Moving My Cheese

I've recently read a book recommended by a dear friend. It was short, sweet, and definitely a good read. I will not say it was life changing, but I will say it was life affirming and life confirming, as it was another layer of confirmation that I am headed in the right direction. The book is called Who Moved My Cheese? and I highly recommend it. In short it is a parable about dealing with changes in your life, whether it be work, education, or personal. The ideas could be applied to anything. I will not spoil any part of the book, but it is a quick read (I read it in a day). It is a book I know I will read again.

It was quite timely, as my life has been full of changes in the past year or so. Changes in jobs, relationships, children, locations. Changes in how and why I craft. This book helped me to see I was already on the right path, and was already making good choices. My perspective on dealing with change and how I view it was what was affected the most. It made me stop and consider how I view change, whether it is good, bad, ugly, planned, or unexpected. 

I am and have always been a big picture kind of person, having the practice and ability to put my current situation into a bigger picture and gaining a perspective in context of other things that are occurring. A bigger picture has always helped me see that things in my life are nearly always temporary and things that happen are nearly always things that are transitory and can be overcome or lived through. Who Moved My Cheese? helped me see that yes, things are temporary, but that changes will always come and my attitude in how I deal with any change can help me grow or it can help me wither and stagnate. 

Some big changes that were quite challenging and hard and I haven't like to talk about include the total disintegration of my marriage and the loss of my home. More changes in recent years came in the form of transitioning from a well-educated happy stay-at-home mom to a well-educated struggling working mom. I was fortunate to find decent work, but the process was a challenge. All is good and will continue to be so. My family is good and we have a lot to be thankful for. In the process of all that change, my crafting life went into a hibernation of sorts, a kind of unplanned sabbatical. A necessary trimming of everything that was not necessary to bring calm and stability to my family occurred. 

Now, just now, in 2020 (and don't they say hindsight is 20/20?), I am finding a measure of calm that comes with new dreams and new directions. In the middle of this pandemic. In the middle of this quarantine. In the middle of all these life altering historical events. All things cancelled. Travel restrictions in my state, country, and globally. Mask wearing in public places. Most shopping places either closed, or highly altered. Everyone is zooming and facetiming and staying connected in the most innovative ways.....but all this is a rabbit trail. 

In the fall I will start yet another new journey, as I will begin another level in my education as a graduate student finally. I consider this an investment in myself, and no one can comprehend my level of excitement. 

I hope above all things that my children know they are loved and that I would do anything to be the best example to them. I hope to show them strength and vulnerability. I hope they see determination and contentment in me, and also the ability to adapt and change as needed. I hope they learn love and grace in dealing with each other and the world. 

Music and crafting and good friends and family have been paramount to my healing and growing process. Music and crochet are still my main escapes and coping mechanisms, and I am totally fine with that. One change since last year is that I have added music to my crafting adventures, odd as that sounds. It is often imperfect and spontaneous, but it is real and it is me. 

So much of my current life feels like coming out of a fog and finding all sorts of things that I have somehow missed along the way. These are not regrets or disappointments. They are small joys. New music. New books. New friends. All joys. I do not live a lifestyle of regret or think back to the past and wish things had been or could have been different. I am glad of all that has happened so far, good and bad, the joys and the heartbreaks. All good. All me. 

Don't laugh, but here is a song that is fairly new to me, but I love it. 

Carnival

Natalie Merchant

Well, I've walked these streets
A virtual stage, it seemed to me
Makeup on their faces
Actors took their places next to me

Well, I've walked these streets
In a carnival, of sights to see
All the cheap thrill seekers vendors and the dealers
They crowded around me

Have I been blind have I been lost
Inside myself and my own mind
Hypnotized, mesmerized by what my eyes have seen?

Well, I've walked these streets
In a spectacle of wealth and poverty
In the diamond markets the scarlet welcome carpet
That they just rolled out for me

And I've walked these streets
In the madhouse asylum they can be
Where a wild-eyed misfit prophet
On a traffic island stopped and he raved of saving me

Have I been blind, have I been lost
Inside myself and my own mind
Hypnotized, mesmerized…

Source: LyricFind

I will close with this, me singing to you. And I do ask myself:

Have I been blind?
Have I been lost?
Inside myself and my own mind?
Hypnotized, mesmerized
By what my eyes have seen
Have I been wrong?
Have I been wise?
To shut my eyes and play along?

