Fishing Stories

Our family was a bit selfish this 4th of July weekend. Normally, we spend the holidays with either the Clovers or the Sopranos, but this 4th of July, we selfish took some time for just the three of us to get away. Little Clover and I are terribly introvert individuals and we've been engaged in some extroverted activities of late. I begged Italian for a fly fishing trip and you are correcting in thinking I didn't have to beg very hard.

From 2010 June Fly Fishing

Fly fishing has many desirable traits. Generally, the scenery is beautiful, consisting of mountain rivers or tight little streams. The fishing is engaging and requires skill. You have to figure out what the fish are eating and then present them with yarn and feathers on a hook and convinve them it is a bug. This is shockingly harder than you would expect. Despite having teeny tiny brains, fish are remarkably picky and can tell that you aren't offering a real bug at all. My favorite part, fly fishing is a hobby in which no one expects you to talk to them. In fact, they expect you to leave them alone and they in turn leave you alone. You can go for hours without talking to a person even though they may be standing 20 feet in front of you. This was just my conference call overloaded soul needed.

We had beautiful weather our entire stay, lots of low wadeable water, and some incredible fishing. When Italian and I first began dabbling in fly fishing, we would encounter fly fishers coming off the river after a couple of hours in the morning as we were heading out onto the river and ask them politely, "How did you do?"

They would in turn politely respond, "Not bad, I got into about 30 fish."

I would then impotlitely think to myself, "Bull$#!&."

I now know catching 30 fish in a couple of hours is quite possible, because we did. Italian, Little Clover, and I caught a lot of fish. Granted we had the help of a guide, but we also now have more skills and I think we could do it again. When the fishing slowed down, Little Clover began keeping count, and he caught 13 fish in an hour and a half, and he caught them all by himself. He found them, he hooked them, he worked them in on a fly rod, he landed them, and he released them without any help from anyone. Let me just say, I was quite the proud mama on the river. The best was watching the grown men fishing next to him walk away in amazement because he was catching 5 to their one.

From 2010 June Fly Fishing

After our "hard" day of fishing, we would spend the evenings in more introverted activities. Italian would tie flies and I would knit. Vacation knitting is without a doubt, some of the best knitting, and I was looking forward to my vacation knitting. With the bohus sweater approaching a good stopping point, I dreamt of finishing the body while on vacation and putting it away once home until the cooler weather in late September. Our first night at the cabin, I reached into my knitting bag, and discovered I'd left the bohus sweater at home. Not only would the sweater have to wait, but my vacation knitting was sitting forlornly in my laptop bag at home. Luckily, I'd just bought a Namaste bag which is generous enough to hold a project. Plus, I'd brought my Golding spindle. I practiced my spindle spinning and I think I'm working out the kinks. The Blingpaca on the spindle consists of multiple different types of fibers, all of varying staple lengths. I found that spinning over the fold was the best technique to use.

From Yarn

Now that we are back, I'm determined to finish (the body anyway) the bohus.

Happy Birthday

From Family

Today is my daddy's birthday. Happy birthday, Dad! I feel incredibly blessed to have you as my dad. I hope today is filled with much celebration. You've been a great example of strength, understanding, and patience. I love you, Daddy. Happy birthday!

In other news...
There are really only so many ways to state one is busy. I've tried the "boy, we've had a lot going on," and the direct "we've been busy," so let's just ignore the long gaps between blog posts and move along.

I had high hopes for lots and lots of leisure time this summer, which has just not been the case. We've had a few family related trips and the usual flurry of activity before and after the trip. Plus, I have this really terrible habit of overbooking myself. In short, my hopes of lounging on the sofa knitting or spinning have been dashed upon the harsh rocks of reality. I'm still making due by knitting as much as I can. I have a recently finished shawl and pair of socks to show for it.

