The Writing Experiment

Late Night Jammy Knitting

I've read over the years that journaling is a good way to beat stress in one's life. We could all use a little stress relief, right? So I figure what the hee-haw, I'll give it a go!  I shall dub thee, "The Writing Experiment"...

I have a 15 minute window every morning where the kiddo has gotten on the school bus, the hubster is on his way to work and not in cell phone range to call me, and I am quiet and alone. It's my coffee time. My time to think about what I need to accomplish for the day versus what I want to accomplish for the day. Why not take that time, instead, to write about something positive? To give myself a little gift of a happy thought before I tackle dirty dishes, messes left for me to discover, and the age-old question of what the heck to wear!

Last night I stayed up when everyone else went to bed. I felt like I needed to get a certain portion of a pattern repeat done on one of my current commissions, just so I could feel on top of it. About 11:30 found me curled up in my spot on the sofa, comfy jammies on, television off (for once!), with my knitting in hand. A little Van Morrison on Ye Olde iPhone and I was set!

It was only an hour. A tiny speck of time in my day. Yet about halfway through the time I realized just how wonderful it was. No one needing me for anything. I could work at my pace without having to stop, get up, and take care of someone else's needs or wants. It was quiet. No television blaring, drowning out my thoughts and reflections (have I mentioned that, outside of my handful of shows, I'm really not a TV person?). It was peaceful. No conversations to keep up with. For that stretch of time I was completely and totally MYSELF. It's amazing how little you get to do that as a wife and mother. Just give yourself over to yourself, focus solely on what you want to do.

I didn't get much accomplished in my hour. I met my goal - a quarter of a pattern repeat. I thought, at first, of shooting for half of a pattern repeat. Then a mis-stitch in the first row resulted in my having to frog and rework said row. After fixing that I realized that knitting wasn't my main goal in deciding to stay up and knit. Having some quiet to unwind and not worry about anything was. So I stuck with the original idea of a quarter of a repeat, finished it up, and went to bed.

I went to sleep much easier than normal. The ever-present tension in my neck and shoulders was on a much lower scale. My over-stressed brain wasn't making lists of what needed to be done today. I may not have gotten enough sleep (5 hours isn't enough, let's face it!). I may have started my day off as chock full of stress as usual (The hubster hitting his snooze for an hour, the kiddo being unable to use any motor skills other than that of rapid-fire speech, the dog whining to go out, etc.). But it was still different. I was looking forward to my 15 minute window for writing. All so I could share my hour of blissful, peaceful solitude.

Whatcha Workin' On?

I'm moving right along on my Popcorn Delight afghan, though I'm at a stalemate until I stop at Michael's today to snag some more yarn. I've completed & joined 7 out of 15 squares now, and the ends are even woven in already! Knowing my tendency to get bored with a project of any size I'm really forcing myself to have tunnel vision so that I stay focused. Now I just have to decide what my reward for finishing ahead of deadline will be to bring me home!

My Venetian Vampires scarf is not moving along as quickly. Like I said...forced tunnel vision on the afghan. I've managed a pattern repeat and part of another, so all in all about 26 rows on it, this week. Still, progress is progress and the farther along I get on this the more I love the pattern, the yarn...heck, EVERYTHING about it, I guess :)

Both projects are currently packed up and ready for a little road trip, as we're leaving in just a couple of hours to take my youngest to Cincinnati for a post-op appointment. I have about 5 hours of crafting time in my future on the drive, unless I get bored and kick the hubby out of the driver's seat. I should be able to crank out at least 2 squares, regardless!

The Declutter Zone

That's where I found myself early on this morning. Really early...like 6:20AM early. I looked at the stack of old magazines and catalogs and just freaked out. Suddenly I was sorting, throwing away, separating by date. In other words it was ON!

