The Lady Kina & Finding Fulfillment

This morning I asked myself what I would really like to do today and I answered that I would be knitting the Lady Kina sweater come hell or high water. A funny turn of events considering my resolve of wednesday not to start anything new until my Lorelei scarf was done or my daughter's That Weasley Girl sweater.
The wool has a story. A friend was cleaning out some bins awhile back and brought them to a gathering of crafty women called Sew Be It (or Knit Be It, or Crochet Be It, or Sort-Through-Your-Photos-So-You-Can-Begin-Putting-Them-In-Albums Be It). Among the stuff she was giving away were 2 hanks of soft, fluffy wool from China of unknown content. My friend Karen and I each perked up at the offering of free wool but there was some debate over who would get which skein. One skein was pink (the one I ended up with), the other was a sagey green. Since neither of us could decide which one we wanted we were each thrown a skein and our friend went back to sorting through outgrown children's clothing. Karen and I decided the way to resolve this was we'd each knit the other a sweater out of the wool we ended up with.
Phew! That was a long-winded way to get me to this strange chinese wool of unknown content and how I'm going to justify knitting the Lady Kina when I already have projects on the go. You see, I need to knit Karen this sweater before the momentum gets lost and all the better if I finish mine first. Perhaps I'm a little competitive.
In other, more thought-provoking news I read Ginny's post on Small Things today and it struck a cord with me. She writes about how a friend of hers comments on how "weird" she thinks she must be for needing to pursue passions outside of the domestic life. Things like knitting. And how she doesn't find child-rearing, laundry, cooking and schooling to be all-fulfilling.
I love my kids very much and do the best I can with what I have to raise them well but I've got to admit, I'm not one of those moms who finds being a mom the be all and end all of existence. I need something else to stimulate my mind and get that sense of fulfillment. Raising kids is a bit like knitting a really big blanket. You knit and knit but it takes ages before you see any progress, and it's years before you ever finish the blanket...if you ever really do.
I used to think I wasn't doing it right or putting in enough effort or somehow less of a mother because of my feelings but I've come to the realization that this is who I am and that's perfectly ok. When I pursue my passions I feel alive and happy and I parent better and I feel better as a human being.
My favourite times of day are in the mornings when the kids leave for school and I've got a stretch of time ahead of me to do what I want and at night when my kids are in bed and the house is quiet.
My passions are knitting and being outside. Gardening, sewing, reading and painting fall in somewhere there-after.