The Sweater in Action

As promised:



Of course, five minutes after putting it on, S. decided Miss M. needed to take it off. Miss M. didn't think that was quite necessary, and the ensuing scuffle resulted in two pulled threads. Mama fixed it with a crochet hook, but before some serious admonishment, and no little bemoaning of the once-perfect sweater I had created.

New Sweater

The best way to combat the doldrums (in the form of the sniffles, a clutch of cold sores and a smattering of cankers) is to finish something scrummy:





Pattern found here.


Miss M. is sleeping right now, so I don't have a picture of her in it, but I know it fits because I tried it on her before adding the buttons. A picture will follow later!


And now, perhaps the best part of finishing up something: on to the next project!

Life Lessons I Learned from Sewing

The spectre of unfulfilled academic dreams reared its ugly head today, voicing the myriad questions and fears of utter failure that is its calling card. And so, to ward off Casaubon-type despair, I introduce my first installment of:

Life Lessons I Learned from Sewing!
{Ooooo! Aaaah! Big Applause!!}
{This should be in a big flashy sparkly thing, but there are limits to Blogger, you know}

These are life lessons I'm compiling to help me (one-day-fingers-crossed) re-enter the world of academe and successfully finish my PhD. Or, not. We'll see. Either way, these Life Lessons will put things in perspective, whatever I choose. Onward.

Life Lesson #1: Learn What you Need to Learn, Then Do Your Own Thing to Make it Happen
Yes, there are rules in sewing. Knowing how to sew a straight line is important. Cutting fabric on the straight grain will save you grief. Reading pattern instructions is important. But then, when it comes down to it, you have to find your own techniques for getting it right. No matter how many sewing books you own (and I own plenty), you'll just have to figure our your own way of doing things. Same thing in life. Same thing in academic research. Do your own thing.

Life Lesson #2 (two for one today!): A Project Comes Together in Pieces Over Time
There is no point in getting all flustered and bent-out-of-shape at the beginning of a big project. All too often, in both sewing and in research, I get paralyzed with the fear of failure/making a hash job of it/being mediocre. Whatever! Just start. The project will never get done if you don't, at least, start. And fine, if you screw up one part, re-do it! If you can't understand something, ask for help! It is not insurmountable, I promise.

And there we go. Two Life Lessons I Learned from Sewing. Really this also includes Knitting and Crochet, but the title was getting long-winded. More installments to come on a completely random basis.

Temptation

A very promising envelope arrived yesterday in the mail. It is thick and has a magazine-y type feel. My fingers are itching to open it.

I know exactly what is inside. I have been waiting for it for months. After Canadian newsstands clearly weren't stocking it, I broke down and bought it from the distributor for a dear sum.

I am not opening this envelope until I finish my writing-for-a-living writing. This hard. Why can't I sew for a living instead????

Busy as a bee

I just wrote out a list entitled: Week of Dec 6-12

It is as follows:

1. Work on article (like I should be doing, um, now?)

2. Sewing for Christmas:
 a) Stocking for me
 b) Kitty toys for the girls
 c) Colouring roll for neice
 d) Skirt for neice
 e) Dresses for Girls (awaiting the arrival of some totally cute ribbon from Pink Panda)

3. Sewing for Church:
 a) Money bag for the food bank donations (this request just came in as I sat here ready to blog:))

4. Christmas Shopping
 a) Pick up presents on behalf of my sister-in-law and my parents
 b) Pick up presents for the girls from M. and me.
 c) Think of something for M. (Totally lost on this one. FAIL)

5. Take Miss M. to get
 a) Ear wax removed and
 b) a new hearing aid mold made

6. Get M. ready to be away for the weekend (waaaah)

8. Finish Miss. M's sweater (almost done! just needs another sleeve and the collar)

9. Start S.'s sweater.

10. Take a breath.

I hope #10 happens!

Bling

After a fruitless visit to the audiologist (Miss M. has too much wax in her ear so he couldn't make a new mold for her hearing aid so I have to get the wax extracted by the pediatrician. FUN.), I braved the mall to pick up an order I had shipped to a store to avoid shipping charges. S. was in her element, completely excited by the water fountain, and enjoying all the smells and bells of Christmas in a huge shopping centre. Miss M. was content with the yogurt I bought for her - I learned the ASL sign for yogurt yesterday and she recognizes it already! - and scarfed it down in about 5 minutes. And me? I was Blinged Out.

