When your mother dies one month short of her ninety-first birthday, you are not truly sad, but more relieved that she is finally dancing the polka in heaven, with the love of her life. You are happy that she no longer suffers from excruciating knee pain, but instead is well again and enjoying watching her family from above. You are over-joyed that she no longer is confused and wondering why she can't remember what you just told her...four times already!
You see rainbows!
After your mom dies, you are sad; you miss talking with her and seeing her and smelling her and hugging her. You wake up wanting to call her and tell her about the fun party you went to last night, or the movie you just watched, or the great episode of a new TV show that you know she would love. You miss your mom.
You miss seeing rainbows.
Two weeks after your mom dies your sister calls you and tells you she has uterine cancer! F*%King CANCER! Your sister is not supposed to get cancer. She's supposed to be well and be glad. She's not supposed to have to worry for weeks while she waits for appointments and results, only imagining the worst that can happen to her.
Still looking for rainbows!
After your mom dies and your sister tells you she has cancer, you try to keep on being strong. You keep on making things. You keep on going through the motions of life. You clean and cook and tell your kids and grand kids how much you love them.You hug your puppy, who knows you are sad. You reach out to friends for comfort.
You finish knitting your RAINBOW socks.
After your mom dies you are even more excited about your upcoming holiday to Ireland. You know you can go with a clear conscience; you know you will not have to worry that you might get a call that your mom has been ill or worse, that she has died. But after your sister tells you she has cancer, you feel guilty that you are leaving and you wish you could be with her when she gets her full diagnosis and treatment plan.You are reminded that every stage of life is precious and you pack and get ready for your trip...but you aren't seeing rainbows.
But one day you wake up and you see there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. You know everything will be alright. God will take care of your sister. She has a loving husband and two very loving children. She is looking forward to the birth of her seventh grandchild, due on Christmas Day. She will see lots and lots of rainbows in her life. You keep praying and start really looking forward to your Ireland vacation.
When your mom dies you get to really start thinking about retirement. You ask your husband to get a two-year plan in motion. To please cut back on work and to take up a hobby that can bring him joy in his retirement.
I am so glad I have this community of knitters and quilters to expand my long list of friendships...my support group. I have friends from Morocco, to Europe to Australia...who all support me with their kind words of encouragement. Most I have never met and some I have had the great pleasure to have met in person.
Friends are the Rainbows in life.
So my message here is to always see the rainbows in life. I know some days it is difficult. I am having one of those days.
I need to see Rainbows.
I started knitting these socks using the two at a time, toe up method, on a 40" circular needle. When it came time to make the heels I transferred one sock to the 24" circular and then completed each sock separately; this is because I was too lazy to look for the instructions that tell how to turn the heels on the two at a time method.
The reason I did a contrasting heel is because I could tell that I was not going to have enough yarn to make these socks with a 6" cuff if I didn't make contrasting heels. I bought the medium sized sock set but should have ordered the large. I only ended up with about two yards of yarn left on each ball, so that would have been cutting it a little too close for me.
The yarn was a dream to knit with and is one of the few yarns I have used where there was no color bleeding when I soaked the finished socks to block them.I highly recommend using Knit Circus Yarns.
Sock Stats:
Name: Looking for Rainbows
Pattern: My own Basic Sock Pattern with a Fish Lips Kiss Heel
Heels: Hand Dyed Yarn by The Flying Kettle on Etsy 75% Superwash Merino wool, 25% nylon.
Needles:Addi Turbo Sock Rockets Circular 40" and 24" US size 1 (2.5mm)