Unrelated

1. My youngest, Sam, has safely made it to Mexico on her babysitting/Hank helping gig with my sister. I am worried about this, this, and this. I am trying not to think about it, but I have also considered this and this.

2. I understand that it is a psychosis of motherhood that allows us to believe that our presence makes all situations safe. Intellectually I know that the fact that I am with my child is not enough to guarantee safety, but emotionally? Try me.

3. I have decided that since Erin is there and is responsible for Hank, that likely the same volcano preventing rules will apply. Also, Erin has a perfect parenting safety record.

4. Sam’s email said that she “ate at a Mexican restaurant.” I laughed for an hour.

5. The Sweet Sheep is selling yarn that has helps make money for Knitters without Borders.

6. In my internet travels this week I have found the cutest baby sweater ever. I understand that this reveals how far behind I am on reading Anny’s blog and I am willing to suck it up, so cute is this sweater.

7. Remember these babies? Babies grow.

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Their now knitting mother and I (She made a very good hat. I’m so proud.) took them to a new yarn shop in town this weekend. We totally got in the way and ate good cake and squeezed yarns and put babies on their floor and they took it all very well. (That’s a sign of a good yarn shop.) My favourite part of the whole thing was Lily’s reaction to the whirling swift. (Forgive the bad picture.)

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She was beyond enthused. (That’s exactly how I feel about my swift.)

8. I tried another fingerless mitt design of my own divining.

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and I frogged it, accepted defeat and from among the billions of suggestions you guys gave me, I chose these. Ann’s lovely Delicato mitts.

9. I think that all Ann does is sit by her computer waiting to do your bidding. I know this because I paypal-ed her the money for the pattern and it was in my inbox before I had a new cup of coffee. I don’t know if you can expect the same service all the time, but I will try buying another pattern at 3am and report back to you how quick she is then.

10. I am pretty darned sure I have the right pattern now, though I might size it down a smidge.

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Ann is very clear about the size that the Delicato mitts will turn out. It is me that has body issues and thinks I am much bigger than I am. I have a lot of trouble remembering my actual size. (This happens a lot with pants too. Apparently I’m way off about the size of my hands and completely deranged about my arse.)

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11. Amber has done something darned handy and gathered all of the fingerless mitt suggestions in one place. Clever knitter. You can find it Here.

12. If you live in Toronto or the GTA you should get involved with this. It’s really cold here, and Streetknit is on the right track.

That will be all. Move along.

126 thoughts on “Unrelated

  1. It’s okay, Mom. You’re doing what you’re supposed to do. If you didn’t fret at all, we’d be wondering about you.

  2. The Delicato mitts look lovely. But yeah, a tad big. Hope the Alchemy is enduring the ripping and reknitting with aplomb.

  3. I love that pattern! I don’t really need another pair of fingerless mitts, but I very well might buy that pattern and go for it again. Right now I’m still detoxing from Christmas knitting and have been working on a scarf instead of anything involving any technique harder than color changing…

  4. Oh, gosh. I can sympathize with the mother worry. And mine are all in their 20’s (the oldest will be 30 later this year – that makes me feel older than my last birthday did. Yikes).
    The twins are adorable. Lily’s expression is so similar to my 1 yr old granddaughter’s smile, it’s uncanny. Cute as two buttons.
    P.S. I’m among the first comments? I’m amazed and honored.

  5. in the top 10! (my lucky day)
    those mitts are beautiful, i hope you have the heat turned down, and are required to wear them all day, indoors and out. (and don’t stint patting yourself on the cheek all day either!)
    that is great baby sweater.. i had been looking for a sweater for my grandson, and now i know what i am going to knit! (different size, different yarn, different gauge, but inspired by, none the less!)

  6. They’re probably worried about you coming to the Seattle area later this week….
    Volcanoes, flooding, earthquakes, killer whales, tsunamis, lahars (really, do not look this up on wikipedia) and then throw in some unusual-to-the-area windstorms and snow/ice to make driving a lot of fun.
    It’s enough to make a girl buy more yarn just to take her mind off it all! 🙂

  7. Gee, you must have forbid any comments over the weekend. I had to check twice to see if my eyes weren’t deceiving me. By the time I read a new post there are hundreds of comments. Maybe it was too darn cold too comment this weekend?
    You know, those would look fantasic as regular mittens too if you just kept going in the pattern. Very pretty.

  8. Well, I’m really proud of you for NOT worrying about all the men she will undoubtedly encounter. (duck and run! duck and run!)
    We have a new yarn shop in our town too. Currently she’s selling almost all acrylic (lion, red heart, other stuff). I could almost cry. I hope she has an epiphany.

  9. You know, depending on where she is, she might just be getting some snow – we got two inches in Tucson last night, and are expecting a couple more this afternoon. Wouldn’t THAT just irritate her to no end?

