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A child of the 80's, I grew up in a small town in north central New Jersey called Basking Ridge. Our home was walking distance to my school and to the center of town. I spent my free time riding my bike around the neighborhood, playing in the backyard with my brother, and participating in school and church events, which were central to our lives. As you can see in the image above, I was rockin' the aesthetic of the time, wearing brown corduroy pants, the top half of a velour tracksuit, a reversible puffy vest that bore a striking resemblance to a Rubik's Cube and I was stylin' on my sparkly, purple bike with the banana seat and a white whicker basket. My sense of style has changed a bit since then, but my love for spending time outdoors and in the company of family & friends certainly has not. And something else has also remained the same: the central role that of church and school in my life. I am so happy to now call San Jose Episcopal Church and Day School home!
Booties for Mrs. Barcenas' baby girl!
From Latch Hook to Knitting Booties & More
From Latch Hook to Knitting Booties & More
In the 70's and 80's, Latch Hook Kits were all the rage and I was all in on that crafting craze. The idea was to attach scraps of yarn to a color-coded latch hook canvas using a latch hook. Then you were supposed to add a fabric backing and stuff it with cotton to form a pillow. I enjoyed the process, but didn't care much for the resulting pillow. Neither did anyone else, to be honest. No one wanted a latch hook pillow for a gift.
But I don't regret my latch hook years because looking back, I can see now that latch hook was basically a gateway craft into the magical world of fiber arts. A world I have inhabited joyfully for nearly fifty years. My grandmother taught me to knit a scarf when I was seven or eight years old. When she passed away, my mother kept me knitting, helping me to make my first poncho (What can I say...it was the 70's!) and then my first sweater. It wasn't long before I was knitting around the clock. I have a picture book of everything I have knitted over the years: coats, sweaters, wraps, ponchos, hats, mittens, wrist covers, baby booties, baby sweaters, blankets, and more.
When I lived up north, I was a member of a knitting circle. We met on Sunday afternoons in a cozy little knit shop in a town that was probably built before the Revolutionary War. I was the youngest woman there by several generations, and so I sat quietly and listened to the other women. I would bring my latest knitting project with me and they'd happily help me get "unstuck" and then I'd work quietly, relishing my time in this uniquely gentle, female domain. I felt safe there...and grateful for the guidance I got each week. I was inspired to finish each project so that I could move onto the next challenge, always eager to try a new fiber and to learn a new stitch.
Here's what I love about knitting:
I can do it in front of the TV and it makes that time productive!
It focuses my mind. There's a surprising amount of math involved in knitting and so while it is certainly relaxing, it also focuses the mind. Translation: It's a great cure for overthinking and needless worrying.
When I knit, I always think about the person I am making the item for and that brings me such joy!
The fibers are so soft! They feel amazing in my fingers and they keep my lap warm as I am working--something that meant a lot when I lived up north.
I feel deeply connected to my grandmother and my mother when I knit. The fibers are literally a lifeline that connects us all over space and time. It reminds me of w=one of my favorite hymns:
Blessed be the tie that binds
Our hearts in Christian love;
The fellowship of kindred hearts
Is like that to that above.
Family Game Nights!
Family Game Nights were a hallmark of my childhood. In the 80's, board games were all the rage: LIFE, Clue, Sorry, Trivial Pursuit, Monopoly, Scrabble, Othello, Trouble, Chutes & Ladders, Candy Land, and more! My parents were game for anything and we spent hours at the dining room table on Saturday nights, laughing and enjoying time together. I highly encourage families to keep that tradition alive. Our kids want to spend time with us and we need to play-it is essential to our health and wellbeing! So order pizza, build a fort, and play a game on the floor! You'll be glad you did!
My Favorite Family Game right now is called Mind the Gap! It's great for the whole family because you can play in teams, which hopefully include members from various generations.
I spent my childhood designing, building and playing in forts. My kids did too. There's nothing like snuggling up in a place of one's very own!
In New Jersey, where I grew up, the best constellations came out on cold, clear, winter nights. My dad would bundle us up in bib snow pants, coats, hats, mittens (which were connected by a woolen string that ran through the interior of our jackets) and sturdy boots. Then he'd hoist the family telescope and start the long trek out to the backyard, with us trailing along behind him, crunching on stiff, frosty blades of grass. It would take him time to position the telescope and to find whatever it was he wanted us to see through the tiny eyepiece. So we'd dance around, trying to keep warm and trying to resist the urge to say the obvious: "It's so cold out!"
Then he'd begin teaching. He'd point out the Milky Way, the North Star, the big and small dipper. He'd point out Orion, with the three stars along his belt and the big shield in his hand. He'd help us find Cassiopeia, who was supposed to be a woman, but honestly just looked like the letter W to us. And he'd help us find the twins, with their heads comprised of a couple of first magnitude stars named Castor & Pollux. We would gaze through the telescope at the moon, Saturn, and the Pleiades. It was magical, mindboggling, mysterious, and somehow comforting too, knowing I was nestled in the midst of all that magnificence. As a college student I signed up for an Astronomy course, hoping to get a handle on that mystery. But without prior coursework in physics, I was lost all semester. It was all just too big for my little brain to hold onto. I felt like an ant at the base of a tree, trying to make sense of the forest. All I knew was that even as a college student, it was still comforting knowing that all that magnificence exists, even though I don't understand it a bit. It's achingly beautiful. And that's enough.
Above: a picture of a book Santa gave me as a child about the stars. It remains in my collection-a cherished item from childhood.
This was a lovely experience! A couple of years ago, I was featured in a column called Advice for Brave & Brilliant Girls, published by Kent Place School, where I happily attended grades 7-12. Kent Place is an Independent Girls School, located in Summit NJ. A force to be reckoned with, KPS is a leader in the Independent School world, dedicated to graduating students who are deeply committed to learning and growing, to ethical decision-making, and to serving the wider world.
Click the image to the left to view my advice to KPS' Brave and Brilliant Girls.
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