Football and Socks

I’m not a football fan.  Strike that.  I cannot follow football.  It’s so slow and boring, and what? You have to do it over until you get it right or get it past a certain point on the field?  Snore.  Even when I’ve watched it live, it just doesn’t do it for me.  And then there’s the Christmas Eve Lions game, where I jinxed them (“they won’t win unless they get that field kick….oops.”).   

Growing up in Decatur, Illinois, I was the only daughter in a house full of male Chicago Bears fans.  My mom took sporting events on TV as a reason to go shopping, and I went with her.  Which is how I’ve learned how to shop a good sale, spot dye lots so that my afghans aren’t all stripey, and learn how to coordinate a good suit with a few tops so that I don’t pack my entire closet when I travel.  I’d say that these life lessons are far more important in my life than learning that if you’re within 50 yards of a field goal on a fourth down that you kick…or whatever you do to  get the ball in that tall thing at the end of the field. 

I am sure my husband wishes he married a jock-type gal who drinks beer and enjoys watching sports, but I just can’t.  I don’t.  Like.  Sports.  I went to Michigan State and had never been to a Spartan basketball game until he took me to the Big 10 Championship in 1999.  As fireworks went off at the end of the game, I asked him , “so does this happen every time?”  He was appalled to learn  I never tailgated at a football game until my late 20s.  What can I say?  I was a foreign languages major, I was drinking cappuccinos and wearing a beret in college.

But he tolerates my knitting and I tolerate hours of sports so I can knit uninterrupted and we make a good pair.  He’s the yin to my knitty yang.

So today as the vast majority of the East Coast and the Rust Belt watches the playoffs, I made some socks.  My first knitted pair, actually.  From a pattern that isn’t from Ravelry, believe it or not!  It’s just the “basic sock” pattern from Lion Brand yarn.  With a few modifications, including the use of my new favorite 9” circular needles, I was able to make a lovely pair of socks for one of my Pay it Forward projects.  A few thoughts on socks:

• There is an odd comfort in making something so monotonous on a cold day
• Everyone loves a pair of hand-made socks
• Everyone in my family is getting a pair this year (except for my nephews and nieces, who must think I’m a lunatic 75 year old aunt for giving them knitwear for Christmas)
• I can finally make those awesome Christmas stockings my mom has made forever
• Finding the 9” circular needles seriously took my knitting to a whole new level—now there’s mittens and gloves to make, as well as preemie caps for the hospital
• Some may call using the 9” circulars instead of DPNs or the magic loop “cheating” but I call it “enjoying my hobby  without it owning me”
• Turning the heel isn’t as scary as I initially thought
•  I really must learn the kitchener stitch

Anyway, here’s the finished product:

  

I’m thinking of hosting a “learn to knit” session for my MI friends who have asked me to teach them, maybe hold it in East Lansing.  I’d have to charge for supplies, like needles and yarn…but when I think about doing this I secretly feel like a fraud—there are a lot of people out there who do this for a living, and then there’s me who rarely takes a dime for what I make, so charging for passing along my hobby seems sort of…mercenarious (if that’s a word.  Well, yes, it’s a word now.  Take that!).

So as the Bears lost I finished off my last sock.  I admired my work, and Jamie asked me who they were for.  Not wanting to disappoint him that they weren’t for him I told him I hadn’t figured that out yet.  But something tells me that I’d better go buy some blue and orange sock yarn and make him a pair before Detroit Tigers baseball begins in April..

Current projects

January-March is peak knitting season for me.  The air is chilly, the fire is lit, and the needles they are a clicking.  Since I've learned the art of two-strand knitting, I seem to want to make every project with two different colors of yarn.  Here are some examples.

1.  The pirate fish hat for Lulu.  Lulu is a Pisces, and it's reflected in her love of sea life and swimming.  Her feet are also getting so big they are resembling fins!  In honor of her love of water life (and pirates) I made her this hat, based on a pattern I got from ravelry (do I get patterns anywhere else?).

2.  The next is the Pay it Forward project I've been working on for a friend forever--it's actually kind of embarrassing how long this is taking me, but I have no other excuse than I have to do the pattern 14 times over something like 30 rows per pattern sequence.  So if I can knit 30 rows in the span of a work week and one over a weekend I think I'm doing okay.  And I also have to add in time off to make pirate fish hats, work on socks, find more patterns, buy yarn, kick and punch things...

