I FEEL A KNIT COMING ON

Friday we left Chicago at Noon and drove to my hometown of Springfield. My brother and his family are very involved in community theater in Springfield, and we like to go down whenever there is a "family" production.

This year the show was "A Secret Garden". My SIL, Laurie, directed. My niece, Lilly -- Sean's wife -- designed the sets. Dennis was responsible for construction, but was held back a little by that whole open-heart-surgery thing. (It was noted in the program that he took a whopping 5 days off from set construction to have his valve replaced.) Dennis and Laurie's youngest daughter, Elizabeth, was a dead woman in the show (and sang the part beautifully) and their youngest son, Conor, built sets and ran crew. Lilly's brother added to the familial aspect of the show by coming up from St. Louis and spending a week or so working on the sets.

Saturday we had a mini-reunion over brunch at Cracker Barrel. Dennis, Laurie, and Betsy joined us, as did my cousin, Carol Ann, her husband, Jerry, and their daughter, Kathleen. (Kathleen has the prettiest teeth. You can't see them in this picture, but they are really, really perfect.)

(l to r, seated -- Laurie, Norbert; standing -- Kathleen, CarolAnn, Jerry, Betsy, Me, & Dennis)

Saturday afternoon we drove to Peoria, where Norbert had the chance to see his grandparents -- he was at camp during the 25th Anniversary wingding. I got a speeding ticket between Springfield and Peoria. The ride home was uneventful, save for the fact that I had a migraine the whole way.

I have decided that I must, must, must pick up some knitting. So I am going to finish the Swallowtail Shawl. Tomorrow I will rip back the two rows that seem to be in error and put them to right. Then I will knit at least 4 rows a day until it is done. (Although if the nupps give me trouble, I may revise that number down to two.)

Please keep me to this schedule, will you? I'd like to finish it so that I can cast on a Lilly of the Valley Smoke Ring. But I can't do that until the Swallowtail is completely off the needles.