Rikki Don’t Lose That Number

We hear you're leaving, that's OK.

I thought our little wild time had just begun. 

I guess you kind of scared yourself, you turn and run. 

But if you have a change of heart… 

When my daughter was small, like most little girls, she had a doll. This doll was a typical ‘baby’ with a cloth body, plastic head and limbs. The baby didn’t have hair but had paint symbolizing hair on the top of its head.
When she first got her doll she wanted to name it. We suggested a few things but she wasn’t interested. One day she proclaimed her doll’s name was Richard. And Richard was a girl.

Richard and Callye were always together.

First off, we didn’t know anyone named Richard at that time. I was a stay at home mom with her so I tried to think of a movie or television show that might have had someone named Richard as a character. Nothing came to mind. But she was adamant. Her doll’s name was Richard. And Richard was a girl.

Richard became part of the family. She had dresses and little booties to wear, but most of the time she was nude. She was very durable, too, as sometimes she was held by the leg or the arm and she still stayed in one piece. It was probably lucky that her features were permanent, or as permanent as paint can be. She had many adventures, some good, some not so good!

A doll like Richard. And it's a girl doll.

One morning as I was folding laundry, I had a movie playing in the background. There was a fight scene and the two men involved were yelling at each other and one said, “I’ll beat the hell out of you.” Richard and Callye were playing house in another part of the room and I glanced over to see if she’d heard. She was busy feeding Richard and had not even glanced at the television. Later that night as we were sitting together, Callye picked up Richard by the leg and started pounding her on the floor. I said, “What are you doing?” She calmly said, “I’m beating the hell out of Richard.” She’d heard.

Richard went everywhere with us. Well, almost everywhere. One Sunday, Alan was on a hunting trip and Callye and I were getting ready to go to Sunday school and church. We were dressed but Richard’s clothes were nowhere to be found. We searched high and low but alas, there was no outfit for Richard. Being the resourceful mother I am I suggested that Richard lay in mom’s bed while we were at church. It took a little negotiation but that’s what was finally decided, and Richard stayed home.

Years later, in the teacher’s lounge, a colleague, who had at one time been Callye’s Sunday school teacher, and I were visiting. We were talking about our kids and their old toys and I mentioned that Callye had loved a doll named Richard but Richard was a girl. She got a funny look on her face and said, “So that’s it!” I asked what she meant and she told me this story: One Sunday morning, a long time ago, Callye had gone to Sunday school. She told her two teachers that Richard couldn’t find any clothes and stayed at home in mom’s bed while daddy was gone.

I was mortified. We lived in a small town and you know how small towns are. She reassured me that she hadn’t thought anything bad, that Richard must be a cousin or something. Yeah, right!

Richard, who was a girl, was a part of Callye’s (and our) everyday life for a long time, but as it happens she eventually outgrew Richard. And I eventually lived down the story that quickly circulated through the school.

Richard isn’t lost. We still have her, packed away somewhere, probably without clothes, waiting to sleep in somebody’s bed! But she'll never be forgotten.

Rikki don't lose that number. 

You don't wanna call nobody else. 

Send it off in a letter to yourself...

Well, I had to tell my sister the shawl wasn’t going to be on time. I’ll finish but I can’t make the deadline. I haven’t had much time to work on it and it seems for every two inches I finish I take out three. I just need some down time and I can whip it out. So, in the meantime I decided on some instant gratification! I saw a scarf on a lady in Ruidoso, probably last year or maybe the year before. I really liked it but she was a stranger and I didn’t want to ask if I could look at it. I should have. I went home and sketched out what I thought it looked like. Then I got busy on other things and lost the paper and didn’t really think about it again.

Loops is a great yarn store in Tulsa, Oklahoma. My oldest boy used to live there so I got to visit occasionally. But he’s moved so I just get updates by email and Facebook as to what’s going on there. The other day I got a note about a simple, Neck’s Best Thing scarf. Voila! That was it! That was the Ruidoso scarf! Or at least it was close enough. They were even so kind as to give a FREE pattern! I love when that happens. And it’s a real pet peeve when something says it’s free only to be free if you BUY a bunch of yarn first. But I digress. Anyway, I had some bulky yarn I’d picked up for something or other so I took it out and gave the scarf a try. I used a size 19 needle and cast on 7 stitches. I liked it fairly well but something was missing. I took it to work, for an impartial opinion, and the verdict was, MORE FRINGE! So, that was easy enough to fix, and I did. It’s kind of cute, don’t you think?

The first try. Added more fringe.

It was fun and I liked getting something finished in a short amount of time so I couldn’t stop at one. But this time I thought I would change it up some.

Cast on 7 stitches

US 19, 15mm needles

I found some other yarns I had around and added them to the fringe. This one looks kind of Christmasy.

