Twists & Turns

Have you ever seen the details of a beautiful Irish fisherman sweater?

(Here are some links for you...  http://www.murphyofireland.com/aran-sweaters.php and

http://www.clanarans.com/ca/catalog/?gclid=CO_I5Ii1_aQCFRpO5QodLUw3hw)

Growing up in Puerto Rico, I never owned any winter clothes.  My only exposure to winter attire and sweaters was left to my grandparents in NY who kindly borrowed sweaters and coats to lend us for the "every-third-Christmas-or-so" visits.  Today, looking at those pictures in NYC and our grandparents’ home in Vermont brings back interesting memories – both emotional and tactile.  ...the cold of the air, the warmth of the sweaters and coats, the fun things that we just didn't do in Puerto Rico:  ice skating, Rockefeller center, the snow, the slush, the smell of the furnace at my grandparents'.  It wasn’t until I went to college that I had to worry about owning clothes that could keep me warm through the cold New England winters.  


The summer after my college sophomore year, I had the opportunity to visit Ireland for the summer.  And while I was in Dublin, in the middle of that hot summer, I had to figure out a way to buy two (very expensive for me at the time) undyed Irish fisherman sweaters.  These sweaters are beautiful and each of them tell a story about the family who wears them, the men who were often at sea making a living, and today, about the tradition.  These sweaters were very popular in Boston where everybody - and I mean EVERYBODY - is Irish.  So, I had to have one... or two...

I love knitted cables.  They tell a story.  They are complex and intricate. And yet, they are so simple to make.  I love knitting cables.

On parenting…

Parenting is like a two-lane road full of twists and turns, crossing states, planes, mountains, and valleys.  I have often said that being a father is the most difficult, and at the same time, the most rewarding job I have ever had.  Like a two-lane road, we as parents often set the course for what’s to happen; if I work hard, I’ll be able to look ahead for about a mile or so.  However, I seem to forget that just like a road, there are twists that often – in a surprising manner – present themselves.

I tell my friends that I love driving my car.  It handles like a dream.  It grabs the road no matter the conditions – rain, shine, or even snow.  I am so in awe of it that I tend to take the corners a little sharply so that I can feel the car gripping the asphalt.  Who would have ever thought that I would have been such the “driver” person?!

Unfortunately, in this parenting road, I have no car to help me feel “in control” of the situation.  The twists and turns come suddenly and without notice; they can make me feel “less than adequate” as a father, and even as a person.  And I often wish I could find a little rest area or a passing landing where I can just park to either plan, think, or even wait before responding.  The phrase "growing pains" has to refer to more than just the physical pains of growing...

Parenting is like knitted cable work: complex, intricate, full of twists and turns.

On life…

Communication is like a two-lane road full of twists and turns, connecting people. Positively or negatively, communication connects us all.  Like knitted cables with traveling stitches, our messages veer right and veer left.  Sometimes – and hopefully often -  they seek and meet in the center.  But it seems like more often than not, we face issues which are their core are the product of miscommunications.

For me, parenting seems to be becoming a lesson in simple communication – since those “terrible twos” which in hind sight were not that terrible, really.  


Relationships are all about communication, both spoken and not.  Work (the one that pays you and pays your bills) is all about communications.  Can you think of anything that does not involve or is at its core all about communicating?

Communication is like knitted cable work.

On Adam’s cables…

Adam’s knitted cables tell a story.  The scarf he wears is my partner’s (Jon’s) pattern:  The Jonny Jump Rope.  It was my first cable work project.  I had been wanting to knit it since the night I met Jon… he was wearing his version of it (in Navy) when we met and I was fascinated with it.  (Well, I was also fascinated with Jon too, but don’t tell him that.)  The intricate cables which expand from a tight rope to a diamond as if the jump rope were in mid-swing reminded me of the Irish fisherman sweaters I once bought so energetically.  So, when it was my turn to learn how to cable and start my Jonny Jump Rope, I chose a color of yarn that reminded me of one of my beautiful Irish sweaters.  Jon did such a nice job with the pattern that it has become a favorite of mine.

