5 August

The week before John was born, my friend Meghan came over and we made a little stack of diaper doublers for the baby. She had several lovely fabrics, including a beautiful, soft velour we used to go against baby's skin. It was such a nice gift, both in the usefulness of the doublers and in the time we spent together working on them.

Well, fast forward six weeks, and Mr. Heavy Wetter needs more doublers! We're still using the original cloth diapers we purchased many years ago, but doublers take more of a beating in the wash and we don't have many left. 

So yesterday I decided to make a few more, using just materials I had on hand. I made four in the span of about an hour, during one of John's (few) naps. (And I took a break to enjoy a Paloma, too.)

Two of them are made using two layers of hemp fleece (I had about half a yard of it that I'd been given as a sample about 6 years ago), one layer of terry cloth from an old washcloth (stained with watercolor paints!), and one layer of cotton jersey from an old crib sheet. The other two are similar, but use a layer of wool interlock that was given to me when I had Fiona (for making diaper covers, which I still haven't made) instead of the terry cloth. (The wool has been machine washed and hasn't been treated with lanolin, so it should absorb rather than repell moisture.)

I layered them with hemp fleece on the bottom, followed by either terry or wool, then a second layer of hemp, and finally the cotton jersey on top. That jersey is so soft, it will be lovely against his skin. I serged them, but if you don't have a serger, a zig-zag stitch and then a close trim would do the trick. 

And all finished! (Not pictured: my cocktail.)

I'm so excited to see how these perform!

In other diapering news, here are a ton of pictures of baby John modeling the wrap I knitted for him. These are from a couple of weeks ago. He can still wear it, but just barely. He's approaching 12 pounds already! (The blanket you see here was knitted for him by my mom.)

14 June

I mentioned in my last post that I have some knits for baby finished up. It took most of these ages to block due to ridiculous humidity! In the meantime, I actually completed the final two!

Anyway, here is my little layette for baby. I ended up knitting it all in shades of white and green. I kept thinking of trying different colors, like a nice blue, or the gold I've liked for baby knits in the past, but I just kept being drawn to green, green, green! I only bought two skeins of yarn for these projects, everything else was something I'd had on hand for a few years, actually, most likely intended for some other project at some point.

First, another picture of the little diaper cover I knitted up as the first knit for this baby. I worked on it in February and March. I thought the button placement was weird at first, so I moved them the other day and I think it will fit better now.

A longie for baby! I used my favorite longie pattern and Malabrigo worsted, which I love for newborn knits. More details here.

{my belly kept wanting to get into the shot, so I just did this one on purpose!}

Sweater number one. This is the Milk Infant Top, and I love, love, love it, despite the crochet edging being much too hard for me. Thank goodness for good friends who can crochet and help me! I still want to crochet a granny square blanket for our living room but I need lots of practice first. Anyway, this is the knit I am most excited to see on the baby.

Sweater number two. This is the Baby Boy 5-hour Sweater, and I've knitted it once before. (Even though it's called "Baby Boy", I think it can be for either. We don't know what we're having.) I love this pattern although this time I did the sleeves as written instead of picking them up to knit in the round afterward and I liked them less this time. First of all, I don't like the seam down the arm, it feels bulky, and second of all, I still had to do sewing up around the armpit, so it didn't eliminate all end-weaving like it's supposed to.

Bonnet. This was made from the scraps of the 5-hour sweater and the booties I knitted in March. (I was going to share more pictures of them here but when I washed them, they dried funny, so they look weird in pictures. I guess they'll have to wait until there is a model for them!) I was pretty nervous about having enough of the white yarn left, but I finished with a couple of yards to spare, so it worked out perfectly! In the end, I actually think the bonnet looks big for a newborn (I knit the 0-3 month size and it grew with washing), so I think I could've actually gone down to the smallest size. Pattern and yarn info here. 

Everyone wants to know how I'm feeling. Physically, I feel pretty good. No signs of labor yet, and I'm mostly comfortable. The last two days have definitely found me feeling grumpier than I had been, though. This was the first really hot week we've had this year, the combination of which with pregnancy took me by surprise (with three winter/spring babies, I had no idea how hot I could be!) So, I have been finding myself feeling grumpy and more impatient than usual. But we are so close to the end! I'm excited!

18 March

I mentioned about six months ago that I had finished knitting Ginny's Sunday Sweater for Fiona. Oh, how I loved knitting this, and the finished sweater is one of my favorite knits ever. Unfortunately, all this long winter, I have had a certain little girl who has refused to wear it, or any sweater (whether handknit or not, she just didn't want the extra layer), which was rather annoying to her mama.

