Unkillable Cowl

I follow the Peterborough, Ontario Twitterfeed @Ptbo_Canada. Sometime late summer, they introduced Courtney Druce and her blog http://sassyblondecancerbegone.blogspot.ca/. She’s a local woman in her 20’s who is a four-time Cancer survivor. Yep, I said “four-time”.  The description for her blog says “No story will go untold, or be edited. Everything from diagnosis, to treatment, and life after. Be prepared... for everything and anything”. I found that irresistible. So I started to read her blog that day. And I’ve been hooked ever since. She is a funny, truthful, irreverent, saucy, and very good writer. Want to learn about living life, no matter what? Read Courtney’s blog. Amazing.

In her November 3 post, she wrote about her vow to “Fuck Cancer” and be “Unkillable”. The post featured a black and pink t-shirt that matched that sentiment. That set my needles clacking. I wanted to send Courtney something that would remind her of her strength and power and of how so many people, like me, care about her.

What I knit

Meet Courtney and her Unkillable Cowl:

I’m so excited that she liked it and wears it.

Just a bit more about Courtney. She and her Dad, John, are Co-Chairs for the local 2014 Pink in the Rink campaign. This is a partnership between the local hockey team, the Peterborough Petes, and the Canadian Cancer Society Peterborough and District Unit. Money will be raised from t-shirt sales and the big game against the big rivals, the Oshawa Generals, on February 6. Courtney is a great spokesperson for this important fundraiser. I look forward to following this venture, and getting a t-shirt!

What I read

I made Courtney’s cowl during my marathon Christmas knitting, so I didn’t read much. But I did finish “Fallen Women”. Good, but not my favourite Sandra Dallas book (I loved “Tallgrass” about a Japanese Internment Camp in Colorado. When we drove back from the West in 2011, we followed The Santa Fe Trail as much as we could. We happened upon Camp Amache, the name of the real internment camp. It was very moving and I was thrilled to recognize it in “Tallgrass”).