Momma Me

the weekend

I was so hoping that our weekend would find us in an orchard picking apples. I long to do that, and yet it seems that every weekend is filled with must-dos. Hopefully, next weekend we can steal a day to head out to Terhune's Orchard in Princeton. I really hope so.

This weekend is busy with sports and visiting with family. Tomorrow I have a photo shoot. We will be busy. My finger are crossed that we will find the time to experiment with this:

It has been sitting on the table for days and the suspense is just doing The Inventor in. It's doing me in too, come to think of it. I recently discovered the blog, Mod Podge Rocks, and the whole process just sounds like fun.

We're also doing a lot of reorganizing around the house, trying to prepare for a few months where we will spend more time indoors than out. We need to have our art supplies close at hand. And for some reason I feel the urge to put up more photographs of the four of us and the people we love. I love decorating with photos. It makes the place feel cozier, I think.

How will you be spending this autumn weekend? Whatever you do, I hope you have fun.

inspiration

I am so inspired by Stephanie Nielson, writer of this blog. She was on Oprah yesterday to talk about her life and her experiences, after being in a near fatal accident that left her severely burned, her husband burned, and the pilot of the plane dead. She talks about it a bit here, but better to find some way to see the interview. The woman is an inspiration. 

She is amazing and awesome and beautiful. I am penning her in as one of my heroes.

I was moved.

i think he's got it

About a year ago, The Inventor asked me to teach him to knit. We didn't get very far. He didn't have the dexterity or the patience at five. A few weeks ago, he began to ask again. I'll admit. I hesitated because I remembered the tears from our previous attempt. Then on a recent trip to Michael's, while he was in school, I saw the most adorable pair of kid's knitting needles. Not necessary of course, but they were certainly cute. They were also different colors, which I thought might help. I grabbed a ball of bright red yarn and surprised him when he got home. 

Now, nearly every evening, we sit for a few minutes and knit together. It is one of the highlights of his day (and mine). Last night he chose to knit over watching "Phineas and Ferb,"and I watched him, for the first time do a entire row of knit stitches on his own. He was really excited about it. A lot has changed over the past year. He has grown and matured so much. He is no longer as easy to frustrate. It is wonderful to see him tackling challenges and I love his perseverance.

I think he's got it!

And no, knitting is not just for girls, not that I ascribe to our society's rigid gender expectations. My father knitted me a scarf a few years ago, after my mother taught him how to knit. In fact, historically knitting was often done by men. You can click here for a brief history, if you're interested.

What do you think about boys and men knitting? Personally, I think the world would be a better place, if more men knit. But that's just my opinion.

 

a common purpose

 

In January 2008, I founded an online support group called Healing After Pregnancy Loss within Ravelry. I did so in response to the need I felt for support when I lost our daughter in November 2006. I never wanted anyone else to feel as alone and misunderstood as I did during those first hours, days, and weeks. Since then my involvement in the lives of others who have experienced pregnancy loss has given me the unique opportunity to see women helping other women along their journey of healing after miscarriage, stillbirth, and neonatal loss. It is an incredible honor. My life has been enriched. I have been changed by these experiences. They have given me compassion and insight that I did not have before.

We've been together long enough for some of our members to get pregnant again and create or add to their families. These are always joyous, celebratory times. Recently, I added a place in our group where these new and once again moms could talk about motherhood -- the trials and the joys -- after pregnancy loss. So now we come together because of our losses and stay together through trying to conceive again or dealing with infertility, suffering or not through pregnancy, and coping with the many challenges that parenting brings. This is an incredible group of women. 

Because we are all members of Ravelry, a knitting community, our losses are not the only thing that binds us. We are fiber folk. We knit or crochet. And so when learning that one of our new babies was not well and would be faced with ongoing health issues, we felt compelled to do something. We span the globe. We've come together from all over the world. Not being local, we wondered what could we do to show our support. Virtual hugs seemed inadequate. When I approached the mom with the idea of us creating blankets for her and her little one, she was immediately receptive. And so women from Seattle, WA to Melbourne, AU are weaving stitches of love and strength and compassion into squares that will be joined into two blankets. Fiber embraces, if you will. Cloaks of power. Love.

The planning, design, and attention to every single detail that has gone into these blankets have moved me greatly. 

The second of the squares I have pledged is on the needles now. Every stitch I create makes me realize how very fortunate I am to be in the company of these strong and powerful and loving women. Sometimes people wonder why we bother spending time and money creating by hand things that could be more easily created by machine and purchased ready made. The reason is certainly clear with this project. It is the right thing to do. It is the things in this life that we create with our hearts that are the most powerful and the most meaningful. They bring us together in a common purpose and that is where we find our strength.

changing

 

I love the way the cool air feels on my skin. My senses seem to awaken. I come alive in the fall. With the oppressive heat of the summer gone and the need to roam resting, I turn inward towards home in autumn. 

As the leaves begin ever so slowly to change colors, I feel the need to change too -- to create beauty where there is none. Nooks and crannies and spaces that we can cozy up in, as we prepare to settle in for the winter.