However, the tide seems to have shifted (I say, ever so tentatively) and she's been wearing this sweater on cooler days lately. Last week I convinced her to let me take some pictures of her wearing it, and was so relieved that she obliged. (It was snowy but not that cold.)

I'll let the photos do the rest of the talking. Details about the sweater are here. (If you are thinking about knitting this, you should. It comes in a wide range of sizes, the pattern is written in a very straightforward manner, the little design details are thoughtful and lovely, and it's a fast and easy knit.)

1 March

We've had a little something going on behind the scenes this winter. Well, "little" in size but big in other ways! 

We have a new baby on the way, due in late June! It's hard to even put it all into words, but we are absolutely beyond excited about this new little one! 

I've been feeling quite awful, as I always do during pregnancy (compounded by my series of colds), but everything is well with the baby and now, past the halfway point of the pregnancy, things are beginning to seem more real. 

With a summer baby, there's not much to be knitted for those early newborn days, but I'm starting to feel the urge to make things for the baby. I started with this little diaper wrap and moved on to booties yesterday. It is so exciting to have baby things on the needles again.

I'm a little amazed thinking that in only four months, we will have someone to wear them!

35

Today is my thirty-fifth birthday. First, a little bit of honesty: I have been dreading turning 35, for a long time. Probably ever since I turned 30. It seems silly to say, especially because I'm married to someone ten years older than me. But this was the first age I wasn't looking forward to. (Some people it's 30, some it's 40. For me, 35.)

But you know what happened? The days just kept progressing towards it, and now here I am. 35 full years on this earth. And you know, they have been 35 pretty great years. 

On Saturday, I received a package from my friend Ginny. Sweetest thing ever. I'm so looking forward to starting this next cross-stitch adventure! (Also, she wrote the funniest thing in the card about researching hobbies appropriate to those who have reached "advanced maternal age" [what we've been calling 35 for the last year as we both approached this age with some trepidation], and cross-stitch being the best. So funny.)

It snowed a foot yesterday. Today everything is sparkling and white and beautiful.

Last night, I enjoyed a homemade cherry pie with 35 hand-dipped beeswax candles. (I teach until late tonight, so we opted for birthday celebrating last night.) I blew them out in one breath.

And today I don't feel nearly as bad about being 35. 

1 February

Wow! I had no intention of letting a whole month go by without a post. January is a tough month for me (like August) -- the transition times after a school break leave me feeling like we are limping along without a routine. We've also had a series of viruses run through our house. Thankfully, I think everyone is healthy now. Last night I slept with my mouth closed (like, because I could breathe through my nose) for the first time in a couple of weeks. That was nice. 

We've just been quietly hanging out, hoping for snow. It did snow one time in January, this past Monday. We got about 3 inches which was noteworthy for this sad, sad, dry winter we're having. I'm used to having a lot more snow than this! It seems disappointing.

The fun of a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle was discovered and everyone in the family has been variously addicted to working on it. It's nearly complete now (more than in these photos). My husband picked up another one the other day, which makes me grin.

The house is starting to feel a bit more settled. We've been here for about 8 1/2 months. We still need to get things up on the walls. And we need baseboards downstairs. Then there are the big projects that remain -- exterior paint, new windows and doors, moving the laundry room to the basement, updating the kitchen and bathrooms, re-installing the coat closet that was removed to make a shower in the powder room. (We don't need a main floor shower -- or a handicapped toilet -- like the last owners. But we sure do need a coat closet!) Someday there will be a sewing room with egress windows in the basement for me so that one of our children can have the fourth bedroom upstairs, but that's further down the road. And I dream of repairing the fireplace in the family room and putting in an efficient-burning insert. And maybe a small woodstove in the living room, someday. There is lots to do, but I'm beginning to feel more at home just as it is now. I feel that the living spaces are pretty, the bedrooms are spacious, we are comfortable. This house is just the right one for us. That feels reassuring, after the long search, choosing something that needed so much work, and so on. 

In one of the photos above, you can just see my completed Winterwoods sampler in a frame. The matte is too small for it so I'm going to change it out before I take another photo of it, but I am so happy to have it! It's perfect for the living room. 

I think that's about it for today. I'm so happy that it's February. Goodbye January slump! Hello birthday season!

