Mothering at Mid-Career: Unknitting

There are some undertakings so overwhelming that, if you knew too much about them before diving in, you might never embark on them. Having children, for example, is way too daunting if you think about the time and money spent, the income and sleep lost — you'd never do it if you drew up a detailed budget beforehand. Writing a dissertation — or a book — is a similarly unmanageable project that might cow anyone who really thought hard about how long it would take for how little reward. Sometimes I think the academy, or the human race, reproduces itself only — to borrow Samuel Johnson's quip about second marriages — through the triumph of hope over experience.

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A post about knitting, sort of

After blogging at this site for well over a year, I start to fear that I'll repeat myself. And, sure enough, when I sat down to write a post about knitting, I discovered that I'd done it before. That earlier post was a pep talk of sorts, a reminder to myself that I need to make time for things I love that aren't directly related to my work. Sometimes that can be hard, since one of my greatest pleasures, reading novels, is indeed directly related to my work and therefore hardly "counts" as a leisure activity.

But these days reminding myself to knit seems like less of an issue — what I need, it seems, is a reminder to finish what I start. Or, perhaps even better, to start what I can finish.

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Finished Objects

I was away over the weekend for a fabulous conference in Charlotte, NC. Like many of my fellow conference-goers, I'd never actually left the airport in Charlotte before--many flights from here seem to be routed through there, though, so the airport itself is pretty familiar. (I'd visited Charlotte some years before by car, but that was different.)

It was nice to get out of the airport. The conference was great--full of smart people saying interesting things about wonderful books. As always, I came back energized and excited to keep up with the work that I presented--though, as always, I'm also swamped with all kinds of other things and so will probably not get back to it right away. So that's not the finished thing.

But traveling gave me the opportunity to get a good bit of knitting done (knitting! remember that?), and I finished a good-sized project, a lace shawl. Here it is, knit out of gorgeous silk-cashmere that Mariah gave me for Christmas. I ran out of yarn before I ran out of pattern, so if you see other shawls that claim to be the same pattern (Swallowtail shawl) they will look different, but I'm still delighted with it.


Another thing came to an end this weekend and that was my column for Literary Mama. I'm in a little bit of denial about this one. I've been writing for LM since 2003, when it launched. At first I wrote a column called Midlife Mama (hmm, sound familiar?) but after a year I began writing Children's Lit Book Group, and I continued to write that column either bimonthly or (briefly) monthly for five years. I'm sorry to see it go. I'm still working on children's literature, and I still have a lot to say about it, but right now my time and therefore my energies are directed elsewhere. Still, I will miss it.

Finished Object

One nice thing about the snow day was the increased knitting time it provided. Well, for a while. At a certain point my hands just got too cold. But before that happened, I managed to finish the knitting on a new bag, and then when we got power back I had the time and inclination to sew it up and line it. I am still not very good at hand-sewing, and I couldn't find the power cord for Mariah's sewing machine, so there are seams here that could be neater. Still and all, it was a very fun knit--with yarn I got from a friend who brought home a huge haul from the Goodwill, and was happy to share!--and will be a useful addition to my spring wardrobe.

Which I can apparently break out today. Nick, whose last snow day was just the day before yesterday, went to school today without a coat; it was over 40F before 7 am, and is predicted to go up to 63F today, and 79F by Sunday. Welcome to spring in Virginia!

The new yoga?

The New York Times discovers knitting.

On Knitting...

I haven't actually had much time to knit lately, but I do think about it...

The Week that Was

It's been a busy week. As June comes to an end camps kick into gear, plans for our summer trip take on more urgency, and there are various finishing-up things to do after the end of the academic year. Here are a few highlights:

• I turned in my annual report. Early!
• I met with Claudia for coffee and discovered that she grew up in my neighborhood. I knew Richmond was a small town, but I hadn't quite realized how small.
• I re-knit something I'd knit in March. It is oddly satisfying to rip out an entire garment (OK, just a stole, but still) and re-knit it so that it actually works. I did some more ripping out (of something as yet unfinished) yesterday, and that was satisfying, too. I realize I like the process of knitting enough that ripping and re-knitting is not so bad.
• There's a lesson here, I think.
  