From WIPs

The bohus sweater is still progress, albeit, the weather has not been conducive to knitting a wool sweater. There's just something about 100(F) and a heat index of 110(F) that just doesn't scream "wool." The sweater has caught me eyeing some silk, but I'm being failthful. Well, I promise to be faithful through the body. After that, though, there's no guarentee. The sweater might be a vest for a while.

The big time suck for us really has been the garden and the CSA. I anticipated spending more time on food preparation, but I grossly underestimated the time required. Thankfully, cooking is a pleasure for me and the food has been remarkably delicious. Our meat consumption as a family has also dramatically decreased, since the meats we have are large roasts or whole chickens. More planning, preparation, clean-up, and in some cases, cooking is required. With some luck, the summer weekends will open up a bit more, allowing me to do more reheating on the weekday evenings and more cooking on the weekends.

You ate what?

Conversation overheard this week after Spot dug up the onions in our garden:

Italian (to our dog): I don't understand why you insist on digging. If you're bored, then get a job like a normal person.

Italian stopped when he heard me laughing behind him. I just pictured our dog sitting in a room filling out a job application and I cracked. Italian, nonplussed replied, "What? What's so funny?"

Yes, Spot, our lovely yellow lab was in our garden again, digging away. This time, our onions suffered the full force of his mighty paws. They weren't really doing well anyway. I think I planted them too late, or too early. I'm still learning. Thankfully, we aren't relying on our garden for substinance. The CSA is feeding us and feeding us quite well. This past week, in addition to our usual loaf of bread, the CSA included garlic scapes.

From 2010 CSA

The garlic scape is the stalk and unbloomed flower of a garlic plant. You cut the scape so the plant's energy is concentrated in the bulb resulting in a larger more flavorful bulb. The scape is completely edible and makes a delicious pesto. The pesto is wonderful on a slice of homemade bread and a light crisp bottle of Torrentes wine, perfect for a picnic, which we had Tuesday.

From 2010 CSA

Our little town holds a horse show every year in June to benefit a local charity. Little Clover, being a rider, was invited by his trainer to attend with her barn and walk around the arena for the costume contest. Italian and I packed our little picnic and enjoyed the warm summer evening and the amazing horse riders. We still can't pick a winning horse, but we managed to have fun. I think the wine and food helped.

In addition to having family friendly low cost or free events, our small town post office will stay open in a mail emergency, like when that skein of yarn one needs to finish a certain shawl is sitting in the post office two hours after they have closed. Yes, if you beg, they will stay there for the five minutes and 42 seconds it takes you to drive to the post office, and they will also apologize for making you wait. I love my town.

At least the food is good

Saturday, I went to the grocery store for the first time in three weeks, all thanks to the CSA. This is our first year ever to be a part of Community Support Agriculture, and we didn't know what to expect nor did we know if we would like it. The up front cost for us then was a bit of a gamble. It is a gamble that is really paying off.

The "farm" we support is a a collective of approximately 4 to five farms. The subscription is for a total of 27 weeks, averaging out to $30 a week. For $30, we've gotten an assortment of salad kits with radishes, carrots, peas, and greens, some herbs, braising greens, jams and pickles, bread, fresh eggs, fruits and vegetables. Our weekly pick up has without a doubt, influenced how we eat, not just what we eat. When Italian asks, "What's for dinner?" I don't answer with a protein item like, "steak" or "chicken." Instead, I reply with a vegetable. "We're having braising greens" or "We're having Mrs. Zook's salad kit" have become common answers. We've also eaten some foods I've never even seen before, ever.

Last week, we faced down a Lion's mane mushroom. This has been the most foreign food we've received, and it was delicious. It was accompanied by shiittakes and served with a steak and fresh tomatoes. The steaks came from the grocery store and did not taste nearly as good as the steaks we've purchased directly from the farm. At $8 more per pound than the farm steaks, I'm now researching the potential of joining a meat CSA.

