Halu-Halo

Dividing for the sleeves

I love knitting sweaters from the top-down. For you non-knitters (I must bring you over to the dark side!), that simply means knitting a sweater starting from the collar or neck, and then working your way down to the yoke. The sleeves, then, are put on "hold" (on a scrap piece of yarn), until the body is completed. Finally, the sleeves are knit in the round. 

Knitting Pure and Simple has wonderful step-by-step pictures here: http://knittingpureandsimple.com/resources/knitting-your-first/

 

(I apologize  for this horrible, super processed picture)

I am currently working on a cardi for Baby J, using this pattern. And I have divided for the sleeves (the sleeves are now on hold, and I'm on my way to finish the body of the sweater).

This is a big deal; I'm now committed.

By moving on, I am affirming that:

1.I believe in this pattern (I have read through it and understand the designer's directions. I've made my notes, looked at pictures of completed projects by other people, researched suggested modifications).

2. I love the yarn enough to make a garment with it (I've put it up to my face and neck to make sure it's soft enough. I've read reviews that this yarn holds up, and doesn't stretch or lose its form).

3. I have the stamina to get through to finish this project (I want for me/my child/my friend to be able to wear it in the end).

Can I change my mind and have the poor mess sit in my WIP basket forever and ever? Of course!  But after I've decided to divide for the sleeves, I'm pretty sure I want to get to the end of it. Through hell or high water, skipped stitches and wrong stitches, I will bind off the project, somehow.

I've recently divided for the sleeves, also, in my writing life. After months of stitching my outline together, trying on my plot, feeling it against my heart, and gauging it against my hopes and dreams, I finally felt I was ready. And I've moved on to query.

The reality: finding an agent to represent me could take months. Years!

But I've picked my story, chosen my words, rewrote them (and again, and again), done my research, and hoped that I perfected my query letter. Now it's all about stamina, and belief, and in my case, a little (A LOT) of prayer. 

Am I scared? Yes! Do I feel vulnerable? Extremely! 

But I would have never completed this dress for Sweet R had I let it intimidate me. I would have cried myself into a corner during deployments had I not been strong enough to endure those lonely nights. Surely, I will survive this too, right?

I will. I will. 

I will.

Doin' the Humpty-Hump

 Just turned on some music, to listen to Digital Underground and celebrate some milestones:

16 days: 

 

and halfway done with the binding:

"I'm steppin tall ya'll and just like Humpty Dumpty
you're gonna fall while the stereos pump me.
I like to rhyme, I like my beats funky, I'm spunky, I like my oatmeal lumpy.
I'm sick with this..."  (Digital Underground, "The Humpty Dance")

Excuse me while I go let off some steam and do the Humpty Dance in my living room.

Happy Hump Day!

The countdown to summer

...one project at a time...teacher's gifts, kids' crafts, baking for school parties.  My little green book (where I write my lists) is brimming with itemized tasks to be done in the next week and a half, when we can finally greet summer and all it's lazy glory.

I realize that for many of you, the school season is over, and are already basking in your pajamas a little longer through the morning, but I on the other hand, am still simply dreaming of it.

I know, I know, it will probably just be as busy during the summertime with the kids pushing bedtime into the near dawn, or having to bring them to and from activities and other meet-ups with friends, but really - I don't mind at all.

Until then, I will be sewing and punching out flowers and making a mess of my living room.

Have a happy hump day everyone!

Evidence!

I finished basting the preemie quilt yesterday, grateful that it was, in fact, a baby quilt and that I was able to do it all on the kitchen table.  Had it not been so small, I would have had to sneak away some extra time when Baby J was asleep or with Hubby, since she is a whirlwind of a spirit, and underfoot she can cause quite a havoc.  

I am not exaggerating.  Yesterday evening, as we got leftover Easter dinner onto the table, I was spent...a blob of my usual daytime self, from the phenomenon that is called - Baby J.  Who knew a one-year-old could pack so much energy, when even at a playground full of older children (while my oldest Big was at soccer practice), she pushed through their legs without hesitation.

