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.

But I made it through with some help from the tv (don’t look so surprised) and some ingenuity.  We played in the yard.  We drew with sidewalk chalk.  We went to the library. It was actually a lot like having a baby again, except I was the baby this time.

And on Thursday, the sun came out and it warmed up at long last.  And as I always seem to do when we are getting over major illness, I took the kids to the beach.  The sun felt so good.  The Bird and I actually got to sit and knit.  A miracle, really.

I’m still playing catch-up on unfinished business around here.  Incredible amounts of laundry, cleaning, and errands.  I’m working on a special dress for a fancy party that The Daddy Monkey and I are attending next week. (More on that later.)

We had a nice quiet Easter at home.  I didn’t even make The Girl’s Easter dress this year.  Too sick. And you know what? She didn’t go naked.  Sometimes you just have to know when to let go.  We didn’t even get around to decorating the eggs until the day of.

Nothing fancy, I’m usually a purist when it comes to holiday traditions like Easter eggs.  We had the same dinner as last year, except with no salmon or fancy dessert.  And it was just as good this year as last.

At least I’m consistent.

Here’s the sling I made.  I really hope that it will be used for to years to come.  My babies loved being carried, and I found it really helpful to be able to have my hands free.

Ohhhhhhhhhh, this hat.  It nearly undid me.  It is the Aviatrix hat, found via Ravelry.  I knitted it in a supersoft superwash merino wool, because the last thing a new mom needs is a hat that she has to hand wash.  The yarn and buttons were from my stash.

The interesting thing about the pattern is that it’s knitted on two needles, and the shaping is done with short rows.  I was intrigued, so I decided to give it a go.  I tried and tried and tried to get the wrap and turn right, and honestly, that wasn’t the hard part.  The hard part was picking up the wraps on the opposite side.  I could not for the life of me get it right and I tried about a thousand times.  I watched videos, I read instructions, and I practiced, practiced, and practiced.  I probably could have knitted that baby a sweater in all the time it took me to repeatedly knit and frog this hat.  Finally I had to take a break from it for a few weeks, before it completely ruined my sanity.  When I came back to it, I finally figured it out.  Also, I went back to Ravelry to see if anyone had any hints or pointers on the hat, and I discovered that the pattern had been entirely re-written, so that helped a lot.

The funny thing is that in the process of watching all those videos, I discovered that I have been knitting wrong for the past six years.  All this time, I have been knitting into the back of my stitches, instead of the front.  Well.

So the hat is not perfect by any means, but I thought a hat with ear flaps, and a strap to keep it in place would be really handy for a newborn in Minnesota. It’ll be winter there for what, another four months?

And now I know how to do short rows, knit into the front of my stitches, and make a fabulous baby hat, so at least the experience wasn’t a total waste.

Congratulations, S and C!  I’m so glad you liked the gifts.

I recently cast on a new summer sweater for The Girl.  It’s the Eyelet Yoke Cardigan by Lion Brand Yarn.  I actually found enough Rowan All Seasons Cotton in the stash I picked up at the thrift shop a few months back.  The yarn feels really great and knits up like a dream.  Three cheers for stashbustin’!

Whew!  I try not to be one of those people that gets carried away with the hectic-ness of the holidays, and I think I did really well with setting limits and not taking on too much, but I feel like I haven’t stopped moving since I started sewing Halloween costumes in September!  Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, then The Girl’s Second birthday.  It’s been a lot. I’ve been crafting nonstop for five months!  Not that that’s a bad thing, but I am really feeling the need to slow down.  Every year I do a little better at simplifying the holidays and next year I hope to simplify even more.  But for now, I am taking a breather, which seems to be what everyone is doing these days in the blogworld.  And that’s just fine by me.

But I have so much to tell you, and share.  So many posts written in my head, but not on the computer.  It’s like when you need to write someone an email, and you know you have a lot to say, so you put it off, then you have so much more to say that you know it’ll take ages to write it all down.

I’m so paralyzed by the thought of writing it all that I just go sit on the couch and knit.  And my, does it ever feel good to be still.  Not to mention that it is really cold down here in Florida.  Which I know is a joke to those of you up North, but I assure you that it has been way colder for way longer than it usually is.  It’s all relative to what you’re used to.  Might I mention that I live in a very drafty (nearly 100 year old) house that was not built for comfort.  Not today’s standards of comfort anyway.

So most of my time has been occupied by knitting.  It’s nice to not feel the pressure of making a gift for someone.  It’s just crafting for the sake of happiness.  And what’s better than that?!

I found my knitting basket buried under a bunch of other projects, and manged to find my place in the patterns.  A small miracle, really.  I’ve been working on the second sock of my first ever knitted socks.  Maybe I might actually get to wear them before it gets hot again!  I’m almost finished with one of these, and also planning some baby projects.  (Not for me, heavens no!)  Why does every knitting project I do require spending hours on Ravelry, then multiple trips to the craft store for knitting needles?

