Annual Holiday Crafting Panic

Last week was a WEEK y'all.

I don't know what it is about this fall/winter, folks, but we have been battling one little illness after another, always staggered so there are only 1 or 2 of us sick at a time, but it always rotates through the whole family. The disease of the day always seems to hit me last (thank goodness!) but Ellie is hit worst, poor girl. It's just really hard to understand sneezing and coughing when you're such a little thing.

My camera died last week too- right in the middle of putting up our tree. It was a great family time, even if it went un-photographed. I'm hoping the camera is only minorly dead; it's with a friend who is checking it out for me. 

I had a mini- panic midweek last week about Christmas. It should really be referred to as the "Annual Panic" because it truly is in early December every year.

You know the one most creative types have before gift giving holidays- the one where you look at your crafting list and say, "HOLY SMOKES! How on Earth did I ever think I could get this all done??? I'm a crazy person and I'm not going to finish any of it and there will be NO CHRISTMAS this year all because of me, the single-handed ruiner of Christmas!!!"

Or maybe that's just me.

So I clicked on my Christmas spreadsheet (because I'm that sort of geek) and prepared to talk myself down from that place. I looked through the list for each person and thought... you know what? I'm not in bad shape. AT ALL. I'm actually super close to done as long as I stick to knitting every night.

And instead of rejoicing in that truth and feeling a burden lifted off of me, my brain went crazy trying to add even more projects to the Christmas list. Because if the pressure isn't on, maybe I missed someone to make for? Or someone already on the list needs an extra sweater or something.

REALLY?

So I did the smart thing and I'm sticking to my original list.

I have enough Holiday Crafting years in me to know that *something* will go horribly wrong with a project or two and I'll find myself ripping and re-knitting and wrapping after midnight on Christmas Eve to finish that last thing.

And if magically I find myself done early with nothing else to do?

There are MANY items waiting in the queue.

Learning All the Time

After getting a bit of a head start on our school year by starting during the hot days of July we've been able to take some time off from the more structured bits of learning. While I think we all enjoy the routine of our typical school mornings (or else we wouldn't school this way!) it is nice to have the option to call a week "off" and pursue life and projects around us.

In the last week we: 

 

Had three soccer practices

 

Had two soccer games

 

Took a trip to the ballpark for September baseball

 

Spent an afternoon at the local art museum to learn about portraits, self-portraits, still life, and landscapes

 

Made a math facts lapbook (Well, Ender did. I mostly just printed it out for him and offered advice when asked.)

 

Picked hundreds of pears (to can later in the week)

 

Went rollerskating

 

Watched Daddy complete his first 10K

And I started back to work last week, hence the "off" week. 

 

 

 

Today we are continuing our spontaneous learning by:

Making bookmarks (now that we have TWO little readers, we needed several more!)

 

Reading together- this is one part of our "regular" school day that isn't often skipped, even on our "off" days.

 

Quizzing math facts with the aid of that new lapbook

 

Prepping for some family art time this evening when I'm finished teaching in the studio.

Watching this video:

 

 

Loving this Monday morning!

Making Things Again

I think it's fair to say the knitting and general craftiness has come to a stand-still around here lately. When you add a new baby to the mix priorities change for a bit, right?


But she's sleeping most of the night now (NEVER thought I'd get to say that about a babe of mine after two boys who didn't sleep through until around the 1 year mark) and I'm remarkably less foggy. I'm getting back in the swing of working in the studio again (albeit half-time still) and managing the house and baby and those big boys of mine.


And after spending the better part of the last month using pinterest and ravelry as a way to fulfill my desire to be crafty and creative without actually doing anything crafty/creative (thereby using up my limited amounts of energy) I'm ready to get back to making things.


I'm currently making plans for the Revellenic Games (July 27-August 12) and also planning to actually make some of the things that I've spent the last month pinning.

I know... it's so easy to go pin crazy and never actually do anything with those pins, right?

