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?

Yarn Along

{Yarning along with Ginny, sharing the current knit and the current read}

Maybe I'm strange but when I have a newborn I get a ton of reading done. I read while I'm nursing, particularly at night so that I can stay awake long enough to make sure baby gets a full feed in (which equals me having to wake up less frequently- hooray!).

With Ender I read just about every baby and parenting book out there, with Ezra it was gaming guides (I'm an eclectic mix we like to call "crunchy geek"), and with Elle it has been fiction and cookbooks. In the last several weeks since she was born I've been through about 15 cookbooks from the library and I've also read City of Bones by Cassandra Clare, Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith and I'm most of the way through The Help by Kathryn Stockett.

I frequently check cookbooks out from the library to help me decide whether or not to add them to my collection, and Homemade Soda is winging its way to me as I type. I'm a little obsessed with syrups and homemade soda right now, and there are so many recipes in this book that we will use. I think Ender is just as excited about this new venture as I am.

Now, knitting as been a little slim here lately- between the baby, baseball season, canning, finishing up homeschool plans before we start back in July and my return to the studio this week, knitting has taken the back seat. I returned to the February Lady Sweater I cast on a week or two before Ellie was born and I'm almost through the yoke now- though knitting is only happening if Ellie happens to be sleeping during a baseball game and I can sneak in 30 minutes with my needles.

Last Month

 {sign by Ender, for Ellie's door}

{peaches!}

{Strawberry preserves!}

{Baby cuteness!}

Hi.

If I say the last 3+ weeks went by in a blur would you believe me?

I'll give most of the credit to the way time seems to move simultaneously fast and slow when you're getting technically enough sleep but not enough sleep in consecutive hours. Time can be a bit of a foggy and mysterious concept with a newborn.

I can't believe it, but Ellie is already smiling and holding her head up, and trying to push up in a serious way if you put her on her tummy.

She already feels bigger.

Oh my.



It's also baseball season for the boys- 2 nights a week for Brian, 2-3 nights a week for Ender and Ezra once a week.



Oh... and canning. Canning season has begun. I enlisted 3 of my sisters to come over and help (in exchange for yummy canned goods to take home of course!) and we put up a gazillion peaches and strawberries in the last few weekends.... well, they did. I mostly supervised and sat on a bar stool in front of the stove in charge of the stirring.


And don't even get me started on the new syrup obsession...


*Loving* this summer!

Yarn Along

{Yarning Along with Ginny, sharing a current knit and a current read.}

I bound off the edge of Wingspan yesterday. I have to say- this has been the perfect knit post-baby. Easy to memorize, all garter stitch, and simple to set down mid-row when baby called. I have the two ends to weave in and it will be complete.


I have a bit of this yarn left and I'm trying to decide what to do with it. What do you do with the bits of yarn that you have left over from projects? This particular yarn is fingering weight, and not a significant amount. I was thinking maybe little booties for Ellie.

I picked up the February Lady Sweater I started back in mid-April (and only knit a few rows on before getting fully involved in another project) and I think that's the next knit to push to a finish amidst all the little finishes I'm working on.


I've actually been able to read these last few weeks. That's one of the little blessings of a nursing babe. I often read during that time to make sure I stay awake enough to get a full feed in. I just finished The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks and next up is City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. I've heard a lot of talk about the Mortal Instruments series, but I'm not quite far enough in to really know if this one is for me or not.

Finishing

I made a new project list yesterday and limited myself to knitting even though I know I have a stack of sewing awaiting me as well. It included projects I'd like to knit for myself this year, gifts I'd like to give for birthdays or Christmas, and things my kids have asked for.

The list may have gotten quite long.

 

37 items long to be precise, and that list is heavily edited.

Now, to be fair to myself I didn't expect to actually knit all that. And eight of those projects are hats for kids 6 and younger that will only take an evening or two a piece, and there are five pairs of mittens in there...  but that's still a LOT of knitting.


All this knitting is to be done in my spare time after work and schooling is done, after the house is picked up and children fed and dishes done, a baby nursed and cuddled. Oh and showers. Showers are good.


Sounds impossible, I know, but I love a good challenge, even if that list might possibly be 37 items too long.


I'm kicking off with a finishing spree- I have queued up a few projects that are within a few hours of finishing, either with their last few rows and bind off, the weaving in of ends or the addition of buttons. I'm holding back on starting anything new until I've completed at least 3 or 4 of those unfinished bits.