I don't want to work, I just want to knit all the live long day . . .

I just spent the better part of the four-day holiday catching up on a mountain of chores. Understandably, we let most things slide while the teen was in the hospital; but now it's time to pay the piper, so to speak. Laundry, yard work, basic cleaning, and organizing took up much of each day. But we also ate well, went to bed when we were tired, and slept until we were rested. Each evening, as Christmas movies began popping up on Lifetime and the Hallmark Channel, I rewarded myself with peaceful knitting.

Bliss.

I consider it a blessing to be able to do simple things like cleaning and organizing. There's a timeless feel to hospitals. Everything inside the patient's room stops while the world spins along. When you emerge, it's with a sense of being way behind.

Now I feel caught up. If only the teen could feel the same. Unfortunately, school work just keeps piling up, a double whammy with Dunwoody High School's merciless block schedule. (Which is why I'm lobbying so hard to change that schedule - miss a week of school and you're two weeks behind. And finals are just a few weeks away!)

We're enjoying the feeling of normalcy while, deep in our hearts, we know it's a very transitory thing. Crohn's is a pitiless disease, and it isn't curable. But we're blessed in so many ways. He's home, we're together, many people are praying for him, and God is with us each and every moment, good and bad.

Thanksgiving indeed.

Fandango Shawl

I never let stash yarn sit idly in my cupboard. I love "free range" knitting, repurposing motifs and yarns from earlier projects for shawls and felted bags. Modular knitting is one of the most flexible foundations for making things up as you go.

The Fandango Shawl grows one modular fan at a time on my favorite Lantern Moon 10 1/2 knitting needles, though I think 9s and 10s would work just as well since I knitted with a wide range of yarn weights.

Isn’t it cool the way the colors create a quilt-y effect? I’m thinking about a one-color version, with many, many different yarns and weights in cream. Yummy.

Fandango Shawl

A modular knitting pattern

Finished Size: 72" wide by 30" deep/wide.

Gauge: Flexible (depends on yarns and needle used - I recommend 9, 10, or 10 1/2).

Materials: Size 10 1/2 needles; @ 1,800 yards mixed color and weight stash yarn. (I used 10 different yarns in varying weights from sport to heavy.)

Instructions:

Fandango is "constructed" one modular fan at a time, beginning with the base fan at the bottom center of the shawl. Each modular fan features two colors in this design. Vary color placement so adjacent modular fans complement each other. An alternate approach can be a monochromatic color palette. Weave in ends as you go. If you decide to line your shawl, block it first since the lining will affect the "stretch and give" of the design.


Odd rows are the front side.
For 2-color fans: Color A = Rows 1, 2, 5, 6, 9, 10, 13, 14. Color B = Rows 3, 4, 7, 8, 11, 12, 15-24.

1st Modular Fan

Row 1 (A):  With Color A, cast on 25 stitches.

Row 2 (A): Knit one, knit across, slip last stitch with yarn in front. Switch to Color B.

Row 3 (B): Knit one, slip one stitch with yarn in back, (Knit 1, slip one with yarn in back) 11 times, slip last stitch with yarn in front.

Row 4 (B): Knit one, slip one stitch with yarn in front, (Knit 1 with yarn in back, slip one with yarn in front) 11 times, slip last stitch with yarn in front. Switch to Color A.

Row 5 (A): Knit across, slip last stitch with yarn in front.

Row 6 (A): Knit across, slip last stitch with yarn in front. Switch to Color B.

Row 7 (B): Knit one, slip one stitch with yarn in back, (Knit 1, slip 1 stitch with yarn in back) 11 times, slip last stitch with yarn in front.

Row 8 (B): Knit one, slip one stitch with yarn in back, (Knit 1 with yarn in back, slip 1 with yarn in front) 11 times, slip last stitch with yarn in front. Switch to Color A.

Row 9 (A): Knit across, slip last stitch with yarn in front.

Row 10 (A): Knit 2 together, (Knit 1, knit 2 together) 7 times, purl 2 together. 16 stitches remain. Switch to Color B.

Row 11 (B): Knit one, (knit one with yarn in back, slip 1 with yarn in front) 7 times, slip last stitch with yarn in front.

Row 12 (B): Knit one, (knit one with yarn in back, slip one with yarn in front) 7 times, slip last stitch with yarn in front. Switch to Color A.

Row 13 (A): Knit across, slip last stitch with yarn in front.

Row 14 (A): Knit 2 together, (knit 1, knit 2 together) 4 times, purl 2 together. 10 stitches remain. Cut Color A and continue with Color B for rest of fan motif.

Row 15 (B): Knit across, slip last stitch with yarn in front.

Row 16 (B): Knit 2 together, knit across, purl 2 together. 8 stitches remain.

Row 17 (B): Knit across, slip last stitch with yarn in front.

Row 18 (B): Knit 2 together, knit across, purl 2 together. 6 stitches remain.

Row 19 (B): Knit across, slip last stitch with yarn in front.

Row 20 (B): Knit 2 together, knit across, purl 2 together. 4 stitches remain.

Row 21 (B): Knit across, slip last stitch with yarn in front.

Row 22 (B): Knit 1, purl 2 together, slip last stitch with yarn in front. 3 stitches remain.