Most of the pins I'm interested in right now have to do with our house. We've been in the house for almost 5 months now and I still have nothing on the walls. The mantel has pictures of our kids kind of haphazardly slapped up there, but that's it. I'm ready to start putting our family sentiments into our home and to really make it speak about us and the life we are building together.


After hunting down projects, quotes and verses for our home I think I'm ready for a DIY night with the girls. Sounds like the perfect way to get back into making things, wouldn't you say?

Making Stuff

I had plans for this week.

I was excited to have extra time to write, to photograph and share a few recent knitted FO's, and perhaps start to get the kids back to our normal schedule.


The thing is, there's regular life, plus unexpected life and then there's "wow- I can't even believe how tired I am..." that leads you to fall asleep the second the baby does at three in the afternoon but be wide awake from 3 a.m. to 5 a.m.


Can you tell it's been awhile since we've had a new baby in the house? I mean, I knew this is how life with a little one goes (after all we've done it twice before...) but I forgot exactly how it is each day.


What we're all needing right now is some creative time, so we decided to completely ditch the plans for getting back to regular life and start today on a long weekend dedicated to "making stuff". We spent this morning making some lists of potential projects to choose from, getting organized and printing off a few things to start with.

A bit of our inspiration:

Monster bookmarks

Cubbees (starting with Wall-E for Ender and Batman for Ezra)

Avengers bookmarks

Zippered pouches (for project bags)

Yogurt pops

Seeing Stars

Oh, my- I'm so glad the recital is over! Today I'm totally relaxing. We have plans to hit the library this afternoon and I suppose I'll have to make dinner at some point, but otherwise I'm just hanging out with my boys and knitting! The past few weeks have been full of work so I'm really excited to have a week of *whatever we want to do*

Today I thought I'd share a gift we recently received. My mother is a quilter- a far better quilter than I am! I mentioned to her a few years ago that I really loved the Mariner's Compass and how I found myself coming back to that pattern again and again. She offered to make a Mariner's Compass quilt for me if I really thought I'd never make one on my own, and I totally took her up on it! I do okay with triangles, but matching up all those little points? I truly don't have the patience at this point in my life!

Our new quilt:

 

Do Over

We had a really strange weekend, and I'm still catching up.

 

A do-over would be great.

 

So instead of a fabulous post by me, I'm going to point you toward Green Apples for a post that sums up my feelings about crafting mistakes.

 

How do you feel about crafting mistakes?

 

For me, knitting is awesome for mistake making. The worst thing that can happen is that you have to rip it all out, but that yarn is still there for another try. Ripping back isn't exactly fun, but at least you can try again, right? I'm working through Elizabeth Zimmermann projects right now and was told by a few people that I'm "crazy" to even attempt them since I've been knitting less than two years. I suppose my opinion is to just go for it, and I did. I think you learn a lot more by doing and making the mistakes along the way than always sticking with what you know. I haven't found the E.Z. February Sweater to be any harder than anything else I've knit, just a little brain bending due to the fact that I've only knit one adult sized cardigan before.

 

Sewing is a bit of a different animal for me. I'm not afraid to try new techniques, but I'm always a bit nervous when I cut into fresh fabric- once cut you can't go back. Sometimes a cutting mistake means improvising something different (and sometimes better) than the original plan, but sometimes it truly means scrapping the whole thing.

 

How do you feel about crafting mistakes? Do you boldly head into new techniques and styles or do you hold back?

This Moment

I'm playing along with Soulemama this week and sharing a moment from our week. Go visit her if you'd like to see more moments and share your own.

(Shalom finished! More pictures to come.)

Finished!

 

I finished the (mostly) red socks at the post-wedding reception party on Saturday. There isn't anything terribly special about these socks except that they are the first toe-up socks I've actually finished. I followed the generic pattern found in Wendy Johnson's book using a provisional cast-on and a short row heel.

