Crafty Thursday

Knitting has taken a back seat with all the stress of late. Nevertheless, I have managed to start a new project. I decided to make Sprite for Charlotte's Christmas present.  I found some Saucy Sport in the stash and thought it would work well. The yellow isn't permanent, as it's a provisional cast-on. That will allow me to knit the skirt down from there.  I did slightly change the pattern by waiting until the second pattern repeat to divide for the armholes so the armholes won't be overly large. 

As for the monkey afghan, I've been knitting the seed stitch borders and sewing the squares together before I knit more squares.

Sunday Snippets - a Catholic Carnival

Happy Trinity Sunday! I've only had two posts this week:

Merida - What's the Fuss?
Something

Check out the full carnival at RAnn's, and have a blessed week.

Something

So I was working in the kitchen and singing to myself (please tell me you do this!), and the song was The Beatles' "Something". I love that song.  I've heard and sung it countless times, but this time I started thinking more about the lyrics.  Part of the song goes "You're asking me will my love grow/ I don't know, I don't know".  This made me think about how love is often treated. (See, you can have deep thoughts from listening to the Fab Four)

My thoughts actually turned to gardening. If you just leave the plant, it might grow, but it might not. Some take more tending than others, but even the ones that will grow untended are likely to have at least some issues with bugs or weeds, and so mightn't grow to their full potential.  A good gardener, though, regularly checks on his plants, removing weeds at the first sign, ensuring the soil is optimal for the plant, protecting the plants from insects and adverse weather. In short, a good gardener doesn't leave things to chance, and his beautiful garden is the result of his hard work.

Similarly, love requires tending and not just leaving things to chance. It seems to me that leaving it to chance is a good way for things to fail. A plant might weather a bad storm or freeze without work, but its death is also quite likely.  A couple might weather a crisis without working on their relationship, but many couples split when such crises arise.  But if both parties commit to working on their relationship, success is much more likely. I would argue that love will definitely grow if both are committed to work on it, so one needn't answer that question "I don't know".

Merida - What's the Fuss?

You may have seen posts about Merida, the main character from Disney's Brave, entering the Disney princess lineup. In doing that, she was redrawn, and looked vastly different.  There was an uproar, a petition was circulated, and Disney withdrew the modified image.

Once that was done, I saw someone ask why people were upset about Merida being dressed up and converted from CGI to a hand-drawn image. If indeed it had just been about her dressing nicely, fixing her hair a bit, and such, I doubt anyone would've cared, for surely one's coronation is a good occasion to look one's best. While some disliked her being shown without her bow and quiver, I didn't care about that since it was, in a sense, a coronation portrait.  But it appears she isn't really dressed very differently, for it appears to be a hand-drawn rendition of the same dress she normally wears with just some added embellishment to the hem and sleeves.  The main changes are to Merida herself, not her dress.  She is suddenly slimmer, bustier, has a lower neckline, and a paler complexion.  Her expression has changed from one of playfulness to one that is, well, sexy. (To be fair, it seems the other Disney princesses also have a sexier look and the same figure, and I object to that, too).

So why do I object? I object because I don't want my daughter to think she must have that "perfect" (improbable) figure.  I object because I want her to know she is beautiful by virtue of being her, the person God made her to be, and not because she happens to fit some preconceived mold.

I also object for my sons.  They also see these images, and that can form how they view women. I want them to see the true beauty of everyone that comes from them being who they are.

I have also been asked why I don't just shun Disney. Even if I didn't get any Disney products or go to Disney, it is impossible to avoid them.  If you stand in the queue for the tills, you see Disney princess balloons (not to mention all the magazines, but that's another rant).  In short, it matters not if I try to shun Disney, because the images are everywhere.

And that is a large part of why I object to changing Merida's image.  My children are already bombarded with sexualised images.  I try to counter that by ensuring my children see me be comfortable in my far-from-perfect (by societal standards) body and by finding princesses who are also strong characters on their own. Merida was one such princess, and her image reflected that, so why change it? 

Sunday Snippets - a Catholic Carnival

Happy Pentecost! What an exciting feast.  Kieran made up for my lack of voice by singing twice as loud at Mass today.  :-). Here are my recent posts:

I'm Back
On Naaman and Home Remedies

Be sure to go to RAnn's for the full carnival.

I'm Back

At least for now, I am back. I can't guarantee I'll post very often, as things have been rather crazy, and that isn't going to end yet.  Leo had a bad gallbladder attack a few weeks back, so it looks like he'll need it removed.  Or so three different medical practitioners (2 doctors and 1 ARNP) tell me, so we meet with the surgeon in a few days. I waver between being absolutely at peace and freaking out. 

On Naaman and Home Remedies

Maybe it's the sinus infection I'm fighting, but for some reason tonight I was thinking of Naaman and his reaction to Elisha's direction.  Naaman had leprosy, and his servant, an Israelite, told him about Elisha and how Elisha was a holy man who could surely heal the leprosy.  When Naaman arrived, though, Elisha told him to bathe in the Jordan to be cured.  Naaman became indignant, but one of his retinue said, "Father, if the prophet had asked you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? All the more reason, then, when he says to you, "Bathe, and you will become clean.’" (2 Kings 5:13, NJB).

It occurs to me that this is often the case when speaking of alternative remedies.  For example, few parents question giving acetaminophen to a teething babe, but many are skeptical of trying amber first.  The same could be said of trying hazelwood first for milder eczema and reflux (or in conjunction with medicines for more severe forms).  To be fair, though, many are simply unaware of these alternatives.

Now, let me be clear that I am not against medical treatments. Far from it! I simply prefer to try natural remedies first, and then use medicines if needed after that.  For example, with this sinus infection. My ears and throat are sore from the drainage (the forehead sinuses only seem to really hurt if I bend over, so I avoid that).  I've been able to combat the ear pain through a natural remedy, and tea helped some with my throat, but I finally decided I needed acetaminophen to help with that.  

And not all home remedies are always appropriate.  My father offered a hot toddy for my throat; if I weren't nursing Leo, who cannot tolerate me ingesting any alcohol, I would've accepted, but it isn't a possibility right now.  I've a friend whose son has an allergy to garlic, so using garlic oil for an ear infection wouldn't be appropriate for her. Really, these are things that should be common sense, though. 

But the next time you hear of a natural remedy and shy away from it, ask yourself why.  :-)