Mom talks too much

Just life around here

Mon, 5 Jan 2009 06:02:19 -0600

The only yarn progress around here isn’t exactly going to provide scintillating eye candy since it’s what you just saw and then some, I’ll spare you another crochet picture.

PeeWee got an easel from her Granny and GrandDad for Christmas and aside from the small fact that it’s in the dining room since it hasn’t found a permanent home yet, she’s loving it. She rarely got to paint before because the clutter and mess took up the kitchen and I feared for my house if I set her up anywhere else. She only had the dredges of a few mixed up bottles of paint left too so everything she’s been doing is pretty much the same pink/purple/green combo. Yesterday, I picked her up some tube paints and she can not wait to get going on painting. Looks like we have another slacker artist in the family.

Speaking of... one of my Year of Sarah things is to get my studio planned and up and running. It’s an exciting thing happening here! I’ve mentioned that when Marky Mark leaves town, I take to rearranging rooms, painting, etc, right? Well, when I leave town, he takes to starting major construction projects around here. Things like one trip he rented a backhoe and ripped out the pea gravel patio he didn’t like. One trip he turned the shed into a pool house. We’re talking major projects compared to my little dinky messes.

The shed transformation should have been a dream. He asked me the other day why I don’t ever use it and how come I haven’t set up any studio stuff in there. Well... I hate the space. It was laid out awkwardly and it’s essentially a long dark hallway. At Christmas brunch I overheard him talking to my brother and father about how he’s going to redo the entire space so it can work for me! Can I tell you how pleased I am? We’d talked about it a little. He really didn’t say much. He’s a quiet guy and a few days later he told me a wall I thought was structural isn’t. I should have known that’s his way of saying he’s going to redo the space as soon as I sketch our what I want. I am getting a real live studio space, just for me. Not another room in the house with a corner to tuck away into, but actual space. I think PeeWee will have a home for her easel after all.

The Thing looks a little like the sky

Sat, 3 Jan 2009 07:52:36 -0600

In between cloudy skies the sun peeked out for just long enough for me to photograph the Thing.

I’ve found that lacy crochet motifs need lots of blocking so they are really wonky but I love this semi-solid yarn and the way it’s shaping up. I hope I have enough yarn to make this into a wrap of sorts because the color is great. We’ll see how that goes!

After a major funk of a mood on my part yesterday, Marky Mark took everyone off for a bit and I had a little time to ignore the housekeeping and chill out. Got a little done on another started but neglected ornament that I hope to also finish up this weekend. I indulge in this on Saturdays so I can sit back with a cup of tea and stitch away while I enjoy pissy Brit designers and tell the kids just wait for Mommy to finish this please.

I can’t believe it’s the weekend. With the holidays in the middle of the week and kids home starting with Big Brother’s exams three weeks ago, I haven’t really had much idea what day it is. Time to reign the holiday in and get ourselves ready to go back to school schedule Monday.

That should be a rude awakening.

If it weren’t for the pictures...

Fri, 2 Jan 2009 08:00:23 -0600

I know, a blog with no pictures is no fun.

I’d be doing a lot more updating except I have a tough time for whatever reason getting pictures of what I’m working on. And then uploading them to the right user on my computer. Chalk it up to disorganization.

Lately my excuse has been that we’re having the house trim outside painted. It means that there’s a constant flow of people through here. As a result, I’m just not getting many pictures of things I am working on. I think it’s the cloudy days we’ve been having. Or the kids who’ve been home for a couple of weeks now. Or the fact that to get pictures onto the computer you have to actually take them.

I’ve decided that since my yarn storage cabinets are getting filled to capacity and I refuse to let yarn spill out beyond that space, I’m going to be using up lots of stash. Until I need to find the perfect yarn for the perfect project, this isn’t a yarn diet or anything, it’s a space issue. I’ve been clearing out my attic and the purge mode is spilling out down the attic steps into all the areas of my house. It feels good to go through things and get rid of the useless to me stuff.

As for knitting, the socks are my main project but there are lot of other things on needles. I want to start several projects but being about halfway through my weight loss adventure I don’t want to invest the time and energy into sweaters that might not fit right. That fabulous periwinkle blue sweater? Unfortunately it just doesn’t work anymore. It’s simply too big. I have a friend who can wear it so I’ll pass it on because I am not redoing it when there are so many other things on my list. I enjoyed wearing it when I did and will miss it. So I’m holding off on sweaters for now until I have a good idea what size to knit.

