In the Bleak Midwinter

This morning was the first day of Christmas break, or as the Husband has taken to calling it, "Daddypalooza". The Husband and the Kidlets will be under foot for the next two weeks.

My day started with a headache. This after awakening at 6:30am to the sound of the cat wanting out of the bedroom, a rollicking discussion with the Husband as to who was going to get up and let her out, and the Husband deciding that "his" two weeks were not going to be wasted lolly gagging about in bed. He proceeded to grab his trumpet, flip on the lights and play "Reveille". Hence, the headache.

I know that the next two weeks I will hear a nonstop barrage of "mom,mom,mom, mom, Kaaaarrren, mom, mom, mom, Kaaarrren." Good thing I have a full bottle of ibuprofen and a lock on the bedroom door. Now if I can just find the stash of chocolate....

Why, yes, science and knitting do mix

Discover Magazine has a post about what happens when science and knitting colide. The sweater would have come in handy while I suffered through high school chemistry.

I Found the Camera (the house still isn't clean or organized)

...I just got lucky.

That is the Swallowtail Shawl I finished I don't know when. I could click on Ravelry and find out, but well, my clicker finger is being lazy today.

I love this. I made it in the "little" size, so it's more like a shawlette. (goofy word that) It gets out and about on a regular basis. It can dress up a plain black outfit, and it looks good with a denim jacket (which the Girl informed me that no one wears anymore). You can't tell, but it's a pretty pale pink.

The light is crap today, because we got a whopping 1/2" of snow overnight. Naturally, the kidlets had to rush into my bedroom at ohdarkthirty to let me know that there was real life snow on the ground, and will school be cancelled, do ya think?

That there is a life sized shawl. It's called Creideamh (Gaelic for 'faith') from the Embrace the Lace Club. It's made from Miss Babs Yearning, which is a merino/tussah silk blend, and for some reason this pattern by Renee Leverington didn't give me nearly as much trouble as the Swallowtail. I had to start that sucker over about 5 times. It wasn't the pattern, I just wasn't concentrating.





This is a good all around shawl. It's not too frilly that you wouldn't be afraid to wad it in a ball on a long flight or car ride to use as a pillow, but you will still look good wearing it through the airport and not look like you are going to a formal function. Some shawls in my opinion are "black tie only".



These are the socks I finished while 'granny sitting'. Jared just had a nice post about how your knitting reminds you of where you were while knitting. I will always think of "Mother" when I put these on. I think it's a fitting tribute since she always complained of being cold, and didn't like cold feet. These are from Lorna's Laces in a plain Jane 2x2 ribbing pattern, and they are very warm.


My current project* is the latest Embrace the Lace offering called Prudence, a cowl and mitt set designed by Anne Hanson using Lobster Pot yarn. This is going quick. I was even able to work on it while in front of the t.v. without any errors, something I normally wouldn't attempt with a more difficult pattern.

*I do have other projects, like the green cardigan I've been working on forever (I'm on sleeve 2), and a pair of socks in self striping Patons Kroy, but I was so excited about finding the camera, I forgot to take pictures!

It's Why I Knit

We've been going through a bit of a rough patch here lately. My kind, sweet grandmother-in-law recently passed away. The family (her children) didn't want her to be alone during her final days, so it was my privilege to "granny sit" while she was living at the in-laws and later hospice. I would take a turn giving those that were much more closely attached to her a chance to run errands, visit with others outside of Granny's range of hearing, or so they could take a much needed "emotion break".

Having gone through this with my own mother, sometimes those closest to the person who is slowly fading away needs a little time out of the highly emotional epicenter. All the while, I was knitting.

Not a week later, I had to have Wally the cat put down. He was only 7 years old, and had a massive tumor in his stomach. He was a very independent feline. He ignored the kidlets, tolerated me, and he only really liked the Husband. I was ambivalent towards him. He was just another life form in the house that needed to be fed and cleaned regularly. I still cried when the vet put him to sleep. He died like he lived, hissing and growling. I guess he did this to make it easier on me. Maybe he did like me.

But as I sat at the vet's for an hour and a half waiting for test results and x-rays. I knit.

Wednesday I have to have an MRI for a weird bump that showed up suddenly on my spine. It's probably nothing. Tomorrow, the Gaggs (my MIL) is having surgery to have a defibrillator inserted for her heart.

The Husband mentioned tonight that he's not been able to shake an anxious feeling he's had all day. I know it's a culmination of the stress of the past weeks that doesn't look like it's going to slow down for a while.

My response to him? "Why do you think I knit?"