Manufacturing Joy (with apologies to Chomsky)

Yeah, so I wasn't in the best of moods today. The moon was glorious, the weather temperate, sun shining a gorgeous late summer pale orange and I was thinking about this season's mums. Still with all of that beauty around me, I couldn't snap out of this feeling of general despair. I tried flipping through White Flower Farm's catalogue dreaming about which of their alluring array of bulbs I could plant but the cloud remained. I was sad, and feeling sadder by the hour. Something was just not aligned.



I got back into bed and knitted some, well I knitted a lot and finished nearly the 14 inches for the back of the my rust colored candy tank -


That alone would have lifted me to a point of ecstatic achievement but it didn't. I had to do something, it was Saturday afterall. There were no car pooling duties, no homework (middle school homework that is) no strict school night curfew's to enforce, why am I so blue??

I decided to take a bath. It was only 4pm, and I'm allowed, I'm the mom. I thought it would be fun to try out the dishcloth I made with the 2nd Time Cotton by K1C2 that I bought this summer for baby hats. It feels a bit firmer than the sugar n cream stuff, maybe I can do a collection of 'washcloths' to go with my facecloths. I still can't bring myself to wash dishes with these cute little squares. Why, I can't bring myself to wash dishes, period.



I made these with the August Dishcloth KAL, it's a watering can motif.


The bath was warm and soothing and I enjoyed the fragrant french milled soap I use only for uplifting occasions.





After I dressed, again, I still wasn't feeling much better. All of the children were out of the house and I could have done practically anything I wanted - drown out the world with my iPod, knit some more, sit out by the pool and drink mimosas (well maybe not that)... I decided on a trip to Barnes and Nobles. I could do some reading and bring my knitting along for when I stop by the cafe for a cup of too expensive java. My first assignment was to buy Barbara's book, Pen on Fire, it was in the writing section of the store, so I had to have the information assistant guide me to the right spot.



Seeing it there and reading through the contents gave me my first smile and I felt the cloud lifting. Holding her book was such a tangible delight and it reminded me of life's many pleasant surprises.

From there I headed over to the crafts section to photograph the 3 stacks of knitting books (some crochet, some needlepoint too). I really don't know what those market geniuses are talking about, we love these books...


Then, my persistence to manufacture some joy for the day paid off. There, featured among the hundreds of wonderful crafts books, was this new book with a title to end all craft titles -

... and I laughed all de way home!