I’ll be honest. In case you haven’t picked up on it from my less-than-enthusiatic posts of late, I’ve been feeling kind of burnt out about knitting. Maybe it’s the fact that it’s been crazy hot around here for the last few months. Maybe it’s because I’m wildly busy and exhausted from taking care of my kids (the bigger one has stopped napping, and refuses to fall asleep before 9 at night, severely cutting into my knitting time). And maybe it’s just because I’ve knit essentially every day for the last 20+ years and just need a break.
So, instead of powering through (which is my usual mode of dealing with stress), I’m going to actually pay attention to what my brain’s telling me and actually take a break.
That’s right. For the month of September, my knitting blog is a no-knitting-zone. I’m going to be breaking out my sewing machine, my paints, and who knows what else. It’s going to be fun! (And maybe embarrassing… I haven’t done a lot of “art” since high school. It’ll be interesting to see what I come up with.
So join me on this knitting-free adventure!
What have you been doing lately (that’s not knitting)?
On the Needles 
My knitting has mostly been reduced to waiting rooms since the garden harvest has been so abundant – processing produce has taken over my life!
We have dried cherry tomato halves and pickled okra for snacking, yellow squash and kale in the freezer and green beans in jars for dinners and tomato jam for all sorts of fun. I’ve blanched and frozen poblano peppers for stuffing and frozen a few casseroles of eggplant parm & moussaka. Next on the agenda are dilly beans and jams from the watermelon and cantaloupes – and more kale for the freezer.
Shifting between hobbies keeps them all enjoyable!
I’ve been working on a gem painting kit my coworker gave me a few weeks ago. It’s been scratching just the right crafty itch.