Warmth

Mississippi has had a cold snap the last few days.  It made me very happy to have the Thorpe I knit back in January.

It’s not the most flattering hat in the world, but it does keep me warm, a very important thing when cheering middle schoolers on at a soccer game in 30 degree weather.  Here’s some details…

Pattern: Thorpe by Kirsten Kapur of Through the Loops

Yarn: Fleece Artist BFL Aran and Lamb’s Pride Bulky for the crochet edging that Leslie did.

Needles:  Size 9 (this hat is top down so I started on dpns and then switched to circulars).

Notes: I love top down hats and this pattern is perfect.  It is very easy to follow and adjust sizing on.  Plus, I love how warm this hat is.  I’m making matching wristers out of the remainder of the yarn.

Random Surprise

I got a lovely random surprise in the mail today.

Pamela, a former swap partner, got it for me.  The fact that she saw it and thought about me is awesome.  To get it and send it to me, rockstar!  I know such wonderful people!

Snow!

We got several inches of snow in Mississippi this week.  It looked a bit like this:

There was no school Monday or Tuesday.  Unfortunately, it looks like we will be going on Saturdays to make it up.  As long as I can wear jeans to work, I really don’t care.  I enjoyed knitting on my Argus shawl (which is done) and reading.  More on the shawl later, I plan on wearing it to work tomorrow to show it off.

Because sometimes, it just is what it is.

I can’t tell you how much I hate the phrase “It is what it is”.  I often feel like punching someone when they say that, but I’ve gotten to the point in my recent drama that it rings true.  Somethings things just are, and no matter how much you wish they were different, they’re not.

My brother came into town for his visit last weekend.  I was already crazy nervous about it, because I am pretty socially averse, but I went in with high hopes and raw emotion.  Due to circumstances beyond my control, he met up with Nicki first and had hours of one on one time with her, and as a result, by the time I got there with my younger sister, they were already best friends again.  Hugs, cuddles, etc.  Without even realizing it, I went on the defense.  Nicki had already “won”, so what’s the point?

In truth, it was awkward.  He didn’t know me, and he didn’t know my little sister either.  There were some questions, but mostly awkward small talk.  He’s been through so much, so very, very much, that I shouldn’t expect him to remember me.  But it still hurt that he didn’t.
He was falling asleep at the dinner table, so I made my goodbyes to give him a chance to sleep.  I went home angry, but kept it in.  We met up again Saturday for a big family gathering.  I honestly did not want to go to that, because I knew I’d still get zero one on one time with Mike, but I knew I’d not hear the end of it if I didn’t so off I went.  Saturday was a repeat of Friday, just with more people to witness my social anxiety.  Mike was most comfortable with Nicki, and it hurt again.  I was forced to take pictures, and I’m still kind of annoyed about that, but at least now I guess there’s a record of him again in case he decides we’re all too much for him and doesn’t come back.   Around 4, Nicki & Mike left, which was my cue to leave.  He stayed all Sat. night and most of Sunday morning, but still, there was no one on one time.

I finally lost my composure over text Sunday night with Nicki.  She & Mike are already best friends again, and he doesn’t even know me.  I deflected a lot of my own issues onto her, and pretty much blamed her.

I’m finally at the point where I realize it’s not her fault, but it doesn’t make it hurt any less.  Apologies have been made, but I’m not sure where to go from here.  So instead, a very poorly disguised segue way!

I’ve been working on the Shipwreck Shawl since Jan 20th - coincidentally the day Mike made first contact.  Odd, but fitting.  Anyway - I’m almost halfway through the netting section (which is ENDLESS, btw).  I was a little worried that the yarn I’m using  (WM Lace in Arlene) is a little too variegated, but it’s actually looking exactly the way I wanted, so yay for that!  The beading is going along smoothly, but the yo, K2Tog over and over and over is seriously slowing me down.  I’d hoped to finish it in a month, but I’m not certain that’s going to happen.  Time will tell, I guess.  Here’s a progress pic of the netting - I can’t photo the whole thing as I don’t actually have a cable long enough to stretch it out:

I’m also working on a Noro Striped scarf - about halfway through it now and it’s nice and mindless but turning out well, and quite versatile. If I were to knit it again, and I might if I can get the yarn cheaper, I’d get two colors that were more contrasting.

I’m going to cast on for some Rivulets and make them knee socks for Ravelympics, and after that I think I’ll start a Myrtle Cardigan in some Rowan Tweed I have in the stash (but no pics, for shame!).  I think I’ll make my myrtle with a stockingette back and 3/4 sleeves.

So, internets, what are you working on?

Last and First

I’ve been bad about blogging some of my FOs recently.  My more recent projects have been 2 pairs of socks.  I knit these as a present for my sister when I saw her at New Years.

These are my Monster Vesper Socks that I blogged about before.  I love how the colors came together and Becky seemed very happy to get them.  Here’s a scowly picture of her and my brother in law.

The two of them have an awesome blog called Peanut Butter Bagels that you can find here.

I also finished the racing sugarplum socks a while back.  They were my first pair of socks for 2010 and I’ve worn them several times since completing them.

I love the sheen that the Vesper yarn seems to have with these.  I knit them on a size 1 circular (magic loop method) using Wendy’s gusset heel toe up pattern as found in her book, Socks from the Toe-up.  I’ve more than gotten my money’s worth out of the book and plan on making several more pairs of socks from it over the course of the Ravelry Knitalong.

I have a few more projects to blog about but not a ton of knitting has gotten done recently.

Because I am so overwhelmed.

My sister joined Facebook recently.  Generally speaking, that isn’t worthy of a mention, but in this instance, a chain of events was set off that has quite honestly changed my life.  I’m not one for lofty exaggerations (except in jest), either, internets.  It really did.

