Major Life Events

I've been going through some pretty serious major life events lately.  Normally, with each one I would be excited (well the good ones, anyway), and dive in and appreciate it all to the fullest...but seriously...it's been a lot to put together in my mind all at once.

This weekend, Elizabeth graduated college.  Both of my girls are now college graduates and should be working on their master's degrees next semester (Alyssa started hers this semester).  Meanwhile in TWO days we are moving them to Orlando to begin the next awesome phase of their lives.

And it IS exciting, but what am I doing to cope?  Crocheting and Needlepointing until my hands and fingers and back and neck hurt!  It's like I get excited thinking about it and have to take that energy and make something with it.

So far I've crocheted a lot of bath cloths.  I LOVE using these little cloths instead of the store-bought kind.  So much cushionier and softer and better in so many ways.  Plus the bath cloths are an awesome opportunity to see how the yarn likes a certain stitch (or how I like a certain stitch) and whether I think it'll blow up well.  If I think it'll look good on a larger scale I'm making it as part of the bath mats I'm making for the girls' new apartment.  So far, I'm on the border of Elizabeth's first one and have ideas ruminating for Alyssa's first one, which I'll start once the border on Liz's is done...patience I tell my creative self...patience.

Highlights of the weekend:

Elizabeth in her finery with the rest of us hangers on:

Painting with a Twist as a family group:

And while not a highlight of the weekend, it was fun watching Pearl help me pay the bills:

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Daddy's Story:  I remember my daddy waking me up every single morning.  Now, I feel sorry for him that he had that duty...I have always been difficult to get moving in the morning and am cranky about it to boot.  I know that after a while Daddy decided it was safest to just turn on the light in my room and make noise, but that didn't work very well.  In his typical good humored way he would open the door, turn on the lights and start singing to me (he couldn't sing.  At. all...it was miserable).  He would sing, "Get out of that bed and wash your face and hands...toodaloodleloodaloo"  The tooda...was accompanied by turning the light switch on and off and on and off in "time" to the singing.

When I got my first iPhone, I looked for the appropriate sounding alarm to wake myself up to...that sounded similar enough to the tooda...I chose the "Trill" and titled the alarm "get out of that bed."  I wake up laughing about that now (still not easy to get out of bed) but at least I can see the humor in it all...when I was 16 not so much.

Little "gifts"

So, my husband came home from his most recent trip with a little cold which he has now given to me...just in time for my mom and her aunt to come visit for Elizabeth's graduation.  He promises I'll feel better in 3 days...hmmm...

I didn't crochet much last night.  I still haven't tidied my house for our company.  The picture for today is a kitty cat picture because Pearl just makes me laugh so much and I need a good laugh.

She was "getting" me through the slats in our rocking chair.  She's just a nut...that's all.

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Daddy's story:  When I graduated from high school my dad said I was going around saying "Free at last, free at last!  Thank God Almighty I'm free at last!"  (and I was, but I didn't want he and mom to KNOW that).

Anyway, anytime else that we moved on to a new thing in life he would say "Free at last, free at last!"

I know he's singing it for Elizabeth this weekend.

How'd you do that?

So, last night I crocheted this little bath cloth:

I think it's really cute and David likes that it puckers up a little and provides a good grip for a bath cloth.  We'll see if it is big enough when it's washed and dried...it looks a tad small to me, but these things do grow.

Anyway, I sent the pic to mom and she said, "how'd you do that?"  I told her I read the pattern and then made it up (what I got out of the pattern is that I was supposed to chain 5, create a ring, single crochet in the ring and then chain 7 off of the ring).  From there it was crocheting in the pink to create the body of the cloth...decreasing at the base and increasing at the tips of the flowers.  It really wasn't hard and I totally made it up once I did the first round.

And if I can figure out how to make it lay flatter then I'll definitely be blowing up this idea into a bath rug because that would be the cutest cutest thing in the world. (or placemats...)

Anyway, all of this is to say that crochet somehow makes intuitive sense to me.  I "learned" by watching Knit and Crochet Now! and Knitting Daily TV...so the process of the steps had been shown to me over and over (and yes, I watch them over and over and over)...but the act of creating items from crochet...it makes perfect sense.  Once I figured out where to start my first stitch on a row, I was cruising!

I'm testing different stitch patterns out on bath cloths...I'll have a bunch by the time this is over...and what I like I'm making into stripes for the girls' bath mats...Liz's now has two, and I think I'm going to alternate these two patterns with the different colors to create a really run and very textured bath mat.  What I love about doing these mats in the single strand of cotton is that they can be thrown directly into the washing machine easily...we will see how they hold up, but I think they'll be good.

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Daddy's story:  When I was younger my daddy had a "big old belly" and I used to tease him that he had a baby in that belly.  I would watch tv with him and prop my head on his belly while we watched.  That baby would "kick" and knock my head around and I would laugh and laugh.