Overall, we as a family, expected to pay more for food by buying directly from a local farm. Instead, we are finding we are paying less for food. Our $30 per week has almost completely fed us for the full week. We have gone out to eat twice in the last three weeks, when in the past, we would have had a restaurant meal at a minimum of twice per week. Our diet has also seen a shift to a vegetable focused diet instead of a meat based diet, and we don't miss the meat. We've also broken out from our eating ruts, trying new foods and discovering we like them. This week, I'll be tackling beets for the first time.

My knitting, has not been nearly as adventurous as my cooking. Maryland Sheep and Wool did pump some new and fun yarns and fibers and spindles into my stash. Sadly, they are all still in my stash. In an effort to be mynogomous (sort of), I've been knitting on the same lace shawl and Bohus sweater I began in March and February, respectively. For a few moments yesterday, there was a glimmer of hope the shawl would be complete and I could cast on something new. Then, the maniacly laughter of the knitting fates filled my head when I accepted what lay before. With just a few rows of border left, I ran out of yarn. The shawl and I are on a break.

From WIPs

Where were we

The long blog silence was not due to overly festive St. Patty's Day celebrations that required a long recovery period. Nope. It was due to baseball, lots and lots of baseball.

From Irish Clover

We've hit the phase in Little Clover's athletic career where longer practice times are deemed necessary by the coaching staff, and his acedemic career where there is no shortage of homework. In short, something had to give to maintain sanity at Clover Fields and what gave out was the blog. Baseball season has come to end and now I've got a bit more time on my hands. Honestly, it feels as if summer vacation has started even though we have a couple more weeks of school.

The influx of time couldn't have come at a better time. We signed up for a CSA this year and we planted a garden. I'd like to conduct a little experiment on how plausible is it for a family with two working parents and an active kid to eat a primarily ecotarian diet. Yep, you heard me, "ecotarian." This Earth Day, I discoverd I am a "tarian," and the discovery was a bit of an eye opener. I've flirted with vegetarianism, but it never felt quite right. I wanted to be an exclusive locavaore, but it isn't the right fit for me either (I love seafood way too much), but being an ecotarian seems like the right fit. We are going to give it a go and the CSA and garden are a step in that direction.

This is our first CSA and we didn't exactly know what to expect. Imagine our surprise when the first week's installment included fresh eggs!

From Irish Clover

Italian braved the tornado warnings in our area to provide his family with food, and the trip was well worth it when he began unpacking the CSA bag to find shiitakes, tomatoes, radishes, greens, and eggs. We celebrated with one of the best salads we'd ever had. I cooked swiss chard and chicory for the first time in my life. The swiss chard held the lovely flavor of the butter, but the quick saute was all wrong for the chicory. That one is going to take some experimentation.

I couldn't pick up the CSA since I was out of town at:

From Irish Clover

Maryland Sheep and Wool was like a knitter's mecca. There were vendors and animals everywhere. I did eat a lamb sausage while at the festival. I couldn't resist. I also walked away with some gorgeous Blingpaca from the loop and a Golding spindle.

More info to come on Maryland Sheep and Wool and CSA week 2.

Happy Mother's Day

I spent this morning with my traditional Mother's Day breakfast in bed watching "Miracle," Little Clover's favorite movie of the moment, with Little Clover and Italian, and it was perfect. I love my breakfast in bed, and I especially love having it with Little Clover and Italian right there with me. After all, they are the reasons why I get a Mother's Day at all and for me, I love having them be a part of the celebration.

In previous Mother's Day posts, I've spent time thinking of the mothers. Today, I want to raise a toast to all the people who make us mothers, to the children we have, the children we've lost, the children we've adopted, the children we've longed for but have never met, the men who have fathered our kids, the other women who have mothered our kids, to our fathers and to their wives, to anyone who has a played a part in make us mothers (step, adopted, what have you), thank you for giving us today.

From 2010 CSA

Flowers from our CSA, run by a mom and the people who make her a mom.

St Patty recap

The last thing I learned from Disney World is that if you and a 10 year old come barrelling out of an Irish themed pub singing "Wild Rover," you will get looks. Now, how does Little Clover know the words to "Wild Rover"? Because we've been listening to Irish tunes in preparation for St. Patty's.

