Fancy a discount on my new pattern? Read on…
But first, to those of you who celebrate the occasion, a (belated) merry Christmas! Doubtless it was a different sort of day from the one you might have planned, but I hope that there were some smiles. This post is coming to you from the sofa, because I’ve just finished radiotherapy, and I’m tired. Strictly between you and me (if you’re willing to keep a secret) I, um, may have spent large chunks of the big day asleep. I’m not sure the twinnage really noticed, since they had Cool New Stuff to play with. Thanks to covid, Christmas involved just the four of us anyway, but one day soon when it’s safe, we’ll host a big extended family not-Christmas celebration and it’ll be awesome.
Radiotherapy was not the most fun ever. There were days when – and I scarcely dare type this – I didn’t even have the energy for knitting or running. But the knitting that has happened has been… topical.
I designed a new cowl, and the pattern is available on Ravelry here, in case you’d like to make one. Because it’s 2020 and because Covid-19 has trampled all over whatever lovely things you’d planned for the year, I decided to represent the experience in knitting. The yarn is Stylecraft ‘Highland Heathers’, and it’s lush. I didn’t pay for it, so clearly you can’t trust a single word I say. Look at the evidence, though:-
Having knitted the thing, I realized that it almost worked as a skirt, too. Sort of. Nearly…
All things considered, it’s better as a cowl:-
It’s worked in the round using stranded knitting, and the orange highlights are added afterwards using Swiss darning (aka duplicate stitch).
I’m charging £2.99 for the pattern, ruthless capitalist that I am. (Actually, we just really, really, need to fix our very leaky roof.) But because you lot are utterly lovely, and because everyone has had a rubbish sort of covidy time, and because you’ve all been so supportive during this whole silly cancer malarkey, you can buy the pattern for only £1.99 until the end of January 2021 by entering the code BYECOVID at the checkout.
Enjoy.
Phil x
You have had a terrific attitude throughout this ordeal. I greatly admire how you’ve handled it. May 2021 bring you health, peace, and happiness!
Bless you, what a time you’ve had. Feeling too I’ll/tired to knit is rubbish and a sign you really do need to just rest. I felt this way when I had covid. I really hope you feel much better soon and that you can enjoy your merry un-Christmas before too long x
Ps. I love your cowl design and your flowery mask ????
Thank you, both of you. And the best of wishes to both of you, too. Nia, I hope you’ve recovered from Covid. Nasty, nasty disease…
TERRIFIC photo of you graduating, Phil !! – just love it.
Still can’t do your superior kind of knitting. 🙁
Doubt I’ll ever be able to, frankly – don’t have a sufficiently large number of years left to me. Sighh ..
So you’ve done everything on your follow-up schedule, now, right ? GOODONYERMATE.
Here’s raising a glass to you, admirable woman that you are.
Much love from DownUnder ..
Awww thank you, as always! Raising a glass to you, too! I’ve just got a bit more surgery in a few months’ time (to even things up, which is obviously not urgent so it can wait) and then I’ll be done.
It’s a pity you’re not exactly local (and that there’s a pandemic on) because you could TOTALLY do this sort of knitting.
Yeah – just a couple of small hitches .. :\
Phil, you look really well! I hope you feel well too. The ‘cowl’ looks great as a skirt on you. The Covid design on top is really clever and original.
I wish you all the very best for 2021. You, of all people, deserve a break and some happy days. x
Thank you for every word of this! And wishing you health and the best of things (and yarn) for 2021, too.
Your cowl is beyond beautiful. It would easily make a skirt for many young women as is. Thanks for the update about your cancer ass-kicking. You have tackled this year with grace and humor and since I have only been following you this year, I have found your posts a delightful bright spot in a graceless and classless year. Thank you for sharing. Wishing you and your Twisted Family a happy, healthy New Year.
Teresa from Michigan
Thank you Teresa, you’ve very kind. I think it’s been a crazy year for all of us, but here’s hoping that everything calms down in 2021.
Oh Phill, darn radiotherapy. Take care, do sleep and try some juicy shakes to recover. I love the cowl, is it a thing in the UK? Leaking roofs? Amy (FLorence) of the Stranded podcast has the same, a leaking roof. The roof is-still-leaking after the repairs. Poor Amy. She had to replace her workroom. Big hug.
Oh that’s awful – poor Amy! Rain on workroom sounds absolutely awful. Fortunately nothing here has been destroyed, other than paintwork on ceilings!
You are fabulous, Phil, and so is your knitting. Iam glad that your treatment is over and even more glad that you have maintained a positive outlook. May 2021 bring you health, happiness, and continued success!
Awww, thank you! Well 2020 was crazy for all of us, so wishing you too good things and peace for 2021.
My goodness! I almost fell off the chair laughing! It’s a covid cowl! I kept staring and squinting because my brain lags but it’s a work horse and tries to figure out posers, even after I give in. And just as I began an upward scroll . . . it clicked! You clever-clever-clever woman, you! You still have your wicked sense of humor, so I can stop bugging God. I’m sure He will be relieved. 😀
I won’t lie and say I’ll take this on. Complex thinking might short wire my delicate gray matter’s wiring at this late stage. What I’ll do is . . . Wait. Gimme a few. In the meantime, be well.
