Hospital Comfort Knitting

Recently I was in the hospital for several days after surgery. The first couple of days I was pretty groggy but by the 3rd day I woke up WANTING to KNIT! I had not brought any knitting with me because I knew I'd be hooked up to an IV and with every surgery I've ever had, getting the IV line into my tiny veins has been a real pain...literally! So, I was afraid to move the hand that had the IV in it too much. But...I REALLY WANTED to KNIT, figuring it would be soothing and a nice diversion from being in "not one of my favorite places". (Not that the nurses, doctors, techs, etc. weren't wonderful...they were all very efficient and caring.) But then, who ever wants to be a patient in a hospital??

So, I asked my nurse if she thought I would pull my IV out by knitting. She guaranteed me that it was in there securely and even added some more tape to secure it even more and told me to get my knitting! So, I called my dear Max and described which knitting bag to bring over when he came that afternoon.

Oh, the comfort and joy of picking up those needles and yarn! I have to believe it helped in my recuperation! Of course I couldn't knit for hours on end because I had been told that the quickest way to "get home" was to take lots of walks in the halls. And, I definitely wanted to get home to my Max, my kitty Mittens, my I-pod touch and computer and ALL my knitting projects! So, I happily alternated between walking and knitting with some reading thrown it. I had even brought a small MP3 player that I had put some knitting podcasts on and listening to those was delightful also.

So, what was I working on while in the hospital? The "Remember Cardigan" a free pattern on the Berroco website: http://tinyurl.com/nrjg3n . Picture below:
At the bottom of the body of the sweater and the sleeves I started with a scalloped edging to "dress" it up a bit and give it a "Mary" touch:

While you're on the Berroco website ( http://berroco.com/ ), check out their free patterns by clicking on the patterns tab. Also, they have a great weekly newsletter that you can sign up for that usually has a free pattern. I've made several of their free projects : the Wedge scarf ( http://tinyurl.com/m7hu3x ), the Toshiko scarf which one of my students is also currently making ( http://tinyurl.com/mfgjrc ), the Strozi necklace (http://tinyurl.com/l76e9m ) and the Pilar sweater ( http://tinyurl.com/lylk88 ).

Well, I'm happily home and pretty well recovered, although I may have to have another surgery in a few months. I will be sure and pack some "hospital comfort knitting". Dear knitters, have any of you experienced "hospital comfort knitting" either while a patient or to relieve the stress of waiting for a loved one to have surgery or other procedure? Tell me your comfort story, please. Either post a comment or email me at: notesfromknitclass@gmail.com . I'd love to hear from you.
Mary, joyfully knitting and computing from my porch by my pond (see photo at top of this post)---a very soothing place to recuperate.