Hip Ginger Beret

Hip News

I attended my Pre-Admission Clinic for my hip replacement this week, which took about 3 hours. I had blood and urine tests, baseline readings for blood pressure and so on, hip x-rays (so my surgeon can measure what size implant to have ready), and spoke with a nurse, anaesthetist, and my surgeon's intern. It all went smoothly, and I managed to be surprisingly calm throughout.

The main problem is I can't have a femoral nerve block for pain relief post-op. As I suspected, my hip/groin area is too mangled and abnormal from previous surgeries, with a lot of scar tissue, and very little muscle - the anaesthetist couldn't even find my femoral vein, let alone the nerve. And an epidural isn't recommended; apart from the risk of permanent paralysis, it reacts badly with the DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis) anti-clotting med Clexane which I'll be on for a month. So that means nothing that will numb just my leg for the first 2 days. My surgeon can flood the hip with local anaesthetic which will give me about 12 hours coverage after surgery, and I'll have to rely on PCA (Patient Controlled Analgesia) for the rest.

The one slight up side of this is I won't have an entirely numb leg, and this may make getting mobile (which happens very fast, the day after surgery) a bit easier. But my pain levels may be higher. For joy.

Anxiety is setting in pretty badly now, have started on Diazepam at the lowest dose, but it's probably not enough ... They'll give me a couple of Temazepam as soon as I get to hospital next Tuesday to hopefully knock me out for the 3-4 hour wait for my turn. Surgery will probably be early afternoon, and last several hours.

My bag is packed and ready to go - my main task now is to figure out some good hospital knitting projects! Morphine Lace probably isn't a good option ... I'm thinking a wash cloth or two, a pair of socks, and maybe another brioche stitch beret for when I'm more with it? Any other ideas?

Windmill Beret

It's done, and it's gorgeous! I did the bind off about 5 times ... the main problem was getting the diameter just right to fit my little head. I used the pretty braided bind off that the pattern specifies. It's rather inflexible, though (hence needing to redo it to get the size just right).

Glacé Ginger

This was a bit of fun, trying to make candied ginger at home. I finally managed it on the third recipe. This one works the best. The key is repeated overnight soaking in sugar syrup. The recipe takes 5 days, but only has around 2 hours of cooking time, which is much better energy-wise than many recipes which call for 5+ hours of simmering. It tastes wonderful, too - but basically the same as store-bought ginger.

Did you know you can peel ginger with the rim of a spoon? It's true, and it works well! Hold it so the bowl of the spoon faces away from you. Takes a fair bit of strength, but it goes around all the lumps and bumps, and you lose very little ginger in the process.

My only adjustments to the recipe : I added some water to the syrup each day, around 100-200 ml, otherwise it gets too thick and can caramelise/burn (ask me how I know!). I recommend cutting the ginger into thin slices, around 2-3 mm (not chunks like you buy). Use the youngest ginger you can find, too. Breaking down the thick cellulose fibres is the main obstacle to good candied ginger.

This is how it looked on Day 2 :

And on Day 4 :

But you know what - as fun as this was to make - and OMG the leftover syrup forms the most amazing ginger "toffee" - it's not cost effective, unless you grow your own ginger, or have a very cheap source. I priced crystallised ginger from Woolies at $16/kg, and glacé ginger (on sale) at $24/kg. My batch cost around $20/kg to make ($6 for 300g).

Economies of scale win here - I'm sure the commercial suppliers pay much less than $15/kg for their raw ginger root!

Happy Book Day

This morning the kids and I went out to visit Joviva Chihuahuas, to meet her latest litter ... just for fun - Dotter was especially taken with this little sweetie pie ... so tiny!

When we got back, look what was waiting for me! A Saturday delivery, no less (very unusual in Australia).

There's really nothing like it, holding your own book in your hands for the first time. Super exciting. Big thanks for Mark Koltko-Rivera for being such an awesome coauthor too! I think that between the two of us we've created something better than either of us could have done alone (well, it's certainly the case for me, at least!).

If you'd like to be a reviewer, and get a free copy, head on over to my Facebook Page for instructions :)

PS I have turned on verification on posting as I've been getting comment spam, hopefully this will fix the problem :p

Crutch Cosies

Crutches have been an inevitable part of my life in recent months, and the trend is set to continue for a while yet ... I've got my own elbow crutches, which I find more convenient and comfortable than a walking stick or 'normal' underarm crutches - you can at least do stuff with your hands without the blasted things falling over! Very handy when out shopping, or doing stuff in the kitchen.

Apart from plain grey crutches being the bottom of the list of attractive accessories, elbow crutches have the added complication of having a Right and Left crutch. To avoid gauche fumbling when out, it's good to have help in quickly identifying which crutch is which, so one can look suave and in control, LOL. Well, we all have our dreams .... ;)

So these cosies double as awesome decoration, and quick identification (the right one has the purple section on it). The knitted fabric also helps them to stay put when leaning them against things - a bit more friction than a metal surface.

