Knitting!

It’s all I’ve wanted to do this weekend. Amidst diaper changes and nose wiping and nursing and tidying, my thoughts keep returning to the growing length of stretchy knit that hangs from my needles. Spare moments here and there are dedicated to growing the collection of stitches (I hesitate to categorize it as an actual project, like a scarf, although eventually it will be long enough to qualify). But even when my hands are busied with other pursuits, my mind turns again and again to knitting — to Ravelry, and setting up a profile; to thoughts of technique, and seeking out further tutorials; to imagined future projects like hats and arm warmers in cozy earth-toned cable knits and fluffy piles of sherbet-colored angora.

I guess it was about time for a new project.

Life in the slow lane

When kids (or parents) are sick, it feels like life’s pace drags to a crawl.  Suddenly we have no deadlines to meet or schedules to keep, meals happen whenever, and things just kind of . . . flow.

That being said, today was still another productive day.  Metal baby gate installed to replace the warped plastic one that has been keeping the little monkey out of the kitchen and out of the dog’s water dish; more boxes brought up from garage, unpacked, and recycled.  A quick trip to the library to return an armload of books, and return home with a different armload of books.

And somewhere in the middle of it all, I decided to take up knitting.

I’ve been meaning to pick up knitting again for a year or two — it’s something that I learned from my grandmother when I was a kid, learned again a few times throughout the years, but never spent enough time practicing to ever get any GOOD at it.  I was always adding stitches, unable to maintain even tension, or pulling everything so tight that I couldn’t get the second knitting needle in alongside the first.

All that changed today.

I had set it as one of this winter’s goals: (re)learn to knit.  And so today I unearthed a ball of confetti yarn, and a pair of circular needles that a friend once gave me, and sat down to once again give it a try.

And I’m completely addicted.

 

I’ve practiced knitting on several swatches that I have then torn out and restarted.  I’m already daydreaming about think, chunky yarns in gorgeous colors (it doesn’t help that I know of a few people who spin and dye their own materials, and have been drooling over their Etsy sites).  I’m researching information about knitting online.  And even know, while typing this, I’m itching to go back into the other room, curl up on the couch, and pick up the knitting needles to practice again.

I can’t wait to get good. I can’t wait to have the know-how to take on projects, instead of just knitting to practice the stitch.  I can’t wait to run my hands over skeins, finding the perfect texture and weight and color.

Back to it!

Puttering

Well, it is official — everyone in the family is sick on Thanksgiving.  So, instead of spending the day driving, visiting, and driving again, we decided on a quiet, pajama-garbed, t.v.-filled day (or days, depending on how the family cold progresses) of household puttering.  There is, of course, a limit to how much can get done with two kids underfoot (or, in the little monkey’s case, on back), but we’ll see what we can manage.

V has already replaced our old, acceptably-attractive-but-suddenly-leaking kitchen faucet with a NEW, way cool number with a built-in soap dispenser and weighted retracting sprayer head.  Yay for no more plastic dish soap bottles out on the counter!

Additionally, I decided that perhaps we should get rid of our old, glass-topped wrought-iron-based dining room table and chair set (lovely, but completely impractical for a house with two kids) to free up floor space.  The table tends to be a clutter-magnet, and we have a perfectly serviceable elevated bar that wraps around the kitchen where we can all sit and enjoy meals together . . . so, the table is going downstairs for awhile to see if we can manage without it.

There’s artwork that has been sitting around in various boxes in the garage since we moved in a year ago.  Up on the walls now, though.

Yet another load of diapers is spining away in the dryer, which is such an everyday occurrence that it really is hardly worth mentioning here . . . except that it beefs up my list of things we got done today, so I’m putting it in.

That’s about it, though; moved some furniture to the garage, brought up and unpacked some boxes, mounted some artwork on the walls, and the faucet install (thanks, V!).  Leftover turkey soup from the freezer for dinner, so that no one had to spend much time in the kitchen and we still got our “Thanksgiving” feel.  Still, a day well spent.

Now the little monkey is crashed out and the big monkey is, as always, resisting mightily.  Better go rescue Papa Bear before he falls asleep in her bed.

