Angels in the Architecture

Paul Simon's Call Me Al has been on my mind lately. Specifically the third verse.

A man walks down the street
It's a street in a strange world
Maybe it's the Third World
Maybe it's his first time around
He doesn't speak the language
He holds no currency
He is a foreign man
He is surrounded by the sound
The sound
Cattle in the marketplace
Scatterlings and orphanages
He looks around, around
He sees angels in the architecture
Spinning in infinity
He says Amen! and Hallelujah!

It is Saturday night. I'm sitting alone in my apartment after spending the day in the office trying to impress the boss who will probably never be truly impressed with anything. I have more work to do but I want so badly spend the rest of the evening watching TV and eating pizza. I want to hear a friendly voice. I'm tired and I'm frustrated.

At present, this is the architecture of my life. I keep waiting to see the metaphorical angels in the architecture, the little bits of joy that make life more than just being here.

Happiness is something that has always been hard-won for me. Something has gotten ingrained in my mind somewhere along the line that keeps me reserved and keeps me from letting it in. Wonder and happiness and accomplishment. They don't seem real unless they've first been ordained by an outside source. That's where I'm going wrong. I keep waiting for someone to point out the angels instead of seeking them out myself.

Seems simple in retrospect, doesn't it?

Knitting Pattern: Lumpy Fingerless Mitts

The following knitting pattern comes to us courtesy of the incomparable CDaniele.

Lumpy Fingerless Mitts by CDaniele

She notes: I used #10 needles, but I knit extremely loosely, you might try a 11 if the 10 is too tight. I haven't measured my gauge... I made these long so they cover my little finger.

Materials:
#10 Circular Needles or DPNs
75 yards bulky weight yarn

CO 20, join to knit in the round.

1. K 1 row.
2. P 1 row.
3. Repeat rows 1 & 2. 1 time each.
4. K 2 rows
5. K1fb, k9, k1fb, k9 (22 stitches)
6. K
7. K1fb, k10, k1fb, k10 (24 stitches)
8. k 6 rows
9. (Thumb hole) for the next 3 rows, you are going to knit in stockinette without knitting in the round. Purl the first row, knit the 2nd, purl the 3rd.
10. join again and knit 4 rows
11. k2tog, k10, k2tog, k10
12. k2tog, k9, k2tog, k9
13. k2tog, k8, k2tog, k8
14. k2tog, k7, k2tog, k7
15. do a k2p2 rib for 2" (mark your first row so it will be easy to measure.
16. bind off using needle one size larger
17. pu 12 stitches around thumb hole
18. k for 4 rows
19. bo

Sample knit with Farmhouse Yarn's Lumpy Bumpy in Wildflowers

Sample knit with Farmhouse Yarn's Lumpy Bumpy in Wildflowers

Sample knit with Handspun and Dyed Too's Handspun Merino in Rugrats

Resolutions in the New Year

I've been thinking about my New Year Resolutions, both for this year and last. I didn't do so well on the resolution front last year. This year I feel a little more thoughtful about it all. I'm going more for conceptual change than specific, tangible things.

1. Develop a better sense of identity.
   I spent several years in a job where my strengths were simultaneously exploited and devalued. My life during that time was all about the job. I spent so much time diluting myself down to be more acceptable to them that I walked away with no sense of myself. I find myself slipping into some of the same patterns now. I have to remind myself that it is OK to be me.
   
   
2. Love myself and allow myself to be loved by others.
   Enough said.
   
   
3. Allow myself to feel the good emotions: joy, happiness, accomplishment, pride.
   In the above-mentioned dilution process, I let myself be stripped of basic emotions.
   
   
4. Don't sweat the small stuff.
   And, as the saying goes, it is all small stuff. I don't agree with that completely. But I do have a tendency to fret over things that just will not matter tomorrow. I need to do a better job of letting the little things go and focusing more on the positive aspects of life.
   
   
5. Be more proactive about my health and happiness.
   I'm usually all about the job. This year, I resolve to take a step back once in a while to build better health, more happiness and new friendships.