Staying Young

　
I know how I got here. One day at a time. But the days have gone by quickly and I am surprised to be this old. No, I am not seventy. Just headed there, slowly I hope. Do I feel old? At times. Do I act old. Not most of the time. At least I do not think I do.I enjoy younger people and children, so I stay young by learning new things from them and doing new adventures.

Lately, I have learned to make knitted hats. I tried to knit in the second decade, but I had trouble keeping the yarn untangled. Then I tried in the third decade and I kept dropping stitches. But now I have an almost foolproof round loom. I say almost, because if I try to watch tv, I am still susceptible to dropping stitches. But it is easier and faster to do, than needle knitting, which was not relaxing for me.

The only problems now are choosing the right yarns for the type of hat I want and making sure I have enough yarn. The first hats I made were made of expensive yarn from Peru. I asked the sales lady for a thick, soft yarn and she showed me the colorful, pink and orange shades of a skein of Pashmina (alpaca). I made two lovely hats from one skein. I used a small loom for a baby and a larger loom for a child. The hats looked very good. I hope my friends’ children enjoy them next winter.

The third hat I made looked like a dark grey poodle’s head when I finished. It was made of looped yarns on a string. My husband suggested that could be "my house hat" in the winter. (In other words, “I wouldn’t go out with that on.”) The fourth one had large holes which would not be warm in winter, but might be cute in the spring. The yarn was a twisted yarn, so I’ll watch out for that next time. No twisted, yarns unless I want holes in the hat. I loved the colors on that yarn. Shades of blue. Knitting this way is fun. You might like to try it.