Last year, I tried my hand at making fish and chips. Other than making way too much food, the experience went pretty well. This year, I added Nigella Lawson's Guiness Chocolate Cake to the menu.

From St Patricks Day 2010

I definitely could have done a better job with the fish. I whisked the batter way too much and I only had wheat flour on hand. I'm going to work on improving my fish recipe and will probably make an Irish Stew instead for next year. The cake, though, is a keeper! Not only does it look great posing with the Black and Tans (the grocer was out of Harp, so we reverted to B&Ts instead of our usual Half and Halfs), but the cake was moist and delicious. It makes a great breakfast, too.

From St Patricks Day 2010

We did have one mishap when I tried to take a photo of the entire meal:

From St Patricks Day 2010

I spilt Italian's nearly full B&T. Thankfully, he's skilled at making another.

From St Patricks Day 2010

We danced to Irish tunes as we cooked, we danced after we ate, and then we danced some more later in the evening. Although we missed Xavier Guy who couldn't be with us, we had a grand time. Next year, I think we need a bigger party.

Things I learned at Disney World

1. The Animal Kingdom Lodge has an incredible view.

From Disney March 2010

2. Zebras, elands, ostriches, and giraffes love to hang out by the hotel rooms, and you will end up naming the ones you see every day.

From Disney March 2010

3. Sometimes, ostriches follow a car for no other reason than to see where you are going.

4. Ten year old boys walk with a swagger when dressed in full pirate regalia.

From Disney March 2010

5. A ten year old boy will still walk holding his mother's hand when not dressed in full pirate regalia.

6. If you tell your server at the restaurant in France (at Epcot) that your horse just had a foal, not only will he ask if you own a ranch and dress as a cowboy, but he will now be fully confirmed in his belief that all Americans own horses and dress as cowboys.

7. While speaking in Korean to a Disney employee, it is perfectly fine to tell her that you meant to say "Thank you" (in Korean) instead of just blurting out "I love you" (in Korean). She will nod and say "Ah, ok" (in English).

8. Korean employees at Disney World are shocked and amused when a ten year old Irish complexioned boy with an Irish name and Irish freckles say "hello" in Korean. Then they look with surprised happiness at the Asian looking mom of said Irish boy.

9. When you speak German in Germany (at Epcot), you will totally make their day.

10. You beam with pride when you are told in France (at Epcot) that your son has a wonderful French accent, and you are equally amazed that he can hold a conversation in French. You wonder what he just said.

Spring Break

The snow has finally melted and spring is definitely nearing. While we were holed up in the house with a lovely fire glowing in out living room, I've been knitting up a storm to match the icy weather outside.

There's the February Lady Sweater that will hopefully be wearable at Maryland Sheep and Wool:

From WIPs

The Bohus Sweater, Wild Apple, is coming along nicely, and it is lovely, quite lovely. I'm taking my time so it can last longer.

From WIPs

Let's look at it again, just because:

From WIPs

Spring also isn't spring without babies. Two little babies will have their first pair of hand knit socks. If they are lucky, these little socks will be the first of many:

From 2010 Finished Objects

I've also had a nice alpaca lace stole resting on my lap.

From WIPs

Since this is my second Print o' the Wave stole, I have a bit more confidence and it's knitting up quickly.

Speaking of alpaca, I visited a local alpaca farm, just to start getting an idea of what it is like raising alpaca. I learned they are friendly, relatively low maintenance, and darn cute.

From Irish Clover

Our horse had it's baby and our local zoo welcomed a new giraffe.

