Ma, Lookee What I Made!

Ok, this is a first for me. I have a dear friend, Suzan, who asked me to make her a Yarmulke. I don't know if any of you out there have ever looked for patterns for knitting one of those, but they're few and far between, even with Google and the internet.

I had been busy knitting with some lovely yarn that I bought a few months ago. My son Timothy will be leaving in three short days to go to Egypt for a semester, to study abroad. Some of the things he needs to take are small gifts for people while he's there. So I was using this lovely yarn to make a scarf for him to take as a gift. The scarf reached its proper length, and I had some yarn left, so I promptly began a hat to go with it.

As I got some length on the hat, I realized I wouldn't after all have enough yarn to finish a proper hat with it! Suzan had asked for the yarmulke a few months back, so I just changed my goal midstream and continued knitting, not a hat now, but a yarmulke.

And I'm so proud of how it turned out! No pattern, just my design. It's a very simple design, but who wants a complicated design with hand-dyed yarn from Chile? Anyway, this is my first post with a pattern completely wrought by yours truly! I hope you like it!



Here are the instructions, if you would like to make one. I must say that this is such a comfortable little hat that I really didn't want to take it off!

Yarmulke

Yarn: Araucania, color Aysen (no. 827), 1 skein (If you will start with this project, you will have enough left for a nice matching scarf made with the same rib. I started with the scarf, and had to end the hat with a little bit of a scrap of other yarn. You can see it in one of the pictures!)

Needles: size 9 16" circular and DPN's, or size for gauge

Gauge: 5 sts/in. in K1 tbl, P1 rib pattern


This particular hat was knit to fit a 20" head, but it fits me, too, and my head is 22", so it has a lot of give. This is due to the very stretchy rib.

CO 100 sts on the circular needles, and join, being careful not to twist the stitches.

Row 1: *K1tbl (through back loop), P1* repeat around

Rep row 1 until work measures 3 in. from CO edge.

Place marker at end/beginning of row (if you haven't already).

Make 1 row of purl sts all around to delineate the crown of the cap.

Begin decreasing:

*K18, K2 tog, PM (place marker)* around

K 1 row

Dec row: *K to 2 sts before marker, K2 tog* around

Repeat dec row.

K 1 row

K 3 dec rows.

*K5, k2 tog, PM, K5 K2 tog, slip marker* around

K to 2 sts before marker, K2 tog

Repeat last row until there is only one stitch between markers. Remove markers at this time, and continue K2 tog until only 8 sts are left. Cut the yarn with a long tail and thread a blunt needle with it. Run it through rem sts twice, and draw it together. Use the yarn to pull together any gaps left at the end, and weave the ends through the knitting.

My Tribute

The earliest memory I have of interacting with my Dad was sitting on his lap. I would sit there, and read to him, and he would teach me new words. This was before I turned five.

My dad was a maverick. He always went where God led him.

God gave him a special love for little brown Mexican children, and he went to Mexico. He always loved the little children, and they would gather around him. They knew he loved them. They would hang off the jeep as he drove through the colonia. He would buy them cookies and candy, so impractical for kids who didn't have enough to eat. But they loved it. He taught them songs about Jesus. Some of those kids are are in their upper 40's now, and they still remember the songs that Daddy taught them.

He touched so many lives. I have run across people in the most unlikely places who knew him way back when.

He went for a hunting trip one time in the mountains of Durango, and wound up being invited to preach in a little town, so he went. Later he took flying lessons so he could get there in a much shorter time. Then he took mechanic lessons so that he could put back together the airplane if he had to. He had to many times.

After that first village experience, people from other villages began to invite him to preach in their villages. And so it went. He would ask people to clear a landing strip for him, basically to clear it of rocks. When I flew with him to these remote mountain villages, he would try to point out the landing strips to me, but I never could see them. Somehow he did. And sometimes he would have to fly over the strip to scare away the cows that were standing on it in his way.

Sometimes he banged up the airplane. One time he brought the airplane home in pieces in the back of a big truck, and put it back together in our living room. I remember playing around the airplane pieces.

I remember loving to fly with my daddy. I remember the intense roar of the engine. We didn't have earphones. I loved singing on those trips, 'cause no one could hear me, not even myself. I remember loving to see the mountains under us, and never feeling afraid. I always wondered why some people would throw up in his airplane. The mountain people threw up a lot. He carried them in if they were sick, or for other emergency reasons.

When we flew home, Daddy would fly over our house. Our dog Tina would start to bark and run around in circles. Mom would grab a kitchen towel, run outside, and wave it at him to tell him she saw him. Then she would go pick him up at Bill Brown's ranch, where Bill let him land and keep the plane.

