A Flood of Grandsons

This has been a very special week in our lives.  Last Saturday in Lexington, DD & SIL1 brought home our new, big grandson, Aa, as their foster son and as soon as is legally possible (90 days) adoption papers will be signed and he'll be ours forever.  A little closer to home, DS & DIL1 delivered LC's baby brother, OJ, on Wednesday afternoon at 2 o'clock.  He's 22.5 inches long, 8 lbs. 11 oz. and I think he is quite possibly the handsomest baby in the Western Hemisphere.  I got to meet him yesterday and can already tell we're going to be great pals.  Like my friend, LL, tells her grandson, we're pals for life.  Not that I'm not pals for life with LC too, you understand, I can see the three of us getting into all sorts of lovely adventures over the years.  He likes me, I could feel it.


Durwood drove me down to the Bay Lakes Knitting Guild meeting last night.  It was the night all the Design-a-thon entries were displayed and voting commenced.  There weren't as many entries as I thought there'd be but I really enjoyed seeing and touching all of them.  It was hard to decide which one to vote for in 2 of the 3 categories, not so hard in the third as there was only one entry in it--mine.  Guess I'm a winner this year.  By default, but I'll take it.  I worked hard on my entry.  Oh! and now I can show them to you.  Yay!  I've been nagging the membership all year that all it takes to be a designer is to pick a stitch pattern you'd like to try and turn it into a dishcloth.  I found a "fishtail lace" stitch and made a dishcloth, well, probably a facecloth because the yarn's pink and pretty shiny, but I just added a few border stitches and zoomed.  A little wash, a little blocking, and voila! a design.  In the next category I resurrected an old scarf pattern I made up to try to learn to hate purling less.  Once again, I used a single stitch, the "purse" stitch, cast on, and purled until I ran out of yarn.  I used two skeins of the same variegated yarn and held them together to get an interesting mix of colors.  For my third entry I worked a tiny bit harder--but only a tiny bit.  I wanted to make a felted purse that will function as a purse and not just a fashion accessory so I knitted a gigantic bag of brown wool on big needles and ten feet of I-cord out of the same yarn, then felted it all.  I lined it with a bright print (so things don't get lost in the bottom), cut holes to thread the handle through, and made three danglies of beads and Chinese coins to decorate the front.  None of it was particularly difficult knitting, actually writing the patterns out so someone else can knit it too was trickier.  Once again, I am so glad I played along.  Winning is never my goal, stretching my knitting skills and being braver than I was last year is where it's at for me.  I'm not going to quit nagging the Guild members about entering.  It ain't rocket science, people, it's sticks and string.  Get a little brave.  We already like you so you won't be risking disfavor even if what you make isn't perfect, we'll be impressed that you tried.  We're swell like that.



Knitting progress was made.  I got Sudoku Block #8 crocheted together and all the ends woven in last night and this morning.  Now I only have to knit one more Berry, Violet, and Snow squares, put the last block together and then get started knitting the strips to join them.  Hey, maybe I'll finally finish that Sudoku Throw in time for next year's Design-a-thon.





Today's big adventure is going to be taking a shower--all by myself.  You try doing it with only one functioning leg and tell me it's not an adventure.  I'm eternally grateful that DD gave Durwood a handheld shower nozzle and installed it for us for Christmas a couple years ago and we bought a shower chair at Walmart last year.  These two items make showering by myself possible.  I thank you, DD, and I'm certain the noses of those around me thank you too.

April 22--Walter Bibikow, DS5/T-20, Tango, Argentina.

Their bodies entwine,
faces turned away,
as if eye contact would
fling them to the floor
in unrestrained lust.
So their torsos press together,
hands clasp,
legs thrust and cross.
The music holds them upright--
but just barely.
~~~~~

I have always been struck by how people dancing the tango never look at each other despite the fact that it's the most sensual dance.  Today I don't think the gray sky will be pierced by sunlight the way it was yesterday.  It has the look of staying all day.  April showers bring May flowers.  And what do Mayflowers bring?  Pilgrims.  Gotcha.  Man, I love goofy riddles.
--Barbara