The Spill/Steal Zone of Knitting and Life

Sometimes you care and sometimes you just don't.

When knitters cast on a new knitting project, we exist in a dream zone, a lull in time, the magic of the softness of the yarn, the brilliance of the design, the idea of how beautiful this will someday be. At this stage, you will be ever so careful of the baby project who needs all your attention and protection from the elements, from thieves, from mugs of tea splashing or worse. 

Just as the end approaches, this protective spirit returns, because now we are almost there and you see the value in the work that has been done, the work our very own hands did to reach this point. 

 

It's the in-between time, the "voyage" over which so much ink has already flowed. This is the time where, upon exiting your vehicle, you glance back at the knitting which, thus far you have either insisted be kept upon your person at all times, or you've locked in the trunk if you positively must part with it. Today, in the abject apathy stage, you shrug instead, "Let them have it, pain in the patooty anyway, over it, bored with it, stuck on a tricky bit, have to unravel and start over. It is not worth the trouble."

Life is a long, messy slog. All around us are perfect examples of ungrateful wretches having the worst day ever. The only thing on my bucket list on those days is the opportunity to crawl back under the covers.

It is worth the trouble, I know it is, all projects have value, all projects deserve a chance and a little love, but if this particular one were to disappear, would anyone notice or grieve for very long? Can I not have a do-over? Look at my mistakes, anyone can see this is a disaster. The cup of coffee hovering near no longer fills us with dread

...but if you persevere, it will.

The end will come, completion will once more be at hand. The beauty in creation wins out over the lackadaisical and ugly. Then you can start all over again. Cast and carry on. 

P.S. The analogy was just repeated in a concrete way with one of my children. This one had been feeling bogged down by the enormous amount of work to be done to complete her double major in four years. She is a junior; in "normal" American terms, this means she has just one year left after this one. However, this one was proving to be too too much. 

wahhhhh wahhhhh wahhhhh

Not nice, moms can't always be nice, just most days, and, yes, I had days in school when I was 100% certain that my TRUE future lay in hopping in the nearest sailboat and navigating the globe, right now. 

I am not a stranger to kids and their flailing motivation while getting through school. It is senioritis that can strike at any time, but mainly towards to middle to just past the mid-point. It happened in community college for one, in law school for another. My high school sophomore swears he has it now. 

Today came the news that this is looking like it will be so good. It will be excellent to finish college and next year will not be as bad as the three preceding it. Graduation may actually be a date in the near future. She's getting to the part where you know you'll be casting off soon and have a THING in hand. Hurrah!

Hacks to Homeschool Happier

 

HOMESCHOOLING FOR THE FREE-SPIRITED 

 

Rule to Remember: It does not have to be a drag.

In fact, learning at home can be joyful and rewarding and create moments, habits and a way of looking at the world that last a lifetime. Our homeschool days were always a mix of formal and carefree. I guided the younger children more and trusted that the older one grew, the easier it became to discover what was interesting or important enough to pursue. 

I need to rephrase that; the younger ones had a regular rhythm of meals, play, read-alouds, naps and bedtime, but we did not pursue anything academic at an early age, (unless you count the year I attempted to do an at-home-after-school boxed French curriculum each afternoon after kindergarten-disaster).

Let's Do What You Love!

The other night, my husband asked if I would like to bike down to our favorite date night spot by the river. It was already 8:00pm, but I said yes...and what a ride. The way down, was, predictably, not too bad. Heading home later in the dark, the Mississippi was beautiful and mysterious. Then we had to climb the hills. I cursed his cute little trim rear end half the way home...until we turned into the woods, and it was magic. The drone of the locusts, the dark, the creek bubbling along the path. There was no one but us and the wild of the forest dwellers.

My husband regularly takes me out of my comfort zone. Without his encouragement, I would maybe not use my bike very often. He opens up new vistas and experiences for me in the same town I have lived in for fifteen years. All it takes from me is a "yes," and a little uphill climbing, to soar.

What is the raison d’etre of this little blog? The reason for everything else I do.  I write and talk and make things happen when someone says;

                          "I wish I could..." 

homeschool? knit? cook? speak another language? Make Waldorf more a part of our lives? find nature, even in the city? YES YOU CAN! Taking a willing participant along on the journey makes my day. I am so very fortunate to have people who take me along on new ventures, literally.

You will have to find your own questions, and your own reason for asking them, but I am absolutely determined that if you ask me, my response will be a resounding...OF COURSE! If you are willing to put in the effort, the rest will follow, people will show up to help you, the universe will open up possibilities and you will paint, dance, cook, sing, knit, homeschool along the Waldorf/Steiner path. You will love life again. This blog is meant for one reason: to empower you, the Waldorf homeschooling mother or father, to confidently say, “yes, I can do this!”

The Original Sweater for my Niece

I mentioned the sweater that I made which inspired the dog needing his own sweater. It's been at least a year, but here is the original (she was born with my hair, isn't it cute?) It was very fun to make, as I ran out of yarn, I grabbed another skein of cotton and kept going, and the sheep are simple little fuzz balls.