My daddy was a wallbuilder. He was a church planter. He loved people who were small and inconsequential, who didn't have any power or influence. No one can say how much of a difference his life made yet, but eternity will show it.

He was flawed, as all of us are, but he was faithful, and he was fun-loving. After suffering for 15 years with Parkinson's, today he is dancing a jig and flying with Jesus.

I love you, Daddy, and I will miss you, but I'm glad you are where you are now. Thanks for the reading time together. Thanks for showing me how to be committed to a life calling. I'm glad you were my Daddy.

Trip to Lebanon in pictures

Today I don't have anything on my main "to do" list. No one is coming, I don't have to get groceries, and I don't have to go anywhere else (except the bank, and that chore will be short). So you will get the update with pictures that you've been waiting for. Hope you like it.

On May 6 Jackie and I left on our adventure. Last year I went to Lebanon by myself to deliver a baby, and I kept feeling like I had left my pocket handkerchief at home. (I think that's from The Hobbit. If not, then it's from The Fellowship of the Ring. Timothy will know.) Well, when we left together, I discovered that I didn't feel that way this time. I realized that Jackie is my pocket handkerchief! I loved that he and I went together on this adventure.

We drove to San Antonio and Emily took us out to eat Greek food (we realized the irony of eating Middle Eastern food right before we left for Lebanon, and laughed together!) and then drove us to the airport. I love the San Antonio airport. The lady at the check-in desk put us in adjoining seats all the way to Beirut. (That wasn't the case when we left Beirut; we were booked in separate seats all the way home. But we still managed to sit together!)

The trip was basically smooth, and we arrived in Beirut at about 11:15 pm local time on May 7. Jason was there to meet us, and we drove to Tyre, arriving there at about 1 am on May 8. He told us that this time was going to be different, that he thought Jenna was going to take her time getting here. I hugged Sarah briefly in the hallway in the dark before we all went to bed.

We spent the next week seeing the sights of Lebanon. First we went to the Cedar Tree Reserve. There aren't many cedar trees left in Lebanon, but they are trying to remedy that. Cedars are funny. The young trees don't look like the mature ones. I'm not sure at what point they change, but they really do change.

In the picture above, you can see the mature tree in the middle, and the young trees all around. Isn't the change strange?

"Our family" in the cedar trees of Lebanon.

After the cedars, we ate in Saida, the old Bible town of Sidon. This is the outdoor cafe at which we ate, and Jackie with the plates after we had eaten already! Not much left, I'm afraid.

Above is the outdoor cafe.

Across the street from it is a Crusader Castle/Fort. (If you stop to think about it, Crusader ruins are some of the more recent ruins in this area, from 1100-1200 AD.)

Next we visited a big mosque in Saida, and Sarah and I had to cover up, so we borrowed scarves from the gatekeeper.

Jackie took an amazing shot of the interior of the mosque with this lone praying man.

The next day was the day Jackie got sick, and he was sick all night and stayed in bed all the next day. Be thankful I don't have pictures.

The following day, Wednesday, we went to the beach.

Above is the city of Tyre.

This is as "uncovered" as Sarah gets to go swimming. Jude is in the foreground with the red flowered shorts.

I was showing a little more leg, but I didn't have very specific instructions about swimming attire, so I think I did pretty well overall.

Jackie and I went walking around the city by ourselves some. We went to a certain part of the beach and picked up old pieces of pottery that wash up from the old ruins of Tyre and from wrecks of ships off the coast. We walked around the souk, the marketplace, one day with Brenda. We walked around the old Roman bath ruins with Danny. Jason took us to the Hippodrome and the via Romana one day, and another he took us to the lighthouse and by the Tyre shipbuilder. Dani took us down some alleyways that made us think we were in old-time Bible days because they were soooo narrow. They felt like donkey trails, and probably were. Now they're paved. We sat in on several English classes and talked some with the students. And Jason took us to another Crusader Castle, this one where we could get a view of Mt. Hermon.

The grounds of the Roman baths.

Picking up pottery pieces.

On Saturday we went back to the beach and met all kinds of other friends there. It was really fun! Jackie felt good enough that he played ultimate frisbee with some of the other people. I enjoyed the wonderful ocean. We both got too much sun. Afterwards, we went back to Jason and Sarah's house and ordered pizza, and a bunch of other people came over and helped us eat it. Around 6 pm, most everyone was going home. It had been quite a day. But it was not over. Sarah started cleaning house! Finally, about 10 pm, I told her it was time to quit, but she kept vacuuming, saying she would feel better if it was done. She was having contractions.

