Almost done

My son has been patiently waiting for me to finish his wonderful wallaby. Of course, he would call it a hoodie, but just so no one is mistaken, it’s the wonderful Wallaby pattern I used. Now that summer is here, I am almost finished. Perfect timing, huh?? Oh the life of an overwhelmed knitter, so many projects, so much yarn, why have only one project going at a time. So while I knit up baby items for photographer friend, I will plug away at this hooded sweater that could always be given to his younger brother if I forget to finish it.

The unfinished Wonderful Wallaby!

Kitchen Nightmare

So I decided to start a mitered dish towel for my mom.  Not a good idea, while on painkillers.  I think I took out the same rows 2 or 3 times….it’s still a little foggy so my count could be off.  I think this is the slowest project I have knit in years…..focus Amy!!  Thankfully I am nearly done and might even surprise my mom with it, as a gift for their final walk through on their new home.  It was knit to celebrate her new choice in kitchen decor that I have to say, I love.  It’s about time she picked blue, my favorite color.  I do believe I still have nightmares about the 70’s orange kitchen of my childhood, fully equipped with orange Tupperware, orange-flowered wallpaper and I can’t recall but I am pretty sure the curtains were orange too.  My favorite room in the house, the color of the one fruit I don’t particularly like.  Now, after all these years,  I’m now 15 years married, my mom has finally come to her senses and picked the best color ever.  I am really looking forward to helping her decorate the kitchen….the rest of the house she is on her own, unless she wants a knit afghan.

The view from my recliner

I have found time to knit and will share what I’m doing and how it’s done…..feet up in the corner. A good view of the TV and the front door. Now I know who’s coming and going, both on TV and in my house. I’m feeling a little like the old guys on the balcony in the Muppets, which happens to be the viewing pleasure for the kids and I right now. I guess they say laughter is the best medicine and the new Muppet movie does have plenty of laughs.

Plenty of Time to Knit

Today, I thought I would have plenty of time to knit, but painkillers can make me less focused….and slightly forgetful.  I am taking a short break to share my progress.  Yesterday I had an angiogram, and managed to knit before and after and would’ve during but they stripped me of everything but the hospital gown.  I did wake up a few times to ask questions, but the answers got foggy as I drifted back to sleep.  They must have preferred me sleeping during the procedure.  I did attempt to knit in recovery, but the vicodin on an empty stomach protested.  Once the nausea subsided I did manage to pick up my needles and continue to work on the baby hat…I had ideas to finish and didn’t like the interruption but the thought of walking freely again with less pain, was I felt,  good enough reason to take a break from knitting.

Later that day, in my vicodin state of mind I did make a very interesting top to the hat but as the pain meds wore off I questioned the wisdom of my choices.  Maybe a sewing needle will pull together my stranded thoughts and finish it off in a fun way.   If I can figure out how to post a picture, you might actually get to see it.

Shanghai, China

Chinese woman knitting, in Shanghai, China.

This is one of my favorite photos taken while we were living in Shanghai. I hope to be as interested in knitting, late in life, as I am now. If you keep your eyes open in Shanghai, the number of older women knitting , is quite amazing. It has inspired me to make use of any spare time to work on a project. These women would sit or walk about with the thinnest double-pointed needles sticking out of an intricate sweater or sleeve. It seemed to be an extension of their arms not an inconvenience at all. I hope to knit so smoothly that others do not even notice I am, maybe then I can get away with knitting in Church, at ball games, maybe even while shopping. My knitting does seem to calm me and help me concentrate, allow my body to move and my head to listen. Sometimes it is difficult to just sit still but as long as my fingers are stabbing at the yarn, my mind is settled to absorb. I do plan to have a happier expression on my face while I knit, maybe she lost count of her stitches, or is just annoyed at the foreigners snapping her picture.

projects

knitted outfit for my daughters’ doll

Hanging dishtowel I made for my father-in-law

cotton crocheted string of lights

Chinese woman knitting, in Shanghai, China.

here is a test run of some of my projects…just want to see how they will look on this new blog.

Time to Knit

I have decided to blog about my knitting.  Time to knit, to me is a big play on words.  I have six children, whom I home school, so finding time to knit can be difficult.   Right now I find I have too much time to knit.  A vascular tumor was found in my foot, and I have to keep it up until we can figure out how to treat it.  This has given me a lot more time to knit and maybe even blog about it.  My kids will just have to fend for themselves while I rediscover my knitting life and try to minimize the pain in my foot.  Maybe I will bring them along in this journey if they will just cooperate and keep the yarn coming and the patience overflowing as they deal with this increasingly impatient Mom.  So welcome to my new knitting world, definitely crazy, at times frustrating, and constantly evolving as I navigate this new sidelined life, I never was a good cheerleader, this will certainly stretch me.