Past Tense

I remember when I got the call that Daddy passed away, I thought "We have to refer to him in past tense now."  I know...weird English major...but that's me.  I think in terms of language, grammar and putting sentences together.

And I remember thinking "I don't know how to do that."

I am finding that it is extremely difficult to do.  It should be just a simple parsing of a verb.  Taking it from its infinitive form--to be--to past tense--was/were/been--...but man...that is so profound.

And I don't like it...at all...not one tiny little bit.

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What I'm noticing, and this is really interesting, is that I'm making the mistake and saying things like "Daddy tells this really funny story."  Or, as was the case on Friday last week at my student worker end-of-term party, "Daddy LOVES NutterButter cookies."  I had a whole roomful of pity filled eyes look at me when I made that grammatical error.  And it was really hard to see and kind of choked me up for a minute and I almost couldn't go on with the funny story about my daddy and the NutterButter cookies (I'll tell you below).

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So, right now, I don't like past tense and I'm convinced it's why I have 30 works in progress and about 10 more in my head that I want to work on...Crochet continues to be pretty intense.  I subscribed to 3 crochet magazines yesterday, am planning an entire house decorated with crochet items...the possibilities! (future tense...that feels so much better).

Today's picture is of the mutilated yarn on its second warp.  This one is brown cotton and the weaving pattern is called "Cat's Paws."

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Daddy's Story:  Daddy loved Nutter Butter cookies when I was growing up.  Mom would go to the grocery store on Saturdays and buy him a package of them and he would open them up as soon as we got home.  They would sit on the counter and he would grab one or two, or a handful, as he walked through the kitchen on his way to various places (on Saturday or Sunday afternoons in the fall that would often be from in front of the TV watching football to the bathroom and back again).  He could plow through an entire package of cookies in the weekend.

Shortly after my father turned 50, he was diagnosed with Type II diabetes, so mom quit buying the Nutter Butters and anything else sweet that would tempt him.  And then one day mom was buying peaches from the road-side stand, stepped off the curb and broke both of her ankles at the same time.  My dad was then put in charge of going to the grocery store.  He came home from that first trip so excited because "did you know they started making Nutter Butters again"...there were 2 packages in the bags...one for that day and one for the rest of the week.

Perspective

I talk a lot about perspective on the blog...perhaps I need to put a label over there and put them all together and maybe write a book about perspective one day.  It's one of those topics that I think has lots and lots of ways of looking at it (ha!).

One of the reasons (I remembered this once I got back at it) that I love working needlepoint and cross stitch projects is because I can have such a close view of different pieces of the project.  Then when you get to step back and see the whole thing...wow.  I remember as a kid working these particularly sweet projects by Precious Moments and loving the eyes, the mouths and the general faces of the projects.  I worked on a "strawberry girl" for Elizabeth a long time ago and I remember being very fascinated with the gingham print of the dress (especially as it was 4 colors and I loved how they interacted and how the "folds" of the dress were displayed as an interruption in the pattern.  How interesting.

The really cool thing about working a projects, any project actually, is that as you focus on the tiny details, the big picture sometimes gets lost...and it's like a big "reveal" when you're done and you get to see the whole thing.  It's also awesome because as someone who crafts, you can look at other people's work, notice the big picture first, and then dig into the details.  While you may not see the details in quite the same way they did, you get to see them nonetheless.

And I'm always amazed that I "made" whatever it is that I'm looking at.  I always think "I never saw it that way" until I see it that way.  It's pretty awesome, that.  I love it that my work becomes better when it gets out of my hands and into the hands of others, or on a bed, or on a wall...

Life is like that, too, don't you think?  Big picture things are often really really hard to come by.  We get bogged down in the daily-ness of life and forget to look at the big things, the overarching themes, the general-ness that's going on around us.  And just like in crafting, every now and then we get the big a-ha moment and say "wow"...that's pretty awesome.

I've hit some big turning points in my life lately--with my father's passing, and the upcoming move of my daughters not to mention the whole work situation--And what's getting me through it is that knowing life, like in crafting, has perspective and while things may seem difficult in the details right now, the big picture will be awesome when I have a chance to step back and look at it...just must find that vantage point and the time to slow down and appreciate it.

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I think I need to go to Switzerland, don't you?

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Daddy's story:  When I was little I would ride around with my daddy whenever I could.  I love snuggling up next to him in the cab of the truck (this was before the days of required car seats for tots and seat belts for everyone else).  I would sing songs from the radio and tell him stories and we would have a grand old time.  When we were driving through town my daddy would invariable ask if I wanted to "drive by Dairy Queen" and I would get so excited and say "yes yes, let's drive by Dairy Queen"...I was going to get a Dilly Bar or a dipped cone and I could taste it and could even feel my tummy start to get hungry...then we would do just that...drive right on by.  Not stopping, not turning in, not going to...not going through the drive through...just driving by.  OH how it got me every.single.time.