Well, while you ponder that, I hear a couch, a quilt, a hot cup of tea, and some knitting needles calling my name.

Remember that day I went in search for shelves for my fabric stash and came home with a ton of yarn?  Well, the score somehow made my storage problem worse, not better, and I have been scouring the thrifts ever since.  Believe me, the irony of that is not lost on me.

Last Thursday I finally found some new shelves for $30, and brought them home.  They look great with all the fabric neatly stacked.  I spent a good part of the day re-organizing the stash and happily discovered that my fabric stash is actually shrinking.  So having it out in the open where I can get to it is so much better than having to dig through boxes to find what I need.

The bottom four shelves are my stash, and the top shelf is for WIP’s.  That’s the new yarn in those laundry baskets on top.  The other baskets contain various knitting and quilting projects.  I can’t wait to make this with some of that yarn.  I found that link through ravelry.  That place is insane.  In a good way.

Edit: I guess when I said “new shelves” that meant that they were indeed, new.  However, they are only new to me and found at the Goodwill.  The fact that I got it used makes me happier than buying something from a big box store for new.

The good news is that I finished The Girl’s pink sweater the night before it got cool.  It is Knitty’s Haiku, knit in Lily Sugar’n Cream.

I may not have any turning leaves, down comforters, or frosty nights, but I cling to what I do have: a breezy home, a backyard that’s not filled with mosquitos, and my girl wearing a sweater that I knit for her.

After spending The Boy’s first few weeks of school being very productive, I decided that I needed to slow down and start taking care of myself; something I have been neglecting these past five years.  I feel like my life has been on fast-forward, especially these past two years, and I have been having a hard time slowing down.

I am so used to having both children with me at all times, and all the demands that places on me.  But now The Boy is in school, and The Girl is so happy and easy that she just toddles around and plays most of the time.  I can actually get things done, like laundry and cleaning the bathroom, but I can also sit and read a book.  At first I felt guilty about it.  Like I should be productive or working, or earning money.  But I have released my guilt.  I have no use for guilt, and now I am giving myself permission to relax.  My time will come to get back in the moneymaking game, but for now, I need to take care of me, even if it is just for an hour a day.  And right now, an hour a day seems so enormous.

My energy has been low these past few weeks, and I realized that being on my feet all day every day is just not good for me.  Just as a body needs sleep, it also needs rest.  So I have finally given myself permission to be totally selfish and take The Girl’s naptime for myself.   This was something I used to enjoy when The Boy was a baby.  It’s so wonderful to be able to just stop moving and sit down in the middle of the day.

I have taken to making a cup of tea, sitting in the most comfortable chair in the house, and knitting while listening to Alan Watts or This American Life.  And it is so wonderful for me on so many levels.

I see yarn at the Goodwill pretty much every time I’m there, but this yarn was different.  This stash very clearly belonged to someone who loves good yarn and loves to knit.  There was not a ball of Red Heart to be found.  The store had them bagged up in large plastic bags, and was selling them for $4 apiece.  Thinking of my already embarrassing yarn stash at home, I picked only four bags and headed home.

I giddily showed them to the Daddy Monkey, and told him, “This is only a fraction of what they had.”  And then he spoke the ill-fated words, “why didn’t you buy all of it?”  This is why I love him. His logic of “why not stock up on the good stuff for cheap” was enough to convince me to rapidly get the kids ready and load everyone up in the car for another trip out there.  I then bought six more bags, still leaving a few behind.

So let me introduce my new yarn stash.  I think I probably doubled my stash with this purchase.  So for $40, I got luscious yarns in cashmere, merino wool, pima cotton, silk, alpaca, and angora.

It was all I could do to not dump them on the floor and roll around in them.  So instead I just took them out and sorted them by color and found that I have enough of some of them to make a sweater for The Girl.  Certainly enough yarn to make funky striped sweaters for everyone.  (Except The Boy who said he DID NOT want a sweater.)

So now I really need some new shelves because I have nowhere to put this yarn.  It sits, still in bags, piled up on my sewing desk.

I feel so happy about this purchase. That I somehow got my hands on on this glorious yarn shop quality yarn for insanely cheap feels like a small miracle to me.  I feel like I should do something to balance out the karma on this, so I decided to make the commitment to do something I have wanted to do for many years.  To make a wool sweater for Children in Common, a charity program that provides assistance to children in orphanages in Russia.  Ever since I learned to knit while pregnant with The Boy, I have wanted to do this but have never found the time.  I still don’t have the time, but I do have the yarn, so that’s a start.