I’m feeling pretty good this week. There’s no big excitement or achievement or anything, I just feel a little bit pleased with myself, like I’m getting a bit more on track with doing the things I want to do.
I’ve started exercising regularly again. Last year I was doing really well, but a long holiday followed by extended family flu sessions and Christmas and… stuff… threw me totally off. Now I’m back in the groove, or getting there. So yay for getting moving.
And I made a playdate with a neighbour. This is such a small thing, really, and yet a big thing. See, hardly any of my London friends have kids – certainly not around Claudia’s age. And of course she doesn’t have siblings. So if I want her to socialise with other toddlers – which I do – I really have to make an effort to network. And I’m crap at that. Despite the fact that our street is positively hopping with babies and toddlers. (Seriously. They’re everywhere.) I think part of the problem is that other mums tend to have their networks already set up: their own friends, relatives etc, if not in the actual neighbourhood then not too far away (and they have cars, which we don’t). So although they’re perfectly friendly, they don’t have much incentive to make an effort themselves; and my few previous overtures have been well received, but not reciprocated. But honestly, it’s my problem, not theirs: I just have to learn to be much more proactive than I have been so far.
A couple of weeks I was thinking this very thing, and as luck would have it, I ran into two of these neighbours that very morning, and Made a Move. The first failed – because she’s moving to Russia! Oh well. But the second one took, and she came round on Tuesday. Fun was had, and she left with a follow-up date for next week. Level up in the Mom game?
And last: I finally – FINALLY – published a pattern on Ravelry.
Cinders is something I made absolutely ages ago – finished in May 2010, in fact! I designed it to show off two beautiful, but underperforming, Purlescence yarns (Jenspun mohair and Serina bamboo). And then, deeply mired in babywrangling and such, I completely failed to finish editing the actual pattern. I’ve finally done that (though to my shame, somewhere in the past 20 months I lost the original measurements, so the schematic isn’t complete). It involved learning to use Inkscape to create a schematic diagram, and Intwined to create a chart: yay new skills! So here it is… and now, on to the next thing on my half-finished design list. Hm. I wonder how long it will be before you hear any more about that?!
Woolly thoughts (and fuzzy logic) 
Is that Mel in the photo? Love the design!
When I had my first baby, the local Mother and Toddler group was my lifeline, I so looked forward to Tuesday afternoons every week. I was 19 and lonely, but once Ali was 13months old, I felt well enough to face a crowded room full of Mum;s and babies. So glad I made myself do that, it was one great big step. The first of many that need to be taken once you are a Mum 🙂 I am still in touch with one of the Mum’s from that group, and her daughter is now a friend on Ravelry. She is eager to progress with her knitting skills.
Yes, that’s Mel! She admired the tunic while I was making it, so I gave it to her when done.
Everyone says the moms&babies/toddlers groups are so essential but I don’t seem to have found any here… I hoped I’d make friends at playgroup, but that didn’t happen either. Oh well. (The Ravelry mom groups have been my lifeline – absolutely brilliant support, but no good at all for playdates!)