Saturday, November 28, 2009

Saturday blog break

I have solved the problem of socks taking a long time to knit...don't knit the leg! Seriously, if you're knitting for a kid, they often shove those legs down to their ankles anyways. Taking that information to heart, I thought I'd whip up a pair of quick socks for my youngest - my baby. As it turns out, my baby has the same length of foot as me! But because I didn't do a leg, the pair was done rather quickly. These were made from left-over yarn from some gift socks (opal 6 ply).

If you can tell me what is different about these socks over any other pair I have knitted (other than the short leg) I'll give you either a) a knitting lesson or b) knitting advice or c) chocolate. Your choice :)

An "almost comfort" book was Heart and Soul by Maeve Binchy. "Almost" because of the (sadly) immoral values of a number of her characters. True to life, though, unfortuately. And they usually come round in the end. Her books are comforting in the fact that you come to know the characters and settings like old friends. Some days it would be fun to jump into this Irish village and spend a few days.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Taking a vote

My husband wants to go on a holiday to somewhere warm. I'm dragging my heels, because the calendar is just soooo full. So...should we go somewhere? And where should we go if you think yes?

No, I will not take you along.

But I will post pictures afterwards.


Saturday, November 7, 2009

I need some comfort!

These are comfort books: Tears of the Giraffe ; Morality for Beautiful Girls. These are the kind of books that don't shock you with bad language. They make you think a little, but confirm your worldview. Other comfort books that I've read in my life include The Blue Castle (over and over again when I was a teen) and The Ice Child (I finally bought my own copy as I was afraid the library would discard it).

My hats are off to the bloggers who continue to delight me with daily writings. Thank you for the slices of life that I enjoy dipping into each day.

I will delight you with a small gallery of finished knitting. Knitting keeps me sane these days.

The shawl is for a lovely lady at church - to honour and bless her for her tireless serving and devotion to God (Multnomah shawl; Smooshy yarn). The fingerless gloves were a commission knit from a co-worker of my son's, who had admired the ones I made for him (Red Heart Comfort Sport yarn; generic gloves). Gloves are a challenge! The cabled slipper socks were also a challenge, but not as hard as I thought they would be (Log Cabin socks; Cascade 220 Superwash yarn). They are for a man at church who is taking chemo treatments. I call them comfort socks :)

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Life as a homemaker

Two reasons I have a hard time doing housework…no, three.

I actually often feel guilty doing it. There are so many other pursuits that seem much more important. Like playing/talking with my kids, knitting something for another person, reading to improve my mind. I have to remind myself that a clean house is a blessing to my family and so has intrinsic value in and of itself.

Around here, you no sooner clean something up, and it’s messy again. I have kids in the house 24/7. You make a meal and it’s gone in 10 minutes. Imagine spending the day at the office drawing up the blueprints for a building and the next day when you go in, all your lines are gone; erased. A lesson in frustration. To reduce the frustration level, I have simplified some jobs so that my expectations are less. For example - I used to keep my towels upstairs in the “linen closet”. After wash day they would all be nicely folded and stacked. The sight would warm my heart. The next day they would be in disarray and half gone. Now, I roughly fold the towels straight out of the dryer and store them on a shelf beside the dryer. They never leave the basement laundry room until someone wants one. And the only bathroom that I stock with towels is my own. The kids can grab one when needed. Now my linen closet holds games and yarn. A good trade-off J

The third reason has a little to do with laziness and a little to do with “messy syndrome”. I have a jumbled mind that can’t make mental lists; I'm easily distracted. You could call me organizationally challenged. So written lists and planners are my friend. It’s the keeping up with them that presents the problem and therein lies the fact that at any given time if you arrive at my house unannounced, you WILL find creative mess around. So if you’re concerned about that – give a call before you come. If you’re not…I welcome you in J

Knitting notes: I finished some Christmas gift socks. They’re out of Opal yarn (Rendez-vous, 2063). The contrast heel and toe was fun to do and keeps the stripe patterning consistent. The cream yarn was Paton’s Kroy.