What can you do when you're being treated for cancer? Crochet pink skull scarves for your friends!

When I first found out the likely trajectory my cancer treatment would take, I was freaked out on many levels, for many reasons. One of my main fears was being out of action for an extended period of time. As someone who, for better and/or for worse, derives a large part of my self esteem/sense of satisfaction/deep joy from Getting Stuff Done, a mastectomy (8-10 weeks recovery - no lifting with my left arm!!) and 12 weeks of chemo (a whole lot of feeling quite ill and immuno-compromised to the point where chicken farming and gardening are completely out of the question) was a pretty terrifying prospect. That's even if I momentarily forgot the fact that it all involved GETTING MY BOOB CHOPPED OFF and POISONING MY BODY!!!

Ahem...

Sage words of wisdom came from my Dad's partner, Connie (a cancer survivor herself) who told me to stop focusing on the things I couldn't do, and start focusing on the things I could do. Given that the main things I can do are crocheting, reading, writing, and the odd bit of preserving, it's actually not too shabby, really, and I'm kind of enjoying having a bit of a rest.

Once I resolved to focus on my new crocheting opportunities, I went to town (actually, the internet-town, but you know that I mean) searching for crochet patterns. In the melee, and quite by accident, I stumbled upon a pattern for this cute-as crocheted skull. As soon as I saw it I knew I had to make one for my pal Carly (seen here looking pretty bloody gorgeous in the graduation dress I made for her). I dunno why, I just thought she'd dig it.

Can you see? You thread the scarf kind of through the skull, to keep it snuggly-secure round yer neck...

After much deliberation I decided to make it like a neat little skull and crossbones, where the skull itself helps to keep the scarf secured in a snug kinda way. The scarf is just single crochet where the rows form the length of the scarf, and I did some chunky triple crochet shells at the ends to form the 'knuckles' of the 'crossbones'.

The skull bit was surprisingly easy to do, I think due to the fact that Kirsten's instructions are SO AWESOME. And funny. And low-key. And descriptive. And the photos are completely ace-balls. It's the kind of crochet pattern I'd hope to make myself, if I ever crocheted anything in an organised-enough way to actually write down what I did. Like my sewing, my crocheting is extremely organic/haphazard/experimental, depending on which way you look at it.

Look how cool she is! Oh and the scarf's pretty sweet too

Anyways, I was super pleased with the results, and I think Carly was too. And now I'd like to propose a toast to focusing on what you can do rather than what you can't. Words to live by, methinks!