Coming to the rescue - Missability's Walking Stick Cosy pattern! Because of the shape of my elbow crutches I had to knit a flat piece and sew it on (under the elbow cuff and above the hand rests). Actually, I tell a lie. I knitted them, and Dotter sewed them on, after throwing her hands up in horror and unpicking my pathetic attempts at invisible mattress stitch, LOL. She's much better at it than I am!

My adaptation for elbow crutches (knit flat and sewn on) :

Use 4 ply sock yarn and 2.5 mm needles

I used Regia's Kaffe Fasset sock yarn, gorgeous colours!

• Cast on 24 stitches

• Work 8 rows of 1 x 1 ribbing

• Knit to ~ 1 cm short of desired length in stocking stitch / stockinette (or whatever pattern you like)

• Work 8 rows of 1 x 1 ribbing

• Bind off

• Attach to crutch with invisible mattress stitch, preferably using clever daughter

NB : The cosies will generally sit lower than you're expecting. My first cosies ended up being way too short, and even these second ones, which I really thought would be long enough, still sort of scrunch up and sit shorter than I'd like. So if in doubt, knit a bit more!

And isn't this pink fuchsia gorgeous? Fuchsias are one of the few flowers I seem to be able to grow - but I've only ever had the 'classic' coloured one. Bunnings got in this batch of pink ones last week - yummy!

Would you like a date?

Well, I suppose I would. I guess. How does 17 November sound? Oh, OK, if I have to.

By 18 November the worst will be over, I'll have a ceramic hip, and can start working on that recovery thing ... I'm closing the business for three weeks from next Monday, and starting the Valium around 15 November!

Petal has been brave and had her surgery too, last Friday (desexing and microchipping). She's making a speedy recovery, and I hope I can do the same!

A courier came to the door this morning, with a slender package from Wiley - ooooh, the book??! No - it contained a gift from Laura, the lovely editorial assistant who has interviewed my coauthor Mark and myself for the Dummies' Authors Newsletter - Mark and I each got one of these 'Dummies Authors' kits :

A nice zippered folder, with handy pockets, containing :

A couple of Dummies pens, Post-It notes, a real pad of American US Letter-sized paper, a tiny sewing kit, Dummies bookmarks ...

... a Dummies 1 Gb USB thumb drive ...

... and a Dummies keyring!

I'm all set!

Brioche Beret

No, I haven't been baking (well, I have, but not brioche ;)

I've been learning how to do brioche stitch, also known as fisherman's rib, using this web site.

This is a seriously cool stitch pattern - each row is knit twice, with first the odd stitches being knit / even stitches slipped, and then the even stitches being knit / odd stitches being slipped. It's a bit more tricky than that, but that's the basic idea.

And the reason for this, apart from always liking to learn new things? I simply had to make a Windmill Beret (Rav link) by Nancy Marchant (or pretty much any of her beret patterns, really - all free, on the same web site above). Isn't it stunning?!

I'm using 1 skein of Noro Silk Garden, and 1 skein of Naturally Loyal (leaf green). It's knit from the top down, and the first few rows are very fiddly - i think I had to restart about four times. In the end, I found using a long circular needle (magic loop) much easier than DPNs.

This is what it looks like on the 'wrong' side ...

It takes a fair bit of concentration initially, but once the technique 'clicks' - which it did for me around Row 10 - the whole process is much faster. I've got to this point in three days ... hope to finish it this weekend! And I think I'll be making more of these!

Closer!

Well, I've just got my official letter from the hospital, for my Pre- Admission Clinic for my hip replacement - 10 November! It can take up to 4 hours. This is where I'll get to meet the anaesthetist, nurses, and members of the surgical team, as well as have x-rays, blood tests, do the admission papers, etc etc.

And when I spoke to the Surgical Bookings lady yesterday, she said my surgery will be "mid-November" - I got the impression they've selected a date (probably roughly a week after my clinic) - they're just waiting on my surgeon to confirm the exact date now, I should hear for sure in a week or so! Eeeeek!

Some crafty things to share :

The dress for Dotter's Year 12 Formal outfit - I'm nearly finished the lined tailored vest that goes over this dress. Just have the zip to put in, and then a separate collar and tie to make! Really want to get it done soon, before I go to hospital ... her Formal is on 27 November.

Two super cute beanies for my favourite editor, Sarah, who's having her first child any day now. I'd better get these in the post soon!

A Berry Beanie ... I love this pattern :

This one is a "Sock Topper" baby beanie, using scraps of sock yarn. This one is in Opal "Feelings".

This is the Super Ben Cape (Rav link) for my nephew Ben - this was his gift for becoming a Big Brother - worn here with his favourite Power Rangers outfit, which he lives in! Pattern is in the New Knits on the Block book by Vicki Howell.

And the reason for the gift : Ben's new brother, and my littlest nephew, Thomas Rowan, born on 6 October ... photo taken when he was 3 days old - aaaaaaaaw :)

Cheat Sheet

The Cheat Sheet for Cracking Codes & Cryptograms For Dummies is up! There will be a bunch of pages with 50 'extra' cryptograms to solve online soon, too, should be by the end of this week.

Actual book to follow soon - it's in press :D