Have I mentioned that I hate summer? Okay, maybe not hate, but I don’t love it in the way that Northerners do.  Every summer I “think” things will be one way (fun and carefree, full of the beach, running around barefoot, and making lots of jam) but the reality of summer in Florida is that we usually run from one air conditioned pod to another.  As quickly as possible.  Every summer I get cabin fever.  And when I think I can’t take being cooped up another day, I venture outside only to be carried off by mosquitos.

So yes, I have cabin fever.  I am ready.  Ready for fall.  But since it will not be arriving on my doorstep for another six weeks, I am thinking forward to how awesome it will be to finally go outside for a change.  The Boy has been asking to have school outside, and I cannot wait to say yes.  I am looking forward to: pumpkin custard, halloween costume sewing, gardening, having the windows open, and wearing my new socks.

These socks are only the second thing I have knitted for myself and I love them!  The Boy and I are reading the Harry Potter books, and I have to admit, I’m really enjoying them.  I’m gonna just let my freak-flag fly here and say I’m a superfan. Enough to knit myself (and The Boy) matching Gryffindor socks. The pattern is from Alison Hansel’s Charmed Knits, which I happily stumbled across one day at my local library.  There’s actually a few more projects I’d like to make from the book, and I found the sock pattern an easy and fun project.  These took about three weeks to make, although most of the knitting was done while we were on vacation and I had lots of spare time to knit.

Come on fall!

I’ve been carrying this sweater with me everywhere.  Row by row, I had the entire body of the sweater finished and bound off.  It was time to start the sleeves when I realized I’d made a huge mistake. I was pretty proud of myself for not having a total meltdown when I made the discovery.

The following evening, I sat down on the couch with my yarn winder, and row by row, I unravelled my work and re-wound the yarn into nice neat balls.  A bit heartbreaking, yes.

While telling my tale of woe today at the beach, I was consoled by two friends.  One (a fellow knitter) who simply shared in my agony, and the other who reminded me that this was a good lesson in the state of impermanence.

Indeed I have let go of this, and surely I can let go of more.

I was reminded of Erin’s post from earlier in the week, in which she shared her frustrations of motherhood.  I can so relate, and while I try to keep this space of mine focusing on the positive, I would be remiss if I didn’t speak honestly that I am struggling through a difficult patch right now.  It’s the honest truth that all of us mothers struggle on a daily basis. And it’s okay to struggle.  I just have to remember that “this too shall pass.” Words I think I should just have tattooed on my forehead. I need to remind myself that yes, sometimes life is struggle.  And that some days it isn’t.   It’s the attachment to the concept of happiness that makes it so difficult.  How can it be so simple?  I love this quote by Arnold H. Glasgow: “Nothing lasts forever, not even your troubles.”

Remember my word of the year? Mindfulness. It seems I fell off the wagon and I need to get back on.

Mindfulness is the aware, balanced acceptance of the present experience.  It isn’t more complicated than that. It is opening to or receiving the present moment, pleasant or unpleasant, just as it is, without either clinging to it or rejecting it. –Sylvia Boorstein

I’m sure you know that the progress on this sweater can mean only one thing: The Boy unfortunately came down with The Girl’s flu.  For some reason the Daddy Monkey and I have been spared (so far, anyway) and for that I am extremely grateful. <repeats to self> I am healthy, I am healthy, I am healthy….

More sickness has meant more knitting.  I took a break from weaving in all those ends, and decided to start on The Boy’s stripes. Somehow it seems so appropriate to knit a sweater for someone while you’re comforting them.  Every bit of concern, love, and hope goes into each stitch.

It’s been incredibly hard this last week and I feel myself being stretched thin.

In the midst of it, however, I’ve tried to take peace in the quiet moments: knitting quietly on the couch, taking a cup of tea and a good book into the back yard to soak in the very early morning coolness (even if only for fifteen minutes), and a moment by myself to blog about it.

The Girl was afflicted with a serious stomach virus over the weekend.  She’s still feeling weak and moving slow, but I think she’s on the mend…finally.  And I didn’t really pop in here to write about that (although it will explain my absence from this space over the last few days).  The silver lining on that dark, dark cloud is that the rest of us were miraculously spared, even after The Girl seems to have vomited on every couch, chair, and horizontal surface in the house.

