Dawn Brocco's Life and Design Blog

Doc said the eye is doing fine. I have 4 more weeks of 3 drops to put in 4x a day, and the eye will undilate by 2 weeks after that - SO that's 6 more weeks of crummy sight to put up with. The eye is still quite sore and doesn't allow me to work for long periods as I used to, and has me quit earlier in the evening than I used to, as it has had enough by then.

I've tried various patches on the eye, so that I can just focus out of the other eye, but none are really comfortable/stay put well. It doesn't help that the eye and brow bones are still sore.

I've re-proofed my 2 designs for the next Gazette issue and have started the swatches for my yarn review. This weekend, I gotta start taking the design photos, then digitally enhancing them - THAT should be fun - not! As it means a long time at the computer.

I worked a bit on that Peace Fleece pullover, then decided I wanted something different. That particular design idea really needs a different kind of yarn, something with more drape, and a softer fiber. I may do it in my cashmere, instead.

I did, however, immediately feel drawn to the idea of a cabled design. So, I swatched and CO for that. I want waist shaping or at least delineation, and I've noticed 2 designs in the current VK that are employing similar ideas to mine, as alternative ways to delineate a waist "without" decreasing and increasing sts at the waist. One used eyelets all around, and the other accentuated the waist with cables.

My first design used eyelets just at the sides with ties, instead of all around, and this cabled design will use allover cables at the waist to cinch it.

The first idea was to be a pullover with placket. This cabled one will be a cardigan. They're much more useful than pullovers and I haven't nearly enough of them.

I'm making a size that will allow for a fitted look, not loose and definitely not the baggy look of years past. I think it'll be infinitely prettier as a fitted silhouette.

It's a cloudy day, we're due for rain, so hubby isn't gonna get much done on the endless exterior prep work, so we're actually getting to the mall today! The only places I've been over the past couple of months have been doctor's offices and the ambulatory surgery!

I do need to find a pair of low-rise khakis, like the ones I bought on the Cape that I wore once, washed them, then they shrank. I gave them to my daughter, who's a size or 2 smaller than I am. I also need loungewear slacks. Something a step up from jammies, for working at home. All mine are ancient and falling apart. At least comfortable ones are easier to find than jeans or other slacks, which can be torture to find.

There's a Barnes & Noble finally opening in Kingston. Now if I only had a small fortune, I'd happily ensconce myself in that shop for the day, buying up tons of books. How I love books! There's nothing like holding a book in your hands, and a well-made book is a pleasure unto itself, regardless of the content. This love harkens back to my youth, where books were my only "out" in life. The only escape afforded me. I still love to become so engrossed in a story, that everything in reality falls away. Nothing exists but those characters and that story. "It" becomes reality. And finishing the story is often a let-down, as one's consciousness slides back to where it was before it was allowed the freedom to fly somewhere else!

I don't have the time to leave my reality like that, anymore. Once in a blue moon, typically when a New Harry Potter book comes out and I can finally secure one from our local library, where, even though they'll stock 5 or 6 copies, it can be months before one becomes available for borrowing. The last one, I devoured in a weekend, all 800 and something pages. I don't like to stop, I don't like anything interrupting the flow of the story. I'll end up all stiff from sitting so long, but I don't care, it's just the body. The brain is having such fun on its flight of fancy!

The leaves are coming down in buckets. I should begin raking them up, at least in small bouts, as the light hurts that eye. It's so much to rake though, and I have so many other more pressing matters. The dog also needs a bath desperately. Hubby has hardly had time to breathe with me being laid up, or he'd have gotten to it already, so today looks like doggie bath day.

I worked on fine-tuning my Peace Fleece design last night and cast it on. Some details still need finalizing, but I can do that later. I feel so lost the past few days. The eye won't allow me to put hours in on the computer, so all I've gotten done is getting caught up with the databases. I'm up but not really up to anything strenuous, and the eye does ache and gets really tired by the end of the day, even with not doing much. But at least I slept finally last night and the night before. That's an improvement.

