Tag Archives: break

An Update About Updates

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In Monday‘s post, I mentioned that I was still “writing from the past,”  and I was- I finished the Papaya Sweater (and wrote that post) about three weeks ago.  I also mentioned that “by the time you read this post, I should be less pregnant.”

Well, I’m writing this on Tuesday, and I am not less pregnant.  I didn’t think it was possible, but I am in fact more pregnant.  I am almost a week past my due date, and my kid seems determined to stay put until he finishes high school.

But, by the time you read this, I should have had my baby (for some reason, my doctor seems to think that staying pregnant for the next 18+ years is not a great idea… I can’t imagine why), and I will officially be on parental leave!  Exciting!

But what does that mean for the blog?  It means that I’m going to be cutting down posts to once a week (on Monday mornings).  I’ve already got a nice buffer built up, and should have enough posts to carry me through until the beginning of summer at a once/week schedule.  I’ve also got some plans for easy projects that I can start working on when the little one is sleeping (that’s a totally reasonable thing to expect… right? I’ve heard that babies are totally great at sleeping), so you might get a couple extra posts and updates here and there, outside of the usual once-a-week schedule.Also, if you have questions about anything (via email, or through the comments section), just know my response time is going to be a little slow, but I’ll still try to do my best to check in every couple days.

I’m a little sad to be cutting back on my blog time (and my knitting time!), but I’m so excited to get started on this next big project!  Parenthood is going to be interesting!

Wish me luck!

The End of Summer

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When I was a kid, growing up in a tiny town surrounded by cornfields in the middle of Illinois, I would have sworn that summer went on forever.  And I don’t mean in a “nostalgic movie about kids on bikes where they hope that this summer will go on forever” kind of way.  I mean it was hot, muggy and gross…forever.  Our junior high school was built with these teeny-tiny windows to keep the heat in during our epic winters.  But, that meant for the first month of school, the building was insanely hot, without a breeze to help.  We’d spend the first (and last) few weeks of school sweating, trying to stay awake in classrooms with the lights turned off to make us think it was cooler than it really was.  That’s what I mean by “summer lasted forever.”

I’m not sure if that sentiment is correct anymore.  Maybe it is still that way in Central Illinois, or maybe it was just the perception of a slightly dramatic (and easily overheated) kid.   But, this year, here in Seattle, the moment the calendar flipped to September the temperature dropped, the clouds rolled in and the rain started to fall.

And I love it- perfect knitting weather.

Unfortunately, though, it means that the summer camps I’ve been teaching at are all done for the year.  The kids are going back to school in this week, and I’ve got nothing to do until after-school programs start up again at the end of the month.

Which brings me to my point.  What on earth am I going to do for almost a month of unemployment?  IMG_3291I’ve got some designs I’ve been working on (stay tuned!), some Christmas presents to get started, and a few half-finished projects I’d like to get closer to being done.  But, since I’ve got a good chunk of free time, do you have any requests?  Anything you’d like to see?

What do you like to work on when you have a big chunk of free time?

Not just knitting!

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Of course knitting is my One True Love, but sometimes… sometimes I get itchy fingers and have to break out my sewing machine, my embroidery hoop, or my crochet hook.  It’s not that I don’t love knitting.  It’s that sometimes I need something… else.

And this time, it was my crochet hook.

I had a pile of Knit Picks Biggo in several random colors (leftover from making some Human Beans).  Not enough to make a sweater, or even a really satisfying scarf.

But I did have my giant (size N crochet hook) and a crochet stitch that my mother-in-law taught me over Christmas break (she was making a huge, gorgeous afghan for a friend’s wedding).

The stitch, called the “Woven Stitch” looks a lot like the knit “Linen Stitch,” except that it’s crocheted.  Which means it goes way faster.

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All you do is chain 1, single crochet 1, across, making sure your sc’s go into the ch1 space of the row before.  Over and over again.  So easy!

And the fabric made with the super-chunky Biggo was thick and warm and cozy.  Such a fun little break from my every-day knitting.

I think I’m in love!

What do you do wen you need a break from your usual crafting routine?

(And, don’t forget!  Two more days before the drawing for the Twist &Tweed giveaway!)