Um... I'm not sure if I think it's cool or not, but it's post worthy. Thanks to Knithound Brooklyn for posting it as well.
Last night I finished The Doctor's Wife after several late night nursing sessions. I find it impossible to put down a book when I only have 10 or so pages left. Part of the tiredness that haunted my day today was due to the fact that this rule applies even if it is almost four in the morning and I am exhausted through and through.

I spent an hour at Knitting Sisters in Williamsburg with a friend and her mother stroking piles and baskets of lovely yarn. There's nothing quite like a room bursting with color, texture and the dreamy state of potential. K was in the throws of finding the perfect yarn to construct a cabled jacket she's fallen in love with and I fell into a soft-as-a-cloud chair to plug away at a few more short rows on my MIL's Christmas scarf. I had the luxury of undisturbed knitting for a few minutes because I pinpointed a ball of beautiful glue/green/purple mom-friendly washable acrylic-wool yarn for a friend's requested project within 30 seconds of walking in the shop. It was hiding in the back room, waiting to be stocked. It didn't stand a chance. K's mom was getting her baby fix with my son while I lapsed into a calm knitting session.

The year is close to ending and I'm already mentally formulating the knitting attack for 2010. I'd like to start knitting items for charity, have all my Christmas gifts done by Thanksgiving and still manage to find some needle time for some selfish knitting. Okay, not some time for selfish knitting, a lot. On the charity front I'd like to make chemo hats for those struggling with cancer or knit warm items for needy children. I figure if I make one a month, I'll spend about a week on that. I could spend another week working on gift knitting and then relish two whole weeks working on things for myself.

Why two weeks? Because I want big things. I don't fancy wearing hats often because I have long hair and I either have hat head or end up with a frizzy hair do. Gloves? Can't drive with them and too easily lost. Scarves? Have plenty of those already. Socks? Still not ready to dive back into that. That leaves me with tops and bottoms, more of less. I really want to start using up our old and ragged clothes to make crocheted floor rugs for the bathroom and kitchen. Tshirt rugs are incredible soft underfoot, not to mention absorbent and easy to care for on day-to-day basis. I have a pile of red tshirts from my husband washed and ready to be butchered.

I have a mental list of projects I want to make - the majority of which consist of sweaters/cardigans. There's a retro blazer and a cami-shorts set I'd like to knit out of some knitting magazines that have been collecting dust. I promised my father and his new wife a queen-sized afghan for their bedroom. I'd really like to make more hand-knit items for my son. Potholders. Felted boots. Tablecloth. Washcloths and matching towels. I won't touch on the subject of never having enough time to complete that list.

Speaking of time, it's 11 p.m. and I should get back to knitting!
It occurred to me tonight that I've been neglecting my blog. That's what happens when life happens I suppose. My husband's work schedule has been pretty crappy as of late and I don't get much done during the day when he's gone. On the weekends we've been busy with Christmas shopping and enjoying family time together. I've been knocking out a couple knitted gifts, but I'm not nearly as far as I was hoping to be. Luckily we have a 16 hour car ride home, so I just may be able to get all my gifts done on time.

While attending a Christmas party a couple days ago I struck up a conversation with a girl I know and found out that she babysits. Hello? Can I get an amen? She's home schooled, so she's flexible - and that is wonderful. I'm doing a test run with her tomorrow afternoon while I go see New Moon with my neighbor. I had a comical moment while talking to my husband about the new babysitter... My babysitting days don't seem so far behind me and now I'm the one doing the hiring. It's hard feeling time slip out of my hands so quickly. In a few months I'm going to wake up and be 26 years old. The closer that 30 comes the more my head can't wrap itself around the fact that my twenties are speeding by me.

We live in a society that glorifies perpetual youth and vitality and I'd be arrogant to say that it doesn't affect me to some degree. I don't see the same person in the mirror these days. There are perceptions and ideas changing in my thoughts and I feel like I'm moving forward to another level, one where I have to leave certain things behind. It's a little scary, but it's also invigorating. I can only hope that my maturity level catches up with my age soon! Hahaha... Or not. I wonder if other women feel the same pressure to "grow up" that I've felt. From one day to the next I have to ask myself how other people perceive me and whether I care or not. If I should care or not. Does it even matter?

One comfort in the progression of my age is that I don't feel like I missed out on anything. I've done so much and more than what I wanted to do in life. While my friends were pursuing higher education I was in the trenches of my tattoo apprenticeship and seeing the world. It wasn't what I thought I was going to do. In High School I daydreamed about going into the psychiatric field, but I never had the vision. As in literally, I could not visualize myself going to college and doing it. When I slept at night I dreamed of the world outside of where I grew up, the foreign customs I'd only read about and the voluptuous adventure life could be if I didn't just go with the flow and refused the standard. I am so happy I firmly believed in my dreams and was blessed enough to live them out - or live through them, in some cases. I'm glad that when the wrinkles start to set in and I have to wonder if my eventual teenagers will be on the right track, I won't have to sit down and worry that life shorted me of something or that I didn't go for the gold when I had the chance.