Did I mention I like to knit?

Elizabeth and I had lunch with my Dad today. We try to get down to the city every Wednesday for lunch but depending on my schedule at work and Dad's activities, it doesn't always work out. He and I (and, latterly, the kids) have been getting together weekly (when we can) for about eleven years now, and it is always a highlight of my week. Now that Mom is working less too, we are often able to visit with her after lunch as well, as was the case today. I love getting together with them.

Dad was showing me his scarf today. It's the one I knit him for Christmas, patterned after the scarf his mother knit him when he was a boy. He had worn 'Old Yellow' every day of every winter for the past 60 years or so!! It's still in great shape, but was starting to fray a bit, so two years ago, I began thinking about whether or not I should knit him a new one. I wrestled with the idea for a month or so, and even bought the wool, but then decided that it might put him in the difficult position of having to choose whether to wear the scarf his mother had made him, or to wear the one his daughter had made him. I decided against knitting the scarf and gave the wool away. Last Christmas, I went through the same process, but before I got rid of the wool, he happened to show me where Mom had stitched his scarf, in an effort to keep the edges from unravelling, so I told him about my indecision over knitting him a new one. He seemed to like the idea, but I still wasn't sure. It wasn't until sometime later in the spring, or maybe even this summer, when I overheard him telling someone that 'his daughter was knitting him a new scarf' that I realized I had a decision! Anyway, I knit the scarf, and he seems very pleased with it.

The reason we were talking about it today, though, is that 'my' scarf is stretching and Mom has had to shorten it through the neck twice already. I used acrylic wool, and figured out as I was knitting, that his mother had probably used real wool, which I had hesitated to use because I thought it might be too scratchy. The original scarf was very tight in its weave and had little side-to-side give, so this new one is much too stretchy. I also realized part way through that I hadn't quite got the stitch right. I think I'll have to give it another go.

I tried for a long time to crop Rob's head out of the picture, but I couldn't figure it out. Lots to learn.

All is quiet upstairs, so I'm going to do some reading in bed. What a wonderful way to end the day.

Mommy