Erica’s Blog

After I finished the Mexicana scarf, I started on a Paris Loop Scarf.  It took me a while to find a pattern that worked for me.  I wanted to do some kind of lace/openwork, but the first two ones I tried just didn’t float my boat.  I really liked the patterns, but the yarn was difficult to work with in those patterns, I kept making mistakes and having to frog, and didn’t like how it looked b/c you couldn’t really see the pattern well.

This yarn doensn’t frog well, so the second time I decided I didn’t like how it was working out, instead of frogging, I bound off and gave it to the Things for a Barbie shawl.  They were pretty happy.

You can’t see the openwork too well on the picture, but maybe I’ll get a better detail shot later, after it’s done.

YARN:  Paton’s Divine, color Floral Fantasy (I just love this color!  Then again, I also really love their Richest Rose and Orangina).  If this sounds familiar, it’s b/c I made MEY’s poncho and Adri’s scarf from this in Denim Storm (and I still have 5 1/2 skeins of it in the attic!).  I also made a feather-and-fan scarf in the Halo Blue color.

PATTERN:  Paris Loop Scarf.  I don’t know that I’ll make it super long, but we’ll see.  This is an easy pattern, but it’s not quite as conducive to car knitting as the one I used for the Mexicana scarf b/c it’s seven repeating rows, but within the seven rows, rows 4 & 5 are the same and 6 & 7 are the same, so it can be hard to remember which row you’re on.

Should be really pretty when it’s done.  I just love the way this yarn feels!  I’m thinking that I’ll use the four skeins of  Richest Rose to make a shawl.  Then again, I have so much of the Denim Storm that I might be able to use one of the actual Patons patterns I have and just do it in two colors.  Ooooh, that could be interesting….

Now that I have the good camera back, I can post more “finished object” pictures.

This is the Mexicana Homespun/Gold Wool-Ease scarf mentioned in the earlier “on the needles” post.  I finished it on Saturday.  The pattern is mindless enough that I memorized it (it’s only three repeating rows) and worked on it in the car.  [We spent a good portion of the day driving down the coast with the Things & Jenna.  We found a beach where dogs were allowed and hung out for quite a while, then drove further down the coast and had a late lunch.  We never made it all the way to Santa Cruz, but it was a great time.]

Anyhow, it’s done.  There’s about 1/4 skein of the Homespun left, and just a very small amount of Wool-Ease.  I think I have one or two more skeins of the gold Wool-Ease in the attic, though.  I’m thinking Wool-Ease would be nice for a lace scarf.  I could use a stitch pattern from my monster pattern book.  That’s a couple of projects away, though.

The camera turned up yesterday morning.  I was SO happy!  Hubby came to me when I was in the shower, and said, “Guess what I found in the shredder bin,” and held up the camera.  All we can figure is that it was on top of the dryer when I had way too much stuff up there, and it fell off into the shredder bin.  B/c it’s so much heavier than the shredded paper, it fell to the bottom and got covered up as we shredded more stuff.  When he went to empty it into the compost bin yesterday morning, he found the camera.

I was SO relieved.  We use that camera all the time, and we’ve grown to rely on having it.  It’s still very new, and it wasn’t cheap.  Yippee!  Hooray for hubby for finding it!  Auntie & Adri, you can stop looking for it at your houses, and I’m so glad it wasn’t stolen from my purse at church like I feared.

‘Way back in March, I made a poncho for MEY for her April birthday.  She loved it, and from all accounts, wears it frequently (hey, this is the San Francisco area where you can wear wool 11 months of the year). Well, she FINALLY sent me a picture of herself in it.  We call this the “Rob, hurry up and take the picture so I can send it to Erica and get her off my back about it” pose.  Looks good on her, I think (the poncho, not the pose).

My cousin Jay and his wife Kirsten recently came back from China with their newest daughter, Linnea (the one holding the sign).  As you can see from the picture, Linnea is not the first girl they’ve adopted.  I admire these guys.  A one-income family, home-schooling all five girls, deeply committed to their church (they spent last summer in England at a military mission).  Pretty intense.  I’d say they all look pretty happy, wouldn’t you?  Jay comes through San Francisco from time to time (he’s a pilot for one of the big airlines), but I still haven’t gotten to meet Kirsten, and they’ve been married a lot longer than we have.  Someday.  But, until then, we remain email buddies (not that she has a lot of free time!).

Today was the anniversary of Paul’s death, known to some in the grieving community as his “angel day”.  It was pretty rough, but we got through it.

At church, the head songleader warned us that one of the songs we would be singing today was “I’ll Fly Away”, and old-timey church hymn that was sung at Paul’s memorial service (the choir knows it better now!).  We really appreciate that he lets us know so we can be prepared emotionally.  Hubby & I had both been having a hard time letting out what we were feeling, so we decided this time to stay in the room for it (though Bobcat sprang out of her chair as soon as they announced the song b/c she was ready to leave with me if I needed her to).  I bawled, but it was good to let myself feel it instead of stuffing it or running away from it.

Later, MarkyMark, Bobcat, Andrei, Gordon & Fiona joined us as we trekked out to the cemetery.  We kept it small b/c it just felt like what we needed.  I ordered a “medium-sized” blue & white floral arrangement. I tell ya, the “large” must be humongous, b/c the “medium” was really big.  It was expensive, but worth it.  It fell over a couple of times until we got it in the right spot and braced it with some rocks. I always forget that it’s as windy there in San Pablo as it is here in South City.  Bobbi read a poem, Mark read a couple of Bible verses, and we all talked for a while.  Hubby prayed, and before we left, we went and stopped by Grandma & Grandpa’s spot.  I do so love the inscription on their headstone, below the picture of their house — “La vida no es siempre, el amor si.”  This means, “Life isn’t forever, love is.”  The kids had fun running around the cemetery, and the Things really enjoyed being able to watch “Lion King” in Gordon & Fiona’s van.

After we got back, we threw some meat on the barbecue.  Food was great — barbecue is in my hubby’s genes.  After dinner and brownies, we popped open the bottle of Dom Perignon we’d been saving for about nine years.  Today seemed an appropriate occasion, so we toasted Paul.  We don’t know enough about champagne to be able to tell the good stuff from the bad stuff (well, OK, we did have one bottle once that tasted terrible), but this tasted great, and boy, was it strong.  The six of us each had one glass, and we were all feeling it, even on a full stomach.

Gordon & Fiona had to get back home, but MarkyMark & Bobcat were able to stay and help us put together Paul’s shadowbox.  This was hubby’s idea, and it was a good one.  We bought the shadowbox and most of the supplies last August, right after Paul died, but we’d never been quite ready to sit down and do it.  We all thought it turned out well, and it definitely felt like the right time to do it.  We got it up on the wall and everything.  [Thanks, Linda, for being willing to help even though we never worked it out.  Thanks, Terry P., for the idea of covering "deceased" on the birth certificate with his hospital bracelet.]

Thanks, Grandma Ruthie & Grandpa Gil for the card and the balloon.  Thanks, Adri, for the e-card.  Thank you, Treece, Hobbes, and Auntie for the phone calls.  Thank you to Patty, LaSchaunda, and Jovita for remembering today.  Thank you Jason & Michele for the card.  Many, many thanks to Gordon & Fiona and MarkyMark & Bobcat for coming and to Gordon & Fiona’s boys for letting their parents be gone so much of the day.  I took a couple of pictures, and Bobcat took the rest.