Cherry Knits

Achilles OK - ACL OOPS

You may remember my periodic posts over the summer months about the mountain lion incident with John and the dogs. Betty nearly became a mountain lion morsel. John ended up with a severed achilles tendon and spent the rest of the summer in a rainbow variety of casts. Fortunately, the achilles cast-off happened in September and he continues to improve on two good legs now, as you will soon see.

But just when you think things are getting back to normal...  a few weeks ago Humphrey, our golden retriever, tore his ACL while chasing tennis balls on the trail. So, here we go again.

Here's Humphrey during his most recent session of physical therapy at the Canine Rehabilitation & Conditioning Group.  It's so cool that there are these kinds of facilities to help our best friends recover from injury. He gets about half an hour of non weight-bearing exercise in a therapeutic pool a couple of times a week.

  Here it comes...

  It's mine - I've got it !

Hey - it may have been a tennis ball that got me here in the first place, but I'm still Retriever Supremo!

  Thanks - I needed that...

Just a towel dry is fine.

I'm a happy dog...

See ya next time--wags!

Update: Achilles Cast On #3

Here's the latest installment in the Summer of the Mountain Lion Incident - Week #9.  After much deliberation about the color of the new cast, it's basic black. Cool blue was a close second. As it turns out, the color didn't much matter this time because it's all covered up anyway. The good news is that John's foot is now immobilized at a neutral angle instead of in the pointy toe position it's been in for the last two months. So now he can stand on it a little. The cast is in two pieces, so he can take it off to gently flex the foot a couple of times a day and better yet - take a shower (a definite improvement). The ace bandage holds it all together, but it does wimp down the rakish look of that sleek black cast. The new footwear isn't exactly Manolo either. But this is THE look for the next 4 weeks. OK, it's obvious that I'm watching way too much Project Runway.

As if the actual mountain lion experience wasn't sobering enough, a friend passed this along as recommended reading:

And here's the latest progress on the Rambling Rows Afghan. I'm going to need a much taller perch to stand on to get it all to fit in the next photo. I'd better knit really fast until time to hit the road again - it's pretty much past portable. Just wish I could get the colors to photograph better. I'm starting to totally obsess about this am I not? The colors really do look good in person.

Guess I'll keep on rambling -- and on just so many levels -- lol!

The Color Purple

Mountain lion makeover update: Everyone continues to recover. After two weeks of day-glo green, achilles cast on #2 for about 6 weeks is purple! The doggies are not so happy about not getting to go on as many hikes. I think it's going to be a very long summer!

Knitting news: The Maggi's Cotton shawl is finished! I cast on 50 stitches. The stitch pattern is K1 *YO K2tog* K1.  Once the desired length was reached, I knit across the last wrong side row and then bound off loosely. I used a US 13 (bamboo!) needle and about 5-1/2 balls (50g - 77 yds). It's very slinky and drapey.

Yay! I finished a project so now I can give myself permission to get out the beautiful hand dyed yarns I purchased from Textiles a Mano at the Estes Park Wool Market over Fathers Day weekend. Aren't they gorgeous? I can't wait to start swatching...

Happy knitting!

Achilles Cast On (or) Mountain Lion Makeover

    

I'm back from Idaho and Montana.  As you can see, everyone is recovering from post mountain lion stress disorder. Fetching fuzzy squishy balls tossed off the front porch is again a top priority.  Betty (black dog top photo front and center) is oblivious to the fact that she was nearly a mountain lion morsel. My SO had surgery scheduled for tomorrow, but based on the opinions of two sports medicine/orthopaedic type surgeons, he's an excellent candidate for non-surgical restoration of his achilles tendon. He's decided to give that option a go.

So, for the next few months we will see a succession of casts in a veritable fruit salad palette of color. I particularly like this day-glo green. We'll just have to wait and see whether he does the one in hot pink!

So what do you think - any ideas for embellishing and accessorizing the latest in plaster fashion? A toe-up toe cozy? Maybe felted knee pads? No kidding - the wheel chair works in most places but crutches are a real hazard on the stairs, so he just goes for it on all fours.  I'm certain he will ultimately emerge from this experience with dignity and sense of humor in tact.

