It’s now been 6 months I’ve been “stranded in the Delta Quadrant.” As life ebbs and flows with change I find myself with a spot of time and enthusiasm to do a bit of blogging. Here are some projects I’ve worked on since we last chatted in October.
October-baby sweater completed
October-plugging away on toddler cape
October-baby sweater
That’s my Toby.
November-baby sweater
November-a scarf for Mike
December-baby cape
January’s Socks
Winter booties-I’ve been cranking out baby booties like mad with leftover sock yarn
February-fingerless mitts
February/March socks
March-my birthday swift
March-baby dress (knit for my cousin’s baby)
Obvious reasonable questions:
Do you have a baby that you’re knitting for? No. My youngest is 9 yrs old.
Do you have a grandbaby that you’re knitting for? No. No grandbabies yet.
Do you have a friend with a baby that you’re knitting for? No.
I just knit whatever pattern I see that I fall in love with, using whatever yarn I love most at the moment even if there isn’t a clear recipient in mind. Lately those patterns have been girl baby things. My knitting philosophy is KNIT WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY. I don’t have to knit to keep my family warm and clothed. I knit because I enjoy it, so I don’t knit practical things for my family, I knit what makes me happy.
What have you been creating while I’ve been away?
Laugh. Dance. Learn. Create. Knit.
Hey Knitting Friends and non-Knitting Friends!
We’ve had some changes at my house in the last month, which are requiring me to focus time, energy and attention on home educating Adrienne (9). We had thought we were in a place that would allow me to step mostly out of home educating and go in a different direction after 18 years. {But alas, I have been thrown into the Delta Quadrant, 70,000 light years from Federation Space. (Carmen will understand.)}
I’m fine and she’s fine and everybody is fine, but being the Tugboat that I am, I won’t be able to focus attention on the knitting blog that I love. I will still be knitting (when you home educate your kids, you had better have something that keeps you sane). I hope you will stay in touch with me by following our family blog at
A Splash of Grace
Right now there are wedding photos posted!
I will post knitting projects, bento lunches, crazy family stuff, holidays and normal life. Keep creating. Keep knitting. I look forward to hearing from you.
It really wasn’t a stressful wedding as weddings go; it was more that there was just so much going on all at the same time, and it takes me awhile to recover from things. My husband kindly informed me some years back: “You are a tugboat. You move large loads slowly.” When he said it, we were on a drive on Whidbey Island (one of my most favorite places) and I had tears streaming down my face. I was tired, discouraged and hopeless. His declaration made me smile through those tears and has given me the hope I need as I muddle my way through a low energy life.
Tugboat in New York Harbor
I’m still trying to get on my feet, but I have been a happy content girl (well, mostly): knitting,
packing Dosirak (bento- in Japanese) lunches for the kids
and trying to do a bit of pilates. (A joke by anyone’s standard, but my scoliosis demands I “strengthen my core”. I am hoping eventually to find my core.) I’ve got my elementary, high school and college students back in school, and my husband started his BSN this week.
What I want to be doing is teaching. I want to be teaching people to knit. I want to sit and visit and get to know people and enjoy their amazing lives while we learn together to build things with sticks and beautiful yarn. That’s my desire. I’d love to be doing it in the next month. We’ll see how the tugboat thing goes.
In the meantime, I started another little baby sweater, not that there’s a baby to wear it, but because I knit what I am in love with at the moment. Right now it’s this:
HELENA Sweater
I warn you-if you look at it, you’ll have to knit it.
laugh. dance. learn. create. knit.
Now that I have your attention, don’t forget to get your stuff together and be ready for our Knit2gether tomorrow!
I’m coming off a terrible headache. My scoliosis got super ticked off at me last week after I spent a couple hours trying on dresses for my daughter’s wedding. Wiggling in and out of dresses with little or no zippers, arching my back this way and that-well it hasnt been pretty. I’ve taken everything the doc has given me to take and it hasn’t touched it. So I curl up and do nothing but watch a bit of the home garden channel and Bonanza reruns, looking longingly at my knitting, eating chocolate and snapping at anyone that breaths too loudly. It’s been days now, 6 I think. Finally I think today will be better. At least it’s starting better-I’ve only taken 1/2 my meds.
