Poor Lance

Hi all -

I thought I should get a post written since a lot of my friends love my dog, Lance, and want to hear news of him. Poor Lance somehow got an infection in his left foreleg a week and a half ago. His whole leg got really swollen and the callus on his elbow blew up like a balloon. It was literally the size of a Clementine orange before it popped. I took him to the vet and they aren't sure what caused the infection. The first thought was a snake bite but that was ruled out by blood tests. Snakes are extremely rare where I live (8500 ft altitude), but I guess there are some up here, although I've never seen on in the 20 years I've been here. The other thought is that maybe it was a spider bite. There aren't any tests for that, so that's what we're going with. (My vet actually said that if it's not a spider bite, then it's something really bad.) Anyway, he's had several vet visits. He wasn't doing well at first -- he stopped eating and was unsteady on his feet. You can guess how nervous I was since he's at least 13.5 years old now! But after a couple of days, he turned around and got a lot better quickly. It looks like the antibiotics they gave him are right on! There was a lot of damage to the skin around his elbow, so much so that there's not enough healthy skin to be able to close the wound by surgery (and you can actually see the bone there), so we are going to have to wait for his body to do all of the healing itself. So, this is Lance's life for the foreseeable future:

I know it looks like he's been in a car accident, but I promise he hasn't! The black sleeve is a recovery sleeve made by Suitical. Luckily, I already had a couple of these at home to keep the wound fairly clean and contain some of the oozing since they couldn't bandage the wound out of fear of the leg swelling more and making the bandage cut off circulation to the leg. The thing around his neck is a BiteNot collar, which I also already had. It's an alternative to a "cone of shame" for keeping him from licking the wound. And he's on house-arrest, so can only go outside for bathroom breaks and short walks up the driveway, since that's the only flat area around here. The vet he saw today said that she had successfully treated a dog with a severe elbow injury like this using fish skin as a kind of graft. My regular vet is out of town until Monday, so she's going to talk to him about it then to see what he thinks. If that works, it could reduce his recovery time considerably! Here's hoping that's an appropriate treatment!! Otherwise, everyone here is fine. ;)

I haven't gotten much done in the last week, but I was pretty productive before that. First, I finished my Beachcomber shawl, designed by Chelsea Berkompas:

This was a kit that I bought on sale from KnitPicks a long time ago, but hadn't gotten around to making. It's made out of a cotton/linen yarn and the colors are gorgeous! Here is Lance modeling it in his happier days:

Oh, how I miss those days!

I also made a Bless Your Heart scarf designed by Laura Nelkin:

This is a beaded scarf knit with incredibly soft Suri Alpaca/Silk blend yarn. You can't tell from the picture, but it's a short, narrow scarf that is just perfect for keeping your neck warm. This was the May 2020 project for the Lola's Choice club. Lance also modeled this in his better days:

What a good boy!!

And I received and was able to knit up the June installment of my Jimmy Beans Wool shawl club project, the Coral Coast Wrap designed by Ambah O'Brien:

We're halfway there now!

I also started and finished my Farmstand Sack designed by Laura Nelkin:

This was the July 2020 Lola's Choice club project and is knit using Pima Cotton yarn. I really love this project and had been looking for a pattern for a bag like this that was knit rather than crochet, but hadn't found anything that I liked. I really like this one and ordered a bunch more yarn to make these for my family for Christmas presents.

Finally, I've been knitting on a Hiberknitting Hat designed by Stephen West:

You can't tell yet from the picture, but this hat has a lot of textural designs knit into the top using just knits and purls. It's knit holding a soft, thin Mohair yarn together with a thick wool yarn to give it an incredible softness and warmth. I haven't decided yet whether I like the colors that I put together, but if I end up not liking them I can always give the hat to the Homeless Shelter to keep someone in need toasty warm this winter!

That's all that I've accomplished since my last post. I've been talking to my sisters, and I'm definitely not going to my niece's wedding because of the virus. I don't feel comfortable traveling right now anyway, and the sister that I usually stay with has a husband who is very high risk who I would hate to take any chances with. She isn't going to the wedding, either, just because of the risk to her husband. And, with Lance's injury, it probably ends up being the best thing anyway. On the positive side, that gives me lots of time to finish her wedding quilt since it's too big for me to want to mail it anyway. Instead, I'll be making a little wallhanging in her wedding colors to send for the wedding and will bring the big quilt with me the next time I visit.

I hope everyone is staying safe and happy!

Nancy