Vote Early!

Dear Swatchy,

You probably know that Election Day here in the U.S. is Tuesday, November 4th. The voter turnout is expected to be high with long lines, and Knittah just can't be wait in a line for very long (especially if it means sitting in her wheelchair outside). Luckily - did you know this? - she can vote by absentee ballot.

I got to check out the ballot before she filled it out. She said you are supposed to fill in the ballot all by yourself with no one around, so I had to go back to my shelf when she got out the pen.

But pretty cool, huh? Knittah says: "No matter who you vote for, make sure you vote in this election!"

Love, Nori

Math is Fashionable

Dear Nori,

Do you know what a hyperbolic plane is? Me neither. But Noricum made one:

I think I may start a new fashion:

What do you think?

Cheers,
Swatchy

Day at the Beach

Dear Swatchy,

Nori and I went to the beach (with the help of Celeste and Knittah)!!! We had so much fun. First we checked out this cool statue by the town library.


Then the girls took us to the ocean!!! As you can see, it was a beautiful day. There was only a little breeze, and it was over 50 degrees Farenheit.


Even so, the girls got a little cold. Here's Knittah, who says she doesn't mind the cold at all.


We all sat on the beach for almost three hours. We were the only people there, at least who were sitting. There was a steady stream of people walking along the water, and some had dogs. But no one else was just sitting and relaxing. Celeste and Knittah talked and talked. Man, those two can talk! Nori and I got bored, so we played in the sand.


And I just couldn't resist. I buried Nori!


Hee hee hee! That was fun. Celeste got some strange looks from passersby when she took our picture. I don't know why. Doesn't everybody bury each other in the sand?


But don't worry, Swatchy. I didn't leave Norl there. Knittah made sure I dug him out and helped him clean off all the sand. Then it was back to the house for a yummy dinner, lots of knitting and a Battlestar Galactica marathon.

We had a great time! Wish you could have been with us!

Love, Swatchy Hugz

For Noricum's Birthday

For her birthday, Noricum asked her friends to go out and enjoy the day and then tell her about it. Needing no more excuse than that, my husband and I had a Grand Day Out and Nori came along.

Because of CFIDS, my Grand Day Out actually took three days. We had a brief outing on Friday, I rested all day on Saturday, and then another brief outing on Sunday. In any event, here is what we did.

On Friday, we went to my favorite coffee place. Good music, great coffee, great ambience, and permission to sit as long as you like equals the perfect coffee house. Nori enjoyed the cookies, too.


One of the cool things is the mural painted behind the building but visible through windows in the back wall. You can't find something like this in any chain place.


We sat for an hour or so, me knitting, of course. Nori and I lobbied hard for a trip to the local yarn store afterwards, but nap time won out. I didn't bother to take pictures of that, nor of all the resting I did on Saturday. Use your imagination.

Sunday, we went to the local mall. Believe it or not, this is Nori in front of the small mall.


We went to the bookstore, and I got some great stuff: Folk Bags (which is gorgeous stuff), a moleskine, and a new knitting journal.


After shopping, we had lunch. Nori helped.


Then my husband expressed the need for toys.


Among other things, he got himself a lego monkey. A monkey, made out of lego! I'm not sure why that is necessary in life.


And that was our Grand Day Out. It may not seem like much, but for us it was a lot! Happy Birthday, Noricum!

I'm Bored!

Dear Noricum,

I am really really bored. *whine* Knittah is being very careful with her activity levels, so I haven't gone anywhere in a long time. She promised we would do something fun this Saturday - your birthday! - but until then, I'm just lounging around.



Here's a pile of books Knittah got from the library. She says the library is a great way to read knitting books that she can't buy. So here is what we got: Confessions of a Knitting Heretic, Toys to Knit (there were some great toys in this book), Angelita's Magic Yarn (I didn't like this story much), Knitting Out of Africa (Knittah really likes some of these sweaters but they look very complicated), Maine Island Kids (I thought these sweaters were a little weird), Yarnplay, and Alice Starmore's Book of Fair Isle Knitting. That last book got Knittah very excited. She says she wants to visit Shetland some day.

So that's about it from here, Noricum. Hopefully, we'll get out to do something fun soon! Until then,

Nori

Chinese Yarn

Celeste is back from China, as you know, and she found a boatload of yarn in Chengdu. Actually, a suitcase of yarn. She brought it over for me to see (and so we could see each other, btw).