19 November

OK, this post is going to make me feel a little foolish. I finished this sweater on Janurary 31 of this year. I had it blocked within two days, and photographed on February 3. I originally uploaded the photos to Flickr on March 6. (I just changed the upload date so they'd show up first in my stream, but they really were uploaded for almost 9 months.) It has taken me that long to make this post. I don't know why. I guess my priorities have just been elsewhere, especially with moving and doing renovations on the house and whatnot.

Anyway. Ravelry notes are here, including the link to the pattern that this sweater is extremely loosely based on. In reality, I made my own top-down pullover using my own gauge and numbers. The only things I did that were the same as in the pattern was the short-row neck shaping and the same type of increases for the raglan sleeves. I used totally different math everywhere else, I added stitches under the arms where there weren't any in the original pattern, and I did something different with the garter stitching on the front. However, it's still heavily inspired by the original. The yarn is Quince & Co. Puffin in Parsley, my most "James-y" color. I love, love this color for him.

I really love this sweater and it looks great on James. It still fits him, thanks to my careful washing and blocking. He proudly tells people that "it's a sweater that can be used as a coat." It's very thick and warm and really is like a light coat for him on chilly days. I'm glad that it still fits him because it's a really useful garment.

There isn't much else to say about the sweater, except I love it.

And I love seeing the snow in these pictures, can't wait for more snow like this!

18 November

Slipping this post in just before midnight, to say... Today was another glorious autumn day, spent reading, playing with our puppy, puppet shows, early bedtimes (for the children, anyway), knitting, hot chocolate, and a movie. So nice. I wish more days could be just like this one.

15 November

Today was a gorgeous sunny day. I did spend a lot of it feeling chilled, though, after sitting under air conditioning (on a 40-degree November day?!) during my class this morning.

I'm trying hard to finish these two sweaters in the next week. It was also my goal to get some long-finished knits photographed and posted here this month. I'll try to start on that for Monday!

In general, I don't like how hectic this month has been feeling. I really need to find some balance. It's not even the kids' activities—swim team is less than 10 minutes from our house, soccer has ended, and piano is only once a week. It's other, random stuff that keeps popping onto my to-do list and it needs to be pared down. I don't like spending more time out of the home than in it. So, balance, balance. How to achieve it? I have a feeling that the type of quiet, home peace that I'm seeking may be, in some ways, a thing of the past as our family grows into this next stage of activity. I know we'll never again be solidly in the days of little ones, when things were much simpler and sweeter. But I do think that my setting boundaries on the amount of activity and flurry is good for everyone, even of we can never recapture those slow days.

14 November

I guess it's inevitable that once I allowed myself to miss one day this month, I'd miss another. You know, ever since last week when we were driving Daddy all over the world, it seems like our pace hasn't evened back out and I've been longing for some quiet days at home. Today we finally took that day and it was so worth it.

I made some homemade deodorant, using this recipe. This is the only recipe I've tried, as my friend Claudia went through a period of trial and error with a few different deodorant recipes and said this one was the best. I have never had any complaints about it. To answer some questions I anticipate you might have:

-Does it work? Yes, it works great as a deodorant. It is not an antiperspirant, though I think the baking soda and arrowroot powder do absorb some moisture. If you are used to antiperspirant, this is a different experience. You will notice some wetness. I switched from antiperspirant to plain deodorant over 10 years ago because I learned that the reaction of the chemicals in antiperspirant with sweat is what causes yellow stains on clothing. Since making that switch, I haven't had a problem with yellow stains, so I think that's the definite culprit. All that to say, if you try this, you will notice some wetness but it takes care of odor.

-How often do you have to apply it? Once a day is fine for me. Maybe as your body adjusts, you might need to reapply, or on really hot days. But it's very effective.

-Does it irritate your skin, or get powdery when it dries out? I have extremely sensitive skin and this particular formula has not given me any trouble over the approximately 18 months that I've been using it. I have not noticed it becoming powdery.

-How much does it make? This recipe is enough to fill two two-ounce jars, which I got at the health food store in the essential oils aisle. Elisabeth uses deodorant now(!), so it's perfect: one for her, one for me. Though my husband is wary to try it, I kind of presume I'll mix up a more masculine-smelling batch for James when he gets bigger. Because I feel like, why go the route of chemicals if you don't absolutely have to?

Other than that, I picked my stitching back up after a two-week hiatus (see? doing extra at the beginning was wise), and we just hung out for most of the day until it was time for swim team. It was a much needed day of rest.

