Seven Strands, Eight Arms, and One Octopus: He’s Done!!!!

It has been quite the adventure creating my version of Opus the Octopus. The designer, Cate Carter-Evans, notes in the introduction to the pattern that he is modeled after Octopus vulgaris, but without the scary beak. My octopus has a backstory that is kind of meaningful for me, but before I go into it, here is how he looks today in all of his finished knitted glory.

I bought those blue yarns that make up his body years ago at a fiber festival in Estes Park, Colorado. I love Estes Park, and I used to look forward to going to this show every single year, loading up on lots of yarn, cool fleeces, and an infusion of creativity as I ran amok with my friends.

One year, I bought all of this yarn from a vendor that I liked, and it languished in my stash for years as the colorful vest that it was originally dyed to create no longer interested me. Poor yarn. I began to joke that I would knit a big octopus out of that yarn. In a fit of unbounded creative craziness this summer, I wound and cast on the body of the octopus with this yarn.

The 5 strands of the yarn (4 merino lace strands, and 1 silk sport weight) were all hand-painted in blues, greens, and purples: all of this created a complex knitted fabric that could be the envy of any fashion-minded octopus.

I was slowly working on the octopus along with several other projects (okay, a lot of other projects…) when suddenly a couple of tough days hit. My cat needed to be rushed to the vet for ANOTHER bowel obstruction, and I hit a low spot emotionally as I struggled through a number of doctor appointments to rule out every conceivable cause of my profound shortness of breath episodes (while ignoring the actual conditions that I am ALREADY DIAGNOSED WITH!!!!!) A nurse suggested that I was to blame for the struggle because I was not handling my heart failure well. (First time someone told me I had heart failure… it seems a stretch to chastise me for mismanaging a condition that I didn’t know I had and no one educated me about handling… just saying…). I was told to always wear oxygen while up and about. I was told that wearing oxygen like that would hurt me. I was fussed at for not drinking enough fluids (kidney disease) and then informed that I was drinking more than I should (heart failure). Doctors batted me back and forth as they debated whether my heart or lungs were to blame. The most probable scenario was outright dismissed by one doctor because it was *too rare* while another doctor confirmed the hypothesis: it is a form of my activity-induced pulmonary hypertension complicated by a hole in my heart. They debated stopping my immunosuppressant drugs, then decided to not do that after all after looking at my latest lung scans. Finally, since there is literally nothing that they can do to help me, they decided that I just NEEDED MORE EXERCISE.

Look, I was ready to bite someone at that point. Instead, I began to knit on the octopus around the clock. Knitting is exercise, right? Certainly, the mental health benefits of knitting would help.

So, here is the whole octopus journey.

And just like that after knitting for days and days, he was done. He is sooo cute, and did you see the little purple gleam in his octopus eyes?

While all of this knitting was going on, I gradually improved and no longer had to use daytime oxygen. I read all of my test results carefully and found a note about a possible ischemic event in my heart imaging (as in a heart attack?). I made an appointment with my primary care physician (an internist) and went over the whole medical misadventures of the last few months with her. She agreed with my assessment of the situation and ordered up a slew of new tests that continued to eliminate things that might be contributing to my shortness of breath. Iron is still low, so we are working on that. My potassium is a little low, but the supplement I started a couple of months ago has made a positive gain. Exercise… yeah. That is a problem as I struggled to not pass out on my last 6-minute walk test, and the recommended exercise options (walk, bike, swim…) were not good ideas for a plethora of reasons. We decided that I would work with my Fitbit in a mindful way, making sure to hit the recommended number of fitness and cardio minutes each week without doing dedicated workouts. That is working! Slowly, week by week, I am completing the minutes with one eye on the Fitbit, and the other on my readiness levels, and I am getting better. The Fitbit (that sly rascal) increases the goals as I successfully meet my numbers and gives me reminders to not overdue things.

Yesterday I mowed my lawn and watered: 61 cardio minutes!! Yay! Carrying in groceries and putting them away: 15 cardio minutes. Knitting: NO CARDIO MINUTES!!! I guess you can’t have anything, but it is great for depression, and anxiety and facilitates decision making.

So it goes, little by little, getting better week by week. I still struggle with low oxygen levels with every low atmospheric pressure event, but I kind of know what is going on now, and my doctors are right: doing what I can to improve my exercise tolerance is helping. Did I mow the lawn on a day with high atmospheric pressure? Why yes, yes I did!! That is smart management, too.

That is my octopus story. I made him during a difficult recovery time, and today he is done and I am more than pleased with how he came out!!

What does this Fitbit and atmospheric data look like? Here it is:

Did you miss Hannah? Here she is!