Nori rolled around in the fibery goodness:



and Celeste posed with the yarn for posterity:


because seriously, how could you not have a picture of yourself with the freakin' SUITCASE of yarn you brought back from your trip!

Nori Hits the Beach

Dear Noricum,

I had a wonderful weekend! Knittah took me to the Atlantic Ocean. She and Eliza got away for a few days, and I got to hitch a ride.



It was cloudy, but I still like the beach. Not the seagulls, though. They're noisy and scare me when they fly overhead. Anyway, since Knittah was with Eliza, guess who got to come along? Swatchy C! I think Eliza will probably write about all the things that Swatchy C saw while we were there, but here is a picture of us - reunited after her trip to the Middle East.



Now we're back home, and back to the usual routine. Lots of napping, too. I'm glad you and Swatchy are having fun in Montreal!

Love, Nori

Thanksgiving!

Dear Noricum,

Knittah, DM and I had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Knittah says it's the first Thanksgiving she and DM spent alone, instead of with lots of family. I got to help with the turkey breast:


But I didn't get to sample any of the dinner:

or the pie:


Knittah says real whipped cream is the best, but I have to take her word for it. She also said that before she got CFIDS, she used to make Thanksgiving dinners more like this one, but now she goes for simpler stuff (at least when she has to do the cooking). Oh, and it sounds like Swatchy McSwatchypants had a great Thanksgiving with Knittah's family, and pictures should be coming soon.

Love, Nori

Nori Goes to Washington

Dear Swatchy,

My mystery trip was to Washington, DC! Knittah took me along when she went there for a very important event. But first, I saw the sights.


Isn't the Capitol building beautiful?


I saw the Kennedy Center and the Potomac too. But that's as close as I got to the Washington Monument.

Knittah really wanted to show me where she went to college, but she was too tired. And she had to save her energy for something very important.


I got to meet Dr. William Reeves from the Centers for Disease Control. He tried to teach me about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, but I found it hard to follow all his research stuff.

Then the big day! We went to a press conference at the National Press Club!


The press event announced the launch of a national awareness campaign to teach patients and doctors about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Knittah found it very moving, and we all hope this will be the beginning of a new era for patients.

After all that, I was worn out. Knittah was even more exhausted and in a lot of pain. Now we're home again, and she is trying to recover. I think it will be awhile before we travel again, though.

Love, Nori

Crash!

I am crashed. Super sick. But Nori has much to report about his surprise trip, and will post about it soon. In the meantime, I am so happy to see that Swatchy is enjoying New York!

Oh, and in response to the request about buying a Swatchy: there are no current plans to sell Swatchy dolls, but that may change in the near future. Stay tuned!

Nori on a Typical Day

Dear SwatchGrrl,

Awhile ago, you asked me what a typical day at Knittah's is like, and how it would be different if she lived alone. This is a big question, because I can already see how difficult it is to live with CFIDS and I have only been with Knittah for a month.

Knittah gets up after DM has left for work. She lets Grif (that's the dog) out and has breakfast. She calls her mom and mother-in-law. No matter how sick she is, Knittah always does these things. If she is feeling pretty good, then she spends a couple hours on the computer. I am not sure what she does; pays bills, I guess, and reads blogs. Oh, and she tries to write! Knittah told me she is writing a book, and I know she really wants to work on it every day.

Ok, so anyway, after a couple hours with her laptop, she is done for the day. She and Grif lie down in the afternoon. I haven't seen Knittah eat lunch very often. Between you and me, I think she doesn't really have the energy to fix herself something. Later in the afternoon, she tries to knit (Ha! Get it?). She doesn't watch much television; I think she is trying to break that habit. And if she is having a really good day, she will make something very simple for dinner. DM comes home, and they hang out for a little bit. Knittah is usually in bed, listening to podcasts or reading something simple or knitting, by 7:30. DM spends his night doing laundry or running errands or working on his small business. Oh, and Knittah talks on the phone. It seems like every day she talks to at least one friend, catching up on their news.

I've seen Knittah have a lot of bad days too. Bad days are really quiet here. She goes back to bed after breakfast, and only gets up to let Grif out. She sleeps a lot, maybe listens to something. She tries to check her email or watch a movie on her laptop. But that's all. I think days like that are really boring, but Knittah seems too tired to notice.

