Bundled Up in Pink's & Blue's

So, I went for it! Always up the challenge. I'm a much faster knitter than crocheter, that's for certain.


I completed, not one, but two blankets in a two week period.

I planned on making only one; but then I got to thinking - I should really make a blanket for my girlfriend's 3 yr old son (the soon-to-be big brother of said little baby girl Schwaeber).

And, because I had to place a special order for some of the pink yarn I needed for the baby girl blanket, it only seemed right to start on the blue blanket first. Besides, I had everything I needed for the blue blanket.

The pink yarn I ordered finally arrived this past Wednesday which allowed me to get started on the pink blanket. Just in the nick of time! Always last minute...

I was really happy with the final product.

I really enjoy knitting/crafting and have another project in mind. But for now, I'm going to attempt my first scrapbooking project of our trip to New York & Vermont. I promised my friend's at work.

Why?

Because they are both scrapbook-aholics and got me involved. I basically purchased all I needed (and then some) a few month's back. But then the baby shower invitations started rolling in and the scrapbooking projects got "put on hold".

Did I happen to mention that I did get my friend's at work involved in knitting and they are speeding through scarves. You should see the three of us during lunch, it's quite the picture!

So, here are some pictures of the completed blankets and how I chose to wrap them up.

What do you think?

A Stitch In Time...

So, I guess I tend to be an over-achiever when it comes to craft projects. Not because my crafts are so grand; but because I have a tendency to wait until "the last minute". And the funny thing - in my mind I've got "plenty" of time.

Now for many of you this isn't news. But for some reason, I'm always "Surprised"!

This month I was invited to, not one but, "two" baby showers for little girls. And last month I helped host a shower for my girlfriend's new baby boy.

So I'm thinking, handmade is the "way to go". For me, it's putting a small part of myself into a gift. Sure, it would be a whole lot easier to purchase something from "the registry" but I wonder "would it be remembered down the road"?

For the shower today "I started the project last Sunday evening".

The pattern I chose stated "Easy", "Weekend Project"; and it even showed a clock on it that said "60+" minutes. Personally I think they should have left the word "minutes" off.

Why? Because, this project took me something like "30+" hours. I worked on it during my lunch hour at work (the girls would laugh and "time" me. YES - time me). I worked on it during the evenings (as time permitted) because we had two bible studies last week (1 Monday night and 1 Weds night).

Can you see why I'm so confused? "Easy" was the only accurate word on the pattern. "60+" minutes? A weekend project? (not so accurate)

Of course, it was not difficult to make. Simply "time" consuming. I think I had a total of 9 hours of sleep this weekend (that includes both Friday & Saturday nights). I was happy to make the gift. (Even more happy to see her smiling "thankful" face as she opened the gift.) But being sleep deprived at a baby shower is not suggested. Ha!

Last month actually seemed to be a bit easier and breezier than this month. Why? Because last month I took my time. Actually had it made almost a month in advance. And I painted my creation. A personalized mirror with a tropical theme.

So, my goal, should I choose to accept the challenge - start my next project tomorrow. That will give me almost two weeks.

But at this point I'm contemplating visiting "the registry". But things could change. I may have a change of heart. Or simply have had my normal 7 hours of sleep to help me think it over.

Clearing out the Clutter

It's been awhile since I last really, truly blogged something. Sure it's easy to throw something up on the blog that is a video to share or an article to read. And I'm certainly not above doing that (as you all well know).

I suppose since my vacation - not much has really happened. Not much to talk about. Or is it simply that I have things to talk about, but nothing sounds interesting. Why blog if it's not interesting. Right?

Well, maybe it sounds mundane, but maybe I should just share, so here you go...

I've been back to work from vacation for 3 weeks now. I can't believe it! Where has the time gone?

I was busy selling on eBAY during part of my vacation. Clearing out the clutter. If that is even remotely possible. I have a lot of clutter - and I'm maybe 1/3 through it. Thank goodness for eBay! And Goodwill, for that matter.

Then I've been working on some fun projects for my girlfriend's new baby boy. I'm so looking forward to when I get to finally meet him. Hold him. Hug him. Kiss him.

OH yeah! There was our trip last week to Del Mar Horse Races and then an evening in San Diego's Little Italy. It was a fun relaxing weekend with my hubby. But no pictures to show for it. Just some lovely memories with my man.

As for this weekend? Jim is flying Caitlin and Nathan down from SAC and we'll spend the weekend running around "the OC". Maybe bowling or a movie? Hopefully Huntington's Dog Beach. Maybe even some Frisbee golf? Not really sure. Hopefully pictures will be posted, but then again maybe not?

