My Wooly Journey

I'm not a natural knitter, not one of those women who always has a craft project on the go or thinks that Martha rules.

I came to my knitting journey in kind of a round about way.  I'm not usually a big New Year resolution maker, but this year I vowed to have more downtime ... but what to do with it?  I'm not much for television, and nowadays sitting with a book for more than ten mintues makes me sleepy.  And then I came upon the idea for handicrafts - and knitting!



My first knitting project, the Deco-Ribbon Scarf



My own history with knitting is checkered at best; in the past, and in my childhood, I've started a couple of scarves that were so holey and so baggy they were quickly abandoned.  Honestly, they were hideous!

So, this time after practicing for a couple of weeks (knitting and purling randomly, casting on and off until my piece looked like an Impressionist recreating of knitting) I went out and bought the prettiest wool I could find in my price range, found a pattern online that didn;t make my head spin, and off I went.

That was a week ago, and what started as an exercise to force myself to sit down in the evenings, is quickly becoming something I'm really enjoying!  I'm creating something, that I could actually wear in the future, and it isn't hideously ugly!

Of course, me being me, I'm already being a little overly ambitious with my new found hobby, planning the extravagent Aran style sweaters that I'll be knitting for friends and family in the future.  But the quiet it gives, those peaceful moments at the end of the day when all that matters is counting my rows and keeping the cats away from my ball of yarn ... well, they have quickly become amoungst my favorite times of the day.

For more details on this project, check out my page on Ravelry.com.

Retro Mama

If someone had told me that I would be interested in writing a blog about living gently on the earth with my little family in the suburbs - honestly I would have laughed.



Crunchy Mama and The Little Guy,
at Jockey's Ridge State Park, Nag's Head NC



My journey is far from unique, though.  For me, becoming a Mama just intensified my wish to live lightly on the earth, as mindfully as possible and to spend my time wisely.  For me, it is more important to spend time and money on good food, than the latest gadget, I'd rather read with my little one than pop him in front of the television, and I couldn't imagine following the latest parenting trends if they don't feel akin to second nature to me.

I grew up thinking my parents were terribly old fashioned.  My father gardened, my mother sewed our clothes, and my Nana knitted our sweaters every winter.  Meals were home cooked, and we were far more likely to spend a weekend afternoon on a hike than at the local movie theater.  Funny, how what I saw as so dated back then, are the same ideals and routines I'm now following!

I'm hoping this will be an avenue to share new finds, ideas, what works, and of course what doesn't! 

So, why put all this in a blog?  Maybe it's to chart my adventures, have something for me to look back on - and I think the added element of making this journey potentially public adds an interesting twist! 

With all that said, I'm looking forward to the adventures to come :-)

Becky

Crunchy Mama in the 'Burbs