It's been a very busy week for me and I am just now getting a chance to sit down and write! It must be the weather and the fact that we are officially into fall, but I have been craving the usual fall fare....apples, pies, stews and soups, anything pumpkin! I even went so far last week as to can some pickles (sorry Dad!) and make some plum apple chutney. This is what I have been longing to do for years, but never found the time to actually do! It's the one amazing gift that being in between jobs gives you. You get to have the time to do the things you love most!
So then I got to thinking this past week about that small detail of my life- being "in-between" my past life and my future life. This is where the patchwork comes in.....I started to think about where my life was and where it is now and the journey that has brought me here to Chicago. What I realized is that with all the things I have done in my life, both work and home, that I am actually excited to think of it as a giant patchwork of experiences, people, and places I have been....all of which have made me who I am.
There has been a giant box of yarn of all colors, weights and textures sitting in my closet that I have been toting around with me for the past 20 years just waiting for the right time to open it up and make something again. Something knitted or crocheted or woven. Those used to be my hobbies, I thought! Time has gone by so quickly and I suddenly felt the calling to go open the box and at least see what was in there. The reality was, there were plenty of "scraps" from past projects, and as soon as I opended the box, the memories of the sweaters, hats and gloves I knitted, the blankets I crocheted, the bags I had woven (and let's not forget that "poncho" I made on my floor loom years ago!) all hit me with a nostalgic yearning to be that carefree young woman doing her thing with her whole life ahead of her! Before the reality of being a "grown-up" and being responsible hit. Back to the time when being creative was all that mattered to me and seeking out new experiences were important. Before I learned that I had to worry about real things like 401k's and retirement! Ahh.....if only we could live that way now!
I decided right then and there to take these scraps and put them all together into a blanket that I will be able to look at now (when it's done eventually!) and be reminded of how much I truly loved the touch and smell and feel of wool and of creating something so basic and so practical. I know it can't change time, but it can certainly alter it for just a little while! The picture above is what I have so far, not bad for a couple of evenings of work!
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Well done.
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