• I finished a long article on fantasy literature and education that's been percolating for a while, and got friends to read it on a ridiculously tight deadline. Good friends. One more pass through the revision mill and I can send it out.
• Friday night I got to go to a free "art-tasting" at the Visual Arts Center and made a fabulous glass pendant. Now I want to buy a soldering iron so I can make more!
• The four of us went to see Wall*E yesterday--what a sweet movie!
  
• Went to a "Unite for Change" Obama party last night and was blown away by the engaged, thoughtful, articulate group of recent high school grads there. They, almost as much as the candidate, give me hope about this election.
• Heard the rough cut of some of the music we recorded earlier this month; now I can't wait for the rest of it!
  

Finished Objects

As the weather warms up I probably do less knitting than usual, but I've still finished two things lately, and I love them both. The first, the "scribble lace" scarf (on the left), is for the silent auction at Nick's school; the other, the clapotis (is this perhaps the most famous free pattern on the internet?) is for me. I've got a couple of other projects brewing, and with the basketball playoffs going strong and baseball getting started I do have a little more TV time* than usual, so I may get to them!

*baseball is more conducive to knitting than basketball; I rely heavily on instant replay if I'm knitting while watching basketball.

One more perk

I stopped at WEBS yesterday.

Twice, in fact. The first time I had less than an hour, and I couldn't make up my mind that quickly. I had barely made it all the way around the store by the time I had to leave.

The second time I had Mariah with me and she offered sage advice and good counsel. Don't buy anything you can buy at home (unless it's a lot cheaper). Don't worry about what you'll make with it if you love it. No, you don't want that one. No, nor that one either.

In the end I was pretty restrained. But it was well worth the trip.

belatedly

I think I've posted an Easter reprise post for the last couple of (no, three!) years, so I've had it in mind to do this year, too, but the week has just flown by. So, belatedly, I give you Easter.

• As usual, the best houseguests ever. All four of them, and only one emergency room visit! (Eli hit his head on the kitchen radiator, Easter Monday--two stitches and a good story.)
• The cooking and baking started Friday, and never really stopped. Highlights included hot cross buns, birthday cake, tempura and sushi, and lemon-cornmeal poundcake. Photos below of Easter dinner. (The tempura and sushi, which were also lovely, got eaten as soon as made, and therefore were not photographed.)
  
• The weather ranged from raw and chilly to warm and sunny. No snow (thankfully--we did that last year), and no rain, either. Lots of flowers.
• Mariah had solos for Palm Sunday and Maundy Thursday, and she and I had a duet on Good Friday. The Easter music was fabulous, too.
  
• Mariah heard from one college right before Easter, and another two just after--so far, things are looking good, but I'm not saying more yet as there are still three to go.
• Caroline got to talk to folks about Mama, Ph.D., which was a fun bonus event. (Go, pre-order it now!)
• I finished one wrap (top photo) in time to mail it off for an Easter-birthday present for my mother-in-law, and another (second photo) in time to wear it myself, Easter morning. Hurray for quick knits!

And now for the food:

Mushroom Gallette, from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. A perfect vegan entree.

Nigella's Lemon Linguine, which is definitely not vegan but very, very, tasty.

Roasted asparagus, avocado salad. Mmmm.

Rosemary Filoncino. Mmm, mmm.

Lemon-Cornmeal poundcake, from The Cornbread Gospels, served with sliced strawberries. There was whipped cream with it, too.

And there you have it, the Easter feast. And feast we did--for several days afterwards, as well.

In lieu of content

I've been too busy reading lately to do much new writing, and the blog is suffering. So, in lieu of new words, I give you pictures! When I can't read any more, I find I can still knit--so I have been doing plenty of knitting the past few months. Here are a few new(ish) finished objects.

First, the Christmas knitting. Much less than last year, but still a reasonable amount. Over there somewhere (I am fighting this layout and it is winning), a cabled neckwarmer for Mariah. Below (or somewhere else), slippers for my sister (blue and cream) and brother (red and gray).

