KnitCrit

Thoughtfulness

Last January, I posted about my preference to assign a word to a year, instead of specific resolutions. Last year’s word was Re-connecting.

A year later, let me say that I did pretty well in my attempt to Re-connect in 2011. Not only did I re-connect with some friends and family members, I re-connected with very old hobbies, such as sewing, and a newer one – spinning. I also wrote 39 blog posts.

What I learned is that (a) Facebook is a marvelous tool for keeping in touch with family and friends (and the only reason I am on it), (b) I enjoy writing on my blog when I have something to write about, (c) some people just don’t want to keep in touch forever, and (d) I do not have as much time to spend on totally “me” activities as I thought I would.

Now it is 2012, and blame it on my many years of working under tight deadlines, but I find that I often don’t relax, and I mean really relax – take a deep breath, slow down and enjoy the moment. Thus, Thoughtfulness as the focus in 2012 is intended to modify that. What does that really mean? It means that I want to discover how to slow down my brain; think about what I am doing in the moment, and not so many steps ahead of myself.

It will require discipline and practice. The discipline part is mental, in that I just have to work on managing my thoughts and focusing. Yoga and exercise will achieve the practice part. Although I work out frequently now, increasing that and adding some meditative yoga to my routine will be beneficial.

Yes, I have very specific reading, knitting, spinning and sewing goals, as well as some new activities to learn, but those are for another day, another post. In the meantime, Happy New Year!

The Perfect 10th

When we were married in 2001, it was just after 9/11, so our honeymoon plans to France had to be postponed. Our choice of Charlottesville as a replacement for Provence wasn’t very far-fetched, since both offer great hiking, local food and wineries. So, when planning our tenth anniversary celebration, it was pretty much of a no-brainer that we would return to Charlottesville.

First on our plan was a picnic in the Shenandoah National Park on Skyline Drive. Yes, we’d hoped to hike there, but recent rains and impending storms made that impossible. Up we drove on our favorite road, out of Ruckersville and north on 33 to the Swift Run Gap entrance to the park. An empty, secluded parking area at about mile 68 was the perfect spot. We put up folding chairs and sat eating and drinking; relishing in the quiet and beauty that the Blue Ridge Mountains offer. 

Later in the afternoon, it was time to check-in to the Silver Thatch Inn. Not only is that where we honeymooned, but it was also the gathering spot for Bruce’s 50th birthday celebration weekend. Located north of Charlottesville, it offers a short drive to the park and wineries. It also has a restaurant with some of the finest prepared local foods around. The innkeepers, Jim and Terri, who provide a comfortable place to stay, are also excellent chefs. 

The next morning, we awoke to more rain. After an amazing breakfast at the Inn, we ventured out, with an itinerary that included yarn, wine and bikes. First up was Dog House Yarns in Culpeper. Their selection of yarns and fiber is amazing, and include some yarns and fiber that I thought were only available on the west coast. I left with a skein of Hazel Knits Artisan Sock yarn in the Federal colorway, which will likely be knit into a cowl, and four ounces of Abstract Fibers BFL in Burnside Bridge to spin. 
    

The Horton Winery followed, another old favorite. I do not like the majority of Virginia wines, especially the reds. There is a common after taste that I cannot pinpoint, but I just know I don’t like it.  Horton, however, has some red wines that I like, and Tannat is one that I find to be rid of that taste. We left with three bottles; one each of Tannat, their Port and a chardonnay. 


We wound down 20, a road that takes you by large horse farms and spectacular scenery. Our next stop, Stony Mountain Fibers, is located on the top of a hill, off of an unpaved road. It was a quest, for sure, with all of the mud and rain; all well worth it. Barbara’s shop has an inventory that includes supplies for knitting, weaving, spinning and dying. Her book selection is the best I have seen anywhere. I told her my beginning spinning tale, and she suggested I bring my wheel up for a day and I could just hang out with her and she’d give me guidance. Can I just say here that spinners are the greatest!  I have had the same offer from spinners here at home, and I’m overwhelmed by their generosity. I purchased 360 yards of Barbara’s worsted weight wool, hand dyed with cochineal and brazilwood. I will see Barbara at the Virginia Fiber Festival next weekend at Montpelier.


