PCOS - A journey - 1

Let me preface this post by saying that this is about my "journey" with PCOS.  It has only just begun.  I will not discuss crafting or my home improvement or my kitties.  You have been warned....



I was told, a few months ago, that I for sure, had PCOS.  In my head, I saw the dream of having babies, disappear.  Of course, I realize, that having PCOS does not mean that I'm incapable of having children of my own, but, how many drugs, surgical interventions, and pain can someone endure to only find out, that, it may not be "meant" for us?  I struggle with whether I should stay positive and hope for the best, when, I know that it could not happen.  I also grapple with feeling as though, I'm a failure, as a woman.  One of the most important functions that I have the responsibility to perform, and my body has betrayed me.

Now as this is a genetically linked "disease", there's not much I could have done to prevent or cure it.  It's pure and simple, my ovaries are dysfunctional and it's unclear as to the exact mechanism that causes the increased androgens and estrogen in my system.  When I'm not actively trying to get pregnant, it's strongly advised that I remain on hormone treatments forever (i.e. Birth Control pills).

My symptoms are weird and not that much fun.
I have acne again, on face and shoulders/chest/upper back.  I have gained weight and find it impossible to lose any.  I have dandruff and greasy hair.  I sweat through deodorant and grow more body hair.  I no longer ovulate (if I ever did at all) and so therefore will not get my period without drug intervention.  My periods are like torture; like nothing I've ever had to deal with before and nothing helps the pain.

My fertility treatment is what is commonly referred to as, TTC.
I take a progesterone substitute (Provera 10mg) for 10 days.  Once my period begins, on day 4, I take Clomid (50mg) for 5 days.  Supposedly, I should ovulate any time from Day 9, on.  So far, my Ovulation testing has come up negative, but I think this is due to how often I test.  For this third round, I will test twice daily, starting on Day 9.  I also keep careful track of my basal body temperature.  I wake up, each day, at 5am and take my temperature.  I keep track of it (and many other things) at Fertility Friend.

My plan is to see a specialist within the next two weeks.  We will see what she has to say about my current treatment and plans for the future.

Any advice and comments are welcome.

KAL - Summer Mystery Shawlette Completed

I finished this on schedule for the KAL.  I've just been lazy about posting.

Lots of summer activities happening lately.

We've been enjoying our local farm share produce every week.
Honey Brook Organic Farm

All of our planting is complete.
I'm growing:  cucumbers, spinach, watermelon, garlic, rosemary, mint varietals, dill, echinacea, lavender, and savory.  We'll see how well it turns out.  I'm also nursing a Eucalyptus plant.....I hear they can be difficult to grow, so she will be living indoors.

On to the KAL.  My Ravelry project can be found here.
I should have used larger needles....I seem to knit quite tightly and I have about a half skein of the Madelintosh Tosh Merino Light leftover.  It should have just been enough to make the whole shawl.  Despite this, I'm happy with it and it's not really so small that I cannot use it.

KAL - Summer Mystery Shawlette Cont'd

I'm moving along with this project.  It's fun and I seem to enjoy not knowing the next step.
The number has now  bumped up past 800 participants.  It will be cool to see all the finished projects.

My knitting seems rather tight, so I'm hoping, blocking will open up the lace.

I have more than this complete, but was too lazy to take a new picture.  This one gives you the idea.

My garden is in....so far, the only thing I have from all that, is a rather nasty sunburn (all my own fault).  I've never had it be sooo itchy.  Driving me nuts!

I visited the Philadelphia Museum of Art this weekend.  Awesome.  I love going to a museum, any museum.

Museum yarn-eee love.

KAL - Summer Mystery Shawlette

I decided that I'd like to Knit along with a group on Ravelry (of about 500 people) on the Summer Mystery Shawlette. 

I have followed along with the Wendy Knits blog for a few years or so.  Her knitting is fabulous and her cat is adorable; what more can I ask for in a blog?  She also has a great sense of humor!

So, I highly recommend the blog and the KAL.

My KAL Shawlette project.

Essential Links:  Discussion Group (rav)
                         Ravelry Pattern Page

This also gives me an excuse to use some of my Madelinetosh ( I like it in one word) Tosh Merino Light. 
Not sure if I will keep this for myself or give it away...that remains to be seen....

Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival 2011

I went to the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival this year, again.  It's becoming a bit of a tradition with my SIL and myself. 

The weather was PERFECT.  Last year, it was so hot and dusty.  This year, it had rained, so all the dust and pollen were settled down, it was sunny, and it was perfectly temperate.

There were animals...EVERYWHERE.  It was wonderful, and although an odor of feces permeated the air, it was of the non-meat eating kind and just reminded me of a farm (good thing).

I also got some yarn-ee goodness, of course.  I didn't get as much this year.  My stash is seriously out of control.  You can see of my overwhelming stash, here.

Here are my purchases:

Love them all!
I also got a few little pieces of jewelry.  One is a needle gauge that looks like a very small artists palette.  It's a small metal "pendant" (for lack of a better term).  The other item I purchased was a pair of earrings.  They are two small "recycled" crochet hook tops.  If I can find the Etsy seller, I will post that here later.

In conclusion...if you've never been and are vacillating about going....GO!  You will seriously enjoy it.  Also, no one looks at you funny because you're buying yarn, crafting, or spinning...