You’re amazing! I would have been prostrate on the sofa the entire course of my treatment! I so admire you, never mind your knitting. The cowl is gorgeous, I am going to buy it, perhaps one day my fledgling color work skills will attempt it. It’s only a cowl after all (I am a little too well rounded to carry it off as a skirt!)
I am so pleased your treatments are over, hoping they have done the job and good health is yours again. Like you (and probably the rest of the world) I am so looking forward to putting this ???? tastic year behind me and just praying that 2021 brings nothing but great things for us all.
Happy New Year!
Wendy
A Brit in Colorado
Thank you, Bobbie and Bobbi! Your warmth and kindness is much appreciated. And yeah, here’s hoping that 2021 will be better than 2020 for all of us (even though it didn’t seem to get off to a very good start).
So glad you are finished your treatments. Hope you continue to recover. Lots of positive thoughts and prayers from Canada.
Thank you. And wishing you a peaceful new(ish) year.
You are an inspiration to us all; God, please let me stop complaining about being locked up. I’m healthy, so is my family. Thank you; I look forward to receiving your emails!
Oh complain away, 2020 was rubbish for all of us, wasn’t it? Here’s hoping that 2021 will be MUCH better…
Sleeping all day is officially a Good Thing at Christmas..-.why else would there normally be soooooo much food? Good to see your humour remains in place….radiation really does knock the stuffing out!
That’s true. I can’t promise that I’ve never had a nap after Christmas dinner in previous years…
Love this! Happy to pay the full price; been there/done that leaky roof ????
Thank you – that’s very generous of you.
As a Churchill patient alumni I am so pleased that you have come out the other end. Tiredness goes with the territory so be kind to yourself and pace. Your blog is always such a good read and I thank you for that. If you are ever Bicester way I would always be happy to say thank you for your efforts with a cuppa!!! Here is to a better year. Take care and stay safe.
Thank you so much! Glad your own Churchill journey is over too (wonderful though the staff are). I’m down south in Oxfordshire but would love to say hi one day (if it’s ever safe and legal to do so!) Stay well.
Well done in graduating…doff your cap please! And that’s a fabulous pattern. my aim in 2021 is to get to the point where I could wear a cowl as a skirt…I fear after lockdown it would be a cowl knitted with an almost infinite number of cast on stitches… Keep on knitting and running when you can, mind that ice though!
(I did have to suck in my stomach rather a lot for that photo!)
End of the year and end of treatments I believe that’s a sign of new year and new beginnings. You’ve been a good soldier fighting a good fight and that means good thing will come your way. Happy New Year from Connecticut USA
Thank you – you’re very kind. May 2021 bring health and peace and yarn to your door.
Congratulations on being done with your treatment and still keeping your sense of humour. That certainly would be an achievement!
The cowl makes a great skirt on you – maybe a little elastic sewn into the waist to prevent it from becoming a one piece legs warmer might be useful…. 🙂 The cowl is lovely – I think it would be a great project! I normally only use duplicate stitch to fix mistakes in stranded knitting. What a great, fresh idea to use it as a design element! I’m looking forward to trying it.
Good luck with the resting. I like to knit until I stop because I’m asleep. When I wake up, my knitting is right at hand to continue with. Is that efficiency or what! I’d like to think I’m multi-tasking, but I know I’m only doing one thing at a time, lol! But having illusions makes our days brighter. 🙂
Have a healthy, happy, knitterly 2021!
Hugs,
Debbie
Yeah the duplicate stitch was because there was no way I could face using three yarns per round. Two is fine, but three? That way craziness lies. I know people do it and survive seemingly unscathed, but I am not as good as those people.
Wow! You look fantastic! It is wonderful that your treatment is finished! Your knitting is awesome! Such lovely and lively colors and such a clever design. It took me a bit to notice “the virus”.
Love your blog and patterns.
Keep healthy, happy and knitting in the New Year,
God bless you and your family,
Thank you for every word of this. May the new(ish) year bring peace and health and yarn to your door.
Phil, you write about radiation therapy and brighten my day. What? How?
I love your cowl/skirt (a whole new Ravelry category) in all its snarky orange humor.
Sleep whenever, hug all the time, knit as you can. And damnitall, get well soon.
Happiest of New Years to you and yours,
Diane from California
Aww, thank you. 🙂 If you can laugh at stuff, it’s generally easier to cope with. That’s my coping strategy and I’m sticking to it!
Wishing you good things in 2021, including health, peace, and yarn.
Glad to hear that you can rest sometimes. And to see evidence that the creative urge still flourishes, even under the radiotherapy cosh. God luck with the leaky roof.