Before heading home, our last stop was Blue Wheel Cycling, a shop that is located near downtown Charlottesville. Bruce took care of his purchase of tire tape, while I wandered around and looked at road bikes and women’s cycling apparel.  

The traditional and modern gifts for a 10th anniversary include tin, aluminum and diamonds. My gift to Bruce was aluminum – a cot, for sleeping out on our screened porch. There are so many nights here that are too lovely to spend inside, and I have special memories of sleeping out on our sleeping porch as a child.

My gift from Bruce – diamonds – set in a plain gold band. I lost my band with diamonds and sapphires last year, so this is both a replacement for that and a reminder of our 10th anniversary celebration….perfect!

A Year

A year ago today, I began my hiatus. That first week, I met one of my neighbors, a woman a little older than me; she had retired only a couple of years earlier. She told me that the first year was difficult; that she never felt that she could relax and was not able to get into a routine. Of course, I thought that my situation would be different. I would plan every day, as I always had, and those to do lists would be filled with a combination of activities. I foresaw many a finished knitted project, a lot of spinning, woven pieces, several sewn items, much reading and a long list of projects around the house and garden.
Well, here I am a year later and my neighbor’s words are ringing in my ear. I have been trying to figure out how I have spent all that extra time that I thought I would have. There have been some time sucks that I didn’t factor into consideration.  
One is pet care. We have two dogs and three cats. B was always the primary pet caretaker and now it is me. That’s about ½ hour a day. Big deal, but that totals about 110 hours in the last year.  
We had always shared the daily cooking and general cleanups. Now I do all of that, since he’s not here during the week. Let’s say that accounts for 150 hours.
In addition, I do all of the shopping and errands now, no longer shared with B. Add that to the fact that our house is in a rural area and one must drive many miles to get to a town where there are stores. That town for me is Kilmarnock, a 30 minute drive each way (unless there is a farm vehicle or older driver on the two lane road). So, if I do that just twice a week (I often go there more), that’s another 100+ hours.
During the year, I billed over 200 hours of consulting work, and there was probably another 10% of non-billable time spent on work related topics.
There are two services that we used to pay other people to do – maid cleaning and garden care. I do those now, and I guess that I’ve spent at least 150 hours in those activities.
B pointed out that I have gotten a good night’s sleep most nights, thus accounting for about 200 hours. Getting 8 hours of sleep, as opposed to 6 ½ to 7, makes a big difference!
So, I’ve come up with over 900 hours of time that I hadn’t fully considered when I planned the hiatus. However, let me make it clear that I am not complaining!  In fact, this has been a wonderful experience. I wanted to have more time with W and we have had some great mother/son time. I have met many new friends, mainly through fiber arts. I have become involved in a local charity that I am very passionate about, and have been asked to serve on their board. Just last week, I was also asked to serve on the Parent’s Council at W’s school. I have baked more than ever and had time to work out – walks, elliptical, and my greatest love, cycling. Of course, there has been knitting, and I did complete the one sewing project. There hasn’t been any spinning, weaving or rug hooking, but those can all be year 2 dreams.  
I must admit to spending a lot of time just piddling, primarily reading magazines and surfing websites, but those are activities that I missed having the time to do while I was working.  
All of the items on the list that weren’t done in the last year can easily be accomplished in year 2 – or not. Only time will tell, and if nothing else, I’m more realistic about what time I have to accomplish these tasks and any others that may arise. 