Earlier in the afternoon, I had given Sweet R my camera to snap pictures on our main floor.  I set my camera and just gave her full reign, partly to teach her some confidence with a camera, by mostly because I knew I needed to seize the few minutes to finish basting.  

Yes, I was that desperate, enough to give my five-year-old my Nikon oldie.but.goodie D50.  

I didn't realize she took this picture.

When I uploaded it this morning from my camera, I was astounded to witness my peace.

The power of craft - dear Internets - see it here, I am practically smiling, despite the chaos that you don't see in the camera's view.  I have always said that craft took me out of loneliness during deployments, out of sadness and insecurities and here it is, as evidence.

So, don't wait.  Craft daily...work with your hands, I am encouraged once again that this is the best addiction vice to have.

Have a wonderful day, friends!

Three good things...

Spring break is here!  And it couldn't have come faster, for this mama is feeling the need to get on a non-schedule.  A little recharge of my batteries, a few more moments in the day when I don't need to herd the children into the van, and, definitely, more opportunities to sew and craft aside from the stolen minutes before we need to get "somewhere."

Do you discuss "the good things/not so good things" with your children/spouse/friends?  When we find ourselves in a lull in our conversation at the dinner table, I ask for each of my kids to mention a good and not so good thing that happened during their day.  

Here are mine for this week:

 

1.

I finally got started on the Robert Kaufman Charm Pack challenge.  As a member of the NOVA Modern Quilt Guild, we were given charm packs by RK to make into a quilt featuring its fabrics and then give them to charity.  The Guild will be providing quilts to Inova Fairfax Hospital NICU.  

The great:  I love charm packs!  If you are new to quilting, these are the perfect solution, as the squares are already pre-cut to 5x5 squares.  

The not so great: The quilt is due at the end of the month!  Which means I must get cracking.  

 

2.

The good: Allende does it again...she wrote what I feel is another piece of art.  She became one of my favorite authors in high school, when she and Gabriel Garcia Marquez literally changed my life and opened my eyes to the magic of the written word.

The not so good: This book was my selection for book club (still a good),but I literally finished it 10 minutes before book club began.   Talk about sweating it...

3.

Onion Focaccia - from my favorite bread book ever. Handmade for last night's book club.

The good: It came out perfectly, the outside crisp and the inside light and fluffy.

The not so good: I ate at least 3 pieces before book club even began.  Maybe I should have focused on reading faster instead of stuffing my face.

 

As a result of the not so goods, today, I will be sewing, reading early for the next book club and then taking a turn on the treadmill.

Care to share your good and not so good?

 

Winging it.

...because one is never really prepared when the waterfall of sickness will hit.  

...or when one cannot find all of the correct tools to complete a project...

...ya just have to look for that light that comes through in the smallest of packages...

...Thank God for Them.

Blank Canvas

When I unpacked our linens a couple of months ago, I had the arduous decision to donate a couple several sets of window and shower curtains.  I still had the lace curtains I used in Germany, the not so stylish ones I used in South Carolina, the super duper inexpensive sets I used in New York, the handmade ones from our first time through here in VA and the most recent and beloved ones from Texas.  Curtains are, without a doubt, one of the best ways to change up a room.  

Unfortunately, most of the time, they cannot be reused in a different home.  Window sizes, amazingly, vary! Who knew that windows come in so many sizes!  And in the rare occassion that I have found myself in a home with similar sized windows, just as we have now, our family tastes have changed.

I am starting to find the same issue with my wallhangings.

Now that we have painted almost every surface of our house, changed a few furnishings and settled our spirits in our home, some of my quilts don't work where I think it will work.  This quilt doesn't fit the green of our living room, and this wallhanging doesn't have it's own niche to call its home.  And while I am glad the kids quilts still feel right on their walls (because they generally choose the same color scheme for their paint color), I am struggling to find a fit for  my eyelet love.

It's obviously not the end of the world, but my home and the family is the start of my world, and currently is a blank canvas.

 

So I am starting with the kitchen!!  The big beautiful brown is screaming at me, and this palette from my scraps screamed back at me too.

