Nope! I Am NOT going to be Quick about Quitting!

This is week 17 of the ABC with the Accidental Knitter meme.

My letter Q is for Quick

Sometimes (okay most times) I just want to be quick with my knitting.   I see a cool pattern and I imagine myself instantly wearing it or giving it as a gift to someone special...like tomorrow.   

Take for example my current project.    After all, over 1800 others have knitted the Holden Shawlette.  I should be able to whip it up in no time and be really quick about it...right?

Not so quick.   As you can see by my project page, I started this 2 weeks ago.   I have re-started it twice.  Tore it out to the life line three times.   Counted and re-counted stitches over and over. 

Okay so,  I finally successfully get past row 5 of the lace part and onto row 6.  Whew.  I'm on a roll now. Row 6 - even number row, WS, so naturally I purl.   And then as I am reading the directions for row 7,  I notice the directions clearly state that Row 6 was supposed to have been knitted.   AARGH! 

Tear it back to the life line (which I placed just before the start of the Lace part) and the life line frays and gets tangled in the stitches and I scream and tear the stupid life line out.

I rip back to row 90 of the stockinette part, knit two more stockinette rows and I am back to the Row 1 of the Lace part. 

I have this thing memorized by now.   Don't even need to read the directions.   Nope, not me, I can quickly get through this.  

I knit Lace row 1.  Count to make sure I am on track.  Great so far.

Lace row 3.  Perfect!  Right number of stitches and everything.

Lace row 5.  Couldn't be better.   Don't even need to count...You know where this is going, don't you?

KNIT row 6.  Not gonna fool me twice.

Complete row 7.  Yeah!  I finally made it past row 7. 

Onto Row 8.  Maybe I should count my stitches, just to make sure...

I am 14 stitches short.  14 stitches!  How did that happen?  Can't I just add 14 stitches evenly spaced?

I know, I know.  This is lace we're talking about.

At midnight last night, frustrated, I bunched the whole thing up and threw it in the bag.

First thing I think of  when I woke up this morning...I know why I am 14 stitches short.  

Directions for Lace row 5...There is that extra yarn over BEFORE the K2tog.  

So now I am not so quickly un-knitting back to Lace row 3.  Yes un-knitting...because I was soooo confident that I figured I didn't need no stinkin life line!

And NO I am not going to QUIT!

Reading His Face

After I heard the news yesterday about the not as positive as they have been CT scan results, I was overcome with emotion.   It is my nature to push my feelings down as far as they will go and hold back the tears for as long as I possibly can.

From the time he was a little boy, Joe has been a quiet person.   His feelings are communicated, quite loudly, through facial expressions.   I have learned to read his face.

I know when he is happy because his eyes light up and he allows a small smile.   When he is angry, his lips tighten together.   When he is disappointed his face becomes very still.

Even though I have only recently learned his frightened face,  I have a clear picture of him sitting on the exam table as he listened to the Doctor explain to him  that the existing tumors have grown and that there are two new growths on his lung.

I have a clear picture of him after the Doctor left the exam room as Joe fought hard to push the feelings down as far as they would go and hold back his tears for as long as he possibly could.

When I spoke with him later, I fumbled with words.  The standard motherly comforting words of "Don't worry, it's going to be okay" somehow just don't seem to fit.  

Because I think it might make him feel uncomfortable,  I haven't shared my blog with Joe.

  But this is what I want him to know.

 Joe, my dear son,

 I am so sorry that you have to fight for every moment of your life.  I am so grateful that you and Anne found each other again.   I am so happy that you have gotten to experience the joy of having a son.   I am so sad that your time with him might not be as long as it should be.  I am so angry about the unfairness that this has happened to such a gentle soul.
 I love you more than words can say.    

Your strength is my inspiration to stay strong so that I can be there for you every step of the way.  

Loving you always and forever,

Mom

Anne and Joe have a special and dear friend.  Her name is Christon Stephanie Halkiotis.  She is running  in the 2011 ING New York City Marathon on Nov. 6.  Her goal is to raise $3500 in the fight against cancer and she is running for Joe.

Click here  to read more about her story and support her if you can.

Some Pages Are Quite Serious

Today is the 16th Monday of An Accidental Knitter's ABC Meme
My letter P is about Pages

Now that my blog is six months old, I thought it was time to examine a few other options that are available with Blogger.

One of the main reasons that I chose to write a blog was to express my feelings about subjects that might sometimes be uncomfortable for me and for readers of my blog.

Something that I noticed on other people's blogs were different tabbed sections which appeared across the top of the blog, such as an "About Me" tab.

I wondered if I could create a section like that and use it for my more serious thoughts and feelings.

I did a little research and found that these tabs are actually called "pages".   I know that to the experienced bloggers this is "Elementary, my Dear Watson".   (By the way I just found out that Sherlock Homes never actually "said" that exact phrase).

Anyway I digress.

So I successfully created an "About Me"page  and a page which I am calling "My Stream of Consciousness".  The "Stream" page will contain those serious thoughts I mentioned.

I also discovered that these pages will appear on every post.   I am assuming that I can add to my "Stream" page each day if I want to, right?

Anyway "TaDa!"   My new pages.