Messing With Our Heads

The second Melt the ICE Hat is done, and I like this one better. I think it's because I used fingering yarn. 

The hat is softer, and it stays on my head better than the one I made out of worsted yarn.

The Traveling Woman Shawl is going well. I'm making the small size in fingering weight. The pattern has four sizes: extra small, small, medium and large, and it can be made from lace weight, fingering, sport, DK or worsted-weight yarn.

This was a week for MRIs. If you read last week's blog, you will know that, besides the Yarn Crawl, we were in the Portland area so Charlie could get the procedure he's been waiting a year for, to reduce the essential tremors in his right hand, which is the one he tries to write with. The procedure is called high-intensity focused ultrasound therapy. They use the MRI to find the correct part of the brain to treat. He started with a baseline MRI on Sunday at OHSU. Then Monday we went back for the procedure. He already had his hair cut "like a Marine recruit," as he told the barber. Monday morning, they started by shaving off what was left of his hair.

They had a sheet of paper on a clipboard for him to draw on without resting his right hand on anything. It had two spirals, one in each direction, and a couple of horizontal lines, one above the other. He was supposed to try to draw inside the lines of the spirals and between the two horizontal lines. Here's the example OHSU gives for before and after the procedure. The before example is much better than Charlie's. His before result looked like a two-year-old trying to learn to draw––just scribbles. 

The doctors used a device to mark where they needed to insert the screws that would hold another device on his head. They numbed the area where the marks were.

Then they screwed the device right into his head. (Ow!) It reminded us of a medieval torture device. He was brave throughout, though, and didn't scream.

Then a sort of half bubble went over it. Not the kind of headwear for hiking, I'm thinking. Alexa and I waited. 

During the procedure, they stop and have the patient retry drawing the spirals and the straight line. Then they would adjust the area they were treating, then repeat the whole procedure. When they were satisfied with what he could do with his right hand, they were done. The result was near miraculous! He could draw the spirals as well as I expected I could, equivalent to the one in the example above.

One of the side effects, however, is that the patient's leg on the affected side would need to be retrained. That's why they had him bring a cane to the procedure. We went back on Tuesday for a post-treatment MRI and then I drove us home to Bend. On Wednesday, Charlie had PT for his balance and his right leg. The therapist recommended we get a walker for him until he relearned to use his right leg properly. We drove right to the place in town that had them and picked one up.

Tuesday evening was Madroña pop-up night again. We had a new person join us. It was good to see our friends again, and we enjoyed a nice Viognier. 

I have to go back to Wisconsin in April, but Charlie plans to stay home this time. Our son Peter will meet me in Minneapolis, and we will drive together to Karen's home. The two of us will look after David, while Karen goes with the kids to their dance competition. In preparation for being gone, I made some lasagna. We had it for dinner that night, and then I packaged up several servings to put in the freezer. Charlie can eat one or two servings while I'm gone, and anything that's left will be good for camping. I still need to cook up some other entrees to leave for him, but there's plenty of time.

I baked some bread so I could use my sourdough starter and feed it. We will eat all this right away within a few days.

Yesterday, we had an oboist and a couple of bell ringers accompany our anthem. If you want to listen, here is the link to the service. We start at about 57:40.

We didn't get much walking in this week, due to the travel and wind, but we did walk a couple of times (the dogs and I) and had a little off-leash time, as we often do. The pups are looking forward to having Daddy join us again, with or without his walker.

I have a lot of difficulty responding to comments to my blog posts because of technical issues beyond my control (my lack of understanding of how things work). Message me on Facebook, Ravelry, BlueSky or Spoutible if you need information.

If you have a few minutes and are willing, please go to Amazon or B&N and search for Billy: Stories from The Doll's Storybook by Peggy Stuart". Every click on the page for the book makes it more likely they will keep a good supply in their warehouse and stores. If you are outside the US, you may have a separate website for these retailers. If you have a copy of any of our books, including Emil, Mariah, Classic Tales Retold, Our Favorite Verses, More Classic Tales Retold or Billy: Stories from The Doll's Storybook, please leave an honest review on the websites, especially if you bought from them.