Once I had that scarf completed, I wanted a corresponding hat to go with it.  I found this easy-to-make hat knitted flat and using short rows.  This makes the cable on the band easier to make.  Unlike Joss, though, this hat is made all at once and sewn on the back.  Originally, the pattern required ear flaps, but those never really looked right, not with this yarn, and not in this color…

Adam’s cables tell the story of parents around the world driving on two-lane roads and facing the unexpected twists and turns our children present.  Adam’s cables tell the story of the communications' trials and tribulations we face with our family members, our friends, our co-workers, and even with strangers.  These are all two-lane roads.  But there is one thing we must all remember... For the lane in which I drive, there is a corresponding lane perhaps going in the opposite direction, but potentially also moving in the same.  For every argument, disagreement, or misunderstanding we have in one lane, there is another side.  And… these twists and turns have taught me that…

• On the other side of controversy, there is peace.
• On the other side of confusion, there is understanding.
• On the other side of a tear, there is a belly laugh so hard, you can't help but cry.
• And on the other side of frustration, there is tolerance, there is compassion, and there is love.

I love knitted cables.  e-

A special thanks to my friend Steve B. for modeling these Twists and Turns.  I am so thankful that after almost 15 years of knowing Steve, I finally got a chance to reacquaint and connect with him and his partner Rob.  Those are the beautiful twists and turns of life.

Holding Hands

I am a tactile person. I thought you should know that about me before we begin today. 

I am a tactile person.  I always thought it was because I am Hispanic... when you look at us as a culture, we're all about the hello hugs and the touching on the shoulder, but more beautifully, men and women and family members always greet each other with kisses on the cheek.  It is such the perfect opening punctuation mark (yes, in Spanish, we do have opening punctuation marks:  ¿ or ¡ for the typical ? or !) to any conversation/meeting!  However, the more I have studied my upbringing, the more I have realized that yes, perhaps it is because I'm Hispanic that I'm a tactile person, but it is also the wonderful matriarchal community in which I was raised - and to which I am highly grateful - that explains why touching is so important to me.  Between my abuelita and her sisters, and their next generation: my mom and her sister, I was always surrounded by hugs, kisses, invitations to sit on their laps, and touch!  Believe it or not, my abuelita held me in her lap even through my teenage years.  It always made me feel so loved and special!  Even today, my mom's hugs are the longest, and my tía Carlota's multiple-kisses, the most repetitively loving you'll ever find.  (I miss my abuelita - R.I.P. - and her sisters, some of them who have passed and others whom I have not seen in decades.)

There is something to be said for spending time with your children and expressing through touch how much they mean to you. 

In raising my son...

From the day Pablo was born, I have purposefully channeled all of those women who influenced whom I have become.  Since P has two dads, I guess I wanted to make sure he never missed that (often believed to be) feminine touch.  (No hate mail, please; it's just a musing...)  I tend to hug P a lot.  I tend to touch his head or his shoulder.  I love to hold his feet which are getting big and not so boyish any more (!).  I love when he reaches out in the morning for that first hug which says "good morning" and "I love you!"  I love cuddling with him to watch TV or a movie, or sit next to him while he plays a game.  And I love to hold his hand, but I melt when he reaches for my hand and chooses to hold mine, at home while at the dinner table, or more surprisingly when we are in public walking somewhere. 

To this day, I often remember a special moment when P was only a few days old.  Some of our friends - all men, P, his dad, and I (P's papa) had gone out to a restaurant for dinner.  P was in his pumpkin seat sleeping as he SELDOM did.  Next to us were a man and a woman having dinner.  From a quick conversation, we gathered that he had three boys from a previous marriage.  And even though many new parents shy away from "getting advice" from others, I welcome the piece of advice he provided.  He said, "You may want to hug him and kiss him a lot while he's this small..." I smiled.  "...because later on, he won't be so open to it..." And I nodded in understanding.  "...and he won't smell as good!"  And I busted in laughter.  (Thank you for that one, kind man.  I am still thinking about it 11 years later!)

