family

72 hours.

| Betsy

Here’s a photo of the view from my window as I was leaving the beach on Sunday. It was a sunrise that was quick and fast and steady despite the wind whipping at the trees.

We said our goodbyes and headed back north, thick in the rain that was our constant companion for over 400 miles. Looking at this photo and knowing that in just 72 short hours someone I love very much (who was looking at it, too) was going to be in the hospital makes it even more beautiful. And more delicate and more raw and more sacred.

Why is it universal that we all don’t know how much we love someone or something until it is challenged or lost? Why is it universal that we all know this and remind ourselves of it, but still, the shock of possible loss strikes us nearly powerless? Is it that, in the interim, we forget the sanctity and beauty of love and closeness?

Do we try and ignore the inevitable to keep up with our daily chores? Do we disregard it because to feel the fragility of everything would weigh too heavy and too dear?

Things like these are what I wonder waiting for updates and reports from doctors. I wonder why the acuity of life is only heightened when loss is on the line. And if there is a way to contain that sanctity and hold it close always without the weight of sadness and positive thinking and fingers crossed.

the world’s tiniest kitchen, 70s style.

| Betsy

1. Weird things happen when you’re at your parents house for the holidays and you start looking through old drawers and closets.

2. After finding my old dollhouse, I decided that a tiny kitchen needed to be built. You can tell the actual size by looking at the edge of the alarm clock on the right. And the “nut bowl” is actually the top of an acorn.

3. I really, really wanted that little plastic lady to be able to sit properly in that chair….then I realized that without knees, this was going to be a fool’s errand.

More late night childhood excavation over here on Flickr.

Want to win a free copy of Knitting for Good!? Go check out the details and enter the December Thrifty & Stylish Gift Wrapping challenge over at Craftster!

Also, the song Prelude for Time Feelers by Eluvium is so beautiful you just might keep it on repeat.

new things, old things.

| Betsy

I have this poster by Nikki McClure above on my front door. I love its simplicity mixed with its directness. How the hands are together but separate as they are held up to be counted.

Today’s my Dad’s 60th birthday. (Happy Birthday, Dad!) He was the one that took me to the library to register to vote when I turned 18, considering it a rite of passage. I’ve voted absentee from different states and countries, waited in lines, shook hands of random politicians like so many of you.

I was lucky enough to have parents who were very civic minded and taught me early the importance of casting my vote. I’m going to vote early next week. I hope I see you there.

Outside of voting, I’m keeping busy. I can’t believe the book will be out in a few short weeks! So much to do!

 
P.S. Needing some craftivist motivation? Go read about Louise Phillips, her charity knitting and occasional American flag knitting! Go Louise!

buoyant.

| Betsy

Last week I took a little vacation down on the South Carolina shore with 40+ of my relatives, something we’ve been doing for the past 30 years. After recently finding both the perfect sunscreen and the perfect bathing suit, I went swimming in the ocean for the first time in years.

When I got out far enough to dive safely, I dove into an oncoming wave. Immediately that feeling of freedom and floating that I used to love as a child came rushing back as everything went quiet underwater even though the wave was crashing up above. I did somersaults and handstands and laughed outloud without really thinking about it, it was like I was on autopilot from 1985. There was nothing to do but immerse myself as the waves bellied out to the shore and lost their roar.

I’ve always been drawn to water no matter how vast its expanse. In Norwich, it was the Wensum. In London, it was the Thames. In Wilmington, it was the Atlantic. In New York, it was the Hudson. All of these bodies of water heard my deepest secrets, held my hand in sadness, showed me beauty when I felt lost, gave me energy when I felt weary. They all nurtured me and were my greatest confidants when I needed them most.

I have no idea why I took an almost decade-long absence from the sea, where in the broadest sense, all these old playmates converge as one. In just that one short dip in the Atlantic last week, I went back in time and remembered what it’s like to float buoyantly and stare up at the sun, letting the waves take you where they wish. It was some sort of homecoming, as I dipped and jumped and dove and swam and smiled, covered by my perfect sunscreen and wearing my perfect bathing suit.

Lately:

* Knitting keeps you nimble
* The new Sigur Ros album
* The work of Kari Steihaug
* Knitting is good for your brain
* Learning about social surplus (via Murketing, thanks Rob!)
* The seemingly inevitable fear hits the inevitable Tracey Emin
* Reading Shreve Stockton’s archives of traveling solo across the US on a Vespa and current coyote adventure

ALSO: Dislike global warming? Like crafting? Want to combine the two? Go to 350.org and participate. Go for it.

hooray for dads.

| Betsy

Feeding the geese in Greenville, South Carolina near my grandparents house in 1979.

Over the years, he’s worn the hat of coach, teacher, boss, chauffeur, traveling buddy, accountant, protector and “official peptalk giver.” And that’s just the short list.

Among other things, he’s taught me how to shoot a lay-up, change a tire, find laughter on the crappy days, never give up, and how it’s always okay to make breakfast for dinner.

Thanks, Dad, for everything.

Completely unrelated craftiness:
*What people write when they think punk is best circa 1977**
*Some awesome UK knitters make almost 3,000 hats for Tibetan babies in need
*Knitters make and send scarves to Israeli survivors of terror attacks
*Some really amazing 3rd graders knit gifts for women with cancer
*Great things are done a step at a time…especially when it comes to creativity
*Lovely interview with Faythe Levine about Handmade Nation over on Poppytalk

**A quote from the first link: “The sickening truth is that knitting is hip – and Western youth culture is knitting its own death shroud.” The even sicker truth is that when people don’t realize that the punk ethos is about living your life they way you want to, not the way you think Johnny Rotten wants you, they look completely clueless.