The Institute for Excellence in Writing Blog

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Hats and More

I've got a special friend who's going through some rough patches in her life.  This friend of mine lives far away, and I can't really do anything like bring her a cooked meal or watch her child or clean her house.

But I can knit!
Molly was a fun little hat that I knit up quickly.  It has a little cabling to it to keep it interesting, and the slouchy effect is lovely.  I knit it up in a soft, washable acrylic yarn, said a little prayer over it, and shipped it off on its merry way.  I hope that every time my friend wears the hat, she remembers all the love and warm thoughts sent her way, and they help to heal her.

Not only have I been knitting hats, but I'm also knitting my way through Carson.  This baby is for me.  It's been quite a long time since I've knit for myself, and I feel a little guilty pleasure in the act, but I just couldn't ignore the styling of this shawl.  It reminds me of all those ball band dishclothes I used to knit years ago.  Each one I made made me smile.  As does Carson.  I'm knitting it in the same yarn and color as was done in the sample, and I'm loving how the colors play off of each other.  I still haven't taken any photos of it, as it's still OTN, but I will try to get one uploaded to put on the blog soon.

Creativity hasn't been limited to knitting, however; I'm also starting to design again, and it's good to be back at the desk working out charts.  It reminds me of the writing process in a way.  It's like speaking a language or an emotion, only with symbols, and sometimes my translation work takes a while to be realized.  Part of the reason, I'm sure, is that for me designing is only a part-time pleasure.  I don't have the luxury of carving out time every day to work on designing.  My time is extremely limited, and much of it is dedicated to my family and homeschooling.  It's a true joy, though, and I know that some day, my hours will open up, and I'll be able to revel in knitting, spinning, and designing to my heart's content.  For now, I'm going to focus on the family, and enjoy each minute with my family while the kids are with me.

Speaking of fun with the kids, yesterday at co-op, we had a blast working on some Easter crafts.  My sweet daughter worked up two designs (thank you Pinterest!).  The first was a coin cross, which as yet I haven't photographed, but the second project she worked on was a beaded nail cross.
Oh, now that I'm looking, you can just barely make out the coin cross on the table!  I'm hoping that sometime before the week closes out, that I'll have the opportunity to make one as well.  I think she did a lovely job!

1 comment:

  1. You have such a sweet spirit! :) I'm sure your friend can absolutely feel the love coming from the hat.

    So knit design is like music--another language? That's funny how we were both writing about some of the same things. :)

    I didn't really get into it on the blog, but I was going to talk about how playing by chords is a totally different feel than playing by notes. I don't like one better than the other, but playing by chords does give you a freedom. It's kind of scary at times because what you play is totally up to you (within the parameters of the chord), but it's neat to have both experiences now.

    ReplyDelete