  10. Hussy.
    Luring me into purchasing more yarn. No fair, especially after I made a silent vow yesterday to knit only from my stash for the first six months of this year.
    Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to ogle the Shark Semi Solid Sweet Socks” at Sweet Sheep.
    Hussy.

  11. Stephanie, were they giving out hyperlinks for free with your coffee this morning?? Yikes! I was so sure that one of the Mexico links would show a beautiful, brown-eyed 17-year old boy. . .how did you miss that potential hazard?

  12. Please allow me to help you sort your worries so that you may increase your motherly efficiency. In reverse order, you should worry about:
    5: Volcanoes — odds are way against that.
    4: Lizards — as a herpetologist, let me assure you that there are only two species of venomous lizards on the planet, the Gila Monster and the Mexican Beaded Lizard … that both of these Heloderma subspecies are quite reluctant to bite unless seriously bothered, grabbed and handled … and that, statistically, the overwhelming majority of bites occur in inebriated males under the age of thirty in the act of grabbing, bothering and handling said lizards. Bite is extremely painful, but fatality is extremely rare. Gila monster occurs only in NW Mexican desert and SW United States, Beaded Lizard occurs as far south as Guatemala. If I were you I would be much more worried about the inebriated males under thirty part.
    3: Hurricanes — even though possible at this time of year, not likely, and plenty of advance warning to get out of the way.
    2: Sharks — all snorklers and shallow-water divers should be alert for sharks as this is where most bites and attacks occur. Still, it is a statistically small concern. Jellyfish stings and sting-ray stabs are much more likely for “la tourista” than shark bites.
    1. Ripcurrents — as a Southerner I vote this as the most definitely serious thing to worry about … people inexperienced in coastal waters are least likely to think about ripcurrents, but I am sure your daughter knows not to swim alone and to stay within earshot and line of sight of a friend on the beach?
    I can’t tell you not to worry … but I would advise you to streamline your worrying into the rip-currents part and the inebriated-males-under-thirty part.
    Gee, I’m helpful, aren’t I?
    Dez

  13. The amount of determination and dedication to that yarn is overwhelming. I think I would have thrown it into a dark, dusty and lonely corner right about now, just to punish the naughty yarn. Or, I would have at least threatened the yarn about it, because who could really put yarn somewhere dirty? Yikes.

  14. I’ve found that my hands tend to shrink in diameter notably when it’s cold. Could your remembered measurement be from July? I’m sure that’s the problem. B) I’ve nearly lost my wedding ring in my gloves from time to time, so it could happen! 😉

  15. Item #2 is exactly how I was when my 10-year-old son went to camp with his classmates in September. 🙂
    Thanks for the link to Amber’s list of wristwarmer patterns. I might have…a small wristwarmer addiction. A wristwarmer problem, even. I was going to say I love them irrationally, but winter in Ohio gets a mite chilly, so it’s probably not irrational. But I love love love to knit wristwarmers. The Delicatos look terrific!

  16. Reminds me of the first time I left the country, on a mission trip to Africa. Granted, I was 14, so I put my poor mother through the ringer for a month, while she wondered if I was contracting malaria or eating weird things that would kill me.
    But Moms will be moms, that’s why we love you all so much! Still to this day, whenever I fly somewhere for work or fun, she worries about me missing my flights. I always remind her that I’ve been flying regularly since I was 14 and that I’ll call her when I get there.
    I’ve also learned to be ok with her worrying, instead of going, “Mom, I’m an adult! Jeez!”

  17. The gloves are loverly.
    I have been wondering about the twins. So glad they are looking well!!

  18. I still can’t quite come to grips with that yarn being alpaca. When you first showed it January 18th, I wondered what magic you were going to perform with rug yarn.
    My fingers got sore just thinking about it – but I had faith in you.
    Don’t the lacy bits at the back of the fingerless mitts let the cold air in?

  19. I appreciate your honesty since I am about to go frog the mitten I knit up last night that I thought were soooo clever until I tried to sewed them up. Knitter solidaritoo!

  20. Sometimes on desparation on cranky baby days I take my 10 month old, Rocco, to the LYS just to watch the yarn swift. Of course since I am there…

  21. The really scary stuff is not about volcanoes or lizards, as I’m sure you know in your heart of hearts. The scary stuff kids face growing up is the choices they have to make for themselves, coupled with the realization that life is not fair and bad things do happen to good people. And what will help your girls is that you are always there emotionally, probably especially when you’re not there physically. So worry, because you can’t help it, but keep knitting and keep the faith!

