Ten on Tuesday - 10 Things You Did This Weekend

It's been such a nice long weekend. I did not hang curtains or tackle any of the other projects around the house.  Here is what I did do.

1. Softball - Lots.  Spring and summer in our house means softball weekends.  Don't ask how our team did.  It wasn't pretty.
2. Shopped - when its too windy and cold to enjoy the softball... smart girls go shopping.  Especially when they have a child whose summer plans are more business than casual.
3. Had a good laugh. Miss M loves to dance to the music and sometimes she gets a little too excited and nearly falls over. I dare you to keep a straight face when that happens.
4. Went to a fair - after hearing about Viva Vienna from friends for years we decided to go.  Fun!
5. Tried a fried Oreo - I would never buy them because I can feel the pounds land on my hips and my arteries clog just thinking of them but I ate half of one and it was just as ridiculous as you'd think.  Which is to say obscenely yummy but sooo sweet.
6. Watched a movie - we rented Seven Psychos on demand and it was weird but enjoyable.
7. Went to sleep early - funny how this seems like such a good thing when we get older.  Would've been better paired with a nap.
8. Got my car serviced - ouch!  It was an expensive one.  At least this time when the light went on I had a coupon. Small yay.
9. Washed a wee bit of laundry - not much but I gotta keep up or I'm sunk.
10. Enjoyed some really nice family time.

ECF - Buggies at the Harness Shop Edition

Ten on Tuesday – Ten Reasons Why You Knit

Its birthday season around here so last weekend my siblings and I got together with our respective families. I can share more about our mini-getaway later this week. For now, here’s a picture of our birthday kids. From left to right they are Stinkerbelle, my brother Micah, and my sister Jessica.



Two of them are celebrating birthdays today. My sister, Jessica is celebrating a BIG one and Stinkerbelle is turning 14 but for her, every birthday is a BIG one. My brother will celebrate on Friday.
 
Coincidently, they would all love to be receiving handknits from me, today or any day which gives me a nice segue into today’s Ten on Tuesday. They are a few of the reasons why I knit. My brother recently wore through a pair of gloves I made for him a number of years ago, my sister gifted me with yarn and spinnables at Rhineback a while back with a request that I turn them into socks, and Stinkette has a list of stuff she’d like me to make for her. At the top of that list are socks and fingerless gloves.

1. So my family is the first reason why I knit. I like making stuff for them and they love to wear it.
2. I like knitting – just that
3. Knitting relaxes me. When I was a brand new knitter I read a book called Zen and the Art of Knitting or something similar. It spoke to me.
4. I like stuff the way I like it. I often see a sweater that I’d like to have but… I’d rather have it in another color, or a less scratchy wool, or a bigger size, or if it was longer, shorter, yadda, yadda, yadda… If I knit it myself I can make it just right.
5. Knitting satisfies my creative side. I used to paint and sculpt. Now I knit.
6. Knitting help me turn TV time into productive time. I feel less guilty about time spent on the couch if I’ve made progress with some knitting.
7. I really love wearing knitted socks. I’m wearing some right now. They are warm and fun and make me smile.
8. I love the knitting community. Being a knitter has opened doors for me that I never even knew were there. I go places I never imagined and I experience things that I never expected.
9. Knitty friends – this is slightly different. It’s not just the stuff I’ve learned but the people I’ve met. I really, really, love the friends that knitting has given me.
10. The connection to the past. I began knitting as a tribute to my grandmother. Since then I’ve lost many more and I have knitting memories for many of them – how my dad loved that I was using his mother’s needles, the chemo cap I made for my mother in law, the sock I made for my grandfather that he told me he loved over and over again.

So Happy Birthday to Stinkette, and Jess, and  Micah.  I love you all and I will knit for you all again soon. Because I really love it!