It begins...

A friend recently forwarded an email to me titled "The Invisible Mother," a short essay comparing the tireless and often thankless job of a mother to the builders of Europe's great cathedrals. Both give their whole lives for a work they will never see finished, both make sacrifices and expect no credit, and both are fueled in their passion by the faith that the eyes of God see every detail. The writer of the essay was inspired by the thought that our endless efforts in motherhood, invisible as they may seem, are worth it and can make an enriching life.


For many of us, the way we choose to hold our invisibility at bay is by creating something tangible. For me, my days often end with knitting - my love of fiber and the need to do something relaxing end up producing something I can hold and look at. Nobody will know how many times I swept under the high chair that day, or how many toys I picked up, or how many times I tried to coax a "please" or "more" or "sorry" out of my 5 year old. But a darling, handmade infant hat? That you can see.


I start new projects every day, and my 10 year old does the same. In this process of creating (and yes, often not finishing our projects!) we connect with each other and a bigger picture of ourselves in the process. My plan for this blog is to share the projects that excite me and bring some accessible proof of my existence in this invisible world of mothering!


So, this blog is dedicated to the mothers out there whose days are filled with the minutia of tasks that build our children and our families. I often tell people that I haven't decided what I want to be when I grow up. But for now, I am the builder of a great cathedral. With every shoelace tied, lunch packed, and forehead kissed, I build.


And I can hardly wait to create something new...


Thursday, April 7, 2011

Knitting Lace

Well, we have replaced barf with snot at our house, which meant that Brynn and I stayed close to home yesterday. What to do, what to do...ooo, time to start a new project! But, I made myself tackle laundry as my first priority (done!), and bring up the spring decorations which I had been promising Rowan we would get out since April 1st. There really aren't many places to "decorate" that aren't within Brynn's reach, so we're keeping it simple this year. Rowan created a little Easter shrine on the tall bookcase, and I created a little family shrine (with our new portraits!) on the mantle.
During nap time, I blocked the tail of the Pajama Cat (which I almost forgot to knit!) and then started my new project (can you feel the giddiness?) I had stopped into Knit Wit on Tuesday to pick up something I had ordered, with the thought that I might browse (childless) and pick a new spring project. A friend of mine was working on a lace scarf at my last Knit Night, and I've been kinda itching to do something lacy. I walked into Knit Wit and WHAMMY! There it was, hanging right by the sock yarn: Shi Bui's "Wednesday Sweater".
It's a simple lace pattern, and absolutely darling.  I couldn't wait to start it! The Shi Bui yarn was practically gone, so I ended up choosing a frosty pale green sock yarn from Jitterbug. Green is Rowan's favorite color, and I plan to make a sweater for each of my girls - thankfully the pattern spans 6 mos - 8 years! I cast on and got a few rows done before Brynn woke up, then worked on it until almost 11pm last night, whilst catching up on Glee episodes. Again, my camera does not like greens! This looks way frostier than it actually is...
Today, I was itching to get to work on the sweater again (I'm making Rowan's first), but my first crafting priority is piecing together the Pajama Cat.  As I was reading the "Finishing" directions this morning, it started talking about button and button holes. What the what??  Oh no. I did not make buttonholes!  I had made a copy of the chart pattern to work from and the teeny little pink lines that indicated button holes didn't show up on the copy, so I was oblivious. Oops. Kitty might gape just a little on her backside!  I got her body sewn up, the tail sewn, and the face pieces together but realized I hadn't asked Rowan was color stitching she wanted for the cat's face.  She's very particular about that kind of thing, and I didn't want to guess wrong. I picked her up from school at 10:30 this morning for her orthodontist appointment (yes, the braces are on and she did great!) and confirmed that she wants blue stitching to match the cat's blue spots. So, if nap time is good to Mommy today, I will get the face on, stuff the tail and head, and get that kitty finished!
Pajama Cat - backside
And then I get to knit more lace.  Whee!!
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1 comment:

  1. KathyApril 7, 2011 at 11:57 PM

    Wow. Both projects are fantastic! The gorgeous Wednesday Sweater looks just darling and I can envision both your girls in it. Looks like a fun knit! The kitty pajama holder is really cute! I love those unorthodox colors!

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