From Irish Clover

Finally, Little Clover had his Spring Break, and we decided to have one more trip to Disney World, while he was still a little guy in many ways. To be honest, I am very glad we went. In many ways, he was still a little boy inside and Disney still was magical. We rode the big kid roller coasters, but we also rode the less intense rides. No trip to Disney is complete without riding "It's a Small World." We saw spectacular fireworks, including watching fireworks while riding Big Thunder Mountain, danced on Main Street to music from "High School Musical" and we wore our mouse ears with pride and gusto. The best part of the trip though was seeing my little boy on the cusp of big kiddom transformed into a swaggering pirate.

From Disney March 2010

He even had the piraty glower down.

From Disney March 2010

The grown ups on the trip got into the fun as well by posing with Tigger.

From Disney March 2010

The sock enjoyed the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular:

From Disney March 2010

All in all, it was a magical trip.

From Disney March 2010

I thought this was the South

From 2010 Finished Objects

As you may have noticed from the picture of the finished socks with the heart stopping blue stripe, there was snow in dem dar hills. We had our annual day of snow last Monday. The four inches was ample fodder for the annual Clover snowball fight, which was complete with knitted hat:

From Buzz

And snow stained clothing:

From Buzz

We built the annual snowman and off course, had the obligatory cup of hot chocolate by a roaring fire. These are the types of obligations I love. To top it all off, the snow came back today with a slight dusting and beautifully lovely large flakes. There's something to be said about watching the Winter Olympics while knitting and seeing snow drift down from the skies. Happy Winter!

Move over Chicken Little

I finished the sock and continued to loved the blue. Having some completely mindless stockinette was a god sent this past week. Things have been a little hectic. Little Clover received a lot of big kid accessories for his room and it was time to make the conversion. I called a painter to get some quotes, we set a date, and then completely packed up the contents of his room and shoved it in a disorganized state into our spare room. He had a lot of stuff.

The painters were supposed to come last Friday. I'd arranged to work from home and the remainder of that weekend would be spent in putting Little Clover's room back together, and I would beginning transitioning him on the blog from "Little Clover" to something else. Then, the sky fell, literally and figuratively.

We have textured ceilings in our house. The painters were to remove the textured ceiling in Little Clover's room, then in a few weeks, make their way into the master bathroom. I think the master bathroom got jealous because the textured ceiling began to fall in chunks last Wednesday night, while Little Clover was taking a shower. It was messy. We (actually, Italian, I stayed out of the way) scraped away at the ceiling late into the night and I packed up the master bath. Now, we had serious clutter and our lives were scattered around the four corners of our home, but that was going to be ok, the painters were coming Friday and our lives would be restored by Sunday.

I bet you can guess things didn't pan out that way. That Friday brought our first ice storm in about 10 years, which in turn, pretty much closed the city. The painters reschedule for Sunday, which only threw off my plan by two days. I could adjust. We enjoyed the ice, marveling at how pretty the trees and the grass looked encase in glimmering frozen water.

From Irish Clover

Then, the painters cancelled for Sunday. Work is a little too hectic for me to try and arrange another work from home day, and I really needed to be able to get to my toothbrush without moving a fish tank, Little Clovers assortment of rocks and toys, and dancing around the shelves that were once in his room. I decided the painting needed to be done now. In an effort to preserve our sanity, Italian volunteered to handle the messiness that is removing a textured ceiling.

I bought painting supplies. Xavier Guy came over to help and Little Clover joined in the mix.

From Irish Clover

We scrapped and scrapped, and prepped, and scrapped some more. My new goal was to have the painting done, and the rooms somewhat back in order before the big game Sunday. At a bare minimum, I want my toothbrush back in it's old corner of our bathroom.

We made the goal, and if there is any question as to where our loyalties lie, I'll let Little Clover's room answer that.

From Irish Clover

Let's go Colts!

