With every new adventure, new knitting, new relationships, new jobs, there comes a point where a patina begins to develops. At the very start its all bright and shiny but that wears a little with time. There's nothing wrong with that exactly. It doesn't mean there's anything the matter with that drop stitch cowl you've been belaboring, or that you should run out on some kind of errant love affair, or that you should quit your new job and go into hiding in the back of a cube van and knit socks for a living - it just denotes the natural progression of time.
It actually is a realization of imperfection. Everything is absolutely perfect until the moment it isn't. As humans we tend to be a little overambitious in our expectations of just about everything, never cutting ourselves any slack for fear others will notice that we are living imperfect lives too. The fact that I'm now a little worried you all think I'm ungrateful and depressed for using the words imperfect and life in the same sentence is a testament to the negative connotations we give to the admission of imperfection (come on, this cannot just be me). Imperfect isn't bad though. Perfection, as in Stepford wife / Leave it to Beaver lifestyles would be immensely, and wholly boring. Challenge is the fuel to life's fire, we just all bitch about it anyway because, well, if we didn't we would quickly run out of things to talk about.
While I'm still very in love with Mr. Frogged I may not spend the same two hours getting ready for a date and giggling that I did when I was 18. After living with someone and having them see you lying on the couch for a week solid with a cold, frankly two hours seems excessive. This is probably a good thing since it leaves more time for the actual date and, as a bonus, results in more intelligible speech than that of a twitterpated teenage girl.
And though I'm still plugging away on those loose ends for my ripple blanket, I'm still excited to finish it. I think that project may have slipped below patina and into a slightly tarnished state of being, to be honest. I mean really, the amount of ends to weave is both obscene and masochistic. It doesn't help that I am seeking perfection and am a little paranoid about random ends wiggling loose so I split my yarn before weaving it, resulting in double the work.
And lastly, while I'm still enjoying my new job most of the time, there are days where it occurs to me that no matter how fast I learn on the job, I'm still learning. This is arguably a good thing. Surely switching careers entirely at this point in my life in combination with my knitting will provide sufficient brain exercise to cure all worry of dementia and Alzheimer's in my golden years. But when I've been a fairly competent person for a good 4 years I now feel like I'm playing the intellectual equivalent to pin the tail on the donkey. I know I'll get it eventually but in the process I end up feeling a bit of an ass.
What I'm really getting at is when the going gets tough, and the tough go knitting we should all remember that perfection is elusive, perfection is often impossible and frankly, perfection is overrated! Embrace the challenge. The results will be better for it.
Happy crafting!
Showing posts with label love. Show all posts
Showing posts with label love. Show all posts
Thursday, February 02, 2012
Friday, October 28, 2011
Perspective...
Last night when I went to bed I couldn't sleep. 12am rolled around, 1am swiftly followed and so on. I woke up this morning not rested at all and in a foul mood.
I was grumpy with my husband, I was grumpy with the dog, I was grumpy with myself. We left the house late. Got caught in the line up at Tim Horton's where I ordered a steeped tea and a coffee but received two coffees instead. Didn't figure out this until 5km later. I don't like coffee. Made Mr. Frogged wind my yarn into a ball while I drove. Was grumpy with him for dropping it on the floor. Was grumpy with the other drivers for being stupider than usual. The Mister finished winding. Was grumpy because there was a knot in the yarn. He gave me his coffee which has more sugar. I was grumpy with the coffee for having grinds at the bottom. Got to work and I was grumpy because the dog ate my Chatelaine magazine during our car ride.
Texted my brother and cousin to find out if they got their Kris Kringle email yet. I was grumpy when they didn't reply quick enough.
I got a text from my cousin. A friend of his is very ill so he wants to donate his Kris Kringle gift to his friend to help make ends meet. What a beautiful and inspirational thought to go into the coming season with.
Felt ashamed for being grumpy all morning. By comparison my day is perfection. That'll learn me. HE certainly does work in mysterious ways.
Perspective. Gets me every time.
Hope your all having a lovely Friday and that nothing makes you grumpy today.
