A Family of Shawls

A few weeks ago, my friend Mary asked me to knit shawls for her daughter and granddaughters who are going through a rough patch. She said I knit faster than she does (I think I just have more time to knit). She provided me with yarn from stash.

She said the five-year-old is a real girly-girl, so something lacy would be suitable.
My first attempt was much too small, so I redid it. The pictures are a combination of the original and the 'real' one.

The model here is an eleven-year-old. I love the way pink shirt shows through the lace. There were about 780 stitches to bind off on that ruffle.

Mary said the eight-year-old is more snuggly, so something a bit more tailored would be good.

With this one also, I initially made it too small, and had to re-do. It is mostly seed stitch, but with four cables, and a ruffle on the bottom. The ruffle is actually a little lacy, but that doesn't show in the picture. Again, the model is older than the child the shawl is for. It does not look too small on Lexi, so the eight-year-old can grow into it.

I wound up making two adult shawls, because I felt Mary's other daughter who is helping out deserved one too. I don't know which one will be for Mommy and which for Auntie.

I increased faster along the edges than down the middle, so It wouldn't be too long at the point.

This one is from some yarn that was in my stash. Do you think it's bright enough?

120 mile circle in four hours

That's what took up half of my day today. I left my house about 10:45 this morning, drove to Metropolis IL, got Lexi, went to the Greyhound Bus Station in Paducah to meet my son-in-law coming in from New Jersey (would you believe by way of St. Louis?). Then we drove down to Mayfield, stopping at Subway on the north edge of town for Bob to get lunch. He was surprised that the girl there had never heard of an Italian hoagie. We made one more, brief stop in Mayfield for Lexi to run something into the Art Guild for me. And finally, we got to Sara's house near Sedalia. I left Bob and Lexi there. I didn't go into the house because I'm not sure I'm over whatever it is that I've had recently. I came home through Pryorsburg, Dublin and Beulah.

Now I'm going to sit down and knit.

I'm a wimp!

About 6:30 pm yesterday, I decided to see if I could get a bit of mowing done. The mower we retrieved from the repair shop on Saturday started right up and I took off down the north side of the yard. As I came back up, I realized that the shield over the discharge chute was down, so it was working as a mulching mower. That's not what I wanted right then, so I shut the mower off, and went to find the piece that holds that shield up and diverts the clippings being discharged. It was the second place I looked. After I put it on, I had a little trouble getting the mower restarted. I think I mowed for about fifteen minutes, but that was enough. As I said above, I'm a wimp! Since we got some rain today, I won't try to mow this evening - too wet.

After knitting at the ice house (I think I knit a dozen stitches - we were mostly talking), I took the things Rose had left at my house over the weekend to her, and saw the baby again. On the way back through town, I saw that the farmer's market was set up in the First Christian Church parking lot. I pulled into the next lot, and walked down the row of eight to ten vendors. I bought some corn and yellow tomatoes. I've already had my supper of two ears of corn and one sliced tomato. The ears were not very filled out, but they tasted delicious.

Alone again

Carmen and Mark left about an hour ago, headed back to NJ.
Lexi and Rose went back to their homes last night.
It's quiet! Actually it was quiet most of yesterday, too. Carmen, Mark and the girls went on an adventure without me - my choice.

It's been quite a weekend! On Friday, I met Alyssa, Lexi and Devin in Paducah for lunch, and Lexi came home with me. Actually, we went to Sara's to pick up Rose. Carmen and her friend Mark were expecting to get here around dark, but while we were at Sara's, Carmen called to say they were in Murray having a late lunch. So we stayed there until they came, saw the baby, visited for a while, etc. When we were ready to leave, I gave Carmen a key to the house and told her that I needed to stop in town for milk and bread. She came back into the house almost immediately and asked if I had a spare tire. Mark had noted that the left, rear one was a bit soft, so he wanted to change it. He's a mechanic, so he notices such things quickly. The tire was threadbare in a couple of spots.

The girls had to ride with me because Alyssa's crib was in the back of the Jeep (except for one important part, which they will need to bring when they come back after the next baby is born in October). I'm sure they would rather have been with Grammy. Usually when they stay here, they sleep on a cot and pallet in my room, but since Grammy was here, they slept on the couches in the living room.

Saturday morning, after breakfast at the local cafe, we headed to Mayfield. First, we stopped in Fancy Farm to pick up my second lawn mower from the repair shop. With it in the back of the Jeep, the girls had to ride with me again. In Mayfield, we went to the Art Guild, where Alyssa was waiting for us. Carmen makes sure she goes there every time she's here, to see the exhibit and to spend a little money in the gift shop. After that, we went to buy a new tire for my car. By this time it was about 1:30 and the place I always go for car things was closed, so we had to go to WalMart. Alyssa took the girls and headed to Sara's house, while Carmen, Mark and I waited.

We were at Sara's for a couple of hours when people started to think of food. Reggie had gone to clean the church that his family attend - a little side job he and Sara have been doing for a while. Carmen wanted to show Mark the Wooldridge Monuments, so they left with the understanding that we would meet up at our favorite Mexican restaurant. Sara was hesitant about going, because she has told Reggie's family that she's not going anywhere for two months (I'm not sure that's the time period she said). She was afraid that if she left, some family member would stop by. Alyssa told her to say, "My sister forced me to go, and you know what a bitch she is." Lexi and I both burst out laughing at that.

While Sara was getting ready, Alyssa's cellphone rang. It was Carmen. They had run out of gas! They were a few miles north of town, by the industrial park. They had gone to 'the bottoms' for beer. Graves County is 'dry,' except for liquor-by-the-glass at certain restaurants in Mayfield, so the nearest liquor store is at Leader Bottom, just over the McCracken County line. Sara lent us a gas can, and Lexi and I went to the rescue. First stop, of course, was the gas station in Mayfield. Then we headed up US45, looking for a vehicle on the shoulder on the other side of the road. As soon as we passed the place I expected to find them, my cellphone rang. Lexi answered it for me, and said, "We just passed them!" They were not on the shoulder; they had pulled into the industrial park drive.

After supper, Carmen, Mark, Lexi, Rose and I came back to my house. The girls were still riding with me, because of the lawn mower being in the Jeep. They took the mower out, and we took off again, all in one vehicle. Carmen wanted to show Mark the confluence of the Ohio and MIssissippi Rivers; I went along to make sure she didn't get lost. When we got to Defiance Park (I think that's what it's called), I sat in the car, while they walked around, sticking their feet in the rivers, etc. Since we were so close, we also went across the bridge into Missouri, but after a few miles, we turned around and came back to Milburn.

Yesterday morning, I opted to stay home, while the four of them went to see the flood wall murals in Paducah, the Superman statue in Metropolis, and then to a water park. Carmen called me when they were leaving the water park, headed for Sara's, in case I wanted to meet them there. I declined. They didn't get back here until about midnight - sans children.

This morning, we had breakfast at the local cafe again, and then they headed back to NJ. I hope they have a safe trip.

Was that rain?

We finally got a little bit of rain - the gentle, soaking kind we need. However, it only lasted for about half an hour - we need several days of it.

The burn- and fireworks-bans are still on, I'm sure.

She's here!

Lily Jane Jones arrived at 3:50 this afternoon. 8 lbs, 6 oz, 21 in long, 14 in head and chest. Sara looked great an hour after the delivery!