Row 23 (B): Knit across, slip last stitch with yarn in front.

Row 24 (B): Slip one stitch, knit 2 together, pass the last stitch over and bind off.

All Other "Body" Fans

At this point, modular fans will build by picking up either 12 or 25 stitches from the fans below. For example, the next modular fan to the upper right will begin by casting on 13 stitches, then picking up 12 stitches from the upper right of the base fan. The modular fan to the left will begin by picking up 12 stitches from the upper left of the base fan and casting on 13 stitches. Follow the same pattern instructions above, "building" your shawl until you reach the width and depth you prefer.

Final (Top) Row of Modular Fans

Create a straight edge for your fan by knitting a series of half-fans between the peaks of the top row.

Row 1 (A): Pick up 25 stitches from two fans below.

Row 2 (A): Knit 2 together, knit across, purl 2 together. 23 stitches remain.

Row 3 (B): Knit 2 together, slip 1, (knit one, slip one with yarn in back) 9 times. 21 stitches remain.

Row 4 (B): Knit 2 together, knit 1, (slip 1 with yarn in front, knit 1 with yarn in back) 8 times, purl 2 together. 19 stitches remain.

Row 5 (A): Knit 2 together, knit across, purl 2 together. 17 stitches remain.

Row 6 (A): Knit 2 together, knit across, purl 2 together. 15 stitches remain.

Row 7 (B): Knit 2 together, slip 1, (Knit 1, slip one with yarn in back) 5 times, purl 2 together. 13 stitches remain.

Row 8 (B): Knit 2 together, knit 1, (slip one with yarn in front, knit one with yarn in back) 4 times, purl 2 together. 11 stitches remain. Cut Color B and continue with Color A for rest of motif.

Row 9 (A): Knit 2 together, knit across, purl 2 together. 9 stitches remain.

Row 10 (A): Knit 2 together, knit across, purl 2 together. 7 stitches remain.

Row 11 (A): Knit one, knit 2 together twice, purl 2 together. 4 stitches remain.

Row 12 (A): Knit 2 together, purl 2 together, pass the last stitch over and bind off.

Meanwhile, back at the Knitternall ranch . . .

I've noticed times when favorite blogs go silent for awhile. Sometimes it's a week. Often it's longer. I always understood that life happens and blogs aren't always a top priority for their authors.

Which is the case for this blog.

Life has most definitely happened, culminating in another hospitalization for our teen. Earlier abdominal surgeries for Crohn's complications resulted in scarring in the lower intestine. We saw a steady increase in pain and flareups, then a complete blockage of his digestive tract.  He spent a week in that most wonderful hospital, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite, at the same time as his surgeon and primary gastroentorologist had hospital rounds. The good news is he had the care of the specialists who know him best and he avoided surgery this time. The bad news is that the stricture remains. He handled the purgatory of stomach pain, NG tube, picc line, and other tortures with grace, occasional cursing, and more patience than I would have had in his place.

A neighbor sent me a wonderful missive focusing on the "thanksgiving" in the bad things that happen to all of us at one time or another. In the same spirit, I offer thanks as well:

Thanks to God for being with our family through this ordeal.

Thanks that our family is home, together, for this holiday weekend.


Thanks that the good people of Dunwoody Nature Center's Board and staff weathered my prolonged absence with kindness and a can-do spirit.


Thanks that Phil the Youth Minister Guy could pray for food and have it appear . . . twice! when the teen was finally allowed to eat after a 6-day fast.

Thanks for DHS Latin students and Mock Trial team mates, fellow Troop 764 Scouts, our extended family, and good friends who rallied around our teen, reminded him that he matters, prayed for his recovery, and shared best wishes when he needed them.

Thanks that our daughter is flexible, kind-hearted, and self-reliant. It isn't easy being the sibling of a chronically ill kid.

Thanks for laughter. When Scoutmaster LaRose told our teen he didn't really have to throw himself so completely into research for his Eagle project, he got a huge roar from everyone. (He's collecting handheld Nintendo and Sony game systems, games, and power packs/accessories for Children's, so Volunteer Services can loan them to bedbound tweens and teens during their hospitalizations. He knows, as well as they do, that distraction is a great way to deal with pain. Coloring books and crayons are great for little ones, but older kids need something a bit more . . . advanced.)

Thanks for knitting. I made two pairs of felted slippers, eleven dishcloths, and worked out a sock design for my mom while listening to IV alarms, vitals monitors, distant pages, and a steady stream of Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon.  Knitting kept me calm, centered, and alert to our son's needs.

Thanks for NetFlix and wireless internet.  For hours at a time, the teen could forget a bit about the NG tube and enjoy some "transforming" entertainment, update his Facebook friends, play games, journal his Eagle project status, and read uplifting emails.

Thanks that we chose Dunwoody as our home a decade ago, little knowing how much we'd need the hospital campus just 15 minutes from our house.

Thanks that research into Crohn's and its treatment has advanced so much in our teen's lifetime.

Some of the most giving people around our family are now enduring or have suffered their own challenges and losses. Thanks for compassion that springs from the most God-centered part of our souls.

This is truly a Thanksgiving Day for the Knitternall family. Whatever comes next, we are together and we are blessed.