Mitts and a Hat, Lessons, and Resolutions.

Mitts. These mitts were promised to the wife of a colleague at work last year:



The mitts took EIGHT hours of my time. yep. 8 hours. Mostly it was enjoyable..but I'd offered to knit the gloves in 3 colors. The welts are black and brown (2 different yarns), and the light brown in between is the same as the main body of the glove. Needles to say, a lot of ends to weave in ! and I haven't finished weaving them all in..and this pic is pre-blocking.

I'm not sure what I was thinking. When I offered to knit these fingerless gloves, I was thinking they'd be a quick knit, and I was trying to make a point to my friend about how friends do things for each other. The lesson has almost been lost now. I pretty much have realized why I don't knit for others.

Up until the last couple of years, I'd say the word mooch and my friend were pretty much synonymous. He was always checking out the free food leftovers (I know, a lot of guys do this)...even if they weren't always safe (old food, expired food, creamy sauces / salads left out on the counter top for god knows how long - ewwwww!), always angling to get a free lunch somewhere, to get an advantage over someone else. In the first 3 years I knew him, we never traded lunches..it was always.."are you buying me lunch?" Well, you know, we are all unique in this world.

To put this in perspective, my colleague does computer consulting on the side. To help me with my network at home, he spent 3 hours with me, rearranged some cables, and wasn't able to diagnose the issue. He wanted to charge me $50/hr for 3 hours, but instead, he settled for me buying 3 lunches.

His wife is offering to pay.for.the.yarn. The yarn was in my stash and cost maybe $30-4- !!
8 hours at his rate would be $400.00. I'm trying to be the person who offered to knit gloves.

Hat

This hat



is a hat I knit to donate, again hmm..knitting for others, reinforcing again why I shouldn't do these things...and why knitting hats is not something that I do often. Knitting the hat itself was fairly enjoyable..until my mind wandered away by itself and I found myself making a pattern but not necessarily the one that I was supposed to be following.

It's done and ready to mail. The yarn is Verdant Gryphon Mondegreen in Dirty Deeds done with Sheep.

It was this:



Content is  60% Blue Faced Leicester wool, 20% baby camel, 20% silk
4 oz / 200 yds;  4.5 sts/" on US#8 4-ply worsted weight
It is really an enjoyable knit, and didn't seem to change shape much when washed. Very soft pre- and post-blocking.

and now this:



Hopefully, it makes someone happy.

Christmas

I had a great Christmas holiday, 2 weeks off from work including all of the holidays. It was a nice break. My family had unexpected visitors. well, my dad expected them but didn't tell my mom until the day before. So, it was rushed and busy, exciting, and energetic..from Christmas eve until the 28th..and the rest of the time I unwound and did relaxing activites from my lists. I did some knitting, some organizing, put up my tree, found some shelves for a cabinet I have that I'd been looking for for about 3 years...and baking. No cookies this year, but I did make quiche. So, I'm pretty happy with what I accomplished, and returned to work feeling refreshed and happy.

Lessons and Resolutions
I learned that everyone's family looks perfect from the outside...and I'm astonished by how little we really help ourselves when we are growing up. Family dynamics can be so enlightening.
I also learned a lot about myself and how much I've grown in interacting with my own family and its own dynamics.
  
For knitting, I realized again that knitting for others can be a chore and a blessing. It frees you up to give a little to others, pour some love in, but it can add pressure too, depending on the timelines..and it can just feel boring if the yarn or the pattern isn't right...which can basically end up killing the love you felt when you volunteered to do it.

As with the last two years, I am trying to be a better person this year..to relax more, and reduce the pressure that I create. Almost all of the pressure these last few years has been perceived by me...and projected. I have intuited, interpreted, reacted, apologized, stepped back, reflected, and now......
I'm done, and I'm letting it all go to just enjoy life as a it comes.

• Friendships change, some new people have come into my life, and some people have moved away. Some have come and gone, and some have moved away but still stay close. 

Really, as my friend Lynn said..it's all about them.."what a person thinks or does is all about them, it's not about you"..and not about me.

So, again, I'm knitting what I want when I want, and not worrying about deadlines or requirements or going to conferences, and trying to rush around to do things.  

• Speaking of such, looks like Sock Summit was moved out a year to accommodate the 13 being potentially unlucky..so I'm off the hook there. Ironically, 4 at the end of a number is superstitiously bad for Chinese, being death at the end. i.e. never buy a house or get a room number at a hotel ending in 4. So hopefully, they've figured out a way to counteract that by then.  

I've also been letting go of a lot of stuff these last few years..physically, and emotionally and so I'm sure that I'll be doing more organizing and letting go of more stuff this year...continuing eating healthy and trying to get out more, and sleep more.

I'd like to try doing some sewing again, knit more sportweight sweaters as I really like this weight for knitting and wearing, and possibly some travel towards the summer or fall. We'll see, as I said before, I'm just going to take it as it goes..and try to steer a little.