Friday, February 27, 2009

#28 LOUISIANA

Name: Bonnie
Ravelry name: grayweaver
Location: Louisiana
Occupation: Fiber Artist/Knitting Instructor
In memory of Margaret Dugas.



Thursday, February 19, 2009

#27 MISSISSIPPI

Name: Atlee
Ravelry name: Atlee
Location: Mississippi
In memory of Brenda Melohn, October 2004


Friday, February 13, 2009

Missouri's bit

This week I had the pleasure of knitting the Missouri rows on the Traveling Shawl. The box was waiting for me Monday night. Inside were several bags with a journal, pink ribbon pins, the in-progress shawl and extra yarn. And it all smelled like lavender, thanks to lovely sachets.

The first thing that I did was write in the journal. First the demographics - name, Ravelry name (mlledefarge), location. And then I got to write about why I am participating.with breast cancer. My grandmother had it, but fortunately lived past it and lived a long life until something else claimed her.

Last spring, one of my friends was diagnosed. Not a friend-of-a-friend or wife-of-a-colleague this time. Nine years ago, Paige married my friend Josh. They went on to move to St. George, Utah and have a couple of darling, well-behaved children. About a year ago, while pregnant with bambino #3, Paige found a tumor. After months of diagnosis, surgeries, chemo, radiation, and more surgeries, Paige is on the mend and still as positive as ever. And the baby? He's perfectly perfect.

I visited them in September and got to accompany Paige to one of her last chemo treatments. It was (to me) surprisingly cheerful. Her mom, sister, sister-in-law, nieces and nephew came by to spend time with her. Josh brought food for us and another patient and his wife. We sat in front of a sunny window talking and laughing.

Paige blogged. I probably knit. It was a nice way to spend a morning. My guess is that not everyone has sunny, comfortable places for their chemo treatment. (I don't know that for sure - this is the only one I've attended.) I am thankful to the staff, patients, and family that made it as pleasant as possible for her. And I am thankful that she is doing so well now.

So I was thinking about Paige and Josh while I knit the six Missouri rows on Monday night. See them there, in between the green threads?

The next day I grabbed a photo op outside the cafe were I was meeting up with some new knitting friends. I just had to get a "St. Louis" picture of the shawl and the fleur de lis was perfect.














On Wednesday, I packed it up and sent it on to the next knitter. Next stop: Mississippi

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

#26 MISSOURI

Name: Emily
Ravelry name: mlledefarge
Location: St. Louis, MO
Occupation: Research Administration
In honor of Paige Allred
In memory of Winifred Seeman (Gigi)

Friday, February 6, 2009

#25 ILLINOIS



Name: Barbara Bundick
Ravelry name: barbrev
Town: Woodstock, IL

I'm knitting this shawl for my mother, who died from cancer, for my sister, who survived breast cancer, and for friends, too numerous to mention, who live with cancer.

I brought the shawl into work. I work for the Presbytery of Chicago, the body that supports the 104 Presbyterian churches in the greater Chicago area. We prayed for the success of this venture.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

#24 INDIANA

Name: Laura
Ravelry name: lwsexson
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Occupation: Manager
In honor of all the breast cancer survivors that I have known