  22. fantastic mitts.
    hurricane season is pretty much over.
    gila monsters come out in the spring i believe it is still winter there.
    um… volcanoes… well they usually give enough warning.
    sharks dont really eat people.
    and um you are a good mother and im sure your daughter is smart enough to identify rip tides:)
    hugs

  23. I clicked on all those worried Mom links wondering which one would be a barechested hunky guy on a beach with daughter’s favorite combo of hair & eye color…really, I truly expected it. I was not expecting the volcano. Once again you have surprised me.
    BTW the mitts are gorgeous & I think I’ll have to go buy that pattern too. Thanks.

  24. We have a similar program for knitting for the homeless in London, ON. http://www.keepingkidswarm.ca
    I worry whenever my kids are in a different city, I don’t know how I’d react to a different country or 5 yrs from now University.
    Great babies and baby sweater.

  25. Rip tides are pretty cool. I actually swam into a small one once, (not enough of one to be a problem), but I could see how a big one would be scary…but you just swim SIDEWAYS, along the beach, to get out of it. It’s when you try to swim straight in towards shore, which you can’t do, because of the current, that people get into trouble.
    We were also at a beach where we could SEE the rip tides, so we stayed out of them…
    I agree with the previous posters…it’s the males, especially those under 30, that Sam needs to watch out for!

  26. I’m reminded by your mention of Streetknit. I live in San Francisco, so clearly no one’s dying of the cold, just maybe a bit nippy. Still, when I walk to work I pass by men in their living rooms, in the alcoves of businesses or just plopped on the sidewalk in thin sleeping bags suitable only for indoor sleepover parties. On Saturday, while in the middle of a shopping trip, I passed by a man whose cardboard sign read, “I NEED DRY WHITE SOCKS”. Of course this person cannot be expected to understand the greater suitability of wool beforehand, but I must say I nearly stopped right then and turned around to buy him some. I won’t give the homeless money because (especially in San Francisco) that money seems unlikely to benefit the long-term wellbeing of the recipient, but what harm could socks possibly cause?

  27. Worrying comes with the title. My daughter lives 10 miles from my house. She used to laugh because I’d say “Call me when you get home” until the time she didn’t call, and I drove the 10 miles and found her with no cell phone coverage and 2 flat tires. HA! Vindicated after all these years!

  28. And I just got comfortable with allowing my seven-year-old to outside and check the mail by himself. Good god.
    Makes me wonder what worries my parents had when I went to Paris and Madrid on a school trip the summer I turned 16.

  29. I truly understand the whole motehrhood psychosis – my DD went to Memphis, TN last May with a friend who was to try out for ‘American Idol’ and they were going to stay up all night, in line, outside (!) of the place with thousands of other crazy young people doing the same! Yikes, but they and I survived.

  30. I know you can’t help to worry (hey, I don’t have kids and I worry), but think of all the great experiences she’ll be getting. I’m pretty sure she’ll comeback more appreciative of some things she takes for granted.

  31. I accidentally sent you an email from my private-person address, instead of the okay-for-public-use one I use for blog responses. It’s still me. Don’t worry, if you get a bounced notice, if you respond to another address; my spam filter doesn’t let me add new addresses until after they bounce it.
    You don’t give yourself enough credit, knitwise. I love the pattern you designed, and then frogged. Nothing wrong with the one you bought, but I like yours even better.
    Tony Bourdain, the food-writer/TV personality, makes a good case that all restaurants in North America are Mexican, based on the country of origen of the cooks.

  32. Oh! Thank goodness. There you are. I was having withdrawl.
    Ya know, it’s not very nice of you to link a bunch of interesting stuff for me to bring up in new tabs while i’m trying to upload three knitting photos, via dial-up, to my Flickr account. Sheesh! 😉
    ~Suz~

  33. My littlest one was awesome in the yarn stores when he was younger. Now that he’s two it’s getting a little harder. He just loves to touch and feel and reorganize the shelves a bit 🙂
    Ann is awesome – a true superwoman. I bet you will get lightning speed service at 3am. I don’t think that woman sleeps.
    Thanks for the link to the baby sweater – that I must do.

  34. If it makes you feel any better, I grew up swimming in the Gulf of Mexico, and in the Atlantic Ocean, in some of the most tropical waters around. I have never been bitten, nor nudged, nor harassed, by a shark. The only time that one ever got close was when a friend baited a line and thought it was funny to tease a tiger shark off of the coast (stupid much?), and also when I was scuba diving near coral reefs in the Florida Keys.
    As an added bonus, this has been the least active hurricane season we have had in the past 10 years or so since Andrew destroyed Miami in 1992.
    Sam will be safe, so long as she avoids poking gila monsters with sticks. 😉

  35. Since I live in the land of Gila Monsters, I can assure you of 2 things. First, they are very slow, and only those who do not attempt to outrun them don’t. Second, in order for one to poison you with it’s bite, it must not only bite, but CHEW. In short, you have to WANT to be bitten by one of these in order to actually BE bitten by one. They are ugly, bigger than a “regular” lizard (but not as big as a Komodo Dragon) and most people avoid them, but mostly they have a bad rep. Rest easy, mom, the Monster won’t get her.