Happy crafting, friends.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
I was grumpy with my husband, I was grumpy with the dog, I was grumpy with myself. We left the house late. Got caught in the line up at Tim Horton's where I ordered a steeped tea and a coffee but received two coffees instead. Didn't figure out this until 5km later. I don't like coffee. Made Mr. Frogged wind my yarn into a ball while I drove. Was grumpy with him for dropping it on the floor. Was grumpy with the other drivers for being stupider than usual. The Mister finished winding. Was grumpy because there was a knot in the yarn. He gave me his coffee which has more sugar. I was grumpy with the coffee for having grinds at the bottom. Got to work and I was grumpy because the dog ate my Chatelaine magazine during our car ride.
Texted my brother and cousin to find out if they got their Kris Kringle email yet. I was grumpy when they didn't reply quick enough.
I got a text from my cousin. A friend of his is very ill so he wants to donate his Kris Kringle gift to his friend to help make ends meet. What a beautiful and inspirational thought to go into the coming season with.
Felt ashamed for being grumpy all morning. By comparison my day is perfection. That'll learn me. HE certainly does work in mysterious ways.
Perspective. Gets me every time.
Hope your all having a lovely Friday and that nothing makes you grumpy today.
Happy crafting, friends.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Flashback
It's 1992. Early fall. September, say. The sun is high in the sky and shining brightly through the family room windows. There are lots of them, or are they just big? I am 7 and they span from the floor to the top of the cathedral ceiling. They always fill the house with heat.
It's a Sunday. We've already been to church, which is proof of autumn since dad prays on the golf course through the summer months. Mom's in the kitchen, cleaning? Cooking? Both. She cleans as she goes and is very fond of telling my now grown self that I'm doing it all wrong by not doing the same. There's sauce on the stove filling the house with the smell of the tomatoes that we canned in August, fresh basil and parsley. There's stewing beef inside. Shortly there will be a discussion about the stewing beef. There always is, as one of my parents prefers pork in sauce, the other beef and the inclusion of either one instills this discussion. The screen doors are wide open letting the stuffy air out and the fresh new air of autumn in. My big brother and I will set the table, my two other brothers by this time have gotten out of this duty, having already performed it in their youth. Together there are six of us, and we will fill up the table with chatter, and probably heated discussions, and lots of food because soon dad will head outside to barbecue.
Blaring on the radio is Claudio Baglioni. I'm not sure who he is at this time in my life, just that he sings in Italian and is always played on Sundays while the house is being filled with food smells and my mom is cleaning and cooking, and when he is on the radio my parents sing to each other. At the top of their lungs with reckless abandon and across the room. They smile, and sometimes sing to me too. I'm not sure who he is at all, but he fills the house with love it seems.
This is where I've been this afternoon as I have taken a page from Attic 24 and decided to "love my home." Mr. Frogged and I have affectionately scrubbed the entire main floor so far, set fresh flowers on the table and set the table ready for company tonight.
All the windows are open. We don't have as many windows as there were when I was a child, but all the blinds are open to let in the September sun and shine light on the newly polished wood tables.
On the radio, Claudio Baglioni, and me now singing at the top of my lungs with a smile for my hubby as he eats (admittedly leftover from my sister-in-laws) veal with sauce. It all got to be a bit of a timewarp as the smell of sauce snuck up my nose, and so I thought I'd bring you along for the ride.
It's a Sunday. We've already been to church, which is proof of autumn since dad prays on the golf course through the summer months. Mom's in the kitchen, cleaning? Cooking? Both. She cleans as she goes and is very fond of telling my now grown self that I'm doing it all wrong by not doing the same. There's sauce on the stove filling the house with the smell of the tomatoes that we canned in August, fresh basil and parsley. There's stewing beef inside. Shortly there will be a discussion about the stewing beef. There always is, as one of my parents prefers pork in sauce, the other beef and the inclusion of either one instills this discussion. The screen doors are wide open letting the stuffy air out and the fresh new air of autumn in. My big brother and I will set the table, my two other brothers by this time have gotten out of this duty, having already performed it in their youth. Together there are six of us, and we will fill up the table with chatter, and probably heated discussions, and lots of food because soon dad will head outside to barbecue.