I've been searching for another yarn to dye up as I do the cashmere for my Garden Yarns collection. I have a rustic type wool to use but have been wanting a soft wool to use as well. The catch is that I want all the yarns I'll be dyeing to be the same weight and knit to the same gauge. The cashmere is 100 yds per 2 ozs or 50 yds/oz. Worsted to heavy worsted. It does 4.5 sts/1" perfectly.

So, yesterday I remembered seeing an ad in one of the recent mags, and it turns out to have been in the Fall Knitter's - an ad for Chester Farms, whose Cestari line of yarns has been around awhile. They have new fine and superfine merino wool yarns listed in the ad, but no yardage or other info and their website isn't updated yet to include these new yarns. So I called and ordered color cards and wholesale info. So, we'll see.

What I'd REALLY love to have is a heavy worsted Bluefaced Leicester wool yarn, but there's none available at wholesale in that weight. It's a gorgeous wool breed - soft and silky with a light sheen. Easily wearable next to the skin and feels luscious to knit with. But, of course I always want what's not to be had! It doesn't help that there are no large Bluefaced Leicester sheep farms here to make domestic production of the yarn viable - it's primarily a UK product.

I mean merino is nice, some are nicer than others, but there's lots of merino and merino superwash about and I just don't want anything common - what's the point? The idea is to have something different from what others have, not the same as. You see so many of the handpainted and handdyed yarns out there, whose stock, the natural color base yarns, are coming from the same few suppliers. It's the same stuff over and over again. I'm not sure knitters are aware of this, probably not. And maybe it wouldn't matter, even if it was well-known.

Maybe it's the colorations created on each yarn that is appealing to knitters, not necessarily the fiber. I just find so many look like one just dunked oneself in 10 buckets of dye then stood up - it's so disharmonious to my eye. And dare I say it - ugly. I gag at some of the garments in the ads, and wonder who'd be caught dead wearing it? Certainly not the same ladies who buy beige and other natural colors, for fear of standing out in a crowd or who prefer their knits to work with, rather than against, their wardrobes!! It's just me, I'm sure. I just don't see these yarns as being beautiful or aesthetically appealing.

Well, I gotta go get ready for visit with retina doc. Will write later how that goes.

Sample Sale Coming
As I've been unable to work for nearly a month now, the coffers need refilling, so I've decided to put many of my design samples up for sale. I will post here when the sale is ready. (With all the other work piled up, it may take me a couple weeks to get all the samples ready and the info onto my site, so please be patient!)

You can also become a subscriber to my website updates and receive immediate notice when I've added the sale to my website. You will then also receive all future website updates, be it sales, new patterns or new books. Just email me with the word subscriber in the body of the message. DO be sure to list your FULL name. This does make it easier for me to update any email address change you may have or remove you from the list, if you so choose.

I uprooted the rotting tomato plants and picked some late season lettuce that I planted god knows when, I don't even remember now. It was good to get out into the fresh air. I haven't been outside in weeks, except to walk the dog.

Tomorrow I have the checkup with the surgeon. The gas bubble is dissipating, though slowly.

It's going to be awhile to get ALL this computer related work done, though. I have the Winter Gazette issue to put together from scratch, a booklet to finish making edits to and patterns that need writing up. I've written to the mag about my ad but I still haven't heard back yet. I am VERY unhappy with it, and it cost a fortune to do. I think I'll start that new Peace Fleece pullover, just to lift my spirits, as I'm feeling rather negative at the moment, and I HATE feeling like that, as it blocks constructive action. It just bogs one down.

