Trish Knits.com

Category: family

Mom.

Me with my Mom in September, 2014
It’s been more than a year since I have ventured onto this blog. I’ve been living in short bits and bytes on Facebook, mostly, without anything so earth-shattering to say that would warrant an entire blog post. In fact, it’s been a mostly uneventful year, full of the sort of mundane, everyday things that happen in a family with adolescent and young adult children. Somebody got braces, someone attended community college, we all went to an amazing wedding, and there were a couple of concerts and a movie or two. In the absolute height of boredom for a knitting blogger, I am still actually knitting the exact same project that I was working on when last I graced these pages. Ho, hum! How many times can you endure me droning on and on about the same gray blanket? (Progress is happening, by the way, but it is painfully slow. Suffice it to say that I’m glad the project is so big after all, because the baby recipient is going to be a full-fledged little boy before he gets it.) So you see, my life has been incredibly boring and un-blog-worthy.

Except, at Thanksgiving this year, everything changed. On the Monday of Thanksgiving week, I lost my mother. I know many of you have also been through this, so my experience is not unique. It was not unexpected, in that she had a chronic form of leukemia for eight years, that almost always ends in death, eventually. Except that it was a huge shock. We didn’t really see it coming. She had hopes for a potentially life-saving bone marrow transplant in January, and then, all of a sudden, in November, she went downhill fast. She had gone into the hospital on November 20, a Friday, complaining of shortness of breath. On Monday, she was gone, and that was It.

Nobody tells you about all of the things that must be done when someone dies. There is no way to prepare yourself for the plans that must be made, the accounts and subscriptions that must be cancelled, and the piles and piles of things that must be gone through, to unearth the special memories, photographs, and mementos of a very full life. Nobody tells you that while people can, for the most part, empathize with what you’re feeling, they can’t really feel it with you, and don’t understand. Nobody tells you that this is when you figure out who your real friends are, and how many whom you thought were your friends, are miles away because they can’t stand your grief. No one can really explain what a lonely, awful process grieving is.

And yet, this is where I find myself now, with Christmas coming. I am looking forward to seeing family again, even though the one person I want to see most right now is the one missing. I am sure there will be laughter, and some good memories about this year, but I am also preparing myself for tension and sadness. It’s just that it’s so soon, and none of us have really figured this grieving thing out yet. We’re all in the throes of it, all lost, together, trying to figure out how to have Christmas without the one person who was at the center of it all for our family.

I will miss hearing her laugh at and with her grandchildren. I will miss all of the silly names she had for everyone, and I will even miss the ugly nightgown I won’t be getting this year. (Thanks, Mom; I actually have a drawer full of them to last me a lifetime.) Someday, in another post, I hope I can happily tell you what a wonderfully, zany person she was and what I learned from her. Today is not that day, though, and I hope you will bear with me.

In fact, I’m not quite sure, in the end, what I’m going to do with this blog. The fact that I’ve been so long without it maybe means that I can do without it. Then again, something urged me to write this today, so maybe the jury’s still out. I’ll see you again, in this space, before I make a final decision. If you find this after such a long disappearance on my part, thank you for reading.

Until then, whenever that is…

T.

December 21, 2015
(Not Even) Three Days in Geeksboro

How to make a mini-vacation in a place where you wouldn’t think such a thing is possible:

1. Take the time to go to a nice restaurant in the area. Fast food is fine when you’re on the road, but restaurants can make memories. Absent that, make a memory by just showing proof that you were there.

Family Selfie: Trish, Steven and John

Here we are at The Chop House in High Point, NC. Steven likes steak, so why not? It was delicious, by the way, and fancy! They even put a purple flower on my plate:

Steak and mushrooms with purple flower

(How did they manage to make my dinner match my hair?)

2. If the hotel has a pool, stop by, even if it’s just for a few minutes. It’s always more fun when you say you went swimming.

Steven swims while Trish knits

Did I mention? Always bring your knitting. You’d be surprised how much you can accomplish in hundreds of miles.

3. Enjoy a leisurely breakfast watching cartoons, if for no other reason than to block out the horrid news of that particular day:

Steven eats breakfast while watching cartoons tableside

4. Find your kindred spirits, go where they are, and embrace them. We can’t hide the fact that we’re nerds. We argue amongst ourselves that there are varying degrees of nerdiness, and that some in our family can raise the Geek Flag way higher than some others. But, we can’t escape it. It’s who we are, and we’re proud. So imagine finding out that Greensboro is actually quite the center for Geek Culture. We found a fun coffee house where “our people” hang:

Geeksboro Coffeehouse Cinema

Geeksboro Coffeehouse Cinema

Find your people:

Steven plays video games

John shares stories with a coffeehouse patron

Partake of the cultural foods:

Caramel Bacon Cupcake

Can someone explain to me the geek culture/bacon connection? I don’t quite get it. But, when we got to the coffee house, and saw they had caramel bacon cupcakes in the dessert case, we had to try one! Or, at least I did. It was surprisingly yummy… it was an apple spice cake with salted caramel frosting and bacon on top. Not that I would eat this every day, but when in the land of geeks…

Wishing we could have been there for game night:

Wall of board games

And don’t forget to take a family photo with the TARDIS on the way out!