A little sparkle.

 These are fun and I am already thinking of some other variations.

Up close--yarn is Charisma by Loops and Threads

Fringe a little longer too.

Thank you Loops for sharing this fun pattern! If you’re interested in seeing other creative projects head over to Our Creative Spaces and look around!

The Christmas season brings back memories; Memories of people, places and things that are packed away, maybe not thought of often, but never forgotten.

Rikki don't lose that number,

It's the only one you own. 

You might use it if you feel better, 

When you get home...

If You Don’t Like It…

I don't need anyone to tell me how to run my life,
Got along alright so far I don't really think I need to hear your advice.

A few days ago I read this Miss Manners column online. (http://tinyurl.com/3felq6x) I found it funny, because it dealt with knitting. But the more I thought about it the more I realized it’s something that happens every day in many ways.

DEAR MISS MANNERS:

Over the years I have noticed people knitting in public and have had no particular problem with it. However, I am a bit put off by those who knit in church or at an event such as a recital or concert.

Is it acceptable to knit at a church, synagogue or other religious service? And what about a concert or recital? I recently attended a piano and violin recital in a small venue where someone was knitting in the third row. Surely it was evident to the performers. And if such knitting is not appropriate, how should the knitters be approached, or prevented?

GENTLE READER: Please do not -- repeat, not -- make a hostile approach to knitters. Have you not noticed that they are armed with long, pointy sticks?

Of all the multitaskers who could annoy you, Miss Manners would not have guessed that knitters would top the list. There is a centuries-long history of ladies quietly doing needlework while remaining alert to what was going on around them.

But perhaps your complaint is that they are not quiet. If the clicking of needles is what bothers you, you could appeal to the authorities at church or concert hall that as they ban texting, it is only fair to ban activities that create similar noise. And if they don’t already ban texting, you might start by asking that they do before going after those comparatively unobtrusive knitters.

Visit Miss Manners at her Web site,www.missmanners.com, where you can send her your questions.

2011, by Judith Martin

Why do people worry so much about what other people are doing? Is it curiosity or is it boredom? Do they have nothing better to do than to be concerned about others thoughts and/or actions?

Let me clarify that I’m open to suggestion. I really am! If you have an idea you want to share that can help make things better, I’ll listen. I’m even up for constructive criticism. But if I’m told what I should or shouldn’t be doing, that could be an entirely different story. It’s all in the presentation. I’m not sure who died and made them the expert. Oh, yeah, it was nobody. They are self appointed.

In my experience people like this are so lacking in self-confidence they have to project the attention on anything else but their own shortfalls. It’s disgusting. And sadly, the loudest, most obnoxious people seem to get the farthest. And those are the people telling me that what I do is wrong because they don’t think it’s appropriate. Get a life.

Personality seems to be a factor as well. I know whole families of know-it-alls. I also know a lot of people lacking in self-confidence who don’t become know-it-alls, judging everyone around them. I find it particularly funny when two know-it-alls get put together. It’s like one of those old silent movie Keystone Cops chase scenes. Everyone is dancing around, trying to convince people that what they think is the right thing but nobody is getting anywhere. Imagine what could be accomplished if everyone minded their own business and just did what they were supposed to do!

Miss Manner’s message seems clear to me. Stop worrying about what I’m doing. If you don’t like it, and it’s not causing physical harm, look the other way. As for me, I won’t worry about what you think. I read this the other day and it brought things into perspective. “What other people think about you is none of your business”. I don’t care what you think. And next time someone decides to tell me what all is wrong with me and my life and what I’m doing, they should remember, I have a lot of long, pointy sticks!

I've seen 'em come and go tryin' to do it all for show
Got their walkin', talkin', built in' jive
Don't really think they're workin' nine to five

If you don't like it I don't care

Remember Bryce’s scarf I was working on way back in January? Well, I didn’t like it so I put it aside. It was drawing up on the sides and was just not looking right. He’s home for a bit so he’d like it finished to take back with him. I ripped it out and started it again, lengthwise. I only had a short pair of circular needles with me when I started it so it’s crowded on the cord. I never changed when I had the chance so I don’t know how long it is but I hope it’s okay. It seems like I’ve taken more rows out than put in but I’ll finish it before he leaves so he can wear it during the cold weather in Germany, his next stop. Really, I’m glad when one of the kids wants me to make them something!

Lotsa stitches!

Bryce's scarf

Other things I’m trying are some jewelry/beading type things. I’m quickly finding that it’s not really my forte! Everything I do seems to look like an elementary art project. Oh well! Nobody told me I had to try something new! 

First try at 'fixtures'

I've got my mind made up know what I wanna do.
I'll do it anyway I choose…

If you don't like it I don't care.
Hit the road 'cause I just  just  just don't care.