Thank you. 🙂
Wishing you all the best for the coming year. Happy Hogmanay, Lorna xx
And you! Px
That cowl/skirt is absolutely amazing. Just think, if you changed the colour for some of the Swiss-darned spike proteins you could even have the New Super-infecting variant too!
Congratulations on finishing Radiotherapy, you sleep all you need to, after all, the Stoic Spouse can keep an eye on the Twinnage for a bit.
Praying 2021 is better for all of us, you in particular. Thank you so much for brightening our year with the reports of your ‘adventures’.
Haha, you so shouldn’t plant seeds for new ideas in my head…. (But yes, you’ve got me thinking…)
Thank you and yes, after the craziness we all endured in 2020, here’s hoping that 2021 will be better, even if it didn’t get off to the most promising start.
You are a woman full of wonders, Phil… I admire your marvelous English humour, strength and resilience.
Thank you for being who you are and brightening my day !
A strong French hug to you. Dominique x
With thanks and love from across the Channel. (I promise we’re not all foolish little racist xenophobes here in Britain.)
How often do you tire of being called inspirational – but you are – and funny and irreverent and all-round talented … thank you everso … for being you and doing what you do. Wishing all you wish yourself and more for 2021.
Well I don’t deserve it, but thank you for your generosity with words. And wishing you good things for 2021, after all the craziness of its predecessor.
I have no idea how to knit stranded knitting, or any of your gorgeous, beautiful, detailed, well-thought-out designs, but I have just purchased 3 of your patterns off Ravelry. Some day, maybe I’ll be at that point of attempting to knit them. No leaky roofs for you, please. You are dear to my heart.
Oh gosh, thank you for such generosity. You really are very kind. (And if you do ever feel the urge, the secret to stranded knitting is that it’s a lot easier than it looks. Just sayin’.)
Wishing you good things for 2021, including yarn.
Wishing you the best of recuperation! Your smile is very healing, smile at your radiated cells 🙂
Thank you!
What a lovely pattern! Never seen a virus so incredibly nice and colourful.
Thank you, for your funny and inspiring posts, your fantastic patterns, everything. Have a nice rest on your sofa and a wonderful new year.
Thank you for every single word of this! And a belated happy new year to you, too.
Glad you are over the radiotherapy bit, now just rest whenever you can. You may have a stoic spouse but I think some of his stoicism has rubbed off on you. It will help you get through all of this. So too will your wonderful sense of humour and your sheer determination not to give up, plus all of the readers of your blog who are wishing you well. We are all behind you , Phil in wishing you a very Happy and healthy New Year. We all know that you are inspiring and a role model to many. God bless and lots of love.
PS Your knitting ideas, patterns and pieces are fantastic too!
Thank you – it’s been such a boost coming here and reading everybody’s kind/warm comments. It’s really made a difference, so thank you. Wishing you good things for 2021 after the craziness we all endured in 2020.
Strangers though we are, Phil, I send much love and all good wishes to you and your family (and Robyn) for health and happiness in the coming year. The cowl-skirt is gorgeous and I’d love to make one – if only it were crocheted. I cannot knit to save my life and using so many colours when trying would see me in a knotted woollen straitjacket before an hour was done. Is there a chart with godmother, as I might be able to convert to single crochet?
Stay safe, rest and take care
Xxx
Thank you so much. I’ve designed a matching hat in knit AND CROCHET, and I could add a crocheted version of the cowl too, if people – such as you! – are genuinely interested. Patterns coming…
You are marvellous, Phil and your cowl is beautiful. Rock on and here’s wishing you an abundant, healthy, peaceful New Year full of knitting, nature, running and whatever else sustains you as you heal. <3 Healing love for you. <3 xXx
Thank you, as always! And wishing you peace and health and yarn in 2021 after the craziness we all endured in 2020.
Dear little girl – our own most precious knitting angel – a “short” story: As a child I was hospitalized during WWII when all the young docs were in the armed forces and no one available could figure out what was ailing me…a young nurse woke me every night at 11 with a glass of milk – one of these marvelous gals talked to me as I forced down the “good for you” milk (no cookies) and she explained that when I was sleeping the cells in my body were growing and making me stronger so it was very important for me to SLEEP! And so I tell you, dear Phil, sleep all you can, let your body heal itself. Heal, heal and heal. We all love you!
You’re right, sleep (and rest in other ways) is so, so, important. Thank you for your words. I hope that you made a full recovery from your own illness.
Cancer sucks, it, the treatment, the mental stuff all makes you very tired but it sounds like yours has been caught in time and you will feel better soon I’m sure. Take care and just go with the flow, when your tired rest.
Yes, I was very lucky in that it doesn’t seem to have wandered off elsewhere in my body. But also yes, cancer absolutely sucks.
Phil, I love your cowl!
I work in a preschool, and we use communication cards to help the children understand our spoken messages, such as ‘snack time’. One little girl was looking through my cards, and saw ‘friends’, which is a circle of children holding hands. “Corona virus!” she proudly told me! Gotta make it to wear for her.
Awww, is all I can think of to respond to this. <3
Glorious! ❤
Thank you!