Life's a Stitch

Once you have kids, the worrying never stops. Mari is driving to Calgary Stampede for a long birthday weekend. Eleven hours of driving seems a bit excessive for me, the one who doesn’t tolerate long distance driving very well.

Elina is having some health issues. In a county of socialized medicine, where things happen slowly, after some concerning blood work, next week she is scheduled in for a CT scan, two ultrasounds, a specialist visit to be followed up with a visit to another specialist. On the way out of the doctor’s office today she made a comment that next week she had to drive into town three times from her one hour away job for medial appointments. I suggested she take the week off. She explained that it wouldn’t be possible since she is taking the following week off to travel with her BF. In my mommy fashion, I told her that her health was more important. In Elina fashion, she replied, "Mother, I love you a lot, but you are so difficult," I replied, "Just wait until I’m 80."

When you raise kids, the issues don’t go away, they just change.

I’m coping by knitting away, but my photos aren’t available on my laptop. See you next week. Thank goodness my job allows us to use our sick time to tend to family member’s health problems.

I love the summer. Now, if the weather would cooperate. This Pacific Northwest summer is right up there with the one first week in July when I watched my kid’s swim lessons – me in Goretex under an umbrella, and them, in swimsuits. That might have been the year when Bryant’s swimming lesson report card read "It was a pleasure having Bryant in the class, looking forward to next year when maybe he’ll get wet."

The living was very easy this past weekend in Bellingham. Our biggest decision was weather related – if it’s over 70 degrees at cocktail hour we decided on white wine, under, it was red.

It was fun teaching the visiting 14 yr old the love of knitting. She told me I didn’t fit her image of a knitter. I was glad to part of her reality check; she doesn’t fit her image of a knitter either. I think she likes her knitting goth combination. It sets her apart from others her age, which seems to be her goal for this part of her life. I tried to teach her the concept of process knitting. If you’ve made up your mind that you like to knit, and you’re going to do it on a regular basis, it doesn’t matter what you are knitting or how long it takes to finish a project. In fact sometimes, you even go backwards. I was a good role model with Marina.

And of course there was the shopping. Here are my finds, all rationalized by being discovered in the clearance bin of Hellens, where I met up with Dorothy of Missouri Star:

1. Quite possibly the softest yarn I’ve ever felt – Classic Elite Miracle, alpaca and tencel (made from wood fibre). Destined to be mixed with a ribbon for a fancy shmancy shawl.

2. Grignasco Top Print, another alpaca, with subtle self striping! Another shawl.

3. Grignasco Top Print for a scarf.

4. Berroco Suede for moccasin baby booties – so cute.

And the best part – all but the Suede were in the clearance bin.

After fighting holiday weekend traffic Thursday night, Lynn, Samantha and I arrived at our place in WA. As we turned into the driveway I saw someone was parking in my space. Then I looked through our windows and saw someone was watching my TV. It wasn’t a stretch to think that someone was sleeping in my bed. Middle aged confusion ensued. We rent our place out by the night and for a second I considered that perhaps I had forgotten a holiday weekend rental. Had things really gotten that bad with my pre menopausal brain that I could do something like that? And why hadn’t this renter called and complained that the condo hadn’t been cleaned since the last renter?

There was a logical explanation. There were some date changes in the last rental and we had arrived a day early. There was no need for this apparently ditzy landlady to disturb the unsuspecting family.Luckily we had a key to a neighbour’s weekend place and after he stopped laughing was more than agreeable in helping us out of our bind.

The weather wasn’t cooperative so we started out our weekend shopping. US shopping, despite the dollar difference, is a treat for those of us from north of the border. Such selection, the sales, one sales tax!

Then Missouri Star met Life’s a Stitch. What is it about getting together with another blogger that guarantees a good time? Dorothy and I met for the first time live at Hellen’s Needlework shop in Mount Vernon WA, along with my good sport non blogging very little knitting friend Lynn. I took along Marina and my flower basket bag.Dorothy brought several examples of her amazing lace knitting. You should see it in person.

When Missouri Star met Life’s a Stitch there were smiles:

When Missouri Star met Life’s a Stitch, the yarn stash multiplied (photos later). Really I wasn’t going to buy any yarn…

I’m known for my high energy level so I shouldn’t be surprised when my eldest seems to take after me. It became apparent early on. One night, when she was a preschooler, she couldn’t get to sleep. I explained to her the concept of counting sheep. She knew her numbers well, so I figured we were all set for a peaceful time of it. A while later, she came into our room and proclaimed, "I was counting those sheep, but they were going too fast." Oh yeah, that’s my girl.

So, this girl is now 21; she’s the one who has completed her nursing degree. This summer she elected to put nursing on hold and work a 24 hour a day job as a camp director at the camp she went to as a child and where she worked as a student. Did I mention that it’s for minimum wage? OK I get mean mommy points for that comment. Don’t cry, Elina (she’s my sensitive  child), you have very good intentions and I respect them. How can I complain when I’ve chosen a career in social work in the non-profit world? The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, as they say.

I am disappointed though, that she won’t be able to come to Bellingham for our yearly "girls’" weekend today. Each year Lynn, the mom of Elina’s best friend since kindergarten, and some combination of her three daughters, my two daughters and Bryant, have escaped to Bellingham, WA for a few days. We’re doing it this weekend, except both Bryant and Elina will be working at the camp. We have a new addition, Lynn’s boyfriend’s daughter, a 14 year old, eager to learn knitting is joining us. I’m looking forward to indoctrinating her into the knitting life. The other knitting highlight will be meeting Dorothy, aka Missouri Star, a fellow blogger, at a knit shop in Mount Vernon, WA.

