In everyday life, we constantly make decisions. Some of them may be of minor importance (Cappuccino or tea?), others have considerable impact (Which school to choose for my child?). Often, there is little time to reflect. Whenever we do have time to think about a given issue, the sheer number of options, and the respective consequences, can seem overwhelming. And of course, there’s always the others and their needs to consider: we’re responsible for our kids, our families, friends or colleagues. What we do impacts their lives as well as our own.
I was brought up by well-meaning parents who did their best to raise me to be a ‚good girl‘ – my main objective being not to be a burden to anyone. As far as I know, they succeeded, for even now I often find myself putting others‘ interests above my own, although more often than not this goes against my gut feeling. It’s a behavioral pattern I find annoyingly difficult to ditch.
I’d like to encourage all of you who are in this predicament because of that ‚good girl‘ education: Walk that thin line between self-preservation and full-blown ego trip. Always dare to speak your mind when you feel you must, without being afraid to annoy someone. More power to my courageous friend A. who did just that at a very intense parents‘ meeting last week!
But on to more practical matters. The last few weeks, I’ve been crocheting like a madwoman, chasing deadlines. I actually gave myself RSI with this project:
Admittedly, I used a very thick, coarse sisal string and a way too thin hook so the work would be dense enough for the bag not to have any holes or gaps. And of course, I was under some time pressure as my friend Ch.’s 50th birthday party was approaching. In retrospect, I needn’t have bothered because I ended up not going – courtesy of the German railway system, but that’s another story. By all accounts, I missed a great party. But the bag got there anyway – the German mail still working satisfactorily – and my friend seems happy with it. I started out making a chain and went on by crocheting DC in the round, always working on the back loops so the work would be nice and flat. The strap’s a long chain and SC in all the stitches on both sides of the chain. For the flowers, I doubled up regular cotton yarn. As my hand is better now, I’ve moved on to crochet seashells for the upcoming School Bazaar:
I have two more WIPs – one’s a scarf, the other’s a blanket, both will be gifts to sweet relatives, both come in variations of that awesome ripple pattern I’ve come to like so much. It has a meditative quality to it that I enjoy. If WordPress will let me, I’ll include photos.
So this will, one day soon hopefully, be The Blanket ;-). A huge project for me, and I’m on the clock there – my sweet niece’s birthday coming up soon enough. Will I make it until the beginning of July…?
Will show the scarf soon – I’m using a beautiful, fluffy merino mix yarn in mesmerizing shades of blue and green.
Have a beautiful rest of May, everyone!
A Stitch is a stitch 