the Akamai Knitter

Last night I got together with my Great-Aunt Eleanor and my cousin Nathan for dinner. They’re in from Tacoma and I rarely get to see them so it’s always a special treat when I do.

The conversation got around to my knitting and my Great-Aunt, who is 82 years old, started going on and on about the shawl I wore the last time I saw her and how much she loves it. The shawl in question is the Peacock Feathers which I made back in April 2006.

This was the first big lace project I ever completed and every time I look at it I experience a great surge of pride. Even though I rarely wear it, sometimes I’ll take it out and just pet it for a bit whenever I feel like my knitting skills are below par.

I tried rather unsuccessfully to see if Great-Aunt Eleanor would be like the shawl in another color, thinking that I could just knit another one for her. But she was rather insistent about that color green in that pattern. I even wore my latest pride and joy, the Bee Fields Shawl, but she barely gave it a second glance.

I don’t think she’ll be happy with another pattern and I’m not sure she’ll be happy with another color even though I’d be more then happy to knit her the same shawl in one. So the dilemma is whether or not I can let go of this particular shawl.

Part of me thinks it would be a good idea, because it will definitely see more use and my Great-Aunt Eleanor is a very special lady. Part of me is loathe to let go of such a sentimental item, even though I was already thinking of knitting another one in a different color that I would wear more often.

I’m thinking that giving the shawl away would be best. Still, I’d love to hear other people weigh in. But like I said, my Great-Aunt is a very special lady and I would love to make her happy. After all, I can always make another for myself and I only have one Great-Aunt Eleanor. :)

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The stress of the family drama has left me without the will to blog, but now I’m back. And I’m back with the sad news that my uncle passed away yesterday morning. I take some consolation in the fact that he’s no longer suffering. I want to thank everyone who has left a comment or has emailed me about this. Your support has been incredibly appreciated.

To get me back into the swing of things and because I was tagged not once, but twice by both Jeanne and Susie, I’ve decided to partake of the current meme floating in the blogosphere. The rules are simple. Each person gives 7 random facts about themselves on their blog. Then they tag 7 others and leave a note on their blogs.

1. Even though I only lived in Korea for 2.5 years, we managed to move from apartment to apartment approximately 8 times.
2. I knit right-handed, but I crochet like a leftie.
3. I’ve been near-sighted and wearing glasses since I was 7. I tried wearing contacts when I was 19, but it was a total disaster. I kept losing the damned things!
4. At one time I was a crazy ADD crafter. I learned how to tat, bobbin lace, crazy quilt, cross-stitch, needlepoint, lots of beading, and a little polymer clay. Lately though I’ve been dedicated to knitting and spinning.
5. My knitting group has managed to addict me to Beard Papa’s cream puffs. I have to have some every week now. I try to limit myself to just one a week, but sometimes I just can’t help but have 2.
6. I used to hate all shades of pink, but now I’ve suddenly acquired techno-gadgets in hot pink. My phone is hot pink and so is my iPod. I’m not really sure what this means. There’s probably some deep-seated Freudian reason that I’d be better off not knowing.
7. I love to re-read books. There are some books that I’ve read at least 5 times. This is especially true of serials like Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series.

Tagged: Lisa, Kim, Barb, Keohinani, Joy, Jen, and JennyK

And finally, look who’s been coming by my lanai to visit?

Yes, that’s Bosco. Look how much he’s grown! He is still a sweetheart and I’m so glad that he’s still a part of my life even if I can never call him my own.

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On Wednesday I had to fly to Hilo for the day. I managed to get a few eye candy shots from the plane. I’m not sure what islands some of these are but they are beautiful all the same. The ocean in this first shot really took my breath away, even if the wing of the plane obscured my view.

Again the wing obscures the view, but you can see how lush one of the islands looks from above.

I believe that these two mountain tops are either Mauna Kea or Mauna Loa, but don’t quote me on that!

While I was in Hilo, I managed to make it to Rainbow Falls. The scenery there was breathtaking and in true Harlot fashion I managed to take a picture of my current sock in progress as it enjoyed the falls.

Here’s an undiluted picture of the falls sans sock. It’s been a really dry winter so the falls weren’t as impressive as they usually are, but it was beautiful all the same.

The reason for my unexpected trip to Hilo was a sad one. My Uncle Randy is dying. When they took him in sometime last week to the ER for what was though to be a bad case of pneumonia, they found found out that he actually has terminal lung cancer. He’s only 51 years old.

On Monday they had to put him on life support and now we’re just waiting for his children to say goodbye to him before we turn the machines off. There is no real chance of recovery as he’s too weak for any sort of treatment and the likelihood of his survival off the machines is minimal. I’m really devastated by this news. So much so that I can’t really find the words to express what’s going on with me.

To top it all off, I had another family funeral to attend to last night. My Great-Aunt Charlotte passed away earlier this month. Even though I was never close to her or her family, I still feel sorrow at the passing of another of her generation.

There were bright moments this past week. I did get to visit with my Auntie Karen and Uncle Boyd, which doesn’t happen a lot since they do live on an outer island (in Hilo). I keep promising myself that I’ll get out there to visit them more during happier times, but it never seems to happen. Maybe I can make that promise happen this time around.

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