Where's my blog: If you want to follow my blog, go here and sign up to follow.

What's on my needles: Still working on my Traveling Woman Shawl, and finished the second Melt The Ice hat.

What's on my iPhone: Still reading The Strange Case  of the Alchemist’s Daughter by Theodora Goss on the AudiobooksNow app.

What's on my sewing machine: Put away until the next project.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Mariah wants to see how she would look in a hijab (head scarf). The boys and Jolena find her sitting in front of the bathroom mirror. The story is about how we each want to be seen for who we are. This Is Who I Am is a story from The Doll's Storybook.

What's my tip of the week: I use a bread machine to mix the dough for bread and then bake it in the oven. I'm on my second pan, as they tend to wear out when used a lot, and then they leak. To try to preserve the pan, I never leave water in it. I just wash it out and then let it dry. When I'm ready to make bread again, I spray the bottom of the pan before putting the paddle in. My thought is that it lubricates the area where the paddle goes around. 

Where are my books: The stories in each book first appeared in the blog, and they are reproduced in print with a few changes.

The stories in Billy: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Talking About Boys, Changes, Shhhhh!, Staying After and Money in a Jar.

The stories in More Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Welcoming a Stranger, The Rescue, Unmasked, Fuzzy Town––A Play and Sky Blue.

Our Favorite Verses: Poems from The Doll's Storybook. Poems included are Valentine's Day, Keeping Pets, Back to School, Victor the Vulture, The Week Before Christmas, Insomnia and Veronika's Vocabulary Verses.

The stories in Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Little Green Greatcoat, The Boy Doll Who Cried Wolf and Lost in the Woods.

The stories in Emil: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Best Buds, Getting What You Want, and The Boys Cook Dinner.

The stories in Mariah: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Being Little, Besties, and Distraction.

If you don't get free shipping from Amazon or B&N, buy from the BookBabyBookshop, because 50% of the price goes to St. Jude. Other booksellers pay much less, only 8%, because the vendor gets a cut. My author's page at Book Baby is here. Scroll down and click on any of the books that interest you. Find my books at Barbara's Bookstore as well, or ask your local library to order the books.

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals or dolls were harmed during the production of this blog post.

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Around the TV

Clue #4 for the Rose City Yarn Crawl Mystery Knit Along is bigger than the earlier ones, I think. I finished Clue #3 last Sunday and I'm not even halfway through this one. However, the project is too big to be able to spread out without having a longer circular needle.

Each clue comes out on Wednesday, so while I was waiting, I started the Melt the ICE Hat. I had a remnant of red worsted-weight yarn, left over from the iPhone tote I made for our vet's mother.

I finished it on Tuesday. I made the ribbing an inch shorter than the pattern said because I was afraid I was going to run out of yarn. I have a small head, anyway.

All this knitting has taken its toll. This often happens to me when I use small metal needles. I poked a hole in my finger. It didn't bleed, but I wanted to protect it from further damage. I had some nonadhesive bandage left over from a vet visit, so I wrapped the finger with a little of the bandage. (I wash my hands a lot, so regular bandaids don't stay put.

We walked almost every day. Charlie joined us when he could. There's a housing development being constructed in the woods we like to walk in, but there's still quite a bit of it untouched as yet, so we can let the dogs off for a bit when we walk there.

When I was walking the dogs without Charlie on Saturday, Dusty picked up a stick while we were still on the trail. He carried it for about half a mile. I told him he didn't need it, because we were going to the woods, where sticks abound. I told him he was "carrying coals to Newcastle," but he didn't get it.

The weekend was spent to a large part in front of the TV, with the Olympics, which brought back memories from the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, when we both worked as volunteers.

Then there was the Super Bowl. That kept us busy.

