Knit Knot

My mother reminded me the other day that my new love for knitting was being subconciously created in me when I was a kid by my grandmother.
Oh yeah, Grandma did try to teach me to knit when I was about 8 or 9. By that time I was sewing by hand and on the machine and I was crocheting. I had those two crafts learned fairly well by then. So the next step was knitting. I was in awe of her skills with the needles. She knitted sweaters with pictures on them and I thought that was really cool.
Even with the other handcraft skills, knitting eluded me. I could not get the hang of two needles, keep the thread on them and wrap thread hither and yon in some fashion to create even a couple of rows that became a knotted mess. I would cry because I was so frustrated and finally just gave up.
She tried frequently over the years to get me to try again but I was stubborn.
So now, just because I read a book that mentioned a ruana and I had to have one for myself, I am knitting.
Mom said Grandma is rolling over laughing about this outcome. I think I agree. It must tickle her to realize I finally got it. And without as many tears and foot stomping.
While she giggles about that I will remind the family of the giggles we had at her expense one early morning in Oregon. As I remember it, the moment involved a tin can, a steep slope, an incoming sea breeze and my two grown brothers in hot pursuit at sunrise.
Hope you are chasing your passion today.

My Other Passion

I must confess to someone. I have another passion. Want to guess what it is? Okay, the list may be long. I'll tell you...it is MOVIES. I love movies of all kinds. I have quite a collection going of movies that I like so much I watch over and over. Most of my collection consists of family movies, all the great animated film companies are represented. I also collect Christmas themed movies. This collection gives me something to watch even between Netflix deliveries. And watching (listening) to a movie is something I can do while I knit. The best of both worlds.
Yesterday a friend and I went to the IMAX theater and saw Deep Sea 3D. That was an adventure. It was like you are in a giant aquarium. I have always loved IMAX movies since I saw my very first one, To Fly, at the Air and Space Museum in Washington DC. The film effects are like being on a ride at an amusement park. If you have the opportunity to go, you should treat yourself to this fabulous underwater event where you don't have to wear scuba gear.
Hope you have plans for a magnificent day.
Find your passion and live it!

Knitter's Gathering Rocks!

I went to my first knitting club meeting last night and met some wonderful ladies. They are a diversified group with a wide-variety of skills and backgrounds. It was really fun sitting in the B&N coffee shop, knitting, drinking chai and coffee, swapping pattern ideas and stories, sharing information about great knitting shops and online sites.

My favorite story of the night was about the woman who knit a doll anytime she was mad at her husband. After a long life and marriage she is on her death bed, realizes she will go before him and asks him to bring her the shoebox that for years she has forbade him to look in. He does as she requests and she has him open it. In the box are two dolls and $95,000. She tells him the story about how she always knit a doll when she was mad at him and he starts to smile, holding up the two dolls. Then he asks about the money and she tells him it is what she earned selling the dolls.
So for those of you with men in your lives…knit dolls.
All in all it was a much better evening than sitting at home watching inane network reruns or that incredibly over-valued American Idol.

For now – have a fabulous Friday.
Find your passion and live it!

Passions of My Life

Quote of the Day:

Everything presents itself as a lesson we are ready to learn. Author Unknown

It has taken me too many years to decide what my passions are. For a long time I tried to have many interests and spread myself thin in the process. With that many interests I collected too much stuff and it collected too much dust.

So, I have decided to narrow it down to the things that resonate with me the most. And in doing so will reduce my "stuff" to reflect that choice.

Announcing the passions in my life: Are you ready?
Knitting
Writing
Cooking
Travel

Maybe with this definition I can focus my energy and my spare dollars to just support those habits and not waste it on other things.

First, I will explain the knitting. It came to me just recently and I mostly taught myself the basics. I did have help from my mother (thanks, Mom :-) and from a couple knitting classes specific to what I wanted to knit, like socks. I am still learning, trying new ideas and actually finishing some projects. I plan to join a knitting group locally (first meeting is tomorrow evening) and try to find some like minded folks to share ideas, patterns and experiences. I have no real goals unless you call the growing list of friends and family who will soon be receiving really cool pairs of socks.

Second, the writing. I have played with writing most of my life. I have one half-finished, novel-length manuscript that I want to type THE END on this year. Who knows if it will ever make the publishing house rounds but I may try. I have been published in a local newspaper where I worked as a reporter for 18 months. And I was published in a little underground web publication called Venable Views. It was a small audience of locals and if you did not live there or read the local paper you did not get the gist of the rantings. However it was lots of fun (thanks, Victor)
And I was published with a three-part series story in The First Line magazine. It is still around and this year I plan to submit a piece for each deadline. Check out their website at www.thefirstline.com It is a really interesting story about how they decided to do this magazine.

Third, I am a great cook. No sense in hiding that light under a rock. I enjoy cooking and excel at it when I have an audience. I find it very difficult to get excited about cooking just for myself. I have a recipe book collection that makes most libraries envious. I have tried downsizing that and have no luck giving away any of my books, even when they may only contain one recipe I am interested in trying. This year my plan is to type in all of the family recipes that came to me in an old, brown wood recipe box. I understand it contains many of my great-great grandmother's recipes. My mother will correct me if I am wrong.

Fourth, I love to go. Anywhere, anytime, just say road trip and I am packing a bag. I also like to fly, even with all the new security procedures that are in place. Mostly my travel has been curtailed to mini-overnight getaways. Partly due to my roommate, Pedro (he is my beloved cat) and my lesser paying job that does not support my want-to-go habit. So if you know anyone who needs a baggage handler for their next vacation, let me know. I can be had for cheap.

More about these passions in upcoming posts. I will be writing for Helium.com shortly. And I probably will be posting articles there that cover one or more of these passions. May as well use these experiences to entertain and inform the masses.