Knitting

The one where 32 years

September 1, 2011 mud&stringLeave a comment

doesn’t seem like such a long time after all. Today, Mr. Iknead and I will have been married 32 whole years! A lot has happened in those years, babies, kitties, puppies, illness, parties, anger, tears, joy and grief. I’m blessed to have been able to share these with Mr. Iknead; he truly is my soft place to fall, as Dr. Phil puts it. I think I’m ready for the next 32.

Look pretty good for 32 years dontcha think?

Playing mini-golf in Destin, it’s only 120 degrees outside with not a breath of fresh air.

Love is friendship set on fire. French proverb

Knitting

The one where it’s WIP Wednesday

August 31, 2011 mud&stringLeave a comment

again and here’s my offering (please excuse the truly horrendous picture)

Mirrorsocks – Kollage Yarns Sock-A-Licious, color 7808

The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated. William James (1842-1910) American psychologist and philosopher

Knitting

The one where I’m looking

August 30, 2011 mud&stringLeave a comment

way forward to the weekend, even more than usual. Two excellent things are going to happen, 1) Mr. Iknead and I are going to have our 32nd anniversary and 2) we’re going to spend it in Fayetteville with the Papoose. Thirty two years, more than half my life (I’m 54) and we still like each other. A rarity now, I think. Dang, I thought I had a picture of Mr. Iknead and me right after we got married. DD has it on her facebook, I’ll get her to send it to me in the next day or so.

OK, I’m loaded and ready for WIP Wednesday tomorrow. No tonight, one first thing in the a.m.

The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when you discover that someone else believes in you and is willing to trust you with a friendship. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Knitting

The one where I brag

August 29, 2011 mud&stringLeave a comment

about my Drop Stitch Shawl, I have one row and the bindoff and it will be finished. I’m going to add fringe and am toying with the idea of putting beads on the fringe. Maybe some that look like crystals, or some silvery stuff. Right now, I’m just basking in the euphoria that comes along with a FO.

Mirrorsocks are coming along. I love the grays. I do have to tattle on myself; several repeats of the pattern, patting myself on the back, then I decide to turn the page and see what’s coming up patternwise. That’s right, There’s a whole row that I didn’t know about. Not a big deal, the pattern is fine without being added onto, but now I know why reading the complete pattern is recommended BEFORE starting the actual knitting. Silly me.

The older I grow the more I distrust the familiar doctrine that age brings wisdom. H. L. Mencken

Knitting

The one where she gets it

August 24, 2011 mud&stringLeave a comment

ready ahead of time so she can join the WIP Wednesday festivities.

Drop Stitch Shawl

It is better to be high spirited even though one makes more mistakes, than to be narrow minded and too prudent. Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) Dutch postmodernist painter

Knitting

The one where I’m trying really hard

August 23, 2011 mud&stringLeave a comment

to be patient, waiting for the yarn I ordered (the Manos del Uruguay) to finish the Drop Stitch Shawl to arrive. I’m trying to ‘will’ it onto on my front porch so it will be waiting for me after work. It just might work. I’ve also learned something about the mail, tracking your package a million times during the day does not make it arrive any faster. In my head, each time I check, it gets a little nudge closer. If I was in charge…….

OK, I’m home and it’s not. Tomorrow is another day.

Here’s Josie resting from her hard day of holding down the couch.

Tough life, huh?

Life is like playing a violin in public and learning the instrumentas one goes on. Samuel Butler (1612-1680)

Knitting

The one where I at last

August 22, 2011 mud&stringLeave a comment

sit down and do some donkey work, uploading the pics onto Flickr and then, in turn, deleting them from my camera. Since one good turn deserves another, I then can’t rest until I’ve gone though the uploads, now deleting duplicates on Flickr. Not a hard job, just time consuming, requiring a bit more patience than I usually have. I feel good anyway, this is something that has languished on my to do list for a couple of months (at least) and I’m glad to have even a little bit of the job done.

Mom has been at Presbyterian Villiage now for a full week and things are going well, I think. We had a few difficult days, but we expected to have at least a few of those and I think she’s settling into her new routine as well as she can.

My newest sock project is on the needles, Mirrorsocks, in Kollage Yarns Sock-A-Licious, color 7808, a lovely foggy gray, like what I imagine a London fog must be.

