A Mixed Start

A very mixed start to the new year. A funeral, which went very well, and we saw lots of relatives we haven't seen in years. That part is wonderful but it's sad when someone is no longer with us. My husband wrote a song for his mother and sang it at the service which was very special to all of his family since his mother was a poet.

All this compounded by our car not starting that morning, a call to CAA and still nothing, a frantic call to a rental place for a car because we live 2 hours from the city. We did make it with minutes to spare, whew.

The weekend also included my daughter in the playdowns to the Scotts Tournament of Hearts, a women's national curling event here. Her team got through their Zone before Christmas and this weekend we were cheering at Regional level. Sixteen teams there and 2 go on to the Provincials. They were not the ones to move on but they did fairly well leaving only 6 teams to battle it out when they lost and had to bow out. They had very close games and after playing for 2 1/2 hours it usually came to down the last shot to decide the game. Very close, lots of nail biting but always great to watch your kid doing what they love to do. There are several more competitions left, Mixed, Varsity (UofGuelph) and another woman's competiton which I forget the name of. I do love spending my weekends in curling clubs, I mean it. I've curling since I was 14, my parents both curl, my sister curls, my husband curls, my son curled before snowboarding kidnapped him, and I love to see my daughter really enjoying the sport.

I was not idle. I have found that nail biting is non-productive in these situations so I, of course, was knitting. I have many sweaters which have been produced at curling rinks. I finished a shawl I have been working on. The Side To Side Pattern but with a difference. I have worked it so it has a shawl collar. A shawl with a shawl collar - OK lame I know.

But it's really comfy. I started with the Side to Side Shawl pattern #079 and worked to the centre, increasing on the neck edge. You then work a mitred corner which this time I didn't take up to the top, I left 20 sts at the neck edge unworked. This is the part that folds over when you wear it. I like it and it works. When you're finished the other side of the mitred corner you knit up the 20 sts to the top (neck edge) and continue to the other point by decreasing at the neck edge. It's the same as the pattern except for shortening the beginning of the mitred corner. This is worked in Naturally Cafe, which is discontinued, sorry, and it used 8 balls. It's a simple garter stitch knit and fun and comfortable to wear, especially with the collar modification.

Holidays are officially over, even though I went to work a bit last week I was waiting for this sports weekend to be over before I jumped back in.

So although this reads like I dashed it off, and since I did that's appropriate, I am back on program and next week we're off to California to the TNNA, wholesale needlework show. I'm jumping in with both feet.

-Deb