Wow.

It's the second major shopping experience I've had this week, and my dear people, I can't do it anymore. The lights, the beat music, the crazy people. My brain went into lock-down mode. From somewhere there was Techo Tchaikovsky playing some horrendous Sugar Plum Fairy on Acid, while over top of THAT was some overly cheerful folksy sounding Christmas stuff playing loud enough that I could have heard it in Tottenham. I feel like telling all the merchants that if they would just turn off their music, I'll gladly spend $500 in their shops.

Aural overload aside, I was completely overwhelmed by the glitz and shimmer of the shelves. Everything was so Beautiful. Everything was so On Sale. Everything was so Completely Unnecessary.

I really want to just make all of our Christmas gifts this year, but I'm worried I won't have the time. I have committed to finishing the first draft of my article by the time the O Antiphons start (Dec. 17th) so that it won't be hanging over my head at Christmas, but it will likely come at the cost of much sewing of gifts. Or will it? I want Christmas to be special, but it doesn't feel special to me to go to a big store and buy something because I feel like I have to. And yet, I don't know where to draw the homespun line, because I know that S. and Miss M. would be absolutely gobsmacked with excitement if I bought them the two toys I have in mind (actually, I will be buying those on behalf of my sister-in-law to give to them).

I'm also conscious about how much stuff we have here, the fact that we'll likely be moving in the early summer, and, well, the social justice side of it all. Do my kids NEED any more toys? Not really. Do they need as much uninterrupted attention from as as they can get? Yes. So, what to do. S. is already excited to the extreme by Christmas and I want to make it special for her because I remember how special it was for me as a little girl. But I hope she'll be happy with a handmade kitten toy from Mama, rather than a bloop-de-bloop toy from the store.

Thoughts?

Isolation

Today was a rather gloomy one, both inside and out. Both S. and Miss M. are a tad under the weather, so I didn't feel right about taking them to the drop-in centre to play. They're not feverish or oozing, but they're both a bit congested and ornery and a little drawn and pale, so I thought (yet another) alone day was in order.

The thing is, I felt the aloneness far too keenly today. It was too quiet. And when I compared my day to the very social one M. was/is having, I felt a little sorry for myself. I think I've done well at keeping those gremlins at bay with respect to not being at choir anymore, but every once in a while they pop up and remind me of how small my social world has become. I could have called a friend, I know, but most are at work (including my sister), and the others are busy busy and so I didn't want to disturb. Instead, I snuck in a few rounds of crochet here and there, and whittled away the day that way.

I was tired by lunch time, so tired that I napped a bit when the girls napped. So tired that I didn't even feel like visiting all of my internet haunts, which is saying a lot. When I finally did get up and make a cup of tea, I only managed about 15 minutes on my writing before Baby M. woke and needed to be soothed. She has two molars and one canine coming in, and she's sniffly. I had to get dinner ready with her in the sling because she was so despondent.



Really, the only bit of levity came at dinner, when the girls discovered they could be nuns by flipping their bibs up over their heads:











We all had a pretty hearty laugh.


Tomorrow brings another medical appointment and then picking up an order from a store downtown. At least we'll be out and about. I'm conscious of the fact that S. needs to get the blood flowing, but I don't think it's wise to go swimming (her lesson is tomorrow) or hang out in close proximity with other kidlets until all this mucous clears up somewhat. 


I think it's going to be a long winter. I'm considering proposing that some of the moms in the building get together for "Knit and Natter" one night a week, just to combat this horrible isolation.

Why do I always start new projects at 11:30pm?

Being the major Attic24 devotee that I am, I simply had to start a bag of my own. I'm using Marra Inca Gold that I got from the discontinued bin at Romni. It's 70% merino and 30% alpaca. I think I'm allergic to the alpaca, as I've been sneezing non-stop since starting it. Which makes this the perfect yarn to use for a bag, since it will primarily be used for toting around knitting and sewing gear, and won't be something that I wear next to my skin.




5 rounds in so far. The colour palette is a little bit desert chic, but it was all that the store had left. I did nab the last green skein, but I'll need to use it sparingly in order to have enough. 


