To be a mom

There are many moments where the love of being a mom hits me. Of course, this strong feeling of enjoyment always occurs on Mother's Day and this year was no different. Mother's Day began with my annual breakfast in bed. Italian gets up early and spends the morning making Eggs Benedict from scratch, topped with fried oysters and served with Andouille sausage cheese grits and a cheese biscuit. He also makes a pancake for Little Clover who likes to have breakfast in bed with me, so my day starts off with extra snuggles from the little person who makes me a mom. Generally, Italian also spoils me with a mimosa, but not this year. This year, I had to drive to my Mother's Day present, the second in a set of knitting class with Lucy Neatby. Gas prices being what they are and in need of exercise, I biked to the yarn shop on Saturday for my first class.

Sunday, though, I let myself sleep in a little longer and drove.

The classes with Lucy Neatby were fantastic. She is lively and colorful and very knowledgeable. I think of myself as a fairly proficient and daring knitter, and stilled learned a lot by being in her class. The first class covered multi-directional knitting. I knit my first triangle and tried free form knitting. Free form knitting was extremely difficult for me because I am a product knitter. I've never knitted for the sake of knitting. I've always knitted with an end goal in mind, so being told, cast on a few stitches and just try things out was a mind scramble. It took about 15 minutes before I relaxed and let my hands go. Once I did, it was actually pretty fun and relaxing. Her tips for keeping track of stitches to pick up later is indispensable, and I love the modified bind-off.

Lucy's second class covered sock knitting. Again, I feel comfortable knitting socks, but learned new things in her class. I adore the channel island cast-on and will turn to it first before any other. Besides, her sock class dispelled the lingering bad feelings from my last socks and I casted on for a new pair later that night.
Casted on for the Retro Rib Sock from Interweave Knits using That Swell Yarn Shop Skinny Duet yarn.

Before I could start knitting after the class, I spent the evening throwing a baseball with my little guy. I love being the mom to such a great kid. He gave me one of the best Mother's Day ever.

Not only do I feel lucky to have two great guys to share my life with, but I also feel fortunate for the moms in my life. My own mom loved me with all her heart. I know this because of the love she gave me growing up. I could feel her love everyday I had with her. I miss her, but her love still lingers around me. I also have a great mother-in-law who has opened her family to me and brought me in as a part of it. One day, I hope to live by her example and be at least half as great of a mother-in-law as she has been to me. My stepmom is yet another mom who I feel blessed to know. She brings great joy to my dad, has been a wonderful grandma to my little guy, and is a joyful addition to my life. I hope she knows how much she is loved by our family. Finally, my grandma is a amazing woman. She is strong and a true matriarch who has guided her family through good times and not so great times. I look up to her as a model of what it means to be independent and sure of oneself while raising a child and being a loving wife. These are just a few of the phenomenal women I know. I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day.