Being honest with myself.

Since this is the last day of the first month of the year I started to think about the resolutions I made and evaluate my progress.  Most of all this year I wanted to try to improve my overall life.  I made vows to make small changes. The most important ones were:

           

Take control over clutter; hang up my clothes as soon as I take them off

                  and don’t leave dishes in the sink.

            Practice more mindfulness and meditation.

            Do more yoga and sit-ups.

            Be more creative in my cooking.

            Write a little every day.

            Drink less alcohol.

            Be kinder to the earth.

            Sketch daily.

            Paint as often as I can.

With that last one I intended to knit less in order to accomplish it. 

All in all things have gone pretty well.  With exception to the last one I’ve been able to stick with it. But what I haven’t done is knit less.  I had thought that after the intense knitting marathon I ran between Thanksgiving and Christmas; (see below picture from my facebook page), I was ready for a break from knitting.

But instead what I now know is that I am a knitting addict.  And my most problematic time is while watching television.  I can’t sit still to watch television. In order to stay awake my hands must be moving.  And January has a lot to watch; my favorite and new PBS shows, new episodes of favorite network shows, and Paul and I have started binge watching Homeland.  Yes, we are late to that party but now that we’ve arrived we can’t leave until it’s over. 

Pictured below is what I have knitted since December 31st, one month's time.

KC baseball hat, Sooner hat, and stocking cap.

A cable cowl and scarf.

And what might be just a little crazy, a sock for our vintage caged trouble light.

There's also one more very large project I've started but there's no picture yet.  

So now I know that what I believed to be a brake from knitting was only a break from knitting for children and grandchildren.  And no matter the aching knuckles and knitter's elbow as long as I sit down to watch TV, I'll be knitting something.

Fall knitting projects

I love knitting for kids.  The turn around time from effort to payoff is wonderful.  And knitting for a new granddaughter makes it even more enjoyable.  Here's what I've been knitting this fall:



 

a newborn cardigan set...

 

 a sleep sack and apple hat...

 

and a boob hat and sleep sack.

 

Our sixth grandchild Rowen in her sleep sack at the hospital.  The hat's still a little too big.

 

Sweaters for our granddaughters, 4 and 7.....

 

 

 

And finally a sweater for big brother....

 

He's 18 months.  Hard to capture a clear shot.

 

I have two more grandchild sweaters to make but I'm taking a brief break to knit myself a birthday sweater.  Love keeping the needles busy!



Chair with Interior with a Book

Whenever I go to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art I make certain to stop and see my favorite piece; Richard Diebenkorn's Interior with a Book .  I really can't quite describe the peacefulness that comes over me when I am standing in front of this painting.  My imaginations goes overboard coming up with the possible stories it holds within.

 

And then one day I was looking at the corner of our great room where my grandmother's rocker sits and it reminded me of the painting.  I was standing there thinking about the painting and it occurred to me how I could have a memento of the painting right there.  I had recovered the chair once already, and I had painted several pairs of canvas shoes, why couldn't I do a study of the painting on the cushion of my grandmother's chair?

 

 



 

Three weeks later and here it is sitting in one of my favorite spots in the house.  It's made my grandmother's chair even more special! 

A reason to crochet

As a personal preference, I've always liked the look of knitted stitches better.

I never had a desire to learn to crochet.  Until I saw the work of Magaret Ooman's crocheted stones.  She writes a beautiful blog, resurrection fern.  But it was Purl Bee's tutorial that really motivated me.  I spent the last week's spare moments teaching myself and here's the result.....

 

 

 

 

I found that the tutorial is really just a suggestion.  It works best if you just let yourself,

(and your stone) see what works best.  The hardest part is getting the crochet to fit snug around your stone.  I found it very addictive.  But really, how many crocheted stones does one person need?



Summer Break

After three months of knitting and sewing for birthdays I finally get a break.  There's not another birthday or holiday I need to make presents for until September!

 

Quinn and Braxton, siblings, both had their parties on the same day; one in the morning and one in the evening.  Quinn turned one and Braxton turned three.  That meant Quinn got her first book.

 

 

This was my eighth book to make for our grandchildren and I have to admit I was struggling with the verse until my husband came up with the brilliant idea of doing a cover of Bob Dylan's Quinn The Eskimo.

 

 

 

It was a hit!

 

 

I also made her a little top, shorts, headband and matching doll...

 

 

 

 and knitted crowns for both.

 

 

 

And for Braxton, who loves bugs.... a stuffed ant.  After looking at many google pictures of ants  I "winged" the pattern. 

 (Yes I know ants don't have wings.)

 

 

Maybe all those years as an entomology mom in 4H will pay off in a second generation.

 

 

And now that I have until September I feel like a teacher on summer break.  I'll have time to make some things that I've had on my wish list. 

 

During all of that sewing and knitting the week before the parties the cherries were ripening.  As it turned out it was obvious that the cherries could wait no longer and the very next day after the parties we started picking.  The entire week was consumed with picking and pitting.

 

                                               

We eventually lost count but we believe we have about 30 quarts put up!  And the tops of the trees are still full!  But we just can't take it anymore.  We are declaring cherry season closed.

 

 

Still, with all the cherries I was able to squeak out a small project; a knitted bracelet. 

 

I must have had blossoms on my mind.

 





Grief, a way of life.

There’s that momentary feeling of terror when you are face to face with someone who has just suffered a great loss.  What do I say to this person?

I know that when I was that person lost in the immediacy of my own grief I hated hearing the circumstances of another person’s loss.  I didn’t want to hear the stories of how the people they loved died.  I had just lived through the circumstances of my own loved one’s death. 

I know those people were trying to tell me look, I lived through it and came out on the other side.  I survived.  You will too.

But what I wanted to hear was how they survived it.  How did they get out of bed every day, eat, sleep, breath?  But no one seemed to have that kind of advice.

I don’t know how I survived the loss of my brothers.  I read memoirs of how people grieving felt.  Their words often described exactly what I was feeling.  I wrote my own feelings down, a way of trying to release them from occupying so much of me.  Eventually I got out of bed, ate, slept, and started breathing again.  I learned how to live with grief.

What I do say now about my grief is that it occupies a closet somewhere deep inside me.  I can open the door and let it wash over me and I can feel the fresh pain of it all over again.

Since the loss of my brothers I’ve lost my dad and my aunt.  I know there will be more too.  All these years later I do understand why people tell the circumstances of their loss. They don’t know what to say.

When I come face to face with someone grieving I have to make a conscious effort to not tell my brothers’ stories, or my father’s and aunt’s cancer stories.  I tell them how sorry I am and try to let them know that if they need someone, I will be there.

But still I feel inadequate and I don’t know that I’ve said enough.  I want them to know that it is possible to adapt to living with grief.  I hope you find your way.

Craft Yoga

Sometimes you need to take a break and do something just for fun.  Some crafting yoga like this branch weaving.

 

After two weeks of non stop sewing and knitting for our grandson's first birthday I needed something like this.  Over and under...... 

 

Here's some photos of Jools' birthday presents. 

 

I made this handsome guy's birthday shorts and tie and mommy's pinafore.

 

 

And his birthday book.....

 



 

 

 

And then lots of knitted balls because balls are his favorite things.

 



 

Soft and easy to grab hold of.....

 

And a basket to gather them into.

 



And now I'm back at it.  Our granddaughter turns one in a week and a half!