Family Affairs

Yesterday I shared breakfast with someone I had never met. We connected through my defunct cemetery divas blog, as well as this one when she discovered we had some family in common.

Among the many pictures she brought was this one of part of our blended great grandparents family. We are second cousins. This was one of several photos that she brought with her.

According to the back of the picture, starting from left is my paternal grandma Edna, holding her oldest daughter Florence. Behind her is her mother Carrie. After she was divorced from her first husband Calvin Jessie, she married Omar, who is seated next. Edna's oldest surviving son Floyd is in front of him. I'm not sure just what he is holding. Standing next to Omar is Flossie, Omar's daughter by his deceased first wife. She is the grandmother of the cousin I had breakfast with. Next to her is her brother, my grandfather Delva who was married to Edna, and father of the children mentioned. Last, on the right is my grand-aunt Anna. She was the daughter of both Carrie and Omar.

So to get things straight, my grandma married her stepbrother. Her stepsister married a cousin. And the search for a common ancestor takes us back to William and Abigail, my greart-great-grandparents and one set of our common ancestors. We also connect through the Fords.

Good looking couple, don't you think?

Best of all, my new cousin likes to go cemetery hopping. There may be a road trip in our future.

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Brainless Knitting

One of the items I trusted myself to knit in my cold stupor was a washcloth.

I had started it while helping a friend re-learn how to knit, just before I came down with my cold.  It went fairly well, but is a bit large.

I have another on the needles, but went down a couple needle sizes.  Between smaller size, and switching from metal to wood needles, I hope that will help.
This is another item I am knitting for my friend who is presently in South Sudan.  She said not to worry too much.  They are treasured there and someone will be sure to love it.
I hope so, I have a whole cone of this color.

Did I Forget to Mention?

That I am still alive I mean.  The cold was nasty, but only involved head and sinuses.  Thanks to one of my Knit Night friends, I recovered nicely, after she introduced me to the miracle that is a Neti Pot.  That little item cleaned out the sinuses and suddenly I could breath again.
Of course the recovery was not without disaster.  When I returned to knitting, once I decided I would live, I continued with the Green Flowy Cardigan.  After knitting about 2 and half rows and just getting to the end of the cable section, the knit stitches weren't where I needed them.

This picture is a few rows beyond the disaster, but the problem was the left cable shown above.  The sets of two knit stitches travel back and forth.  And unfortunately the first row I returned to was the cables.  The last set of knit stitches was cabled at the right place, but I had them traveling in the wrong direction.
I was not in the mood or position to tink back two full rows.  So  I isolated the offending stitches on a cable needle, leaving the rest of the row on the two ends of the needle, with plenty of slack hanging.  I was still so out of it, I didn't even take pictures of the mess.  I had two little cable needles I keep next to my knitting chair so I just used those needles.  I tinked back (unknit) the four problem stitches two rows.  With the aid of another needle (can never have too many!) I untwisted the cable and then twisted it correctly and knit back up those four stitches.
Problem fixed.
But I did think it was best to lay low an extra day on that sweater.

Blech!

I'm back.

Yesterday was spent sleeping and blowing my nose. Too pooped to even knit. I didn't even feel like eating. The round wooly blanket I finished the fall of 2012 feels so good to snuggle up in.

 

Today I feel a bit better. I can even walk away from my Kleenex box for short spells.

Maybe I will even knit.

 

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Life: The Saga Goes On

It has been a busy week, and some, but not a lot of knitting.

One of the items my friend asked for in the way of knitted donations during her talk last week was leprosy bandages. They use them in the lepers hospital near her mission hospital in South Sudan. I picked up some #10 thread and began one. I will need to get some safety pins to go with them when finished. But in the meantime, it is a brainless go-anywhere project. It is a bit longer than this, as shown on my Ravelry project page.

The Broken Seed Stitch sock has grown some since last appearing here as well. Thank you Lizzie for providing scale here.

I like the way the variegated pink/peach yarn contrasts with the purple. And for the moment, a quick try on had it going over the heel with no problems. So I think the fit is good. And it makes a pretty diamond pattern as well.

The highlight of my week was my grandma day. Henceforth on Wednesdays I will be spending the day with Little Farmer, and his sister Lil' Farm Gal when she gets off the bus. I need to get on the same feeding schedule as his daycare, but we had a fun day.

EveN if I was totally worn out at the end of the day. Whew!

There has been knitting on good old Green Flowy too. I am progressing on the second front and will block both fronts at the same time. Pictures at this time on would just be redundant. I will wait until I have something new to show on this front.

Hharry and I have been doing well too. It is rather daunting to have to drive my new-to-me car in the snow and dark. But I am beginning to remember where all the buttons are.

 

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