I do feel though that I put out into the world much more than ever comes back, and I don't know why. Like the Gazette. I've worked long and hard on that publication after 4 years, but I'm down to less than 300 subscribers. I can't continue to publish it at that subscriber level - the cost of production, NOT to even mention ALL the time it takes me to do 4 issues every year FAR outweighs the income it provides. It's a good little pub that looks like it's sliding into non-existence. I'll get the winter issue out, then deal with the question of closing it down or not. I only have so much energy and I'm tired of fighting losing battles. I would really like to WIN at something in my career, not have everything be such a struggle, it's so disheartening. Well, I do have a distributor for my books and that's definitely been a positive for this year. Maybe I just need to focus my energies in that area - let the pub die, and spend that time working on new books. I have no other answer.

Can't stand it any more.

Had to get up and move about. Haven't had a decent nights' sleep in 2 weeks from the lack of activity. And I love to sleep! 8-9 hours every night, deep sleeper, little wakes me. But not lately. I'm up all night long, itching to get out of my skin and its forced slothfullness. This lying about and doing absolutely Nothing is torture. Might be different if I was doing it whilst lying on some warm sandy beach somewhere, instead of spending 2 weeks, day and night, glued to an uncomfortable sofa. I've finally moved back to our bed on Sunday night, which is infinitely more comfortable, until one lies awake and tosses and turns whilst trying NOT to wake up light-sleeper dearest hubby. Blech.

So, I'm doing laundry and dishes and might make some risotto later, as no-one tells you what those drugs I've had to take DO to your GI system, once you come off them. I just move from one hell to another, waiting for it all to end. I'd like the past 3.5 weeks of my life back, please!!

I swatched the Peace Fleece worsted wt last night, with 8's (5 mm) and got a nice 4.25 sts and 6 rows/1" gauge. Good fabric at that gauge, not too tight, nor too loose. Washed the swatch and left it on the radiator overnight. Remained the same gauge - good.

So much to do, so little time left.....

surgery update
surgery on the 15th went well, say both surgeons who worked on me for 2 hours. They did a buckle around the eye, did laser and cryo and filled it with gas. Can't see through the gas, which is OK as the pain and eye pressure meds they have me on, are keeping me asleep most of the time. I saw one doc today who said it all looks fine, but the test is when the gas finally dissipates in another week or 10 days - it's big bubble they put in - and if the other repair work will hold after the gas to help support the retina.

So, at least 9 more days lying on my face yet.....

I just got my new VK and am disgruntled with the color reproduction of my ad. The pink shades didn't come out well at all, only the lavender and natural look good. The ad is going to repeat in the next issue and I can't even do anything about it - poot. I do hope knitters will look to my site's photos and not judge the colors by the ad.

oh well, this is all I can write with my nose 3" from the keyboard! Time for a hot cuppa tea and yet another nap. I'm missing autumn, hey but I'm also missing the raking! there's always an upside!

Thank you for all your kind wishes for getting well!! I had been feeling like I fell off the edge of the earth and didn't exist anymore! Please don't ever feel intimidated to write me. I'm a regular person, living a modest, hard-working life. I never think of myself of being well-known in knitting. I do think of myself as being a lover of wool and the fiber arts and as being somewhat creative in these areas. There are so many more illustrious, not to mention famous and infamous!, knitting minds out there than mine.

I will try and write in a few days' time....

Bummer
In office laser retina repair only held 2 weeks. Am on my back today and am having more major surgery earlyyyy tomorrow morning.

Any and all wishes for a successful repair (on this pitiful retina that has 3 new tears on top of the 3 previous tears) and for a speedy recovery will be gratefully accepted.

I spent hours last night online looking at yarns!

I love shetland wool yarn, and I have the 2002/2003 J&S colorcard. I particularly like the 2-ply Soft Spun, which is worsted weight, but to order enough colors on kilo-sized cones (which get a better price), sends the shipping really high, especially as the pounds to dollars exchange rate is 1.8.

