a simple yarn

When I packed my suitcase for the mad dash to the US, ‘Hey, great!’ I thought, ‘at least I’ll be able to finish up some of these lingering Christmas projects.’ Think again…

Hospital waiting room knitting is not all it’s cracked up to be.

Took three works-in-progress…a Christmas pressie, a toy monkey for Alex which is vainly hoping to be a Christmas pressie, and the ever-present cardy for Kate, after which she gently enquires upon occasion with a faint glimmer of hope in her voice. Also took some yarn and a book for potential socks. Small project, easy to work on, when of course they can get cast onto needles.

Came home with one finished project. Argh. Well actually, I suppose I should take the half-full approach and say, ‘Yippee, another project finished!’

Chocolate mint tea cosy made from Craftspun Homespun and Lamb’s Pride with a little Manos del Uruguay pre-felt embroidery and wonky-definitely-off-centre-loopWarning: Late 70s Television Sitcom Diversion Ahead
Right, so I never really noticed until now just how much the intended ‘wandering garden vine’ looks like the cursive letter L emblazoned on Laverne’s shirts from Laverne and Shirley. Well, the script L may just come in handy…

Back to hospital knitting…I don’t think I wasted time. But, then again, I didn’t count on not feeling like knitting during the long waits.

So, what did I do in the meantime?

Word puzzles with ‘me ma.’ As a team we flew through ‘em. Got to be such a habit that on the day of my departure at the Cincinnati airport, I spied a discarded newspaper sitting next to me. Hmmmmm….I wonder……

Yep, did most of the basic crossword, more of the advanced crossword, word jumble, cryptoquip, and had a stab at the sudoku…which I just don’t get at all. Guess I’m just a ‘word’ person.

5…
…bypasses or total days my dad was in the hospital. Lightning speed recovery to this point. Very thankful indeed.

4…
…days until we leave for planned Christmas trip to Portugal. Laundry. Packing. Airport (again).

3…
…beautiful faces did I see at the airport this morning upon my return from the US!

2…
…cups of cappuccino I’ve consumed (so far) today…partly to stave off jetlag…partly to savour the home-brewed bliss.

1…
…knitting book (only one, mind you!) purchased for me, while in the US. That’s controlled discipline if I ever saw it!

What is a meme? I have no idea, but I’m invited to share in one. Topic is ‘Six Weird Things About Me.’ It takes a secure person, or a fool, to share her own weirdness…I lean toward the latter category…

Here are my top six (implying there may be more)…

1. I don’t know what a meme is. Is it pronounced ‘mee-mee’? Is it all
about me? I’m not too culturally aware of this aspect of blogging ,
not until I was tagged by Leigh. I still don’t know what a meme is, but nevertheless, I am now trying to decipher what is weird about me.

Warning: Definition Diversion Ahead
So how, first of all, do we define ‘weird’? What may appear
weird to others might seem quite normal to me(me). So, while I may post this under a ‘weird things about me’ topic, in reality I think they are quite the norm and should be practiced by all others on the planet whenever and wherever possible.

2. I like to take literary, communication, or trivial diversions during the course of a conversation or a blog post, as you may have noticed.

3. I was raised in West Virginia, which seems weird (or at least joke worthy) to Husband-Will.

4. I learned to knit only about 3 or 4 years ago, which may seem weird to those who have been knitting since they were wee things. I’ve been weaving for less than a year. And have been spinning since, well, actually I still don’t officially spin, but rather play at it.

5. I am left-handed, which may seem weird to the majority of the world’s inhabitants who rule the earth with their right-handed ways. And being left-handed, I had to learn to cut with scissors with my right hand as a child, since left-handed scissors were as scarce as precious gems and when I did happen to find a pair, they simply would not cut the paper.

6. I graduated from university with a communications degree, which seemed weird to my parents who thought it absurd to have to pay all that money to teach me to talk!

And so, my list complete, I believe I am to play ‘tag you’re it’ with 6
other people, who are:

Tea and Cakes, because I find her outlook on life quite atypical and I mean that in the best sense of the term.

Tangelled Angel, because she will certainly know what to do about this meme thing as she’s well versed in anything bloggy.

Winona Queen, because I will be intrigued to see what kind of interesting list she puts together!

Clickety Knits, because she’s going to need some diversion from all that touring of Hong Kong and New Zealand, so it might be listed on the travel blog Where Two Next.

Chic with Stix, because she’s a newly imported friend in Dublin and it would be good to get to know her better, even if it’s the weird stuff.

