women of a certain age are like sunflowers; they know how to turn their faces to the sun.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Abundance




"Not what we have but what we enjoy, constitutes our abundance."
- John Petit-Senn

Sometimes, it only takes a sentence to improve our outlook on life. I think the one I quoted above is a doozy.

It is an interesting holiday season this year.

REVELATION BY TYPO ALERT: I accidentally typed holidazy. Actually, I think that is a pretty fair description. I just might have to keep using that...

Anyway, as I was saying...

This year:

As the no-longer-looming-but-already-painfully-here recession deepens and the sobering news is interspersed with cheerful advertising...

As my email box fills up with desperate emails entreating me to spend, spend, spend...

As my mail carrier groans with the added weight of all the glossy catalogs ordered by retailers in happier times...

As my desire to indulge my family wars with my fear of impending lay-offs...

I find myself, even more than usual, contemplating what it takes to make us happy.

I will confess to having barely started my Christmas shopping. I have looked, but not yet bought, as I watch my bank balance creep up into enough to fund a modest shopping trip.

Hey, you try earning your keep in increments of $8 or less! It takes a lot of pattern sales to buy a sweater...

So I electronically shuttle from PayPal to Online Banking to Old Navy to Fisher Price (now there's a company I haven't patronized for a l-o-o-o-o-n-g time!) to Gap to Williams Sonoma.

At least I don't have to find a parking place. And I can play MY music while I shop.

With a cat in my lap.

And a mug of hot coffee.

But, no matter how serene the surroundings, there is still a creative tension between want, need, the willingness to go into debt, and the ability to pay.

I think to myself, "There just isn't enough!"

And then I read a sentence like the one that leads off this post.

And I humbly beg forgiveness for my foolishness.

I am a knitter. I am a designer. I am a writer. I am a mother. I am a grandmother. I am a wife.

I am a seeker of truth, a child of God.

And I enjoy each and every one of these things. Together they add up to a magnificent abundance.

Sometimes, all it takes is a sentence...

*****

Here are some pictures of my knitting abundance, but first a word (Well, several actually; why use one when a dozen would suffice?) about those eight charts I spoke of yesterday.

I did eight charts, so you won't have to.

I was tired of knitting and ripping out rows. I was unhappy with the balance of the patterns in Rouen. So I charted the whole thing out, including repeats, reduced the size of the graphs and lined them up on the page so I could get an overall picture.

And it worked.


I have added the next element to the foundation of the border I shared with you yesterday:

A secondary border, with vertical ribbing and architectural details.


The color is very pretty; rather an opalescent gray, with bits of pink and blue. Appropriate, I think to a piece that was inspired by the incomparable Monet and his paintings of Rouen.

And now, I am ready to move onward and upward to the soaring heights my creative soul can reach. I have an abundance of enjoyable challenge waiting for my hand. God will provide.

It's a good thing.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sometimes God uses others to keep us in check...today He used you...Thank you both. As to the knitting...I love it! The second part really is wonderful...just like a building ....foundation is neccessary but the beauty is in the architecture....Thanks from one who hasn't shopped yet either.

Anonymous said...

Wow. I continuously read your blog in awe of not only the amount but the beauty of your designs. As my momma always says: God never gives you more than you can handle... sometimes I just wish he didn't have so much faith in me! :D I look forward to finally having the time and talent to attack on eof your patterns and do it justice!

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous! Mmmmm.....maybe a terracotta color, like the mission churches in the southwest. I'll be ready for a quieter January!

momsue84 said...

Your thought provoking, insightful posts are as interesting and compelling as your gorgeous designs. Thank you for both.

Megan said...

the right words, at the perfect time, thanks for sharing your wisdom and your talents =) megan

Rowena Hopkirk said...

Um, speaking of revelation by typo... surely you didn't mean "souring heights"? ;) But I don't mean to detract from the content of your post, which was wonderful!

fleegle said...

Oh my! You are giving us an abundance of wisdom and eye candy!

I hate this season. I am still getting catalogs for my mother, who died four years ago. I could cry (and often do).

dragon knitter said...

do the words "absolute genius" have any meaning right now? you need towrite a book, woman

Anonymous said...

Your writing is inspiring as are your patterns. What a blessing it is to be so very talented and that you share it makes it a blessing to others. Thank you!

As for the price of your patterns... so very reasonable for what you do, so very appreciated. If you raise the price this would still be true. Since retiring most of the websites I design and maintain are done for free... money is not everything but it sure does make life more comfortable :-)

Kathleen said...

I love reading your blog. You always seem to have very timely words for me. Today I realized my own truth in "...willingness to go into debt..." Thanks again.

Anonymous said...

Love the new design. Great post too...

Julie said...

Gorgeous new design! And thank you for your thought-provoking post. It seems like every year we go crazy trying to buy bigger & better stuff than we did last year, only to have to pay the bills later & make room in our lives for the stuff.

Hattie said...

I can NOT wait to see how this one comes out!