Wednesday, June 09, 2004

Lace Curtain Irish
That's me, kids. Descended from the Auld Sod and prettying up life with a bit 'o crocheted lace. My celtic forebears would be proud. Although it ain't curtains, it kinda looks like it:



It's the Filet Crochet Cardi. Worked in one piece from the bottom hem to the armholes -- you can just start to see the pattern forming. This silly project has been amazingly soothing. Filet crochet is so easy. It's just double crochets forming mesh and block patterns. Mindless, and necessary at the moment. And not insanely tiny like my poor neglected Painted Roses scarf.

The Body Politic
DH is doing much better. Thank you for the get well wishes! It's a "recovery week" in Triathlon Land (lighter workouts), so that's helping.

Just Call Me Nadia …*
… 'cuz it's all about the balance (beam), baby.
First off, I want to thank everyone who commented or sent emails. You came through again, my friends. Whenever I falter, your kind and encouraging words lift me like a gentle updraft and enable me to start moving forward again. Bron, Sharon, Marie, Nancy, Sharlene, Laura, Teresa, Mariko, Amy, Doreen, thank you. Marcia, your blog b*tchslap was very necessary. Thank you.

Back to The Word. Balance. The state I constantly seek, but rarely attain for any length of time. I know I'm not the only one who has trouble with balance. Unless one exists in a vacuum, it's an issue. Work, family, health, finances, "me" time -- it's like catching greased pigs in a pen. Grab one, and 3 others run squealing off in separate directions.

This blog is another balancing act. Balancing knit content (required as a member of the Knit Blogger's Web Ring) with the personal blather. Keeping the personal blather a bit cleaner than I'd like so as not to offend. Not that I'm holding back a load of profanity, but I can be quite, well, blunt in real life. My blog persona's edges are smoothed quite a bit for public consumption. Wondering whether it's worth the effort. Wondering if I have anything worthwhile to say, or am I just filling up cyberspace with a lot of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Deciding that maybe it is worth it, based on some really nice comments from readers. Wondering if I ought to start a second, gloves-off blog with no knit content and unfettered thoughts. Sharlene wrote me a thoughtful email urging me to really consider being myself in my current blog, rather than splitting a part of me off into another blog and possibly facing burnout trying to maintain the two. Good advice, Sharlene.

So here's the deal. After some thought, I've decided I don't want to create a Two Blogs of Eve situation. The answer doesn't lie in balancing 2 blogs, but adjusting the balance of the existing blog in a way that works for me. Clint Eastwood had a great line in the movie Heartbreak Ridge: Adapt, Improvise, Overcome. On that note, I'm going to gently take the (knit) gloves off over time and say what I want. I may not always have a nifty knit project to blab about, but I'll do my best to occasionally have something fiber-ey to satisfy the purists and webring requirements. Are you with me?

*Nadia Comaneci: First gymnast at the Olympics (1976) to receive the perfect score of ten (which she repeated 6 more times), she also won three gold medals (individual all-around, balance beam and uneven bars), a silver medal (team all-around) and a bronze (floor exercise).

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