It is from Stitch n' Bitch Superstar Knitting, but I can't tell you what the name of the pattern is because the person to whom I loaned it did not return the book. Not sure who it might be, but if you are reading this and you have a copy of it with no name in it...well, you know where it lives now.

Cultural Spring

...sort of...knitting a pink elephant:

An Emergency Sweater for Dog

My adorable niece, on one of her way-too-rare visits, had a little souci: her beloved dog was stark neked. Auntie had made her a sweater: could she not make one for dog? I told her we could solve that problem lickety-split. Between serving Easter dinner and refilling glasses, I grabbed two leftover sock skeins, in pastel rainbow colors to satisfy the request for "puw-puw, pink and owange,") and holding two strands together, made a teeny-tiny dog sweater:

She wanted buttons; so the opening is on his belly. Don't you just love it when the duty that calls is one that requires knitting?

Camo Hoodie and Dragonfly in Amber

I love the Yarn Along hosted by Small Things; in which we share what we are reading and knitting (or crocheting); two of my favorite activities!

Here are mine from this week:

I am re-doing the sleeves and adding a hood to the first boy sweater I ever made. The Cascade 220 has held up beautifully through the years, it's just the style that needs an update. Photos of finished product forthcoming. The book is the second in the Outlander series...sigh. Not exactly intellectual fare, but not stupid either, and lots of history from the places my daughter and I visited in Scotland back in 2010.

What are you knitting/crocheting and reading? Please share, let's try the system that Ginny is using over at Small Things; post a photo on your blog or Flicker or Google and post the link below to share. I would love to see what your projects are, both literary and woolish!

PS This is post number 1000! I did not see it sneaking up on me, so I had no plans for a celebratory event...but I will think of something soon!

Books You Listen To

I imagine, dear readers, that, like me, you may, perhaps, have allowed yourself to become too busy to read as much as you used to, or as much as you'd like. I have three books, real books, begun, only one of which has any remotely educational value, as well as being full of historical anecdotes to keep your interest:

The other two are pure fun; Dune, the prequel, because as an adolescent, I LOVED Dune and all things sci-fi, but the Amazon link is puzzling, because it looks like there may be more than one prequel to Dune. As I may offend a fan more die-hard than myself, I will not link to anything. The other; (out of print, but available for $30 or $.01) Always Coming Home, Ursula K. le Guin, is because my book club declared it our February read. It is sort of putting me to sleep, but I bought it and read it I will...in a few minutes, just after I finish my baby sweater,        and the matching hat,      and a blanket for Duncan and a sweater for Charles...in other words, my knitting can get in the way of my reading. As can exercise and excessive driving to jobs on the other side of the river, children's appointments and runs to pick up farm eggs.

Happy New Year! (and where have the posts been?)

There is only so much free time for a mother of five. Even eschewing proper amounts of sleep, there are not enough hours in the day. So, a sort of choice, not really a conscious one, more of an "oops, another day without a blog post," consequence came about, because of an ambitious knitting project,

Knitting and France

 If you stumbled upon this earlier; sorry! I was trying to write a little tribute to the following book:
French Girl Knits Accessories: Modern Designs for a Beautiful Life by Griffin-Grimes, Kristeen, from my Kindle, which I clearly lack the skills to use.

This is a beautiful book. The author has such a love for France

Knitting for my Furry Nephew

Mochimochi: World's Tiniest Dinosaur

 

Mother-Daughter Knitting Project

Lily made me these great purple socks for Christmas last year. The toes were a little tight and I promised her I would undo and redo them to my size. However, as I was unknitting, the idea of having my very own pair of pedi-socks was so much fun that I asked her permission to leave the toes out and add green trim. Voila; peek-a-toes AND warm feet!

Knitting Toys/Pets

Thank you to my friend, Marlis, for the inspiration to knit toys again. It had been a long time, and I am hooked again on small, cute projects, like this one: http://www.justcraftyenough.com/2011/09/project-little-black-owl/  that I made for her, with joy! New Year's knitting resolutions: a crocheted blanket for my daughter (ha!) and more toys, knitted and maybe even crocheted. The first photo revealed a flaw in the beak that I snipped away for the next shot, felt is such forgiving stuff. We could take a page out of felt's attitude. It is durable, dependable, easy to work with and forgiving of faults.

Hibou

Knitting: Little Pouches for Easter

Adults Have ADD too, We Call it "Multitasking"

Quote from Kim John Payne's lecture on Simplicity Parenting. That would explain why I have not yet announced the winner of the diaper cover from Motherease (I will do so tomorrow), but that is not the reason I have not posted anything interesting this week. I have, in fact, been concentrating my efforts on two things. The first is the sweater I have finished knitting for Pierre and have been working on all the little finishing touches; (grafting the armpits, stitching and steeking (which means to slice through my beautiful stitches, right down the middle of the sweater in order to form a cardigan, it was the first time and it took me about three weeks to actually pick up the scissors, weaving in a million ends, making the skull patch that will adorn the left shoulder, and putting in the zipper, my least favorite and very last step. Second, but not in priority, of course, (really!) my children and their schooling, we've had a wonderful week of chemistry, time outside, stories from the Grimm Brothers, measuring and planning for a building project and drawing together.