Blaring on the radio is Claudio Baglioni. I'm not sure who he is at this time in my life, just that he sings in Italian and is always played on Sundays while the house is being filled with food smells and my mom is cleaning and cooking, and when he is on the radio my parents sing to each other. At the top of their lungs with reckless abandon and across the room. They smile, and sometimes sing to me too. I'm not sure who he is at all, but he fills the house with love it seems.
This is where I've been this afternoon as I have taken a page from Attic 24 and decided to "love my home." Mr. Frogged and I have affectionately scrubbed the entire main floor so far, set fresh flowers on the table and set the table ready for company tonight.
All the windows are open. We don't have as many windows as there were when I was a child, but all the blinds are open to let in the September sun and shine light on the newly polished wood tables.
On the radio, Claudio Baglioni, and me now singing at the top of my lungs with a smile for my hubby as he eats (admittedly leftover from my sister-in-laws) veal with sauce. It all got to be a bit of a timewarp as the smell of sauce snuck up my nose, and so I thought I'd bring you along for the ride.
Tuesday, August 09, 2011
Choose Love
Love, it turns out, is a choice.
My father tried to tell me this when I was a teenager. At the time the vast absence of romance of this notion lead me to discard it entirely and follow instead the more Beatles inspired philosophy that all you need is love. What I didn't consider was the co-existence of these two concepts, which would have lead me promptly to the conclusion that my dad was right all along. Love is a choice that we all need.
For ten days at the end of this July my husband and I traipsed around the midlands of England making it our sole mission to see as many family members as possible. The family members in question were my relatives, who I don't know all that intimately since we live in Canada.
Our first stop brought us to to Worcester (yes, of Worcestershire Sauce fame) where one of my paternal uncles lives with his clan. We stayed with my cousin who dropped everything to entertain us, making us a full English breakfast each morning and taking us galavanting about a medieval castle and a quaint English village (where I subjected her to a hidden LYS and bought some purple DK merino). The ENTIRE family got together for 3 nights running (including cousins and second cousins) for elaborate feasts that my aunt and uncle prepared with love. From there we continued to meet my maternal grandfather's extended family both in London and Derby who I didn't know at all. Again each new person embraced me with warm tight hugs, and heart felt smiles. We visited my maternal grandmother's sisters who know me slightly better since my nana is my biggest fan and keeps them well informed. Again we spent a wonderful day with them filled with stories and laughter. Next we visited my aunt, uncle and cousin on my mom's side. She is my only cousin my age and so we are very close. At 42 weeks pregnant (yes that isn't a typo) she took us to see Bath and each night we shared a great dinner with my aunt and uncle. While we were there my cousin (finally) gave birth to a gorgeous little boy, her first. Less than two hours after he was born and just before we had to leave altogether we managed to visit mum and baby. When he settled into my arms for a cuddle that day, he settled into my heart too.
This is my family, whom I've known in clips and snapshots throughout my whole life. Most of them don't get enough time with me to really know me, yet they love me. They choose to. The same way I chose to love each of my six nieces and nephews when they were born. The way I chose to love my new little cousin. The way my husband and I chose to love each other despite some pretty difficult times in our past. And all those years ago, the way my parents chose to love me.
As Knitters, we all choose love constantly. Every time we cast-on for a gift for a loved one or a charity blanket for someone in need we are choosing love and putting a little of it in every stitch. If more people did this for various activities can you imagine the result? If there was a little love in dinner every night, maybe it would be more interesting than frozen food. More love in work? Maybe we'd be nicer to our coworkers. More love in transit? Less road rage and violence. So at the end of the day, it's our choice how we approach everybody and every situation and if we do so with love in our hearts and smiles on our faces it will go a long way to making everyone's heart grow.
Happy crafting and much love....
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
My father tried to tell me this when I was a teenager. At the time the vast absence of romance of this notion lead me to discard it entirely and follow instead the more Beatles inspired philosophy that all you need is love. What I didn't consider was the co-existence of these two concepts, which would have lead me promptly to the conclusion that my dad was right all along. Love is a choice that we all need.
