Condolences

Dear Coach Cowher,
I am so sorry for your loss, of which I just today heard. I read your statement on the Steelers' website. I've wanted to tell you how heartbroken I was when you retired from coaching the Steelers, and then how happy for you I became when I watched you making commentary on games -- it was so good to see you smiling! Now I understand that your retirement was for Kaye's sake, so she could have her family around her during her illness, and I admire you even more for such a gentlemanly decision. I'm sure this support from all her family made her struggle more bearable. My prayers go out on behalf of you & your family, that you might find some comfort.
"Lady Boss", aka Ann

Small victories

Dear Diary,
Today I learned to do a tubular cast on! It's totally tubular and gnarly, dudes!
And how many of you can do this neat trick? I sure wish I'd learnt it before I cast on the Moc Croc Socks again. I've got about 5" of the leg done already.
**
On the not-so-victorious side, the death toll for the Flood of 2010 keeps rising, even as the waters are receding. Locally, one teen and one older man are missing, presumed lost to the flood. I feel so sad for the families of the missing & dead. Several local radio stations have been raising funds for the Red Cross, and of course today is the National Day of Prayer -- so these poor folks will be remembered in prayer, and their folks will be remembered in service.
*^*^*^*^*^
I've had some comments about the tubular cast on I've learned. I went to a blog called My Fashionable Life (//autoscopia.com/amelia/archives/2005/11/tubular_cast_on), which is not where I first saw this & thought I might be able to follow the instruction, but I can't find the one I thought I'd seen...Don't we just love the innerwebs? Anyway, Amelia makes it pretty clear & I actually got it to work the very first time I tried it! And it looks great. And is stretchy, which is so super as I have a hard time keeping my cast-ons from being too tight. So now I can make the ribbed brims of my hats lots stretchier, which will be a lot more comfortable. Ok, for the next commission, I'm making a hat for Miss A, who has a smallish head. I'm using Lion Brand Wool Ease, worsted, double-stranded. The hat called for a bulky yarn, and I've just about got gauge (yes, I swatched! Can you believe it! I know!) with this doubled. I'm using color "Wheat", which is kinda like their "Oatmeal" only with strands of brown & copper thru it. Miss A has problems with wool, but at 20% there's not going to be enough here to bother her. The other commission is one I'm not sure I agreed to, it was just assumed that I'd take care of it. Anyway, it's another knitted baby hat! Should be fun, and I'll likely keep the leftover sock yarn. I think I'm developing a mini-stash of partial balls of sock yarn, which I'd like to use for one of those mitered square baby blankets. It'll be a while before I have enough.