Have I been wrong? (lots of times)
Have I been wise? (not always)
Have I been strong (yes)

These are songs from my KittenYarn page on facebook,  You can get to my main KittenYarn facebook page here. 

sending you blessings and peace and much love

2017 Pics

just a few pics from 2017, including some custom orders and some from the farmers market

Fun Projects

Here are a couple of fun projects I've been working on. First is a baby blanket and dress set. The second is a set of cat and bear cotton bath mitts.

Buckle Up and Enjoy the Ride

A Valentine Bear for my daughter wearing a sweater I made for it. 

Bear buckles up for safety when he goes on trips.

We're cheering for the marching band at all their competitions.

So proud of all the band's hard work.

The band is on their way to the state marching band competition. This is my oldest daughter holding the sax. She loves band! (she takes after me) Good luck, Tiger Band!!

This is a blanket I made years ago for my husband's Nana. After she passed away, it came back to our house with us. It is very warm and snuggly. Here one of my daughters snuggles with her green bunny and our grey kitty. Being 11 is hard work.

A whole bunch of handmade dishcloths, ready for a craft fair in my hometown.

This is the result of a whole lot of hours of work, and just a small amount of the items I took to sell. It went pretty well. My favorite part of that weekend was seeing and hugging friends and spending the weekend with my mom and dad. I got to watch movies with mom and have some good talks with my dad. Good times

Getting Ready for Fall Craft Shows

 Lots of things I've been working on lately :)

I'll be selling again this year at the Christmas in Marion Arts & Crafts Show in Marion, KY on Saturday October 17, from 9-4

Untangling

Last couple of days I was happy because I found a cute project to use up some vintage yellow yarn I had been given. One thing led to another and I needed to find a ball of grey yarn that I *knew* I had just seen in my basket a couple of days ago. The result is that this morning I am using the quiet time before all the kids get up to completely empty my yarn basket and see what's in the bottom. I am ending up spending some time rewinding small balls of yarn and untangling others. Some day I'll realize that this is a process I need to do more regularly, haha. Nearly to the bottom of the basket now and still haven't found the grey. The good news is that I'll get to go through my yarn shelves and project bags to see if that's where it ended up :).

I've always found untangling things and unknotting things and oddly calming activity. Going to have to credit my dad for that. When he was in the navy he learned all kinds of knots. Combine that with lots of patience and determination and you have someone who is good at teaching not only knots, but unknotting and detangling.

edit-- actually, now that I'm at the bottom of the basket, I'm realizing that the next step is the couch, which always ends up being a resting place for yarn, yarn project bags, finished objects, etc. I do *try* to clean up the couch at least once a week, and sometimes twics (don't fail over from fainting), but it always ends up with more yarn stuff by the end of the next week.

untangled (yes, untangled!!) yarn basket...hint of couch (you're next!) behind that

basket find-- crocheted heart, ready to be sewn onto *something*--proud I put it back in the basket and am continuing on my original quest, to find the grey yarn, instead of stopping this untangling to make something cute to sew the heart on to (hopefully, I'll find the grey soon, will finish current project and will get to make something for the little heart) haha

(and yes...I always stop the yarning to feed the children, wash the dishes, take out the trash, hug the children, etc etc. I even get outdoors in the sunshine every day, even if it's just to go to the mailbox, water the kitties/flowers, and feed the cats---all that counts as going outside)

All the Pretty Things

a few of my recent creations.....I just love all the colors! These were all fun, fairly quick projects. The little purses are not quite done, as I'm looking for some fabric to line them with. They were so fun to make that I'll likely be making more little purses in different colors and sizes.

The only other exciting craft happening around here is that the little shop where I help out, Raggle Taggle, is moving to a larger location.....in another city! I won't be able to work in the shop like I have been, but I'll still help with crochet classes. It's been a fun season, to work in a little shop like that. I've had a relaxing summer so far, and I've spent quite a lot of time at home, doing things with the family. The dowtown Saturday farmer's market is still calling my name, so I might still do that. The market runs all the way through October, so I have plenty of time to join in if I want to :). We'll see....I'm really enjoying time home with the babies (though they're not babies anymore!). My oldest will be in high school marching band this year, so I'll likely be going to all kinds of marching band competitions, in addition to lots of gymnastics meets :)

Some recent family pictures (sure do love these people)--