Now that I've gotten over the emotional roller coaster I've been on for the last 2 weeks, I must tell you all.....

Ladies, get your Mammograms!!!

If you follow my blog, you know that my mother is a 16 year breast cancer survivor. My mother-in-law battled cancer (that started in her breasts) for almost 40 years, before we finally lost her this May. I also lost both of my grandmothers to breast cancer. Two weeks ago, I went for my yearly mammogram. The morning after, I got a call from the doctor stating that I needed to go back for more imaging and to meet with the doctor. You can imagine, with my family history, this threw me for a bit of a loop. Because of my family history, I started getting mammograms at the age of 30. At 30, I had what was referred to as "mischeivious microcalcifations". A biopsy was done, and they inserted a metal clip into my breast, to mark the spot that was "mischeivious". Upon meeting with the doctor this past Wednesday, I've learned that I now have 7 different "mischeivious" clusters of microcalcifications; 3 in one breast, 4 in the other. Microcalcifications in the breast itself, is fairly common and doesn't mean much. When they start to "cluster", they must be watched. Because of the type of imaging my radiologist does, they have found these spots at the very beginning stages. For now, they are not even considered cancer, as they are so small. I now have to have mammograms done every 6 months, so they can watch these 7 spots, to see if there is any "activity". As soon as there is, I'll be sent for a biopsy.

Here's the deal ladies....these spots are so small, I would never feel them upon a self exam! It would be years before I felt these spots on my own, and by then, it could be Stage 1 or Stage 2 cancer. Because I'm so anal about getting my mammograms done (even after my OB told me I could probably stretch them out to every other year - she's freakin' nuts!), the doctors are on top of it, and as soon as there's any sign of real trouble, they take care of it. If you have insurance, there is no reason you should not be getting you mammograms! If you don't have insurance, do some research....there are many states that offer free breast cancer screening. I know the state of Virginia does (go here to find out more: http://www.vahealth.org/breastcancer/,) and I'm sure others do to. Don't be afraid! The mammograms are a bit uncomfortable, but only for a few minutes. And the discomfort doesn't compare at all, to the discomfort you will feel if you have to go through treatment for the advance stages of cancer!

One thing I am horrible about, here in blog land, is posting FO's. You will frequently find that I blog about a project that I'm excited about, and that I've just cast on, but rarely do you find that I follow through with pictures of the FO. I so love these socks, that I just HAD to post them!


I blogged in an earlier post, about Cookie A's new book, Sock Innovations.  Sunshine, is a pattern from that book. This is the first book, ever, that I have knit more than one pattern from. Although I've always loved Cookie A's designs, I've often had difficulty with sizing. Casting on a sock with only 64 stitches with fingering weight yarn, just doesn't work for my swelling ankles anymore. Many of her patterns are very tricky to resize, and I've not yet got the level of expertise to do so just yet. However, in the new book, there are a few patterns that can easily be resized, and this is one of them. I think the cast on was for 64-66 stitches. After knitting the cuffe, there is a set up row, to increase the stitches to 80. Since I usually use a size 0 need with fingering weight yarn (I like a nice dense fabric), 80 stitches was perfect. Rather than casting on the 64-66, I cast on 80 and just did a 2x2 ribbing. Given that the pattern is a combination of cable and lace, it offered some "give" in the fabric anyway, so they truly fit perfectly!



They are knit with my own, Marigold colorway, done on our 100% superwash merino base. They have been blocked, and put into the sock drawer, ready for the next gloomy day that comes along, when I need a little sunshine! I hope it rains soon!