Father’s Day

On September 23rd of this year it will have been seven years since my father slipped quietly away. It was nothing sudden and not unanticipated; rather like watching someone take a fatal fall in excruciatingly slow motion over about ten years, as it happened, so I had a lot of time to come to terms with the inevitable, both mentally and emotionally. Still, nothing can prepare you for that final irrevocable moment when one of the ropes that guy you into the web of life is cut. It was, in a way, like losing a tooth. The socket heals, the pain subsides, but the gap is always there.

This is my favorite picture of my dad. It was made for his parents, and I have it in the frame my grandmother put it in to put it by my grandfather’s bedside as he lay dying from cancer.

I cannot escape the feeling, based on recent events, that far reaching changes are again going to be coming into my life. But, I’m not one to borrow trouble or cross bridges before I come to them. I make my plans as best I can, and then just let it go.

I know I come across as a bit blithe (especially to my mom) because I don’t seem to worry about things. She is a worrier and what-if-er. (I suspect that she suffers from some degree of chronic anxiety.) But, like I say, I make my plans and then I let it go and move on to something else. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

In the knitting news, I’ve been working out the kinks in the little skull cap. I finished this one. It’s a bit too large and too long, but it does what it says on the tin — it keeps all those little short hairs around my forehead from tickling me when the fan’s on, as it is all the time now.

I’ve started another one, again on US1 (2.25 mm) needles. You’ll recognize the yarn — I had it left over from the Sweet Irene shawl. Not a full ball, and it’s knitting up at a different gauge than the unfortunately company went out of business GiGi silk above.

Because the Infinity Shawl is a fairly detailed pattern with cables and is worked in dark yarn, I have to really pay attention to what I’m doing. The same with the blue Latticia Venezia.

The light blue Latticia doesn’t require as much concentration. I’m much farther along than this on it, but I wanted to share the hint about those two bits of garter stitch on either side of the lattice lace — They are where the increases happen and they must each have the same number of stitches.

Rather than having to constantly be counting that ever increasing number of stitches on each side to make sure they’re the same, I counted the same number out from the center and put a different color of stitch marker (yellow) at that point. Then I only have to count the stitches between that (yellow) marker and the (white) marker at the end of that section. Every time I get twelve stitches in the gap, I move the (yellow) marker over 10 stitches. I’m only embarrassed that it took me 70 stitches (140 rows ) into the project to come up with the idea. I’m going to make a note about it in the pattern before I put it up on my knitting patterns blog. You can also use that tip for when you have a large number of stitches to cast on for a project — cast on 25 and put a marker, cast on another 25 and put a marker, etc. Makes keeping up with the numbers a lot easier.

I’m not a monogamous knitter — I know you’ll be shocked to hear it. (Not!) I like to have several WIPs of varying degrees of complexity depending on how engaged I want to be with the knitting. Also, I can only knit for so long on little needles before my hands become unhappy. Nice to have a project on bigger needles to switch over to.

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I’m well into the second panel of stockinette and lattice lace on Latticia Venezia. After this second panel, there will be another panel of garter stitch, and then the same again, so it will be three times the current width by the end, quite a deep and long shawl. Of course, if you didn’t want it quite that wide, you could take as many stitches as you liked out of the garter panels. That Berroco Modern Cotton DK has a fabulous drape. I love the feel and the color. I’ll be using this yarn again.

Reminding those who may have just tuned in, I live in a portion of Texas that was classed as “semi-arid” even before climate change started playing for keeps, which is why I don’t knit sweaters. It doesn’t get all that cold here at the same latitude as Casablanca, Morocco. Shawls work better for my warmth needs. It’s also why I don’t work with a lot of heavy wool. But I’m trying some light wools, some sock yarns, and whatnot. You don’t know what works until you try it.