Gardening: 1 to 4

Allow me to first state that I have never liked to garden. This goes back to my childhood. My parents had a lovely garden; one that was often on tour. It was their passion, with all the flowering schedules coordinated in a way that there was something lovely in bloom at least nine months out of the year. Growing up, I was not allowed to go with friends or do anything fun until I helped out in the yard. It was usually weeding; pulling weeds that grew between the bricks in our terrace and walkways. Other times, I had to plant annuals. Thus, gardening was a chore; literally.
Fast forward decades and here I am, in an area that is surrounded by farms and large gardens. I have more time, as well. Why not learn to love to garden, Martha?
I am here to tell you, today, that I have put in a lot of effort in the last few weeks. I have weeded and mulched, built a vegetable garden, and I have planted flowering perennials, vegetables and herbs. Most of the latter two I grew from seed. Here are pictures of a sampling of my accomplishments:
     
             
Now, the challenge is to keep these alive so that I can enjoy their beauty and yummy goodness. 
How do I like gardening now? On a scale of 1-10, I’d say it’s about a 4, which is huge progress from the 1, which would have been my rating before this latest venture. Yet, I have come to grips with the primary reason that I don’t enjoy gardening so much. 
Others rave at the peace that they gain from spending time in their gardens. As I worked toward finding that peacefulness, I realized that I find that state through other means – cycling, knitting, walking, kayaking, sewing and cooking. Thus, when I am out in the garden, I just want to get it done, so that I am able to do those other things that are the source of peacefulness for me.  
This realization has helped come to terms with my dislike of gardening and enabled me to find ways that working in the garden aren’t such a chore. They include: working out in the garden in short spurts of time, usually about an hour; listening to music, podcasts or audio books; teaming up with B, so that we are out there together (misery loves company?); and mostly, coming to understand that a lovely garden to me is one that is small. 

Fools Memories

I think of April as the gateway to spring and proof that we have survived winter, physically and mentally. This is an especially great achievement for those who live in areas of the US where there was way more snow than usual this year.
However, I do not care for “April Fools Day.” Growing up, I was the oldest of four. My siblings were particularly unkind to me one April first. They put salt in my milk, a lot of salt. When I drank it, not only did I gag, but I cried at their cruelty. For some reason, that memory has scarred the appeal of pranks on April first for my entire life.
There was that one year, though, that I pulled a great one on my son’s second cousin, Josh. He, at the ripe age of about 10, loved Carolina. He was joining us for a spring break trip to Orlando. The final Four games were to be played that weekend, and Duke was one of the teams; Carolina was not. Carolina fans were pissed. We were in the car and I opened the paper and exclaimed, “oh my god, Dean Smith resigned.” I began to read the supposed article, including the “disappointment of fans after the poor performance this season,” and “it was time.” This was before cell phones and smart phones, so all Josh could do was sit there, red-faced, and ponder about how his parents were taking the news. I let him stew for many miles. Finally, when I shouted “April Fools,” I thought this 10 year old boy would go into cardiac arrest. It was hysterical!
In our hotel room two nights later, we all watched the infamous Hill to Laettner shot to take Duke to the championship game. Needless to say, Josh was not cheering among us. I wonder if he remembers that April Fools incident and whether it scarred April Fools for life for him, as the milk incident did for me?

NCAA Basketball Love

A more accurate title for this would be “Duke Basketball Love,” but a lot of you would have seen that dreaded “D U K E” and not read further. DON’T STOP NOW!
My parents followed pro football and baseball, so it wasn’t until I went to college in North Carolina that I was introduced to NCAA madness. There, in ACC world, it is a requirement to watch ACC basketball. Back then, whichever team won the conference championship went to the “big dance;” no one else.
I remember watching Michael Jordan play for Carolina. The night that NC State won the National Championship, all of the phone lines in Raleigh, where I lived at the time, were completely busy. And at some point, my son became a Duke fan.
Given that his father’s family members were die-hard to the core Carolina fans, I have no idea how it happened. Then, in 1990, I accepted a position at Duke. The first decoration for my office was a hand drawn Bobby Hurley poster from my son.
Then, in 1991 and 1992, Duke won back-to-back championships, and we were one happy fan family.
When you work at Duke, at employee orientation, there is a registration for an annual drawing – a couple winners each year are given the opportunity to purchase season tickets to Duke Basketball games. I don’t often win anything and there are 16,000+ employees there! By 1993, I had forgotten about the lottery, so imagine my surprise when I got the call in the fall of 1993 that my name had been selected! For $650, we’d be season ticket holders!
At the time, my son was attending the same school as one of Coach K’s daughters. Some of his friends even lived in the same neighborhood as the Krzyzewski  family. Around campus, I would often see the players. Grant Hill once ran in front of my car and actually touched the hood! We attended many community events that were held, with Duke Basketball players as the main attraction.
We definitely became Duke fans; the obsessive kind.
In 1994, my younger son was born at Duke Medical Center. When the staff came into the room to stamp the infant’s footprint, they assured me that it, by no means, meant that he was a Tarheel.
I have many, many stories about Duke players. They are all cherished and retold over and over.  
Each year, at NCAA time, we relish in those memories. We sit by the television, with our big dog Grant (no explanation necessary) at our feet. We yell. We cheer. We cry over losses and great wins.  
Can they do another back-to-back repeat? I don’t know, but I just love my Dukies.  