She went to bed soon after, and woke up in labor at 1:30 am. It was May 16. Jason got me up at 3:30 or so, and when I checked her at 4 am, she was well on her way to having baby Jenna! It was a wonderful birth for Sarah. It went so smoothly and quickly. She didn't have any trouble pushing as she had done for Jude's birth. Baby Jenna was born at 6:14 am, and Jude woke up about 5 minutes later! It was really really special to me to be there for this birth! And now I will have to leave the three days of Ireland for another post. This takes a lot of time....

Beautiful babies!

Picture of Baby Jenna!

Ok, everybody, here's the picture! Full head of hair, 8 lbs 10 oz, lovely lovely baby girl born at home in Tyre!

Jenna...

Jenna made her entrance into this world this morning Lebanon time at 6:14 a.m.

Her mom went into labor at 1:30 a.m., so it was a perfect labor -- not too long, not too short. She was born at home! She weighs 8 lbs. 10 oz and is 21 3/4 inches long. Mom and baby and Daddy are resting, and Jude is with some friends, playing. Jackie is helping some people move into a new apartment, and I'm going to go lie down, like the Kerners....

Everyone is very, very happy that Jenna is here! Sarah was delighted with her birth! We know that it's all good when the baby is born healthy and whole, but this was even more special, and we know Who to thank. We give praise to God that we came to Lebanon in good time and had some wonderful days showing Jackie the sights and getting to visit with friends that I made last year.

I will post a picture later. Thank you all for praying.

Jackie's Better

Better than what, you may ask? Better than he was yesterday. He had a bad stomach flu or virus or food poisoning. Anyway, it hit him on Monday night during a prayer time we were having with our friends. And he spent all night miserable, then the next day (yesterday), in bed all day. Yuck!

He was better by last night, and this morning was good enough that we went to the beach. We jumped a few waves and searched for a few shells before he spent the rest of the time sitting on the sand. But he got out. And he's better. And I'm so glad.

We came on home for lunch and fixed Mexican food!! I brought some tortillas with me and we had tacos, and I fixed some Mexican rice, too. Jason and Sarah loved it, and so did we! Jude didn't get much to eat, because he was so tired that he fell asleep as soon as he was cleaned up.

Anyway, I thought I would let everyone know that Jackie's better. I had posted on Facebook that he was sick. Thank you for praying.

I will continue to keep you posted as to baby. Right now there's no news. Baby Jenna hasn't arrived. The birth pool is patched and ready to go, the heating pad has been tried and found true, and we played in the ocean today, so maybe we'll have a baby tomorrow...

Lebanese doings

Hi everybody!

Today we went to see the cedars of Lebanon. Jackie says that ranks right up there with the Great Wall of China and Mt. Rushmore. It was an all-day trip, sort of. We started out around 11:30 after a breakfast of Belgian waffles and fresh strawberries and cream, or peanut butter and maple syrup.

The trip to the cedar reserve was north and east of Saida, the old-time Bible town of Sidon. The old cedars are amazing. We got some pictures, but they don't do the trees justice.

We came back to Saida and had a wonderful dinner/supper at around 4 pm. We had fresh fried fish (each of us had one whole fish), french fries, salad, hummus, baba ganoush, tahine, and fresh juice (orange and mango). It was an open-air restaurant, and everyone around us was smoking water pipes. It was a Sunday afternoon, and all the families were out.

Then we walked on the corniche, the sea wall, took a picture or two of a crusader castle(!), and went into a big mosque.

No baby yet. Sarah is lovely, 9 months pregnant. Will update later. Much love to all.

Safe and Sound

We are in Lebanon! It's wonderful to see Sarah and Jason again, and to meet a much bigger Jude than I left last year! We got here this morning about 1 am, and I slept till 9:30 am and Jackie till 11:00. All our connections were smooth. The only delay was in London; we sat on the tarmac for a while, and the line of airplanes waiting to take off was long.

Sarah is not in labor, so that's good. Maybe she'll wait a little longer this time to go into labor. Last time, she only waited 4 hours after I got here to go into labor.

Haven't checked heart tones on the baby. But Sarah says the baby is moving fine! All my equipment came through okay, so that's a big praise. Except for a bedpan, which broke; no big deal. I had my Doppler in my carryon, and expected the security people to ask me about it, but nobody did! Crazy.

Jason and Jackie just went out to get vegetables for our lunch. We will go see some Lebanese friends this afternoon. I'm loving being here again.

