Wednesday 23 August 2017

Busy Little Bees....

It's been a really busy week, both personally and professionally.  Part of life is change and whether you like it or not, it's going to happen.  Some changes take you up, some down and some feel as though they've placed you into a parallel universe.  No matter the direction, it's something you have to accept.  Adjust your life GPS and move on.  Trying to fight it is like trying to fill a three inch crack in the Hoover Dam with Bazooka Bubble gum.  It never really works out the way you planned and you spend more time patching when you should have been inflating your raft for the inevitable flood.

 Monday the 21st was the Total Solar Eclipse that cut a swath across the continental United States.  I can't lie, simply watching totality on a live stream from Oregon on my computer brought tears to my eyes.  For some reason, it felt... well, just right.  It felt complete.  Maybe it felt like the end of something and the beginning of something at the same time.  It's hard to describe, but for that 2 minutes or so, life felt like it has a purpose.

 All the turmoil in the world disappeared and we were simply humans, on a planet, watching the sun literally put to sleep and reawaken, refreshed and renewed.  If only the entire world could see how clear it all could be.  How in reality, we are one.  Well, we know that's not going to happen anytime soon, so it's not something to dwell on as much as it's something to hope for.  Yes, hope for humanity is always a good thing.  Like it or not, we're all stuck here on this marble and we've got the exact same destination written on our ticket.

 Saturday, the most amazing thing happened.  My good friends Gregory Patrick and Phillip Champlain embarked on the maiden voyage of the Mad Man Knitting Yarn Truck in Orlando, Florida.  Mind you, this is a wholly new business venture for them and they dove into it like a fat kid into a birthday cake buffet.  The amazing part is they did it in 5 weeks.  YES, 5 weeks.  Filming their show Knitter Be Damned for Gregory's Youtube channel Greg mentioned the idea of a mobile yarn shop set up just like so many vegetable trucks you see parked on the side of the road all over the world, except they would sell boutique yarn.  The next day they set up a go fund me and were off and running.  You can read the story and see the amazing photos taken by iknitty.com owner and friend of Phillip,
Laura Monroe over on her blog site.  
http://iknitty.com/iknitty-visits-mad-man-knittings-yarn-truck-maiden-voyage/
Photo borrowed from iknitty.com

There have been a few changes come to the Knitter Be Damned Facebook page itself as of late also.  We had a much-loved member of the KBD community move on to a brighter horizon for herself and her business and we wish her all the best.  We'll miss her, but, it's that change thing rearing it's ugly head again.

The arthritis knots in the palms of my hands are back with a vengeance.  I don't know what I did to piss of the, what my grandmother used to call, Auther's Right Us Gods, but they're pissed and lumpy and hurty (yes, we're making that a word now) and making me want to cry.  Oddly enough I'm having no issues at all typing my normal 60+ wpm, but I pick up a crochet hook or knitting needles and my hands begin to scream at me within half an hour.  This is not good for someone who not only LOVES to play with sticks and yarn but someone who makes a semi-play money living off of it.  That's my to me/from me Christmas gift money.  Not to mention it keeps me occupied so I don't have the overwhelming need to stab someone with a sharp object and end up smoking 3 packs of cigarettes a day.  Such is life.  It hands you shit, make a shit sammich and move on. (Another grandma saying, oh how I love that woman)

I actually managed during all the hoopla of everything to set my life off by a week.  How you ask? Hell, I don't know, it just happened.  

Here I was all excited, ready to relax, choosing bath salts for the long awaited soak in the therapeutic tub.  Surrounded by quiet.  Contemplating all my life has to offer and all the directions I could take it.  Oh sweet mercy, my teenager was starting back to school.  All of her teen angst and attitude would walk out the door for a few hours about the same time my husband would go to work.  Alone time, glorious alone time, at last.  

With the three of us standing in the kitchen, coffee in hand, the child presents this year's school calendar with a look of utter disdain on her face (yeah, that's her normal scowl lately) "Next week, mom!"  With that look akin to a deer in the headlights, I glanced at the paper........... "NO!!"  I was a week off.  She doesn't start school until NEXT WEEK.  Alas, all is well, shit sammich. This is beginning to feel like an "I'm broke and tired of Mac and Cheese week".

Unable to Crochit (knit and/or crochet, not mine, thank Gregory Patrick for that word, it's the best ever) I had to think of something else to occupy my mind and hands. (If you can't tell, I enjoy writing, whether you enjoy reading remains to be seen, but I love it so I'll keep going until I don't love it anymore)  It hit me like a ton of bricks.  I love to get on FB in our Knitter Be Damned group and chat.  We chat about anything and everything.  Life, love, politics, religion, knitting, painting, basically our lives.  Every aspect of our lives from our passions to our accomplishments and even our failures.  We're human, none of us are perfect (even if some claim that they are)  Many times it's been said that our love of crafting and appreciation of Gregory brought us together, but friendship keeps us going.  One of the most prominent topics on our page, second (maybe third) to yarn or politics is FOOD.  Gotta eat and we love to eat.  Fast, easy, cheap and good.  What else is there when you don't want to put down your crafts but you have to because some LAW says you have to give sustenance to that which you birthed.

From that train of thought came the idea of the Knitter Be Damned cookbook.  We're constantly posting about things we made for whatever meal we're about to consume.  Photos, ideas, new foods, old comfort foods.  We are people, we are real, we love to eat and we love to make it fast, easy and tasty.  What better way to honor ourselves as a group than to compile all of our collective knowledge into one place?

After a back and forth with Greg and the realization that this group, these amazing people, made the Yarn Truck idea a reality with ideas, donations and support there was a way we could give back.  Help one of them the way they helped Knitter Be Damned.  We've got a few members whom, in the course of normal conversation, disclosed that they were either tight on money, were in need of something basic or needed some kind of help.  There's not one bit of shame to be had opening up to friends.  We all need an ear to bend once in a while.  Well, we listened and concocted an idea.  

We're gonna do this book.  We're gonna sell this book.  We're gonna take the proceeds from those sales and through an application and voting process, donate that money to one member of our group who needs it, every month.  It may not be much, but it's something and it comes from a place of love and appreciation.

If you have any family recipes, with or without photos you're willing to share, please do.  You'll get full credit (even if you're not a member of Knitter Be Damned).  Either send them to the contact link on this blog, Google +, or email directly to skassabgi@gmail.com.  Thank you so much for being there for us, let us be there for you.  Together, we can make something amazing.

Link time-  If you want to know more about Knitter Be Damned (the show and/or the FB page) or Gregory Patrick or Phillip Champlain and his Strange Friends, all the links are below.  I'll keep them on every post unless something drastic changes.  

Love and Kisses, 
Steff


http://gregorypatrick.bigcartel.com/ - Greg and Phillips shop (Books, Bears and strange Friends)

https://madmanknitting.wordpress.com/ - Gregory Patrick's Blog


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1 comment:

  1. Unknown23 August 2017 at 08:58

    That was freakin' beautiful, Miss Chambers. Awesome :)

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