Comfort Knitting

"There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort." ~Jane Austen 

Jane had it almost right. My take on it would be:  There is nothing like staying at home knitting for real comfort.  

I have been staying at home a lot lately trying to stay warm.  After all the traveling we've done this year, it feels really good to be housebound.  I love to cook, bake, and read when I have some extended time at home, but for real comfort I love to knit or crochet.  I didn't finish my little Christmas gnome last night, but I did cast on the Scrawl on the Wall Shawl. It is an easy knit, pretty much of a no-brainer except when I have to decide what color to use next. Here is my progress so far: 

Some may turn to food or music or even drink for comfort, but just give me needles or a hook and some yarn and that's all the comfort I need.

Obsession

"The creative habit is like a drug. The particular obsession changes, but the excitement, the thrill of your creation lasts. " ~Henry Moore


Was it only two days ago that I was trying to follow the advice of Euripides to finish what I started before beginning something new?  I have made good progress on the afghan begun in 2008, but I certainly haven't finished it.  And yet today I joined two new groups on Ravelry in order to participate in their ongoing projects.  One group is knitting a shawl from scrap yarn and the other is making a different Christmas decoration every month through December of this year. As I was gathering yarn and needles and hooks and patterns to begin making the shawl and a Christmas gnome, my husband inquired why I didn't finish the things I had already begun before starting on these new projects.  That would be much more efficient he observed.  He just doesn't understand the excitement of beginning a new creative project. When the obsession to create overtakes me, I am helpless. I certainly am glad I didn't make any resolutions this year about controlling my knit and crochet addiction.  Now, I have to get back to that sweet little gnome.  He needs some eyes and a beard.  Pictures tomorrow--no time tonight. 

The Garden in Winter

There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it.  ~Minnie Aumonier

Here in southeastern Arizona, we are generally very fortunate in winter to have relatively warm temperatures and sunny skies while much of the rest of the country suffers with snow and ice.  Lately, however, it has been cold and gloomy often enough to make me dream of balmy breezes and tropical isles. The weather forecast keeps promising us a warming trend, but I have yet to feel it in actuality.  I have been wearing sweatshirts and sweaters and a double layer of socks indoors and only venturing outside when absolutely necessary.  My only solace has been the blooming paperwhite narcissus in my kitchen garden window.

Today I decided I had hibernated long enough and took a stroll through our back yard searching for some signs of life and beauty in the midst of winter.  I didn't find anything in bloom, but the mesquite is still green and the deciduous trees have a stark beauty as they lift their bare limbs to the sky. 

The garden is resting, but I detected the faint sound of music from  the trees as the wind blew through them giving me hope for an eventual concert in the spring. 
 

Looking for Closure in My Craft Closet

Do not plan for ventures before finishing what's at hand.  ~Euripides

In January of 2008, I began making a crocheted block a month in a group on Ravelry--an online knit and crochet community.  The idea being that by December, 2008, I would have 12 blocks that I could make into an afghan.  All went according to plan until October and then, for some reason I can no longer remember, I put the project in my craft closet and began another project, and another project, and another project. Some people call this affliction of starting one project before completing another "startitis".  There is a certain pleasure in beginning a new project--a thrill of anticipation in the planning stages before the project is actually begun.  There have been no problems; no mistakes have been made; no rethinking has been necessary.  There is just that rosy dream of what it will look like when it is finished.  And when problems or boredom do set in, it is a simple matter of setting the project aside to be finished "someday" and starting another one.  It's like a shot of adrenalin.

Towards the end of December, 2010, I joined another crochet block a month group on Ravelry to make an afghan by the end of 2011. (You'd think I would have learned better in the intervening 3 years!) As I impatiently awaited the delivery of the yarn I ordered to make this new afghan, I remembered the half-finished one from 2008 and decided to work on it until the new yarn arrived.  I am making the 2011 afghan for my little grandson and really want to finish it in time to send it to him for his second Christmas.  I have this superstitious feeling that if I don't finish the project begun in 2008, I will never finish the new one for my grandson.  I am happy to report that I have now finished all 12 blocks and have started on the first of 6 more that I have decided need to be added to make a good-sized afghan for my guest bedroom.  I have even begun joining the blocks that are already finished.  See for yourself:

October, 2008 Block

November, 2008 Block

December, 2008 Block

Afghan Under Construction

Euripides advice above is timely for me. I haven't achieved closure yet, but it is in sight now.

Why I Blog

"My blog continues to give me sooooooooooo much pleasure too, I love coming here and wittering away alongside my pictures!! It provides me with a hugely valuable means of memory-preserving which is so precious, . . . and of course it's all there for my Little People to visit and enjoy in the future."    --Lucy, blogging on Attic24

Back last August, I was pondering whether blogging was for me and if so what my purpose for blogging should be.  I thought and thought and even did some research on it, but never could come to a decision so, typically, I did nothing.  Then I suddenly had an epiphany after reading the above on one of my favorite blogs--Attic24.  I love blogging and all it involves: design; layout; choosing a topic; composing a post; taking photos or choosing them from ones already taken.  Blogging is a creative outlet for me. In addition, it is an electronic journal of my memories that I can share with my family and friends.

For 16 years, I have kept a written journal.  Actually, it is now 15 or 16 journals.  My writings in those journals is deeply personal, however, and not to be shared.  In fact, I have requested that they be burned upon my death. They aren't a potential tell-all blockbuster about my life--just my random thoughts and musings.  Now, with my blog, I have a means of sharing my life with others that I am comfortable with.

More regular posting is another habit I would like to nurture and develop this year. 

How Long Does It Take to Form a New Habit?

“People are so worried about what they eat between Christmas and the New Year, but they really should be worried about what they eat between the New Year and Christmas”  Author Unknown

 

So today I have been trying my best to begin a healthier eating habit.  I've been reading a book entitled:  Dr. Neal Barnard's Program for Reversing Diabetes:  The Scientifically Proven System for Reversing Diabetes without Drugs.  The diet he proposes is vegan and I never really imagined myself following such a restricted regimen.  However, the more I read the more I am willing to give it a try.  I really feel the motivation to reduce my dependence on drugs to control my diabetes.  I also need to jump start my metabolism and loose more weight.

As for the answer to my original question:  How long does it take to form a new habit?  According to answer.com, it generally takes up to 30 days to form a new habit and this depends greatly on the ability and will of the person trying to establish that new habit and it requires constant repetition of the new behavior.  Am I up for all this?  Time will tell.  Next Christmas is a long way off.

A New Year

Many people look forward to the new year for a new start on old habits.  ~Author Unknown

I hope I am able to begin some new habits this year.  Certainly not all my habits are bad or unworthy of me, but I do need to develop at least a few new ones.  Habits that will give me an even happier, healthier, and more creative life.  I shan't commit myself by making resolutions right now, but I am exploring possibilities at this time.  Perhaps posting today is the first step in a new direction.  Meanwhile, here are a few special images of my Person of the Year for 2010:

 

Such a happy boy!

Cutie Pie

What did you say?

Grandma knit me a sweater and hat

My First Christmas