Artful Knitting

I'm quickly falling further and further behind on my 52 craft challenge, but I'm not stressing about that so much as the fact that a local artist's co-op has asked me to participate in a show that takes place in September. I have TWO months to come up with about 5 show-quality pieces of knitting. And here I thought the most exposure my knitting was going to get this year was at the Skagit County Fair. I might have to skip the fair this year, unless I can come up with a piece I don't plan to put in the art show. I'm excited about the opportunity to show off my knitting in a gallery setting, but I've only been knitting for a year and a half now... do they really think I'm good enough? I have one piece done, one bag that is knit and felted but needs lining and accessories, and a scarf that is almost half done. As the gallery prefers we display works that have not been displayed before, I kinda feel like I have to wait until the show starts to share the pieces I'm contributing. The pieces are in ravelry if you want to guess which ones they are.

Something I can share is item #25 in the 52 craft challenge. We're just wrapping up week #28, so that puts me on the verge of 4 weeks behind. My cousin is due to have a baby any day now, so I made her a hat and bootie set for the baby. I didn't know the gender, so I grabbed some fairly neutral yarn from my stash, found a couple of cute and easy patterns, and went for it.


I just sent it off in the mail yesterday, so I haven't heard from her yet... but I'm hoping she enjoys and appreciates them. Since I knit them as a set, I'm only counting them as one item for the challenge, but if I get too much further behind, I just might change my mind!

I've been wanting to do some scrapbooking lately, but keep getting distracted by the "prep work" that seems to go into it. Yesterday, I started to brainstorm ideas, go through photos, and figure out what I wanted to work on and ended up scanning a box of old photos into my computer. Yes, it needed to be done and its a project I've been procrastinating on, but it isn't scrapbooking. Since I don't have a dedicated workspace for my scrapbooking, its a major event to get out all the stuff and when I do, Ethan always wants to "help." I've given him his own scrapbook and stickers to play with and that helps some. This week he'll be visiting his dad, so I might take the opportunity to spread out in the school room and leave the stuff out all week. Maybe I'll get inspired and get caught up with my challenge, but I still have all that knitting to do...javascript:void(0)

Our Town Our Park

Over the past 5 days, I had the opportunity to participate in something amazing. Our Town Our Park is a community designed and built play area at Storvik Park in Anacortes. Knowing I was able to be part of this is something I will carry with me for the rest of my life. Never before have I seen first hand a community of people come together for a singular purpose, to build a safe, fun place for our kids to play. Kids designed the nearly 15,000 square foot play area with the help of Leather & Associates of New York. Community members and businesses volunteered their time, tools, and skills not to mention providing food, day care space, and helping in other less visible ways. To build this park outright it would cost the city more than $500,000... This park was built with 100% donated funds totaling more than $150,000 plus equipment and supplies.

Wednesday was the kick-off with the kids parading down M Avenue to the park, followed by a groundbreaking ceremony including a time capsule. Shifts of volunteers worked from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday to build this park. Meals were provided. Childcare was provided. I worked Thursday morning from 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. drilling pilot holes for lag bolts that support the structures. It is Sunday night and my shoulders still hurt, but it was worth it. On Saturday, I brought Ethan down to the kid’s work area where he soaped screws (it makes them easier to screw in) and painted a tile. The tiles will be placed throughout the play area. Then Sunday evening at 5:00, they held a “grand opening.” The plan was to use a paper chain made by the kids as a “ribbon” around the park. The kids carried the chain around the perimeter and were quietly waiting for what to do next, when all of a sudden they went for it! 200+ kids converged on this play area at once. Unfortunately, that was not part of the plan. I was so caught off guard, I didn’t even get a photo of all these kids suddenly running for it. Eventually, the appropriate people were able to make their speeches, though to a much smaller crowd, and the Washington State Poet Laureate Sam Green (an Anacortes native) read the poem he composed specifically for the park. Ethan enjoyed playing in the new park for about an hour. He only got hurt once (a minor cut lip) when he got too close to the “big kids” swings.

Throughout the last 5 days, I’ve seen many examples of the joy and pride this project brought to the community. On Thursday morning, I met a young man (about 11) whose mom let him out of school to participate in the build. He told me how excited he was to be involved and I could see the pride in his face. Another girl, upon seeing the completed park for the first time, stopped short and just stared mouth agape. I have lived in this town for over a year now and today, for the first time, I really felt like part of the community.