Blankie but no Baby

I finally finished the baby blanket I started as a swatch. I couldn’t figure out how I wanted to hide the ends.

Robyn (blogless?) and I discussed several options via email, and I liked her idea of a blanket binding. I ended up choosing a stockinette border doubled over with a picot fold line.

This seemed like a good idea at the time, but after washing and drying, many little ends were sticking thru the picot holes. Duh. Good way to hide ends, leave little openings for them to sneak thru. A little time with scissors helped. Hope it stays that way. The recipient just lives around the corner, so I can fix as needed. This baby has been slow in arriving, so I gave the blanket early to see if it would encourage an appearance. Finally we got a call last night. Just my luck, I am leaving for TNNA shortly, so baby doting and the after photo with blankie will have to wait.

I had a great time last week being a guest teacher for my friend Kristi’s Waldorf School fiber class. I forgot my camera, but they were a great group of 5th graders, all making socks. I did a little how-to on cables. The boys were knitting away discussing how much they couldn’t WAIT for the new Pirates of the Caribbean movies. After class, two girls asked me for my autograph! I just about keeled over trying to suppress the laugh. One of them clutched the now-signed handout to her chest and said “I can’t wait to show my mother. She’s never going to believe this!” What her mother will never believe is why the hell she asked for my autograph! But after an ego-bruising morning at the office, this was very satisfying. Highly recommended.

Spring and Sheep

Everyone is posting beautiful pictures of spring flowers. We were way behind, then it got HOT, now it’s normal, whatever that means for May in Minnesota. Here’s the baby crabapple we planted last fall, seen during a strange foggy morning.

I went to Shepherd’s Harvest on Saturday morning. I have always wanted to go and never did, but this time I was determined, even though I had to leave early to meet the farrier at the barn.

I was greeted on the way in to the first building by this group playing House of the Rising Sun on pan pipe and electric keyboard. Their selections over the course of the morning were, um, eclectic.

I really wanted to see the stock dog demonstration, which was great fun. I saw sheep dog trials in Ireland once, but no one had ever explained it to me.

I met some of my knit buds and wandered around, but bought nothing but a lamb brat. (bratwurst, not a misbehaving lamb) So proud of my restraint. There was spinning everywhere. I resisted. I cannot. I must not. Go away.

Checking out the about to be sheared

Shearing

And even though I am stridently opposed to cat photos in knitting blogs, since Theresa has already blemished my perfect record, here’s a combo I couldn’t resist. I took this last fall while waiting for the farrier, and just found it again. For some strange reason my horse loves cats.

Knitting Basket

Thanks to all of you out there who purchased the Tiger Hat pattern to benefit Heifer International so far. I have raised $580 todate. That’s $80 over the original goal of $500, enough to purchase what HI calls a Knitting Basket.  It is still available, of course.  And don’t forget to send me pictures for the gallery!

The gift is four wool bearing animals. Thanks to those who have mentioned my hat on their blogs and directed folks here to purchase - especially Dez,Theresa ,Wendy,Susan and Ryan

The blogosphere of knitters is a great place! – MLE

Photos from Heifer International

Not About Knitting

I was moved to post for Blogging Against Disabilism Day — and a day late, the usual for me. I just saw these posts at Emma and the Mason Dixon Folks. This is a topic dear to me, as I had a brother who was disabled. He died in 2002 and I miss him every day.

Here’s a picture of us acting goofy – I was about 19, I think.

This is an excerpt from the euology I wrote for him.

Stephen Patrick came into our lives by all accounts wrong, retarded, disabled, handicapped. At the time he was born, many people believed that only dirty bad people had children like that. Our parents overcame that attitude, and taught all the other children to overcome it as well. My mother would say “You can be embarrassed by something Stephen does, but never ashamed.”

Psychological family theory tells you that having a disabled child disrupts the family system, puts things out of order, shifts burdens, causes conflict. It does at that, but so much more. Over the years I came to see Stephen and his presence in our lives as a gift, with him as a teacher. From Stephen we all learned many things, sharing, giving, discernment, compassion.

Stephen taught us how to laugh at things, often things which might have seemed a bit strange to outsiders, but he had a great sense of humor. That was a good thing, because for him, the same joke was funny every time, over and over. We all learned to share in his humor and took delight in making him laugh. He took total unself concious joy in what he enjoyed, or found funny. It would be a gift if all of us cared a little less what people might think, and more what our heart says.

Stephen’s presence in our lives exposed us to all sorts of kids we might never have met, kids with cerebral palsy, down syndrome, autism, kids with crutches, braces, seizure helmets. We learned not to be uncomfortable around differently-abled people, but to see them as individuals and laugh at their foibles and quirks in a compassionate way, and help where we could.

Stephen taught us unconditional love, something few of us carry into adulthood very well. Stephen loved us all, and we loved him for who and what he was, even when he drove us crazy, frustrated or angered us with his stubbornness and often strange behavior. Opportunities in life to do kindnesses for others are a spiritual gift. Stephen provided that and so many people came through in ways that still amaze me. Thanks to them all.

MLE