Diamonds are nothing more than chunks of coal that stuck to their jobs. Malcolm Forbes (1919-1990) American magazine publisher

Knitting

The one where I remember that

August 16, 2011 mud&stringLeave a comment

life is a series of adjustments. I got my mom moved up here to Little Rock from the wilds of southwest Arkansas yesterday. It went well, better, in fact, than I expected. It was hard last night leaving her, knowing that she literally had no clue about where she was and why. That’s the heartache of all caretakers of someone with dementia. My mom is a grown woman, but has the mental capacity of a small child, maybe 5-6 years old. There are still brief flashes of the person who is my mom, but most of the time, she’s a child in an adult body. It felt like the first day of first grade when my kids were little; having to entrust her care to someone besides me or Mr. Iknead. I cried then too. I cried for Mom, I cried for myself and I cried for my dad. He passed away a month ago yesterday and I keep running into the fact of his death like something I’d stumble against navigating a dark room. When does it get better?

Knitting. I’ve done a ton in the past couple of weeks, partly because of the car time I’ve had (Mr. Iknead prefers to drive, I prefer to ride. One more example of our fitting together, I suppose). Now I’m getting anxious about running out of Manos for the Drop Stitch Shawl. This happens every time I get close to the end of a project, you’d think I’d catch on that, but still I think I’ll give Yarnmart a call in the morning, just in case.

Here’s a picture I love – Mr. Iknead and the apple of his eye, the Papoose

He’s not crazy about her or anything!

People travel to wonder at the height of the mountains, at the huge waves of the seas, at the long course of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars, and yet they pass by themselves without wondering. Saint Augustine (354 A.D. to 430 A.D.) Early Christian theologian and bishop

Knitting

The one where I’ve been totally obsessed

August 13, 2011 mud&stringLeave a comment

the past couple of days on the Drop Stitch Shawl and it’s coming along, probably about 3/4 finished. I’ve been so focused on it because, I think, I’ve had more stress in the past week than usual. Mr. Iknead and I are moving my mother here to a nursing home in Little Rock Monday and while it’s going to be so much easier on everyone, it is a change and with her dementia, things are never quite as straightforward as they seem. We’re trying to keep things as low key as possible, keeping things cool, calm and collected for her (people with dementia don’t tolerate change well), things are going to, well, change. She’ll be living in a different city, in a different nursing home, with different caregivers with different schedules and on and on. My mantra has been “it’s going to be OK, it’s going to be OK, it’s going to be OK” and it will be, I suppose I’m just ready to get on with it and have it over with. So, the WIP shawl has benefitted. It’s going to be lovely, it already is. See?

Some detail

It will be OK.

If you cry because the sun has gone out of your life, your tears will prevent you from seeing the stars. Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) Indian poet and author

Knitting

The one where I actually

August 10, 2011 mud&stringLeave a comment

have a WIP Wednesday ready before WIPW actually arrives. There’s something to be said for looking ahead and having just a hint of organization in life, I think.

Introducing the Drop Stitch Shawl Version 2, a Rav pattern. It’s little more than half done and is knitting up beautifully.

The yarn is Manos del Uruguay, kettle dyed 60% baby alpaca, 40% pima cotton. It drapes wonderfully. The color number is 2318.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Knitting

The one where I’m still looking

August 9, 2011 mud&stringLeave a comment

through and uploading vacation pictures. This is not a hard thing to do, it just takes time and focus, something that I’m not overloaded with right now. I did find a couple of the Papoose that are so precious I almost can’t take it. Here’s one

How’s that for precious?? Tomorrow she’ll be 15 months old, time seems to speed up the older I get and I’m finally learning to cherish the moment I’m living. I heard someone say once “yesterday’s history, tomorrow’s a mystery”. True.

OK, I’m off to get a photo of my WIP for tomorrow.

A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds. Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626),

Knitting

The one where the real

August 8, 2011 mud&stringLeave a comment

world intrudes again and I can’t really say I’m not happy about it. Grayton Beach was a dream – beautiful weather, beautiful water, beautiful grandbaby Papoose. What’s not to like? Want to know just how fabulous this vacay was? I didn’t get in as much knitting as I thought I would. DD gave me a hard time about knitting on the beach, told me that she knows now without a doubt that I am hopelessly addicted, all in fun, of course. Here’s the view we were mercilessly subjected to 24/7.

Tough, right?

Here’s a Papoose aka Susannah vacay pic; she loves the water and the sand, having a hissy fit when she was taken out of the pool. Bet she’ll be swimming by next summer, I hope so.

She looks very pleased with herself, doesn’t she?

So, today was the first day back, I got a ton done at work catching up and immediately fell into my regular routine. As great as it was, I’m glad to be back, I missed my Josie Pug, my favorite coffee cup and my bed. Without a doubt, life is good.

I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn to do it. Pablo Picasso