I have a lot of difficulty responding to comments to my blog posts because of technical issues beyond my control (my lack of understanding of how things work). Message me on Facebook, Ravelry, BlueSky or Spoutible if you need information.

If you have a few minutes and are willing, please go to Amazon or B&N and search for Billy: Stories from The Doll's Storybook by Peggy Stuart". Every click on the page for the book makes it more likely they will keep a good supply in their warehouse and stores. If you are outside the US, you may have a separate website for these retailers. If you have a copy of any of our books, including Emil, Mariah, Classic Tales Retold, Our Favorite Verses, More Classic Tales Retold or Billy: Stories from The Doll's Storybook, please leave an honest review on the websites, especially if you bought from them.

Where's my blog: If you want to follow my blog, go here and sign up to follow.

What's on my needles: The Rose City Yarn Crawl Mystery Knit Along shawl.

What's on my iPhone: Still The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles, on theAudiobooksNow app. I'm about halfway through.

What's on my sewing machine: Now put away until I can start the quilt I have in my head.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Pippa learns all the fun things you can do in the snow as early days continue to be the focus of The Doll's Storybook. Here's Pippa's First Snow.

What's my tip of the week: We often buy big bags of frozen vegetables and cheese from Costco. For ease in using them, I divide them up into 4-6 serving amounts or amounts needed for recipes, such as 1 C of mozzarella cheese for lasagna. They go into the freezer, organized in the big plastic boxes left over from greens.

Where are my books: The stories in each book first appeared in the blog, and they are reproduced in print with a few changes.

The stories in Billy: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Talking About Boys, Changes, Shhhhh!, Staying After and Money in a Jar.

The stories in More Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Welcoming a Stranger, The Rescue, Unmasked, Fuzzy Town––A Play and Sky Blue.

Our Favorite Verses: Poems from The Doll's Storybook. Poems included are Valentine's Day, Keeping Pets, Back to School, Victor the Vulture, The Week Before Christmas, Insomnia and Veronika's Vocabulary Verses.

The stories in Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Little Green Greatcoat, The Boy Doll Who Cried Wolf and Lost in the Woods.

The stories in Emil: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Best Buds, Getting What You Want, and The Boys Cook Dinner.

The stories in Mariah: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Being Little, Besties, and Distraction.

If you don't get free shipping from Amazon or B&N, buy from the BookBabyBookshop, because 50% of the price goes to St. Jude. Other booksellers pay much less, only 8%, because the vendor gets a cut. My author's page at Book Baby is here. Scroll down and click on any of the books that interest you. Find my books at Barbara's Bookstore as well, or ask your local library to order the books.

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals or dolls were harmed during the production of this blog post.

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New Beginnings

Clue #3 is already finished. I won't be able to work on the Rose City Yarn Crawl Mystery KAL again until Clue #4 comes out on Wednesday. I was a little uncertain about the contrast color (pink) because it has bits of magenta in it, but I think the pattern is showing up nicely. It's a challenge, though, because sometimes I don't know which yarn is on my needle in the next stitch.

I need something else to work on, and a friend recommended the Melt the Ice Hat. The pattern is a fundraiser for immigrants' rights groups. 

In the 1940s, Norwegians made and wore red pointed hats with a tassel as a form of visual protest against Nazi occupation of their country. Within two years, the Nazis made these protest hats illegal and punishable by law to wear, make, or distribute. Needle & Skein has raised $400K so far.

Speaking of fundraisers, the ALS Association gave me a badge for completing the 50-mile challenge. They say they raised $130K for the organization. The challenge event is over now, but you can still donate to the cause here. You never know when someone you know and love will be diagnosed with this debilitation and fatal condition.

We haven't stopped walking, though, just because the challenge is over. Saturday the pups and I walked along the trail and cut through what's left of the woods. Charlie is working on our taxes, so he didn't come, but he joined us again on Sunday, when we 

did the trail and then walked through the woods.

