Friday, March 02, 2007

V.I.Bs

As in Very Important Birthdays.....I'll take them in order of date and they are..........

Julie aka Miss Anne Thropp of Wigdon Bog, turned 60 on the 28th of February, I love her. She was born and raised in a 'burb of London, crossed that big pond and ended up in Tulsa, of all places. It's still a bit of a mystery to me but I love the universe for directing her here, because......I love her. She's wicked funny, brilliant, a knitter....has beauty, charm and style that just won't quit. This woman can bake heaven disguised as cakes, cookies, all sorts of goodies, and her cooking....again, beyond delicious. Several years ago we took a tap dance class together and would meet up on Sunday afternoons to practice our 'routines' in the street in front of her house...heh, seriously, great fun was had by both of us, never mind what the neighbors might have been thinking. She is a letter/note/card writer extraordinaire, many times while I would be out of town/out of state on various jobs (way before telephone plans and pc days) and feeling a bit displaced and find a letter or card in the mailbox and reading her delightful letters just making my day. She still surprises me to this day with the notes and cards. Have I mentioned that I love her? I do. Have I mentioned just how much I love her? I made her these.


I used the Knitpicks Gloss, which is wool/silk in the burgundy colour, I really love this yarn, it's soft, unbelievably soft, we are talking merino wool and silk. The pattern is the Horcrux by Susan, I have of course modified it to fit my needs...as in higher stitchcount (60)and smaller needles (2.75mm)(note that the Gloss is a bit more substantial than the usual fingering weight sock yarns), whacked my favourite heel flap on it and other than that kept to the pattern, it makes for a fabulous sock.
Yep, handknit socks, that's how much I love her.


Today is my Mother's birthday, she was born in '33. Of course I love her, she is one of my closest friends. She's beautiful, loving, generous, funny, and quite talented in her painting. She's the ONE who put two sticks in my young hands and handed me string, taught me how to cast on, knit, and purl. She can knit, but she's not a Knitter....knitting is not soothing to her, knitting is not her close friend, it has been known to drive her batshit crazy. But oh how I thank her for teaching me those basic stitches, the rest I've learned on my own pretty much. Mom's pretty incredible, she has Gracie 3 days a week, whew, and during the months when school is out for the summer she has Conor also. They really love their Nanny/Granny...and they should....you might be asking what I've made for my mother's birthday and sadly, it's not made yet...she's very understanding about the knitting and the time thing...but yes, I have knit her socks...and remember the blue cashmere Fetching and Irish Hiking Scarf? Yeah, she's loved dearly and deeply and she knows it. We'll be taking her out to dinner either tonight (this is a Gracie day for her) or tomorrow night depending on how wiped out she feels after her Gracie day today.

Tomorrow is Jo Lynn's birthday, Jo is a walking miracle. She's just almost a year older than me (yes, I turned 53 a few weeks ago), she's beautiful, thoughtful, generous, an incredible cook and her baking is also heavenly...she's funny, sweet, brilliant, tender.....she also has a mouth on her that drops sailors to their knees begging either for mercy or lessons. Yep. She also has the incredible goodness in her soul that drops angels to their knees begging for the same.
The walking miracle bit? About 10 years ago she came down with a cold, had a hard time shaking it (she and her sweetie had a cafe, that's hard work, long hours) and she ended up collapsing and went into hospital where they ran tests, well that nasty virus had gone into her heart muscles and left quite a bit of damage and the bottom line was....the only thing that could be done in the long run was a heart transplant. Fastforward to Nov.'05...she got very sick and went back into hospital and stayed there, had a heart pump installed......and went on 'the list', finally in June, the 10th to be exact, she received a new heart, it was very dicey, came close to the unimaginable, and yet (and I thank the universe every.single.day.) she came through, is now home and has been doing alright, except yesterday I received an email that she has the flu. YIKES. So I'll fret until I know she's feeling better. (she's not much of a phone person, worse than I am) but seriously, can you imagine being in hospital for 8 months with NO privacy....granted there's quite a bit of that time she has no recollection of, we refer to those chunks of time as her Big Naps....
Yes, I love this woman, I knit her 3 pairs of socks during her stay in the hospital. I'm starting something special just for her.....never mind she won't be getting it ON her birthday, she'll understand and she'll forgive me. I can't even begin to try and express how I feel about this woman, she is so very dear to me.