Knittah and DM have a lot of help. They get their groceries delivered, and a group of ladies clean the house (I usually hide when they're here). Knittah's mom drives her to doctor appointments. But if Knittah didn't have DM? It's hard to imagine how hard life would be. Of course DM does lots of practical things like laundry, taking care of Grif, odd jobs around the house, errands, and all kinds of stuff. He drives Knittah to physical therapy. I don't know how she would get there otherwise; maybe spend money on cabs? (Have you taken a cab ride in NY yet?) But really, he keeps her company and gives her emotional support. There have been a couple nights since I've been here that he got home late, and Knittah gets lonely. She calls a friend or something, but I think it's not the same.

I've been watching Knittah, and she changes when 6 pm rolls around. She never lets DM come home to find her asleep or lying down. She gets to hear about his day, and talk about what news she heard from people. I think she especially likes his stories of people he saw in the city. He is working in the same office building that she used to work in. I think that's really weird, don't you?

If Knittah were by herself . . . well, I don't know what she would do. Maybe she couldn't live alone at all. I don't know how people with CFIDS as bad as Knittah's could cope with all that time alone. Especially because Knittah can't do much. It's not like she can go for a walk around the block or write for eight hours or cook soup from scratch or something. It makes me really sad, thinking about how lonely those people must be.

Sorry to write such a depressing letter to you, SwatchGrrl. It's hard to watch someone you care about go through something hard, you know?

Love, Nori
P.S. Here are some pictures of me around the house. I hope you like them!

Nori's Day Out, Part Two

After staying in bed all afternoon and gulping a quick dinner, Nori and I headed out to my Tuesday night physical therapy appointment.

I am only able to go to PT once a week, and it has to be in the evening so my husband can drive me. I have a super-fantastic physical therapist, Stephanie. Nori likes her too.

She really understands CFIDS and is careful about pushing me too hard. My physical therapy is not the kind of program that most of you are familiar with. People with CFIDS have to be very careful about overdoing physical activity because we do not recover and bounce back the same way healthy people do. This phenomenon (for lack of a better word) has been documented in research. Stephanie has put together a program that focuses on improving my mobility and stength, but very gently and slowly.

While we were working, Nori was checking out the place. He thought this foot model was pretty cool:

And then he goofed around with the weights:

When Stephanie was done with me, she went to work on Nori. She gave him some manual physical therapy, where she moves the patient in particular ways. That's what we've been doing together.


After all that work, Nori was tired and ready to go home. We had a long day, but a fun one. Time for some serious rest!

Nori's Day Out, Part One

Yesterday, a good friend of mine took me to a LYS that I hadn't visited before. Yarnings is a lovely shop. They had lots of Louisa Harding, Rowan, Noro and many yarn lines I was not familiar with. The shop has a very comfortable sitting area for knitting, and a fantastic display of sheep on the mantel. Nori fit right in there:



I explained the whole Travels with Swatchy™ thing to the staff, and Anne was kind enough to pose with Nori:


Don't they look great together? After we got home, I was in serious need of a nap. Nori came with me to physical therapy, but I will have to post on that later. I need to get some more sleep.

Nori's Morning

Dear SwatchGrrl,

Knittah made us pancakes this morning. Yum! I didn't even get any maple syrup on me. Everybody watched soccer, and she says there's a football game on later. I just love the earrings Noricum made for you. I think they look lovely, and you'll need something fancy if you stay in New York for awhile. Things are quiet here. Knittah says this is a pretty typical Sunday - good breakfast and football. I think I like this place!

Love, Nori

From Nori

Dear SwatchGrrl,

Well, I made it. My trip was dark and scary, but Ted did a good job protecting me. I was so relieved when Knittah let me out of my envelope! She let me rest last night, but today she said we had to do a photo shoot. Here I am on her nightstand:

She says she's been spending a lot of time in the bedroom this week, so I suppose this is a good place for me to hang out. We can keep each other company! Then she introduced me to her dog, Grif:


He's very friendly and nice, but snuzzled me up pretty good. I guess he was checking me out, making sure I was safe. At least, that's what Knittah says. She promised me that he wasn't trying to eat me. Knittah says there is a cat around here too, but I haven't seen him yet.

Anyway, I think we have a quiet weekend planned. Next week, Knittah says I get to come with her to physical therapy! That should be cool. I hope you and Noricum have a really good time at Rhinebeck and that lots of people want to have their pictures taken with you. Tell Noricum I said hi, and that I miss her. Oh, and Knittah says to pet some sheep.

Love, Nori