I Heart Etsy

An advantage to having more time these days is the ability to scan Etsy more thoroughly.  And scan I have!
First, I wanted a ceramic teapot.  I'd been making my favorite blend of two sachets of Tazo Zen, one bag of Twining's Lady Grey, a tablespoon of honey and a teaspoon of Raw Sugar in a 4c measuring cup.  It spilled all over the counter when I poured it and, let's face it, it was pretty ugly sitting out all day.  After days and weeks of browsing sites, I settled on a teapot from back2earth.  My order arrived in only two days, and Ben included a matching mug!  I am in heaven, I tell you.  My morning ritual now has an added touch of beauty to it. 

My Raw Sugar needed a container; one that wasn't a hand-me-down from the Tazo tea metal can.  The sugar got all hard and dark around the edges, anyway.  The solution came in this cute little sugar bowl from Simply Daisy, along with a really sweet note from Lisa.

My daughter-in-law, another lover of indie artisans, gave us this serving dish for Christmas, along with the amazing cheese labels.   They came from lovely mud pottery. The platter has become my husband's favorite, while the cheese labels were a big hit at a recent party.  Not a single person had to ask what kind of cheese it was!
And my favorite thing related to Etsy is its iPhone app.  It is appropriately called "Etsy Addict."  The time that I browse it the most is while I am on my cycling trainer.  Yes, while I cycle away lots of calories, I am burning up my PayPal account.  Do you know how much yarn and other lovelies you can purchase in an hour on the trainer?????

Re-connecting

Just prior to the end of 2010, I listened to an episode of the Knitmore Girls podcast, in which they spoke about planning for the new year.  Instead of resolutions, they identify themes.  That is an approach that works for me, and just days before had already defined 2011 as the year that I would "re-connect".  You, who are reading this post, are a participant in that goal.

In 2011, not only do I have a long list of friends and family with whom I want to re-connect, but that list also includes activities, such as this blog and several fiber related activities; spinning, weaving, latch hooking and sewing, to be exact. Yet, most importantly, I want to re-connect with myself.  Psycho-babble aside, this concept is critical to me.  One theme, one goal; I accomplish things best with a simple word or phrase.

I'm not going to apologize or whine or explain why I haven't posted to this blog in a very long time.  Many of you know that I quit my job in the summer and have moved to our lovely home on the Potomac River.  A neighbor told me that it takes a year before you get up in the morning without a "to do list" that you prepared the previous evening.  More recently, I find that the list contains more activities with new friends and fewer items that have real deadlines.  Whereas the first month I cleaned the house from top to bottom each week, I'm not doing that now.  Okay, so I vacuum the pet hair religiously every week, but that's because B is very allergic to pet hair.  With 5 pets and one B, I want to make sure that his weekends here are a sneeze-free as possible.

I have many, many ideas for blog posts.  Some will encompass the beauty here, while others will speak to my re-connections and love of fiber, cycling and music.  What I know is that they may be shorter than previous posts, but there will be more of them. 

Thanks for reading....

A Patchwork of O

In this case, "O" refers to my dad, Oscar.  My dad was a character.  He smiled a lot, had an amazing sense of humor and made friends wherever he went.  This was a man who always and I mean always had a joke to tell.  Sometimes they were funny and sometimes they were horrible; yet the recipients always laughed, because he did.  That's simply what people did around my father.