Fast Cars and Freedom, because she, being my niece and an English major, might like this sort of thing and perhaps will help her to think that her auntie isn’t such an old fogey after all.

After all the niceties, here are the rules to this thing…
Each player of this game starts with the ‘6 weird things about you.’ People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave a comment that says ‘you are tagged’ in their comments and tell them to read your blog.’

It is with a bit of difficulty, sometimes, that I step back into the US culture. It’s a great, big country…

Not surprising to hear, I’m sure, that things are big here…

big highways funneling big cars

big shopping centres, or rather malls, that is…

big food portions, no 25gram packages

big skies sporting big, dazzling sunsets. I had forgotten about that.

But on the other hand…

great healthcare

great patient treatment

great communications with the families…3 updates from the nurse during my dad’s surgery.

great amounts of dignity and not a trolley in sight in the corridors. Amazing.

And so, after a quintuple-bypass with efficiency and speed, my dad is making his slow but steady recovery and I send you a great big thank you for your kind words and wishes!

Well, one way to put into proper perspective the craziness that commonly surrounds the run up to Christmas is to get an unexpected phone call…

My mum rang today, ‘Your dad is having by-pass surgery on Thursday.’
Hmmmm…..and here I am with an ocean between us.
But not for long. Cashed in a frequent-flyer-trans-Atlantic-ticket with lightning speed, in a mere moment.

Who says miracles don’t happen?

So, I’m setting aside the Christmas rush for a bit to spend time with family.
And if I don’t ’see’ you before the Christmas holidays, may the joy of this season be yours…

It just goes to show you, you’re never too old….

The Kiddies and I had a trip into the city today. Day off school. Celebrating with a trip to the cinema. Lunch out. And of course, the bus ride…

Daughter and Son hop to the front of the top level, as kids are apt to do. I take a seat a few places away. Even after the day’s events and sugar intake, the Kiddies are behaving tolerably well, a bit loud perhaps as Son-Alex has but one volume. They wiggle, they squirm, they finally settle in and entertain themselves with a simple game of Eye Spy.

And then, wouldn’t you know, the elderly gentleman sitting behind them leans forward. ‘Uh oh,’ I think to myself, ‘he’s annoyed with their shennanigans and is going to reprimand them.’ And what did he say to them?

‘I spy with my little eye, something that begins with T.’

I am not a Star Wars fan. I’m not even sure I’ve made it through the first movie, which is not the first episode anymore, but now Episode 4, which completely confuses me, what with prequels and all. But even at that, I thought this was funny…

Baa Baa Imperial Sheep
Click ‘Watch This Movie’ button

A lot has happened over the course of history on this day. I kind of wish I had been more aware of the date when I hopped on the bus into the city this morning…

1541 - Thomas Culpeper and Francis Dereham are executed for having affairs with Catherine Howard, Queen of England and wife of Henry VIII.

1542 - Mary Queen of Scots is born.

1854 - Pope Pius IX proclaims the dogma of Immaculate Conception, which holds that the Virgin Mary was born free of original sin.

1907 - King Gustaf V of Sweden accedes to the Swedish throne.

1941 - World War II: Pacific War - China officially declares war against Japan, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

1966 - Sinéad O’Connor, Irish musician, is born.

1976 - The Eagles release the album Hotel California.

1980 - John Lennon is murdered by Mark David Chapman in New York City.

2006 - I have a brunch date and a hair appointment in the city centre, only to find myself rubbing shoulders (cuz we’re packed onto the footpaths like sardines) with most of the rural population of Ireland, who’ve come to Dublin to do their Christmas shopping. It’s the annual one-day migration of country folk to the city, as most Catholic schools are closed for this holy day. The streets and shops are jammed. What was I thinking?

Of course, when faced with a dreadfully cold, windy day with lashing rain…and when also faced with the hustle to finish Christmas knitting cuz it’s already the 7th of December…what else would someone do but build a fire and practice a little spinning, right?

I’ve had a love-hate relationship with the spinning wheel I bought on eBay. It’s cute. Love it. It’s difficult for spinning. Hate it. Thought about putting it back on eBay. But frankly, I haven’t given it a fair chance. Haven’t had much time to practice spinning since August, what with all the weaving for the Knitting and Stitching Show this autumn and now being in the throws of Christmas knitting. So, I know I’m making these harsh judgments without giving the little handmade-Moswolt-wannabe-wheel a chance.

It needed a little tweaking. So, new rubber feet on the bottom to prevent it from traveling round the floor. Husband-Will made the orifice a little larger for easier threading. And interchanging some washers seemed to make the wheel rotate easier. Little things…but it would seem that the little things make a difference.

