Thursday, May 14, 2009

Non-knit, again

Mr G. came down as promised yesterday morning, and told me about his son. We scarcely got on to the subject of the Downstairs Lavatory.

The child is 11 days old. His name is Alexander. As with several of my grandchildren, his medical history is like nothing I had ever heard.

He was born, he was fine, he came home and was alert and feeding. Then he got a bit jaundiced (it happens sometimes, with babies), and then a lot jaundiced, and then started vomiting, and then vomited a lot. His parents took him to the Infirmary for what was meant to be an assessment of the jaundice, and only realised how bad things were as specialist after specialist came into the room.

He has been in the hospital since then, and lots more things have happened. His father thinks he has turned a corner since the weekend, and will live. But he is still on a ventilator and morphine.

Sunt lacrimae rerum et mentem mortalia tangunt.

Meanwhile the Downstairs Lavatory seems fine – no bulges in the ceiling. I have all the insurance particulars I need and have rung various numbers. They don’t want to know, in the immortal way of insurance companies. The only thing to worry about, and that not much, is whether the ceiling will come down in six weeks’ time. I will put it out of my mind and try to encourage my husband to do the same.

Knitting

I have started repeat 26 of the Princess border top – so, I achieved more than two repeats again yesterday. I still haven’t re-memorised the pattern. It’s beginning to worry me. Is this a mark of advancing senility? I can do from row 17 through to row 20 (the end) and then rows 1 to 4, but the middle rows, the ones with the most stitches, still have to be read one by one before I knit them.

But memorising is a mixed blessing, for the one thing one mustn’t do while engaged on the Princess border, is lose concentration. Where am I? one all too readily finds oneself crying.

The package from the Schoolhouse Press turned up yesterday – the bright new Baby Surprise leaflet will console me quite a bit for having to abandon the poor Princess soon and turn to Games knitting. I might even rip out the Surprise I have knit so far and start again, adding jollier yarns from stash and modelling their arrangement on pictures in the leaflet. (The assignment is “child’s cardigan”.)

I also much admire Cully’s i-cord lattice hat from the latest Woolgathering. (That link doesn’t actually show the hat I’m interested in, nor, to my surprise, can I find it on Ravelry.) The other assignment is a knitted hat, and I might just move on to that one.

Poor Princess. It would be nice if I could reach my lettering in the middle of the centre before I stop, but it’s nowhere in sight.
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6 comments:

  1. Janet9:20 AM

    Oh dear, yes water problems. Nothing like sharing. We have been having leakage and other problems with a newly installed burner and connection to our shower. Wish we could put these problems out of mind but they keep recurring so husband is now composing a letter for submission to higher authorities.

    As for the Princess, soldier on. I even joined the Heritage Knitting Group in order to understand the process better.

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  2. Anonymous9:25 AM

    Don't worry, Jean. It's not senility; it's a difficult pattern. I noticed that somewhere in the second half of the top edging, I had memorized the pattern. That's after 50 edging repeats. Then it goes so much more quickly.

    All I have left is the short row corner and the graft. So, today, Princess should be off the needles.

    Good luck with the plumbing, and prayers for the little boy.

    Cynthia

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  3. Mary Lou1:48 PM

    I enjoy having to scramble after Aeneus with my morning tea - I got lost after here are the tears and had to google. Re. the memorization, I find there are some patterns I cannot commit to memory no matter how many times I do them, and I don't understand why. Fingers crossed for the boy and the ceiling. For a little schadenfreude, look at the post on my ceiling/bathwater catastrophe. http://mlegan.wordpress.com/2008/03/19/just-call-me-henny-penny/

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  4. =Tamar2:34 PM

    Prayers for the child, yes.
    A connection of words reminded me of a bathwater-ceiling situation whose cause turned out to be someone who routinely put bleach down the drain before traveling, so it had days to sit and eventually rusted out the drain pipes.

    The Princess is not so much a job as a vocation sort of thing, and thus summer vacations from it are due.

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  5. Anonymous4:51 PM

    My first grandbaby, born premature but perfectly healthy, has been revealing undiscovered health issues approximately one every two months. I will keep that wee baby and his family in my prayers. Nothing is as disturbing as a sick newborn.

    Here's a link to a picture of the hat, if you wish it:

    http://www.schoolhousepress.com/springNL_apr09.htm

    Scroll down

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  6. Donice2:14 AM

    I was drawn to Cully's hat, too, and will make one when current projects are finished, I think. One of the current projects is a Christmas stocking along the lines of Meg Swansen's knitalong, with colorwork patterns, for grandson.

    I don't comment often but I do enjoy your blog every day, Jean.

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