Ephemera

Thank you for the birthday wishes for Eldest. He celebrated by working all day, then going out for dinner and a movie with his girlfriend while we had carryout and wondered where the years had gone.

Sniff.

(We still had a family party, we just moved it back a day. On Sunday night we dined on the birthday boy's choice of steak, mashed potatoes, and green bean casserole, with pecan pie instead of cake for dessert. His family gave him books, a Starbucks card, this t-shirt, the promise of a laptop for college, a 4x5 spiral notebook, and a sheet of guinea pig stickers. It was very nice.)

*****

It's January, which means MITTENS. The NaKniMitMo knitalong is in full swing, and I am determined to redeem myself after failing to finish even a single pair of mittens last year.

To that end, I decided to use the KAL as motivation to get some of my half-finished mitten projects off the needles. First up .... the Ringo mittens I started for WB last September (Ravelry link). I remember finishing the first mitten in less than a week, and when I pulled out the project bag I discovered that I'd already knit the cuff for mitten #2, so it wasn't long before WB was the proud owner of a pair of "wacood" mittens.



These are seriously among the cutest things I've ever made, and not just because of the impish expression on Ringo's face. To get the full effect, you have to see the front AND the back ....



You can see why I had to add an i-cord leash. If (when) WB lost one of these, I would be very, very sad.

*****

Speaking of WB, I am happy to report that she is getting easier to live with. She now says I'm her best friend, and hasn't tried to eject me from the family in at least a week (although banishing Young'un is apparently still high on her to-do list).

The other day she was up before the big kids, so I enlisted her help in getting them out of bed. She had no trouble with Her Ladyship, but Eldest had been up late the night before, and wasn't responding to her calls.

"Give him a poke," I suggested.

"Wake UP!" she said, prodding her brother in the shoulder with her finger.

"Mmmmph!" said Eldest. I suggested she try again.

"WAKE UP!!" she said more loudly, giving his knee a shove for emphasis.

"O.k., I'm up!" said Eldest groggily, as he lifted his head off his pillow.

"Good job, WB," I said. "Now why don't you give your brother a good morning kiss?"

She pursed her lips and gave him a loud smack on the cheek. He smiled at her, I instantly melted and went all mommy-mush brain, looking at my bookend kids, so far apart in age, yet loving each other so much. Oh, I thought, how she is going miss him when he's at college! "There, Eldest," I said fondly, "Isn't that a nice way to wake .... "

"YUCK!" said WB, sticking out her tongue and shaking her head vigorously from side to side. "Blech! Bluch! Yuck!!!"

Alrighty, then!

It's o.k.  We're all works in progress.