A parenthetical thought about dating and singleitis...

Life is funny.  After an 11-year-old relationship with P's dad, a few years back, I was single again.  This time, I had a son, and life had moved alongside me.  Things weren't the same, so I had to do a little work to rediscover the evolved me.  I wanted to grow to become a better person, a better partner, and a better parent.  In my singleitis (I'll explain the word further down), I found as I dated that touch is not for everyone.  I'm not sure if it is the culture in which I live or the different meanings that touching has on people.  Often, from those I was dating, I got the idea that touch was "a little too close, a little too much, and a little too soon - regardless of time".  But rather than changing who I was (and I am, today) for these men, I sat still with the love of my friends and my family, and then found someone whose hand I love to hold and who, in turn, holds my heart...



And so, in the beginning...

I heard once that hands are the most injured part of the body.  It makes sense... both kids and adults get our hands into everything!  For many of us, they often are the first thing to get cold.  And if you like to be outdoors in the winter - like my son and I like to do - covering them is important.

Many knitters suffer from a common disease known as singleitis - the inability to finish the pair (or second one) of a two-item garment such as socks, gloves/mittens/wristlets, ear-warmers... you get the idea.  I have heard many explanations as to why this happens:

• Once you have worked so hard on the first piece, the second one seems like an unsurmountable amount of work...
• Once you have made so many modifications to the first piece, you can't remember how to complete the second one...
• The work for hands and feet are often too detail-oriented...
• It gets boring...

During my first year as a knitter, I started a thrummed mittens project just to abandon it after the first one was completed.  :(  Since then, I have refused to knit socks, and I attempted a pair of fingerless gloves for my son which turned out disasterously.  Oy!  It goes without saying that since I wanted to explore Adam & Eve in knitwear, I would have to go where I had not gone before... or in a long time...  the hands.  If the hands are the most injured part of the body, I wanted to do something for them that was simple, warm, and just me.

These mittens were knitted in the round with a ribbed cuff and a simple, knitted front and back.  What I think makes it special is the quiet cable band that runs on the outside of each mitten and through the front of the fingers.  It was interesting to conceive and play out, and thanks to the many techniques explored, I am really eager to try on variations on this theme:  e.g., try the cable band on the thumb and run it all the way through in a seamless manner, texture the palm of the mitten for added grip.

I love mittens because: (a) they use your own body heat to keep your fingers warm, (b) they bring me back to childhood when we didn't have full isolating mobility of our hands, and (c) they are great for holding hands!

So, I'm cured from my singleitis in more than one way.  I found a partner in Jon who is as tactile as I am and for that (and many other reasons) I love him.  I can knit two of the same things so I can now go back to re-try my son's fingerless gloves in the funkiest colors of green (I love his adventurous side!), and I can start knitting mittens for myself in an effort to keep my hands warm this winter while skiing, or simply walking with Jon and P holding hands!  ;)e-

Thank you to my dear friend Dave G. (a.k.a., Don Dave) for modeling these for me.  Blue is his color, so it was a wonderful experience to further explore the color with these mittens.  More ironically is the fact that Dave is a hand therapist and this irony almost went dead on all of us after we had pinpointed the yarn color, and the article he'd be modeling.  Thank you, DD!

Ribbit, Ribbit

First and foremost... This post is especially dedicated to any parent who has ever wished s/he could erase a "sour moment" (and you know exactly what I'm talking about) with their kids, but also to any human being who has ever wished for a do-over.

On life and parenting...


Raising a child - heck, living... presents its challenges, doesn't it? There isn't a day that goes by when I don't think or wish for at least one do-over. It goes without saying that only in movies or some of those Nick cartoons does anyone ever get a life or a moment do-over... Oh, well.