Happy Mother's Day to the best mom ever! I love you, Mom!

Off Again

It's a bad thing when you have to look up your password to post a blog, because it's been sooo long since you posted! Maybe some of you have given up on me. I think I post so seldom because I think my life is not really all that different from yours most of the time. I don't have a huge need to let everyone know what is happening in our daily lives....

But this time it's big again. Jackie and I are off to Lebanon in two days! For me it's a return trip. I was there last year in February. For Jackie it's a first. And I'm so excited he's going with me!

We will be going for a repeat try of a home waterbirth with Jason and Sarah, who are expecting baby #2 sometime around the middle of May. I am very hopeful of a good birth for Sarah. I will try to keep you all updated as I can (it can be kind of iffy sometimes there with electricity/internet problems).

We will fly out from San Antonio on May 6, and arrive in Beirut on May 7, late. Jason will be there to pick us up and take us the rest of the way to Tyre. The trip will not be much longer than 24 hours, not bad for going that distance. We will stop over in Washington, DC and London on the way. We will be in Tyre through May 21 (as plans stand), then head back through London and detour through Ireland for 3 days on the way back. A mini-vacation. We should be back in Texas on May 25.

Please pray with us that all my midwifery tools/equipment get there fine, and that the birth will go well. And that the volcano in Iceland will behave itself.

I am so looking forward to seeing all my friends from Lebanon again! It's so far away from here, that I seldom get to see them, so this is a huge happiness for me.

I will try to post pictures from there, but you know...the electricity and internet....

God redeems

No pictures with this post, but oh! what a day!

I loved doing this birth with Sorani! (see http://www.compassionatemidwifery.com) First birth of the year, of the decade! (For me, of course!) I had planned to do it with April, but she was in Missouri. Sorani basically arrived at 6:50 am and "held the fort" for me until I could get there at 7:43.

Barbara (name changed) called me at 4:20 am -- actually she texted me. Contractions had awakened her at 3 am, and were 5 to 10 minutes apart. She got up and they promptly went to every 5 minutes. I couldn't decide whether or not to go, because she had had some prodromal (read: preparatory) contractions the day before. I didn't know if it was the real deal yet. I finally decided to come, thinking I would hate to miss the birth because of indecision. It was a 3-hour drive from my house. I decided this at about 5 am, and I was on the road at 5:20 am, following a text from Barbara that contractions were now every 3 minutes. I called Sorani to give her a heads up.

Chris (name changed) called me about 6 am to ask where the Chux pads were. (In the birth kit.) I asked him then if Barbara wanted Sorani to come on, since she was just 35 minutes away from their home. Barbara wanted Sorani, so she got ready and went.

I was close to downtown Dallas when Chris called and told me that the baby had been born! I was a little surprised but not much, then I asked if the baby was breathing. He said yes, then said that Sorani was there. As close as I can guess, it was 7:15 am. I didn't know it, but he was joking!! The baby hadn't been born, but I believed him! I slowed my speed down from 70 to 60, and cruised in. Chris asked me to pick up some breakfast at McDonalds on the way in, so that's what I was going to do. I was disappointed, but accepting of the fact that I hadn't made it. I hadn't missed a birth since I was a student nearly five years ago. I hate missing births!

Chris called me again at 7:38, just as I was nearing the exit for his house, and he told me not to stop at McD's after all, so I headed straight for the house. Chris opened the front door for me, and I made some remark like, "Babies come at the perfect times, don't they?" As I went into the hallway, Sorani said, "Better get your gloves on!" and Barbara said, "I can't do it. It hurts so much!"

I was mystified. Was Sorani wanting my help with the placenta? Why was Barbara in such distress? It finally dawned on me:

Baby Mia hadn't been born yet!

Chris had been pulling my leg! I couldn't believe it! I had arrived in time after all! (Sorani got gloves for me.) I felt like Scrooge did when he realized that the Cristmas Spirits had done it all in one night, and he hadn't missed Christmas after all! Oh joy! Even Barbara's screams couldn't erase the smile from my face as I checked her -- cervical lip, bulgy bag of waters, rupture membranes and start pushing, girl! She kept saying, "I can't do it, I can't do it!" as she was doing it. She was very loud and very negative. It was very hard to talk over her and to help her, but pushing only lasted nine minutes, and then her screams changed to, "My baby! My baby!" She didn't tear, she didn't bleed, and postpartum was without incident. God redeemed this day:

Five years ago to the day Barbara had her first baby by Caesarean.

Today she had her first unmedicated, uncut HBAC (home birth after Caesarean).

