Thursday, October 23, 2014

Let the Good Times Roll... At Home


I just returned from a conference and weekend of fun with the husband in New Orleans. The good times definitely rolled. Food, music, people watching... it's always memorable. (Although there are some things we saw that we wish we could forget. And, what is that smell?!) We're still recovering, but also still smiling. I talked with a friend who had a similar weekend in Vegas and we agreed, every couple with kids our age needs to get out and have some crazy fun every once in a while. 


As I recover and reflect on my weekend, I continue to be surprised by the reactions I get when I tell people I live in Austin. Even people who have never been gasp and exclaim how lucky we are. 
It reminds me of a blog post I wrote a few months ago on my terrible case of Wanderlust. I still have it. I was desperately in need of this weekend's getaway, but coming home to Austin makes recovery so much easier.  
Here is the original post from Flattlands Blog:
It happened again recently when walking the streets of San Francisco during a visit with an old friend. I dreamed of my life in San Francisco, walking to the coffee shop and boutiques just blocks from my house. Stopping in for a juice at the trendiest new juice bar on my way to my fast-paced job with a cutting-edge company.
I looked at the row houses lining the hilly streets and wondered why I didn’t choose this place back before I grew some roots and started a family.
Then I remembered, just a month ago I had the same thought while walking along the beach in San Diego. I thought, I should have moved to a tiny beach shack right after college. I would have lived in flip-flops and let the sun bleach out my hair while not really caring about the type of job I had as long as I could spend my free days at the beach.
This year I’ve been lucky to travel to a different city and state almost every month for work and fun. But, it wasn’t until the last trip that I realized that every time I go, I spend part of my time imagining what could have been.
In Colorado, I lived to ski. With the wind-blown, chapped face to prove that I worked in this mountain town only to make enough to pay for lift tickets.
In West Texas I gave up my big city life to live a slower-paced, small town existence. Living for the beauty of the harsh scenery and serenity around me, I spent my days slower and quieter, getting to know all the quirky locals and welcoming the occasional tourist.
In Nicaragua, I embraced the expat lifestyle, finding a way to spend days surfing and releasing sea turtles back into the ocean and worrying about mañana, mañana.
In Maine my slow paced life revolved around opening a yarn shop and teaching knitting to the local kids. I make friends with the antique shop owner who also sells fresh blueberries in the summer. We talk about books and share lobster recipes.
I could spin my tales to myself and almost ruin a return trip home by wishing I lived somewhere else and second-guessing the choices I made. I come home and immediately look at the calendar to plan my next trip. It’s wanderlust in the worst way.
But, this is why we travelers do it. We go to get out of our lives, if only for a few days. Taste new foods, see new faces and imagine, “what if?”  We dream and explore, then return to our warm homes, familiar places and true loves. We appreciate what’s home while dreaming of the next trip.
And, while walking down the hill that foggy San Francisco morning that I remembered the conversations I had with locals in nearly every destination I’ve been to this year:
“You live in Austin? Ahhhh, man what a great town. It’s on my list. I wish I could live there.”

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Lessons from the Linen Tank

Lessons from the Linen Tank

I’m working on moving from a project knitter to a process knitter. I’m not sure how to do this, but the more I think about it the more I realize it’s a challenge I have in other areas of my life.

Process knitters enjoy the work. It doesn’t matter if it’s a sweater or an afghan, they are just happy knitting. Product knitters are working toward the end goal, the finished product.

A friend put it best: when I see something that I want to make, it’s because I want that thing. I recently put everything aside to make a bag because I wanted that thing. (I get compliments on it everyday, so maybe it was worth it! More on this bag later.)

I started this linen tank in July of 2013. We were taking a road trip to New Mexico, so I knew we’d have a lot of flat West Texas driving. It was the perfect time for knitting and audiobook listening. The husband and I listened to Helter Skelter as the kids were plugged in to their movies. As I knit away, I imagined finishing this tank by the end of summer so I could enjoy it a couple times before linen season was over.

When I got to the arm shaping, something didn’t really make sense, but I kept going. Of course, when I got to the end there was definitely something wrong. There was puckering at the armpit, but I convinced myself it might be bust shaping that would make sense later.

The dreaded puckering revealed at the stitch marker.

After I finished side two (the sweater is made in two pieces with the seam up the middle), I confirmed the two sides were very different. With a little help from my knitting coach, I accepted the fact I’d have to rip out a few inches and rework the shaping. I wasn’t going to wear this wear poochy action at the armpits. Trust me, I don’t need more saggy poochy action at my armpits. She sat there with me as I thread in a lifeline and frogged away.

And then, I messed it up again.

And then, I messed it up AGAIN!

Finally, I got it right.

Sewn up and ready to wear for summer 2014. I get complements on it every time I wear it. It doesn’t matter that I wore it in 2014 instead of 2013.

And so I write these lessons I learned to remind myself. I, too, am a WIP.

If something doesn’t make sense, stop. It’s not just knitting. Life, relationships, jobs, driving directions. Stop and ask for help.

Perseverance. This is a tough one for me. I’m not so good at sticking with things. I want to give up and say “it’s good enough,” but I just couldn’t cover up this error. If I tried, I would have never worn it.

Take a break when you’re not feeling it. I let this sit for the winter months until I was ready to take it on. But, I have to admit I hated seeing it sitting there unfinished. It nagged me every time I went through my knitting corner.

Ask for support. It honestly wasn’t major help that I couldn’t figure out myself, but having that little bit of support and nudge to do it right made me do it. Then Staci was there when I had to do it again. I just needed the time and space and someone to understand my pain the second time around.

Find a mantra. I work at a coworking space that is not only a nice place to work, but is also a place to find inspiration in the form of other professionals and motivational quotes placed here and there. “Mistakes need not be fatal” is printed on a magnet on the fridge when I go to get cream for my coffee. It is the mantra I found myself repeating as I frogged. I remind myself this when memories of other past missteps seep into my consciousness. Accept it, fix it (or don't), and move on. 

It’s worth the effort.  Why we do it. Something about knitting and making it your own is worth the effort. I find myself asking, what else is worth the effort?





Tuesday, September 16, 2014

No more dust bunnies

This is me blowing the virtual dust off this blog. wwwhoooosh. Sorry to get all that dust in your eyes.

Here's the deal: between Facebook and Ravelry and Pinterest and life, I just don't blog anymore. All my knitterly thoughts go to Ravelry where I feel like people actually care about the yarn I used. All my (edited and hilarious and delightful) mom stories go to friends on Facebook. And, all my crafty to-dos occasionally go to Pinterest.

But, I had my annual (semi-annual?)"what-am-I-doing-I-don't-even-really-like-what-I'm-doing" breakdown earlier this summer and dug around on my blog. I have some nice stories here. I'm a pretty good writer, ifIdosaysomyself. I should do more of this. I read blogs of friends and strangers and enjoy them. I have friends tell me they love my Facebook stories.

I am determined to do what I love. I love to write. I love to knit. I love to read about knitting and read about knitting.

So, here I am. Exploring the two. Working through things, yarn related and not.

Read it or don't. It's for me, not you.