I feel lucky enough to have an amazing support system.  Together with me, they often celebrate the child I am raising and the bond that the two of us are creating.  "Luckily," they are not shy about telling me when I was a bit too tough, came across as not-understanding, or when... I could have handled that parenting moment... better.  Those are my "I wish for a do-over" moments.  In them, I have often heard a little bit of my dad, and a little bit of all of the noise out there in the world crashing into my interactions with my son.  Each of those moments is often significant - if not for me, then, for my son.  Why does it feel so difficult at times?  Certainly, the rewards far outweigh these sour moments, and still... why does it often feel like you are walking uphill both ways with weights on your backpack?  (Did anyone say "back-to-school" yet?  LOL!)

My dear friend, Ray, often reminds me to be kind to myself and give myself a break.  After all, we parents are trying the best we can with what we have.  We may not be able to do-over our interactions, but we can learn, and re-learn to avoid the same pitfalls in the future.  I keep trying...






On knitting, learning, and re-learning...


Thankfully, there are places where do-overs are allowed.  In knitting, even after you have cut the yarn, do-overs are not only permissible, but they have become a lesson on which to grow.

Ever since I started my new life as a knitter, I have often been nervous about blatant mistakes on my work... Yes, I know, most mistakes correct themselves in the long run, and as one of my LYS owners reminds me... "We knitters often forget about the thousands of perfect stitches we make and only focus on the one that did not come out as well..."  (Now, that is a life lesson I want to absorb and pass on to my son!)  However, when a blatant mistake, one with which you cannot live, is made, we have three options: 


(1)  back-track stitch-by-stitch to fix the issue,
(2)  put the work aside and pray to some knitting force that the mistake will go away by itself... LOL! (...and what ends up happening is that the work is never picked up again), or
(3)  rip it and either catch the work in a row below your mistake or start from scratch.

Until recently, I only subscribed to option number one since the mere thought of taking the needles off of my work caused more agita than the announcement that Pushing Daisies AND Eli Stone were BOTH going off the air!  :(  However, early in the summer, I met a group of men who empowered me to cut, rip, and backtrack in a more aggressive and speedy manner.  Ribbit, Ribbit.  (Thank you, Todd and Michael!)  And why not?!  After all, stitches can be redone, and if a mistake in your lovingly knitted article is going to make you unhappy, start it over, or rip it until you feel comfortable that it is what YOU want it to be.






Introducing Joss...


In this "What if Adam and Eve had had knitwear?" series, Joss was the hat that had seven false starts and when it was finished for the first time, the crown was attacked by a pair of scissors so that it could be frogged (ripped) down to the band and reknitted.  YES! 


At first, I couldn't find the right yarn, and even after I found it, I didn't have enough of it to move past the band.  :(  Once I started knitting the band, I couldn't figure out what I didn't like about it, so it kept getting ripped.  I needed to be happy with it.  All along, I kept on testing different yarns, gauges, and even patterns for the cable.  The crown was started three times, and when I finished it, I went to try it on my model and it looked a bit... off... so, with a glass of bubbly in hand and a pair of scissors (scary combination for both hair and yarn), we sat on our front porch, and I ripped it, ripped it... all the way to the band.  Now, that's empowerment.


This hat was knitted following the ultimate pattern:  a vision of what you want and no instructions.  More empowerment... (Wait!  How can it ever be wrong then?!  LOL!)  The cabled band was knitted first to about 22" (approx. 85 rows) with slipped stitches at the end of each row and a buttonhole about 1/2 " before the end.  Once I had the band fitted for length, I picked up 75 stitches from the wrong edge of the band - as I wanted to keep the slipped stitches border visible, and stopping about 1/2" before the buttonhole as it needed to overlap with the other side. 


On my first row, I increased by one stitch every third stitch for a total of 100 stitches, and from there, I followed by easy-breezy pattern for my beanies, purling my whole way through.

