William's Hat/Your Doctor Wants You To Knit

William's Hat

So I am knitting a new hat. This one is for William. The thing about being a toddler is that your head keeps getting bigger so the hat that fit last year is tiny this year. I've got it around half done. I'm knitting it on the round (yes, I'm using a circular again, and I have to tell you that the Susan Bates Velocity needles are so much nicer to knit with than the Clover) and I've kind of improvised a cable pattern that runs for around 5 inches and the rest will be a 4:2 rib. I'm not going to gather the top; instead I'm going to sew it shut in a straight line that will run from left to right. It will have ear flaps with ties, and I might put little pom poms on the corners of the top, but I'm not sure. I should have it done soon, just in time for the cold and me to take a picture of it to share with you and, of course, for William to refuse to wear it.


Holga image by lexistibitz on photobucket.com

Your Doctor Wants You to Knit

I have been knitting like a fool lately, in large part because it calms me down. You've seen the posts on Ravelry and news groups with titles like "Knitting Keeps Me Sane" and the like, and I can attest to it's Zen-like powers. Ever being the scientist I wondered about this, and if any studies had been done on the therapeutic powers of knitting. It turns out that none other than the Harvard Medical School Mind/Body Institute found that while people are knitting they actually can enter into a meditative state leading to a heart rate decrease of up to 11 beats per minute and a drop in blood pressure. Cool, huh? If you want to read more here's the press release from Lion Brand Yarns.

The Saddest Sweater/I'm Having Problems with Faith

The Saddest Sweater

I have a lot of old pictures of my family. I have a few photos of people who I have never met. Some are beautiful, some are cute, some make you feel like you are looking at an issue of Life magazine.

This one is of a girl I don't know and my mom (the little one). I love this photo because in addition to my mom being so darn cute, check out that sweater! One side is longer than the other, the button holes are not lines up with the buttons; this may be the saddest sweater that ever lived.

I'm Having Problems with Faith

I've been feeling very contemplative lately. In keeping with the "authentic self" discussion, I've been trying to answer questions like "what defines me," and "what do I strive for." I realized that had I asked these questions of myself a few years ago, the answers would be completely different. As a family, we have gone through several years that I can only describe as incredibly difficult, surreal, and life-changing. We have gone from moderately financially well off to food stamp recipients, my husband has sustained a disability that has left him unable to work. 3 of my grandparents died. I have faced legal issues that have tried my sanity. You know, stuff happened and it seemed to happen all at once and it all made absolutely no sense. Oh, and just so you know, last week was BAD for me. I was yelling at everyone, touchy and jumpy, I didn't know what the bejeebers was going on with me (and no, it was not PMS).

Today, I took Brenda Dayne's advice and got my free audio book from Audible.com. It took me a while to decide on a title, but I finally chose Phillip Yancey's Disappointment With God. I consider his What's So Amazing About Grace one of my top ten books - he writes about difficult topics in a refreshing, real way. I have been talking to trusted people in my church about the fact that I'm just not feeling anything anymore when I go to church, participate in church activities, etc. My husband has pointed out to me, and I would have to agree, that God has met our every need. Money has come from places that we didn't expect, we have never wanted for food or other necessities, and we have parents who have made sure that we are clothed and have a little fun.



When this all started, I'd be the first to pray for someone, volunteer for a church activity, or help a neighbor in need. But when our lives took a serious and rapid u-turn, I prayed and prayed and got no answers. I felt alone. I knew there was a God, I just didn't think he cared about me. There was a huge part of me that felt like I had spent my entire life trying to emulate Jesus, to do the right thing, and I had given myself wholly to Him. If that was the case, why did we have to go through such difficult times? My friends started calling me Jobess and said that they hoped I wouldn't become infected with boils. Seriously (they are a little twisted). I stopped going to church for a while, but I missed the people. When I went back, I found that I felt nothing. The experience seemed empty. I felt dull in a way that I never had.

It is getting better. But I would lie if I still didn't find myself silently screaming to God "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" Why can't I feel him anymore? Why do the songs that meant so much to me feel hollow?



