Kiss My Knits!

The camp director just called. Em’s already asking to go home. He and I talked, and agree that she should try to stick out the whole day. If it looks like she’s miserable or more unhappy or things are degrading, he’s going to call and of course I’ll come get her early, but I don’t want her to just give up immediately. That’s a strong trait of hers.

I understand that she’s overwhelmed easily, but I think it’s good for her to be pushed outside her comfort zone sometimes. That’s how we grow.

We’ll see if her time at camp continues on after today – and whether I can get a refund if it doesn’t. Bleah.

On the up side, the director does get points for starting with, “Ms. Tvini? This is Blank from soccer camp and it’s not an emergency.” Good lead. Nothing makes the heart beat faster than a call from camp.

I just dropped Em off at soccer camp, then promptly dropped dead of cuteness AGAIN. She ran out on the field and lined up behind a ball and gave it a good wallop. Right into the goal. Adorable and ruthless, that’s my girl!

They apparently have little games in the afternoon before it’s time to pick the kids up, and parents are invited. (Grandparents too, HINT HINT.) I’ll do my best to get good pics.

Yesterday I made the customary coconut cream pie for Dad. I had a little fun with it.

Best part? After it’s been in the fridge for a while, the meringue beads up a bit. Yes, this pie is so delicious, it’s actually salivating over itself. That’s good eatin’!

Okay, time to knit up Raleigh’s CSTS hat while I’ve got a little free time! Woo!

You may recall I wrote a little something about my mom on Mother’s Day. Well, it’s Father’s Day, so it’s Dad’s turn!

There are some things my Dad has instilled in me, not through lecturing, just through example.

It all boils down to this: In life, you can be a jerk or you can be a good guy. Be a good guy. Let’s break that down into its components!

Number one: don’t be an elitist snob. Treat others with respect, especially those that you don’t think you have to. Dad worked the night crew for years, so he knew this well. He was right – when I was working at the TV station, having a good relationship with the guys in Master Control saved my bacon on more than one occasion.

Number two: be nice to strangers. Now obviously, as a young woman you have to be selective about this, but really, life’s too short to stand off to the sides and keep your yap shut.

Number three: do unto others. Not from any biblical command, but because it makes other people smile, and that’s really the best reward. Dad kept candy in his desk drawer at work for years, becoming known as “the candy man.” It really made peoples’ days better.

Number four: stay down to Earth. And that brings us to the following. Dad is what I’d call a man of the people. He’s a smart guy from a family without much money, and he dropped out of school to go to work. Later he joined the Air Force and definitely made the most of his experience. This story takes place after he has shipped off to points North.

I took this down as he was telling it to me over the phone one day, so it’s in his own words. He didn’t know I was writing it down, so hopefully he won’t be mad. If so… I’m sorry, Dad! Love you!

The flying beer keg. Cut for language.

Pattern: Rainbow Socks by Susanne Kitzmann
Needles: Size 1 / 2.25mm (size 0 / 2.0 for heels)
Yarn: Regia Design Line Kaffe Fassett Colorway 4251
Time elapsed: begun March 30 2008, finished June 14 2008

What an enjoyable pattern! I loved these colors and wanted to do something with the yarn besides a straight stockinette, but didn’t want a complex stitch pattern to get lost in the colorway. This little gem seemed perfect. Short rows beginning and ending on each side of the leg create a neat zig-zag pattern. I got it from MagKnits, and thank goodness I printed out a copy before that site went kerflooey. The pattern is again available in both English and German from the designer’s site.

I knitted these toe-up instead of the called for toe-down. The striping matched up nearly perfectly on the feet, but by the time I turned the heel and moved up the ankle, there had been enough little changes in gauge, etc., that the striping was off, as you can see. Also, I meant to put the heel on the second one on the opposite side of where it actually is, so that the striping wouldn’t be parallel on the foot and then mirror-imaged on the leg. Oh well. That’s okay, I didn’t really care if they were perfectly in sync. They’re a little crazy and that’s as it should be.

I made them just a hair too long, both in the foot and in the leg. The foot isn’t so bad, I can live with it, but the leg comes up onto my calf and binds a bit. If I fold the cuff down, as pictured to the right, it’s no problem. Fine by me, because I’m definitely not ripping it out. I did the heels on size 0 instead of size 1 because heels are always the first things to go in my socks. I I’m going to have to go back and reinforce the gap at the heel turn. Oops.

I’m really happy with these socks. They were engaging, but didn’t demand a lot of attention. And I got a lot of “how’d you make those triangles? Did the yarn do that?” from both knitters and non-knitters alike, so it was kind of a logic-puzzle conversation starter. It’s a neat use of short rows and of self-striping yarn. I’d do it again!

I’ve got stuff to post, including an actual non-Jayne project completed today at Worldwide Knit In Public Day, but that can wait.

For now, fun with homonyms. Needs no explanation.

You may think the toothy smile drawn at right is odd, but there are all kinds of faces in the world.

Emily enjoys playing soccer with her friends on the playground. I was skeptical that she was doing anything but randomly booting the ball or maybe cheering a little from the sidelines, but when we actually played in the back yard, she wasn’t bad! So when she said she wanted to do a soccer camp this summer, I said okay. She’s signed up for “Soccer FUNdamentals” next week.

They required us to get shinguards, so we stopped by a sporting goods store to get some. Then we realized we needed long socks to go over the shinguards. And probably shoes would be a good idea. Anyway, one thing led to another, and now we’ve got a little Mia Hamm running around the house, dressed in all the pink clothes she picked out.

By the way, she now wears size 6 1/2 girls shoes, which apparently translates to size 8 women’s. She can now share footwear with my mother. Thanks a lot, bigfooted husband.

Here’s our budding soccer star. If she enjoys it, maybe she can play for my alma mater UNC one day! Lady Heels! Woo!

Emily’s signed up for soccer camp next week. She says she wants to play. Apparently she plays on the playground some. I was skeptical that she was really playing, as opposed to randomly booting the ball or cheering, but I took her on in the backyard, and she’s actually not bad.

Tomorrow, per camp requirements, we get her itty bitty shin guards. Immediately afterwards, I DIE OF CUTENESS.

Em has re-watched the Phyllis Diller episode of the Muppet Show several times today. Picking up standup tips? Hmm…

I may have mentioned that a couple of weeks ago, Emily tried out for her school talent show. Her talent? Telling jokes. Pretty big for an kid with autism who doesn’t like to make eye contact and routinely tells us that she just doesn’t want to talk right now.

Well, today was the show! I asked Emily how she felt onstage, and she told me, “I felt so, so, so, so, excited!”

Em’s teacher said that onstage, she was very confident and expressive, “like she is when she’s reading sometimes, with the eyebrows and everything” and was loud and clear. (Em does have a very expressive voice when she reads, giving things a lot of appropriate and sometimes dramatic inflection.) Her teacher says that Em got good laughs from the kids.

I asked Emily to tell me a joke that she told at the talent show: “What goes ‘ha ha ha plop plop?’ An audience laughing their heads off!”

Then when they got back to the class, she spontaneously started leading the class in song and dance. It was a song about “thumbs up, thumbs down” that she learned in school. You know, for a kid with Emily’s challenges, she really has shown an affinity for showbiz. She is, at her request, having a week of drama camp this summer.

My baby was born to be a star!