Day 40, 60 to go: Finishing the Hat

The last tendrils of yarn with the finished hat.

I love Sondheim.  I am so excited I got to use the name of a song from Sunday in the Park With George in the title of this post.   Today was actually “Sunday teaching crocheting with Maggie and Lily.”

First, the finished hat. Zoe asked for a hat in earth tones.  I ordered some, but when it came, the yarn designer’s idea of “earth” was coral, shrimp, white and brown.  It was a fairly small skein of yarn and I didn’t have any additional solids to augment it with, so I needed to create a hat that would make the yarn go as far as possible.  This is the finished hat surrounded by the 2 yards of yarn that were left. I can’t imagine coming much closer to designing a hat that would use just the amount of yarn available.

Not a gnome hat

Here is the fabulous gnome-and-hat-loving Zoe modeling said finished hat.  Sadly this shot is a bit washed out, so you can’t really get a sense of the color.  The yarn is called “self-striping.”  This means that they dye several yards of it one color, then the next color for several yards and then the next.  The hat looks like I made it from 4 different yarns, when it was, in fact, just one skein with all of those colors in it. I really like the effect.   Most multi-color yarns are called “ombres” and they have maybe 18 inches or a yard of one color before they switch.  They create a more random color effect.  (You’ll see what I mean in tomorrow’s riding-the-bus hat.)

I worked with Lily (age 5 ½) and Maggie (age 4) on crochet and knit lessons for quite a while.  Lily got the fattest knitting needles I have ever seen for Xmas.  They must be close to an inch in diameter.  I showed her how they worked, but they are really difficult to get the tension right for an experienced knitter.  She gave it a shot, but the two ginormous needles were beyond her (and me.) 

I showed Maggie how to finger-crochet chains.  She was starting to get the hang of it.  I remember doing a lot of that at Grandma’s feet. Sometimes Grandma would even take the really long chains I made and stitch them into a coiled mat I could use as a doll rug.  I was so proud.  Since Lily is intent on learning to crochet, finger-crocheting is Maggie, ever the little sister’s “me too.”

Lily is quite good at chain stitching with the crochet hook.  Using the hook rather than fingers is actually pretty sophisticated.  We worked on some single crochet stitches, but she will need to sit and practice and practice if she wants to learn.  Getting the tension right in the stitches and the feeder hand takes a lot of dexterity.  At 5, she might not quite have the fine motor skills she needs. 

Luckily, I was able to recruit someone to give them follow-up lessons.  Rachel, my Mini-Me niece lives near Lily and Maggie, is a great crocheter (I taught her when she was about 10 and she picked it right up) and most importantly, is a rightie.  She is excited about continuing to coach them.  I think it’s important to let Lily set her own pace so she falls in love with it rather than gets too frustrated by it. 

All the cool kids know how to crochet.

Here is a picture of Maggie, her Mom (Borg #6 of 8) and Lily after the crochet lesson.  On the left, providing an excellent photo bomb is Mini-Me (in case that isn’t immediately obvious) ready to carry on the tradition of crocheting to the rest of her generation.

Rachel loves Zoe’s hat, by the way, so I am making her one in greens and blues.  I also showed her generally how I made it.  She is plotting to have a little crochet circle with her friends to all make hats now.  I think she just needed the concept of how they go together (as opposed to afghans).  I love it. I can’t wait to see what she’ll do.  I gave her a quick Intro-to-Pom-pom-Making tutorial too  Seriously.  I can’t wait to see her hats.

Now what?

Now what?

A month ago, I scrounged up a manifesto I had written 5 years ago and posted it as my opening volley to begin a proper blog.  And then…

Nothing.

Those of you who know me (or who are Facebook friends) know I always have something to say about everything.  So one would think blogging would come naturally to me. I imagined I would be as verbose in a blog as I am in real life. Instead, I found myself plagued with a lot of questions.  Eventually, it occurred to me to write them down. The plague seemed to fall into two categories:

What is it about? and Who is it for?