Trish, John, and Steven with the TARDIS

5. Keep your eyes open, because when you’re headed to one specific place, you never know what else you’ll find along the way. In our case, there was an amazing comic book store right next to the coffee house, Acme Comics:

Acme Comics

Acme Comics

The boys are finding things they like in the comic book store

Group of campers visits the comic book store

While we were in the comic book store, some kids from a local comic book day camp stopped in. They were able to browse and ask questions. One kid asked what was the biggest difference between comics of today, and vintage comics. The owner replied that today, comics are mostly produced by one person or a small group, using a computer, and that in the “olden days” it was a multi-step process involving lots of people working by hand. There was a book in the store that explained this process.

John and Steven found a comic book

John and Steven found a comic book that they couldn’t pass up, which was a mashup of Doctor Who and Star Trek, the Next Generation. I’ve always heard that you’re not supposed to mess with the space-time continuum this way, but what do I know?

6. If you’re a knitter, follow the smell of yarn fumes. It will lead to magical places:

Gate City Yarns

Gate City Yarns

Gate City Yarns

In Downtown Greensboro there is a thriving artist district, full of galleries and quaint shops and restaurants. This is where one would find Gate City Yarns, which contains a wide variety of yarns and spinning fibers. It is a lovely, comfortable shop with helpful staff and comfy couches, a spacious classroom in back (I peeked) and an atmosphere that just makes you want to hang out a while. I visited the shop on our trip to Greensboro last year, and it was well worth the return trip. Of course, if you’re not a knitter or crocheter or spinner, then waiting around while your loved one shops isn’t really a hardship there:

This is how John and Steven shop for yarn.

7. Find a restaurant with character to have lunch, instead of eating fast food, and enjoy it.

The nice lady at the yarn store recommended a tavern called Liberty Oak for lunch, and it was yummy! It was a nice place that offered outdoor seating. It was a nice day and not too hot, so why not? Here we are:

Trish, Steven and John

Trish and John

I have to say I had one of the best sandwiches I’d ever eaten:

Sandwich and fruit

The sandwich consisted of smoked turkey, Granny Smith apples, sprouts, and bleu cheese/walnut spread on toasted raisin bread. And a lovely assortment of fresh fruit. My mouth is still watering; it was delicious!

8. Don’t forget the real reason you headed to a place like Greensboro to start with. For us, it was that our daughter was participating in the UNC Greensboro Summer Music Camp, and there was a recital on the last day, that we did not want to miss. Diana was first chair flute this year, and had the honor of performing two solos, one on flute, and the other on piccolo. Here is one piece in which Diana had a solo. It’s called “Song for Lyndsay.” As you’re looking at the stage, Diana is to the right of the conductor with the bun in her hair:

Here are some other images from that wonderful event:

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Dr

As an aside, if you have a kid who participates in instrumental music, vocal music, or piano, we cannot recommend UNC Greensboro’s Summer Music Camp highly enough. The experience is superb, the music is fantastic, and your kid will come away with an experience to remember forever. We are so proud that Diana was able to participate for two years.

9. When in the South, you must eat at Cracker Barrel. The Old Country Store is full of entertaining things:
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As you can see, we crammed a LOT into our little trip to Greensboro. Maybe someday soon, we’ll go back and actually set a spell, as my grandfather would have said. Maybe we’ll even stay awhile. We kinda fit right in. 🙂

July 21, 2014
Rainy Day Pics

I’m still working on my rain photos… but my daughter and I had fun doing these this afternoon.

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July 3, 2014
Renaissance Boy

Steven, playing clarinet while sitting in his favorite tree.
I’ve been bragging on Facebook about my daughter a lot lately, so today it’s my son’s turn in the spotlight. He’s very bright, a little quirky, and he waves the geek flag very proudly. He’s a mostly straight-A student, who plays the clarinet, has made a point to get over the feeling of stage fright because he loves dancing, singing and acting, and he can go head-to-head with his math geek math teacher at chess, and win.

What I did not know, until yesterday, is that he is also a budding poet. He has an assignment in his Language Arts class to create a book of his favorite poems. He can include stuff from famous poets, stuff he’s read in class, and even people he knows or his own poems. So he decided yesterday to write a poem of his own. And he sat down, and did this, in almost no time.

Perhaps he has a future as a greeting card writer? Maybe…. when he’s done writing mathematical theorems or starring in this one-man off-off-Broadway show.

THE FOUR SEASONS

Spring, a time of new beginnings,
A time for life and a time for living,
The time when the new bird sings,
With flowers, bees, all sorts of things!
With pollen stirring through the air,
Oh, springtime! So wonderful and fair.

Summer’s next, coming with overwhelming heat,
When the kids run around the fields with just their bare feet,
And the greatest way to stay refreshed and cool,
Is just relaxing by the pool.
The little kids play without a care,
It’s summertime! With plenty of heat to share.

Next is fall, or autumn if you’d please
When the wind blows, and leaves fall with ease,
With colors of red, brown, and orange,
Oh, I forgot! Nothing rhymes with orange!
Piles of leaves stacked up so tall and fair,
It is fall! And people celebrate everywhere.