The reason you have not seen any other posts...is a mystery. The photo I posted yesterday or the day before DID show up when I hit "view blog" the first day. Last night I realized that it had disappeared, like the others on Monday. Luckily the kids were in bed, because I had a few choice words that I would otherwise have been forced to keep all bottled up inside..."breathing in, I calm my body..." (Thich Nhat Hahn).

Next up: the last bastion in the four-step process of simplifying parenting: discipline.

Speaking the Lingo

What if connecting to one's children were as simple as...acquiring employment outside the home? ...learning something new together?...or purchasing a cool electronic device?

While I am in no way advocating full-time work, and while it is clear that my six and three-year-old boys are not ready for Mama to be missing for too much of their day, it is true that the older ones are seeing me in a new light. So far, my interpreting work has been at most, a few hours a week, so managing both homeschooling and work has been a doable challenge. This week, I have an assignment that will mean 8+ hour days from Tuesday through Friday. After the panic of a child-care dilemma was solved through various kind agents, the "I'm leaving my babies" panic kicked in (no solution for that one), and then the "organization panic" began.

The first item is, of course, meals. This is where being married to a Frenchman has its upside. We sat down together and wrote out our weekly menu, but planned on dishes that could be made ahead of time. Last night we were both in the kitchen cooking for the week. I made a giant pot of tortilla soup, he made lentils and beans. Two nights down, with leftovers to freeze for later. Tonight, as there is no kung-fu, guitar or theatre, I will make the Italian sausage soup that will feed us for two more meals, Pierre will make chili. How great to have the same outlook on feeding our family.

If I am interpreting non-stop for eight hours a day, there are a few tools that will be necessary.

1) A good travel tea mug; check,

2) a small knitting project for the time between when I call my chauffeur and the time he arrives to drive Miss Daisy home; check,

and 3) several good dictionaries with all of the specialty language I will need this week...stumped.

Unless, of course, one had a down-loadable sort of dico. that one could easily and discretely access at all times. After days of deliberation and hours of research, I decided that an i-pod touch would suit my needs and not be a monthly budget drain. I have not seen my Aragorn,12 so excited since the Christmas he was two and opened a giant chocolate Santa. He is so sure he is going to get his little mitts on it to play, and he will, just not this week. He and my husband are having a ball teasing me about my new-found "geekiness". They misattribute my enthusiasm for a really great dictionary that fits in the front pocket of my knitting bag-cum-purse for endorsement of electronic devices. I have a weakness for dictionaries, my favorite calendar is the word-a-day, in Latin. I am a geek that way I now have the entire Larousse French/English dictionary available in the palm of my hand. That is an appropriate use of electronics, and sooo cool. I do look forward to the bonding time that Aragorn and I will have as he teaches me about "apps"; like music and books and games, oh my.

My darling Lily has learned to knit socks. She made me a beautiful purple pair for my birthday, nice, thick ones made for "jumping on the trampoline". Now she is working on a second pair for a mystery recipient. I have the immense pleasure of helping her through rough spots, encouraging and praising her and joyfully seeing her take pride in her work.

As for seeing me and their future in a new light; the kids have suddenly come face-to-face with an almost instant career choice for bi-lingual types; interpreting. They knew I did this before they came along, but they had no idea that both their stay-at-home mother and they themselves could look forward to such a cool choice in part-time or full-time work. Ah, inspiration.

On a wholly personal note, I had a great excuse for knitting time among the chaos of preparation yesterday; I needed a case for my i-pod, of course! I borrowed the rainbow yarn I've been using for Puck's hat and mittens and knitted up a cute little case. I have just remembered about downloading books onto i-pods too. Hmmm,  I wonder if Aragorn can get "Gilda Joyce and the Ladies of the Lake" onto my new toy before I leave for work?

Knitting Workshop for Beginners

I should mention how happy I am that I will be giving a workshop on knitting for beginners and for those who want to bring handwork to their children, either in the classroom or at home. Here is the link if you are in the area and interested! Come treat yourself to the magic of working with beautiful, natural yarn and wooden needles in multi-stripes, there will be cookies!

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=171229162898428

Morning's Knittings

I finished up this little guy for my little Arthur, the pattern is from "Knitted Toys" by Debbie Bliss, "small bear in Wellies and sweater". I gifted him with the bear a couple of weeks ago, and the yarn has felted like a well-loved toy. Then, at Arthur's request, when I finished the sweater, I wrapped the whole thing up and gave it to him all over again. He loved it, and his next question; "Mama, can you wrap it up when you finish the next pair of boots and sweater?"