 

I'm pretty happy with how the striping worked out- I know it's not a terribly close match, but that wasn't terribly important to me this time around.

 

 

I've been trying to pick projects in the last few months that will help me learn new techniques, and the easiest way for me to do that is to pick projects that I really want to make and learn the technique within the project. I just don't do well with the whole "must knit a scarf before you can make anything else" kind of thinking. I've been looking through potential projects with this in mind and I'm holding off on a couple I had posted before. Instead I cast on for Ender's requested hat and for the February Lady Sweater based on Elizabeth Zimmerman's February Baby Sweater.

I also *finally* wove in ends and put the button on the Shalom cardi. Pics to come!

 

Little Jayne

 

Meet Little Jayne- the hat Ezra has taken over. Ender changed his mind and decided on a different pattern for his hat, but Ezra *loves* having a hat just like daddy.

 

This is just the smaller size of the Jayne hat I made for Superman. To quote the pattern designer "I feel that to make it a better hat (with really nice yarn, or without the loose strings which dangle from the ear flaps) is to miss the point." So it's supposed to be a little bunchy and "off". I made my Jayne hats with Redheart supersaver yarn as the pattern calls for and they were really fast knits. I had to make some number adjustments to the pattern for Superman's hat (the man has a strangely shaped head), but Ezra's fit great in the smallest listed size.

 

*** And a baby update! baby Lucas was born yesterday in the late afternoon. My sister K ended up having a c-section for her son and everyone is happy and healthy! ***

Quiet Continued

Yesterday was a little strange.

 

My boys waved me off every time I asked what they were doing, if they needed any help, or wanted anything for a snack.

 

This strange behavior started right after breakfast and went straight through until lunch when I finally had to insist they take a break for food.

 

What was so important? What took the complete energy and attention of a 2- and 4-year-old?

 

 

Making cozy little beds on the floor to read together, play with cars and be generally silly with one another.

 

I ate breakfast without getting up once to refill cups, drank hot chocolate through the morning without being begged for a sip, did laundry without little hands digging through the fresh towels, vacuumed and even sat for awhile to knit.

 

 

I didn't realize how much I love the interruptions- a boy asking to fold his own way, another promising that he only needs one more waffle to be really truly full. Ezra climbs into my lap multiple times a day for a cuddle and a tight squeeze around my neck, but not today. He was with his brother- his buddy.

 

I needed that little hint of a break today. I needed to continue the quiet that started over the weekend and the boys gave me that in this sweet surprise. But I will be glad when they ask me for help later today, climb into my lap with a kiss at the weirdest moments, and insist to do it "my way".

 

Super Simple Arm Warmers

 

There is nothing amazing or necessarily original here, but I needed something to keep me a little more on the warm side while I practice piano at night in my "cool" basement.

I specifically wanted something without the thumb hole since that little bit of bulk inhibits the piano playing, so I got to thinking about how nicely a leg warmer would work shortened up and thinned out . . . and after a few attempts to check sizing this is what I turned out.

Super Simple Arm Warmers

gauge: 6 st. and 7 rows to get an inch in stockinette

I used 4 size 6 DPN's and worsted weight yarn.

co 44, divide onto needles- 16, 12, 16 and join to work in the round.

K2P2 for 8 rows

K 10 rows

next row: K 15, K2tog, K10, K2tog, K 15 (42 stitches)

K 10 rows

next row: K 14, K2tog, K10, K2tog, K 14 (40 stitches)

K 10 rows

next row: K 13, K2tog, K10, K2tog, K 13 (38 stitches)

K 10 rows

next row: K 12, K2tog, K10, K2tog, K 12 (36 stitches)

K 10 rows

next row: K 11, K2tog, K10, K2tog, K 11 (34 stitches)

K 5 rows

K2P2 for 6 rows

BO in pattern loosely.

Next up, Dr. Horrible Wristers (ravelry link). I finished the first one last night- pictures to come!