I love the color and the detail of the button.  Thanks to the many do-overs and the opportunity to have them while knitting this hat, the end product was a flirty beanie with a lovely button detail perfect for fall and winter - and now perfect for my sister who already claimed ownership of the hat.  Hee, hee!  e-

A special thanks for my wonderful and beautiful and not-at-all-shy, dear friend Susan H. for modeling this hat.  We had a great time working together.  There's more to come!  Please stay tuned... 

Try Something New!

I love the idea of trying new things out.

My sister and I have always had this unspoken agreement that when we go shopping, trying things out is essential to knowing if we like them or not.  The same goes with food.  ("No, mami, todavia no lo he probado.  Asi que no puedo decirle 'fo'. Tienes razón.")  Similarly, I often tell my son that trying things out allows us a taste of the food, the clothes, or whatever the activity, so that we can make better decisions.

This past spring, in the spirit of trying new things, my family and I visited New York City (NYC).  Let me clarify when I say "family"... my son (10), my brother's son (15), my sister (forever young), my partner Jon (we often joke that he's 90-something), and I together on vacation.  While it wasn't any of the adults' first time in NYC, it was the kiddos' (the almost tween and the teenager's) first visit to the Big Apple.


On life through a young one's eyes...


Because the adults had been to NYC so many times, we seem to have forgotten how wonderous a place this is!  My son was perplexed by the big city, the traffic, the people.  I often found myself quoting my aunts, uncles, and grandparents who lived in NYC while we were growing up, when they all had to rein us in every time we went for a walk. "P, keep an eye on us or hold my hand!" I would say often.  But it is difficult to follow or not just stare when you are surrounded by skycrapers, beautiful greenery (as in Central Park) and so much activity.


By the second day - and based on my lesson learned when P and I went to Disney World many years back - I surrendered to the experience of just enjoying it all as if it were all new to me...


On those new things...


It was on one of those days when I was walking around like my ten-year-old that I noticed the most interesting ad.  In its center, there were two chopsticks with knitted noodles. (Did you know you can knit with almost anything?!) I laughed and pointed it to my sister and my partner - both knitters.  I loved it.  (BTW, since then, I have researched this further, and of course, YouTube has videos on "how to" knit with noodles and chopsticks. Go figure!)

This idea got me thinking, though... I love my local yarn shops (LYS), and I wondered... Could I find something to knit somewhere else other than my LYS or my LNJ (that's "local noodle joint")?


Since we were staging our home for sale and buying a new-old (!) home which would need some TLC, we were visiting home improvement stores every weekend. (What happened to my LYS weekly visits?! Sniff!)  It was at our local home improvement store that I ventured into two aisles looking for: (a) rope and cording and (b) snaps and closures.  I have always loved the bright colors in which nylon cording (a.k.a. mason lines) come:  oranges, hot pink, yellow, and even pure white.  Could I knit something for "Adam" which was manly-like and wearable using these? 

And so, these necklace and bracelets were born...

Using the infamous i-cord, I cast on four stitches onto the the clasp (i.e., used the clasp as a secondary needle on which to cast on) and knitted the i-cord long enough not to be a chocker, but short enough so that it wouldn't be a "strand of pearls".  To create a second loop, I flattened the i-cord, and reduced by K2tog until I had one stitch left.  When weaving in my end, I left a little loop which could be grabbed by the clasp. 

I applied the same principle with the hot pink bracelet (three stitches instead of four), except that I reversed the method... I cast on separately sans clasp and knitted the i-cord until it was long enough to go around the wrist.  Instead of casting off, I replaced the needle with the clasp and snuck in the end through the cord.  To secure the bracelet, I just snuck in the cast on end into the clasp.  Voila!  ;)

Lastly, I had to try cabling with one of these... Six stitches this time with a three-stitch cabling (to the back)... Could it look like a braided bracelet... I think so...

Knitting with nylon cording was... interesting.  It was rough, and tough, and manly, and... wait... Knitting with nylon cording was... interesting!  ;)  And I think the experiment was successful: I have two orders for bracelets now! LOL!