All that to say: life just happens. To all of us. At any given moment. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Take it as it comes. Delight in whatever there is to delight in. (usually, if we work hard enough there IS something) And if you need an extra chuckle, check out my family blogpost regarding our friend the OWL at
A Splash of Grace
it’s one post down. It’s pretty much LIFE as we know it.
Also, my 23 yr daughter and I keep a blog of crappy Happy Thoughts at
A String of Happy Thoughts
See you tomorrow and we’ll get knittin’!
laugh. dance. learn. create. knit.
Finally, we’re back up and running. And hopefully the computer will be happy for a long while. I was sad while I wasn’t able to blog, but I did get some knitting done which was totally great.
Ecuador bag being blocked. Then I need to add tassels and the cord to close it.
Sock I started yesterday. Plain foot, haven’t decided what I’m gonna do with the leg yet.
This, after the other one I tanked on-almost had it completely done when I realized I hadn’t knitted the gusset?? That’s the second time that’s happened in the last two years…after the dozens of socks I’ve knitted I don’t get how that can happen. That’s the way Knit messes with me sometimes. So I tore it out and put that yarn away (cuz I was ticked and couldn’t stand to look at it anymore) and grabbed the prettiest yarn in my stash. This company doesn’t name it’s yarn, they just assign numbers, which is a shame. I think this one looks like Blueberry Lemon Pound Cake.
This is the latest from the Andean Folk Knits book-the fish coin purse from Peru.
I couldn’t figure out the first part to save my life. In spite of the Gusset Incident above, I don’t think it’s me, I think it’s the pattern. If anyone out there knows how to make the scallops for the opening, will you contact me? Otherwise I’m fine with the improv that I’m doing with it, though I waited too long to purl a round so it’s turning back on itself too much, which means, yes, I’m going to rip it out and do it again. Just because it’s totally bugging me…NOT because I think things hafta be perfect. I want it to look more like a fish mouth, and right now it just doesn’t.
What projects are you working on? How I’d love to see!
laugh. dance. learn. create. knit.
I like me a good deer headpiece. (created by Benjamin Cho. Same site as last week.)
It’s been a bit quiet on Ye Ole Blog, but that’s just because it’s been a bit too busy ’round here. I don’t always juggle these things very well, you understand. Among other things, we’re planning Nicole’s wedding and trying to get pictures (finally) hung on the walls after living here for 7 months. Life is all lovely and happy for the most part, I’ve just got my randomness kinda spread all over the place. I’m presently knitting another purse from the Andean Folk Knits book-this one is like 3 times as big. And I’m pretty excited about the little fishy coin purse in there so I ordered yarn. Don’t you love the smell and feel of brand. new. yarn.? Oh my gosh.
I’ve got a couple other knitted things I’m tinkering around with that I’ll show you later. And I’ve created two in-person classes for fall. The other new thing that I’m all wound up about is Towel Origami. Yep, you heard it right. Friends of ours went on a trip where each day the lovely maid that prepared their room left a different animal for them to find upon their return. These wonderful friends sent me not one, but TWO books of this amazing and delightful craft. As soon as the books arrived, I promptly plopped down in the middle of the livingroom floor and made this:
Yep-that’s an Elephant. I need to pick up some safety pins, practice my rolling skills a bit and look out, people, I’m gonna be making towel ART everywhere I go. :)
What crazy random thing are you up to these days?
laugh. dance. learn. create. knit.
necklace making stuff
I have nothing really Knitting-ish to tell you today. We’ve been busy getting a friend, who’s been staying with us, ready to move out of the States to the other side of the world. I didn’t get one stitch knitted over the weekend. I DID, however, host a garage sale- move, sort, arrange, haul, and eat doughnuts and pizza (of paramount importance to the success of any garage sale).
I am all excited to tell you about necklaces I’ll be making for us, Knitting Friends. I just have to buy some jump rings and have my husband (former custom jeweler) help me, and we’ll have some stinkin’ spiffy necklaces. I’ll have pictures of them tomorrow.
There are days I’m not above buying a Happy Thought. These really awful 4th of July sunglasses made my day for only $2.47.
laugh. dance. learn. create. knit.
If you’d like to see more Happy Thoughts, click: A String of Happy Thoughts
