Six Degrees

Every time I think I can't possibly keep up with everything I want or must do, like knitting, reading, spinning, blogging, working, shopping and housekeeping, I get to thinking what can go so I can free up time. Apparently, none of it. I've come to need it all. Unfortunately, being born with a surname other than Rockefeller, I need to work, at least until my ship comes in or I drop dead, whichever comes first. One of the things I thought I could do without is blogging, but then how would I express myself? What would I do if I couldn't gasbag about my work or my knitting or visit your site to comment about yours? That got me to thinking about how I got to know everyone who visits here.

Some meetings I recall quite specifically. Rositta was one of the first bloggers I started exchanging comments with. If neither of us knit, I don't know if we would have had much in common in the beginning because we seem like very different women. I recall reading a comment she left on Pink Lemon Twist's site and before we knew it, we were fast friends in the cyber world. We even went to war together. OK. It was a sock war, but it was still serious combat. I developed hand cramps trying to keep up with that. In a congenial way, we've tried to convince one another of our differing political views, all to no avail, but this is civil discourse that's helped in no small part by the fact she is Canadian. It charming that she's so darned polite about her viewpoints. She is a talented knitter and a very deep thinker. Every once in awhile, I see her comments on some of the other blogs I follow and I always stop to read what she has to say. I bump into her, figuratively, quite often.

Initially, Laurie dropped by via WT's (one of the first people to ever comment here) on the day I wrote a post about my dad. It was his birthday. It was her father's birthday, too. She had dogs, and a whole blog dedicated to them. I had a dog and could relate to her dog posts. I even overcame my fear of commenting on a real life journalist's blog. I know my punctuation is horrific, but to her credit, she has never corrected me and has one of the most entertaining blogs out there. One day, she wrote about how her mind thrummed while researching the book she was writing at the time, and suddenly, inspired by the word thrummed, I had to knit thrummed mittens. I gave them to her. Out of appreciation, she sent me a 3 Dog Blog calendar, which incidentally, I took great pleasure in adding my October vacation days into on Friday. In ink. Then this week, she comes around mentioning things I've been thinking about, like selling my hand knit goods and wouldn't you know it? Now my mind is thrumming. She was the second person this week to mention this. The first was Skippy and while I don't recall how I met Skippy, I have to think it was kismet. At her request, I am going to knit her some custom made socks for her hard to fit feet. In return, she is going to make me some goat's milk soap which I'm going to felt. Do you know how much a bar of felted soap fetches? It's ridiculous.

Through blogging and social sites like Ravelry, I know of people who may live in far off places, but in an intimate way, we're all connected. Our common, and sometimes not so common interests bring us together, and I kind of like that. I know 2 women named Jane from Great Britain. That's 2 women named Jane I didn't know 2 years ago. One is an expat who lives here and one still lives across the pond. We have knitting and blogging in common. I know another Ruth who does what I used to do, but she does it in Australia. She is a new grandmother this year. How awesome is this connectedness?

I bring this all up today because I looked and was completely surprised to see there are 49 people following this blog. These are 49 people I didn't know a thing about two years ago--and if I didn't mention you specifically, it's only because I'm trying to KISS (keep it short and sweet). I did a Wikipedia search extensive research to find information on our small world and find myself charmed by the idea that we really are only six people removed from one another. Our world gets smaller all of the time with the connections we are privileged to have these days. I'm appreciative of everyone who has taken the time to read my blog, comment and follow.

So clearly, you see my dilemma, right? Blogging can't go. It's a part of this special community I've only just discovered. In 2007, I never knew it existed and now find I can't do without. I have to knit (though there isn't much of that going on these days), I have to spin (there is a lot of that happening), I need to read (even if the only thing I'm reading are pattern books for things I think I would want to knit if I didn't have Knitter's Block) and I have to work to afford it all. That leaves shopping for food and cleaning then. I guess it's the housekeeping that has to go.

Are dust bunnies recyclable?