Scraps and remnants are amazing creatures.  And this is why I never ever throw fabric away that's more than than a 2 inch square.  

The curtains can go, but my scraps will not!  

Let the games begin!

"You have to let it all go, Neo...."

"Fear, Doubt, Disbelief.  Free your mind"  - Morpheus, The Matrix

 

Can you believe that I haven't seen this movie all the way through?  I have only really seen it in pieces...but I love it.  The soundtrack, the costumes, the language, and heck...even Keanu Reeves gives a good show.  Classic.

I seem to catch it at the most opportune times...sometimes I think it is Serendipity at work.  You turn the channel changer just to the right station and then you get the message straight away.

 

I came across it while working on Sedum yesterday, and trying to knit out the fear that this sweater may not fit!  What if it doesn't?  What if it does but the yarn grows to a million yards and I'm swimming in sweater?  What if I spend a million hours doing seed stitches and this sweater ends up in the closet?

(Neurotic much?  Yes, that would be me)

Luckily those magic movie words came on just in time:

Neo: I know Kung Fu

Morpheus: Show Me.

 

I'll show you Sedum, darnit!  I've got Baby J on my side!

On this third day of the week

1.  I welcome Freida back into the mix.  I have neglected her since we moved, and she is finally out from under her cover.  Sweet Freida, she still purrs like a kitten, not a bump or glitch in her stitches.  I perched her on our formal dining room table.  And there she will stay, where I can sew and still keep an eye on the kidlets on the main floor.  

As you can see, thread is everywhere already. :)  Home sweet home.

2.  A project is in its beginnings: Sedum.  Ah, and it will be for me.

  

My arms smell sheep-ly from this Cascade Eco.  Why, you might ask?  Well, I don't have a swift so I wrap the yarn around my arms while I get one of my awesome children to turn the crank on this ballwinder. 

My firstborn son, he is so sweet and patient...it took us 40 minutes to wind 2 hanks of yarn into 6 large balls.  He earned his dessert today!  

I know, so pretty. (and worth it!) I did, however, promise to gift myself with a swift as soon as I finish another large project.  You'd better believe I'm diving into Sedum in hopes I make it out alive, fitting into the cardi, and shopping online for a swift.

3.  I am admiring this

A gift from one of my friends, Mindy, for my sweet Baby J.  

I can't stop looking at it!  Great super soft yarn, and of course just a beautiful delicate pattern perfect for a loved babe.  The buttons on these booties are *tiny*.  This set is definitely going into her forever treasure chest after she wears it this fall.  

I've been really blessed have such wonderful girlfriends.  That in all of my travels, I have been able to bring the memories of these adopted sisters wherever I go.  I am thrilled that this time around, I am able to see some of these sisters again, and Mindy is one of them.  Thank you friend!!!  I love it!

Happy Hump Day everyone!  

Knit or Sleep?

Success tonight...there is a baby in a bassinet next to me that went to bed without struggle.  I fully expected hours of cluster nursing, but she surprised me and fell into slumber much earlier than expected.

But what to do now?  Should I steal an extra few minutes and catch some much needed shut eye?  Or should I catch up with some much needed knitting.

I started on Clemence last night and because it's such a quick knit, I want to finish it.  What I have noticed these days is that I may go quite awhile without crafting depending on the needs of Baby, so I've got to take advantage of this mojo when I can.

   

And frankly crafting has become as important to me as sleep.  I notice that on those days I don't work with my hands, I don't sleep well.  I instead find myself idle in the dark watching reality TV or reruns of Dawson's Creek, counting the minutes into late night.

It's the repetition, the concentration...and all of a sudden my usual overactive brain and sometimes overzealousness of the day is brought down to even.  

 

And, while I am not an expert in any of the things I undertake, nor are the projects too complicated, it is enough to give myself a little pat on the back.

For these days, I especially yearn to, simply, complete...to finish unpacking a box, to help the boys finish their homework, to weave in that last bit of thread of a knitted project.  Small, tangible milestones.  Short, clear goals.  Instant gratification.

Knit, it is!  

I hope your week went well!