I've been told that this all will pass. That if I just keep with it and go through the motions that some of those old feelings will creep in. But this answer just seems too simple and trite for me. So I'm hoping that Yancey will help me to understand what I'm dealing with a little better.

I only write about these things because I know that many others suffer with the same thoughts, the same feelings. I've talked to countless Christians who have told me that they either have had a period like this in their life or they, too, were experiencing this. It always helps me to know that I am not alone.

O.K. So that's enough of the serious for today. I'm starting a new hat for Will; I'll tell you about it in my next post.

Unveiling The Hat/And Now For Something Completely Different/And Finally

Unveiling The Hat

The hat is finally done! It took me longer than expected for a variety of reasons:



* I was stitching a cable pattern that I created and had never stitched before. This meant a lot of referring back to my chart to make sure I was doing things right. Alas, I still got the cabling wrong, but it still looks good.



* I didn't figure out the correct number of stitches to cast on, which meant that I had to creatively add stitches to get the pattern correct. It was a happy accident, however, and I am going to modify the pattern so that the brim begins with fewer stitches and then add stitches to create the diamond pattern that the add-on stitches did.



* My circular sucked. The join was very bad and I constantly had to stop to guide more stitches onto the live needle. I have since bought a circular that is supposed to have a better join; alas, they are not Addi Turbos (Jo-Ann doesn't carry them) but the join feels much smoother than the Clover circular that I was using.

Not to get off track, but I am starting to see the merits of circular needles. I like that there aren't 6 needle ends poking out of the work (ala dpns) that perennially get in the way of what you are trying to accomplish. I bought a size 2 circular to knit socks, too.

So that's the hat. If you want to buy it, I'll be listing it on my store, Howard Knits, soon.

And Now For Something Completely Different



I took this picture last Friday during Columbus's Veteran's Day Parade. My grandpa Herb Seelbach was inducted into the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame that day, and he was going to ride in the parade. He is 93, and when he saw that the car that he would ride in was a convertible, he decided that it wasn't the best idea for him to ride in a convertible on a slightly chilly day. This gentleman served in Korea and saluted all of the soldiers as they passed by. It gave me little tinglies and made me feel quite patriotic.

Grandpa was in the Navy and served on the Admiralty Islands during WWII; among other things, he helped with the soldiers hurt fighting in the Pacific theater. But his real claim to fame was his musical skill. He plays trumpet, alto sax, and clarinet and performed with Bob Hope and Frances Langford when they came to the islands with the USO (I have a great photo of this, but I can't find it!). He would have joined them on tour had disease not cut his military career short. After an honorable discharge he taught music for over 30 years for the Youngstown Schools (where he also taught his five children, my dad included, to play at least one instrument), conducted over 125 Broadway caliber shows at the W.D. Packard Music Theater of Warren, OH, and toured with the likes of Tommy Dorsey and his own band, Herb Seelbach's Dixieland Jazz Band. He worked with stars such as Robert Goulet, Shirley McClain, Andy Williams, really all the luminaries of the stage from the 1960's through the 80's. His legacy is bringing music to his community, as a teacher, conductor, and musician. He has inspired so many people - my cousin Renee taught music on a Navaho reservation for many years, we met someone at the swanky Inductees dinner who he taught trumpet to, the list goes on and on. He doesn't seem to want to be remembered for all of the Hollywood sparkle that is all over his resume; rather, he relishes that he taught and inspired so many young people to play and appreciate music.

And Finally . . .

This is a picture that Will took of me knitting (The Hat before it was done). I really like it. It feels real to me and the light is wonderful. My two-year-old takes better photos than I do!

Channeling Stephanie

Pearl-McPhee, that is. If you don't know who Stephanie Pearl-McPhee is, you can check out her wonderful website, Yarn Harlot, and please do pick up one of her books. She's one of those knitting gurus who also is really funny. Anyhow, I'm reading her book, Knitting Rules! (actually, I carry it with me everywhere. It has basic sock, hat, scarf, etc, patterns, tons of tips - like the average size of a 1 year old's head - and gives me something to read when I don't want to do anything else.) Anyhow, on page 98, she says this:

"Sometimes when I'm knitting I watch my hands very carefully. I highly recommend this. I've been knitting for a lot of years and I've made probably millions of stitches, but I can still be taken by surprise when I just watch my hands."