I’ve been in ‘wrap it up’ mode for a while now around this house so I’m happy to start rounding up things and working away on them. I finished two needlepoint ornaments this week that were started months and months ago. I keep all my needlepoint in a small waterproof container and it’s full so the same thing- nothing new until I get a bit of space in there. It’s been pretty hard to squeeze that shut lately...

I started a crocheted octagon motif thing. I call it a thing because I have no idea how many motifs I will be able to get out of the sock yarn I’m using so it may be a wrap, or may be a scarf or may be a lap blanket depending on how it ends up. I’ve enjoyed the semi-solid yarn club but find that I want to use the yarns for other things so now I’m starting to do that.

Yes, I promise, when the sun comes out I’ll pull out the projects and the camera. Until then, you’ll have to imagine what things look like here ;-)

Here’s to a New Year!

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 13:50:05 -0600

I am so excited for 2009. I have big things coming up this year. It’s going to be The Year of Sarah. All about me. I’ll wait to share my resolutions until they take place, in a few weeks when I make that decade leap into my 40s.

2008 has been a good year here. I’m seeing lots of lists of favorites, bests, worsts, etc on everyone’s blogs but I’ll just say we have had luck and the Gods smiling down on us and not mention anything tangible today.

What is tangible around this house? Knitting of course!

My first colorwork socks in fact! Latvian Wedding Socks. They are slow moving because of the charts, of which there are many. Big Brother gave me this nifty magnetic chart following thing for Christmas. He went looking for it with Marky Mark, which I can only picture as comical. I took him back to the store and led him to the proper isle. Then showed him where on the isle it was. Then I bought it. But he wrapped it and I’m happy to have it! I love that they are willing to try to find the things on my list!

These are really working up beautifully. I’ll give the details later but it’s Paton’s Kroy in black and cream. I’m boring but I wanted a nice graphic sock. I was really surprised at how difficult it was to just find plain old black and white yarn for socks.

These are knitting up to be thick enough to really only be slipper socks so they should last me a lifetime. The double fabric is not likely to get much wear in this climate. That’s a good thing since the time commitment with them is huge for me.

I’ve been playing lots with the kids

A day out in the sun at the park with friends was just what we all needed. Filthy? You bet. Happy? Until it was time to leave. Two weeks off from school with no kids your age around can be long. Thankfully we’ve had a few chances to sneak in some play time this break.

And since we had snow not three weeks ago, I thought I would share what the garden is doing now:

The roses are blooming. I love this time of year here. It’s cool but not usually too cold, it’s dry but things aren’t dried up and dead. The grass isn’t green yet but I have no complaints about this 60s weather and sun we have right now! Will it last? Probably not but that’s okay. More than one year has been a hard freeze on my birthday. Burst pipes? Wow- just what I asked for! How did you know?

Be safe tonight, I’ll be in bed on time as usual. I’ve never been too big on New Year’s Eve so I tend to stay in unless given a fabulous invite. Tomorrow I’ll start the new year with no hangover and a good night’s sleep under my belt!

Happy New Year everyone!

A little slow on the uptake

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 06:51:14 -0600

Every single thing lately has been requiring every ounce of my concentration. So hardly anything has gotten done in any sort of a timely fashion. So how long since my last post? Uh..... yeah, sorry about that.

I’m also slow with the picture taking because I’ve been up to my eyeballs in the new games PeeWee got for Christmas. She’s at a great age for things like that- we’re learning a bunch of new and very simple games that she was given and having fun with them. Big Brother’s been a big helper with her, earning lots of babysitting money.

In fact, we’re off again tonight to a party... I wish it were at a different time and that it was casual but those things aren’t always our choices, are they? We’ll have fun, it’s just a very booked day. I’ve been running on low fuel for a few days, bouncing around a low fever and I have that feeling like I’m coming down with something. I think it might just be exhaustion.

Oh, you come here looking for knitting? Well, I can show off Marky Mark’s Christmas socks! Yep, they were finished in time and he loves them. He did shop in my stash for the yarn about a month ago- some such color of Koigu that is greys and purples and he loves them. I got the yarn at Natchez Needlearts a while ago on a trip up there.

It’s hard to tell and I never got a proper picture but the stitch pattern was 3X1 ribbing broken with one row of knit and then switchiing up the ribbing. Wouldn’t do that pattern again because it was a lot of work for almost no show.

