Day 45 - Time spent learning, growing and cherishing every moment

Today I finally made it to Woolworks and was struck by how although it's been so long since I've been able to spend time with my friends there, it felt like coming home. There were new relatives to meet and although they are now the regulars and I was the 'new one' to them, I still felt completely at ease and happy. Such lovely new people. I miss that time I used to be able to find for me. I'm determined to find that again.

Jen was so gracious and patient with my learning process as she taught me how to 'set in' my sleeves to Nanny's sweater. Unlike the old days when I would happily let her teach me by doing it for me, today I needed to understand every step and do it myself. She was great about helping me when I was afraid to do it wrong and so wonderfully patient when I constantly asked "is this right?" It is so important to get this one right and to settle for mistakes today is not an option. At one point, I'd realized I'd done something wrong and it wasn't a problem to rip it out and do it right. I really feel like I hit a new level of understanding today. And not just about the sweater! I have about 5 more ends to weave in and then tomorrow I will lovingly knit the collar band and the button band on both sides and I will be done completely. When I try it on with the sleeves all done, I am so excited. I think Noreen would have been so please with this use of the Christmas gift money! I think she would have been proud to see that I'd actually stuck with it and finished it! I wish she were here to celebrate when I finish it.

It is amazing how things turn out alright in the end. Through today's wonderful endevors, I met some wonderful new friends, refreshed my harried state of mind with good friends and good conversation and ended the day with a wonderful meal at Olive Garden with the most wonderful husband and children. I so enjoyed the day. It reminded me how much the time spent with those you love has got to be the priority in life. It is not enough to be so busy building careers or networking for advancement. What matters most is people and relationships. I am blessed to have won the lottery in that respect. Some interesting conversations today made my future endevors even more appealing too so that was an enexpected bonus!

Tomorrow I will post the finished sweater project and celebrate!

Day 22 - the flu wins out

No knitting today. Just the mere action of working my fingers over this keyboard is agony. Yesterday I stayed home and slept but work must go on and so today I dragged through classes. I tried not to cough on my students, directly anyway! I got all of my exams ready and got the kids to basketball and skating. Then dear hubby called and said he was coming home early and he went to the food store for me, retrieved both children and cooked dinner! I am a lucky woman!

I am missing my knitting. I held my sleeves for the sweater today. That's right, just held them and dreamed of what it would be like to actually wear the finished garment. I love the feel of the Ultra Alpaca. It is sturdy and comforting yet it makes my fingers happy as it winds through with each stitch. It's like a good friend, a reminder of strength and love, a reminder of Noreen. Maybe that's the real reason I've not been able to finish it. To finish it closes a story I'm not ready to end. She'll never see me in the sweater....my last gift from a woman I loved dearly. I miss her and Pop's every single day.

Day 3 - Each day, a lesson

I think that each day will entrust me with new lessons and only I can decide what exactly I will take away from each. Today, I figured out how to put pictures onto my Ravelry posts. It took a while but I could post them in my projects for all to see and I could share them with groups I belong to. Very cool. Lesson: persistence pays off!

I also decided to pick up and begin the second sock for Mom. Living in this house - my in-laws home - I realized today that you never know when life will take those you love away. It's too short to leave those gifts of love, whether they be socks or something more expensive, waiting around to be given. And so I feverishly knitted away at sock #2 of the pair. As I got about an inch from the heel, I have realized that I will probably not have enough of this yarn, this one skein of Happy Feet, to finish my mother's first pair of hand-knitted socks from me. Lesson #2: sometimes when things don't work out, there's a reason. Maybe I waited too long; perhaps my socks are not good enough for her anyway; maybe my dreams of that perfect expression of love is just a goofy idea. I could finish the toe in a different color and she would never care! After all, it's the tops that people will see.

Like much of what I start in life, I find myself second guessing whether the right thing to do is to turn back.....

I wonder what lesson tomorrow will bring. Tonight I feel defeated.