It was wonderful! Thank you, God.

Happy Trails to You!

One thing we've learned about being in the Black Hills after September is that a lot of things close for the winter. Yesterday we wanted to go up to Mt. Rushmore on the Iron Mountain Road. We "got right close," but around a corner came upon a closed gate. The road was closed. So we took an alternate route, but the one we wanted to go on has three tunnels, and they've arranged the tunnels so that you can see Mt. Rushmore through the tunnels. I'm sorry I missed that.

Anyway, Mt. Rushmore was awesome as usual. George Washington had a little snow "dandruff" on his shoulder.







After Rushmore, we went to Hill City and ate at the Alpine Inn. It was wonderful German fare, and we also had hot apple cider.

Then we wanted to travel the Needles Highway. It is known as such because of the pointed rock formations known as "needles." It was also closed. Both highways were closed because of the snow that had fallen Monday. So I guess I'll have to come back and see those places sometime when it's not snowing. But for now, I'm glad we came in this season.



Since Needles Highway was closed, we went to Custer and ate pie. I had rhubarb, my first try. I think it's delicious, Justin and Paul. I think the lady who waited on us was a little nervous about me trying it, but I loved it. It was just the right amount of sour and sweet. We got to talking to a local couple there at the pie shop, and talked for over an hour! That was different and fun! They told us about the wildlife they see from their house, and we talked and talked.



Then we went to the Crazy Horse Monument. It's an amazing project, much bigger in scope and size than Mt. Rushmore. I wonder if I'll be alive when it's finished. The museum there just goes and goes. It's a huge collection. You can't experience it in one visit. We stayed after dark for the light show, and were sorry we did, because when we left to go home it was dark and it was snowing...and we weren't familiar with the highway.



We finally made it back to the hotel after an hour's drive. We were both tired from the stress of trying to see through the blinding white snow.

This morning dawned cold. We decided at the last minute to catch the 1880's train from Hill City to Keystone and back, a round trip of 20 miles. We did get to the depot on time, but just barely. The train ride was a total of 2 hours, as the train goes a whopping 10 miles per hour. It was beautiful, but very cold! My feet and legs got real cold, and I wished I had put on my long john's!











After the ride, we went in to eat at the Hill City Cafe, where the waitresses were running their legs off, as a tour bus had just come in. The only seats were at the bar, so Jackie and I joined the other man there. I started talking to the man, who it turns out, is married to one of the waitresses. A local. So we talked and talked; he told us some more scenic routes to try that we hadn't yet...

So we went to Deerfield, and from there on gravel road to Rochport, and then up to Spearfish, where we are staying tonight.




The "non-road" we were on today!


At Spearfish, we joined up with Barbie and Dave and their son Jase at Sanford's to eat dinner. We spent an enjoyable two hours with them. Barbie used to work for a software company that Jackie does business with, and we had both met her before, but it was our first time to meet Dave and Jase. Jase showed me the wooden miner in the restaurant. He was amazing; a five-year-old that really behaved well the whole two hours that we visited.



All in all, we just haven't met any South Dakotan's that we wouldn't be proud to call friends. We have had an amazing vacation. We leave tomorrow to go to Wyoming to see Marie and John. We'll stay there for a day, then leave on Sunday morning to return to Texas. Great time, great sights, great experience!

Just a little sprinkle on the top, please...

On Monday, while we were coming up from Nebraska and spending the day at Wounded Knee, the Badlands, and Wall Drug, it was snowing on other parts around here. Jackie heard a lady on the telephone at Wall say that it had snowed a foot at Mt. Rushmore. But we didn't see any of it that day.

Yesterday, because it was so sunny, we decided to go to Spearfish Canyon. It's the prime reason we're here, and we wanted to take advantage of a sunny day. What we didn't know at the time we set out was that it would be drop-dead gorgeous with the yellow aspens, the green pines, the black hills, and the smattering of white snow.









Spearfish Peak

We wound through already-snowplowed highways up to the town of Spearfish, ate lunch at the Cedar House, and came back on I-90 to Rapid City, then set out again, this time to the south and Custer State Park. At Custer, we saw more beautiful scenery, pronghorn antelope, bison, and deer. And we got off the pavement and went down a couple of the dirt roads of the state park, Oak Draw and Lame Johnny. (I do wonder who that one is named after.) It was all beautiful.






This was Lame Johnny road.

We came back at sunset and washed the car -- it was sooo nasty from the snow and the salt on the highways and the muddy roads! Then we spent a few minutes in the whirlpool and headed up to bed!