Head Over Heels

I am head over heels in love with this man, my husband.  For Valentine's Day, I knit him a hat to cover his head, as I've already knit him slippers to cover his heels.  He projects in the garage frequently, so I "stealth" knit this for him while he was home working in the garage.  When he came into the house, I had another knitting project at the ready to pop over this one.  

 The pattern is Bulky Knitted Hat by Kristen Omdahl.  I used stash yarn (yeah!) of Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick and Quick in brown and white.  It's knit from the top down, and meant to be knit flat and seamed, but I did knit it in the round.  I used Jenn's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-Off to finish.

 I've knit him a hat of this yarn before (my own pattern), and he loves the warmth of it, but I did not quite make it large enough to cover all of his ears.  

 With this pattern, we're covered.  Or, rather, his ears are covered.  

 And now back to my Ravellenic Games 2014 challenge knit.

With my catghan on my lap.  Always.

Stay tuned for details about my entries in the Revellenic Games 2014.

Past and Present

There is a certain time of day, in the late afternoon, when it is necessary to turn on the lights in the kitchen.  My kitchen is such a bright, vibrant space with plenty of sunshine beaming in.  But in the late afternoon during the winter months, the sun goes down and makes it necessary to turn on the artificial lighting.  I have plenty of lighting in my kitchen.  I do not like a dark kitchen.  

Today after working in the kitchen for a bit, I wandered to other areas of the house to do other tasks.  Just a short bit later, I returned to the kitchen and it needed light.  I make the transition smoothly, but for a brief moment, I mourn the passing of the sun from my kitchen.  But within moments, I am swept up in the pulse of making dinner, lively conversation, and reminiscences of the day and the kitchen is bright, bright, bright with love and lighting. 

This picture hung on a wall opposite my seating arrangement throughout the whole of my childhood.  My mother was kind enough to gift it to me when I started out on my own as a young adult and it has been in my kitchen ever since.  It is faded and aged.  I read and re-read this prayer over and over again as a child.  My eyes always seek out print.  I have it memorized I'm sure.  If prompted I could recite the whole thing.

How about a little project viewing?  The granny square lap covering rests over my dad's knees.  This was made by his mother, his wife and his daughter.  The granny squares in the middle were made by none other than my infamous mummu and came into my possession this past fall.  The four corner squares were made by my mother, who gave them to me last summer.  I put them all together, added filler and border (double crochet) and wrapped it for my daddy for Christmas.  I wish my crochet talent matched that of the matriarchs who came before me, but it is what it is. . . Not my specialty.  But I think he loves it nonetheless.

Twelve Things

12

Well, hello there.  It's been a year since I've been in this space.  A busy year.  To try to catch things up properly would take pages and pages of a year in the life essay.  Instead, I thought, let's do a list.  Twelve things for the twelve months that have passed.  Not a month by month sequence of events, but twelve major happenings in our lives.  After we get through that, there will be knitting (and a bit of crocheting) to post about.  But first. . .

1.  The boy finished elementary school.  

2.  The boy started high school.  Yes, we have a high schooler in the house.

3.  Lots of home improvement occurred, especially on the patio where we spend most of the daytime (and quite a bit of the evening) hours during cooperative weather.

After a particularly strong gust of freak wind (that I swear came out of nowhere!), we discovered the tempered glass tabletop shattered into millions of moaning pieces.  We were heartbroken.  That table hosts daily coffee breaks, meals, chat sessions, a spot of reading or knitting, pondering and entertaining.  The table is no longer being manufactured and after numerous phone calls we learned that we would have to take out a small loan to have one custom made.  

Inspiration struck and we designed and constructed our own tile table top.  I think it's beautiful!

4.  We welcomed a grand baby girl into the fold!  A beautiful little girl, who was immediately topped with a flower by this knitting grandma.

5.  My sweet boy Toivo passed away after a long fight with chronic renal failure.  He was a doll and a sweetheart to the end.  I held him as he passed and the last things he heard were my words whispering "I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you..."  I miss him every day.  We were together 16 years and two weeks.  His little brother was very lost without him.  The following picture was a daily occurrence with these two, but was taken the day before he passed away.  The picture that follows it, was Heimo the day after he passed away.   

 6.  The boy got his first deer.  Such a proud, young hunter you never saw!

 7.  The boys went off to hunting camp up north with the woodsmen! 

8.  My school got a brand-spanking new building!  It is beautiful AND has air-conditioning.  It is a treat to work in such a lovely building.  There are times I miss the character and flair of the 100+ year old building, but I am truly grateful to be in such a wonderful new school.

9.  My parents celebrated 50 years together.  Unfortunately, their anniversary was one week after another very large event, (#10) and so they were not given the celebration that 50 years deserves.  We, of course, all gathered with them, but given the expenditure of energy and money on #10, our fanfare with low-key.  What a beautiful couple.  They have been and continue to be an inspiration to me as to what a loving, married couple should be.

10.  I married the man of my dreams!

There.  Whew!  Twelve things that happened last year.  It was a year of big things and lots of lovely little things too.  I will be back in this space soon for an update of knitting activities.  Those big things consumed me and left little time and energy for this space, but hopefully I'll be back with some regularity.  Anything big happen for you last year?