So, have you ever tried to knit with something different?  If so, what was it?  I would love to hear some other ideas and see some pictures!  Keep me on the edge; I'd like to try something new soon!  e-

Special thanks to Eric S. (again!) who modeled for these pictures.  He was quite the trooper in modeling these and we ended with more pictures that I could ever post... maybe. 

June, June, June

If you have never seen the YouTube video phenomenon of Leslie Uggams butchering (and I say that painfully because I love Miss Uggams back from her days in "Roots" - the ground-breaking mini-series!) "June Is Bustin' Out All Over" from Carousel, you SHOULD.  Here, let me help you as this video is this post's foundation:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mrma76T5Wa4!


Have you ever tried lace?!  Well, I do to lace what Leslie Uggams did to "June Is Bustin' Out All Over" in that performance!  Man!  My hands with any fine yarn and small needles are not friends.  Like Miss Uggams, most of my lace work often comes out a big ol' mess...

On parenting...


Recently, I was chatting with a fellow parent, a mom at my son's violin studio (Hi, J!)  Together, we were commiserating on how difficult summers felt.  Most often, they are crazily unstructured.  We longed for the routines we had lost with the end of the school year... and how good these routines are not only for our kids, but for us, too.  I suppose it's exactly what that Staples commercial celebrates in the fall:  the return to the school year marks... the most wonderful time... 

Summers, in essence, end up feeling a bit messy, like a bad piece of lacework (i.e., my attempts at it to say the least) or a bad rendition of "June is Bustin' Out All Over"!  (Did you watch that video?!)

To avoid this lack of structure and because this year my son whom I often call "P" rebelled against camp, we are trying something new.  At first, it looks like a big ol' pile of activities - again, much like my attempts at lacework.  But upon closer inspection while there appears to be no structure to our summer activities, I am learning from knitting - as I have learned from his Montessori education - that everything has structure, even our impromptu work.  I love it.  P has a series of small camps and a whole bunch of activities at home.  The two of us are attacking every day and every week like a complex pattern:  a stitch at a time.  Similar to lace as well, our summer schedule (or our "pattern") seems to change every day/row, therefore, the two of us are trying to pay close attention to avoid having to unravel the work.  He is doing great, and this "life knitting pattern" of our own seems to be working... I love spending time with him and watching him grow.  Don't get me wrong; I'm still longing for the school year, but until then... What a treat!

As with other things, today, I am taking a page from life to inform my knitting, and I am taking a page from knitting to inform my journey through parenthood...


On Adam, Eve, and their knitwear...

Following the story, one day, Eve needed a hat...

Lace.  Lace.  Lace.  I'm not giving up on you, but I need to better understand how you function first!  We must try and try again.  Here we go...

In the beginning... Wait.  Could I try something other than lace?  My mom's shawl did not go well... Could I try something else?  Hmmm.... 

In the beginning... there was a man, some needles, and some beautiful yarn... some of his favorite.  (Yes, let's start with some of my favorite yarn!)  Using Berroco Ultra Alpaca - my "go to" yarn for beanies - I tackled the workings of lace.  Yes, I know... I have heard it already... worsted weight lace is for chickens, but remember, my method was to better understand the workings of lace and how it can be just like any other project, right?  (YIKES!)   I wanted to create something simple, quick, inspired by the 1920's, and that allowed me to explore something lace-like.  I wanted it to feel pretty, and I wanted it to feel girly.  To that end, I felt like adding a little adornment: a rosette.  After all, Eve was fussy about her looks as we learned later on during Sunday school...  ;)

The hat follows my quick recipe for a beanie incorporating yarnovers (YO) and knit-two-togethers (K2tog).  It was pretty straight-forward until I tried to use my preferred crown shaping which gives my beanies a rounder top and a spiral decrease.  Nothing was complicated; keeping track of the adjustmensts was a challenge - just like our summer schedule!