Everything I Should Have Said

I don't know when I've reviewed an album on my blog...I know I haven't done it on this one, trying very hard to be focused on my crafting and all...I may have reviewed one or two on Peek, but that would have been years ago and my memory doesn't seem to be too good these days.

But I'm going to review an album today, throw in some pics of what I crocheted while listening to that album over and over and tell you a quick related story about my daddy.  How's that for a teaser.

Album:  Everything I Should Have Said by Radney Foster.

Amazing.  Simply 100% amazing.  I listened to it the first time through and kept sending David texts "yep, like this song." "love this one."  "oooh, look this one up."  Every single song on the album blew me away.  That happens so very rarely on an album...so of course, I listened to it again--4 times last night, once again this morning while getting ready.  I suspect I'll be listening to it a few times over the weekend as well.  It truly is wonderful.  Go to his web-site and buy everything you don't have by RF...he's a genius song-writer and has such a lovely voice.  His sense of humor and "lived-in" life feels true to me. I relate to his work as an artist (which I fancy myself from time to time), as a spouse, as a parent, as a person trying to see things get better in the world, as someone who questions what human beings are thinking when they do certain things...as someone who has screwed up royally and regretted it...and definitely as someone who has loved deeply and knows that's the most important thing.  Simply the most important thing ever.

My favorite song on the album (well, there are two) is the first one called "Whose Heart you Wreck (Ode to the Muse)"...and man is it awesome.  Lyrics here.  [my muse comes in just as I'm falling asleep at night, btw.  I'm desperate to trap her at some point in the day when it's more convenient, but isn't that the point of the song?]

My other favorite song on the album is "Unh Unh Unh"...what a playful wonderful love song.  Reminds me of  other Radney Foster songs, but with an up-tempo beat that you can't resist.

Unfortunately I don't have the album on my iPod, so won't be able to listen to it at work, but I am listening to all the Radney Foster songs in my playlist...can't wait to get this one on my iPod and memorize all the songs on it.

Love love love!

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Crochet:  I'm already designing in my head, tweaking patterns, and rethinking things.  I worked on one last night, pictured below that wasn't coming out right and I knew it but couldn't figure out what was wrong (the pattern, come to find out).

Isn't it a pretty little hexagon--row 3 finished and problem identified and new pattern executed.

 Hexagon finished.  A little "airier" than I want for a bath cloth but we'll try it out and see how it works.

First bath cloth finished.  Everyone says it looks like a candy necklace.

And finally, because I couldn't stop listening to Radney or put my crochet hook down, I started a purple granny square.  I worked on this some more this morning and I have to admit I'm really enjoying it...wondering if the finished result will be close to the same size as the three squares I've done previously...I'm seeing a totally random kind of blanket there...

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Daddy's Story:
My daddy was always one to talk to himself.  Not in the "I'm working on something and trying to concentrate" kind of way, but in the general having a conversation with himself. I do this too, so don't find anything strange about it (though I have learned that most people don't talk to themselves and I find this sad for them).  Most of the time I do it in my head (now) but as a child or when I'm alone, I'll talk out loud. I'm sure Daddy was the same way because I don't remembering hearing him talk to himself much when I got older.  However,  once when I asked my daddy who he was talking to he said, "Myself."  Then he paused and replied "It's the best conversation I've ever had!"

Exactly.

More thoughts on crochet

So, yesterday I spent most of the day toying around with my new skills...crochet skills that is.  I also went shopping and had lunch with a friend, so I did get out a bit too.

My thoughts on crochet:

• it's way faster than knitting
• you can make really cool flowers with crochet if you know what you're doing
• sometimes the end product looks a little funny, so knitting is definitely better (for things like socks for instance)
• sometimes crochet is better suited to a project than knitting.

Here is my progress to support the points (all but #2...haven't attempted flowers yet):

 This will become a bath cloth.  It's knit in simple single and double crochet along a row.  This skill was actually kind of difficult for me at first.  I kept getting more or fewer stitches per row, but I think I've finally figured it out.

Three granny squares completed in an evening and a half.  This is going to be a totally random kind of granny square blanket.  We shall see what we think of it when we're done.

And finally, a skein of yarn crocheted into a boa-type scarf...in an hour or so.  SO much easier than knitting...I gave up on it after trying to knit it because it was majorly slow and fussy and frustrating.  Put a crochet hook through those loops and loop back on the chain every now and again and you have a fun little scarf!  I have two more skeins to work on when I feel like it (I will admit that it was still kind of fiddly but SO much better than knitting).

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Daddy's Story:

When I was growing up my daddy called me Lester Suskanewski.  I hated it but he did it anyway.