The Great Dickie

I have just completed my Pa's second Dickie also known as the sleeveless sweater.
My Pa loves a good Dickie, his mom used to keep him well stocked with them. All different of course. She made him ones with all sorts of different kinds and colors of yarn to wear for working outdoors, there were ones for when he skied and for day to day use... Oh the Dickie's she made for him were truly made with love.

He only has a couple left that she made for him before passing. There was a terrible incident with the Dickie's (it really could have been a Seinfeld episode)a few years ago that has left him with only a couple and the urge to stop strangers on the street and ask were they got the Dickie from that they are wearing.

As a very new knitter a year or so ago, I asked my Pa for one of the remaining Dickie's that my Gramma had made him before she passed. I then headed out for my weekly knitting group gathering with a plan and the Dickie in hand. I told them all about my Gramma and the Dickie's that she would knit amongst other things and asked if someone would please help me figure out how to make one for my Pa. Shannon then took the challenge (I'm sure it wasn't a very big challenge at all for her but none the less she took it) right away and there she sat with her stitch gauge and other little tools and made up a pattern for me. Making note of suggested yarn to use, stitch gauge required to get the desired outcome and so on and so forth. I was so very grateful, and happy to have Shannon as a new friend. Shannon is an accomplished knitter, being very detail oriented the pattern is just perfect!

Thanks to Shannon, now with pattern in hand I have a plan to keep him well stocked with Dickie's. I don't mind if he makes a request for the yarn color and or length of the front and back flaps. I am just happy to make them for him. He once told me that he would be happy with anything that was knit for him with love that fit properly no matter what color the yarn used was. I have no plans to make him a rainbow Dickie but if the urge ever rose to do so, I'm pretty sure that he would happily wear said Dickie :-)

Oh Sunny Day!

I must say as I sit here watching the Winter Olympics, I look out the window and feel like it must be a recording on the TV. My neighbour has just mowed her lawn, the neighbours are washing and waxing their trucks and oh so many different kinds of flowering plants are budding out and blooming.

I wonder what month is it really?

I feel compelled to Mai Tia on Sweetness and head out for a walk. But she's napping in her swing so here I sit watching the Olympics and starting a blog for moments just like this.