  36. My baby loves watching the swift. I can hold her in the baby sling, thread yarn through one hand, and work the handle of the ball winder with the other. It entertains both of us!

  37. I am so busy, it took me 25 mins to get through this post! I love the new mitts. I will be paypaling Ann (I’m sure lots of folks will). I hope Sam has a great time. 🙂

  38. The whole ‘parental worrying’ thing never stops, so just resign yourself to always being nervous. My friends and I are all over 40 – and our parents still call us every day to check up on us! And you also forgot phone bills as a worry item. Seriously. I went to college, and my sibling ran up a phone bill you would not believe because I was missed!
    Darn. More desirable yarn. I promised myself that I would not buy more yarn until I knit what I had so that I could buy a new sofa to replace wornout Mr. Sofa – and you show me more yarn. *sighs*

  39. I’m sure Sam will be fine, just as Miss B was when she went all the way to Ohio by herself last summer and spent a week with my SIL. My cuticles eventually recovered.
    For the love of all things ovine, do not speak to me of any more causes I must support by knitting. Do you have the slightest idea how behind I am already? (Hmm, make that how long my knitting list is already. I am not allowed to use the word “behind” until I either lose weight or buy new pants.)

  40. Yeah, I agree with other commenters on #8 – I really like those mitts you frogged! 😉 Maybe skip the broader section of the cable in the middle there, and just use the first, smaller section that looks like Celtic knotwork… Hmm. I’m gonna have to go look in my 220 Aran Stitches book for that cable. Amber, thanks for gathering all those links – I bookmarked it from your comments last week!
    Re mother worries (altho I’ve only ever been a step-mom), I too would be more worried about under-30 inebriated males. Well, under-25 males, period, inebriated or not. Sam would probably think anyone older was doddering on the edge of the grave. Unless they were rock stars. However, on the bright side, she’s gonna be trying to keep up with Hank. That should keep her pretty busy, no?

  41. The fingerless mits look lovely. The pattern is very pretty with that yarn 🙂
    And I understand the delighted fascination with the swift. I don’t have one, but every time I get to use one, I have the same reaction – the thought “this is WAY too cool, I need to get one,” probably accompanied by an idiotic grin…

  42. I wish I had the same problem you did with sizing. Instead I keep thinking my ass is still the same size it was when I was 20. Alas!

  43. I LOVE Anne at knitspot. I have several of her patterns and I’ve even completed a few of them. When you mentioned last week you wanted a fingerless mitt pattern, Anne was the first person I thought of. Yours are lovely!

  44. What stinks is that there’s no curve for worrying. It’s not as though after this trip your highest level of worrying will be past, and from now on you’ll be less worried…

  45. Wow, that yarn is holding up really well for the number of times it has been knit and ripped. You are holding up well too.
    I made at least 8 sets of wristers for holiday presents this year, I am tired of them now. I didn’t make a pair for my son and now he keeps reminding me he doesn’t have a set. So after I finish the red scarf I am working on I will do yet another pair.
    Thanks for the link, maybe I can make these a bit more interesting.

  46. I once got caught in a riptide, on an unfamiliar beach while in college, and was relieved and totally embarrassed to see the lifeguard coming my way; I had been fighting it awhile and had no idea how to get out of it, and I was wearing out.
    And then the guy went right on past me, threw a total insult my direction, and kept on going to rescue the person I hadn’t seen (blind without my glasses) who was caught further out than I was. I was so angry at his being such a jerk about it that it gave me the adrenaline surge I’d needed to get out of there. I think I got back to the beach before he did.

  47. I’m still laughing about the ‘Mexican restaurant’.
    How on earth could I forget Parker and Lily? No way.
    Hank will keep Sam plenty busy, and yes, it counts that Erin is there with them.

  48. THAT’S MY SWEATER!! (She howled indignantly…) That’s my baby sweater… I’m all the way through the body and 1/2 way through the cable in rose colored Debbie Bliss Aran Cashmerino for my baby (Arwyn–that’s why I had to make that sweater with that cable…)
    *sigh* But Anny’s already looks better than mine–it’s my first try at anything other than a simple cable and I have one or two flaws. *sniff* But now no one will believe I thought of it by myself…

  49. I wholeheartedly agree with Presbytera, that worry curve just keeps going, dammit. But I also agree that the only thing on your list that I’d worry about is a rip-current. If you’ve grown up near the ocean (or Gulf of Mexico, I guess), most likely you’ve learned to swim along the shore to get out of it. I’m not sure that this is common knowledge elsewhere.
    And Dez’s suggestion of the inebriated, under-30 males? Now, THAT would register about 9+ on my maternal-worry Richter scale! (Being a geologist and all, that just seems like the logical scale to use.) And DO NOT look up “lahar” on wikipedia.
    Remember to breathe slowly and calmly.
    Hugs, dee

  50. No worries Steph, I was in Mexico this week last year (sigh) and didn’t see a single shark despte a week of snorkelling. Lots of barracuda, no sharks 🙂

  51. I love the pattern you chose! The pattern reminds me of the Baudelaire socks, which I also love… Can’t wait to see the finished pair!

