Like yarns through the needles, these are the Knits of our Lives.
When my kids were small, I was a stay at home mom, which I loved. I also loved to watch the soap opera Days of our Lives at naptime, and my own life was punctuated by the death and resurrection of Roman, by Sami's antics, and by all the friends and enemies of the Brady family. I kept watching until Marlena was posessed by Satan. At this, I could no longer willingly suspend my disbelief. Everyone has a breaking point.
These days, I work full-time, which leaves little time for watching a daily soap opera. So, rather than fictional characters, my life is now punctuated by the online antics of real people I kindof know. I do know some of them in person, but many are more peripheral to my life, except through social media...I may know what they had for dinner last night (it looked yummy on Instagram) or I may know that they are planning an amazing 4th birthday party for their kid (judging by what they are pinning), or maybe I saw that amazing home run (or heard about it on Facebook, or I was tagged, because I like baseball)...but the social media that truly chronicles my life is the one called Ravelry.
For those who don't know, Ravelry is social media for Yarnigans (people who knit, crochet, spin fiber into yarn, etc.), and I am a yarnigan! I didn't realize how big a yarnigan I was until this past weekend, in the Emergency Room.
Please note: Mr. Pretty and I, Mork and Mindy, Peanut, Snake and Dollface are all fine. Everyone is ok. Here's what happened:
Wicked Hiccups. Mr. Pretty got a case of wicked hiccups, and he could not swallow anything without throwing it back up again, and it was Saturday night, and the moon was full...so, of course, we went to the ER. Eventually he was admitted to the hospital, and on Sunday he had a procedure to dislodge a piece of food that was stuck (and how!) in his esophagus. We were home by Sunday afternoon, and everyone is fine. But while I was sitting with him in the ER (and then at his bedside on the 6th floor, and in the waiting room during his procedure), fervently praying and knitting socks, I got to thinking about the socks I was knitting the last time he was in the ER (on a Saturday afternoon, for severe back pain). When was that again? I'll just check Ravelry. And I thought about the dishcloths I worked on after I broke my fingers...was that just last summer? I'll check Ravelry. And then there were the afghans I had crocheted for Dollface and for Mindy for their bridal showers, and all the afghans I've knit and crocheted for bridal and baby showers, and to comfort friends going through rough times. I thought about all the sweaters for Peanut, and for other babies born on my watch, and the toys and booties and hats. As I let myself wander down the path of my projects, I realized that each one marks a life event, or a special or challenging time, for me or someone close to me...and it dawned on me:
MY WHOLE LIFE IS IN MY KNITTING ON RAVELRY!
Well, my whole life since 2007 or so (when I joined) anyway.
Thank you Ravelry. Thank you Casey and Jess, and all the Ravelry staff, for all you do so that I can chronicle my life through my projects. It is so much more than an online notebook for my knitting, it is a diary, a journal, a blog for my pretty knitty life. Thank you for having the initial ideas, and building on them through the years, bringing together yarnigans and their projects from all over the world!
If you are a yarnigan, and you are not on Ravelry, run (don't walk) to sign up! And if you are on Ravelry, friend me there (I'm PKJewelry) so I can keep in touch with your life, too!
Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!