The Daddy Monkey was wise when he said, “I think we should hold off on a new couch until both kids know to puke in the toilet.”

Well put.

In the midst of all of the chaos, I’ve been trying to remember to stay positive, to remember that this too shall pass.  That the one thing in life I can count on is that nothing is permanent and everything always changes.

So with that in mind, I’ve spent a lot of time trying to keep positive the past four days.  Remembering that I have a choice whether to be happy or to be miserable, even if I have puke in my hair and it’s not even mine.

I’ve been knitting a lot. Knitting in the lobby of The Boy’s dojo, while waiting alone for him, without The Girl (as I usually do).  Knitting in the bathroom, keeping The Girl company while she took a cool bath.  Knitting on the couch while she rested under her baby quilt because she simply insisted that I sit with her, even though she was sleeping.

All of this means that I am beginning to see the end of the enormous sweater I’ve been knitting for The Daddy Monkey since July.  I love knitting stripes but I do not love all of those ends to weave in.

I also selected yarn for my next project.  A yellow and blue striped sweater for The Boy.  His two favorite colors.  Can I say how much I love that his favorite color is yellow?  It is so him.

After all the times I offered him a sweater and he said no, he finally changed his mind.  Perhaps it was seeing everyone around him receive handknit sweaters.  Perhaps he just warmed up to the idea of stripes, or perhaps he just decided to cooperate finally. Who knows.

I do love yarn shopping in my stash though.  Slowly, slowly, I am chipping away at that huge stash.  Nothing better than having your thrifting habit and your knitting habit collide.

So I suppose that even though the temperature is rising at an alarming rate, I will be knitting.  As Elizabeth Zimmerman says in her book Knitting Without Tears, “Knit on with confidence and hope, through all crisis.”

It is such a small thing that it hardly deserves blogging, but I’ve been making these knitted dishcloths and I’m really liking them.  I made an enormous ball of tulle-yarn and I probably have enough to make about a thousand of these.  Which is exactly how many I want.

I’ve lately been thinking about practical things also being beautiful.  I’ve always been a real homebody, but now that I am home full time again with both kids, and we are home so much, I want my home to feel beautiful.  Not perhaps in the traditional sense, but in a comfortable, lived-in, and loved sense. Why can’t things that are meant to be practical also be beautiful?

I’m thinking of this broom.

And about a dozen of these cups.

And pretty much every thing at Herriot Grace.

What can I say?  My girl likes pink.  This yarn is a silk and cotton blend from The Infamous Stash, and the pattern is here.  This was a fun and incredibly easy pattern.  I plan on making lots more of these in wool for next winter.  I see it layered with a long sleeved top underneath.

I just never get tired of knitting for this girl.  She is so happy and grateful when I knit something for her.  It just melts this mama’s heart.

Really busy. I’ve got spring fever something fierce.

I’ve given my kitchen a makeover.

I’ve made progress on my Spring Wardrobe Project–two tops and one skirt finished.  (It is impossible to take photos of oneself without a tripod, I’ve discovered.)

I finished this sweater.

I whipped up some shorts for The Girl on Sunday.  Nothing better than a Sunday morning date with the Featherweight.   I remember purchasing that fabric years ago, knowing that someday I would make some clothes for my little girl.

When the shorts were finished, she told me that they needed a pocket.  Of course she said that after the shorts were done.  There may be a patch pocket in her future.

And here’s a preview of what I’m working on for the kitchen.

Today I am feeling a bit under the weather.  We’ve had the ickies for the last week and I’m feeling like it can move along any day now.  You hear that?  Any day now.

I’m slowing down as much as a stay at home homeschooling mama can.  Trying to get enough sleep and rest.  I cast on a new spring sweater for The Girl.  (You know a sweater is small when you find it easier to knit it on double pointed needles rather than a circular needle.)

Mostly I’ve spent a lot of time thinking.

I’ve been thinking about Spring clothes to sew.

Wishing I could pore over seed catalogs like my friends who are blessed with enough space and sunlight to garden.  When the weather begins to warm, I always get the urge to get my fingers in the dirt. I’ve been fantasizing about a front yard vegetable garden.