I'm not sure why I start new projects so close to midnight, but perhaps it's that extra little brain jog I need to keep things alive and exciting. I have two projects sloshing around in my head, too, that really need to see the light of day. One involves yarn. A lot of it, so I'm going to go on Saturday to stock up. The other involves the washer, the dryer, an old sweater, and the sewing machine, and I'm really excited about it and hope to share it soon.


Off now to do some reading and typing. M. and I are going out for a dinner date tonight (our first dinner alone since March 2008!!), and I need to get a bit done now to make up for not working so much this evening.

Toddlerhood

Well, Miss M. walked tonight, for real this time. Sunday's two-step was perhaps a little coaxed, as M. and I kind of jostled her between us. But tonight was the real deal. Before dinner she stood up unassisted for about 45 seconds, her eyes wide and mouth open with delight. Then after bath, she did it again, and laughed so hard at herself that she fell down. Undeterred, she scrambled up again with M's help, shoved his hands away from her torso, and took two very wobbly, very steppy steps towards me. Much rejoicing ensued. A few more reps to make sure it was real, honest-to-goodness walking, and then bedtime.

My dear people, I think I have toddler on my hands. Again. Oh my.

13 Months

Miss M. is 13 months old today and, as usual, I'm walking around wondering how on earth that happened. I vividly remember this day last year - the day of her first smile - and it takes my breath away to think that she's not only smiling, but laughing, babbling, talking, and even trying her hand at singing (if you start singing "Twinkle, twinkle" she'll "fill in" the last word of each stanza by singing the correct note and an approximation of the word itself. It's pretty fun!). She holds a spoon by herself, but still prefers baby cereal to any other offerings. She knows how to get her sister's goat in three quick manoeuvres or less. She does not like swimming. On Sunday she took two steps by herself between M. and I, so toddlerhood is nigh.

Weirdly, all of this wonderful development simply makes me want to hold on to her babyhood even tighter. I'm just not willing to let it go completely, though I know I don't have much say in the matter. I drive M. crazy telling him I want another baby. But I admit, that'd be a little nutty at this point, since it's a bit stressful in our house these days as he applies for university positions. And also it would break my 2009 New Year's resolution. (But another baby, just one more, would be so nice).

Current WiPs (Works in Progress)

I didn't have too much "me" time this weekend, but somehow the following little bits found their way into existence under my needles and hooks. While I'd hoped to get to FabricLand to take advantage of their big sale, I was thwarted by an out-of-service elevator, and so couldn't access the store with my double-stroller. I had forgotten that the sale was only Thurs-Sat., dashing my plan to go on Sunday sans enfants after M. returned home from his ecclesial duties. Oh well. There will be other sales.


Crochet Flowers for a garland for the girls. Pattern courtesy of Lucy at Attic24.




Block #2 started for Miss M.'s quilt.



And here's how far I've gotten on Miss M's new sweater.


We've a busy month ahead, and so I have a feeling that the quilting will fall by the wayside until after Christmas. The other things are easier to fit in when I have to do things like sit with a baby while she sleeps or watch the news at the end of the day.


Oh, and today is my Name day. Happy Name Day to me. Since my anonymity is rather loosely guarded here in the Vineyard, this should be a big enough hint for those who still don't know me:) Happy sleuthing.

Naps and knitting

Miss M. cut her first molar sometime over this weekend. It wasn't pretty. Two nights of howling in agony before M. and I realized and then felt guilty for saying things like, "Miss M! Go back to sleep!" and "Oh Miss M! Not again! Sleepy time now!"

To atone for this very unsympathetic approach, I didn't protest too much when the only way she'd take a nap today was on my chest. I was a little frustrated though, since all of my plans to make and create this weekend were largely thwarted by bad timing and the schedules of others. I must have been pinned under Miss M. for quite some time before M. wandered by and I asked him to get me my knitting. I might as well do something, I thought.



Now it's late. Or rather, it's early, and my head has that spongy feeling of over-tiredness, and my fingers aren't able to type very coherently. I wanted to post now, though, since I probably won't get to posting anything during normal waking hours, since today (Monday) is a busy one. Now that I've said it, I'll probably post just because.