But it did get me thinking, and I realized that it has now officially been a year since I taught myself to knit and started doing it all the time.  And now, just (just?) one year later, I feel like I can officially call myself a KNITTER.  Evidence to support that point:

*   I have actually gotten to the point where I can notice a mistake in a pattern and go “hrm, that doesn’t look right . . .”  It’s not like I can necessarily figure out what the pattern should read, but at least I have enough awareness to contact a more experienced knitter and ask for advice!

*   A few weeks ago, for at least a few days?  I had two different projects on needles at the same time!  Big step for me.

*   I have created unique patterns by taking parts from other projects and grafting them together.  Customization, yo.

Knitting: ohhh, I love knitting!  So far I have finished:

• an oddly-sized length of fabric (too short and wide to be a scarf, it could really only function as a little wrap for the big monkey . . . and the yarn was a cheap acrylic that, although soft in the skein, feels scratchy now that it is knitted up.  But it was good practice!)
• a “Ribbed for her Pleasure” scarf (LOL!) from the book “Stitch&Bitch” — simple, made with a bulky oatmeal-colored acrylic that is soft enough I will actually wear it.  AND, it looks so freaking cool (simple k2p2 ribbing, but I LOOOOVE how it turned out), that it provided great motivation to keep learning.
• ONE of two simple ribbed armwarmers, which taught me some new skills in the process: a couple of good increases, and a little confidence-building when I had to tear apart and rebuild stitches.  I’m still in process on the second armwarmer, much delayed because of the stomach bug that ripped through the household a week ago AND because of some late-night knitting that resulted in frogging a solid four inches of ribbing.  Argh.  Chalk it up to a learning experience, though; every stitch I knit is good practice!

I have so many other projects that are percolating in my head right now.   Fancier armwarmers are next on my list (never one for needing warmth or extra layers, I DO suffer from Reynaud’s and deal with circulation trouble and pain in my hands during the winter months . . . so I figure armwarmers are one fashion accessory that would be both practical and fun.  Plus they knit up fairly quickly . . .), and I bought a skein of cheap cotton to make dishcloths (I’ve heard that dishcloths are a good way to practice new skills like cables, lacework, etc.).  Far off in the distant future, I have patterns for fancy hats and a few sweaters and I am constantly searching for new ideas.  Some great inspiration has come from Ravelry, and Knitty, and a website sent by another knitting friend.

Jewelry: I have been fantasizing about starting new jewelry designs for . . . months? a year?  Anyway, I finally started the process; pulled out the set of metal stamping letters that have been sitting in a box for ages now, and practiced stamping some letters onto my sheet of practice copper.  Looking forward to putting that practice to use later with sterling, but right now I am figuring out the force I need to use, how to space the letters, etc.

I’m also putting together an order with an Etsy seller in Latvia to purchase some hand-collected sea glass, beach pebbles, and raw amber for some wire-wrapping projects.  I took a tumbled glass class a few months back and LOVED it, and I’m really excited to incorporate some elements of Latvia.  Even though it is V’s heritage and not my own, I have always felt an undeniable pull toward the history and the culture; we still have pieces of driftwood that we brought back from our travels over a decade ago, and I treasure them.

(Speaking of which, DRIFTWOOD!  She sells collections of small pieces of driftwood, hand-gathered on the shore by herself and her family members.  My mind is awash in ideas for ways to use it in our home . . . More ideas for projects; heh.)

Sewing: I got a new sewing machine over the holidays, a beautiful lightweight beauty that should run quietly and efficiently through projects galore.  I say “should” because I have not managed to sew even one stitch on the new machine, despite having set it up, plugged it in, and deployed the presser foot on a project-in-progress.  But then the baby needed me, and then the evening got away from me, and then we moved the sewing machine into the back bedroom and then I ended up here, two (three?) weeks into owning a new sewing machine and I don’t even know how well it sews.  Okay, that’s ridiculous; must tackle that task by the end of the night.

Speaking of which, what am I doing working on a blog post when I have one child eating lunch, one napping, and actual FREE TIME for the moment?  I’m grabbing my knitting . . .

I guess it was about time for a new project.

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!

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.

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.

. . . 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.

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!

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.

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.