Thinking it would be nice to finish my new kitchen curtains.  The ones I started before I got sick.

Contemplating the carving of a wooden spoon.  I love watching this.  I’ve always wanted to work more with wood and this seems as good a place to start as any.  We all need spoons, right?  And lately I’ve been thinking more about how useful things can be both useful and beautiful.  This man is serious about his spoons.  When I find something like this it just makes me love the world even more.  And I do like the Spoon Carving Manifesto.

That’s where I’ve been today, how about you?

One-and-a-half socks, still unfinished after a year and a half.  They are a bit tight.

A black and white wool sweater made from recycled yarn.

It’s still unfinished after five years because A) it has a million ends to weave in, B) it’s a smidge too tight, and C) it’s wool and I live in Florida.  Perhaps one of the kids will wear it someday.

This capelet (still looking for the size 11 DPNs I need to finish the sleeves).

The obligatory First-Thing-I-Ever-Knitted Scarf.  It is made of acrylic and it is way too scratchy to wear.  However, it was the first thing I ever knitted, and I love it dearly. I taught myself to knit when I was pregnant with The Boy, and that scarf was knitted while I was pregnant, while I was in labor, and when he was a newborn, so the scarf means a lot to me. I can’t wear it and I can never get rid of it.

Looking back, the problem lies in my early difficulties with gauge and tension.  But the new sweater I made for The Girl came out really nice.  All the measurements are came out spot-on, and the “fabric” feels nice and flexible.  I think I may have finally reached the next level in my knitting.

Perhaps I should knit something for myself soon.  Something I could actually use.  Of course every project begins with hours spent on Ravelry.  Then hours spent deciding on the yarn.  Perhaps I would be a faster knitter if I could just make up my mind.  I am in love with:

This Noro cardigan even though it is sized for a 10 year old.

The Swing Cardigan looks like a nice fast knit, but it might be awesomeness of the the Doc Martens talkin’.

And the Delia Cardigan is beautiful.

But this Adult Surprise Jacket is just unbelievably gorgeous.

And I really want to knit myself some nice socks.  I really love this yarn from Knit Picks, in the Sticks and Stones colorway. Would it be wrong to buy even more yarn?  This would be a great small project to bring on vacation.

I really like the way The Incredible Custom-Fit Raglan Sweater works.  I may have to use that one.  Looks like I might be able to make some more striped goodness with my stashed collection of odd balls.  Only this time, I’ll weave in those ends as I go.  At least I have learned my lesson on that one….

I thought I might finish this dress this weekend because I had some alone sewing time.  All I wanted was a classic summer sun dress.  And I really love that fabric.  I’m starting to wonder about pattern envelopes that show sketches rather than photographs of the finished clothes…

This pattern got pretty good reviews (it’s Butterick 5351), but it turns out I had the same problem fitting the bust as I did on the silk dress.  My bosoms just ain’t what they used to be, I guess.  I tried and tried and tried to make the top of this dress fit, but I just can’t get it to work.  So frustrating, and so disappointing.  So as I do with misbehaving knitting, I sent it away.  Officially.  You win some, you lose some.  I’ve made plenty of dresses in my day, but I cannot for the life of me find the pattern I used to sew.  I cannot believe I would have gotten rid of it, but I can’t find it anywhere.  Sigh.

I sulked for a while yesterday, so aggravated at that dress.  Mad at myself for not getting it to work.  Then I decided to switch gears, and do some knitting.  And I managed to finish The Girl’s sweater, and I recaptured my Crafting Mojo.

This will always in my head be thought of as The New York Sweater because I made it to bring with us on our trip this summer.  It’s Lion Brand Yarn’s Eyelet Yoke Sweater.  It’s a nice lightweight cotton.  Perfect for air-conditioned museums and cool evenings. (It hasn’t been washed and blocked yet, so it’s still a bit wonky.)

I put the ultra-girly flower button on it because I knew The Girl would love it, and I thought it had a slight vintage feel to it that went well with the sweater. And the best part is that the yarn, the knitting needles, and the button were all from my stash.  Awesome.