7 November

Yarn Along with Ginny today!

Working on Elisabeth's sweater. I will make a Ravelry link for it later today, but right now I'm in a rush to get out the door. My husband's car broke down at work yesterday and I've been chauffering him so that I can have my car for the few things we need to get to. It's been hectic already and promises to continue to be so. He really needs a new car; our 13-year-old Outback has seen its best days come and go, by a long shot. I'm not sure what's going to happen with all that, but it's something we're going to need to address sooner than later.

Reading the Smitten Kitchen cookbook! Love, love, love!!! Smitten Kitchen is already my favorite cooking blog, and the cookbook is more of that goodness!

4 November

These photos are from last week, from when I was working on costumes. I was looking through my photo files and thought they were pretty on this dreary Sunday afternoon.

End of Daylight Saving Time. I love it and hate it. Right at this moment, I kind of hate it. This morning, driving to the second day of the swim meet, I kind of loved it, since we drove there as the sun was rising rather than in the pitch black like yesterday. We are going to church this evening, which will interfere with my usual enjoyed early bedtime reset on the end of Daylight Saving Time. But actually, that's fine, because my children have been falling asleep pretty early, even considering our slightly later schedule lately. Most nights they've been asleep by 8:15, even with a later dinner. 

I cast on Elisabeth's sweater on Friday, and I'm desperately going to try to finish it by next week. We'll see. James's still needs sleeves but I discovered I don't have double pointed needles in the right size and I keep forgetting to get some. I know I could do the magic loop method with my circular needle, but I don't like the results I get. It might because I knit so loosely, but I end up with terrible laddering. Anyway, that's on the agenda this week. I have so many other finished knits that need to be photographed and shared, that's my goal for this month.

That's about it for this random weekend post. See you tomorrow!

Lunch Week: Wednesday

Day 3: Poached Eggs

Sorry I haven't been here earlier today. Not much is going on, except perhaps a shift in the weather, and I've been feeling kind of out of it today.

Anyway. We have poached eggs for lunch quite often (once or twice a week). I think if you really learn to poach an egg well, it can take you far in life. People seem impressed by this skill. And they are really good. Now, normally we eat poached eggs with toast, butter, and some cheese. But last week, I was thinking a poached egg on salad sounded delicious and lo and behold, the very next day, the November issue of Everyday Food arrived with a recipe for salad with roasted vegetables and poached eggs on top. Since my kids don't turn down roasted vegetables (especially beets, carrots, and the crispy, caramelized bits of onions!), and since James would eat nothing but salad at every meal if he had the opportunity, I thought this would be a hit. It was so good! If you don't have a copy of the magazine, you'll have to pick one up or wait a month or two for them to put the link up on the website. 

Here is my method for poaching eggs. It's pretty much fool-proof.

Bring a tall saucepan of salted water to a rolling boil. Break one or two eggs into a small bowl and carefully lower them to just above the surface of the water, and then quickly slip them in. Set a timer for four minutes. (This is not forgiving, like the spaetzle -- you'll want to stay right there!) I usually make 4-5 eggs in the same pot at the same time. Skim the water occasionally if it seems likely to boil over. 

Use a slotted spoon to carefully lift the eggs, one at a time, from the water. You can place them in individual bowls with a small pat of butter and serve immediately with toast, or you can place them on a towel-lined plate to drain slightly first. 

The whites should be completely set but the yokes should be very runny. If four minutes leaves them overcooked (depending on your stove, your altitude, and a number of other factors), try 3 1/2 minutes the next time. If that still yields an overcooked egg, you could try 3 minutes. But start with four the first time just to be safe.

They do require a bit of care, but they are so worth it! And I highly recommend them on salad!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

In addition to my lunch post, I'm joining Ginny in the Yarn Along again today. 

I finished the body, neck, and button bands on James's sweater. Just the sleeves to go! 

This week the only thing I read was the Catechism of the Catholic Church. My husband and I are following a schedule to read the entire thing during the Year of Faith.

And finally, Halloween is in one week! How is that possible?! I finished Elisabeth's costume on Saturday and about half of James's on Sunday. I could've completed more of it but my husband roped me into some projects around the house, which I'm glad we did. I haven't started anything for Fiona yet, but I may not. She is up in the air about what to be. There is a choice between an old costume of Elisabeth's or one I'd need to make. Right now I don't have the supplies on hand for the one I'd need to make and I'm not sure if I'll have the funds in time to buy them. We'll have to see. 

