green noise

I can honestly say I’ve never been much of the crafty type. I’ve had my moments of artistic glory, but that’s been more along the lines of writing and visual arts. Things like scrapbooking and sewing, while I’ve always found really intriguing, have eluded me, though. I’ve never known how to get started, and my initial results were always poor enough so as to be thoroughly discouraging. It was the same story when I decided, many months ago, when I decided to learn how to knit.

In New York City, it’s not unusual to see people knitting on the subway. I’m commute via subway at least 3 hours a day during the week, so I see them all the time. And most of them are geek girls in their 20′s and 30′s – my peeps! I have to admit, knowing that knitting has become so popular with a younger set and is no longer relegated to mothball smelling grannies on their plastic covered armchairs, really spurred my desire to learn. So I bought a “teach yourself knitting” kit with two skeins of yarn, some needles, and a book. I studied the book for a while, then tried to replicate what I saw. I think I tried for about an hour before I decided that it was shit and I’d never learn. I put my knitting away and left it for a few months. I’m a poor sport when it comes to a learning curve.

Well, fast forward to about 2 weeks ago. I can’t recall exactly what it was that made me decide to try again, but I did, and with a bit more patience this time. I sat down with my needles, yarn, and book, and tried again, without success in even casting on. Instead of tossing it aside again, I decided that the problem was not that I’d never learn, but that I’d never learn from looking at pictures. It dawned on me how difficult it can be to learn a three dimensional, movement skill (such as knitting, dancing, Formula 1 racing) by looking at two dimensional illustrations and photographs. And this is when my digital obsession steps in.

YouTube, in this scenario, has been my salvation. A simple search for “how to knit” yielded a treasure trove of video tutorials. I could watch different methods from different people, and pause, rewind, and rewatch to my heart’s content. And within about 10 minutes, I had my first row cast on. A little more watching, trying, rewatching, and retrying, and I was actually knitting! Ain’t life grand?

So it’s been a couple of weeks now, and I’m nearing completion on a scarf I’m making for my niece. Is it beautiful and perfect? Not by a long shot. But 1. She’s only 15 months old, so I can pretty much guarantee that she won’t give a shit and 2. It’s a result. I’m learning the skill, and having a hell of a blast doing it. I’ve bought multiple needles in different sizes, and different yarns to work with, and I can actually see myself doing this as a long standing hobby. It’s relaxing, and the result of actually making something (Crafty? me? Whoda thunk it??) really makes me proud. I’m really looking forward to getting better at my new-found skill (and obsession, I think!) so I can make all kinds of lovely things. Grand things are ahead, from humble beginnings.

Today is April 26, and I’m already convinced that I will not survive the summer.

The weather as of late has been strange. And by “strange”, I mean “indicative of the pending apocolypse”. That’s the only reason I can think of that only a week ago, I was dressing in layers to combat 40 degree temperatures and sideways ice-rain and now I’m wearing my lightest clothes and hoping the people at the restaurant we’re headed to wouldn’t be too put out if I took my brunch in their walk-in freezer.

Seriously, the fact that it’s now 90 degrees in April scares the living daylights out of me. If it’s this hot now, what diabolical plan does Mother Nature have in store for us in, say, July?? I’m a fat girl and the mere mention of “unseasonably warm temperatures” makes the back of my knees sweat.

I know one of my last posts was all about how happy I was that spring had finally sprung, and the world and I were shedding off our winter coats in favor of a blanket of sunshine and blah, blah, blah. I know I sound like a total hypocrite, and I’m totally okay with that. But I’m addicted to cooler weather. Nothing, not even the promise of spring, will ever change that. Oh, Old Man Winter…I wish I knew how to quit you.

It looks like spring has finally sprung, and I have to say, not a moment too soon!!

Don’t get me wrong – I love winter. I adore cold weather, snow, and all the lovely woolen items that stay packed away until fall’s final hurrah. One of my favorite things is coming in out of the cold, trading snow-drenched clothes for warm, dry “comfies” and getting toasty under a soft fuzzy blanket. So, yeah – I’m down with winter.

But there are few things in this world that can compare to the way the world feels when the chill starts to abandon the air, leaving warm breezes and huge blue skies in its place. It’s getting to that point now, and I feel like I’m moving in sync with the seasons. The world is waking up, coming out of its deep freeze, and I feel like a fog is starting to lift from my brain. I’ve been happy enough these past few months, but felt like some kind of spark was missing somehow. But now that spring is taking hold, and the world is starting to bloom again, I think that I am, too.