  52. I LOVE Anne Hanson’s patterns. They are so clear and thorough. She practically schedules a potty break or an ice cream break for me in her instructions! Oh – and don’t worry about the sharks in Mexico. The biggest one I’ve seen there was only 6 feet…. It’s the sting rays she has to worry about; make sure she shuffles her feet when she’s playing in the water….. shuffle shuffle shuffle….

  53. re #1: I totally empathize. My son is probably your age, yet when he tells me he is going on a road trip, I worry myself sick until he calls to tell me he arrived safely. Re #4: this is likely the one that should cause you some real worry! Re #8: I personally love what I can see of your pattern and wish you would complete it and share with us!!! Re #9: I nearly missed this, then choked I was laughing so hard…call her at 3:00 a.m. indeed! 😉

  54. wow, stephanie, thanks so much for the nice things you said about the delicato mitts! my mailbox is beeping away . . . and i’m here! haha—actually i AM at the computer a lot since i work from home. and yes, soometimes even at 3am (i always check before bed).
    the fern lace looks so beautiful in that yarn; that is a real woodland colorway—very forest-y.
    what really impresses me is how good you are at photographing your own right hand. i always drop the camera when i try that trick; it’s the position of that dang shutter button . . .

  55. You’ve got a babe in Mexico, my children have been replaced by Bad Fairies…..what’s a mother to do? It reminds me of when I discovered my first grey hair, about 2 weeks after my daughter was born! Hang in there!

  56. my dear mother’s hair turned white while i worked in mexico for three months. i haven’t asked her how she dealt with my year in sudan. but now that i’m back, she calls me every night. every single night. i love her.

  57. Steph, I totally get mother worry. On the rare occasions my son walks to or from school on his own I am a mess until the school calls to say he made it (they are totally ok with my neurosis) or he is home. I could not imagine the stress of sending him out of the country.
    That said…she’s probably having the time of her life and misses you terribly for a few minutes before she conks out every night. At least, that’s how I was at her age if I was away from home 🙂

  58. Stephanie, you can cross hurricanes off your list of worries as the season runs from June 1 to November 30 each year.
    The wrist warmers are beautiful.

  59. Has any one else but me noticed that a couple of the colorways of sock yarn offered at the online shop in #5 are very similar to the worrysome items in #1?

  60. You should have given her a wallet sized card with pictures of “Dangers of Mexico” to avoid to keep mom sane and happy. I’d be more worried she’d succumb to “Montezuma’s revenge” or something!

  61. Ugh. I guess there’s a lifetime of worry to come, eh? I’m a new mom and I can’t stop thinking about all the things that could possibly go wrong. Oh, the anxiety!! I can see it doesn’t get much easier!
    I love your mitts. They look great!
    Happy knitting and remember that statistics are on your side – Sam is more likely to get seasick than get hurt by a riptide, OK?

  62. Mexico! How fun!
    When I was in Mexico I saw no shark, or volcanoes but I did eat the best. guacamole. ever. Tell Sam to eat some for me. Fresh and Limey. 😀 So good!
    She’ll be just fine! You’ve raised her to be a smart lady. I’m sure if she sees a lizard she will know enough not to run up and lick it. 😉

  63. Dear Mom ~ All that worrying and you missed the one I would put at the top of the list ~ a cute boy with dark hair, sparkling eyes, and a big bright smile that Sam might crush on big time (as Irena says). You did have “the talk,” didn’t you?

  64. If your sis still has Hank is one peice, you need no worry. I am so glad that Sam got to eat at a “Mexican” place. Shocking! Love the mits, they look great. I thought of you at the Alpaca show I went to this weekend, Mostly because it was alpaca you where making the mits out of, not that I saw anything that had to come home with me. I guess our weather made it so people didn’t come, thus a lack of vendors to buy stuff from.