So, I hope everyone has been having a great round of whichever holiday they celebrate and I’ll leave you with the best two things I have!

Playing catch up doesn’t describe it

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 07:22:40 -0600

I would love to be one of those tidy organized people who does things on time and who finishes up projects, gets the laundry put away, deals with the mail and all those things in a timely fashion. I could be. It’s in the plans.

Instead I live in a world of chaos. PeeWee does not thrive in chaos and has tightened me up a bit, requiring more organization than I do, she makes me get things together. Still, I lack the ability to make that last very long.

And yet, I find new ways to distract occupy my time. Not that I need them, mind you. I stumbled upon Art Fire a while ago and they have gotten it up and running. While I think etsy is a great thing, I’ve found that the sheer volume of sellers on there has turned it into more of a shoppers market and less of a sellers market. It’s got great quality but man is it hard to get seen there. I’ve never been one of those artists who jumps up and down waving their arms and saying “Look at me Dammit!” I always felt my work spoke for itself. Eh, look where that’s gotten me.

I’m moving my wet and messy studio a little closer to my heart in the next few weeks. I’m finding that I have more and more free time on my hands and while I am not ready for my next huge leap of faith, I am ready to really get down to the real studio stuff I set aside when I had kids and shifted gears. Marky Mark is trying hard to work with me and make the space he built for himself work for me- it’s going to take a total redo because he did it in a weird way without consulting me so we’ll see if that part of my life can pop it’s head back up now or if that’s going to wait a while longer and I’ll focus on other studio stuff for now.

I’ve got that antsy ‘I need to make stuff NOW’ feeling in my gut. I’m sure you all know it. It’s why there are about 20 knitting, embroidery, needlepoint, weaving and sewing projects in this room alone. My plan is to wrap those things up and get to the finishing then set down a plan for the rest of my creative energy.

Next post I sure as heck hope to have at least Marky Mark’s Christmas socks to show you. I’m not expecting miracles with anything else around here but surely I can get another 2 inches of socks done, right?

until then...

once in a blue moon

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 16:32:02 -0600

We don’t get snow here. I mean I can remember a handful of times we’ve had it in my life time. Today is one of them!

Gorgeous!

The kids enjoyed it before school!

So did the camellias in bloom!

And my favorite the snowy palm tree.

I love snow. Here it’s nice because it’s gone by the end of the day. Otherwise, I might not love it. We might get more but at this point it looks like it’s going to be another decade or so. The last snow here was for PeeWee’s first Christmas day. That was pretty cool. Now we have little bits left in the yard, they’ll be gone by the morning but it sure was fun!

Quick knits FOs and more

Fri, 5 Dec 2008 13:45:28 -0600

I’m all about quick knits right now. I’ve been trying to come up with clever ideas for gifts this year for the teenagers on my list. My nephew is the toughest, everything I would like to get him is way out of the budget we set with my siblings. SO this year, one thing he’s getting is a nice cozy hat. I’m kinda hoping his head’s just a wee bit bigger than mine- not a big stretch, trust me!

note the needlework stuff on the floor...

That’s better, I hope.

Big Brother’s father and stepmother had a little girl almost 2 weeks ago and he’s been asking me very nicely to whip up something for her. We’re all on great terms so I’m more than happy to knit for them. Again, no pattern or I’d be more than happy to share. It was an easy knit though, 2 skeins of Rowan classic DK weight wool in a bright happy blue, bought for 20% off at the local LYS sale last week.

I do love this one. I used the same lace pattern as Hey Teach! for the bottom and went with a raglan top, mainly because I had no idea just how much yarn I’d have left and wanted to be able to make it in one piece just in case.

It’s blocking on top of the dryer. (Yep, and don’t tell me you’re surprised I have n orange washer and dryer.) I hope it dries soon because I have a huge trip to the Post Office waiting on this one. I wish the joins for the sleeves were less bulky but you know what, I’m not redoing it...

I promised pictures of the sewing room too so here goes!

I share this space with PeeWee

Under the fabric hiding the metal utilitarian shelves are all my tools and notions. One day I’ll have a different table set up but for now it’s a great solution.

yeah, the highchair needs to go in the attic

The yellow is so perky. It’s one of Martha Stewart’s colors when she was teamed up with Sherwin Williams called Koi. I hope I can duplicate the formula because I need to move all those photos around and there are going to be touch ups needed. Otherwise it’d be done. See how much nicer our upstairs is than our downstairs?? I love the woodwork, trim, doors, windows... ::sigh::

Even the closet got a total redo and I’m loving it

it is so nice to find everything with just a glance.

