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, June 16, 2011

Ye Olde Craft Log

Ye Olde Craft Log (YOCL) is starting to look a little bare. Yikes! Need projects! Here's what we've checked off over the last couple of days...


We had our Day Camp unit meeting last night at the park - the girls all decorated their camp shirts with fabric markers, but of course Rowan can't finish a project within the allotted time, so she was still working on hers until a few minutes ago.



She's got a camper, a tent, and a girl swimming in water - pretty much covered the bases! It was great to meet my unit last night - a bunch of SWEET little girls, and some really nice moms.


Rowan reminded me yesterday that she was still waiting for me to fix the hair on her little knitted doll. (Out of sight, out of mind - this has been bugging her for over a year!) I made this little doll and dress a couple years ago (ish?) and did a pretty crap-tastic job on the hair. Then, after seeing how my mom did the hair on the doll Rowan designed a few months ago, I decided to attempt a better hairdo. It turned out pretty cute, if I do say so my dang self!


Also last night, I finished the second felted bag I started in Iowa. It's dry, with handles affixed! (Here are a couple of 'before' pictures, and then the finished product.
So I've had this weird thing going on with my left wrist for the last week. I woke up with it one morning - pain when I twist it a certain way (can't bend my hand back, or do the motion to put a bag over my shoulder.) It's not swollen, and I forget about it most of the time until I do something it doesn't like. So weird. I wore a sports bandage on it for a few days to remind myself to take it easy, and it seems to be better. About an hour ago, I tripped on something (me? clutsy?) and caught myself from falling with my left hand on a chair and almost let loose a BAD expletive it hurt SO FLIPPING badly! I had to stand there for a minute to catch my breath. YOW. What's REALLY weird, is that when I was just now checking it to see if it was tender or sore, I can't make it hurt. Not even when I bend my hand back. Wha? Maybe I had a pinched nerve that actually popped back into place when I caught myself earlier? Very strange. 


But the reason I brought this up, is that it has been actually uncomfortable to knit this week. If I push past the first 10 minutes of discomfort then it seems to be better, or I relax or something, but I have been choosing to do other things (sudoku) in my rare moments of downtime. I have started, as I mentioned in my last post, a sweater vest for Afghans for Afghanistans - here's my progress so far. I'm using colors left in my stash from other projects, and it's looking pretty good! (Lumpy, in the picture, but it will look better blocked.) It is knit in the round, starting at the waistband and worked up. Every 6th row you purl a round to make the garter ridge with the border color, which gives it some nice texture and contrast. SUPER easy pattern, if anyone wants it.
Our swimming playdate has been cancelled due to rain this afternoon, so we're going to play with this instead:
Um, 20 pounds of rice? That's right, people. :) My goal this summer is to have "sensory" play time every day with Brynn - something I have been slacking on. Sandbox, water, play dough, gooey foods, crayons - something that challenges her sensory experiences. Our PAT educator suggested at our visit yesterday that we keep a "sensory box" for Brynn for rainy days. (That's today!) We'll dump the rice in a Rubbermade bin, and bury some little toys in there. We can dig, bury, scoop, etc. in the rice for fun. Probably a giant mess, but we'll try to contain it to a tablecloth on the floor in the kitchen. 


As for YOCL, I'd better start brainstorming. Rowan and I do plan to make some camp "sit-upons" soon, but I need to buy the foam inserts for that still. And there's the sweater vest. But for those who know me, that is pretty slim pickins'! 
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1 comment:

  1. KathyJune 16, 2011 at 9:35 PM

    Great camp shirt! Tell Rowan I love it. The bag is terrific, too. Love curly-headed Brynn standing in the 'before' version! The doll hair is FAR superior to anything I've done on a doll's head! Looks fabulous.Yes, I want the sweater pattern for Afghans and how did the rice play go? Did you wash it and cook some for dinner later? :)

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