19 October

I didn't finish Elisabeth's costume on Wednesday like I hoped, but I'm resolving to complete it by the end of Saturday, and James's on Sunday. (His is not as hard, since I don't have to figure it out as I go.) I haven't knit a stitch in the last few days. I have, however, completed a lot of the sampler because, well, I just can't stop! (Speaking of Alicia, I'm sure you heard her news! So, so, so exciting!)

Today is one of those days that's colder inside than outside, but even opening the windows doesn't seem to draw the warmer air in. We're all in slippers and I feel like I should be wearing gloves as I type this. 

I got some new yarn, from my supplier. It's like crack, this stuff. It'll be James's Christmas vest and I can't wait to knit it!

Other thoughts: I want glasses. Or at least reading glasses, which I don't need. One of my cello students quit on Monday in a kind of crappy way, which has had me down more than it should. We've been trying to keep Millie in all the time since we got an "anonymous" threat to her on our door last month. We've been mostly successful. (It was anonymous, but we know who did it. Neighbors can be strange.)

I think next week, I will post about our favorite things to have for lunch (including my spaetzle recipe). Care to join me? We can call it "Lunch Week". 

17 October

Is today really the seventeenth?! As I predicted, October is just flying by! I'm starting to feel a little bit nervous about the Halloween costumes, which I haven't worked on all week. But of course, I do have time. I'm going to try to finish Elisabeth's today if I can.

I'm joining Ginny in the Yarn Along again today. 

Still knitting James's sweater, which is going kind of slowly. One would think on size 10 needles that it would just fly off the needles, especially with how many sports practices and games and meets and lessons that I sit through on a weekly basis. But for some reason, it's just going slowly. Oh, well. One thing I love about knitting is that it can only be done a stitch at a time. It forces a little bit of consciousness of process and time and patience.

I'm also still reading Kristin Lavransdatter. Actually, the copy I was reading before belonged to a friend in my book group, and I gave it back to her, and then it took me a week or ten days to pick up my own copy, so I've only just started the second "book" (middle section of the complete work) recently. I love the book although I've been too tired to read very much in the evenings. 

Thank you for being here, friends. I appreciate you and your thoughtful comments more than you know. xoxox

12 October

I apologize for not posting all week. I so want to be here more frequently but this week just got away from me. I did get a fair amount of progress done on one Halloween costume, some stitching on the sampler, a tiny bit of knitting (not very much), dentist and orthodontist visits (phase two of orthodontia is coming up so soon!)

Here are a few pictures from the week. 

There comes a time in the life of the Halloween costume designer where just going for it is the best course of action.

Terrible phone photo of this, but my real camera is not doing so well either in lower light settings or when actual focus is required. :( It's old and very worn out. I have no idea when I'll be able to replace it. Fingers crossed. 

Homemade spaetzle and sauteed mushrooms for lunch today, and often lately. Spaetzle has been a favorite lunch of mine since I was very young, and my children love it, too. For many years, we just had the boxed kind, but recently I learned to make homemade and it's so good and easy!

Lots of leaf play. These are from yesterday when it was a bit warmer. Today was chilly. For a while, it was gloriously sunny, but now it's overcast and thundering. 

See you soon!

5 October

It actually snowed last night. Only the faintest dusting, but snow even so. I've spent the day shivering under blankets on the couch. It seems that even though the two-year-old furncace was serviced and certified in May before we bought the house, we can't actually figure out how to operate it. The company that certified it is coming over to take a look, hopefully any minute. 

Yesterday, my mom and I spent most of the day trying to puzzle out a pattern for Elisabeth's costume. We made some headway but I think I'm still a long way off from figuring it out. Last year's pirate costumes were fun and easy to make but I'll admit I was a little disappointed that they didn't get the number of compliments from complete strangers that I've been accustomed to. (Yeah, that's kind of embarrassing but I'm admitting it anyway. Halloween costumes are my thing, you know?) Anyway, I don't think that's going to be a problem this year, as we are going for some slightly more intricate costumes. Ahem.

My Winterwoods sampler is coming along so beautifully. It seems like completing five things (letters and/or motifs) a week is about the right number for me right now. I like being a tad ahead in case a week comes when I'm too overwhelmed to get much done on it, but I also don't want to finish it too quickly (and I really could've finished it by now, I think). If you're still thinking about joining us, please do! It's not hard and each letter is pretty fast to complete. Even the bigger motifs don't take too long (compared to other crafts). 