 

Sucking again

Too many missed opportunities for a post, not enough motivation once I do find the time.  I could blame it on circumstance (both monkeys have colds, bedtime routines have taken well over an hour for several nights running, and with the little monkey congested neither he nor I have been sleeping much at all in . . . five nights?  I think it’s been five nights; it’s all starting to blur together a little).  I could blame it on MY cold, which adds a lovely new element of challenge to finding the energy/mental stamina to write something on a daily basis.  I could blame it on sheer laziness, which is really where the blame lies — after all, I spent most of each day with a running narrative going in my head; it’s the actual sitting and writing it down that escapes me most days.

I have, however, done other things.  Made phone calls, sent e-mails and written lists and plans for an upcoming fundraiser.  Made new hat patterns.  Sewn more hats, including a FREAKING ADORABLE little black beanie that I put together tonight, with appliqued skull & crossbones, for a birthday boy turning three in a few days.  Made still more hat patterns.  Started Flylady.  Gave some massage.  Played with my kids.

Trying to focus on the positive here.   And my shiny sink.

Bliss

Bliss is . . .

 

. . . both kids napping AT THE SAME TIME.  Even though they’re both dealing with colds and the day has been a little rougher than usual, that was an awesome hour and a half.

. . . V bringing home a bag of peanut butter M&Ms to enjoy once the kiddos are asleep once again for the night.

. . . watching V and the big monkey mix up a pineapple upside-down cake for the Thanksgiving potluck at his work tomorrow.  Even though the kids and I are probably going to have to miss the potluck because of the aforementioned colds, watching them work together in the kitchen is lovely.

. . . the sense of accomplishment that comes from managing a productive day (some sewing AND business-related internet work AND returning phone calls AND even a little bit of talk time with friends) all while dealing with a snot-encrusted baby who’s clinging like lint to my leg.  That’s what I call multi-tasking!

. . .writing this post on the actual computer instead of picking out words on the iPhone keyboard.

Lesson learned . . .

Wow.  Two days gone without a post.  Clearly I need to jump on posting at whatever moment I have the time, instead of assuming that I will find time later.  Two days of insanely busy during daylight hours, followed by extremely unhappy screaming irritable baby in the evening, added up to a mama too spent and exhausted to contemplate putting together a post even from the comfort of my bed (oh WordPress for iPhone app, I love you so, even when I’m too lazy to use you!).

Friday was a whirlwind of pinning, sewing, pricing and packing.  By the time we were finished we had four irritable children and some 30+ hats ready for sale.  Which WOULD’VE led to a warm, satisfying feeling of accomplishment, were it not for the fact that I spent over an hour trying to get the little monkey to sleep.  Eventually it became clear that he was/is teething, and I was able to take care of his pain enough to let him sleep.  Over the course of the night, though, he developed a lovely case of congestion which led to a rough night of little sleep (so hard to sleep OR nurse when you can’t breathe).  So when my alarm went off before sunrise, I had already been awake for a couple of hours and was . . . shall we say, less than overjoyed to be rolling out of bed to start my day.

HOWEVER!  It was time for the Eastside Family Fair!!

It was a lovely (albeit exhausting) day.  My business partner and I spent a lot of time talking to moms, coming up with new ideas for products and for the next event we table.  I did a few massages, which was great, and the fact that we were a little slower than I had expected was just fine because the little monkey was oh-so-fussy and really wouldn’t have done well if I had been busy busy busy all day.  It was a wonderful event, so much fun to connect with other moms in my area and a real inspiration as far as running a mom-based business goes.  There were so many active, energetic mompreneurs there!  And our sewing projects got a great response — we even took some custom orders, so we have new projects to work on.

And then we ran into an old friend who is in the process of moving back to the area, and she and her lovely kiddos came back to the house to play, and by the time everyone left we were bone-deep tired and bedtime became a real struggle for both monkeys — big monkey because she was overtired and overextended from a day of excitement and no nap, and little monkey because . . . well, teeth for one, and the cold, and probably also the fact that mama had been somewhat busy and distracted and he really needed to reconnect.