What’s next?

Something for me of course!

NICU knitting

Thu, 4 Dec 2008 06:49:01 -0600

First of all, a huge thank you to everyone who participated in the Knit-a-thon. I really appreciate the effort. My personal random picker, PeeWee chose catsmum from the hat full of names, so thank you and off to Australia goes 2 skeins of Koigu sock yarn, in a pretty spring color! It’s a little more muted than in this picture but I see lots of Mardi Gras color in there.

Drop me an email and I’ll get that off to you. I have several things waiting to get shipped for the holidays so it’ll get right out!

I want to send a HUGE thank you to Glenna for her incredible hats. I mean incredible. Thank you thank you thank you!!! (I need to come up with some way to thank you, even though your name wasn’t pulled for the yarn.) Go check through her posts to see the really fabulous things she has whipped up. She’s got a link on her sidebar to NICU knitting. I wish she would write up some of those pattern- especially the turkey- go look. I’m jealous you get to see the little bits in their hats while at work too!

I’ll have a whole spread of things to show as soon as the sun comes out and I can get some decent photos. We’re slogging through that it’s November but it’s 70 degrees and rainy this week but the forecast says 40 tomorrow kind of weather. Blech.

For your entertainment, I took photos of some crochet that I was doing for NICU blankets.

I felt so clever following directions to make granny squares. Those of you who’ve read along here for a while know that I tend to do most everything by the seat of my pants so actually having the discipline to read and follow the directions? I was proud of myself. I did it step by step too, even though I usually just do things and they look fine and dandy, I couldn’t get the whole chain to the next row thing because I didn’t understand how that could become a stitch. Well, lo and behold it worked. Imagine that, someone who wrote directions actually knew what they were talking about. Who knew.

Of course I had to go and start something else completely without any regard to instructions. I couldn’t find a pattern remotely like what I wanted. I’ve also got 2 pairs of socks, a baby sweater, and a hat on the needles as of the last 48 hours. I need to wrap up the baby sweater and get it in the mail before said baby outgrows it. I can’t take a picture yet because I have once again created this thing out of no pattern so it’s kind of weird looking right this minute with several pairs of needles in several places so I can finish up those sleeves at the same time. Because even though those experts say they know a thing or two about patterns when I can’t find just what I want I make it up as I go.

Coasting to Christmas

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 13:11:20 -0600

Thanksgiving with my family was a very nice affair, as usual. We got together at my parents’ house and though my brother had dined at his in-law’s house they had a chance to stop by and visit, making the evening a little more festive. I hope all my readers in the US had a nice holiday.

Checking the calendar, there’s not much time left until Christmas so I’m taking advantage of Marky Mark taking PeeWee off to his parents’ house for a while today and getting some gifts started.

I really need space for storage so I’ve been trying my best to work my way through all the supplies, materials and simply stuff I have to create with. I bought some beautiful wool felt a few months back for an online art quilt class and have more than I need for a while. It’s such beautiful stuff and after thumbing through a million magazines somewhere I came across the idea for coasters and figured, what better way to use up some of that felt.

I got out my trusty rotary cutter and goodies I use with it (have I mentioned how great it is to have everything organized? It really is) and took a few minutes to cut out 4” squares in two colors and 1” squares in a third color. I laid them out in totally random designs that appeal to me and threaded the sewing machine.

Oh, you are kidding, that’s not...

a tiny little snipped off corner! Nooooooo....

Oh well, easily fixed by trimming a bit off the edge. But darn!

Sew on the backs...

An you have a set of six unique coasters to gift to your aunt and uncle!

My family needs nothing. I might otherwise feel a little cheap giving these only but I know they really honestly need nothing and would probably be perfectly happy if we skipped giving to them ever again. So I try to make something kind of neat and useful. I’ll make up some kind of fun ornament for the tree for the family as their gift tag and feel like there’s a little more investment in the gift.

I’m hoping to make more of these coasters. I also found a pretty cool market bag on Burda’s website. I whipped one up fully lined and I think I can make a few more for my ecologically minded aunt. I know she’d use them. And I have lots of fabrics to use up.

I would have taken pictures and planned to show off the new sewing space but the battery in the camera died. Oh well.