Now, it’ll never be a smooth wheel and will require more work for spinning, I realise. A small wheel needing more peddling or treadling or whatever the term happens to be. Nope, it’s not a classic-automatic-transmission-Mercedes, but rather a older-manual-everything-Mini-tin-can-on-wheels-in-the-days-before-Minis-were-cool.

But you know, it’s not just that the wheel is awkward…so am I…inexperienced and ignorant. So, I believe I shall withhold judgment on my little inexpensive spinning wheel and see what we can spin up together, with a little practice.

If the girls in the primary school knitting class are any indication, then the future of knitting is alive and well and in good hands I’d say!

On Wednesday afternoons, for the last year or so, I have been teaching primary-school girls to knit. Well…..I say I’ve been teaching, but in reality, I think I’m just superfluous adult supervision!

Here’s Muireann, our youngest. Even at 7 years old, she keeps working at it. My greatest joy is to hear her say, ‘Look, I think I’m getting it now!’

So much for doing simple scarves, these girls want to do felted handbags (yes, actually it’s fulling, I realise). Here’s Fionnuala’s brightly coloured bag at the final sewing-up-pre-wash-stage. Have to remind them that the bags will look like hideous 80s jumpers. Oh right…..these girls wouldn’t remember the 80s now, would they?

Love the creativity of these girls! Here’s Tess, who is quite a natural. Lovely tension and style sense. Can’t wait to see what her finished felted bag will look like.

Since I didn’t knit as a girl, I am constantly amazed at the fearlessness of young girls to try something. Here’s Sara’s individualized pattern for her bag. Decided to turn it sideways for a cool vertical striping.

So, could you knit lace when you were 11 years old? Julia can! I have absolutely no idea how she does it or what her stitch is, but she quietly slips yarn around needle for a nice lace-type pattern. Kudos to her granny who takes the time to teach her!

And finally, comes Sadhbh-The-Prodigy, which is pronounced ‘Sive’ in case you were wondering. (Love Irish names but I’ll not divert at this point…) I’m tellin’ ya, this girl plows ahead without fear or trepidation of any stitch. Yep, can you see the entrelac she’s working on? And I’m of absolutely no use to her as I’ve never even attempted entrelac! But truth is, she doesn’t need me as long as there’s a book to follow…

So, there you have it….amazing girls every one. They keep me on my toes, I must say. For the final couple of classes this term I decided I would really stick them with a challenge. I showed them brown and green yarn, a piece of paper and told them that we were going to come up with our own pattern for a simple Christmas tree ornament during our next class. Honestly, they didn’t even blink and said collectively, ‘Can I have the yarn now and do it this week to show you at the next class?’

I’m gob-smacked.

So, when 2 cones + 1 pattern does not equal a new jumper for me, it’s time to resort to ‘new math’ where 1+1=1 cool new yarn…

Remember these?

2 cones of aran weight tweed wool

plus
1 cool cabled jumper pattern from Debbie Bliss
But, this pattern requires her signature Kilcarra chunky-weight tweed yarn. Hmmmm…..don’t have that. Just 2 huge cones of the lighter aran-weight. Can’t justify purchase of more yarn. What to do?

By golly, it’s time for do-it-yerself chunky!

Taking one strand from each cone and knitting them together gives me not only a chunky weight wool (which matches the pattern gauge); but also by using the two different shades of red-ruby and deeper burgundy, I’m getting a very richly blended depth of colour (which of course does not show well in the pic). Yum! Can’t wait to start. Oh right…..must finish Christmas knitting….

As with most things, the scales usually balance and today it was Mother-Son time.

So Daughter-Kate’s 4th class at school, along with the 5th and 6th classes, were invited to participate in the filming of a children’s television programme. Never heard of it, frankly, but then again, we don’t own a television (although the TV police aren’t too sure about that…).

Anyway, while Daughter was waiting around for hours to capture her 2 minutes of fame on film, Son-Alex and I had a hot drink in the café at the National Botanic Gardens. Love that place! Beautiful walks…lovely flora…stunning conservatories…undoubtedly a wonderful environment to sip cappuccino.

And with me came the final pair of Fetchings. Jury is still out on whether the 2-on-1 magic loop method is faster. Can’t tell, as these were produced in fits and starts of knitting. I seemed to have to fiddle around a bit more with two than with one on the needle, but then again, no second-sock-syndrome to contend with. Final analysis…it was good to learn the method. Will have to try it on socks sometime this winter. But for now, on to the final two pre-Christmas-works-already-in-progress…