A new Normal

The summer made me realize many things about how quickly life can change and how many things we can not change. Life happens and sometimes all you can do is decide how you are going to handle it. The beginning of July saw the beginning of our time to say goodbye to Mom. July ended with her funeral. During the same time her older sister was in the hospital again for another health problem. She never quite recovered and we had her funeral last week. My Uncle, the middle child, is handling all this family change with grace and reflection. His life has changed so much this summer. He went from one of 3 siblings to the only surviving sibling. My father knows Mom is gone, but not quite. That's the thing about memory loss- sometimes it works for you. He hasn't had to deal with severe mourning like he would if his memory was intact.

My way to deal with all the changes is to find a new normal. I don't have phones calls at all hours from Mom worried because she's lost Dad, she doesn't "feel" right, and all the other reasons she'd call. I don't have to run over to her place to help her. But I still have Dad. I still have work. I still have my friends and family. I can think about taking a real vacation for the first time in a long while. And - I still have knitting.

The last couple posts I mentioned the Dumpling Bag in Interweave Knits, fall 2008. Sharon Dreifuss (She-Knits podcast) designed it as a quick little knit. It's a great idea for a Christmas present. It takes 2 strands of worsted or 1 strand of bulky - 1 skein of either. Her original pattern has a trailing vine with flowers but I decided to give mine a Native American gourd kind of look.
Sharon has been absolutely thrilled to watch the numbers of these little bags grow on Ravelry. Think about making one for yourself or as presents. I think you'll really enjoy the knit.
One suggestion - one of the people in our group (She-Knits) on Ravelry uses balloons to shape hers and says they work perfect.

Of course, the babies never seem to quit coming at work so I made another EZ February Baby Sweater. They're cute-quick- and everyone likes them. The yarn was some machine knitting yarn and ended up being stiff to knit with but once washed its very soft and baby-ready. Now to hunt up some buttons.

Other knitting going on is getting ready for Christmas. My family quite giving presents a while ago but that doesn't mean I can't knit for my friends! Earlier this year I made the Urban tam and last week I made some mittens to go with it. The yarn is some stuff I found at an outlet it's Vimar 1991. The cuff is leftover Paton's Classic merino.

Last night some friends and I got together to finally start watching the HBO mini-series on John Adams. We thought watching how our country started would be a great way to survive the craziness of the next few months until the elections. We all have strong feelings about how great our country is and how important it is to make a thoughtful decision on who you vote for but - we also sadly believe most people vote for the "cool" person. The pro-wrestler becomes governor because he's cool- not because he's capable. Whoever you vote for- have a good reason. Believe that person will best lead our country the way you think it should be led. Don't vote because he's good looking or she's a hockey mom or whatever stupid reason. Believe in your candidate.