Close up shot of the yarn; they grey is that lovely mohair from colourmart, and the purple is Naturally Caron wool from Michaels.  I'm a conflicted yarn snob; I love nice yarn but I also love the feeling I get turning a $4 ball of yarn into something soft and cozy that someone else will love.

Okay, my last post of the day, and this is for my yarnie friends--I found these 9" CIRCULAR NEEDLES!!!! At Joann Fabrics!  Who knew they made circs this small?  I have now found a solution to my hatred of making socks with DPNs.

And with that I will close out the evening...Wednesday night is good TV night.  Adios..

This is my Dojo….

Today's title is for my husband, who like me loves to quote movies.   That quote is from Boogie Nights, when Dirk Diggler is showing Amber Waves his ultra rad home purchased from 70s porn movie money.  Ahhh, the 70s.  I love that movie.  So many good lines to quote..

Only my dojo does not have the charm of Dirk’s digs…last night it resembled what I have always thought a Turkish prison might look like.  I missed karate last week because I had this nasty bug that’s been going around and didn’t want to infect the class.  And I guess because it was snowing only three people showed up.  Which meant that Sensei Tom really had it in for us last night.

He started the class with words of wisdom about working through the pain, how when we were at the most tired is where we have the opportunity to shine.  After all, if you won’t always be confronted on the mean streets of suburban Detroit fully rested and hydrated.  Some attacker might wish to strike after you’ve run a marathon, which is basically how I felt after the workout I got last night. 

I can’t really describe it all because at some point I just blacked out from the pain, but I can tell you that right at the end, I ended up being cheered on by the entire (mostly adolescent) class because I was having trouble holding up one leg and hopping across the room on the other. 

But I did perfect my basic self defense #1, and I got a few “great job, Liz” kudos from the Sensei.  So maybe he was on to something.  At one point I really wanted to throw up, he said, “you will thank me for this later” and I really have to say that by the time I left the class I was so high on endorphins that it’s a good thing “driving under the influence of good martial arts” isn’t a violation under the Motor Vehicles Act. 

I slept like a baby, then woke up and ran two miles.  So thanks, Sensei Tom.  That yellow stripe is mine on February 6!

Cables

(Bonus blog post for tonight since it's the end of a long holiday weekend and I'm feeling pretty ready for the week..)

I used to be scared of cable knitting.  It involved two things I usually shun: 1) math and 2) directions.  Well, maybe not "math" but counting.  Cabling and sitting as a passenger in a car or on a plane doesn't always mix, especially if you're prone to carsickness if you try to read.   I finally put my big girl pants on about two years ago and gave cabling a whirl. . .

Half of a duo of blankets, for my friend Allison who had twin girls. . .this was my first attempt...you can't see it but when I was done I weaved chocolate brown ribbon through the edges.  The coordinating blanket was chocolate brown cables with pink ribbon. . .

The next cable was for my sister in law, Kim, for Christmas 2009.  This was a very meaty blanket, requiring bulky yarn.  I got the pattern off one of those tear-off sheets at Michaels in the yarn department...

Dog, Princess, is the female half of the dogs we affectionately refer to as "the Bumpuses".  

And here's my piece de la resistance.. a blanket I made for my friend who shall remain nameless since I still haven't given it to her as a Christmas gift!  I love this blanket because it's made from this gorgeous mohair I got from colourmart.  

For those of you who do not knit and think this kind of work seems impossible, it really isn't.  The knitting part is easy--two stitches and the ability to count.  Cabling takes patience and the ability to multitask.  All traits that women (or men) of a certain age must have to survive in this world, no??  

Go forth and cable!!

The Pay it Forward Project

So I don’t normally get into the spammy chain status deals on Facebook.  You know what I’m talking about, the ones that remind you that there’s x% of people in the world who haven’t been able to hug a unicorn and only 2% of people will have the courage to copy this status and post this on their status for 24 hours.  I’m far too interested in talking about myself to post something someone else made up.  But after the new year, I saw one that caught my eye.  It was the “Pay it Forward” project, where you posted the “rules” on your status, and then the first five people to respond would receive something hand made from you if the poster agrees to make something hand made for five people in the next year.

The little knitting angel that sits on my shoulder and encourages me to perform random acts of kindness perked up.  So I broke my personal rule of not repeating chain Facebook statuses and decided to do this.  And it gave me a reason to try out some super cute patterns I had recently downloaded from ravelry.  Here’s my favorite of all five projects (so far, I still have 2 to go):

1.        Norwegian Star Hat for Whitney: Whitney is this extremely gorgeous blonde who used to babysit Lulu.  She was the perfect match for this design…

                                                                                                                                                 

 Anyway, I had to share.  I'm working on another one, a much larger project for a friend who I've been meaning to knit for but get sidetracked from her project with cute hat patterns.  I'll post pics on this one later.