Then I knitted these (those, you know, over there) mittens for Mark (like the slippers, they are felted to make them extra-sturdy and warm). Then Christmas was over, and I did a little knitting for myself: the blue ladder shawl (which I just finished last night, and wore today), and the lovely party lace scarf, my first venture into beaded knitting. (That one took me almost a year, but I didn't work on it from about last February until the end of December.) I've just started another shawl (again with the shawls!) tonight.

Thank goodness for knitting.

various

I am without laptop, which might fall under the category of things to be thankful for, or otherwise. At the moment it's feeling rather otherwise (I'm using an old slow one that doesn't have all my stuff on it, and I'm a little worried about that stuff), but I have to say, going most of the week without laptop was actually good for my back and shoulders. A fact worth remembering when the laptop returns. (I am still saying "when" and not "if.")

We are all just back from a great visit with my family--all the siblings, spouses, and kids under one roof. I think my parents survived the onslaught. They have (barely) enough room for us all--we are thirteen, plus two dogs, when we all get together--and the stove, oven, microwave, and dishwasher all held up.

I made the garlicky cranberry relish, crusts for two pies (Mom filled them: one apple, one hickory), sweet potato casserole (with hickory nuts rather than pecans), and this pear-upside-down cake (that was for Friday). And then I contributed to various other dishes; my sister and I are particularly good now at tag-teaming on whatever needs doing in the kitchen. I don't think it's bragging to say the food was great--it always is when we all get together.

And then there was some knitting, too. I finished this sweater, which has been my obsession all month--so now, I can work on Christmas knitting. I think I'll scale back a little from last year, when about half my recipients got knitted items, but I'll still work up a few things before the end of the month.


So we're home now and the laundry is already done and there was enough in the pantry to make these muffins (if you make them, cut the sugar in half, double the apples, and leave out the raisins and walnuts if your family doesn't like them), and it looks like I can manage dinner out of the pantry as well. So all in all I'm pretty thankful.

Finished Object

The baseball playoffs have been really good for my knitting. I finished up a baby sweater the other day that is on its way to New York for my friend Abby's new little one. This is a famous pattern, apparently--Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Jacket. The surprise is that it actually makes a jacket--when you're finished knitting, you have a thing that looks like, well, nothing much.

Then you do a not-terribly-complicated origami fold, sew up two seams (hint: they are across the shoulders), put on some buttons, and voila! A jacket! It really does feel a little bit like magic.

I knit this one out of sock yarn (Patons Kroy Stripes, if anyone cares) with little needles, and it's still way bigger than the pattern says it will be. Somehow I have to learn to tighten up my gauge; I knit everything bigger than the pattern. When I'm felting--or knitting for a baby, who will grow into almost any size--that's fine, but sometimes it matters. Then again, I could just keep knitting scarves, shawls, baby things, and felted stuff, and then I'll be ok.

another finished object

I've been knitting during the baseball playoffs, which I find is a very satisfying way to pass the time. I don't really have a team in it this year (sigh: biggest end-of-season collapse in history) so I don't feel compelled to watch every second, which makes for good knitting time. Mostly I'm working on a (to me) somewhat complicated lace pattern that involves actually paying attention to the knitting, but I also did a very quick knit to felt (or, technically, full), and I finished it a couple of days ago. Now it's all felted and dry and it is my new fall purse. This is the "bag of many pockets" from the book Felt Frenzy. I knitted it from Patons Soy Wool Stripes, a blend of wool and soy that I really really enjoyed--I'm delighted to discover that I have a skein leftover to play with. (The non-stripey section is Cascade 220 Heathers, a worsted-weight wool, for anyone who cares.) This only took me a couple of evenings to knit, and then twenty minutes in the washing machine to shrink it down to size. It has pockets for my cell phone, keys, and pens, and is altogether a wonderful thing.

Finished Objects

I built two desks yesterday. They came in large flat boxes from Target and they had instructions like this: "Attach the two support posts (D) to top side of the top board (E), making sure the small sheets with holes which on top of the post should be facing toward the back side as shown."