Before I tell you what happened, I should preface it a bit.  I have two sisters; one older, one younger.  Since we all grew up and left the nest we have all gone about our business in our separate ways.  We didn’t dislike each other, we just were busy leading our own lives and rarely made time to be around each other aside from xmas gatherings.  I’m 29 now, and starting a month or two ago, I decided to stop being such a recluse and try to be more active in the little family I have.  I visited Nicki at her house and talk to her via text pretty frequently, and even reached out to Helen, who I hadn’t spoken to really since my mothers funeral two years ago.

This is not an entry meant to go on and on about what an awesome person I am and how it’s great I’m taking the initiative to be sisterly again.  Not at all.

So again, my sister joined Facebook the other day.  She gets a friend request (or a PM, I can’t remember) from a Michael R. in Utah.

That’s my brother, people.

When my sisters and I were younger (Nicki 10, me 6, Helen 2), we lived with our parents, and our brother Michael.  Due to a bunch of drama that I’m not comfortable sharing in such a public forum, we were separated from him.  He was placed in foster care, at the age of 11.   That’s the last I have heard from him since then.  It’s been over 20 years.  What little we remembered of him we kept close to our hearts, because our parents wouldn’t talk about the situation.  None of us blamed him for not contacting us - what he went through is not something I would be able to get over in a set amount of time.  None of us hold a grudge, but we all secretly hoped that one day, we’d see him again.

Fast forward to this morning when Helen gets the friend request.  She’s the only one who still has her maiden name so that’s why he finds her first.  I immediately go out and find him and friend him and send his info to my older sister Nicki.

He is reaching out to us!  He wants to talk to us!  I cannot even fathom being in his shoes and going through what he did, but he has finally found away around the pain and wants to talk to us!  I felt so jittery, and excited at the same time.

He made an effort to call each one of us today and talk.

I had forgotten SO MUCH, internet.  I should be ashamed at how much I’ve forgotten, but more important than that is that connection, made again.   I was so nervous when he said he was going to call.  What in the hell was I going to say to my brother, who I hadn’t been able to talk to for so long?  What words could bridge that gap?

Just hearing his voice put me in tears.  I’m still in tears as I type this, but I want to get this out before any of the emotion is gone.

20 years in 20 minutes on the phone.  I have a big brother again, even if he does live far away.  I don’t know how to process this information, and I don’t know that I’ll be able to sleep tonight.  None of that matters, because slowly, my siblings and I are finding a way to be family again.

Nicki, Michael, Helen - I love you all.

Piecework Jan/Feb 2010: A Review

A few days ago, I received an email from Knitting Daily informing me that the new issue of Piecework was available.  Piecework is hit or miss for me, but I usually pick up the annual historical knitting issue to gain some insight into the craft.  This issue, I was also lured in by the cover proclaiming an “Exclusive! New Barbara Walker Stitch Pattern.”

In fact, the first article past the book reviews, is the Barbara Walker stitch pattern.  It’s a large stitch pattern, over 32 stitches and 32 rows.  It would work well in a larger piece, such as an afghan or perhaps a sweater.

My students have been studying the Holocaust this year (you can read more about that here) and we’ve had several Holocaust survivors come to speak to them.  The article “Knitting in Jewish Lithuania” held particular interest to me for that reason.  I so often take knitting for pleasure for granted, I never before thought of knitting as a survival mechanism during the Holocaust.   For many Jewish women, knitting was a means to barter for food and other necessities for survival.  I will be taking this article into school to share with my students.

It’s no secret to anyone who looks at my queue, that I’ve been obsessed with mittens lately.  I’m test knitting a pair of cabled child’s mittens for a friend and keep staring longenly through the many mitten books I own.  Therefore, the articles “Latvia’s Favorite Knitter: Jette Uzane,”  ”Birch Mittens to Knit,” “Mittens to Knit Inspired by a Late-Medieval Mitten,” “Offering Mittens to Knit,” and “Ice Harbor Compass Mittens to Knit” are going to get a long look through.  I really enjoy the simplicity of the Late-Medieval Mittens.  Fox and Geese mittens are among some of my favorite pattern so the Ice Harbor Mittens may also someday get made.

There are a plethora of other articles in this Piecework, including some patterns that I did not discuss.  Overall, I find it well worth the $6.99 to have a glimpse into the tradition of knitting.  Of course, that might just be the history major in me talking

Cadbury Egg Season

Spring is in the stores, in the Cadbury Egg form.  That’s right people, Cadbury Eggs are now available at your local Walgreens (or at least at my local Walgreens).  I love me some original Cadbury Eggs, and they remind me of the fact that the Spring Fling is less than 100 days away.  Wow!

On a knitting note, I have several pairs of socks to blog about, but my doorbell just rang with some pizza, so I’ve got to go chow down.  Have a good night all!

Snow Days and Spinning

I had Thursday and Friday off this past week due to “snow.”  In reality, we got very little snow and lots of cold.  The cold made it perfect to stay inside and spin the days away.  I ended up spinning 4oz of Pigeonroof Studios Roving that I got from the Backwards Loop at the Arkansas Fiber Extravaganza.  It spun like a dream.

I’ve gone ahead and set the twist on this now.  It’s roving like this that make me love spinning. I ended up with around 166 yards of a 2 ply sport weight yarn.  Now to find the perfect project.  Any ideas?

I’ve got Awesome Friends!!!!!

So my friend, Jessica (showmeyourknits on ravelry), sent me the best surprise ever!!!!!!

See that shawl around my neck? She knit it and sent it to me just because she’s awesome.  I heart me some Jessica (and not just because she makes me stuff)!  Tomorrow, as I teach in a building without heat, I know what I’ll be cuddling under as I think warm thoughts!