Time

I've been thinking a lot about time lately. It might have something to do with the fact that I'd been sick for a whole week without energy to do much. It might have to do with the fact that I've recently turned the big three-o (yes, I can hear you gasping in shock).

Have you ever been asked, "Where do you find the time to [insert appropriate activity here]?" Or perhaps you've even asked someone that question before.

In my opinion, it's mostly an unnecessary question because we all find the time to do whatever we want to do the most. It's all a matter of priority (conscious or otherwise) and preference.

Where do we find the time to watch TV? Where do we find the time to read? Where do we find the time to sleep? Where do we find the time to eat? Where do we find the time to go shopping?

It's true, some activities are more necessary than others but think about all the time that you spend doing the things you enjoy doing. Where do you find the time to do it? You just find time, don't you?

Say you enjoy watching TV. You've probably given up some time reading a book to do so.

Say you enjoy going out for walks. You've probably given up some time cleaning the house to do so.

Or take my example - I love knitting. All I've simply done is use the time where I would be sitting in a car on a long road trip doing nothing to knit. Either that or I knit furiously when I'm watching TV.

These are things that you don't actually think about. You just give up something to do something else.

But we live in a society where we're made to feel guilty that we have time to do anything. If we have time for some R&R, it's most likely because we're "lazy".

Are we really?

Do I really have to feel guilty simply because I've managed to prioritise my life and do what I enjoy doing the most? Do I have to feel bad because occasionally, I am able to do two things at once?

The next time you feel tempted to ask someone where they find the time to do something, take a moment to think: that particular person does not have your life. Which means they have very different priorities to you. Which also means they have very different interests to you. Which therefore means, while they may have found the time to do something you would actually love to do, they have essentially given up the time to do something you have actually done.

Bobble scarf

I love how this scarf twists and wind around itself, making it look like as if it's braided. It's a simple cable pattern that makes the two colours stay together but twisted. It took a while to figure it out, but once I got the hang of it, it was a really quick knit.

The only problem I have with this is that the twists don't actually stay where they're meant to sometimes and so the wrong side of the scarf shows.

Lil' headband

Just a simple little headband knitted up while I was up north in Townsville with nothing to do and a limited amount of yarn. It actually fitted surprisingly well!

Pink American shrug

I can't believe how easy the pattern is to make this shrug! It literally is simply knitting a rectangular piece in 2x2 rib for long and wide enough, sew it in the right spots and viola! A knitted item of clothing! How incredibly clever is that!

And now that I've discovered how easy it is to do that, I might have to add a sleeved version.

Knitted in 100% wool, this shrug is very warm despite weighing virtually nothing at all. In this cold weather, I like wearing it under my jacket. And when I do that, I hardly have to wear many layers because it keeps my neck and shoulders really warm. The only problem are my bare arms.

Most of the shrug was knitted up while I was in America and we were road-tripping up and down the West Coast.

My friend Jeanelle took the photos and I think she did a magnificent job, considering the subject matter!

New article published

Published in Signs of the Times, June 2010.

Other published articles can be found here.

Braided scarf

Made my very first pom pom a few weeks ago. It turned out to be so easy and a really excellent way of using up scraps of yarn.

I'm going around making pom poms as and when I feel like it now. I've made four more since, and two have been attached to an elastic to be used as a hair tie. The other two...I'll decide later.

But these particular pom-poms were attached to the end of a scarf done in a cabled pattern that made it look like it was braided. Real easy pattern and you can pretty much knit it up on auto-pilot when you've memorised it (which is not hard at all)!

Pattern here.