In Progress

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Just a Toe

Ah... the Spring WILL Come socks! These have been a perfect quick project for what is hopefully our last big snow of the year. I never thought I'd call socks a quick knit, but I'll have finished this pair in 7 days I think- which I'm certain is a record for me.

My husband teased that I should call them my Therapy Socks. All the medical testing I'm going through is starting to get to me, I think because we're closing in on 3 full months of testing and appointments with no real news. I've been in a weird mental place since the lab draw last week. I had the draw on Wednesday, cast on the socks Thursday and I just keep knitting, knitting, knitting... and trying to stay quiet and listen for what I need to know right now. And maybe what I don't need to know- listening for peace I suppose.

{Baby toes next to my sock that just needs a toe... oh, my baby has a sense of humor!}

I thought I'd make it through the toe last night, but I taught late and a warm bath and a book won out over the knitting. I really do just need about 3 cm and then I'm to the toe decreases and it will fly off the needles. Maybe tonight?

I just started Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's new book last night- The Amazing Thing About the Way it Goes. One essay was all I could manage before tucking in, but I so enjoy her perspective on life- not just as a knitter.

{What are you reading and knitting this week?}

Monday, March 3, 2014

Snow Day (Weekend) Knits

Last week was not a fabulous week here. Doctor's appointments, extra work hours for me and my husband, and a few missed events because of those two things really bothered me. We didn't get enough school time in, the house was far from where I like it to be, and the jobs waiting to be done (like reorganizing a closet) that could normally be done at any later date seemed to scream at me.

So I made a list, tried to account for time to rest, and we jumped in on Friday morning. The boys worked on schooly things while I sorted through the giant box of papers we've acquired in our school room since the first of the year. I put my rest time into a sock I cast on at knit night on Thursday night. Just as I was about to jump in on chores again, my husband texted me about snow. Sleet starting mid-afternoon Saturday, with snow called to pile up over the following 24-36 hours.

Right then I made a deal with myself. Getting all the chores done during what was left of Friday instead of spreading them out over the weekend like I had planned would equal time to knit, knit, knit. I may have also promised my boys some bonus time with video games if they helped.

So we worked really hard. We made it through the bathrooms, and the rest of the laundry, the vacuuming and the mopping. We had dinner together, finished up the kitchen and after children made it into bed I went to work on my sock.

I may have laid there awhile too, just soaking up the stillness my body needs right now.

By lunch time on Saturday I was one sock richer, and the snow hadn't even shown up yet. And by this morning, I'm up through the heel flap, and waiting for a bit of time later today to turn the heel.

Of course tonight it's back to work, and working through the rest of the week. But maybe a completed pair by Wednesday or Thursday?

Friday, February 28, 2014

Tea Towel Apron

Finished with a large front pocket

Cute pie fabric on a rust tea towel makes for a quick apron. I made a bunch for Christmas gifts and this is a requested gift too. They are a quick project except for when it comes time to put the straps through the side of the tea towel... and I have to search for 10 minutes to find the tea towel I had been working on just moments before. It is not on the floor, not on the table, not on the chair, again, not on the floor, not on the table, not on the chair, not UNDER the table, COME ON..... it makes me crazy to lose what I am working on. It's almost always behind my computer on the table, just enough out of sight .

Sewing the straps

I always have 2-3 pairs of scissors around while I work. OKAY- today I have 4 on the table but I just lose them as I sew. They walk to the other side of the table all by themselves along with my pens and my calculator. I know part of the problem is working on more than one project at a time. Just today it is the apron, a geisha pattern design block & sample for my quilt group, my long term two year Di Ford- Quilt Mania quilt ( I will share that later) and a sample table mat. I am definitely an "organized messy".

done

I like to work on 5-6 projects at a time but I do get them finished. I do have three or four unfinished projects in the basement (but I can't see them so it doesn't bother me). Although I never count the quilts that just need the bindings added to be completely finished because then I would have too many unfinished projects. I just bind them before I give them as a gift.

I think most people are a starter or a finisher. Which one are you?

How many projects do you work on at once?

- Sue

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

New Year Socks

{Let's Yarn Along with Ginny today. Will you join in?}

I'm still in the millions of miles of stockinette phase on the pieces of my Wildflower Cardigan this week, so instead of sharing a field of gray with you on this last February yarn along, I thought I might share something a little more interesting.

Some finished socks- these are my New Year socks- I finished sock #1 on New Year's Eve and this sock on Sunday for a nice 2013/2014 crossover. I'm thankful for another pair of wool socks since it turned bitterly cold again yesterday and we had another dusting of snow. It was down to the toe decreases, and after a resounding Ravellenic "defeat" I wanted something with a quick pay-off.

Have you listened to the podcast yet? Episode 2 is out, and I talked this week about why handmade items are such an important part of our home. I'm sure you have your own reasons for making things, and I'd like to know what they are. Please share in comments or join the conversation in the "why do you make things?" thread in the podcast's Ravelry group.