.... I had a strong temptation to ask who he was and what he'd done with the doctor!
I told him how much better I was doing on the higher dose of Savella (averaging a 2 - 3 1/2 on my personal scale, which was my goal). He was surprised -- apparently, in his experience, most fibromyalgia patients don't show this much improvement on only one med. He expected me to say that the pain wasn't low enough yet, and I needed narcotics. Since I'm not on narcotics, and apparently won't be needing any other med than the Savella (at least for the present -- who knows what the future holds!), he decided that he doesn't need to see me every month. I only need to go back when I need a refill -- about every six months. He actually seemed happy to tell me that!
I've been thinking about why fibro patients so frequently need narcotics as well as meds like Savella, and I have a theory. I suspect that many fibro people are trying to get back to a pain-free life, instead of accepting that they will have some level of pain every day for the rest of their life (unless, of course, there's a medical breakthrough). I, on the other hand, have known for years that I'll never be pain-free again. I just wanted the pain to be reduced to the point where I could function, at least to some degree, on most days.
Would I like to be pain-free again? Hell, yes!!!! I don't even remember what it's like to not have pain. But until medicine discovers how to turn off the over-sensitive pain sensors in my brain, it ain't happening. Denying that will just use energy I don't have to spare.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Ferret Show Report
This past weekend, we went to one of the ferret shows we regularly attend, the Fall Ferret Fandango in Gilbertsville, PA. It's typically a small show, and we tend to do fairly well at it.
This weekend, we did really well at it! Two of Ruth's ferrets took first place in four of the specialty rings. Dementor took first place in Green Card (for ferrets with at least 25% foreign bloodlines) and in Black Sable (which Ruth has wanted to win for a long time now!). And her 6 month old little girl, Myfanwy, took first place in the Chocolate and Point rings! Considering that it's only Myfanwy's second show, and she can still be a holy terror, that's absolutely fantastic!
The crowning glory of the day came at the end, when they announced the winners in the Breeder championships. (Brief explanation -- in the championship rings, the ferrets are examined and scored by three separate judges. The ferret that scores the highest across all three rings is the Best In category winner. There are 4 championship categories -- Companion [for ferrets neutered before 12 weeks old], Alter [for ferrets neutered after 12 weeks old], Adolescent [for intact ferrets under a year old], and Breeder [for intact ferrets over a year old]). The championship rings can be split into male and female if there are enough entries. At this show, the championship rings were combined -- there were nearly 80 entries in the Breeder category.
We had 5 boys entered in the Breeder category. When we got their scores, we could tell from experience that only one of them was likely to place, my boy Taranis. He's placed before, but never in the top three, so I was just hoping for a top three placement in at least one ring, so that he could get his Gold championship once he has enough points. They called the list of numbers (each ferret gets a number, and that's how the judges know them so there's no bias in the judging), and sure enough, Taranis was called back.
The first judge started handing out her ribbons, and for 10th place, she called Taranis' number. I was thinking, well, they must have been scoring really high today. Then she took another look and said, "Oh, that should have been [another number]. Sorry!". No problem. She called everyone who won a ribbon up to third place, then called the second and first place ferrets up together, without saying which was which. And Taranis was one of them! So I'm thinking 'Cool! He's got his top three placement -- I'm good!'. And then she said he got first place! Well, I was in shock, but very happy.
Just a quick piece of info -- when they call the list of numbers for the winners, it's a combined list for all three rings. It doesn't matter if your ferret places in one ring or all three -- the number will only be called once, so you have no idea how many rings the ferret has been called for.
So the judge for the second ring started ribboning, and the same thing happened -- Taranis was called up for the first and second place ribboning. This ring, he got second, and I was floating!
Then came the third ring. I was not expecting anything -- I was perfectly happy with the placements I had. And once again, Taranis was called up for the first and second place ribboning. And he got first!
By this time, I was in complete shock. And I was thinking 'Okay, that's two firsts and a second. But that can't possibly mean what I think it means....'. And just about the time I finished that thought, the judge announced that my boy was Best In Show Breeder! She called him a 'joy to judge'!
This is my very first BIS Breeder. I've had a BIS Alter before, and Ruth has had BIS Breeder and BIS Adolescent, but this was my first! I knew Taranis was looking good this weekend, but I never expected anything like this. I'm still flying, and I'm so proud of my boy!
BIS TCF's Taranis Thunderer of RN, with his trophies and ribbons:
This weekend, we did really well at it! Two of Ruth's ferrets took first place in four of the specialty rings. Dementor took first place in Green Card (for ferrets with at least 25% foreign bloodlines) and in Black Sable (which Ruth has wanted to win for a long time now!). And her 6 month old little girl, Myfanwy, took first place in the Chocolate and Point rings! Considering that it's only Myfanwy's second show, and she can still be a holy terror, that's absolutely fantastic!
The crowning glory of the day came at the end, when they announced the winners in the Breeder championships. (Brief explanation -- in the championship rings, the ferrets are examined and scored by three separate judges. The ferret that scores the highest across all three rings is the Best In category winner. There are 4 championship categories -- Companion [for ferrets neutered before 12 weeks old], Alter [for ferrets neutered after 12 weeks old], Adolescent [for intact ferrets under a year old], and Breeder [for intact ferrets over a year old]). The championship rings can be split into male and female if there are enough entries. At this show, the championship rings were combined -- there were nearly 80 entries in the Breeder category.
We had 5 boys entered in the Breeder category. When we got their scores, we could tell from experience that only one of them was likely to place, my boy Taranis. He's placed before, but never in the top three, so I was just hoping for a top three placement in at least one ring, so that he could get his Gold championship once he has enough points. They called the list of numbers (each ferret gets a number, and that's how the judges know them so there's no bias in the judging), and sure enough, Taranis was called back.
The first judge started handing out her ribbons, and for 10th place, she called Taranis' number. I was thinking, well, they must have been scoring really high today. Then she took another look and said, "Oh, that should have been [another number]. Sorry!". No problem. She called everyone who won a ribbon up to third place, then called the second and first place ferrets up together, without saying which was which. And Taranis was one of them! So I'm thinking 'Cool! He's got his top three placement -- I'm good!'. And then she said he got first place! Well, I was in shock, but very happy.
Just a quick piece of info -- when they call the list of numbers for the winners, it's a combined list for all three rings. It doesn't matter if your ferret places in one ring or all three -- the number will only be called once, so you have no idea how many rings the ferret has been called for.
So the judge for the second ring started ribboning, and the same thing happened -- Taranis was called up for the first and second place ribboning. This ring, he got second, and I was floating!
Then came the third ring. I was not expecting anything -- I was perfectly happy with the placements I had. And once again, Taranis was called up for the first and second place ribboning. And he got first!
By this time, I was in complete shock. And I was thinking 'Okay, that's two firsts and a second. But that can't possibly mean what I think it means....'. And just about the time I finished that thought, the judge announced that my boy was Best In Show Breeder! She called him a 'joy to judge'!
This is my very first BIS Breeder. I've had a BIS Alter before, and Ruth has had BIS Breeder and BIS Adolescent, but this was my first! I knew Taranis was looking good this weekend, but I never expected anything like this. I'm still flying, and I'm so proud of my boy!
BIS TCF's Taranis Thunderer of RN, with his trophies and ribbons:
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