From Irish Clover

Love, true love, has brought us together today

Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage by Elizabeth Gilbert


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I finished Committed, and am at an understanding with the book. I would say this book is worth a read, but as a reader, one must be committed to the book. A reader has to go into this book with an open mind (a few of Gilbert's views may be too liberal for some) and a reader absolutely must finish the book. This is not the type of book one can pick up, read a few chapters of and then put down. You'll walk away with an incomplete viewpoint and it isn't fair to you nor is it fair to Gilbert to not finish this book once you start it. In this way, the book itself is an excellent metaphor to marriage and relationships.So, why did I read the book? There were no imminent questions about marriage in my life requiring reflection. Italian and I are happy in our marriage and have really grown up together, supporting each other along the way. Honestly, I picked up the book because I wanted to know if Elizabeth got married. Why did I care? Because it seemed obvious to me they were in love at the end of Eat, Pray, Love. That was it. The book, then, was a surprise in its discourse on the institute of marriage, and I realized while reading it that I have also separated the concepts of being bound by love to another person and the social construct of legally binding two people into a specialized contract. I've viewed the contractual arrangement of marriage and the aspects of love and intimacy as two distinct parts of being married, and they happen at different times. Sometimes, one is even missing.Overall, without "giving away" the book and without betraying the intimate aspects of my marriage, I would say Gilbert's book is a modern look at marriage and her reflection on the topic is at a level often missing in today's world. Just like a good marriage, if you start it, you do have to invest time into it, hearing out her arguments, and seeing how she finds peace. For those getting married, it's a good read to spark discussion. For those married, it's a good read to spark discussion. For those contemplating if they ever want to get married, I think this book will be especially poignant. Getting married is a very public display of an extremely personally decision, and Gilbert's public display of her struggle with the decision may be relevant or insightful.

View all my reviews >>

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

In defense of motherhood

Confession, this will probably be a rambling post, so I will apologize in advance. The post is sparked by listening to Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert. She wrote Eat, Pray, Love which I enjoyed reading immensely about a year long personal journey she took to sort out certain things in her life. In this journey, she left a failing marriage and hedonistically devoted a year to doing what she wanted to do, traveling to Italy indulging in food and language, traveling to India, indulging in prayer and meditation, and indulging in paradise where she learned to love again. It was truly a great book.

Now, I'm listening to her latest, Committed, where she finds peace with marriage. I'm on chapter 5. So far, the book has been a great exploration of Western marriage history and I've enjoyed it, but, and this is a very big but, I've just hit the part where she discusses the "Marriage Imbalance." To illustrate this point, she draws upon her's mother's choice to leave her career when her husband refuses to stay at home for 2 days with his chicken pox infested children so she could attend a conference. I'm sure Gilbert's tone is not intentional (and I tried to find her email address to email her personally, but was unable to find it), but it comes across as condemning motherhood. She speaks of the "cost" of motherhood, but she doesn't (at least not yet) talk about the rewards and dividends of motherhood. Yes, being a mother can be a huge sacrifice. There have been plenty of days when I wanted badly to do nothing but order in Chinese take-out, kick back with a lovely Savignon Blanc to compliment the spice, and watch whatever the heck I wanted on TV while I knitted to my heart's content.

Instead, I did homework with my child, drove him to sports practice, played Raffi yet one more time for him, while I read once more the tired picture book I just read five minutes ago. I've turned down opportunities for traveling with my job and exciting projects and maybe some interesting career opportunities, not because I choose my family, but because the opportunity to see my baby boy step onto a stage to sing a solo to a roomful of strangers while his voice carried forth on the radio was way more exhilarating and incredible and memorable than a 7% increase in salary and a chance to sit on a plane for 3 hours to fly somewhere and sleep in a hotel. I get paid daily in gratitude that arrives in the form of a hug every morning, a kiss on the cheek every night, and remarkable insights into the development of another human being. I'm given the chance to be a guiding force in someone else's life and I have the gift of knowing I truly matter in someone's existence. My impact on the world is tangible. I see it daily in the development of my child.