The whole time I was plaguing myself with the variations on those questions, I also found myself looking over my own shoulder observing my day-to-day spinsta© life.  The plague and self observation really only served to leave me tied up in a big mute knot.  (Single knot, of course)

But at least I had written something down.  It was the list of plague questions.  Maybe that was my blog. Maybe I should just post whatever I can manage to write.  Maybe that’s how to start.  Am I starting at the very beginning, a very good place to start? 

When God closes a door, he opens a window on the 27th floor.

Suddenly, I have a vision of bracelets that say WWMvTD? I don’t usually turn to the Sound of Music version of Maria von Trapp for life wisdom.  But starting at the beginning—right where I am— makes some sense to me.  It reminds me of the other quote from that show that often comes to mind.  You know how the Mother Abbess tells Maria that when God closes a door he opens a window?   What Mother Abbess neglects to mention is that the window will be on the 27^th floor and you can either stand there or jump.  

As a recovering Catholic and practicing atheist, I have no confidence that a god or any magic will open a window—even on the 27^th floor.  But I do believe in pushing, shoving, knocking, jamming and generally doing whatever it takes to scratch out a glimpse of light to show the way out.  Admittedly, once in a while, the smart thing is just to wait and let time wear down the obstacles. But I won’t be making up any WWMAD bracelets any time soon.  My experience has taught me not to give a crap what Mother Abbess would do.

A bracelet I would seriously consider wearing would say WWR&HD? What would Rodgers & Hammerstein do? Or even better, WWSSD?  What would Stephen Sondheim do?  With my extensive knowledge of Rodgers , Hammerstein and Sondheim shows, there is every chance this blog could turn into a running list of song lyrics as they apply to the life of a spinsta©.

For now, though, I am going to list the plague of questions.  My guess is that this will lead to more questions than answers. But it’s as good a place as any to start.

1. What should it be about?
2. Should I focus on a specific theme?
3. Does my life even have a coherent theme?
4. How much of my own personal life do I want to share with whomever might wander by?
5. Do I want to censor myself in case my mother or conservative sisters read it?
6. What if a current or potential employer reads it?
7. What would make a good blog entry? 
8. Should I include photographs? 
9. How much faith do I have in my own writing abilities to just start writing and put it out there?
10. Who is this blog for?
11. What makes other blogs compelling enough that complete strangers make a point of reading them?
12. Do I have anything to say that complete strangers will find compelling, humorous, insightful, interesting, or most importantly, worth taking the time to read?

And here are the answers I have so far:

1. My idiosyncratic worldview.
2. There are certain themes I expect will dominate, but maybe once I start writing regularly, I will discover others I didn’t realize were always rumbling under the surface.
3. Only that it’s my life.  Spinsta©hood does seem to be fairly consistently recurrent.
4. TBD. It’s not as if I ever intend to run for office.
5. Ummm No. If I can put it out there for complete (and incomplete) strangers, I can put it out there for my sisters.  They don’t have to like it, but they are required to love me. (Note: I also have a brother, but I am not in the least worried about his reading a blog I write.)
6. Hopefully it will be just a good writing sample.
7. The blogs I enjoy are interactive, funny, insightful and make me think about things a little differently. Oh, and they give stuff away to lucky readers. J
8. If they are worth a thousand words.
9. Probably more than I should. Hopefully this will help me hone.
10. I think there need to be more voices of unapologetic singletons out in the culture, so while I expect to be writing about spinsta©life, it’s actually the coupled who are my audience. A spinsta© here and there might be interested to find someone who shares their experience, but couples tend to be oblivious to the reality that not everyone is in a couple.  They certainly can’t imagine what it’s really like to be a spinsta©.  Many fear being alone more than death. So to some degree, this blog is to take the fear out of what is so unknown to so many.
11. Free stuff. Quotes you can surprise your friends with. A very specific persona from the writer. Saying how you feel and asking for what you want.
12. People tell me so all the time.  It always surprises me since I live with this particular narrative in my head 24/7 and I am used to it.  Apparently I say stuff that is provocative or funny or entertaining when I don’t mean to.  So I want to see if I can do that when I am trying to.

So there! I have a second blog entry!  I will be curious to see what I come up with for a third. (And when…)