Yeah.

Mark said, 'This must be hard for you--you're so text based. I just look at the drawings and figure it out."

But the drawings showed the "small sheets" (if that's what they were) pointing, um, right. Or maybe left. I get a little confused "reading" pictures.

Nonetheless the desks are built--I triumphed! And once I get the remnants of the boxes off the floor I may even be able to arrange the room.

In other news, I finished a knitting project the other day. It has instructions like "*ssk, yo, repeat from * to last stitch," which make perfect sense to me.

I made this

I finished this shawl a while ago but I kept forgetting to take it into the Yarn Lounge to show it off, and I always like their FO shots better than mine. So now you can see it. I've got several projects going now and I'm hoping I'll finish one or two on my upcoming trip to Kyoto (!)--but I'll also make sure to take this along. It's perfect for air-conditioning.

knitted wire bracelet

This is a gift for a dear friend's daughter, the first of our cohort to graduate from high school. It's knitted out of 28-gauge wire with glass beads strung randomly on the wire. Easy and fun.

Finished Object

I've been reading up a storm--more details on that in the other blog. But I also finished the big knitting project I've been working on since February. Wore it Friday, in fact.

Details, for those who care:
The pattern is Marilyn's Not-So-Shrunken Cardigan, from The Garter Belt. (Also on the designer's (Wendy Bernard's) website, Knit and Tonic.) Slight modifications in that I knit garter stitch borders instead of hemming the bottom and sleeves. It's knit top-down, in the round, on a circular needle for the body and double-pointed needles for the sleeves. The ruffle is crocheted on when it's all done.

The yarn is Blue Sky Alpaca's Alpaca Silk, in blue. I think I used about six skeins. In fact, I have a skein left over, and it's just so soft, I've got to use it for something lovely. But not right now.

St. Patrick's Day baking

I guess most people drink (green beer?) for St. Patrick's Day, but I bake. On top, Nigella's chocolate guinness cake; below, easy Irish soda bread (no caraway seeds).

Our neighbors have a St. Patrick's Day party every year, which gives me an excuse to bake. (We won't discuss how most weekends I have no such excuse, but bake anyway. I have started to notice how much butter I've been buying and I've decided...not to notice any more.)

A few notes from the weekend:

• the cooking class Nick took is paying off. He made chocolate chip-banana muffins this morning. Now if he could only do so without waking me up first!
• it is actually possible to watch basketball for over eight hours straight. I'm not sure it's a good idea, but it's possible.
• knitting while watching basketball improves both activities.
• I am working on a sweater. I last made a sweater with sleeves about twenty years ago, for Mark, before I had heard of the sweater curse. (I'm not the Libby cited in the article, but my story is similar.) Mark's sweater was too short and too wide, and the sleeves were too long--it might have been a nice fit on an orangutan, but it really didn't work for him. Still, he wore it once or twice and only recently asked if he could give it to Goodwill. So anyway this sweater is for me, it will have sleeves, and I am just a little nervous about it.
  
• we got to watch the VCU game at the party. The hometown crowd got very excited as regulation ended and we had tied it. You haven't lived until you've watched a hometown basketball game on TV with about a dozen ten-year-old boys. I think my hearing will come back eventually.
• having baked the cake there are still five bottles of Guinness left in the fridge. Somehow I don't think they'll go to waste.
  

slightly cockeyed cupcakes

I started knitting these cupcakes from One Skein before Christmas, as a gift for my foodie nephew. And then I just couldn't stop! He got four, then I made another one and gave it to a friend who seemed to need some whimsy, and then...well, actually, then I was commissioned for four more! That was fun. So here they are, a little off-kilter but very amusing. Each one takes me 1-2 hours to knit (someone really skilled could certainly do it more quickly) and they use up odd bits of yarn so nicely. Funny, I very rarely make real cupcakes, for all the baking I do; somehow they seem to be all about the icing, and I'd rather just have cake. But knitted cupcakes, now they are satisfying.