Knitting Expert? Sure!!!

Just a quick little update on my knitting projects.

So, yesterday, after way too long (sorry my baby), I finished Natalie's throw. It turned out nearly as beautiful as she is:




So... let's see here. I have made a scarf for myself. I made a scarf for my Uncle Bobby (I wonder if he wears it?). I made a scarf for my son. And now, I have made two throws.

Yesterday, I started on my Giants scarfs for Trent, Natalie, and myself. I did one pattern that I have been looking soooo forward to doing...I hated it. I did about 50 rows and ripped it out. I then looked online and got a different pattern. This involved a double knitting procedure. I did about 10 rows. I loved the double knitting, but... oh, my gosh...that one scarf would have taken me 3 years to finish!! Not only that, I think with the pattern of the double knitting would be better with a smaller needle and not so thick of yarn. It was hard to make out that those were hearts. I think anyway. I will definitely do that pattern, though, in the future, with different yarn and needles. So...I decided that I knew what I wanted, so I made my own pattern!!! I know, right?!?! Genius!! So...I have done about 25 rows of it and....I hate it!!! Natalie says she likes it, so I will continue to do it for her. I think I will comb the net in the next few days and find something that I love! My guess is...I will be ripping out this third attempt at my Giants scarf. Being a perfectionist is NOT all it is cracked up to be!

I also have yarn to do a wrap. The pattern I have uses cable needles, which kinda excites me a bit. I have put this off because the Giants have their first game in April and I would like to have our scarves done by then. But, I may go ahead with this and put the scarves off until I find something that I love and want to do. Decisions....decisions....decisions.

As far as life goes...well, I have certainly had better days. Going through some rough times and trying to figure some things out. My head is full of many thoughts. Changes and different seasons of life are finally taking a toll on me. I am doing things to help with this journey and I just hope that I find the ones I love at the end of the road.

Much love...

XOXO

Who am I ?

I was talking with someone the other day and she asked me, "Who is Velvet?" I thought for a moment and this is what I came up with:

Velvet -- Daughter, sister, niece, cousin, granddaughter, wife, mother, aunt, friend...

But then she clarified and wanted to know "WHO" Velvet is, not "WHAT" she is. I don't really know who I am. I am all those things, but do they define who I am? If you did not really know me and I listed those things above, would you know me? You could gather a few clues like I am married with children and I have a brother or a sister and a mother and a father... but is that WHO I am?

I asked Natalie who she thought I was...this is what she said about me: She said I am beautiful (awww), I am smart, I am sarcastic (?what?), I am tone deaf, I would do anything for my children, I spoil my dog as well as my children, I like the beach, I like to read, I am competitive. Do you think you know me any better now?

What if I told you I laugh hysterically at my own jokes and I sing in the shower? Or what if I told you that I lay in bed at night and think way too much? Would you know me any better if I told you that I purposely set my alarm clock early just so I can push the snooze button? What if I told you that I iron my jeans or I love this new hobby of knitting or that I always, always finish a book even if I hate it or I wont walk outside without hair and makeup done or I love the rain or I love shoes or I cannot gargle or that my vision is corrected the exact same on both eyes or I will always put those I love before myself or I just recently started dying my hair or that I used to hate pizza or I truly love the game of football or that I wear diamonds and pearls with jeans or that I despise silver jewelry or that I have 7 fake teeth or that I purposely buy shoes 1/2 size too small or I love to go for a drive or that I could sit and watch people all day or that I am allergic to cats or that I am fighting depression or that I rarely drive the posted speed limit or that I can type 120 words per minute with 99% accuracy or that I do not have a higher education, would you know me then?

Who is Velvet Louise Johnson Wood? I don't know, really. But, I am going to find out.

XOXO

The Tags of Memories....

Today marks the 6th month that my father has been gone. My heart has never really gotten over this. I miss him. There are things that I would like to talk to him about and stuff that I would like him to know. There are days that I know if he were still with us, he would call me; either to tease me relentlessly or to make me feel sorry for him because I live in warm California and he lives in cold New Mexico.

My Natalie had such a wonderful dream the other day....She dreamt that in her pocket she had these metal tags (she described them as dog tags) that she could pull out in a bunch. She said there were lots and lots of these tags and each one had a date on it. When she pulled out a tag, she could relive the memory related to that day with perfect recall. I thought that was such a wonderful concept, such a wonderful gift. There are many, many dates that I wish I could recall with a perfect memory. And on the flip side of that, I think there are dates that I would lock up somewhere, never to be thought of again. But as I was thinking about locking up some of the bad memories, it made me think that maybe those bad memories should be mixed into the group. Maybe without the bad, I would forget really how good the good were. Without the sad, I would never really know how happy the happy were. Without the ones that caused me such grief and sorrow, how could I possibly even experience the joy of the others?

So, my bunch of tags would be laced with the very best of my memories interspersed with the worst. I think most days I would close my eyes and just pick, let fate take over, and watch whatever was picked. But on days like today, I would definitely pick my memories; I would pick the days my daddy would pick me up and put me on his shoulders and walk me to the park or the days he took me out driving or the days my children were born or the days when I had no one to call but my daddy or the days he would call me and tell me that he was glad I got to talk to him or... the last day I saw him. I would pick the very best of the best.

I hope that those people I have touched, can pull out a good memory of me from their tags. I hope they can look at me and smile. I hope if I hurt them, they can look at a good memory and begin to forget and forgive. I hope the good memories always overshadow the bad. I promise if I ever pull a bad memory out of you, I will search and search until I find .... the best of the best.

XOXO