In love

From WIPs

I am in love with this blue and the contrast it presents in this sock. I hope to still be in love with it by the time I knit the second sock, but for right now, my fickle yarn love is in love with this blue, and it is a contrast, not a juxtaposition. I see the dark mauve as a juxtaposition. It is an opposite to the olive, brown, and yellow main theme of the yarn. It is even opposite these colors on the color wheel. The mauvy maroon brings a smile to my face when it appears on the needles. The blue, though, it stops my heart. It is an exhilarating shock when it appears, moving the color scheme in the opposite direction of the color wheel, causing a wonderful contrast to the olive, yellow, and brown. It's like a piece of deliciously wonderful dark chocolate melting in ones mouth. I love this blue.

In addition to knitting this brillant blue, I'm still listening to Committed. Gilbert does mention how some of her friends and family thoroughly enjoy motherhood, but she also mentions others she knows who doesn't recommend it. I found this disheartening. She does go on to extoll the joys of being part of the "Auntie Brigade," one of many childless women who go on to be the generous benificiaries of nieces and nephews. I personally have benefited from childless aunts and do agree they are vitally important to families and society as a whole.

I still struggle with the books negative tone on sacrifice, within parenthood and marriage. I think I'm struggling with it because while I'm reading her statements, my mind is repeated saying, "Well, yes, there is sacrifice involved in being a parent and/or married." I'm having a hard time with her having a hard with it. Whenever, and I really mean whenever, one engages with another human being, sacrifices are being made.

To me, that is the nature of living in a society. If one doesn't want to make sacrifices for the sake of another individual, then one must become a hermit. Seriously. The act of going to the grocery store involves sacrifice. I would love to not have to wait in line to check out, but I do. I would love to be able to push that person trying to find the perfect apple out of my way so I can buy an orange, any orange, but I don't. Instead, I sacrifice my time for the sake of maintaining harmony.

Granted, sacrifices within a marriage and within parenthood can be much larger sacrifices, but the rewards are also much larger rewards. In business terms, the ROI trends greater the more intimate the relationship. For instance, last night, I ordered in Chinese take out, opened a lovely bottle of Savignon Blanc to compliment the spice, knitted to my hearts content, but watched whatever my little guy wanted on television. In return, I got a ton of snuggles, excellent quality time with my little guy, and a vast amount of information on the venmous snake response team in Florida and a lion named Christian who was bought by two Aussies in a British department store. All in all, an excellent evening of sacrifice and compromise.

From Irish Clover