When I lived in Ottawa, I would often go shopping with my friend Kris. We were at a stage in our lives where we had to stop dressing like teenagers so we developed a code when trying on clothes. If either of us struck a pose in the fitting room in something a little too young, the other would look over disapprovingly and say, "Old Life".
In my new role as mom, I keep thinking about "Old Life" vs. "New Life", especially because this time in my life reminds me so much of the time I was waiting for my work visa when we first moved to the US at the end of 2008. It's uncanny how similar my life is now to what it was then. With the exception of newborn care, I spend my days reading, knitting, blogging and trolling the internet.
Another difference is that I have developed a "mom" uniform. I used to wonder why mom's would show up to the grocery store wearing capri yoga pants, their disheveled hair clipped up in a makeshift twist and what was clearly one of their partner's over sized T-shirts. Now I know. Nothing in my old wardrobe fits and anything that does fit is reserved for an occasion where I want to be presentable and free of baby spit up. I can't wait for my clothes to fit again. I've been forcing myself to go walking every day but what I really want to do is run. I miss running so much. When I was pregnant and too big to run without fear of falling, my husband told me that I would run in my sleep. Hopefully next week my doctor will clear me for more vigorous exercise. Though I keep dreaming of my pre-pregnancy wardrobe, I wonder if I will now consider it "Old Life". Maybe my new life only holds yoga pants and nursing tops.
In the meantime, I knit. I just finished the Cairn Hat by Ysolda Teague for Sue. I usually make her socks for her birthday, but there really wasn't time with the baby and all. I hope she doesn't mind. Sue is also starting a new life. She is going to live at an Abbey in Connecticut for a while and I picture her wearing the Cairn Hat to ward off the cool morning air when she goes out to milk the cows.
Sue has a smaller head than I do and after "swatching" (aka casting on multiple times and measuring against my own head) I settled on the x-small size, but used the same depth as the M/L size. The hat isn't a true x-small though as I used Malabrigo Worsted in Pearl Ten and Midnight in Paris on size US 5 (ribbing) and US 7 needles instead of a DK weight yarn as called for in the pattern. The hat is tight on me, so I hope it will fit Sue perfectly. Happy Birthday, Sue-la! I hope you find what you are looking for at the Abbey.