It's still much less than getting Jamieson's worsted wt. shetland yarn, which I think is about $6.90/50 grams! $14 for 100 grams for wool just sends me reeling. I'd try the Jamieson's aran wt. shetland yarn, but I looked everywhere and see only 1 retailer has it, in Canada. I find that interesting. Why are there no US retailers carrying this yarn? Is it, for some reason, not allowed to be sold in the US? Or is it just that no US shops want an aran wt shetland wool yarn - nah, that can't be it! There's tons, Tons of heavier weight yarns in the US market. It's also more cost-effective than the worsted wt. at approx. $8.50/100 grams US ($10.50 Can).

So, I hemmed and hawed over the shetland wool possibilities, of which there really are only 2. I even considered using the jumper wt. and tripling it, but tripled may be too thick and doubled is too thin.

So, then I considered Donegal tweeds. Tahki has it as does Reynolds. I love tweeds, but it seems dry to me and not stretchy at all - no give in the yarn, at least the samples I have. So, onward we look.

I looked up Peace Fleece again. It's very reasonable in price, especially considering the 30% mohair content. Iit's not a single ply like Lamb's Pride. I love LP, but not necessarily for sweaters. I've designed sweaters with it, as I have many other yarns, but I'm ever on that search for the perfect yarn in whatever weight and color range that I need at the moment, that isn't exhorbitant "for the fiber content". And with ALL the yarns out there. you'd think it would be easy to find what one wants - not so!

I have the PF color card and realized that some of the colors "are" tweeds. Tweeds don't show up well in short yarn samples, they really need a good length to show the bits of extra colors that are here and there, so some other colors "may* be tweeds as well, they're just not showing up in the short snippets.

And, I notice that they now wholesale their yarns - I don't remember seeing that last time I went to the site, so "that" was encouraging! And the minimums are do-able for a designer! Very encouraging.

I ordered 7 hanks of color Samantha-Katia Pink. It's a lovely deep raspberry heather. I figure I will replicate my wearing-out Old Navy v-neck raglan pullover with the waist shaping, but add a bit more ease. Old Navy's sizing runs very small, which was OK in the DK wt wool in that sweater, but won't be OK in the heavy worsted wt. for this new pullover.

BTW, I welcome feedback about yarns at any time. Part of my struggle in choosing yarns for my designs is finding a middle ground yarn that will appeal to the most knitters. In feel and cost. Again, not easy to do, so any thoughts a knitter has about any of the yarns I have used and/or mentioned is welcome! In the same vein, if you use a yarn that you love that isn't exhorbitant for it's fiber content, DO let me know what it is. You can always email me at dbdesign@ulster.net or dawn@dawnbrocco.com, if you're uncomfortable posting to my blog.

Which, btw, I have been wondering a long time why few knitters ever posts to my blog? I know it's not the most exciting knitting or design blog, especially as my personal life is still so work-oriented, not fun-oriented. And I don't have time to post lots of photos, so it's definitely more word, rather than photo, oriented, but still.... I'm wondering. You can email me privately if you wish.

Back to the mundane parts of life -
Seeing retina doc again tomorrow morning for a checkup. Not that he can do anything about it, but what I am left having to focus through in my right eye is making me nuts!! Grrrr. The floating schmootz hasn't left yet, and will take a while longer to disperse, and the eye is SLOWLY undilating, but the retina flap blob is now resembling an amber-colored abalone shell. By the end of the day I get really tired of having to look through all this stuff!

Gonna try to get some Gazette work done today as well as those edits to the new booklet - plod, plod ahead!

My middle brother stayed on today, after yesterday's funeral, to help with the ongoing scraping of the house. I've had tons of laundry to do and beds to remake today, which is finally done. I started to do some databaseing, to catch up from my week on my back. And the 4 huge boxes of books went off via UPS to Unicorn Books.

But the alpaca boucle hasn't come in yet and I have no idea what to knit on until it comes. I still have that aran to finish, which I may work on. I have patterns to write, the next Gazette issue to put together and those edits to the new booklet of designs, but it's hard enough to focus in daylight, never mind strain my eyes trying to do it at night.

I have a Gazette submission to go over, which I should be able to get done tonight. Then I'll see after that aran.

