An anniversary, of sorts

I know that it is more important to celebrate life than death, but when 16 February comes around, I can't not remember that it is the date of my father's death three years ago. In some ways it seems so long ago but there are times when my grief and longing are so acute that it seems just yesterday.

My mother gave me a commemorative clock that Dad received as a NASA Space Shuttle honoree; it is a laser-etched wood clock that depicts the launch of a space shuttle. Several months ago the clock stopped working so I took it down to replace the battery:

There was Dad's printing on a masking tape label on the battery showing the date he put it in the clock - December of 2004. He always labeled batteries so he could monitor how long a battery lasted and/or the "freshness" of a battery. Seeing his careful engineer printing on that battery caught me by surprise and brought a catch to my throat.

Someday I will get around to replacing that battery but for now, it is staying in the clock.

Knitting update

I have a few finished knitting projects to celebrate. And while it may seem that I am a fast and furious knitter, keep in mind that most of what I knit are small projects that knit up quickly.

Here is a hat that I made for myself:

The pattern is called "Butterfly Hat" because of the little abstract butterflies throughout. Aidan informed me that he thought they looked more like spiders...nice to think of spiders crawling all over my head! The yarn is Malabrigo merino wool, which feels almost as luscious as saying "Malabrigo" with your best South American accent. In general, I do not like wearing hats but also recognize that sometimes a hat is necessary; at least now I have a soft one in a fun color.

I made a market bag, also for me:

It seems that we are all getting on the reusable bag bandwagon and there are many, many knit/crochet patterns out there that use cotton yarn. This one turned out just fine, but I am not all that crazy about it; I think I just prefer bags that don't have an open mesh-like fabrication.

I had plenty of the lime green cotton yarn leftover, so I made a washcloth for Aidan:

He likes to use washcloths that I knit and he was thrilled to receive this one.

For Valentine's Day gifts, I made a whole batch of felted coasters:

Aidan gave one to his teacher, one to the class para-professional and one each to the two PE coaches. I also sent one to my mother, kept one for my own use and the last one will go in a gift box for a friend. The coasters are fun, fast and functional little gifts.

Still using up leftover cotton yarn, I knit two dishcloths to send to a fellow Raveler in the Handmade RAK group:


The purpose of the group is to share knitting and crocheted finished objects with other people who appreciate such gifts, those who are "knitworthy" or "crochetworthy". You post the items you would like to receive and perhaps someone in the group will make them for you. I just joined this group and was thrilled to send off my first RAKs this past week. I hope the recipient likes them!