OK - Knitting. I've actually managed to do some. I've made some nice progress on a summer shawl in Maggi's Cotton. I love the slubby texture and the sheen from a bit of rayon in the yarn.

         

I'm also in the home stretch on this project called the Hapi Wrap. It's a Feather and Fan lace pattern done in an Interlacements hand-dyed cotton rayon blend. The back is knit in one piece and then is divided for the fronts and seamed at the sides.

      

I have vowed not to start anything new until I get one of these projects finished -- I'm soooo close.

It's just killing me because I went to the Estes Park Wool Market on Saturday and bought some absolutely gorgeous-to-die-for hand dyed yarns from our own Colorado based Textiles a Mano. I'll show them to you soon, but if I get them out now to take a photo, I won't get anything else done today and all my resolve about finishing the above before any new projects will fly right out the window...

Happy knitting and, as an homage to the late Charles Kuralt , here's that beautiful view of the Clark Fork River I enjoyed last weekend in western Montana...

 

Download 100_0573.MOV (click on the photo above to enlarge it OR click on this link and give it a few moments to download a video clip)

A river runs through it

I'm sitting in a hotel room in western Montana. One of the nice benies of being a road warrior is the hotels occassionally give you a break and upgrade your room as a courtesy. Since I spend more nights in a hotel bed than I do in my own, it's really appreciated when this happens. Especially after the events of this past week.

So, thanks to the nice people in the Hilton family, I've been able to sit in my room today with the beautiful Clark Fork River running just below my window. There's a tiny little balcony about the size of a postage stamp I can step out on and enjoy the view and most especially the sound of the river flowing by. Tonight, I will be able to sleep with the sliding door open since I'm above the first floor and the sound of the river will be what lulls me off to sleep. Does all this sound a little too sappy and dramatic? Well, here's what happened this week...

My SO was hiking very early in the morning on Tuesday with our dogs (Humphrey, Betty and Gracie) in the trails and hills outside of Boulder, Colorado. While everyone was scattered about chasing sticks, they found themselves up close and personal with a mountain lion. It was probably following a nearby herd of deer. The cat got between the dogs and my SO and jumped up into a tree, but when it saw Betty, it came right down and began stalking her and got within just a few yards. She's a little older and the most vulnerable. My SO took off like a sprinter with rocks and a big stick and deterred the cat so Betty could get away, but in the sudden movement, his achilles tendon ruptured -- completely severed.

So here's my SO face to face within a few yards of this big cat and clearly injured. By now all three dogs had worked their way around to his side and together as a group they were able to back away with my SO making lots of noise (mostly I'm sure from excruciating pain) and waving a big stick. The mountain lion, seeing a new vulnerable target, tracked them about 200 yards until they all reached a ridge that opened out of the trees. The mountain lion finally faded back into the hills.

Thankfully, a good samaritan who was coming up the trail saw that my SO was injured and in trouble. A former special forces Viet Nam vet, he all but carried my SO the remaining mile or so back to the car. Whoever he is -- I am more grateful than words can express. Everybody came home alive.

And thank goodness I was home that day. I was getting everything together for a road trip that I was leaving on early Wednesday morning. I instead spent the day getting my SO to the care he needed and dealing with the medical system - yikes. I was up until midnight packing and then up at 4:30 the next morning to go catch a plane.  Fortunately we have good neighbors and friends who are helping out. He will be laid up for at least the next three months. So needless to say, I have to keep working. I am guilt ridden at having to just leave him, but he is a resourceful guy and will rise to this challenge.  All things considered, this is just a bump in the road.

So after all that happened this week, I am sitting here quietly on a Sunday (albeit in a hotel room) and taking store of all I have to be very very grateful for. And, particularly, acknowledging the river that is running through my world at this moment bringing much needed peace and perspective.

Sorry I had to just run off on this trip. I'll be back the end of next week. I don't have any way to post a picture until I get home, but as soon as I can, the views from my windshield that I post up here from time to time, will include my beautiful view of the river. 

Paraphrasing the immortal words of John Lennon: Life is what happens to us when we're busy making other plans.  I plan to just keep smiling and knitting!