Socks for Cathymom

My camera is still out of commission, but I discovered what an awesome camera phone I have! Allow me to present...socks! (Can you tell I'm excited to be able to post pictures?)


Pattern: Niblet Socks by Kathleen Taylor
Yarn: Cascade 220 and Galway Highland Heather

Modifications: My mother-in-law has wide feel that swell often so I needed to make these socks bigger. I started by casting on 60 stitches instead of 45 and when I did the heel I picked up an extra loop on the far side of the slipped stitch and k2tog to eliminate the holes I was getting with the psso. Much prettier.

To add some fun to the top (and use up some pretty scraps) I added some variegated yarn for the cuff and a few stripes. It's the same yarn I used for my father-in-law's slippers' cuffs so now they have matching feet!

I ran out of yarn on the second toe but picked up some Galway Highland Heather that color matched with the Cascade like nobody’s business.

These socks were received with enthusiasm and I have one sock of a pair for myself done. Mine will be red instead of brown and as the nights get chillier I am looking forward to wool socks for me, too.

Happy Anniversary!

Since I was so peeved when I last posted I neglected to mention anniversaries.

Last post was my 200th (can't believe it's been that long and that I actually have had readers for 3 years) and last Thursday was our 4th wedding anniversary (can't believe we've been kissing and loving for 7 whole years now). How time flies. I realized that next month I turn 27...which means 30 is just around the corner. Just yesterday I was patting myself on the back for being such a well-accomplished 26 year old and as of next month I'll be creeping up on 30. Wow.

To commemorate the occasion here are my top three favorite moments from the last 4 years of my life:

(I was totally going to do a David-Letterman-style top 10 but when I got writing I realized it would be a veeerrry long top 10.)

3. Walking out of the conference room after presenting my research project to my committee to finish my Masters. I worked through some of the hardest times of my life (the deaths of my friend, cousin and sister, the estrangement of my mother and a hard fight to find balance in my relationship with Morgan) and managed to come back to UW to finish grad school. I will always be proud of myself for accomplishing that feat...and I grew a baby at the same time. Go me!

2. The minutes after giving birth to Emma. It was such an amazing moment to have her in our arms that I cried from relief and Morgan squeezed out a few tears, too. Labor was finished! Nine months of waiting to see our new baby had passed and there she was, healthy and real. (Also, the epidural was still working so the pain from giving birth hadn't set in yet.)

1. Our wedding was a happy day but it's almost a blur. The greatest moments were not those in front of friends & family in that church but the quiet times to follow, those times when we have truly inhabited a life together have been my favorite. They were mornings on the porch in the sun with coffee, others have been playing with Emma, and the best tend to be quiet nights that we sit and talk for 3 hours. It's not one special moment, but the accumulation of years of love that have come in precious pieces.

Politics

I tend to stay away from political issues since this is a sugary-sweet type of blog that deals with nothing heavier than cotton vs poly-blends, but I just read an article and now I'm outraged!

I'm a Democrat and that's no huge secret but this latest bill from the Bush administration has left me seething. The cover issue is that this bill will allow medical providers room to follow their conscience but it will come at a cost. And surprise, surprise - women will be the ones who pay the price. This bill will allow any medical worker in a facility that receives federal funds - receptionists, volunteers, nurses and doctors - to decline to assist in any services they find objectionable. On the surface that seems fine, but let's think about how this will work in practice.

Scenario 1: Doctor or pharmacist decides that birth control is a form of abortion and simply refuses to inform the female patient of options available to her - or the pharmacist refuses to fill her prescription. Who are they to determine who should and should not be allowed to have access to family planning? They are not the ones who will be raising my children that I will have without birth control and not the ones who will shoulder this responsibility. Why should they be allowed to make this choice for me? Who are they to prevent me from having access to health care?

Scenario 2: Receptionist decides that he/she objects to homosexuality and refuses to book an appointment for a man seeking an AIDs test.

Scenario 3: Nurse refuses to administer emergency contraception to a rape victim in the ER.

You can see where I'm going with this. I firmly believe that individuals should have the right to make decisions that follow their own beliefs but what about when that decision is paid for by someone else?

What happens when your rights infringe on mine?

Are my doctors beliefs more important than mine?

Should my freedom of access to health care be optional?

Thank you for reading.