fast and slow

Some of the things I used to do so well, I do them now very slowly. But I also have a whole set of new doing things quickly skills.

I can knit about 3 rows at a time. Or I can wind a skein of yarn. But only one.

Once I've read an email, it seems to take me at least a week to answer it. Ditto phone messages.

I can read one chapter in a book, if it's a very very short chapter. Lately I've been reading a lot of Willa Cather, because her books are gorgeous and I am really enjoying them, but they're also quite convenient since the chapters are only a few pages each.

Blog posts take me at least a week to write (though most of that time is spent thinking through ideas and then forgetting them).

However, I can eat any meal in under three minutes. I can change a diaper faster than I thought possible, and I can dress a squirmy baby in a minute flat. With HWWLLB at home, I can do a trip to the grocery store, Target or the library in less than 45 minutes (but only one of those places - goodbye to multiple errands at once).

Nothing can be scheduled. Appointments are irrelevant.

Then there are the beautiful, long stretches of time that I spend nursing the Little Pea, rocking her, playing with her when she's awake or peeking at her while she sleeps. In actuality, these times take up most of my day, but when I think about them it seems that they are flying by and I'll never be able to remember all the amazing things that happen during each one. Time moves so painfully quickly now (especially when I'm asleep). I am beginning to understand that it will never slow down again.

finished!

I finished a project!



It's embarrassing how little I've been able to accomplish in the knitting department the last few months. I started this little baby top in May thinking it would be a quick knit, and just finished it today. There are some other unfinished projects sitting around as well, but they take more focus than I have available at the moment between feedings - like the challenging socks that were a much-needed distraction when I was trying not to be impatient at the end of pregnancy, and now seem like a complicated joke. Ah, well.

As for this top, I just sort of made it up after seeing Pixie Purls' Country Kiddie pattern on Ravelry. It was too simple to really use a pattern for; just a basic top-down top. It's made with about half a skein of Tofutsies sock yarn, which has a really nice drape for a garment like this, and I think it will be nice and cool as a summer top, or a cute layer over a long-sleeved shirt in the fall. I added a little button at the neckline, and I'm glad, because we'll need it to accommodate our daughter's rather sizeable noggin.

I can't decide what to knit next - though every time I open the yarn stash and get as far as sifting through a couple of ideas, it's time to nurse the baby again, so maybe fantasizing or the occasional row on the Komet socks are as much knitting as I'll be able to do for a while.

happy independence day!

Happy 4th of July, everyone! I hope you're enjoying a fun summer day with your beloveds.

In honor of Independence Day, here are 5 ways to celebrate your independence today:

1. Spend the day without spending. Try not to buy anything all day today. Leaving the car in the driveway all day would make this a lot easier!

2. Make a special treat with stuff you already have in your cupboards. Some suggestions: popcorn balls, fancy brownies (decorated with those jimmies you've had in the back of the cabinet for eons), or some smashing toppings for your tofu dogs (more here and here!).

3. Spend the day on a "use what you have" craft project. The one on my waiting list is a refashioned shirt, but the list is endless... here are some fun 4th of July suggestions from whipup.

4. Design a knitting project for yourself. Is there something you've been wanting to make, even have the yarn for, but just can't find the right pattern? Now's the time! Check out some design resources to get you started, like Jenna Wilson's great column, "Thinking Beyond the Pattern," on Knitty.

5. Make yourself happy. Make a list of five people that you're grateful to have in your life, and why. You can spread the happiness around by sending one (or all) of them a sweet little note telling them how great they are.

I hope you all have a great day!

little pea

The little one has finally arrived! Today is her one-week birthday.

Forgive the brevity of this post; I am snatching a moment between feeding and napping to eat some lunch and say hello.

The baby, mom and dad are all healthy and doing great. It feels like the three of us are surrounded in a protective cocoon of love and support. As we get to know each other and learn to be a family, it seems we don't have to worry about a thing. Our dinners show up every evening just when it's time to eat; there are stacks and stacks of clean baby clothes and blankets and burp cloths thanks to hand-me-downs from friends; there are so many sweet voices and hearts wishing us well; and there are wise, wise grandmothers by our side helping us find our way into parenthood.

Little Pea is also a wise teacher. I wasn't expecting that. She is patient, loving, persistent, and gives the most incredible positive feedback, even when you're doing something only half-right. She is humbling, and to our dazzled eyes, exquisitely beautiful.

Thanks to all of you for your kind and supportive words, especially at the end of what was a rather long pregnancy! She is more than worth waiting for. Hopefully soon I'll be knitting for her (and others) again, and there will be plenty to say about that.

sew green is back!

Hi all,

This is a very quick post to say hooray! Sew Green is back.

I think that some of you who read my blog came over here from Sew Green in the first place - it's a great group of artists, crafters and designers who write about greening their craft (I am one of the contributors). We really slacked off and had been AWOL for a while, but as of this week, Sew Green is back in action! yay!

I'll be writing there again, and most of the past contributors are back, with some new voices too. Please do visit and check out our weekly posts!

distracting socks

One of the downsides of stockinette stitch is that it doesn't do much to occupy one's mind.

The baby is getting to be rather overdue (almost 2 weeks now), and I am doing my best (which isn't always very effective) to find things to keep my mind occupied. Work threw some interesting things my way last week, but they don't fill every minute. I have a good book, but it's going to end eventually. Both the sloth and the little baby top I'm making are basically nothing but endless rounds of stockinette stitch at this point - no help at all.

The color patterns I was working on last week were a lot of fun, and very distracting, but then I finished what I was doing with them and that was the end of that (I made a bunch of beer cozies and coasters as a birthday prize for a friend - and I will say that they came out quite cute).

So I looked through my queue on Ravelry to find something do-able (because I have no creative brain cells available at the moment), but complicated enough to keep my mind occupied. Then it hit me - fancy socks! Komet is the answer. And a handy opportunity to de-stash a little sock yarn.

This is a great pattern - it's an absolutely wonderful design with alternating panels of cables and lace that you do actually have to pay attention to to keep from screwing up, but straightforward enough that I also don't have to think too hard to do it. Just right!

I dug out a couple of balls of Plymouth Happy Feet in a wonderful variegated plum color that provides nice eye candy while working, and I have been happily knitting away on these since last night. Thank you, fancy socks! Maybe vigorous sock knitting will help induce labor...

messing around with color

Color has always been challenging for me in knitting. I do fine with large blocks of color, or with stripes, but when it comes to the fancy colorwork department, I stay away.

It mystifies me. I've always wanted to be able to knit amazing colorwork like this or this, but I never really felt like I had the knitting chops (or the patience) to manage multiple balls of yarn and all those floats and color changes and whatnot.

Instead, I have always stuck with texture and structure to make my knitting interesting. But my most favorite vintage styles manage to combine both color and texture, like this.

Lately I've been really feeling the need to get over this hangup and just learn how to knit what I want to. So I got a good book (it was on sale!) and spent some time reading it, and realized that this is not rocket science. (Duh - of course it's not! It's knitting! Nothing in knitting is as hard as you think it will be before you try it - when will I learn this??).

I grabbed some inexpensive-yet-colorful craft store yarn (see above) for some small projects that will let me try out some colorwork techniques. Preliminary indications are that this is going to be fun.