For ten days at the end of this July my husband and I traipsed around the midlands of England making it our sole mission to see as many family members as possible. The family members in question were my relatives, who I don't know all that intimately since we live in Canada.
Our first stop brought us to to Worcester (yes, of Worcestershire Sauce fame) where one of my paternal uncles lives with his clan. We stayed with my cousin who dropped everything to entertain us, making us a full English breakfast each morning and taking us galavanting about a medieval castle and a quaint English village (where I subjected her to a hidden LYS and bought some purple DK merino). The ENTIRE family got together for 3 nights running (including cousins and second cousins) for elaborate feasts that my aunt and uncle prepared with love. From there we continued to meet my maternal grandfather's extended family both in London and Derby who I didn't know at all. Again each new person embraced me with warm tight hugs, and heart felt smiles. We visited my maternal grandmother's sisters who know me slightly better since my nana is my biggest fan and keeps them well informed. Again we spent a wonderful day with them filled with stories and laughter. Next we visited my aunt, uncle and cousin on my mom's side. She is my only cousin my age and so we are very close. At 42 weeks pregnant (yes that isn't a typo) she took us to see Bath and each night we shared a great dinner with my aunt and uncle. While we were there my cousin (finally) gave birth to a gorgeous little boy, her first. Less than two hours after he was born and just before we had to leave altogether we managed to visit mum and baby. When he settled into my arms for a cuddle that day, he settled into my heart too.
This is my family, whom I've known in clips and snapshots throughout my whole life. Most of them don't get enough time with me to really know me, yet they love me. They choose to. The same way I chose to love each of my six nieces and nephews when they were born. The way I chose to love my new little cousin. The way my husband and I chose to love each other despite some pretty difficult times in our past. And all those years ago, the way my parents chose to love me.
As Knitters, we all choose love constantly. Every time we cast-on for a gift for a loved one or a charity blanket for someone in need we are choosing love and putting a little of it in every stitch. If more people did this for various activities can you imagine the result? If there was a little love in dinner every night, maybe it would be more interesting than frozen food. More love in work? Maybe we'd be nicer to our coworkers. More love in transit? Less road rage and violence. So at the end of the day, it's our choice how we approach everybody and every situation and if we do so with love in our hearts and smiles on our faces it will go a long way to making everyone's heart grow.
Happy crafting and much love....
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Tuesday, July 05, 2011
I'm in LOVE!
Hello there and thank you for reading! Thank you to any friends and family who visited the site. Especially those who posted comments which helps it to look like someone actually reads this.
Today I'm going to talk a bit about my current project, a bit about my upcoming project, and a bit about some luscious yarn I bought - I hope you enjoy.
So first - about that white crocheted baby blanket I've been working on. I should mention that if you like the pattern so far, it is the Ruffled Snapdragon Baby Blanket on Ravelry. It turns out that although it is pretty tedious to do the same stitch over and over along such a ginormous piece, it is a PERFECT travelling piece. It is beginning to get a bit on the big side for purse storage, but I'll keep it in my purse anyways. It is good mindless stuff that I can work on at all kinds of functions which sounds a little anti-social, but the long and the short of it is this: 1) I eat less at parties when I have a project in my hands for the obvious reason that I can't eat and crochet at once (what a pity), 2) I can talk and crochet at once, and 3) this project needs to be done in two weeks time in order to give me enough time to wash it and block it before taking it merrily with me to meet its new tiny little owner all the way over in England. It's getting closer and closer to completion every day currently measuring a whopping 21" x 36", but I must say I'm beginning to panic just a little.
Now onto my upcoming project...