Ki-ya!

Last summer, my oldest daughter, Lulu’s, desire to take karate lessons reached a fever pitch.  I have to thank a viewing of the Karate Kid (Ralph Macchio style) for that one.  So I signed her up through parks and rec, and she started karate lessons.  From there, she became a full fledged karate student with a Gi and a mean vertical lunge punch.  And then my youngest, Mimi, got in on the dojo scene.  We were officially the parents who let their girls punch kids.  Only at the direction of a sensei, of course.

As I sat for two hours every Saturday with the other parents, I started to realize that I’d rather be in the dojo rather than looking at it.  These kids were having fun, learning respect, and most importantly, gaining confidence and a sense of self.  These are all things that I needed.  With the exception of people who are really close to me, most people don’t realize that I’m a bit insecure and terrible situational anxiety.  So in December, I decided that I was going to do it-- I was going to start karate.  I signed up, with my first class starting the first week of the new year. 

Two weeks ago, I had my first karate class.  I wasn’t signing up for the “ladies kickboxing” but full-on self defense with the big boys.  My goal is fourth degree black belt and nothing less.

But I’m almost 100% sure that I will not be getting a black belt tomorrow. . .

My legs will have to stop shaking first.

And I will have to get over the embarrassment of being schooled by a 14 year old. 

But apart from this, I know I will get there.  The best thing about my class was that I really, truly felt welcome.  I was probably the oldest person in the class, among a sea of teenagers, but these were good kids who were in the same position as me at one point, and were patient and eager to teach me what they learned.  I work with a lot of health care professionals in my day job, and a big part of medical education is the concept of “see one, do one, teach one.”  The same premise is at play in karate.  And I really dig it.  

I could go on about the serpent eating its tail and the yin and the yang of the universe.  I felt really balanced, and not just with my body (which, by the way, did not have any muscle memory related to my years of doing yoga) but with my spirit.  I walked out of the dojo with a smile on my face, thinking to myself that someday I will be the teacher and will pass along my skills to a new student.

And so, the wheel turns, the serpent eats its tail, the acorn grows into a mighty oak, blah blah blah.

Here I go again…

No, not in the Whitesnake, Tawny Kitaen rolling around on David Coverdale’s Jaguar, kind of going again, I am talking about having a blog.  I have had blogs in the past; the first being a rather crude, pre-Blogger Web site, and then a Web site that I abandoned because trolls were leaving comments like “your husband is ugly” and “yer fat.”  And at that point, I just wasn’t in the mood to deal with that so I took it down. 

So anyway, I’m back at it.  This time, I’m hoping to focus on two specific aspects of my life as a woman in her mid-30’s: 1) finding “me” again and 2) working on a hobby I absolutely adore—knitting.  And while you might think that the fact that I have time to do #2 must mean that I’ve accomplished #1, you’d be wrong.  I don’t really think I have to explain to the readers what I’m talking about, but let me try.  Your mid-20’s to mid-30s is such a fast-paced decade.  Think of the life change one usually experiences; any random person might get married/divorced/start a serious relationship, have a child, face the aging of your own parents, buy your first house, pay taxes, maybe get hired/fired from multiple jobs.  You might even change careers.  Or spouses.  And then somehow you wake up out of what seems like a haze and realize that.. .you’re an adult!  When did that happen?  And who is this person and what did she do with my metabolism?

As for the knitting part, I love to knit.  My fondest memories growing up are watching my mom knit, her needles clicking away as she discussed something of great importance with my dad, watched TV, or just tried to eke out two minutes to herself before something big.  Little did I know at that time that this was my mom’s way of coping with stress.  And now I see why.  It’s such a relaxing hobby, also allows you to do something for someone else.  Knit a blanket, give it away.  A random act of kindness, some good karma.  All while working with stabby needles.  What’s not to love?

And let me say that I know I’m probably not the only person with a blog out there writing about the same topic.  And that’s cool.  I think everyone’s personal experiences help us deal with our own.  So I hope that maybe someone will read this and identify with some of my own personal story.  Or, if that is too deep for you, maybe you will laugh along as I continually make an ass out of myself. 

So cheers and let’s get started!!