So, here it is, days since my last post, and I am a worn-out woman.  But the big push is over, we survived (and loved) the event, and now we can start focusing on recuperation and getting back into the swing of “normal” life.  Oh, and more sewing . . . lots of new sewing!

Work, work, and more work

Today has included: volunteer work (LLL meeting), sewing work (three more hats finished! Woot!), mothering work (constant and ongoing), and massage work.  I’m also planning two (TWO!) fundraisers, and getting ready for a big event on Saturday where I will be doing massage and selling products for ten hours.  Yeesh.  It’s no wonder I’m exhausted!

This was GOING to be less of a “placeholder” post, but I’m beat; just got the big monkey to bed, still have to get the little monkey to sleep, and I’ve given up on making it back out of the bedroom — I’m just going to crash with him.  Peace.

Making up for lost time

Once again, I’ve missed a day in the “post every day” challenge (that makes two so far). Not that anything I’ve written thus far has been particularly scintillating . . .

Yesterday was an excellent day. I left the big monkey with my mom and drove to a friend’s where we spent a few hours crafting and discussing preparations for the big event this weekend. It was a real change of pace for us, because her two were with a sitter and my girl was with Grandma. So instead of the barely-controlled chaos that we’re used to working in, we had the novel experience of craft work with only one (ONE!) baby crawling around underfoot! Needless to say, we were stunningly productive.

In the evening I happened across a friend’s Facebook post about a meeting for a group of crafty homeschool moms taking place at a wine bar down the street from my house (Hello!). So despite the fact that I’m not technically a full-fledged homeschooler just yet (as the monkeys are still small) and despite the fact that my current major craft projects require a sewing machine . . . I grabbed a cross-stitch project that has been languishing in a box for months and, with V’s blessing, headed out into the night.

I didn’t get a ton done on my project (wine and cross stitch are not the best combination — something I discovered only after adding a line of stitches and needing to remove several rows), but I had a nice tasting glass of Riesling and some lovely cheese & crackers, and enjoyed the company of some creative women with several years’ more mothering experience.

After a deliciously crafty day yesterday, today was all about politics and play. Together with a friend and her two young ones, we headed to the Seattle Center for an event aimed at promoting stricter laws regulating toxic chemicals in baby products. It was a great day: activities for the kiddos, a Caspar Babypants performance, lots of free samples of organic products, and a nice outing for all. We topped it off with several more hours of play with our friends, some good coffee, and homemade turkey soup for dinner. The monkeys were overtired by the end of it all, but they’re both sleeping now and with any luck, I’ll be joining them before midnight.

Tomorrow will be La Leche League and working during the evening, and Friday is our last chance to prep for Saturday’s event — so I’m hoping to fire up the sewing machine again tomorrow. (*sigh*). It’s been a crazy busy week so far, and still only half over!

More hat pics to come, and MAYBE I’ll manage to interject a bit of humor into this blog instead of just a dry retelling of my day? Hope springs eternal.

Hats!

 

There are also princess hats and cat-eared hats, but I don’t have pictures of those.  But I have them, I swear.

Laying in bed, writing a post, drawing a blank

Another weekend, over and done with. A productive weekend, certainly (six hats sewn TODAY alone, one of them with lots of time-consuming applique!), but over nonetheless. It’s at moments like these — basking in the residual glow of weekend productivity and cozy family moments — that I wish we were independently wealthy and could just spend ALL our time together, instead of sending V off to the office five days a week. Looking forward to the three-day week before Thanksgiving, though.

This week is going to be crazed. Big family fair next weekend where I will be offering seated massages AND helping a friend hawk the sewn goods we’ve been creating, so every free minute this week will be spent trying to create new product. In between La Leche League meetings, evening massage work, and a rally in support of tougher laws regarding the use of chemicals in baby products. Oh, and parenting those two little monkeys who insist on clinging to me.

Gah, I’m tired just thinking about it. Best finish this up and get to the evening’s diaper folding, not to mention the removal of delicious kitchen-scenting turkey stockfromthe stove. And bed . . . sweet, comfortable bed that I am loathe to get out of even though the little monkey is out cold and I could be productive again.