But for now, I hear some split pea soup calling me.

Saw the retina doc who said that the laser repair is holding, but that I'll always have that darkness at the bottom of the vision as that's the tears in the retina creating a kind of flap. He sealed around all the tears, but there's no way to secure the flap back against the eye. Ugh - I know.

So, in the meantime, all I gotta do is wait for the eye to undilate - about 2 weeks he said as the Atropine drops I've had to use are strong. The schmootz in my vision from the hemorrhage will take weeks or even months to clear out of the eye - so it'll be awhile until I have not quite back the pitiful sight I had before!

Of course I have only a few weeks to get the next Gazette issue ready for the editor, which I may or may not be able to do on time. I hate being late with an issue as that only decreases my available time to do the following issue.

I ordered large celtic clasps from JHB for the aran that's been waiting for me to get back to it. And I ordered more Plymouth Yarns Alpaca Boucle to make the 2nd sample for this new cardigan design I'm working on.

My yarn stash is so pitifully low! I'd love to work in some tweed, either Donegal Tweed yarn or Shetland Soft-Spun tweed. Shetland wool is so warm, that I'm leaning towards it, but shipping from Shetland is high, so I'm considering the Brora Soft-Spun that Webs has, but I dread using a yarn that won't always be available, though they do say they have a container load of it - so it's not likely to run out too soon. What do you think? I could just make it a generic, heavy worsted weight pattern and leave the yarn up to the knitter......

My Old Navy wool sweaters from a couple years back are beginning to wear thin is spots, but that's to be expected with such inexpensive goods. It means, though, that I need replacements!

Today, I gotta work on edits to my next booklet of designs and visit with DD and her beau who are driving in for grandma's wake and funeral - busy weekend. So, I better get to it!
Have a great weekend all!

Today is the day doc said I can get up and have a normal day, as he wants to see what effect that will have on this retina. I will see him early tomorrow to find out how it's going.

In the meantime, my grandmother, who I've mentioned previously as not doing too well lately, passed away on Tuesday. Viewing Sunday, Funeral Monday. Fortunately my youngest brother has been helping Mom with things, as the other 2 brothers live nowhere nearby and though I do, I wouldn't have been able to help this past week. Mom's an only child, so it's been hard.

I have house cleaning to do today and hopefully get back to finish that cardigan I began 2 weeks ago. It's almost done, but I don't know how well I'm going to be able to focus on the sts. There's still this one big blob of a streamer in the eye and a sea of small schmootz. The sea is clearing out bit by bit, but the Blob (yeah, like the movie!) and the dark circle at the bottom of my sight, which are the tears at the top of my eye, are impeding vision. And of course, it's still being kept dilated with drops. But anything's better than being stuck on that couch, day in, day out.

I processed all waiting orders last night, and they'll be mailed out today - thanks to hubby and I'll write again tomorrow.

Had a checkup with the retina specialist this morning - I have 3 more days to lie on my back and stare at the ceiling, then I can get up on Thursday and he'll see me again on Friday.

I have dilating drops, so it'll be dilated til doomsday and as the 3 tears in the retina occurred near a blood vessel, I have schmootz to look through in that eye, as well.

I am just doing this little bit of typing, as focusing is not easy and I need to rush down this yogurt and lie down again.

The 3 tears took 950 pulses of laser to seal up - it was not fun, and my eyeball is still sore, even 3 days after the procedure.

I had laser suregery on my right retina yesterday, as it had 3 tears. Doc ordered me flat on my back for 5 days to help it, hopefully, reattach itself with gravity's help. Otherwise more invasive techniques need to be done and ihe'd ratehr not have to, as the odds aren't as good for keeping my sight.

If anyone places orders or emails me with a question, just be assured I am not ignoring you, I just can't run my business from the couch, staring at the ceiling! And, as a small design business, I have no employees to do it for me.
Thank you for your patience!
Dawn