Tuesday, July 06, 2010

A Quiet Moment of Clarity

I've just returned from a lovely outing with the Carpoolqueen and her Trio.

We spent several hours swimming, dining on pizza, and doing our best to catch up after her whirlwind trip to the wild west and back.

Due to the unspoken bloggers courtesy regarding photos in bathing suits, there won't be any poolside pictures. You can take my word for it, we had a blast.

What I love about being at the pool all morning is that when I bring my kids home they go into auto-pilot. Without prompting they each find a shower and when they are warm and clean, they'll find prospective corners of the house to be quiet.

That is the wonderful part about this stage in parenting, you don't have to worry (as much) about the quiet times...you can actually enjoy them.

All this quiet has led me to some pondering...

Currently, my dilemma is wether or not to make the long drive to Chapel Hill this afternoon to purchase yarn.


I started an afghan on a whim this weekend, without pattern or plan, and it turns out the three little balls of yarn I had on hand are not enough. Since the posting of this picture the blanket is now about 20x20 inches, so I'm committed...and out of brown yarn.

I could wait to go to the store until I have other things I need at that end of town, but my crochet-driven impulse may win out.

Does this ever happen to you? Do you ever get fixated, out of the blue, in a fit of creativity, on one thing even when there may be 10 other projects you could tend to?

My husband recently said in a I'm-saying-this-as-a-joke-but-it-smacks-of-reality kind of way, "Kellie, you're so compulsive." Which is a nice way of saying, you get your mind set on something and you can't leave it alone.


I beg to differ.

I call it passionate dedication.

There is just something comforting about the compulsiveness repetitiveness of double-crochet, double-crochet, double-crochet, single-chain, single-chaindouble-crochet, double-crochet, double-crochet, single-chain, single-chain, over, and over, and over again.

The process is comforting. It takes almost no effort, and magically that little repetitive motion turns a bit of yarn into a pattern...

A comforting, warm, colorful, pattern of passionate dedication.

Craft store....here I come.

11 comments:

Tracey said...

Grab a bag of yarn for me too. I've been hearing the siren call of my crochet needles for the past two weeks. As soon as I upload this photobook, you can find me in the recliner double crocheting until summer is over!

GO GET THE YARN! (then post a picture..yarn pictures are so very relaxing!)

Sandy said...

I totally understand, & when that happens to me... SQUIRREL!! That first sentence was a total lie. I SO canNOT identify with "sticking to something"! But sure wish I could (& so does the rest of my family... wish I could identify, or at least stick with something). I'd probably head out to get the yarn.. & come back without it. But I'd have fun along the way & maybe come back with something totally unlike what I left to get. But that's ADD... even ON meds! I'm not going to envy you, I'm not going to envy you, I'm not...
But your pattern of passionate dedication is certainly something to be admired, & I do admire you. Isn't it great how differently God created all of us?!

Laura said...

Yes this happens to me A LOT. One summer i wanted to scrap book 2 vacations, i bought everything and was prepared with 7 different scissors , multiple colors of paper, glue, stickers, anything you can think of for it. I couldn't resist and had both 40 and 50 page albums done in 2 days. I couldn't even sleep, worked until 1pm. The rest of the summer nothing left to do ;)))

Anonymous said...

oo yay for fun days! I can't wait until there is quite and I don't take a few deep breaths and say a quick prayer about what I am about to find! I hope you went and got some yarn!

O Mom said...

I am so glad to hear about the unspoken bathing suit pictures law!
I get on a whim to clean closets and rearrange furniture in bedrooms, only to find out I don't have enough time in the day to finish.....I never PLAN this event.

Kristin said...

I still think you need to meet me down here at our new yarn and knitting shop :)
When can you come out to play??
ps - I have 3 different ongoing knitting projects happening at once....

Carpool Queen said...

What? No pictures of Smokin' Hot Coffeegal?

Had a great time - We can't do it again soon enough.

Rachel said...

Your afghan looks great! I haven't picked up my needles since the winter. Guess there isn't much about a 100 degree day that makes me want to work on projects for the winter. Although its really the perfect time. Come October when I'm ready to pick up the hobby again, it'll take me 5 months to finish anything and by then it'll be spring again. Nice work!

Becca @ My Crazy Good Life said...

Passionate dedication... I like that :)

Gretchen said...

Compulsive crafting?. Hmph. Wha' does 'e know? I prefer to think of it as optimism. On steroids. My husband sides with yours, I'm sure, on this bit of jokey name calling bc, ahem...I may have a few pieces of unused fabric lying about. Just sayin'.

Elizabeth said...

I'm not going to write what my husband calls me, but I love the term "passionate dedication." It's such a nice way of describing how obsessed I get when I start something and just HAVE TO finish. I think it's better then starting lots of little projects and never finishing any of them!