So yesterday, I did this. I was on this section of the hat that had a few rows where no fancy cabling had to be done; I could just stitch and pay attention to my hands. I knew that I didn't hold my yarn like all the books tell you to, I just grip it with my pinkie, ring and middle finger of my left hand, which probably slows me down a bit. Try as I might, I just can't switch to "the right way." But I didn't know that when I knit, the yarn rides over my pointer finger and when I purl I quickly switch the yarn so that it rides under my thumb. And with my right hand, when I knit, I use my pointer finger to first pull the live stitch off; when I purl, my right thumb does this job. There's a lot more, but it was really interesting to watch my hands work. When you've been knitting for a while, your hands just know what to do, no thought is involved. It's a visceral thing; I've come to the point where I really dont have to watch what I'm doing when I'm working on a stockingette or garter stitch. But my hands did these intricate motions that I wasn't even aware of. It was cool. Thanks, Stephanie!

Blog Resolution #1:

Adding to my previous post (which I don't know how I can duplicate - I got SO much positive feedback), I have made a few resolutions. The first resolution came courtesy of Erin Wallace (yes, we share a name!) of Bluebirdbaby, this amazingly wonderful blog featured in Artful Blogging. Erin did this wonderful series of posts called "30 Days of Happiness" where she took pictures of times that made her happy and wrote about them. I'm not going to try to duplicate this, as I have always felt it a recipe for disaster when you try to remake something that is already so near to perfection. But what I did like was the idea of taking pictures of things that make you happy. So I've made the resolution to take a picture a day, whether it's good or bad, in an effort to take better pictures. I'm considering taking a community photography class. I don't have a Big Fancy camera and my pictures seem to be perennially fuzzy. I also love photos that have a darkened, aged quality, or those that seem to have that filtered light quality. I predict that the majority of the first pictures that I take won't end up on this blog, but here's my first, that I highly edited using photobucket. It's ok. It certainly isn't what I'm shooting for, but again, it's all a learning process, isn't it?



Now, this photo I LOVE. I copied it to my album on photobucket, and I don't know who to credit it to. But I'd love to know how to take a picture like this. . .



or like this



So that's Resolution #1. Stay tuned for more progress!

Building a Better Blog

I'm constantly striving to improve my blog. While killing time during Kendall's 3 hour marathon that is synchronized skating practice I happened upon the newest edition of Artful Blogging. I generally read it and leave feeling overwhelmed at the huge number of amazing blogs that are out there - which then leaves me feeling shut down as a writer. This time was different - there were so many blogs that I connected with, writers that seemed to be expressing the ideas and thoughts that I want to get across. I started making lists of ideas, wrote what I can only call a journal entry (which is totally out of character for me - while I'm keeping up with the blog, I could never journal - I know, it makes no sense), and started to formulate a path for where I want Dropped Stitches to go. Here's a bit of what I came up with:

* Reveal my authentic self
* Quit trying to build numbers (while still trying to market) - embrace the readership that I have. People are reading. Focus more on the process and less on the numbers.
* Watch the world around me with more focus
* Try not to be so analytical - don't let my brain get in the way so much
* Don't worry SO much about offending - don't be overly PC (which refers back to the authentic self)
* Let it flow


photo by karlatina444, photobucket.com

So this isn't the whole list and I haven't really elaborated (I may in the future) because I want more time to reflect on what these thoughts really mean. I started this out, quite frankly, to make money. I found a way to express myself, talk about knitting, family, cooking, and whatever else came to mind, and I'm feeling now that even though I still want to talk about these things, there is so much more of the world to explore.

So that's all. I've got to think now, which is the difficult, and sometimes painful, part. But that's what Imitrex is for!