Decompressing Day

Hi there!  That was a long time between posts.  Much longer than I'd intended it to be.  I've been doing a fair amount of knitting and cooking but had to take a break from posting about it for a while.

My husband and I just got back from Denver where we were visiting my father in the hospital.  He was diagnosed with an auto-immune disease that was attacking his lungs and making him unable to breathe on his own.  Luckily he is a vet, and so he received excellent care at the VA hospital, where he was put on a ventilator for 9 days, and given a variety of treatments that restored his breathing and prevented any further damage.

These last two weeks have been incredibly stressful, and although my friends said, "At least you have your knitting!", I wasn't able to knit while in Denver.  It took my father several days to recover from the effects of the sedative and the intubation procedure and I really had to pay attention because he kept trying to pull off the various tubes and wires.  And then he needed a lot of help and support in the few days after that.

So while I spent Thanksgiving Day driving from Salt Lake City back to Portland, this year I am more thankful than any other, that my father survived his illness, and that we were able to be together for that time and reconnect.

As for my knitting, I have some more progress photos to share with you, as well as some family knitting.  My father's sister is unfortunately dealing with end stage breast cancer right now.  She is across the country and so I knit her two hats to keep her head warm.  The first was the Pi Topper Chemo Hat with the pattern available for free from Elann.com.  I used Rowan Calmer as I had some and it's very soft.  I added a few buttons I'd picked up recently at an antique store.

  

The second is the Slouchy Copy Cat Hat also available free from Terra Jamieson of Confessions of a Maniacal Thrower.  I made this one not quite as slouchy as in the pattern and knit the yarn overs through the back loop to eliminate the holes.  It's very warm and comfortable and I'd make one for myself, too.

Now I'll get started making a hat for my dad.  It's COLD in Colorado and at the rehab hospital, he can go outside so I want him to be warm.  I'll look through my patterns and yarn and see what I come up with.  He would definitely wear something simple and dark.

Comments

[Shellyfish]

I'm so sorry for everything you and your family are having to face. People in blogland, even if we're strangers, we care. My thoughts are with you. :)

[Nicola]

Stressful times. Glad your dad is on the mend. I hope your aunt is OK too.

[Hibiscus]

Welcome back! I am glad your Dad is making progress with his recovery.

Cute hats!

[kimmykokonut]

Both of those hats are beautiful. I want to make them! I have a long hat queue.