First let me make mention that the recipient of the Strawberry Tiramisu baby blanket was so tickled by it that she requested I make another! We will be picking the pattern for it this weekend and I will be sure to let you know what it is as soon as I do. Now this is all very exciting, but it also means one more crocheted baby blanket which, if I don't become a crafting bigamist, will actually cause complete insanity. So, here is the perfect solution! I am going to begin my Superstar Knit challenge. If you haven't flipped through Debbie Stroller's Stitch n Bitch Superstar Knitting I can't recommend it highly enough. I'm reading through the intro and instructions right now just for fun and it is amazing. As usual, she has paired fashion relevent patterns with unique knitting techniques for newly minted advanced knitters which I cannot wait to try out. So without further ado, I introduce my first frolic into her pattern book (and my first lace pattern to boot): The Frilly Filly Scarf! I do have some alterations in mind for this pattern already though, and mainly that is to turn it into a beautiful beaded cowl. Think, Knitty's Ice Queen meets this pretty, beginner lace pattern.
And now for the piece de resistance, and my love of the moment - the yarn! Oh the, yarn! I bought it with a gift certificate from my friend and it is DELICIOUS. It is Debbie Bliss Angel and is the most beautiful coral colour. I can't stop talking about it - even my personal trainer has heard about this yarn. It's soft, and delicate, and quite possibly the prettiest thing I have ever knit with! I'll let you know how it performs once the cowl is started, but in the meantime just know that it will be in my carry-on on the way to England eagerly awaiting it's cast-on.
I hope it's ok, but I haven't included any pictures in this post, mainly because I tried to link back to things wherever possible. I'm sure I've gone on too long, so here's where I'll bid you farewell...until next time Happy Knitting.
Today I'm going to talk a bit about my current project, a bit about my upcoming project, and a bit about some luscious yarn I bought - I hope you enjoy.
So first - about that white crocheted baby blanket I've been working on. I should mention that if you like the pattern so far, it is the Ruffled Snapdragon Baby Blanket on Ravelry. It turns out that although it is pretty tedious to do the same stitch over and over along such a ginormous piece, it is a PERFECT travelling piece. It is beginning to get a bit on the big side for purse storage, but I'll keep it in my purse anyways. It is good mindless stuff that I can work on at all kinds of functions which sounds a little anti-social, but the long and the short of it is this: 1) I eat less at parties when I have a project in my hands for the obvious reason that I can't eat and crochet at once (what a pity), 2) I can talk and crochet at once, and 3) this project needs to be done in two weeks time in order to give me enough time to wash it and block it before taking it merrily with me to meet its new tiny little owner all the way over in England. It's getting closer and closer to completion every day currently measuring a whopping 21" x 36", but I must say I'm beginning to panic just a little.
Now onto my upcoming project...
First let me make mention that the recipient of the Strawberry Tiramisu baby blanket was so tickled by it that she requested I make another! We will be picking the pattern for it this weekend and I will be sure to let you know what it is as soon as I do. Now this is all very exciting, but it also means one more crocheted baby blanket which, if I don't become a crafting bigamist, will actually cause complete insanity. So, here is the perfect solution! I am going to begin my Superstar Knit challenge. If you haven't flipped through Debbie Stroller's Stitch n Bitch Superstar Knitting I can't recommend it highly enough. I'm reading through the intro and instructions right now just for fun and it is amazing. As usual, she has paired fashion relevent patterns with unique knitting techniques for newly minted advanced knitters which I cannot wait to try out. So without further ado, I introduce my first frolic into her pattern book (and my first lace pattern to boot): The Frilly Filly Scarf! I do have some alterations in mind for this pattern already though, and mainly that is to turn it into a beautiful beaded cowl. Think, Knitty's Ice Queen meets this pretty, beginner lace pattern.
And now for the piece de resistance, and my love of the moment - the yarn! Oh the, yarn! I bought it with a gift certificate from my friend and it is DELICIOUS. It is Debbie Bliss Angel and is the most beautiful coral colour. I can't stop talking about it - even my personal trainer has heard about this yarn. It's soft, and delicate, and quite possibly the prettiest thing I have ever knit with! I'll let you know how it performs once the cowl is started, but in the meantime just know that it will be in my carry-on on the way to England eagerly awaiting it's cast-on.
I hope it's ok, but I haven't included any pictures in this post, mainly because I tried to link back to things wherever possible. I'm sure I've gone on too long, so here's where I'll bid you farewell...until next time Happy Knitting.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)