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...

Time is on My Side

Time is on my side, yes it is.

Time is on my side, yes it is.

Time is on my side. Or so I thought! But it seems like no matter how hard I try, lately there is not enough time in my day to do all the things I want (and need) to do. Time isn’t waiting for me. It’s passing me by.

I stopped at the grocery store and I became my mother. Then my grandmother, and my mamaw. All of the prominent female influences in my life combined and took over my body and my mind. I find myself looking for the bargains and not buying something I want because it’s too expensive. Or maybe I will buy it and I’ll store the leftovers in the refrigerator and drag them out until there’s not enough for anyone to eat. I’ll find it later, forgotten and green, in a plastic container. Or I’ll look at cookbooks and magazines trying to find something new to try then I’ll get the stuff to make the same old thing I always make. When did I become like that?

I think about my daughter, my beautiful 30 year old daughter, and I wonder how it happened that she is already grown. She doesn’t know it, but she is me. She’s the mom with three little kids trying to juggle all the things she has to do and still find time for her. She’s the one who worries that her kids will do well in school or be liked by their peers. She’s the one who tries to please everyone and is disappointed because it seems she always misses the target. She’s the one who worries that she’s too fat, too gray, too old.

I think about my parents and wonder who they are, because they are little old people now, not the mom and dad I know. I worry about their health, their feelings, their welfare. I hope they remember to take the right medicine and call the doctor if needed. I worry that they will be lonely. I think back to when my grandparents were the old people, the old people we thought we’d never lose. But we did lose them and time still went on.

I think about my life and how my thoughts and opinions and actions have changed over the years. I’m not who I was but I’m not who I’ll be. I think about how fast the days pass now. My newborn baby grandson will be eight years old on his birthday. And I wonder where the time goes. I cherish his hugs and when he asks for me and just wants to be with me, because I’m his Mamye. And I know in a short while it will change. He’ll be busy. Then he’ll be the 30 year old. My daughter will be where I am now and I’ll be my mother.

Finally things will slow down. I’ll become my great grandmother who told me the weekends were the worst. She said she could find things to keep her busy during the week. She had phone calls and visits, her knitting and her soap operas to occupy her time. But Sunday she was usually alone. She would cook enough for two or three but nobody came to share her food. She would sit and wait for anyone to drop by but they never came. She said it was the longest and hardest day of the week.

A friend once told me I was on the downside of life. He said we (because we are the same age) are closer to the end then the beginning. That’s a sobering thought! Lately the notion of retiring has crossed my mind. Once I could never imagine not working. But now I count the days until the weekend, when I can do what I want to do, not what I have to do. The things I have to do get done, but at my own pace. Yes, time is on my side. I’m just not sure which side.

Now you always say

That you want to be free,

But you'll come running back.

You'll come running back.

You'll come running back to me…

How many scarves and shawls are too many for one person? I’ve probably reached the limit. But what happened this cold scarf weather morning when I was looking for just the right one to complement my fashionable ensemble? That’s right. There was none. I’m partial to variegated, as evidenced by the picture, so I have more options.

Still, nothing seemed to work. I could either not find a shirt to match a scarf or not find a scarf to match a shirt. Finally, after multiple wardrobe malfunctions, I found a combination that worked. And as I was searching I was planning more projects to supplement the gaps I noticed. It will only take a little time, right? And time, is on my side. Yes it is.

Well, time is on my side, yes it is.

Time is on my side, yes it is...

Well, Excuse Me, But I Think You've Got My Chair…

No, that one's not taken, I don't mind
If you sit here, I'll be glad to share…

The other day, on a trip for work, I had what I think could possibly be the rudest thing ever, happen at the training. It involved a chair, or rather lack of one. Actually, the whole trip was a little bizarre. It was a bad chair day to say the least! But to keep it short, I’ll leave out some of the details.

There is a team of four of us in Austin for training. We arrive at the training a little early to allow for catching up with friends across the state. There are a lot of my work friends there. I’m always happy to see them. We visited and caught up and then it was time for the session to start. I headed towards the table where my team is sitting. Surprise! There are only three chairs and the three chairs are full. There are no empty chairs anywhere close. Nobody looks at me or says a word so I go across the room to sit by my friend. (Hmmm…this could be a whole other blog post!) And no, although rude, this wasn’t the rudest thing ever.

The updates begin and we regroup after break and my team makes sure to invite me to the new table. We have a great discussion and then it’s time for lunch. We all leave our materials at the table.

After lunch I go back to the table to sit down and there is a woman in my chair. She has pushed all of my belongings aside and put her things there. There are no other empty chairs at the table. Immediately she starts telling me she didn’t take my chair. She said she had pulled up a chair for me and some man took it. Really? I just looked at her. I picked up everything that was mine and moved to another table. I was not going to argue with some rude woman over a chair.

One of the people on my team started texting me, saying I shouldn’t have gone, that I had been there first and I needed to come back. That wasn’t going to happen. If taking the chair was that important to her, she could have it.

The rest of the training was uneventful. Soon it was time to leave. As I was standing outside waiting for the van, I noticed the same rude woman talking to one of the team. I hoped she might go away, but lo and behold, she was riding with us to the airport! It turns out she used to work where we do, and knew a member of the team. She was loading her luggage and as I climbed in the van I asked if I needed to give her my seat. I probably shouldn’t have said anything but I was a bit put out by the whole situation.

She got in the van and immediately started explaining again, how she hadn’t taken my chair. She’d pulled up a chair and some man took it. Oh wait, second try. She’d pulled up a chair but the man said I didn’t work there now and didn’t need it. Oh wait, third try. She’d pulled up a chair and some man just came over and said I left and took the chair while she was trying to tell him it was taken. Right. Decide on a story and stick to it or better yet, give it up already. I just said forget it and ignored her, the rest of the way to the airport.