In blogland.....you really must go visit Norma, check out the winning submissions for the Neologism Contest. yep, go on, read, laugh your butt right off.
Glenna has finished a Ribby Cardi, it's beautiful.
Kate has finished a Surprise Baby Jacket, as has Marianne, and although I don't know if Marianne has posted a photo of hers yet, she does have some very pretty knits up (scroll down) some beautiful lacey pink socks and her very pretty 'knickers'.
Wanda's Wednesday walk has a delightful surprise at the end, go say 'HI' to Wanda!
Noolie Julie is on her way to Boston this weekend to see B.B.King and work her yarn ho'ish ways with the yarn stores in the area.
Hege has made a really beautiful hat for a friend of hers...yes, go look...
Robin has gone to Hawk's Nest and I know I'll be waiting patiently to hear/read all about it when she gets back.....ahem.....(chomp chomp chomp, that damned bit...chomp chomp)...
Ms. K, what can one say....she has been completely smitten and charmed with mosaic knitting, she's become obsessed with it, and I, for one, besides encouraging her to just kick out the jams and go for it, am looking forward to seeing where this new love affair will take her....I'm thinking plenty of GOOD places!

Hoo boy, have I got a lot of links up there....and really, that's not even half what I wanted to put in, there's some beautiful knits out there, people....you are all exceptional!

Happy Knitting to All and continue to make.good.time.

13 Comments:

Blogger Charity said...

I got busy checking out all your fun links, and almost forgot to come back and say hello! I really like your Gloss Horcrux socks - great pattern modification! :0)

02 March, 2007 12:00  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday to your Mom and friends! I love your Horcrux socks; very pretty.

02 March, 2007 12:05  
Blogger Unknown said...

Aw, thanks for the shout-out, Marianne! And I am going to check out the rest of that list, too :)

02 March, 2007 13:44  
Blogger Sarah said...

A great looking pair of Horcrux there. Happy Birthdays all round.

02 March, 2007 14:39  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

hey - I was gonna ask to see those sox. Marvelous! I especially like the leg - I bet it scrunches in a very satisfying way. I am also very glad to wish your mom a happy birthday. Without her, where would we all be?

02 March, 2007 16:13  
Blogger Dianne said...

Woah..how pretty those socks are!!Nice modifications and beautiful yarn!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!! HAPPY KNITTING~~

02 March, 2007 23:21  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I just have to wish Miss Throp "a very happy birthday from all at cutting sprout" Mrs J. Nito

03 March, 2007 01:13  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Happy Birthday to Marianne's Mom and to Jo Lynn " angie, Jeff and Holly xxx

03 March, 2007 01:14  
Blogger picperfic said...

I've got to make something for my friend's birthday, you know the friend that has been giving me trouble. She sent me some 'black' gifts as she said the colour had gone out of our relationship.I sent them back saying I prefered colour and she made me a beautiful colourful cardigan out of some ribbon yarn, she says she still has some problems about me and her, but I'm getting a bit like 'hmm,get over it, if you can't just love me then I've had enough'....but what do I make her, some socks? Her b'day is on the 14th March so I have a week or so to make something, funny but I never think to buy a gift anymore and always want to make something but this lady is proving problematic....hmmm.
Can you believe it Marianne, but I went to adult tap dancing classes about 5 years ago, I simply love to dance and really used to enjoy line dancing! I must look out to see what classes there are going on near me. I have only lived here 2 years but life has got in the way again!
Have you made those socks since the knitpicks order arrived? They are beautiful!
I guess you're taking your precious Mum out tonight, wish her a happy birthday from another Marianne many miles away! My Mum lives too far away but hopefully Barry and I will get to Enniskillen to see her again soon.
What about Jo! She sounds an amazing woman, love the 'big naps', seems such a beautiful way of dealing with such traumatic times.
Thanks for the link on your blog too, fancy mentioning my Knickers! lol
I'm off to investigate the other links you have put on here...
I am still a bit shattered and poorly from the most horrid migraine attack, it keeps coming and going, a bit like my life going on in the background....no doubt I'll blog about stuff as it happens but right now I can hear sizzling and smell delicious smells coming from the kitchen, I must be feeling better because I am actually feeling hungry now. Have a good weekend Marianne...x

03 March, 2007 11:42  
Blogger Ms. Knitingale said...

Happy b-day to one and all. I was just looking at the Horcrux the other day and I like them even better your way! Have a wonderful weekend of celebrations.

03 March, 2007 13:22  
Blogger Joanna said...

I think the horcrux look great..you have some great friends and a big thankyou to your mum for bringing such a fabulous daughter into the world as you, and special bithday greetings to all!

03 March, 2007 13:43  
Blogger Fiberjoy said...

What wonderful people you have in your life. They are a reflection of the kind of person you are! I love your tributes to these special people. Reading them makes me wish I could know them also.

Love those Horcrux socks! RED :-)

03 March, 2007 17:42  
Blogger Knit and fall back in it said...

I hope everyone had a happy birthday. Thanks for all of the links, it was fun to check out some new stuff.

06 March, 2007 08:21  

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