She's Crafty

It seems that having a toddler is linked to a definite decrease in "me" time. She just doesn't stop... EVER! When she does, I have to squeeze in doing the laundry, making the food and cleaning the house, not to mention my pitiful excuse for a job, teaching English classes!! I have come to treasure the few hours between 10 and 1 when she sleeps soundly! I remember Merry once telling me that she sent Luke to daycare on Friday mornings even though she had the day off. I finally get that.
I have recently become a complete knitting addict. Now can we all join hands and rejoice? Hallelujah! Let's greet the return of my crafting blood. Can I get an AMEN?!

I've always been a crafter - it may have very well started when my grandma taught me to cross stitch waaaaay back when I was just a little tike,but since then I've partaken in my fair share of craft - like embroidery bracelets... Merry and I had a pattern book and we were hell bent on learning the flame pattern.. she figured it out a lot sooner than I did, but eventually I got there (I think it took me years, though. I remember Tammy and I spending summers reading and making bracelets and that was AT LEAST three years after I bought the book).In college there was the hemp necklace phase with Phoebe. That was fun. We made necklaces for ALL of our guy friends.. and maybe a few of our girl friends. We were on the verge of getting into some serious macrame, but I never caught that particular bug.

Then I got into Batiking and tye dying with Jenny. Oh, what a summer we had! I remember my first project was an entire sheet. I have never been one to start small.Somewhere a long the line, my friend, Jessie, taught me to knit. I knit a red and gray winter hat that turned out looking like a Jewish skull cap. I bet I still have it somewhere... After that, I put my yarn and needles away and I've hardly done any crafting since. Boy oh boy has it taken its toll on my poor soul! I have seriously been aching for some inspiration. Thanks to Alex I tried knitting again. He bought me some knitting supplies for Christmas (I'M LOVING THE BOOK, "I Can't Believe I'm Knitting!" which has got to be one of the cheesiest books I've ever seen). Once I realized that all of the patterns were too dorky for even me to wear, I bought the book, "Stitch n Bitch" by Debbie Stoller, asked Hailey's mom, Claudia, for a few pointers and have been on a knitting roll ever since!

Within this same time period I came across the book, "You are Your Child's First Teacher" by Rahima Baldwin Dancy and it hit me again how integral it is to create...SOMETHING and to have your children see you being creative and doing something worthwhile. I already knew I didn't want Bella to have a load of plastic toys that break easily and end up just sitting in a toy box forgotten (or strewn threw the house), but the book gave me some inspiration to make a few toys on my own. These toys aren't supposed to be intricately detailed. On the contrary - they are supposed to be beautiful, yet plain - leaving the imagination free range to take over.

I now feel that I have so many things that I want to do, there isn't enough time. I LOVE that feeling. It means that things like sitting around watching tv and surfing the web for hours on end are precious moments I'm wasting. I feel productive. I feel alive. I feel so fortunate to feel this way again. I've missed it. Now, even though I don't have any friends here, life is much easier to bear!