No time...

I haven't gotten any knitting done in the past few days. Too busy with other stuff, a bad cold, stuff around the house, work, phone calls from family as their blood tests start coming in. Both of my sisters have some of the same clotting risk factors that I do. They don't know how many yet, but they know they're there. My parents are working to schedule their tests, too, and I've got to get something written up for the aunts and uncles and cousins.

I did make my sister a mala out of amethyst and silver beads. She's been worried about a lot of things and I thought the mala - a string of beads used to say a mantra - might help her. She should get it sometime this week. It was one of the first things I did after I found out how my bout in the hospital was going to affect everyone else in my family. I'm feeling a bit more settled with things now, and hopefully they will come to be, too.

Finding how to help through sickness

Just shy of three weeks ago I ended up in the emergency room. I couldn't breathe, because pain of pain in my left lung. Turns out I had a pulmonary embolism, from a blood clot that had broken loose from my right leg, traveled through my heart and went into the arteries that lead to my left lung. Blood tests showed I have three genetic conditions that make my blood more prone to clotting than most people's. My doctor said he's never seen anyone with all three before. Lucky me.

I've got Factor V Leiden (two abnormal copies of that gene), a problem with the prothrombin gene and with the gene for methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase, an enzyme. The good thing is now they know why a muscle strain led to blood clots. They also know how to treat it: lifelong blood thinners.

It also means everyone in my family has to get their blood tested to see what abnormal genes they ended up with. On the one hand, it stinks to have to tell all of these people I care about that my problems might be their problems, too. But it's also helping. Maybe by me going through it, and finding out what happened, others won't have to experience it. It's certainly not something I want anyone else to have happen.

What to do?

Somehow, rows and rows of gray and black stockinette stitch make me feel a little more grounded, especially when dealing with brand new bad news. Maybe it's because I'm working on something for someone other than myself. Go, satchel, go!

Knitting with what?

One day, soon after I knit my first hat (with cat ears and ear flaps, no less) I figured out how to use double-pointed needles correctly. I taught my friend Sarah the technique, using chopsticks, over a delicious sushi lunch. Doing what I love, with someone I care about, with whatever tools are at hand. What could be better?

And in no time, I'd finished two more hats, complete with cat ears and ear flaps, and moved on to the next stage in my knitting career.

I'm hoping this will be a place to write about my projects, and all sorts of other things, as they arise. I'm always into something, after all, and should have lots to write about, if I could only find the time... and put down my needles.