In reality, none of the chairs belonged to any of us. But if you have been sitting in the chair, have all of your belongings there, including a nametag, it’s close to being ‘your’ chair. The way I see it she took my chair and ‘some man’ took hers. My things were there and she moved them to make room for hers. There was plenty of room and she should have pulled up a chair for herself and left mine, since it was already taken. She should have gotten up and found another chair to replace the one she decided she wanted. She should learn how to play well with others. She shouldn’t be so rude. And she should never try to sit anywhere close to me again.

Well, excuse me, but I think you've got my chair…

I should grab the knitting when something like that happens. Something upsetting or stressful I mean. But it’s not always understood by everyone that knitting can be a calming influence. It is for me and I’d do a lot better in many areas if I could knit all the time!

Speaking of knitting, Bryce will be in Germany this term for school and he wanted his scarf finished before he left. I finished but it was a bit short so I’m adding some at each end. I think it looks okay but I’m not convinced he shares my opinion. I also finished a short scarf or neckwarmer for him to take back.

Both ends with added section...it looks right to me!

Modeling...it's gonna be cold in Germany!

The ends again.

Modeling...this can be wrapped tight or left long

Up close view

It’s funny, the things that stick with you. I actually woke up from a sound sleep the other night, furious with the rude woman, who is Pamela, by the way, thinking of all the things I should have, could have said to her. I suppose if you just think rude things to say but never actually say them it’s not nearly as bad. By keeping my mouth shut I didn’t stoop to her level. Well maybe, but only in my mind!

Oh, I like you too, and to tell you the truth
That wasn't my chair after all.

What A Beautiful Mess

What a beautiful mess I'm in…
Spending all my time with you.
There's nothing else I'd rather do.

Thanksgiving wasn’t over the river and through the woods but it was at grandmother’s house. Well, Pappy’s house and that’s close enough. Pappy’s ‘nother one house as the kids said. The mountain house is just big enough but when we all go, the walls close in and no matter how hard we try, things just get in a mess. A beautiful mess, though, because we are enjoying each other. There were some people missing and it would have been even better if they’d been there. But they were in our thoughts, and we were in theirs. It’s fun, it’s tiring, it’s caring and it’s sharing. It’s family.

Belle...still and quiet? What's up with that!?!

Helping Pappy and loving it!

This sums it up!!! Thanks for Thanksgiving 2010.

I hope everyone got to spend time with people who are important to them. Be thankful for the wonderful things in your life.

What a beautiful mess,
What a beautiful mess I'm in…

There was some yarn play during the holiday. I took a bunch of hanks that needed to be wound. I have a swift and a ball winder. I took them to the mountain house and while there was room I set it up on the counter and wound some of the hanks. The boys were mesmerized. Of course they wanted to help so with a little guidance they wound yarn too. I didn’t get finished with all I had but I got a good start. Then I wondered why I have so much.

Caleb says, "All  your yarns is rainbow colors Mames!"

I also made a couple of Christmas scarves. They are just scraps but I like how they look. And they are lengthwise so they are fast. The kids liked them so I made two more little ones. I also finished the Gaiter and started on Ty’s scarf. I knitted on the way home in the dark and got about a foot done. Surprisingly I can do this pattern in the dark with not too many problems.

Ty's Gaiter and scarf in the works.

Christmas Scarves

Christmas in a different hue

Knitayear is also still going on. I did get behind up there but caught up for this post and have one more November post to go. Then maybe I can be caught up for a while. Doubtful! Day 236, November 22 was a little frenzied. I was trying to get things caught up at work and also get things going at home so we could leave. I chose a green yarn with little ribbons hanging off of it. Day 237, November 23, I was getting ready to go. Then plans changed and we weren’t going that day. I shut down. Then plans changed and we were going that day. Make up your mind!!! But I’m ready, regardless. It’s my good friend’s birthday today too. And she’s older now! I choose maroon worsted with colored flecks. November 24, day 238 was a good day. I’m glad to be at the house. Glad for the mountain air and the trees. I’m not as glad for the stairs and the two hundred times going up and down to unload! I chose dark green wool for the trees. It’s day 239, Thanksgiving, November 25, and I’m thankful we can all be together. I wish the boys were here and that Dustin was home but I know it will come soon enough. It would have been fun to have Junie and mom and dad too, but they’ll be there Christmas. We didn’t really plan a Thanksgiving supper but the turkey was in the smoker and it took a little longer than expected. We had a sausage snack to tide us over then had a wonderful supper. It was all the usual favorites. I made a standby that we call Sour Cream Salad and the little guys ate it like there was nothing better. I like it when that happens! I chose Artist Fleece wool silk in orange, green and blue. Day 240 was the calm after the storm. November 26 is Black Friday but we skipped it. When they start opening stores at 3:00 am or midnight it’s not fun anymore. We occasionally went for some things in the past, ate breakfast out and came home. That wasn’t too bad. But to stay up and out all night? Well, it’s not worth the money saved to me. We hung around the house and just relaxed. I chose yellow bamboo. Day 241, November 27, Callye and I ventured out. We were lucky and found some leftover Black Friday things without the crowd and the early hours! We also went to a dollar store and just had fun finding little stocking stuffers and the like. I chose Flame Trend superwash in a color called party. It’s really rainbow colored but I could only use a bit so it’s bright green. I feel fortunate and very lucky that we had this holiday together. I think I already said it but the cherry on the Sundae would have been the boys being able to be there. The wild times, the messes…the memories made. That’s what counts.

Is it your eyes?
Is it your smile?

What a beautiful mess…