  65. Unfortuantely, the psychosis of motherhoos never goes away. You would think that when your girls are all grown up – leading responsible live, in fact, parents themselves – you would be able to breathe a big sigh of relief & stop worrying. But no, it never ends. My daughters are 33 & 30 – both sensible, responsible adults one with 3 children of her own. Yet I worry about them -especially when they travel. The worst is when my younger daughter drives 700 miles by herself to Mississippi with the children to visit her in laws (her husband travels for work & usually meets them there). I worry about car wrecks, serial rapists/murderer, bad weather, etc. And, then when the older daughter travels for work (which she does up to 8 times a year), I worry about plane crashes, terrorists, criminals who target women alone.

  66. I have to hand it to you on your persisitence! The pattern you ended up with is absolutely lovely! Oh and I agree with some of the posts above–hurricane season is pretty much over. Thats at lease one less thing to worry about:)

  67. I think you can rule out sharks b/c they are not very common in Mexcio. Most resorts spray insecticides everywhere so not likely a poisonous lizard will appear unless your daughter ends up in the jungle, which I am certain is very unlikely as she is babysitting small children.
    Volcanoes and hurricanes usually have enough warning to get to safety.
    And lastly no way there is a resort anywhere near a undercurrent.
    The worst case scenario is a little sunburnt and perhaps a case of unsettled digestive issues.

  68. I think you can rule out sharks b/c they are not very common in Mexcio. Most resorts spray insecticides everywhere so not likely a poisonous lizard will appear unless your daughter ends up in the jungle, which I am certain is very unlikely as she is babysitting small children.
    Volcanoes and hurricanes usually have enough warning to get to safety.
    And lastly no way there is a resort anywhere near a undercurrent.
    The worst case scenario is a little sunburnt and perhaps a case of unsettled digestive issues.

  69. That parents calling every day at age 40 thing is SO depressing! I thought it was bound to end in relation to the declining metabolism.

  70. And about mother panic…OMG… if we drive to the movies in separate cars, I worry that one car is going to get T-boned like in those commercials while everybody in the other car watches on– and my daughter just asked if she could go on a student ambassador trip…to CHINA…I said ‘sure, if we can raise $4,000’…I’m so glad we’re poor.

  71. Ah yeah, we have Mexican restaurants in Mexico. We just call them restaurants, though.
    Where is your daughter, remember that if she needs anything she can totally call my parents.

  72. Re: #1 – Children travelling abroad. I can so understand, your concerns are completely normal. I find that a lot of prayer… and a wee bit of xanax works wonders. 🙂

  73. Ugh. The mommy thing. Why is it that we can (so quickly)imagine such a wide variety of horrors?!?
    Love, love, love the sweater. Now, I’m going to have to find someone who’s having a baby…
    And while I love the delicato mitts, I have to say-yours were looking pretty nifty.

  74. Letting go is part of parenting. You are a good Mum. Look, you let her go to Mexico for the babysitting gig. She will be safe and a better girl-woman for it!
    The mitts are beautiful. Sometimes yarn doesn’t speak clearly to us.

  75. Oh my. Babies surely do grow, don’t they. Funny – I just got the yarn to make the sweaters you made for them (misdirecting the blame onto you for both the pattern and the yarn purchase, which somehow, mysteriously went beyond JUST the one pattern book and ONLY a few skeins of baby wool) a little bit ago. 🙂

  76. Don’t laugh too hard at the Mexican restaurant. When I went to the 8th World Rabbit Congress a couple of years ago, the food was almost the best part of the whole trip.
    SpecTACular! (The fresh, hot bread was the VERY best part…LOL..unlimited with fresh butter.)
    Okay, we did talk rabbits in there, too, but unfortunately nobody brought any Angora fiber!~~ WAH!!!
    I liked your ‘winged’ wristlet starters too…. 🙂

  77. No mention in that first link of the Great White Shark (believe me, it deserves every capital letter you can fit into its name).
    One was seen last week at a local beach holiday place – less than 2 km from where we had been splashing innocently in the water!!
    It was estimated at 6 metres (about 19 or 20 feet). Eeeeeek!!
    Anything in your letterbox yet?

  78. i, too, am mesmerized by the swift. and yarn in general. i like the pattern for the fingerless mitts…and the yarn is just yummy-looking.

  79. Don’t worry too much mom. All the conditions for your current worries are not favorable this time of year. 🙂 Like that will stop you. Just trying to spread cheer. Funny how we crave alone time in the house, and when we actually get it, what do we think of? All the persons not in the house. Knit mum, knit!