On Thursday I had my other cataract surgery. There is usually some fogginess for the first few days after surgery. The first eye cleared up quickly, but this one has taken longer. It's better each day, though, and my after-surgery check showed everything was in order. As with the other eye, they sent me home with a plastic shield over the eye. I have to put it on if I take a nap and again at night. I found this to be the only painful thing about the surgery: ripping the tape off my face. Ow!

Special drops are required after surgery, four times a day in the beginning, and then tapering off each week for four weeks. Under this sheet, used to keep track, I have another one for the left eye. I'm down to twice a day for that eye.

Johan is learning how to change the oil in a car. His other grandpa is a retired auto mechanic with all the equipment and expertise to do such things. He's a handy consultant to have in the family, as we have found out several times.

Another new beginning for us this week was the reading of David's play, "Hannah's Promise, or a Life Without Limits." The reading was announced in a couple of articles in advance of the reading, here and here.

I'm so glad David was able to finish the play before ALS sidelined him. I hope he'll be able to have it appear on stage soon with sets, costumes and props.

And happy Groundhog day! Will we have an early spring or six more weeks of winter?

I have a lot of difficulty responding to comments to my blog posts because of technical issues beyond my control (my lack of understanding of how things work). Message me on Facebook, Ravelry, BlueSky or Spoutible if you need information.

If you have a few minutes and are willing, please go to Amazon or B&N and search for Billy: Stories from The Doll's Storybook by Peggy Stuart". Every click on the page for the book makes it more likely they will keep a good supply in their warehouse and stores. If you are outside the US, you may have a separate website for these retailers. If you have a copy of any of our books, including Emil, Mariah, Classic Tales Retold, Our Favorite Verses, More Classic Tales Retold or Billy: Stories from The Doll's Storybook, please leave an honest review on the websites, especially if you bought from them.

Where's my blog: If you want to follow my blog, go here and sign up to follow.

What's on my needles: The Rose City Yarn Crawl Mystery Knit Along shawl, and now my Melting the ICE hat.

What's on my iPhone: Still The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles, also on theAudiobooksNow app. No progress this week.

What's on my sewing machine: Put away.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Pippa lacks information about growing up in Baby Doll, this story from The Doll's Storybook.

What's my tip of the week: Here's a solution to a problem I've been having using cooking spray. My thumbs aren't very strong, and the can is slippery metal, so I was having to use two hands to spray, meaning I could only spray down into a pan or prop the pan up on something. Good old rubber shelf liner to the rescue! (I use a square of this to open jars and a much smaller one to help me change the cables on my interchangeable circular knitting needles. For this project, I cut a rectangle of the shelf liner just a little bigger than the circumference of the can, wrapped the can with it and fastened it with a rubber band from a produce purchase. Works great!

Where are my books: The stories in each book first appeared in the blog, and they are reproduced in print with a few changes.

The stories in Billy: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Talking About Boys, Changes, Shhhhh!, Staying After and Money in a Jar.

The stories in More Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Welcoming a Stranger, The Rescue, Unmasked, Fuzzy Town––A Play and Sky Blue.

Our Favorite Verses: Poems from The Doll's Storybook. Poems included are Valentine's Day, Keeping Pets, Back to School, Victor the Vulture, The Week Before Christmas, Insomnia and Veronika's Vocabulary Verses.

The stories in Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Little Green Greatcoat, The Boy Doll Who Cried Wolf and Lost in the Woods.

The stories in Emil: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Best Buds, Getting What You Want, and The Boys Cook Dinner.

The stories in Mariah: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Being Little, Besties, and Distraction.

If you don't get free shipping from Amazon or B&N, buy from the BookBabyBookshop, because 50% of the price goes to St. Jude. Other booksellers pay much less, only 8%, because the vendor gets a cut. My author's page at Book Baby is here. Scroll down and click on any of the books that interest you. Find my books at Barbara's Bookstore as well, or ask your local library to order the books.

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals or dolls were harmed during the production of this blog post.

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