Monday, January 26, 2015

Pretend

The other day, I came across the ultimate "grass is greener" picture - a young family that had moved to Maine to try their hand at farming (all captured in glorious, natural light photos, no less). I sat at my computer and had a 15-second pity party for myself. You see, for that brief moment, I wasn't content with my great family, challenging and stimulating job that pays enough to support us, and comfortable house in a nice town. I wanted to be the kind of person who crafts in the middle of the day in sun-filled rooms and takes beautiful pictures of her domestic pursuits. And then I realized that I can do that - at least on the blog. So this weekend, when the sun came out I ran and grabbed the camera. I even knit a bit during daylight hours (very rare for me these days) while Tadpole and I watched the animated Hobbit during her sister's nap.

I know how important it is for many bloggers to acknowledge all of the effort behind the images they share with the world. But that's not what you're going to find here. Only a masochist would enjoy hearing me catalog the number of late nights I've worked after putting the kids to bed or the mental debate between trying to sneak in a bit of exercise and getting something that might resemble a reasonable night's sleep. That's all there in the background but not something I want to focus on here. Instead, welcome to a heavily edited glimpse into the small part of my life where I get to be one of those people who crafts in a sun-lit room.

Here we go...

I've been on a cowl kick lately. Not so much knitting them as favoriting patterns on ravelry right and left looking for just the right one. While I'm on the lookout for the perfect combination of cables (I'll let you know when I see it), I'm having a blast trying one of the hybrid cowl/shawl patterns from Hillary Smith Callis. I've just reached the part of the Luna Viridis pattern where you join the stitches for working in the round and I'm curious to see how the shaping turns out.


The yarn is tosh merino light (leftovers from when I had knit my Color Affection ages ago). It's a lovely green so you'll understand why I want to wrap this up and knit a bit before calling it a night.

But before I go, I think I've found the perfect baby gift knit: Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surplice Jacket.


This is the same sweater she wore home from the hospital. What other baby pattern do you know that fits as well at 11 months as it did at 11 days?

2 comments:

Rachel said...

I read and enjoy the continuum -- from those folks who either strongly filter the content (or whose lives may very well look like that fairytale!) to those who share more personal struggles. I read the former because they are so positive and seemingly productive and I need more of that in my life. I don't read the latter because I 'enjoy' their pain or even because of the cliche 'misery loves company'. I read them (and now have started to share some of that in my own space) because I can relate. And because sometimes how they handle their particular struggles helps me either gain perspective on my own, or gives me an idea for handling things that I wasn't coming up with. I share because maybe my words and reactions could help someone else...and because sometimes you just need to talk/write about the crap parts of life. I don't have a strong support system where I live -- so the blog occasionally fills that hole.

Bottom line is write what you want to write and I'll still read! But I will say that I find it interesting that the brief pity party pushed you to figure out how to knit, albeit briefly, in a sun-filled room. That's the inspiration we get from those sites! And oh -- one of my intentions for this year is to knit at least one skein of my handspun...funny how the hybrid cowl/shawl patterns of Hillary have also been calling my name. I'll be curious to see how you end up liking that style...

Stephanie said...

I can totally relate to trying to find time for exercise, knitting, and enough hours of sleep. I remind myself that having a toddler (or two) is a busy time of life. I assume that having a school age child will also be busy, but I've been told in a different way.

Did Tadpole give up naps? (Or maybe you were watching a movie during Sprout's morning nap, as I'm guessing she still takes 2 at 11 m.) We took the big step and converted Emma's crib to a toddler bed (with guard rail) on Sun. Mostly going well.

I also favorited Luna Viridis. I'll have to check the yardage requirements and see what I have that matches up.

Hooray for the long-lasting Surplice Jacket! (sjn821)