  80. “Mexican restaurant” indeed. LMAO!
    Now for something completely different, Stephanie: You mentioned on Canada Day once that Kroy’s various versions have different characteristics over time. I searched the web for some information without success. Any chance you (or anyone?) could work up a chart or something? My blog (http://auntiemichal.blogspot.com) today shows the three older balls of Kroy I got recently. TIA. 😎

  81. Don’t worry about the girl. She will be fine. At least stop worry about the Gila Monster. I took my son to a Venomous Reptile show that talked about how not to get bit, and for the Gila, they said you have to (a) find them in their hiding spot which is difficult, (b) dig them out, and (c) pretty much try to carry it around before they bite. And most of the people who get bit by lizards, snakes and other nasties are tatooed, bearded males between the ages of 18-25, involved with alcohol. Go figure. Since you are raising girls, and not boys, this may not make any sense to you.
    But really, I’ve taken a lot of Girl Scouts (Guides to you) on trips and they are actually pretty well behaved.
    However, if it helps to calm you down, go buy lots and lots of yarn (retail therapy) and knit for hours (studies prove it relaxes you). Then Joe won’t ban your daughters from traveling because you are freaked out. He will ban them because it costs too damn much money. But you will have a great excuse!

  82. Move along? No, I kind of like it here and think I’ll stay.
    Definitely.
    PS – I worry ALL the time. I have two teenaged girls. God knows what could happen to them if I’m not there to throw myself in front of them. Fire, out-of-control cars, boys. . . you get the idea.

  83. oh i am so so relieved! i honestly believed that i was the only one who secretly believed that being with my child (as opposed to letting them go off with other friends and/or relatives, even though they be of impeccable reputation)kept them under the impenetrable sheild of protection known as mother’s watchful eye!
    if only ’twere so! anyhow, i laughed giddily at the link to the sharks/ hurricanes/ riptides/ lizards and other beasties that cause mothers to lie awake at night!
    besides that: beautiful twins!!!

  84. Worry less, she will be fine 🙂
    Besides, you cannot have her coming home to a nervous wreck of a mother, can you?
    Does this mean your lap-top computer is working again?

  85. Keep that worrying up Stephanie and you won’t have to fret about your hair anymore –it’ll all fall out and I just for one say it’s far too pretty to lose. They will be FINE. Concentrate on those most beautiful babies and the lovely fingerless gloves . What is the mother feeding those two that they have grown so . Do the sweaters you knit them still fit ? Oh another little thing to ask you .. Did I miss seeing Joe’s Gansey done yet ?

  86. I completely know what you are feeling. My husband took my 11 year old son to the Galapagos Islands in December for 10 days and I sincerely needed medication the entire time. I couldn’t enjoy any of the peace and quiet due to the worry voices in my head. I tried to silence them with lots of yarn buying, and it did help.

  87. Regarding no. 1 above, the best thing is not to think about it, ANY of it. After having a kid who got dragged out by a rip tide in the company of her huge uncle, got her leg stuck in the railroad track at 3:30 pm while I was at work and sat in poison oak for 20 minutes the day before leaving for Europe to visit my pregnant sister, I learned not to think about these things. It is useless. Things will happen despite all your best laid plans. You may not find out about them for years, but they will happen. All you can do is make sure they have been exposed to water safety lessons and know how to remain calm and keep their wits about them in any situation. Pray that they will not later make fatal, life altering mistakes as young adults. It certainly does not help to read about rip tides. Believe me.

  88. I totally relate to #1. Last night, my daughter who is living in France, told me she and a friend are thinking about going to Dakar, Senegal. I immediately starting worrying about malaria, dengue fever, and a zillion other worries.

  89. Dang you! Why can’t you keep your Websites-Chock-Full-Of-Patterns-I’ve-Never-Seen-Before to yourself?! I had to go and download the entire catalog and so far I’ve found no less than 6 garments that I. Must. Knit. in JUST the 1st half of said catalog.
    You’re a dangerous woman, Stephanie.

  90. My daughter flew to Panama on her own in high school. I can relate to the worry. Thing to keep reminding yourself is that you are not raising them to be children, but to be adults. When my daughter came home she was noticeably stronger and more confident.
    The hard part is letting them take more and more risks as they grow up while trying to keep them safe.

  91. I laughed and laughed about your maternal worries because I would do the EXACT SAME THING!
    I have heard (and believe from personal experience) that knitting can decrease anxiety. Keep on knittin’! She will be back before you know it with plenty of stories to share!

  92. The sizing discrepancy is quite easy to explain: You are a Short Person with a Tall Personality. There you go.
    The kid will be fine. While you’re worrying about her, she’s worrying about Hank. (Thankyas, Hank!)

  93. Wow! U say it … I buy it! 🙂
    That’s pretty powerful karma you’ve got going there I’d say. I just purchased the Mit Pattern just because I don’t have enough projects on the back burner! 🙂
    On a more apologetic and very grateful note. I had asked you what your all-time favorite sock pattern was. And you very generously emailed me about the vanilla sock in your 3rd book. okay here’s my question. I have all your books… and am on the wait list as well… and I’m looking at the pattern for the sock on pg 144, but don’t see any title or name, or anywhere where it is dubbed vanilla. Am I on the right pattern? and if so its standed fit for an average woman. My feet are slightly larger (I’m an amazon) than average… 9 wide on a good day. How far above average do I need to go?

