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...


Sunday, February 6, 2011

Mittens, Hats, and Grape Leaves (oh my!)

My fantastical mother (and soul-sister knitter) made Brynn a beautiful sweater and hat set when she was a baby. She outgrew the sweater a year ago, but the hat still fits and looks awesome with her little green coat!  But alas, I didn't have matching mittens and we do like to be stylish and matchy-matchy with our winter accessories. So, mom procured the right yarn and after finishing a few other time sensitive projects I launched into the thumbless mitts.  Brynn's hypotonia makes her little hands hard to get into mittens, and we ignore the thumbs on her other pair anyway, so thumbless they are!  I also crocheted a chain to hold them together and string them through her sleeves - you hate to lose handmade mittens!



I am also on my 13th (14th?) infant hat for GoodGoes.org, a charity that is collecting hats this month to send worldwide.  I am using up my stash of Cotton-Ease, and the hats are nice and squishy soft and hopefully warm.  I did a few that were two-toned, but my favorites are the single color with the garter ridges for texture.


And today we are in party-prep mode!  We host an annual neighborhood Superbowl party every year, which means by tomorrow at 4 the house needs to be clean and the basement ready to accommodate too many people.  I decided this year to make some of my favorite Lebanese foods (I know, not really football food, but I don't care!) including hummus, tabbouleh, and grape leaves (or yubra arish.)  This afternoon the kitchen turned into a grape leaf rolling extravaganza, and Rowan - bless her heart - stuck it out with me as my assistant the entire afternoon.  For those who have never had grape leaves....dude.  AWESOME.  You mix ground beef, rice, and a little butter with salt, pepper, and cinnamon.  You roll a meatball sized wad of this mixture inside a grape leaf, then simmer in lemon water for 2 hours.  Like I said...DUDE.  So, so good!



Posted by at

4 comments:

  1. RadhaFebruary 6, 2011 at 6:19 PM

    Love the blog! The info is great!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. KathyFebruary 6, 2011 at 10:30 PM

    Oh, I like the new format with bigger pictures. That new red tea kettle looks great! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. CelesteFebruary 7, 2011 at 5:14 PM

    Love the picture of Brynn in her coordinated coat, hat and mittens:) Nice posing, too;D

    ReplyDelete
  4. KathyFebruary 10, 2011 at 12:09 AM

    I'm with Celeste. That picture of Brynn modeling her new mittens is a great addition and her little tilted head-turn look is very trendy! :)

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)