If I knit fast enough, does it count as aerobic exercise?

“Sometimes, people come up to me when I am knitting and they say things like, "Oh, I wish I could knit, but I'm just not the kind of person who can sit and waste time like that." How can knitting be wasting time? First, I never just knit; I knit and think, knit and listen, knit and watch. Second, you aren't wasting time if you get a useful or beautiful object at the end of it.

I will remember that not everyone understands. I will resist the urge to ask others what they do when they watch TV.”
― Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, At Knit's End: Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much

I too am accused of telling myself I am 'wasting time' when I knit.
But as any committed (as in crazy obsessed) knitter knows
it's an addiction with no side effects.
So lately I've been doing alot of sittin...
which I balance by taking looooong walks (as in an hour and a half).
There are times I work on projects that never end
as in this one here

or this one

And then there are those projects that I want to see done quickly.
More like 'instant gartification'
Which is an oxymoron in the knitting world.
I've been doing just that lately.

This beret came about as a result of leftover yarn from the project below
that did take a loooong time to make
but so well worth it....
my favorite CHEVRON stitch for a favorite girl's birthday.

 

 

Warm and sparkly

like the daughter I made it for...

 

 

Love this one below.

quick, easy and fasionable!

 

 

on to my next project...

At the end of the day

“Properly practiced, knitting soothes the troubled spirit, and it doesn't hurt the untroubled spirit either.”
― Elizabeth Zimmermann

All you did was listen???

What I love about this girl is that she has managed to be humble and larger than life at the same time.
Just the name of her blog http://allididwaslisten.blogspot.com/ reflects who she is.
ALL I DID WAS LISTEN?
Simply said and difficult to do.
Try it.
Are you listening?
Tell the truth
Is your mind floating as your friend talks and talks and talks...
(it may not be that long but it seems that way to you)
Because listening is really hard to do.
And most of the time it's all we want.
To be listened to.
If only the world at large would understand that
How much bloodshed would be avoided...
I say we make RACHEL AWES president.
Maybe we would have a chance.

Rachel and I bought the same throw.
I saw it in a picture she posted.
How funny is that?!?

If you want a small piece of Rachel's listening
buy her book.
I did.
I will be practicing listening today.
so if anyone wants to talk
I'm here to listen!

Something to think about!

Been a while but here I am.
I've been doing some knitting.
So I haven't been wasting time exactly.
I'm actually on a scrapbooking 'strike' if anyone noticed.
Y'kow how people go on a starvation diet to bring attention to their cause?
Well I'm kinda doing the same thing.
Except it's for MY cause.
I NEED A SCRAPBOOKING/CRAFT ROOM.
I've come to the end of the road.
It's time.
It's time for me to be indulged.
Who's in?
Any ideas how I can pull this one off?
I'm thinking an entire wall in the 'sheitel room'
covered in peg board
like a store
(oh, my little heart skips a beat).
Let me end this with a line that I always say
(at the risk of Marrisa killing me)
i don't know...

But what I do know for sure to be true is that I love to read.
I love books.
Going to the library/bookstore still brings me the same thrill I felt when I was young.
Every Friday before Shabbos I remember walking to the Maple Street library.
(usually in fear of my life)
But nothing stopped me.
The excitement of discovering a new book kept me going  back.
Still does.
My favorite books are those that teach me something.
If there is one line that speaks to me, it was worth reading.
I envy those that use words to paint a picture more vibrant than what the eye can see.
Imagine being able to express your deepest thoughts
in a language so clear
that someone else actually understands...internalizes...relates to your experience.
Even if they don't feel the way you do.
ESPECIALLY if they don't feel the way you do.
Powerful.
I would like to share with you, from time to time, powerful words that I happen to come by
that resonate with me for one reason or another.
I will call these posts...

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

(Mishpach familyfirst Octo. 31 2012 p. 23)
"......Often we focus on the particular offending charecteristic as the problem. Rabbi Scwartz calls this seeing the issue from the middle, rather than from the source. The metophor he uses is that of a person setting out on a long excursion on a hot day. He leaves his home without taking water, and several hours into the trek is so thirsty that he feels faint. He thinks to himself, What shoud I do now? I don't have any water! He has a very real problem, but the true problem is that he didn't perceive the need for water before he left..."  -Debbie Greenblatt
To me this is a great lesson.
If you stand too close to the moment you are in
you fail to see the bigger picture.
Back it up.
That's when you see the real beauty.
Every step forward that you take today
should be planned way ahead of time.
That's what grown ups do.

 



I will get back to scrapbooking soon enough
but meanwhile I hope you enjoy what else I have to share with you.
and...
I  finally finished this pullover.

love it!