Knit four, pearl four

Soft cashmere
My Mom was a generous gift giver. The last 10 years or so her Christmas gift giving was rather predictable: cashmere sweaters. The soft, but warm, non-itchy sweaters warmed me in more ways than one. I still have a black turtleneck, a red crew neck and a cream sleeveless crew, all in various stages of disrepair after too much "love". "It's not the age, it's the mileage".  Mine are well-used.

If she were here, I think my Mom would approve of my current project. I'm knitting my Dad a cashmere cap.

Four years ago I knit him a thick cashmere-alpaca blend. I remembered how I sat at my son's frustrating soccer games. They were frustrating because the coach only played him (he was in 2nd grade, and this was rec) under five minutes per game! I still have to bite my tongue when I see the coach at school or the pool. I took my anger out on the needles, and knitting him a hat in about a week.

Yesterday was a beautiful Saturday, and I knit as I watched the girls cheer the boys onto a big win. My anxiety about cheer (the pressure they put on the girls to perform, the cost of a potential Disney trip and general feeling that C should be cheered, not cheer on the boys) translated into the first inch of a cap. I cast on 112 stitches, then knit 4, pearl 4. Over and over again as the girls cheered "Let's Get Fired Up!" or "We are proud of you, yes we are proud of you! (Clap, clap)" Certain moms were drowning out the girls in their own excited cheering, and while I did yell a bit, louder voices drowned out mine too.

I wish I could tell my Mom about my knitting, about my life and about my great friends, whom she would have loved for their humor, their wit and their undying support. I also wish she could give me advice. The hat I knit my dad on soccer fields years ago is gone. I secretly blame my sister or her husband for "permanently borrowing" said hat. As I knit this one, I wonder what advice she would give me for diplomatically telling them to keep their hands off Dad's new hat... I'm pretty sure that she would defend them, saying they would never steal it, and that it's more likely that Dad lost it, but who knows what she would say?!

I still wear my hole-infested sweaters, and think of my Mom. I should replace the black turtleneck, since I wear it a lot - almost weekly - and she wouldn't want me to walk around in a sweater with holes. But I'm not as generous with myself as she was with me. Besides, always on the lookout for a bargain, she would balk at today's prices.

So instead, I knit one, pearl four. For my dad, whom I adore....


Update:

Finished the hat this morning. It is so soft. Perfect for Dad's bald head.

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