Tuesday, August 17, 2010

To Have or Have Not...

This subject has been a hot topic for me for as long as I can remember. I even recall an impromptu speech during my senior year speech class on the subject. Hair. My hair in particular.

I have childhood memories of dreading the sight of the brush and crying as my mom would try to drag the bristles through this wild mass of curls. Tight curls. No More Tears became my friend at a young age and made the task a bit more manageable. My hair was such a challenge for my parents, while my dad claims to not remember, one day he sat me on the butcher block in our kitchen and cut it. Cut. It. Off. Lucky for me I have my 1st grade photos to remind him where a white bow was placed on my head so not to be mistaken for a boy.

In the first grade, I became friendly with a black girl in my class – and her family introduced me to the perm. My mom would purchase the salon sized relaxer and blow dryers for the trade of them managing my hair. I remember stations being set in her grandmother’s kitchen. First station: relaxer; Second station: the comb through; Third station: the fan if the relaxer started to sting and had not been on your head an adequate amount of time; Fourth station: rinse and wash; Fifth station: blow dry and flat iron. We continued this process for many years… In the Seventh grade my god-mother, who owned a flower shop in a local shopping center, would trade flowers for my hair appointments. This situation carried me through to college where I became responsible for my hair appointment costs to today.

To me, the subject of black ladies and their hair is funny. I have been relaxing my hair for 20 years – part habit, part afraid to see what it looks like natural. Would I feel as pretty with shorter, curly hair? I always had pretty hair – usually long – and even when acne or feeling too pudgy would get me down, I could spend a few hours in a beauty shop and walk out feeling prettier than I had when I entered.

Laziness paired with curiosity paired with impatience led me to the idea that I should grow out my natural hair. It has been 20 years so I do not feel I have ever had a proper introduction to the natural hair, nor any knowledge of whether or not it is manageable, etc. If you have ever attempted to grow out hair color or a hair perm, you can feel my pain!

After almost one year with no relaxer I said a prayer, confirmed with 12 people that I would be okay if I cut my hair, and made an appointment with Amber Lynn. (This is where I should insert a photo… Maybe later :-) )

I’m actually happy with it – and think it’s kind of fun. I am now proudly a Have Not and I am really glad that I did it!

Friday, August 13, 2010

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood!

This week has been a GREAT week for me! Three really positive things happened… I can share ONE as of this moment.

Officially I started RoseKnits November 2008. This was also the month of our wedding, because I’m smart and overly ambitious like that. Doesn’t every girl dream of starting an Etsy shop the same month that she is making the commitment of a lifetime, why not? RoseKnits was my answer to having lots of money to buy yarn! At some point, I started making more money than I could justify spending on yarn, consequently calling it a ‘business.’ As we approach our two year mark, I’ve happily produced and pedaled over 1000 bags! Last year I was acknowledged both the Vogue and Knit Simple holiday editions: Exciting! Well, yesterday, knitwear designer extraordinaire, Cecily Glowik MacDonald ordered a bag from ME! Tonight I plan to prepare her extra special package to slip in the mail on Saturday! If you have yet to scope out her designs, you should! She’s AWESOME! So awesome, she recently co-authored New England Knits with Melissa LaBarre.

I currently have Goodale on the needles, a design by Ms. Cecily, and I have many, many more in my queue! So, friends, that pretty much made my week! Tomorrow John and I are headed to Wichita to see DMB in concert – I’m sure Stefan has been missing me ;-)

Next week I hope to be able to share another piece of the happy pie and will at minimum show you what I’ve been knittin’ on and some new things in store for RoseKnits!

Have a fantastic weekend! I know I will!

Monday, August 9, 2010

And the Beat Goes On!

Well, hello, friends! It has been quite some time since our last visit. And, changes, well they’ve been happening. I returned to full-time employment towards the ends of June.

I am filling a temporary role within a benefits department located in downtown Tulsa. I am enjoying it, along with all of the ‘perks’ that come with working downtown. Earlier in the year John, who also works downtown, began taking the park and ride express bus – picks us up about one mile from our house and drops us at our downtown offices. This is fun to me because I figure it is as close to big city living as I will come in Tulsa, OK… And I’m sure every gal dreams about commuting with her husband  Increased together time! I get to work with my dear friend, Vonchelle, whom I became acquainted while working at my previous employer. Because I am hourly I truly only work 40 hours per week, which forces me to take a full hour lunch break each day and knit!

We’re quickly approaching the first year in our home, our second wedding anniversary, and our fourth year together – time really does pass quickly. On the house front, we have added front landscaping, painted all rooms but the bedrooms and we are almost fully furnished!

RoseKnits has been on the back burner during this training period, but I am hoping to have that rhythm back in September. I’ve had a few, large custom orders – so once those are done I should return to regularly updating the shop, as well as having some new offerings for the fall knitting season!

What have you all been up to since I’ve been gone?