Murder, knitting and other news

[vaneramos]

Happy New Year, everyone. It has been a while, I know—a whole month, in fact.

Christmas with my daughters and parents was good. It was hard seeing Mom severely affected by the oedema. Her face is so swollen that it affects her voice, which for some reason I hadn't noticed it over the phone.

Dad recently had to close the family business, founded by my grandfather in 1933. Somehow it didn't dampen the spirit of our time together. Simply nothing gets Dad down.

There was a very weird thing: a homicide in my sister-in-law's family. Her brother was charged with second-degree murder after their mother was found dead on Christmas Eve. This was in the news in London, Ontario on Christmas Day. My parents are recently estranged from my brother and his wife, but my niece phoned on Christmas night with the news. This was pretty disturbing for my parents. I had not seen the woman or her son in many years.

On a more pleasant note, here is the reason for my post. Marian and Brenna are modelling my three most recent knitting projects, made for them. Marian's sea-green birthday beanie (her favourite colour) was made from handspun merino she herself picked out at The Black Lamb in Port Hope. The yarn is about the most gorgeous I've ever worked with, unfortunately the photo doesn't do it justice. The pattern is an old standby I've used for myself, Mom and Brenna in the past.

Brenna's birthday hat was made from another simple pattern using some yarn I picked up earlier. It's something called Karen, a blend of wool, mohair, acrylic and alpaca. When I took the girls shopping for yarn, Bren picked out the green and gold handspun merino (her favourite colours), and I knit it into a simple 3X3 scarf for Christmas. It was fun to work with, and the fastest project I've ever completed, starting on a Saturday afternoon and finishing on Sunday evening. I haven't used such a chunky yarn before, and discovered it was really satisfying.

Marian's feather-and-fan scarf (for Christmas) has been equally satisfying but more labour-intensive, in fact I'm still working on it. Coincidentally, this knitter used exactly the same yarn as I am for this pattern. Marian turned 16 in December. Here she is also wearing the malachite stone I gave her for Christmas.

Brenna turned 14 in November and you can see how she has become the big little sister. Marian levelled off at 5'1" and Brenna is almost two inches taller.

I had the opportunity for a relatively serious conversation with Brenna over the holidays, in fact I asked her advice about a sticky family matter, and she was remarkably helpful. Like her mother, she doesn't miss a thing. But her perceptiveness is tempered by compassion. Top it off with an even temper, clever wit, and capacity for weaving the funniest stories from mundane experiences, and you have a young woman with great potential for getting along with people. Brenna seems to be popular in her new class and suddenly, in grade nine, enjoys school. This fall she began learning black-and-white photography and started developing and printing in the dark room. It would be unjust to pretend she has no issues, or that she is never unhappy, yet she seems to manage these things resourcefully.

Marian and I both, who take things too seriously and frequently feel at odds with the world, are fortunate and grateful to have her around.

With her hair colour and style, we decided she must be the demon spawn of Draco and Kes.

Marian has taken up spinning with a drop spindle. I asked Danny to help, and he was all too eager to teach, such a bad influence.

Comments

[eloquentwthrage.livejournal.com]

Happy New Year to you as well. Thanks for the update.

[djjo.livejournal.com]

Hugs all around love. It was wonderful being able to spend time with all of you.

Marian's spinning is amazing! And she's taught herself most of it, I hardly did anything. It must be in the family's genes that working with fiber comes naturally. It amazed me how fast you picked up knitting. She's the same way! I'm looking forward to seeing what she comes up with next.

I'm hoping they teach Brenna how to make / use a pinhole camera. I think she would have a lot of fun with them. And she'd probably make some weird funky looking thing that actually takes pictures!

[blt4success66.livejournal.com]

Well first off, Happy New Year to you too, hon. I'm excited to have you back again.

Secondly, your girls sound incredibly charming and are naturally beautiful. Of course, they come from good genetic material (*EG*).

Finally, I have long wanted to ask how difficult it is to learn how to knit? I know that we have a local chapter of "stitch and bitch" here in town but not sure what basic materials I'd need to get started.

Still, I could make my own scarves and beenies and maybe sell them? Hmmm, sounds like a plan!

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

You're welcome. I think about LJ every day, just don't have the extra energy to do it.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

If not, maybe that's a project we can all work on sometime. I would find it interesting, too.

xoxo

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I found knitting easy to learn. I taught someone else for the first time this fall, and she picked it up pretty easily, too. Gatherings like Stitch and Bitch are great because, in my experience, knitters are usually eager to pass their knowledge onto someone new. If your town has a yarn store, people who work in places like that are usually very helpful, too. If you go in with an idea of something you would like to make, they should be able to suggest what yarn and needles you'll need.

A scarf is the best way to start. To make a ribbed scarf like the one in the picture, you only have to learn to cast on, the knit stitch, the purl stitch, and to cast off. And you have to count stitches, but with two or three stitches to a rib, that's easy. Once you've mastered those things you could move onto a beanie, but those patterns require circular and/or double-pointed needles, one or two additional skills, and the patience to count more stitches.

As for LJ, I'm afraid I'm not back in the sense of writing frequently like I used to. I think about it every day, but lack the right kind of energy. I am a strong intovert. I didn't realize it when I was unemployed, but when I get home from work I really crave time alone, and engaging in LJ requires more social energy than I have. It's still important to me, so I won't go away completely, but for now expect me to drop by infrequently.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Your comment reminded me of the first time I posted photos of them here, nearly five years ago:

http://vaneramos.livejournal.com/19834.html

How they have grown! It is one of the great memories of my life—one of the simplest and happiest days, though in general I have become a happier person.

I think of you Gary, and hope all is well.

[e-musings.livejournal.com]

Your daughters are simply lovely, as are the knitted garments they are wearing.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Thank you and thank you.

[bear-left.livejournal.com]

With her hair colour and style, we decided she must be the demon spawn of Draco and Kes.

*giggles uncontrollably*

Seriously, though, I'm glad to see you posting an update, and to see the latest in your life & that of your daughters. My own niece is now 8 1/2, & I can just see the beginnings of the amazing young woman she's becoming, like your daughters are far further on the way towards. Thanks for letting us to peek in on the journey.

[bearfinch.livejournal.com]

It's good to hear an update from you.

I can see your features in both your daughters, especially the taller girl.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

This little glimpse barely communicates all that's happening. I write these things down partly for myself. Young people change so much. I want to remember. I hope you have lots of chances to spend time with your niece in the next lfew years.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Thanks Mark. I still want to make something for you. What colours do you like?

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

That's interesting, because I think Brenna looks more like her mom, Marian more like my family. But it depends on what angle you look at us!