For the adornment, I experimented with both dyed (pink and green - see left) and natural color yarn (see pictures above) creating a long I-Cord (18"), folding it in half, and wrapping it into a knot.  Before doing so, I "opened" the I-Cord and continued knitting together one or two leaves (all in one piece) for dimension.  I liked it so much that I thought of a million and one different uses for those rosettes: tied to a ribbon around the neck, as a lapelle pin, as a headband, as a hair clip, as button closure (which you'll see later), as a belt...

Perhaps all of my women-friends (and some of my male friends) will be getting one this holiday season... perhaps...  

Thank you for reading and sharing with me.  And don't forget to feed the fishies! (Use your mouse to drop some food - by clicking - for them before you leave...)  e-

 

PS A special thanks to my beautiful friend, Meg T., for modeling this hat - neither she nor Eve was a prude, and I think Meg is prettier than Eve was.  Stay tuned for more...

In the beginning...

Having been raised as a Catholic boy in Puerto Rico, these three little words ("In the beginning...") tend to evoke a lot of different feelings - most of them of a religious nature. Today, however, I have learned that life is whatever you make it out to be much more so than a prescription of what "anyone else" has for you.  And beginnings can be so very beautiful, can't they?

On getting started...

A little over two years ago, I cast on my first stitch. I remember that day vividly. I was celebrating with two dear friends, and I felt courageous enough to try something new. "Can you teach me how to knit?" I asked Todd.  As loving and helpful as he always is, he answered, "Sure!" And so that journey began with a scarf I knit for my son, Pablo.  This scarf ended up being twice his height in length and wide as wide can be. We called it his "Harry Potter" scarf even though it looked more like a blanket, but hey... it kept him warm on the slopes during our first ski trip together, and he still uses that scarf to ski.

Since that first scarf, I have ventured into a lot of different knitting projects: beanies, shawls, fingerless gloves, suffered a case of the "onesie" with a mitten, neck warmers, baby sweaters, more scarves, a toy lobster (!), and sweaters. Whew! With every project, I have learned something new - a stitch, how to read a pattern, how to design a pattern, how to make a mistake, and how to repair it, how to put positive energy into a garment, and how to stop when the energy is not right. But most importantly, I have learned to be patient as stitches, like our children, do not always respond in the way you expect them to.

I know, I know... there is so much more about child-rearing.  And, I'll give you that.  But, it is in knitting that I have found (and keep finding) my chi. It is in the trance of knitting that I often ponder on the problems I face in my workaday job, in my relationships with my family and friends, and in raising my son.  I say that I knit to keep sane, but it is also in the trance of knitting that I find my inspiration.

On other beginnings...

It was in one of those trances that I recently pondered on an idea... After seeing a beautiful Tanis Gray scarf pattern in Vogue Knitting (Winter, 2008/2009), I decided to alter it for myself and try my hand at another scarf a little too big and a little too long.

As I was knitting the scarf, I started pondering on the idea of beginnings again.  In the beginning... there was a man... (remember, I was raised as a Catholic boy in Puerto Rico...) there was a man... (and in true fashion, my thoughts went on a tangent...) there was a man... his name was Adam... and what if Adam had knitwear?  Huh!  What if Adam had knitwear?!  What would this world be if Adam had knitwear?!  I have always thought of us knitters as really kind-hearted people, so would Eve have been a bit more prudent and not had that apple? Would Cain and Abel have been nicer to each other because they all had knitwear?! Hmmm...

When I finished this 11' (yes, that's eleven feet) scarf - a foot and a half wide - I rejoiced at the idea that this beautiful scarf could do more than be a fashion accessory.   It certainly was intended to keep me warm. And now, it had become a symbol of growth (both personal and professional).  It was a reminder of the kind-hearted nature of us knitters, and how there is so much out there to explore, still! This scarf left me to ponder the idea of what this world would be if we had had knitwear... in the beginning. e-

PS A special thanks to my good friend, Eric S., for modeling this scarf and some other projects to come... if Adam and Eve had had knitwear.  Stay tuned...