Remember how I said I'm not above it? I said it in the first paragraph of this blog.

Well, as many of you know I LOVE to knit/crochet and I found a new website by author/illustrator/fellow knitter "Michelle Edwards". What a wonderful site. What incredible stories.

For those of you who love to knit/crochet you will totally "get" her stories.

For those of you who don't knit/crochet it may actually motivate you to want to learn?

But in any case, the story below touched me and I wanted to share it with you here on my blog; just in case you don't take the time to read her other stories on her website.

Enjoy!


Knit On! By: Michelle Edwards

Last January, I ordered a new knitting bag and printed on the bag was Elizabeth Zimmerman’s famous quote: “Knit On, with confidence and hope, through all crises.”

I thought of the bag and the Elizabeth Zimmerman quote as a tribute to the hard times when I just knit on.

Sitting next to my mother during long hospital days in which nothing good happened, I knit away on a baby layette for my mother’s first grandchild, my first niece. If I kept knitting, maybe my mother would hang on, stay alive.

It was a deal I prayed to strike with whomever was in charge. But no deal was ever made. My mother died a few days after the baby was born and I’d finished the layette.

Years later, my husband and I sat quietly in a room bursting with emotion and desperate hopes. The Cardiac Care waiting room.

Our middle daughter, Flory, was having an oblation -- a correction to stop her heart from short circuiting.

Knit on.

Socks, six ply, size three needles, 48 stitches.

I had turned the heel and was starting the gusset when the double glass doors opened. A new born, tiny on the hospital cart, was wheeled in, parents trailing behind.

As I neared the toe decreases, the cardiologist brought us the news: Flory’s extra piece of heart muscle was oblated; she was cured. I put my knitting back in my bag, ready for the long night I would spend in the parents’ waiting room, keeping watch.

Knit on!

I hadn’t expected to knit again in hospitals. I was cooking when it happened. Passover was the following evening. The clock on the stove made me aware that my youngest daughter was late. She was riding her new bike home from school.

I walked outside to see if she was coming down the street. Maybe the chain had fallen off or she had stopped to pet some dogs. A white SUV pulled up. The driver rolled down the window and shouted to me.

“Get in the car,” she said. “Your daughter has had an accident.”

“I’ll take my car,” I told her. I was thinking that I’d need my car and purse and health card. I’d grab my knitting, too. I was bound to be waiting in a doctor’s office for stitches.

The woman told me to forget my car; the ambulance was on the way.

I was wrong when I thought that there was nothing more painful than watching my mother die or waiting for the cardiologist to tell us that our daughter was going to be ok. Taking Lelia to the burn unit, helping the nurse bath and clean her large abrasions, caring for her through restorative dental work and oral surgery, and staying strong while she endured all kinds of necessary but painful procedures was larger than a layette or a sock. For the first time in my life, I wasn’t sure if I could knit on.

We had just returned from the burn unit and the dentist. It had been a long and painful day. Our friend and neighbor, Genie, stopped by. We sat in the family room and chatted and watched Lelia slowly fall asleep in the big BarcaLounger, the only place she was comfortable.

Genie told me she was grieving, too. Her best friend had cancer and was having a bone marrow transplant. As Genie spoke, I thought about the healing shawls I read about in a LION BRAND catalog.

I could knit her friend one.

I wanted to knit her one.

I "had" to knit her one.

Knit on!

And so I did with confidence and a shaky sense of hope, I knit her a healing shawl and two chemo caps.

Knit on!

I couldn’t stop with just one healing shawl. Not with so much pain in the world.

Not with so much pain in my own heart.

And so I knitted a shawl for a friend whose beloved dog had just died. A shawl for a friend who introduced me to my beloved. A shawl for a friend whose mother was entering a nursing home.

A shawl for my fragile daughter who braved pain and injury and was now recovering with a speed known only to children.

The healing shawl I knit for Genie’s friend helped keep her warm during her last days. I was told she reached for it often. I felt lighter inside the heavy part of my heart to know that something I made gave such comfort.

Knitting for me has never been just about celebrity scarves, luxury yarns, and funky socks. Now, more than ever before, knitting for me is about healing and helping others.

Knit on!

So after reading her story "Knit On" can you relate?

Do you want to learn?

Doesn't it make you want to help those "in need"? Whether it be by knitting/crocheting or simply volunteering your time...