Potato Peels

"Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes."
- Alan W. Watts

The idea of spirituality being one with our everyday life really resonates with me.

One of the things that bothered me about my life B.K. (before knitting) and B.T. (before therapy) was its fragmentation.

• I was a mother with concerns about her children.
• I was an Executive Director with responsibilities to her organization.
• I was a child of God with a yearning to learn more.
• I was a wife who found herself unable to put aside her other concerns and focus on her marriage.
• I was a friend who lacked the time and energy required to keep up with her buddies.
• I was a writer and knitter who stole moments for her "hobbies."

I was a multi-tasking mess.

And I knew, deep down, that there had to be a better way to live.

When I began this blog two years ago, (OMG! Has it really been that long?) people asked me what the blog was about.

Was it about knitting or writing? Was it about family or friends? Was it about me or about the vast world beyond the singular? Was it about religion or life? Was it about my hobby or my life's passion?

YES!

It is about all of that and more. Because all of that is life. All of that is spiritual. All of that is a gift.

And all of that is one.

Finding God in the everyday events of our lives turns out to be much easier than looking for him/her in church on Sunday. Yet, all too often, we divide our lives. Six days for us and one for God.

For many of us, the only time we invite God into our daily lives is when we need him/her most. We relegate God to the church and then wonder at the amount of time it takes for him/her to reach us.

Better to keep God close at hand, the closer the better, within rather than without...

I find that the more I can find God in every morning (even Monday) the better adjusted my life becomes. To say nothing of happier.

It is a remarkably peaceful way to live.

In this life, we have to peel a LOT of potatoes. We might as well make the most of them.

*****

Pampas, the first design in 2009's Garden Variety Collection, is on the blocking boards. Look for her release on Monday. And remember, only one week left to lock in presale savings. Click on the sidebar picture for all the details.



Last week, I introduced Vinyasa, the first in my Zen series. And I realized I had not talked much about these creations.

The Zen collection is a series of designs using Rowan's Purelife Organic Cotton 4-ply. the patterns are easily memorized and the yarn is not splitty, or sticky, or fine, or any of those other things that slow our knitting down. No beads either.

Nothing to break the enjoyable flow of our work. They are peaceful knits, along the line of Taize. Knits that allow us to move into a simple space with our handwork.



Next up is Namaste, in a lovely celery green. She spotlights a twining leaf design that is much easier than it looks. In fact, the repeat is only 8 rows.

After that, you can look forward to:

Om in a restful sky blue

Mantra in a natural beige linen color

Lotus in a lovely plum tone

Karma in warm sandwashed sienna

Asana in minty bluish green

and Sanskrit in soft dove gray.

And I have also managed to put a few more rows onto Mendhi, which many are eagerly anticipating. She requires a lot of attention, so she is relegated strictly to my home knitting basket, for times when I can really concentrate. Probably looking at a June release.

HUMONGOUS SATURDAY STASH SALE TOMORROW
LAST ONE FOR THREE WEEKS
!!DON'T MISS OUT!!