If I’m able to piggy back  bum off of someone’s wireless network down there, I’ll post over the long weekend. If not, I’ll be back next Weds or Thurs. Have a wonderful Canada Day/4th of July weekend! And here’s my latest Marina update:

Have you ever read Judith Viorst’s, Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day? Poor Alexander, nothing went right for him that day. He wakes up late with gum in his hair, gets left out of games at school, and even has to go to the dentist! If only he could move to Australia, then life would be good.

I’ve had a terrible horrible no good very bad knitting day. Have you ever knit two million stitches before you realize there is a mistake 100,000 stitches back? OK, I knit 64 stitches when I thought I had a mistake 32 stitches back. I went back and fixed it. Merrily knitting along, 300 stitches later, I realized my mistake had really been 64 stitches back instead of 32. The dilemma – unknit 300 stitches or take out the section of 32 and reknit them two rows below. It didn’t matter because it took the same amount of time either way. After fixing it I realized another mistake occurring once every 32 stitches. When will it end! I feel like I’ve spent the entire knitting part of my day fixing Marina mistakes.

I guess it’s like the end to Alexander, "Some days are like that, you know."

Had a good day on Sunday, though. We made it to two concerts that were part of the Vancouver Jazz Festival: Swingamajig – a feel good gypsy swing group featuring a dad and his 15 yr old son and then Sophie Milman, a 21 yr old raised in Russia and Israel, with an incredible jazz voice. Move over Diana Krall.

Marina, frontwards and back:

Google can sure do some interesting things. I’ve used the translate feature to shop for yarn in Japan and Germany. It’s not totally accurate, but it works. Recently I’ve noticed somebody from France is googling my blog and using the translate feature to read it. I took a look at what she was getting and it was so interesting. I have high school and some college French and I could understand a fair bit of it. Brilliant, aren’t I? I mean I actually wrote the stuff so I have some clue as to what was supposed to be said. But it seemed more accurate than some of the English translations I’ve used. So, if you are that person from France, welcome, you’ve made my day interesting. By the way, Le Vie Un Point – Life’s a Stitch!

Look what Mari and Mitch made this weekend:

And I’m trying to come up with a caption for this photo, so if you have any ideas, please help me out:

Angie made a comment the other day about a radio show that featured mountain climbers naming their "seven peaks of mountain climbing." I take that to mean their ultimate climbing experiences.

She asked about the seven peaks of knitting. What would they be for you? So far for me it’s my Marina sweater, my Charlotte’s Web done in glitter alpaca and kid silk mohair and may be my first Fair Isle, a combination of Philosopher’s Wool patterns. I need four more peaks to make a complete set.

On the topic of Charlotte’s Web, I taught my first Charlotte’s Web class last night. It went as I expected, which was pretty good, but I’m not sure everyone else feels that way. Those of you who have done one know the learning curve. Really, these guys did pretty well. Ignore any nasty comments that appear on this blog 🙂 A reminder for those of you who took the class – remember, when you put in your lifeline, go around your stitch markers, not through them. I’m not sure I made that clear and I hope I haven’t sent anyone overboard with a poorly placed lifeline.

I really enjoyed all your kidisms. I remembered another one – Elina referred to the car park at the mall as the "too dark."

Some Marina relief, how about a photo of my WalMart orchid, $14.97CDN and still blooming after four months. At one point it had eight blossoms:

Or my Christmas Cactus that has bloomed for six months. OK, I have two different plants in the same pot and they bloom sequentially; all I have to do is turn the pot around for the full effect:

Sitting around the dinner table, all three children, various boyfriends, dinner guests, and my mom, this is a rare event. We start talking about things we used to say when we were kids. Bryant called his cuffs his "cliffords" as in "roll up my cliffords, Mum." He called his jacket hood his neighbourhood.

My friend’s child used to think the first line of the Canadian national anthem was "Oh Canada, we’re almost out of land" instead of "O Canada, our home and native land," and my daughter thought the second line was "two saints in love" (that must be her Catholic school upbringing), instead of "true patriot love." So that would be "O Canada, we’re almost out of land, two saints in love, in all thy sons command."

My sister used to call music: moose cake. I say "used to" because she sure would sound funny calling it moose cake at age 47. My favourite was Elina’s expression for a sneeze that wouldn’t quite come. She called it a "stuck bless you."

Do you have any favourite kidisms?

Marina, three weeks into it, from a different angle:

This weekend Gracee graduated from the school of mouse hunting to hunting bigger things. She was begging to go outside and I knew she had just been out so I wasn’t inclined to give in to her pleas. I heard Mari’s b/f Mitch ask Bryant to take her out, but I was busy and didn’t interfere, thinking it couldn’t hurt. Was I wrong. Next thing I hear is Mitch’s ultra calm voice saying “There’s a big-ass bear out there and Gracee is barking at it.” Holy, I took one look at 20 lb Grace, barking into the face of a 300 plus pound bear and hysterically went inside not wanting to see white fur fly. It was a long minute before Mitch was calmly dragging in by the collar an unhappy, but all in one piece, Grace. That dog has no clue as to her size. Although I am grateful for his bravery, Mitch has no clue how dangerous a hungry bear can be:

Nadia was right when she called Marina an epic knit. I hope following this project isn’t as boring as reading the Illiad; it certainly isn’t a boring knit. Really, if you look at all the photos consecutively, there is progress:

Quite a few years back when I was working in programs with first time parents I knew a different generation was having babies when the new moms were appearing with nose piercings before they were fashionable. Yesterday I saw something that indicated that we were into yet another generation of parents. I saw a dad pushing a stroller with a tiny babe, but he wasn’t walking. He was pushing the stroller while skateboarding. Whatever makes parenting easier works for me. It looked like he was being safe enough and both he and the baby were enjoying it.

Hope to get some Marina time in this weekend. Progress so far: