Comes in many forms…

I heard from an old friend yesterday.  We had not spoken in over a year (life gets busy apparently) and she dropped a bombshell via email.

She has just been diagnosed with breast cancer after a lump was found during a routine mammogram.  To say her family is devastated is an understatement.  She is set to begin immediate chemo before any surgery can even be contemplated.

Right off the bat she was worried about losing her hair, more so than any other side effects of chemo.  I told her that losing her hair temporarily is a small price to pay for regaining your health and beating the disease….she reluctantly agreed, but I could tell it still bothered her….

So I got to thinking (a somewhat dangerous thing for me at times) about how I could alleviate her concerns AND try to cheer her up at the same time.  She has always loved Tigger from Winnie The Pooh, so I needed to be able to combine some practicality with her inifatuation of the bouncing Tigger…

I immediately starting hunting on-line for knitting patterns for chemo caps.  Chemo caps are knitted toques made from the softest yarn possible, with no seams or itchy fibres to irritate the sensitive skin on a patients head.  I found oodles of patterns, but I just needed a base pattern as I had a plan….and Tigger needed to be included in the plan…

I settled on a pattern appropriately titled “Race For Life”.  A very basic pattern with a pretty, scalloped edge for a bling effect, I also picked up two balls of yarn in Tigger colours, orange and brown. 

So Step 1 of the Plan is ready…now I just need to get to Step 2 – devising the plan to make it resemble a Tigger and do duty as it is intended.

Stay tuned!