I understand parenthood isn't for everyone. For a while, I wondered if I was cut out for the job. What I ask for in this post is that if you choose not to be a parent, don't belittle the choice of others to be one. Respect their decision and respect that you will never understand the joys and rewards of parenthood, just as we, the ones who choose to be parents, will never understand your personal joys of childlessness. If we are to preach and live a life of Feminism and equality, that includes accepting that some women want to be mothers and strive to be great at it. This choice of motherhood is just as valid as the choice to not be mothers and focus on one's careers. Feminism is about equality and choice, even if that choice is to be a mom.

Socks anyone?

I have been a stash bustin' fool, in as much as one can be a stash bustin' fool while only knitting socks.

From 2010 Finished Objects

My primary knitting goal for 2010 is to knit down my stash and only buy yarn for a specific project and only if I love it. Now that I've been knitting for five years, I have a better understanding of the yarns and colors I like. Unfortunately, I have not been graced with frugal tastes. I'm dealing with that, but that is another resolution for another year.

I'm using spinning as my motivation for knitting from my stash. Some wonderful fibers have made their way into my home and they are languishing, unspun, feeling sad, in my stash bin. I trying to reduce the yarn in my bins before I make more yarn. I miss spinning terribly, so I've been focusing on speed knitting, working to get through as much of my stash in as short of an amount of time as I can.

From WIPs

Wish me luck!

Answering a prayer

I was going to blog about my knitting and post pictures of my recently finished projects, then I had an encounter today that made it all seem frivolous. For those who follow me on Twitter, you know I saw a homeless man today. Italian had told me the night before about how he spied a homeless man wrapped in a sleeping bag yesterday, and then today, I saw one. I was driving to work when out of the corner of my eye I saw him, huddled in a bus stop, sleeping wrapped in a sleeping bag given out by a local charity this time of year. I muttered a hurried prayer under my breathe that God would show him mercy and provide for him. Then I kept on driving. I dropped Little Clover off at school, drove through the parking lot towards the school exit when the idea to drive to Chik-Fil-A and buy a breakfast sandwich popped into my head.

I dismissed the thought. It was out of my way, I needed to go to work. I didn't want breakfast, why would I go and grab something? It was too much effort to drive and wait in the drive through. Chik-Fil-A will be crowded. Then, I stopped, waiting at the school exit for the street to clear. Here I had just asked God to show the man mercy and I was finding excuses for why I wouldn't be the one to fulfill my prayer. How could I, in my warm car complain about the inconvenience of getting breakfast for someone who needed it? I changed directions and found myself waiting in the drive through line scripting what I would say. As I left the restaurant with protein and carbs to fill his belly and juice to nourish him, I hoped he would still be asleep and I wouldn't have to recite my script. I was ashamed at my selfishness and embarrassed by my car and warm coat. I left the breakfast by his sleeping side, hopped back into my car and wept.

As I drove to work, I remembered something Miep Gies, the woman who helped hide Anne Frank, said. Despite the accolades and awards she won, she always maintained she was no hero and no one special. She believed "People should never think that you have to be a very special person to help those who need you." I hope my small action honors her memory in some small way.

Boundaries

This past year, I found my boundaries. We all have limits, and my limits hit me square across the face in a not to gentle smackdown. The flossing incident was only one small incident. Granted, lots of very happy memories will be stored as an outcome of crashing into my limits. I had the joy of watching Little Clover score three amazing touchdowns in one single football game. I've watched him start to manage his own school workload and the bumps that have come along the way as he learns that the best way to study for a test is not to memorize the answers on the study sheet in the order as they appear on the study sheet. We've attended school functions, watched him sing a stellar solo, and whisked away for a few out of town trips.

I discovered I love writing when I participated in NaNoWriMo, and although I didn't win, I wrote more words than I ever had and loved it. It proved that I did have the capacity to write and although I wrote 30,000 words of utter crap, I wrote at least 100 words (not necessarily consecutively) that are brillant! Our little family got into it together with Little Clover beginning his own novel and Italian throwing writing challenges my way. I also discovered my natural Korean accent coming back. When I say "hello," other native Korean speakers answer me back and continue talking! One day, I will know what they are saying to me and not run away in dead panic.

