I’ve had too much fun making more nodes from my crochet lymph node pattern.
Everybody say: “Eff cancer!”
I’m whipping up a bunch of brooches and larger nodes that fit into a pocket in preparation for my Etsy store’s grand opening in three weeks. Keep your eye on this page for more behind the scenes sneak peeks and some fun goodies.
For more FOs, check out Tami’s blog.
I’ve talked about my life with lymphoma and I’ve published a crochet pattern to make your own lymph node but what the heck is lymphoma and what does a lymph node do?
First, let’s take a look at lymph nodes.
Your lymph nodes are found all over your body, in fact there are over 600! There are two on either side of your neck just under your jaw. When you’re sick, oftentimes your doctor will touch them to feel if they’re swollen. You also have some under your arm pits, over your heart (where my tumor is located), in your groin and behind your knees. Basically, they’re everywhere!
The nodes themselves are covered by a fibrous capsule and inside there are thin follicles which house your white blood cells. When you’re sick, your white blood cells bind to viruses, germs and foreign bodies and attack them. Lymphocytes (the blue French knots) are a type of white blood cell that patrol your body in fluid called lymph. The afferent vessels bring lymph into the node. When the lymph nodes are ‘activated’ those lymphocytes exit the node through the efferent vessel and circulate around.
There are two primary types of lymphocytes, B cells and T cells. Lymphoma is starts with a change to your lymphocytes (either one) where they start to reproduce uncontrollably but don’t exit through the efferent vessels. My B cells were the ones rapidly dividing and stuck in those follicles mentioned above. Much like an overfilled balloon, my mediastinal node (the one right above your heart and lungs) kept expanding and pressing against my heart and lungs. That left me with shortness of breath and I had some “B” symptoms like night sweats, a deep and dry cough, tiredness/dizziness and frequent nose bleeds.
After my emergency surgery and recovery, my oncologist Dr Anthony Mato, did a bone marrow biopsy. That involves a large needle to extract your bone marrow, the spongy tissue inside your bones that produces red blood cells. After an examination under a microscope and mapping of my genes, he was able to determine that there was neither cancerous activity in my bone marrow nor did I have any genetic reason for lymphoma. That and the images from a PET scan showed that all activity was above my diaphragm and isolated in two spots. I was at Stage 2 with B symptoms.
After staging, I was given a pretty good prognosis and we agreed that an aggressive chemo regime (Hyper CVAD) was my best bet at survival without possibly needing radiation or a stem cell transplant. Two years later, I haven’t needed any further treatment!
So what can you do for me right now? You can purchase a copy of my crocheted lymph node pattern and help me raise funds for Stupid Cancer. You can also donate blood and/or get placed on the stem cell transplant list via the Red Cross in the US. And for further information you can check out this free PDF about Hodgkin’s and Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma published by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Pin ItI’ve been a member of the FreshStitches kit club for some time now.
This month’s creature is Roosevelt the Monster! The added bonus (every package comes with a bonus!) is that skein of specialty yarn. It’s Shepard’s Wool Crazy yarn by Stonehedge Fiber Mill and Stacey made sure that we got a skein in our favorite colors. I like how mine is red, white and blue (with a bit of green thrown in as well) making my Roosevelt a very patriotic monster. There is another bonus but I’m going to keep mum on that until the big reveal day (May 10th) when everyone has their own kit.
Sign ups for the next round of the club begin in August and she’s unveiled a new monthly payment plan instead of paying it all up front.
For more WIPs, check out Tami’s blog.
Yes, this will be a post in two parts about Stitches South! Part one featuring the goodies I picked up will be up tomorrow. I had the pleasure of splitting a room with Stacey from FreshStitches (check out her blog post about our weekend over here) and she is a hoot! And a great roommate, too.
We had a delicious Southern home-style lunch at Folks‘. When I saw the giant rooster in front, I had to get a photo of us in front of it.
Vanessa and Stacey having fun
As you can probably guess, we were up to no good for most of the weekend. The food was amazing! And tasted so fresh and from scratch. For example, the gravy that came with my mashed potatoes had a strong beef flavor and not like it came from a packet. That taste only comes from making gravy from beef drippings.
I also had the pleasure of meeting (and purchasing from) the fine folks at Cephalopod Yarns.
Left to Right: Lisa, Sarah and Sam
As some of you may know, they were the Sanguine Gryphon and now operate as Cephalopod Yarns. They were hilarious and delightful to talk to along with (not pictured) Shannon Okey from Cooperative Press.
I found that I’m not the only knitter slash art journaler out there! Stacey Budge-Kamison, the owner of Urban Gypz was there with her art journal on display.
Stacey Budge-Kamison and her luscious yarns
Her yarns are super textured while still being soft. I like working with art yarns so I treated myself to some of her mini skeins, but more on that tomorrow.
I had a blast this year at Stitches South (I did last year too!) and I was pleased to see that there were more vendors this year. I still don’t quite fit into the ‘target’ market (I saw a lot more women who are older than I am by quite a bit) I’m glad to see that XRX is trying to lure in more young and independent shops.
I finally finished last week’s penguin! Meet Pepper the Penguin.