  94. Gee, you didn’t even mention the things I would worry about. I won’t say them out loud.
    oh boy, that is the cutest baby sweater ever.
    I am in awe of your ability to make so many links in one post. Links that even work.

  95. Your child will be fine…I figure “Like Mom, like Daughter”..so, she will be fine…a bit intense, but fine.
    I personally like the oversized mitts..you can always tell people “I just lost weight ALL OVER”.
    Thanks SO MUCH for the Sweet Sheep link…I think I just cleaned them out..but my stash will be happier and the charity will be WAY HAPPIER. (I really must stop clicking on these links you have!!)

  96. I wanted to go to Mexico but lack of a passport staved that plan off nicely. I am instead spending my vacation time in toronto just in time for the DKC’S Frolic. Which will be that much more fun because I don’t know how much wool is in Mexico. (I have now added another stop on my yarn tour portion of my Toronto visit)
    I absolutely love Sweet Sheep and Michelle, the owner, is the nicest person ever. Everyone should shop her store! The bonus is the yarns she has are all top notch!

  97. You forgot the Rattlesnakes and tarantulas. (Just trying to be helpful) She’ll be fine. I would have my kid send a postcard every 5 minutes when she went somewhere. I did the same if I was on a trip. It was fun. We would get home before most of the post cards but it kept us focused and not worrying. Remember to breathe. In and out. You’ll make it.

  98. Oh mercy….can’t even think about my kids being that far from home just yet, although goodness knows it won’t be long. I must say that there comes a time when you begin worrying in both directions – your kids and your parents. I entertain all the usual mom worries about my kids, but now I also freak out if my Mom doesn’t answer her phone when I think she should, or if I call and discover she’s gone to a dr.’s appointment I didn’t know about. I think we’re doomed either way. Thank goodness for knitting and really cheap international calling plans!

  99. Not to add to your fretting, but don’t forget that 4 Canadians have been killed in Mexico in the last year. I don’t even know if it’s a lot, but we keep hearing about it.
    Don’t worry – kids are way more resillient than we thnk. Think of when you were a kid…
    Street Knits is excellent idea!

  100. Hi Stephanie,
    I just ordered the only two skeins I found available at the sweet sheep (in the yarns that are part of the donation thing to MSF). Thank you for posting this, and OMG, I can’t believe the total raised to the charity here. Well done!
    Rosane.

  101. The Streetknits link isn’t working and I tried googling and still couldn’t find it. Any suggestions?

  102. OMG, Steph- Gila Monsters, for heaven’s sake! I’m still gasping for breath.
    Love the wristwarmers-I am planning to make many more myself, so espeially appreciated the link to Amber’s site. They are beautiful, practical, knit up fast, and make a wonderful gift-if one can bear to part with them!

  103. You haven’t posted about it yet, but shouldn’t the new hard drive have shown up for your laptop by now? How is that going?
    Don’t worry. The universe considered aunts close enough to mothers that the protection magic takes effect. Kids who are babysitting get an extra dusting of positive mojo protection.

  104. $320,000 for msf/kwb??? How did that happen? Wow.
    The yarn looks like it’s held up well to all that knitting and ripping out.
    And thanks for the silk garden hat pattern the other day. I was looking for such- good timing!

  105. *SNORT* I loved your Mom worries. I made DS and DD read it because they make fun of me when I even mention things like that. I am glad I am not the only one.
    I hope she enjoyed the Mexican Restaurant! Ha!
    Sweet gloves! Frog ’em til they’re right! I call it “attention to detail.” My family calls it “anal retentive” and “compulsive.” They even say, “Look, she’s ripping it out again!”
    They just don’t understand….

  106. Gila monsters aren’t that bad. They are shy and slow. You have to walk up to one and practialy put your hand in it’s mouth for it to bit you (I know. When we were kids, my older brother followed one from 2 feet away with a stick for a half hour. The most exciting thing it did to him was run away. I was disspointed. I was also 10, so can be forgiven.
    Really, I would be more worried about the dysentary. The first time you get it you would consider death a releise. Well, for the first day or two. Then it just sucks. The second time it isn’t so bad. (ask me how I know…)

  107. Gila monsters aren’t that bad. They are shy and slow. You have to walk up to one and practialy put your hand in it’s mouth for it to bit you (I know. When we were kids, my older brother followed one from 2 feet away with a stick for a half hour. The most exciting thing it did to him was run away. I was disspointed. I was also 10, so can be forgiven.
    Really, I would be more worried about the dysentary. The first time you get it you would consider death a releise. Well, for the first day or two. Then it just sucks. The second time it isn’t so bad. (ask me how I know…)

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