And I knitted. I can knit Christmas gifts in a time crunch, but I can't mail out Christmas cards at the same time. I can knit for other people solely for three months, but you can be darn sure that the first thing I knit for myself again will come off my needles still smoking from the heat of my fast needles. I'm still a little worn out from the collison with the boundaries in my life, but slowly, I'm refueling, and lots of yarn is involved (but no floss).

News Flash

We interrupt the blog silence with this breaking news story!

Woman injures herself while flossing
The Clover family Thanksgiving vacation was cut prematurely short when Irish Clover suffered a horrific flossing accident. While in the process of flossing her back tooth after enjoying deliciously cooked ribs, the Super Floss she was using broke off in between her teeth. Irish Clover, being a bit slow on the uptake, took another piece of floss to remove the still lodged food item and the newly added lodged piece of floss. Much to her dismay, the second piece of floss snapped and wedged itself with the other.

"Ow!" was her primary response.

The family rallied to her aid, providing a wooden toothpick, which also broke. The toothpick was removed, but was also followed by an additional piece of floss which also broke and stuck. At this point, her family put her to bed. The next morning, they left the relaxing seclusion of the woods and headed back into the city for an emergency dental visit.

"I'm just glad it wasn't me!" were the words of comfort Italian gave Irish Clover when she bemoaned, "Who injures herself while flossing!"

After a few minutes in the dental office, Papa Clover was successful in removing the lodged pieces of floss. Irish Clover returned to the house with a smile, a mildly aching mouth, and a bruise above her lip.

We now return to our regular blogging broadcast schedule.

Beauty of knitters

Every knitter needs a knitting group. Whether the group revolves around an LYS, a guild, a virtual meeting space, or a local non fiber location, the knitting group really is essential. Mine is a compilation of people who knit and happen to live close by. I love this group, and more importantly, I love the people who are in the group. We've been fortunate and have a pretty solid core of people. Some of us have been knitting together for almost five years now. This week, this eclectic group of people became remarkable.

One of our knitters lost her daughter last Wednesday, in the wee hours of the morning. Our knitter was able to hold her daughter as she passed from this existence to the next, a true blessing at a time of loss. To celebrate the life her daughter had and to show our love for our knitter, our group knitted flowers. The flowers are as varied and different as the people in our group. Some knitted tulips, some knitted lilies. There were bright colored yarns and muted colors, sock weight and worsted weight. These flowers were as different and as varied as the life of our knitter and her beautiful daughter. Yet, when put together and viewed with the eye of someone who can see beyond the differences, one can see the beauty and it is lovely.

From 2009 Finished Objects

Football season has arrived

From Family

I wouldn't call Little Clover and I super fans, but we sure do love watching the games, and unlike other Southerners, we restrict ourselves to pro ball only. It is a bit of a shocker, but it works for us. College ball is just a bit too political for my liking. Besides, the politics of little people football is enough for me. Little Clover had a game on Monday, where I was flabbergasted by the horrid behavior of some of the parents. On the drive home, I composed a scathingly nasty blog post chastizing the parents of fifth and sixth graders for their poor sportsmanship and embarassing behavior. I felt much better after the mental post was made. Words may do the most damage to a person, but only if they are let loose on the world.

In knitting news, I finished my rainbow socks a while ago, but never got around to posting the picture.

From 2009 Finished Objects

They are comfy and the Show-Off Stranded pattern was easy to knit. The sock is rather stretchy, yet hugs in all the places a good sock should. This was my first experience with Koigu and oh my, I understand the love people have for this brand. It is squishy. In a lot of ways, it reminded me of Socks That Rock. I wonder if they use the same base yarn.

The pink cotton sweater, Stella, is still coming along. This is a very quick knit and I'm sad I'm coming to the end. With some luck, the weather will stay warm enough for me to get one wear out it before the fall comes. We've had a mild summer in the Delta and the Farmer's Almanac warns of a cold winter ahead. That makes me think of hats and mittens.