He’s all done and so cute. He’s about 10″ tall and quite chubby. I’m going to make him a hat and scarf later. He’s so cuddly. He’s the latest FreshStitches pattern, Pepper the Penguin. This pattern is a double whammy, she teamed up with Abby Glassenberg who designed a sewing pattern of Pepper.
I used scrap yarn I had laying about and my favorite 4 mm/size G crochet hook. I didn’t have any safety eyes in the right size for his head so I sewed them on with the last bits of black. I might change them out for buttons but I haven’t decided yet.
For more finished objects, check out Tami’s blog.
Spring is in the air here and with that comes spring cleaning. And since I am chronically allergic to vacuuming, washing windows and generally tidying up (I kid, I kid!) I figured I would pick something easy to organize. My internet bookmarks!
I finally got turned on to Evernote, a free note taking web app. Not only is it a program you can install onto your desktop, there’s also a web clipper for your browser (Firefox, Chrome and Safari that I know for sure) and an app for your smart phone/tablet. It’s free and will sync across all platforms! And you can log in to their website and access all of your notes and notebooks that way too. Pretty nifty.
I’ve gotten the most use out of their web clipper, especially for free patterns that are listed on blog pages but don’t come in a downloadable pdf form, like the patterns featured on Knitty!
Click to enlarge
As you can see, I have the pattern I want to clip open, so I click on the Evernote button. It’s in the shape of an elephant with a curled in trunk. (Fun Fact: Elephants have 24 molars. In an average elephant’s lifetime, they will get six sets of teeth! Those molars also weigh about 10 to 15lbs each.)
Evernote will then let you choose what you want to clip and how you want to organize and label your note.
So here, I picked out what I wanted to clip and how to organize this clipping. Evernote gets smarter over time and now knows to tag anything from Knitty with “pattern” and puts it into my “patterns” notebook. I also tag patterns with either “knit” or “crochet” and I can add notes too like what yarn to use. I’ve also further tagged patterns that I’ve clipped with the recommended weight of yarn as well. Then, with the help of Ravelry’s Library feature, I can search for the right pattern for my projects.
One other super cool feature? I’ve taken photos of paper patterns (Jimmy Bean Wool puts a pattern on the back of their packaging) and Evernote turns that photo into TEXT. Yes, you read that correctly. I’ve been able to photograph recipes and business cards and then toss the hard copy away.
And since all of this nifty information syncs across all of my devices, I don’t have to lug my computer into the kitchen if I want to cook from a recipe! Nor do I have to be connected to the internet to access my notes.
Evernote also lets you type up notes for class and lets you add in radio buttons to create a to-do list. I don’t use those features but their blog highlights how people use the program to suit their needs.
Full disclosure: I was not asked to write up this tutorial and review. I just love the program that much. Did I mention that it’s free?
I’ve been working on a test crochet for Stacey from FreshStitches and Abby from While She Naps. Abbey is a (sewn) softie maker and Stacey makes amigurumi toys. They’ve teamed up to make a penguin! It’s a match made in toy heaven I think.
It doesn’t seem like much now but he’s going to be so cute! I’m not testing Abby’s sewn part but I might make it on my own time. We’ll see.
On a personal note, today marks the 4th anniversary of my dad’s passing. I miss him terribly. Except he never understood the purpose of having many projects in the works. “Teje, teje, teje! Y no terminas nada*,” he would say to me and my mom and my other sisters. So in true youngest daughter fashion, this post is dedicated to annoying him!
For more works in annoying progress, check out Tami’s blog.
(Knit knit knit! And you never finish a thing.)
I am having way too much fun making lymph nodes. I’m starting to make them in different colors too!
My friends at Gilda’s Club have been requesting them in pink because breast cancer survivors often have their lymph nodes removed in a mastectomy.
I made the larger guy by doubling my yarn (it’s sport weight) and using a 5.5 mm/I hook. The eyes come from Suncatcher Eyes and for him I used 12mm eyes.
The pattern is still up for sale and I am happy to announce that I was able to donate $26.25 to Stupid Cancer! Grab a copy today and help me make that total go up.
And keep your eyes on this page because I’ll soon be opening up an Etsy store full of ready made lymph nodes!
For more FOs, check out Tami’s blog.
Pin ItKit number 2 of the Fresh Stitches kit club came in this week! This month’s pattern was a mosquito.
I didn’t log onto the secret website before I started so I missed out on a super special modification. Stacey included four pipe cleaners to turn a normal sized mosquito into a long-legged spider mosquito. I’ve set them aside with a note on my pattern for next time.
I’ve named this little guy Rey, in honor of my dad. When he was a young boy, he was a pretty big pest. He was the second youngest and the only boy so he was spoiled by his older sisters. My Aunt Lolin told my mom once that he would start fights with the other kids but had her and her other sisters finish them or get him out of them. They called him mosquito a nickname he passed on to most of his grandsons who were and continue to be equally pesky.
For more Finished Objects, check out the list over at Tami’s blog.
I can’t stop hooking! (Phrasing, boom!) The finished project is going live on Friday but here’s a small peek:
I tend to crochet smaller things so once I get started on a project, it’s over before I have a chance to take an in progress photo. I’m really excited about how this turned out and I can’t wait to talk about his back story.