Once I had purged the main living area of the house, though, the sinus pressure I had woken up with had reached a point where my head was throbbing along to the beat of my heart. Suckage, right? Still in purge mode, but needing to rest, I had an epiphany! Stuffed in my bedroom closet were a quartet of lap-size afghans, all in different WIP status.

The first (the bottom one pictured) is finished, just needs a home.

Number 2 is a stack of 10 squares I received in a swap. I got discouraged when I was flaked on by 2 members, and the moderators chose to tell we that didn't receive all of our squares to just make them ourselves, rather than them finding angels. So I have to knit 2 squares, then join all 12 together and border it. This one will be the most time consuming.

The third is my Scrappy. It's just a rectangular Granny square afghan to eat up all of those little balls of yarn we all have left when we finish project. It's almost large enough, so I'm going to stash bust a couple of bits and bobbles (enough for about another 10 rounds), then border it.

The last is complete save for crocheting & joining 2 squares, then bordering the entire thing.

So that's what I'll be doing in my downtime this weekend, trying to propel as many of these to finished status as I possibly can. After that they'll all be given to my local Ladies' Auxiliary, who will in turn hand them out at local veterans' homes this autumn.

I'm still alive...

but real life has attacked full force this week. Baseball games, puppy training, household chores (most of which have been ignored) - I don't know which way to turn first!

On the craft front, I found out Sunday afternoon that I had to have an afghan done for a wedding shower on May 16th. That's ample time; however, I've joined the Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup on Ravelry, and the first day of classes is Friday! I can't have such a huge project on my plate with this starting, which means that I have until Thursday night/Friday morning to crank this thing out. I chose the Kitties in a Row afghan, by Beverly A. Qualheim. It's a fast one, to be sure. The pattern repeat is simple enough that I don't have to keep referencing it, and I don't have to focus my energy on counting - rows OR stitches. I started on it Sunday night, and am now around 35% on it, though I haven't been home much to work on it. Fingers crossed that I can get it done!

Here's a close-up pic of the kittehs. Can you see them?












I'm also working on Herringbone Slouch, by CanarySanctuary. These are my "Oh, wow, ANOTHER baseball game" project, as they're more portable and warm-weather friendly than the afghan. I'm almost halfway through the second one, and can't wait to cast them off and get them blocked!








I also just realized that I didn't post my weekly weight loss on Monday! I was only down .2 pounds from last week - but, hey, a loss is a loss!! I'm a little better than that now, so as long as I keep going down I'm pleased.

Time to go for now, though - laundry is calling and then I have to get back on the crochet wagon.

Hugs & chocolate~

Jenn

My Op Top!

I finished my Op Top hat. It was a great pattern, and only took me 3 days to complete - and that's with very little knitting time. If you're wanting to ease into Fair Isle knitting I would highly recommend this pattern to you.

Anyway, enough chatter, check out my hat!



Next on the list is a little surprise for my LJ flist, at least for the Twilight lovers on it. If you're interested in being the one to score the goods you have to be the first to comment to the finished item post (which will be a friends only post), so head on over to http://jennbrad52.livejournal.com/ and friend me before I finish the project. You probably have until the end of the week, then I'll be done with the project and making the post.

What's this? A non-weight related post!

I've been working on Monkeys this week. Socks that is, from this pattern that was featured on knitty.com. I used Sock Love yarn - spun & dyed by my dear friend the Craftborg. Alright, that takes care of all of the credits, I think... so onto the socks!

I am lovin' these babies - they are snuggly, soft, warm and absolutely made of WIN!







I've now cast on the Op Hat, a pattern I got on Ravelry. I'm using Knit Picks Swish DK in Hollyberry and Maple Leaf, and a set of US/5 16" Knit Picks Harmony circulars.

I'm not overly thrilled with the yarn at this point. On my monitor the Maple Leaf looked to be a lovely orange that would offset the Hollyberry. In reality? It is red. Very red. Cherry red. It doesn't look bad, in fact it's very interesting. I just had my heart set on orange and burgundy...