Hello again and look, I did manage to cake sock yarn so I'd have something to do on short breaks from Palliative Care, which is where I am grateful to be spending my days with my elderly and much-loved and very ill aunt:
Knitting is such a great conversation starter. I'm recognizable for it now, and people feel encouraged to tell me wonderful, loving stories their mums who sewed or knit or wove things. Sometimes the mum is the patient and sometimes it's the storyteller. In both cases, I'm glad for the connection, which seems to help us all get through this surreal in-between time.
I walk to and from the hospital whenever possible and have seen some beautiful skies like this one, which I thought you'd enjoy, too. "It's the little things" is what we so often hear or say, and I'm finding that sentiment to be very much true.
This lunch bag, for example, which I bought because I don't always have the opportunity to slip to the hospital food court. Aren't these flowers pretty?
I'd love to add a little hedgehog charm to the handles but I have no idea where to find such a thing. Not even in the hospital gift shop! I'd forgotten how vast and thoughtful the wares are in a hospital gift shop.
Here's my favourite bolt hole, when I do get to pick up a coffee and a muffin:
There are two rows of benches under these windows where few ever stop to sit, which makes them perfect for emptying your mind and getting in some sock progress. I am reading stories by Lucy Maud Montgomery while I work, which is such a help.
This backpack is new too... Tom Bihn's Daylight Backpack, which replaces the one I've used for ten years or so. I love the design and I get such delight from unzipping it to see the pale purple lining inside, which is called 'dusk', and now that I'm typing that I'm thinking is there anything more vampiric or sepulchral, or more appropriate for Palliative?
I can't unsee that now. Ugh.
Fortunately I did buy a bigger one as well, in case I need more room: the Paramour. It's black too, but with a grey lining. Also slightly depressing. Uuuuuugh.
I shouldn't joke. The fact is that if somebody you love needs the level of care offered by a Palliative Unit, and you're fortunate enough to get them into one, you might as well embrace its oddness and beauty. There are no discussions about weather there, I can tell you! I learned early in this journey that in a hospital, everybody's your friend, because everybody's going through something and we all need support for it.
I just try to treasure each moment and get myself to the hospital gardens for a few minutes every day, if only to walk past one of the water features and loop straight back inside.
And I make sure I wear something bright every day, too. If you do it right, it's another conversation starter.
That's right. White shoes after Labour Day. AND socks and sandals together! I am living dangerously.
Getting back to where we began with this Hug, I am 90% confident that the Briggs and Little Sport yarn is going to be my favourite for winter warmers. I did finish one and try it on, and even before a run through a bath of Soak Wash, it didn't feel itchy at all. (small gauge needles probably helped!)
As was the case with my last post at the end of August, I don't expect to be back for a few weeks. In the meantime, thanks for stopping by and remember that it really is the little things! Even scratchy socks knit on small needles. Or really pretty clouds after a post-hospital grocery run.