Last is winter, which is when you hear
Yuletide carols from through the years,
For it’s the season of giving, and you should know,
That it is Christmas, with the ground covered in snow.
The year is nearly gone, but do not despair,
A new year is coming, with a new hope and a new prayer.

By: Steven Day

May 26, 2014
I’ve Seen the Light!

I’m going to geek out a little in this post.

If you know me, you know I love my camera almost as much as I love knitting and yarn. I’m always striving to take better pictures. I am not a photographer, nor will I ever be, though very rarely my photos do get used in the context of my day job. I like it when opportunities to be creative present themselves.

There is a problem, though, in that I have always hated working with flash. When possible I prefer natural light, or nice, bright indoor light. However, in today’s energy-conscious world, fluorescent lighting is the norm, which, if you take pictures, you know, is the definition of UG-ly.

I never use my camera’s built-in flash. About three years ago my husband very generously gave me a Speedlite for my birthday, which was a huge improvement. But, I still hated the harsh shadows often produced. So right away I started looking for ways to get the benefits of using flash while at the same time, softening the effect. I can’t remember how it was that I stumbled upon the Gary Fong Lightsphere, but it made a huge difference for me.

The only problem was, the thing was bulky, a little hard to get on and off quickly, and its rigid form took up too much space in my camera bag.

Then I discovered the Lightsphere Collapsible. It folds down into a nice, flat shape and doesn’t demand too much of my gear bag. It’s a lot easier to take on and off, and it produces such a wonderful light that is not too harsh and produces wonderful color, something that my energy-saving, but ugly-as-sin light fixtures can no longer do. Want proof?

Photo of orange yarn taken without flash

The above photo was taken in my dining room, which is fairly brightly lit with a nice, off-white ceiling. The colors in this image are soft, but a little muddy, and kind of all run together. Not bad, and certainly better than i would have gotten with plain flash. But then, look:

Photo of orange yarn taken with flash

This photo was taken with the Collapsible Lightsphere in place. Yes I can see a slight shadow, but it’s not harsh at all. And best of all, guess what? The photo is showing you the actual colors of my yarn. Not too bad, eh? I think after all my years of using flash only begrudgingly, I am finally starting to make peace with it. I’ve even gone so far as to realize that natural light isn’t always best, and there are situations where having nice, soft light from the flash will really improve the photo.

I love it when my love for yarn and my love of photography converge. Look for lots more bright, happy project photos from me.

That’s my husband’s Jayne Hat in progress. It’ll be done in time for this spring’s round of nerd conventions.

February 2, 2014
Yes, I’ve Been Knitting, Too…

It’s been a long time since I’ve actually posted here. I’ve been in a knitting (and thus, blogging) funk. But this year I have decided to try to fix both of those things. But, none of my knitting of late has been making me, well, happy. And what’s the point of knitting if not for the zen and happiness of it?

So I’ve been struggling along for weeks, trying to find the perfect project. And then my husband said that he thought he should buy himself a Jayne Hat. To which, I said, “I can knit that!” And so I am. In all the years I’ve been knitting, he’s only affected a mild interest (to keep me happy) and has never asked me to make him anything. So, he finally asked for something, and I said I could do it. And I can, really… except this particular hat has been subject to much opinion and debate as to how it’s made. I am following this pattern, but am finding the analysis of the hat on this site to be most helpful.

Of course there is some debate about the actual color of the hat, because it is often seen in deep shadow. But I see it as a sort of pumpkin-orange and goldenrod, with brick red earflaps. With two strands held together and a combination of colors from the stash, and adding a couple of other shades with the help of a store credit from The Loopy Ewe, I think I will be good to go. What do you Firefly knitters think of my color choices?

Jayne Hat yarn

As you can also see, if you’re visiting this blog, I’ve done a bit of work here, too. I’ve decided that this is the year I’m going to really focus on my photography skills, so I wanted a blog format that would allow me to easily build photo pages. And this one called out to me. I’ll be building my photo galleries over time, but you can check them out, here: Photo Galleries.

For tonight’s photo of the yarn I experimented with my flash. I generally hate flash photography because of the washed out colors and harsh shadows I usually get. But, since my whole house now is full of energy saving (but ugly as sin) fluorescent light bulbs, I figured I’d better start making friends with the flash. So for this photo I mounted the flash on the camera, but added a Gary Fong Universal Lightsphere diffuser, to cut down on the harsh shadows. Not bad, eh? And the yarn colors are accurate and vivid. Of course I am a bigger fan of natural light, but when none is available, this setup might just do.

As I was writing this post, my kids were behind me, laughing. And this is why:

Clyde is hiding

Clyde had run under the chair where I had set up for photos, and got himself draped in the sheet I use for a backdrop. And stayed there, at least long enough for my daughter to snap a few kitty selfies. Never a dull moment around here, I’m tellin’ ya.

We’re expecting a boatload of snow tomorrow so I’m hoping that means lots of knitting. Stay tuned for Jayne Hat updates.

January 20, 2014