Well, the furnace guy came and went while I was making this post. Our furnace is working now. We are now off to a benefit dinner for the campus ministry at our church. (Our church serves the student population of a large university.) Tomorrow morning, we are looking forward to a freezing cold soccer game. What are your weekend plans?

29 September

This week I decided to complete a little bit of extra work on the Winterwoods ABCs sampler. In order to finish by the first day of winter, we need to complete two letters and one to two motifs a week. I thought it would be good to try to frontload it because you never know what's going to come up. But I didn't want to finish it too quickly because I want to have something to stitch on through the fall, so I limited myself to the three letters and two motifs I completed this week.

I'm happy with my progress and am having such a good time stitching this! The variegated floss that comes in the kit is amazing! At first, I was wondering if it would really be a big deal but it adds so much depth and interest to the design. (Sorry the light is so bad in the above photo, you can't really get a great idea for the variegation there, but it's subtle and so lovely! This is meant to be a quick, no pressure photo, with no necessary blog post or link up, so I didn't want to take too much time styling the photo or finding the perfect light in my house.)

I'm so excited about how this is going to look and can't wait to have it hanging in my living room!

26 September

Today I decided to join my friend Ginny's Yarn Along (for the first time ever, even though she's been hosting it for what, close to two years?).*

(In Ginny's words: "Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Take a photo and share it either on your blog or on Flickr. Leave a link below to share your photo with the rest of us!")

I'm working on James's sweater now. It's the third time I've knit this particular pattern and I love that it's like an old friend now. I actually took this picture at the pool on Friday. Since then I've completed a lot more work on the sweater. 

I just started reading Kristin Lavransdatter on Friday. I'm supposed to have finished the first "book" by Sunday, when a book club that I sometimes try to go to will be discussing it. I don't have much time to read so hopefully I'll get that far. I'm about 160 pages in right now, and need to get to 300. So far, I'm really enjoying this book. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I wasn't up for historical fiction along the lines of Anya Seton (I should have known better, Sigrid Unset did win the Nobel Prize for literature!). This newer translation by Tiina Nunnally has been described to me as "luminous" and I have to agree. It is a beautifully written, beautifully translated book. 

*The reason I haven't participated in the Yarn Along before, despite Ginny's frequent encouragement for me to do so, is that I don't read very much anymore. Since I started taking my class two years ago, I find that all my reading time is focused on my schoolwork and for some reason, I've been loath to share pictures of my textbooks as part of it. I guess I just think they'd seem dull to everyone else. :)

24 September

My friend Ginny released her Sunday Sweater pattern today. I'm so excited about this pattern! Ginny first shared her idea for the sweater with me several months ago, as she was knitting up the first prototype. Over time, as she worked out the details of the pattern, she shared a lot of her thoughts about the sweater and the process of designing it with me. It was so cool to witness her idea come to fruition in those first two sweaters she knit. I was excited to be the first person she shared the pattern with, and that I was able to be the first person to knit it (besides herself). 

Today I'm sharing just a sort of teaser photo, because I'm waiting to photograph it on Fiona until November. Such a long way away!

With this one complete, and a good bit of work done on the next one, I'm well on the way to completing a sweater for each of my children in time for my annual November goal. It's such a good feeling. Not only that, but I also finished last year's sweaters a while back (two were completed way back in February, the other just a few weeks ago). I'd like to photograph those and share them here soon, too. I'm currently on pace to complete something like 10 or 11 sweater-type items (I'm counting vests in the number) during 2012! What an exciting thing for me, especially considering how little knitting I did last year, and how I haven't knit at all during long periods this year. It's been bits of progress here and there, with a few big spurts. I can't even put into words how happy and peaceful I feel about knitting these days, and its quiet progress.

And speaking of quiet progress, I'm really enjoying the cross-stitch. I completed two letters and two motifs on the sampler over the weekend (photo above was from before I started on the wellies, which are above the O and P), and I might sneak in a little bit more before the week is over, because it's just so fun and addictive. I first cross-stitched when I was 10 or 11, and my mom (who used to do a ton of cross-stitch) taught me. Later, when I was first married, I thought I'd cross-stitch some hand towels for our bathroom (I bought those towels with the Aida cloth panels), but I didn't like the project much so I let it go. Anyway, I wasn't sure how I'd feel about it this time around (I so badly want the finished object but I just wasn't sure if I'd have the patience for cross-stitch!). I have been so pleasantly surprised by how enjoyable it is. More to come on that!