Following the advice of both online and real-world friends, I decided to let #2 son go on the fireworks adventure. I told him that I wanted him to do some research on firework safety and tell me what he found out. So, while I was out supervising #1 son’s driving practice, he went to fireworksafety.com and found not only the information, but also a test. When I got back, he sat me down and went through the test and his answers with me. I am feeling pretty confident about him. I think that the way he responded to my request showed a fair level of responsibility.
We have a three-day weekend to enjoy. A bit of housework, a trip to the farmers’ market and the health food store, some work in the garden (where the first red tomato is ripening itself up just in time for the fourth), a family cookout and a restaurant meet-up with my parents, and lots of reading and needlework — this is my plan.
Following an enjoyable week of searching through my knitting books, I have come to a decision. People on my knitted gift list will be getting Hotties and BAWKs this year. Many of you will not know what this means — the intended recipients in particular. This is good. Knitting these items will give me opportunities to try out cables and pattern stitches, and the pleasure of finding the perfect designs for each of the recipients, without excessive wooliness.
Last year I made hats and scarves, and I may do some of that again. I also made cotton bath ensembles from Simple Knits for Sophisticated Living, adding the Japanese scrubbies which were all over the web at the time. I made fragrant soaps to go with them. But there were two people who did not get these bath ensembles: #2 daughter and myself. So I will rectify that oversight, and then get going on the Hotties and BAWKs.
I am finishing up The Improper Wife by Diane Perkins this morning while getting in a bit on the prayer shawl before the heat of the day. It is a well-written historical romance novel. It was one of the used books we picked up at the paperback exchange. Well-written, as I say, though I like a little more history in with the romance, myself.
But all romantic stories, from Romeo and Juliet on down, have one central premise. The protagonists are kept apart by a misunderstanding which could be solved easily if they would just explain it clearly to one another. The author’s challenge is to come up with ways for the two to interact frequently and romantically without ever explaining the simple misunderstanding. We watched the movie Hitch the other day, and it had the same premise — as, indeed, all romantic comedies do. The challenge for the reader or watcher is to stop thinking, “Well, why didn’t (s)he just explain?”. How well the consumer of the story can manage that suspension of disbelief is a good measure of how well the purveyor did.
Image hosted by Photobucket.comHere is a close-up of the prayer shawl. It looks the same as before, doesn’t it? That’s the thing about shawls. They do not make for interesting progress shots. Still, the prayer shawl deserves the occasional close-up. It is being made in Lion Brand Homespun, on ginormous needles, in the official prayer shawl stitch. That is, cast on 57. Then each row is k3, p3. If you wanted a different number of stitches, it might not work out that way. Then you would k3,p3 the first row and then thereafter you would k all p stitches and p all k stitches.