And then there were his clothes.  I don't know where he found most of them.  The frightening fact is that he paid big bucks for these.  They served to further define his sense of humor; his sense of optimism; his sense of life.

This past Christmas, my 15 y.o. son received a very special gift:

This is a quilt that was sewn together using remnants of my father's wardrobe of "casual clothes."  Look closely and you will see strips of his yellow and blue seersucker shirts, as well as his multi-vivid-colored calico print ones.  There are the anchor embroidered summer pants, the dog stitched corduroy winter slacks and the lobster embroidered shorts; just to point out a few. What brings back the greatest memories are the Scotch plaid shirts that were always worn throughout the Christmas holidays.    

Can you imagine being a teenager and having him as YOUR Dad?  Just think of the total and utter humiliation when friends came over; especially boys.  And OMG, when I ran into people I knew, and those I didn't, and here he was, my dad, dressed like THAT???  What's funny is that, thinking back, I don't think anyone really saw them as weird; not on him.

He used to say he liked to be "gay," long before and then even when that adjective took on a different meaning. 

There is not a single strip of fabric that doesn't remind me of him.  What a lovely gift to my son...and to me. 

I leave you with a collage of the wild, wacky, colorful, "Oscar-like" clothing bits...

2008 Thankfulness

If you were to completely rely on the news headlines, not only would you be totally misinformed but also a candidate for deep depression.  That is particularly true of their take on 2008.  I have heard "worst" and "disastrous" and other such words that spell out nothing but doom and gloom.  But, I tend to be on the "glass half full" side of things, and would like to thank some wonderful knitter friends who made my own 2008 a better year.

• To Amy, thank you for such a warm and loving acknowledgment in your most recent book, Knits for Bears to Wear.  I miss you so much and hope that 2009 may include a visit to Alaska to visit you and the family.  
• Barbara, what fun this year has been; you, my traveling knitting friend.  Most memorable were the annual trek to the Virginia Fall Fiber Festival and the Countryside Artisans Tour.  Thank you, too, for understanding that every good road trip begins with a stop at Starbucks.
• Our newest family members, Mia and Sophie, came to us in 2008 as a result of Carol's blogging love of her kitties.  Then, at the end of the year she posted a sweet tribute to me on her blog.  Thank you.
• Rebecca, how do you do it?  You have this incredible combination of energy, enthusiasm and a sense of humor.  You are an inspiration.
• Here's to Hannah, Abe and David for another year of deep conversation and great friendship.  I can't wait to see where we venture, literally and figuratively, in 2009!
• Just about every time I post to my blog, Cici takes the time to enter a comment.  I only wish we had the chance to get together more often for knitting.
• In 2009, I hope to get to know my neighbor - 2cvite on Ravelry - better.  Thank you for "friending" me on Ravelry; letting me know that there's a fellow knitter just down the street!
• And speaking of neighbors, 2008 was a year for learning of the extraordinary yarn spinners and dyers who reside nearby: Kate, Dalis, Erin, MB, Annie and Gryphon.  I can't wait to see you all at the 2009 Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival.
• Lisa Souza, you remain at the top of my favorites and in 2008 it was your yarn that I chose to knit the very special rehearsal dinner shawl for Katie.  There's more of your yarn in my stash that is planned for 2009 projects.
• Lastly, podcasts continue to be my favored form of entertainment while I knit.  My list of favorites in 2008, many that are repeats from prior years are: Stash and Burn, The Knitmore Girls, Lime and Violet, Stitch It, Ready Set Knit and Y Knit.  Thanks to you all, who spend your own precious time researching and coordinating the best of information in the fiber world so that we can all be kept in the know, while being entertained, too.  Others come and go in my "refresh" list on iTunes, but yours are the ones that I listen to as soon as possible after downloading them.

There are so many other new friends and old friends that made 2008 an amazing knitting and spinning year for me.  As I become more and more absorbed in this amazing community that we have of fiber creators, I am humbled at its beauty and the friendships that it brings. 

Happy New Year!