Life

There are many things going on.

House
Summer is on its way and therefore, I am getting my garden ready.
I will follow up with some adorable seedling photos at some point.

Life
My husband and I are trying to get pregnant.  No luck so far.
What is ironic (and possibly self-fulfilling fate) is that I always figured something might be "wrong" with me in the area of reproduction, but deep down I always thought "not me".  Unfortunately, I have PCOS and I am anovulatory (no ovulation at all).  I'm in my first "cycle" of Provera/Clomid, not very much fun, really.  It seems on my first dose, that I did not ovulate, so we try again.
I'd like to say that this blog should be about happy things only, but as this is such a major part of my life, I cannot ignore it.

Craft
As per my usual, I have many projects ongoing.  But there is one that I recently finished.
The pattern is Crochargosy (ravelry)

Although the pattern is great, may I recommend using acrylic yarn.  As this pattern is prone to extreme curling at the edges.  Above you can see this.  This is blocked already, severly.  Unfortunately, it still curls.  My advice is to use a yarn that you can "kill" with heat/steam.
This pattern is great, it seems a little wonky at first, but power through, because it was FAST to make.

My next post I will talk about the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival (want to get my pictures on my computer).
Then, maybe a brief picture foray into our Anniversary trip to Napa, CA.
I also have another free pattern to share....

Fingerless Gloves for Men - free pattern

I wanted to make a Christmas present for a friend of mine.  A male friend.  He always says that his hands are cold when he's on the computer and gloves are impossible to wear while needing to type.

I decided a pair of fingerless gloves would be perfect.  I searched around and couldn't find any, for men, that are long and come to the middle knuckle.  I thought about making a pair for women and just making them longer, but I realized that man hands are quite different than woman hands and I proceeded to force my husband to submit to much hand measuring and trying-on of these gloves.

Here is the final version.
Ravel It!

One size
Materials:
I Hook
Cotton Classic Tahki Stacy Charles or any worsted weight (Please note: this is a little thinner than some other worsted weights); 2 skeins, 100g/216 yds
Mid forearm at ~9” circumference.
Notes: These are to fit a man’s forearm and hand. I’ve noticed that this is distinctly different than the way mitts need to fit women. These are interchangeable in terms of left hand versus right hand.
Ch. 35, join with a sl st to form a ring.
Rnd 1: ch.2 (counts as first hdc now and throughout), hdc in each chain around, sl st to top of chain 2
Rnd 2: Ch. 2 hdc in each st around, sl st into top of chain 2
Rnd 3: Repeat round 2
Rnd 4: Ch. 1, sc in same st and in each st around, join with sl st to first sc
Rnd 5-6 : Repeat round 2
Rnd 7 -10: Repeat round 4
Rnd 11: Ch. 1, sc in same st, (sc in next 10 sc, sc2tog) 2 times, sc around, sl st to first sc
Rnd 12: repeat round 4
Continue to repeat round 4 until desired length (to wrist).
The pair I made had approximately 2.5” of the sc part.
Next 5 rnds: repeat round 2
Next rnd: ch 2, (hdc in next 10 sts, 2 hdc in next stitch) 2 times, hdc around, sl st to top of chain 2
Next 4 rnds: repeat round 2
Thumb
Chain 5, skip next 11 sts and sl st to next st, leave rest of sts unworked and turn to work on thumb.
Rnd 1: Ch 2, hdc in each st around, join with sl st to top of chain 2
Rnd 2-3: repeat rnd 1, finish off.
Attach yarn to juncture where chaining for thumb, ch 1,sc in same spaced, sc along bottom edge of chains, when reaching the hdc edge, hdc around and sl st to first sc.
Next 2 rounds: repeat rnd 1 of thumb.
Next round: Ch. 2 (hdc in next 10 sts, hdc2tog in next st) 2 times.
Next 2 rounds: repeat rnd 1 of thumb. Finish off.

Garden Pics

As promised.

Wee strawberries.

My grown Salvia from last year:

Baby Salvia Sprouts (6 weeks old):

Winter Savory:

Eucalyptus (not sure what species):

I have lots of other plants, but the light was fading, so we'll have to do with these for now.
I plan to grow:  Lavender, Spinach, Cucumbers, Rosemary, Tarragon, Watermelon, Salvia, Lilac, Strawberry, Mint Varietals, & Yarrow

Technorati Tags: house, garden

What's up?

I will go on as if I was never gone.

Well, looking back at my previous post, I can see that my life is pretty low key.  Not too many crazy changes.

My hubby had shoulder surgery (he's almost fully recovered now).
Our floors are done, a few spots we need to "fix".
Our backyard renovations are complete (despite our issues with the landscapers).
Thanksgiving and Christmas came and went (I seemed to not get into the spirit this year...).
Officially, I changed my last name (weird).

Otherwise, we're both chugging along.

I have been knitting and crocheting, fervently.  You can check out all my projects on Ravelry.

I did write up a pattern for fingerless gloves for men.   I need to finish the edit before it'll be ready for public consumption.  Even then, there aren't any guarantees....

One more thing, this is pretty awesome and addicting.  I've joined Pinterest.  I just joined; I had anxiously awaited my invitation...
I've only just begun pinning things, but you're welcome to check it all out.  This is my "page"