sip

hey y’all!  long time no see!

it’s warming up, you know.  the sun brings out the baker and iced tea sipper in me every year without fail.  it’s wonderful - sitting outside with my face tilted upward like tiny leaves stretching for the warm light - just not too great for knitting pattern writing.  who wants to sit at a computer and do that when there’s a world waking up!?

i have been working though - a bit.

and hazel made its debut today.

you can find it under PATTERNS —> PATTERNS for SALE over on the side bar, or here if you’re a raveler.

these patterns will be released soon, too!

ok.  maybe i haven’t been slacking THAT much.  ha!!

in other crafty news, we have a new little stitcher in the house…

mae has discovered embroidery.  i’m not sure what sparked her interest since i’ve never been much of an embroiderer…  she just asked for one of the round things and fabric so she could sew a picture.  she drew a house, wrote her name on a flour sack towel and was ready to go.  i showed her how to complete a back stitch once and she was off and running.  the girl sat steadily and stitched only stopping for mama to untangle knots or get her some more “string” until it was finished.  she even free handed a door and knob that she hadn’t drawn.  i was very impressed.  she titled it “my home”

i love it.

xo

step, step, change

first things first.

hello you sweet spring.  seriously.  every easter i think the same thing as i’m shuffling around, going through the motions of my morning routine; “i can’t believe we survived another winter.”  winter used to be the longest, hardest, and most dreaded chunk of my year and it lingered… always… for too long.  SO, i’m beaming with joy and gratitude for the brighter months to come.

i’m also excited to share my designer interview over at HollaKnits!  it will be up later today, so please drop by and get the scoop.  i’m going to take part in the Holla Knits Blog Tour as well, so stay posted for updates on that.

the spring collection is set to debut on april 15th and after seeing all of the pieces i can honestly say it’s an honor to be among such talented designers.  every look is divine!  …and i will be knitting a couple of them.

now…

there has been a fair amount of sweetness from my girls as of late, but equal if not rivaling amounts of sourness.  the waves we ride together…

mae is solidly 6 and the constant chattering has begun.  the other morning i woke up to her pinching my nose and saying, “so what, the new routine is ignoring me?”  no darling, this is called “sleeping” - she then proceeded to teach alizah and me about dog flubber. “dogs have flubber.  did you know that?  they swim in cold water so they have flubber.  you know how dogs go outside to go to the bathroom?  that’s why they have flubber… and fur.”

breathe in, smile, breathe out.

ok.

so, with the proposal off on it’s journey i wait and squirm.  i took a much needed break from editing because i was making ridiculous mistakes and was seriously questioning my sanity.  it’s also sort of depressing to sit and wait with piles of patterns around me and not have them doing a thing, so i designed a nice spring green shawl that i’ll be offering on ravelry next week.  

i’ve also begun another poncho - it’s child/teen sized and will most likely make its way into the collection.  this wasn’t my initial intent, but it just happens that way sometimes.  i will absolutely need to make an adult sized version as well.  pronto.

i’ll leave you know with some sweet pairings from these past weeks.  

 

xo

he says i should be more regular

hubs in on the road 5 days at a time and home about 1-2 days… 

the last time he was here he said i should update my blog more often.  i think he’s right.  i should because i love it and because i feel nostalgic scrolling back and re-living summers past or troubles past.

this week’s kid quotes (especially for hubs):

mae asked, “when you teach your knitting do you say the pledge of allegiance first?”

when i was having a melt-down on the way home, alizah said, “mom, just keep calm and gangham style.”

i’ll tell you.  these past weeks have been a whirlwind of knit, eat, sleep, repeat.  my test knitters are buzzing through patterns like a hoard of mad women!  e-mails e-mails so much production, it makes my heart sing.  i was about to print all of the patterns out tonight so i can hold them, take them with me places, read them like i’ve never seen them before… then i realized it would be 101 pages.  seriously.  101.  snap.  i still have so many to type (insert gritting teeth).

carl or the boy as we call him came over to do some serious work of the editorial kind.  it was nice.  it reminded me of days long past - planning, thinking, collaborating, and walking away refreshed.  i revised and edited and revised some more. with a twisted belly and welling eyes, i sent it off.

ok.  steps.

i anticipate being a complete wreck for the next six months.  HA! (no, seriously.)

the up-side to being a complete wreck is that i can suddenly break scene and find random bits of our daily life downright hysterical.  anyone who knows me really, really well knows what it means when i say something has “struck me funny” - it’s what i say when i start laughing uncontrollably and the fit lasts for far too long.  that used to happen at work a lot.  i’m sure carl could tell some tales.  my favorite was when i answered the phone and couldn’t speak through the silent heaving.

hmmmm that’s good.  i’ll leave you with that.

xo

this world runs on liquefied dinosaurs

totally true, by the way.  these are the sorts of conversations the girls and i have in the car.

alizah told me you could die if you eat too much poop and we all laughed.  then we laughed again.

she wants to sign up for craft fairs this summer, too.  her dad and i were talking about it when i met him tonight to pick her up.  she and one of her friends started making things out of duct tape (remember the duct tape wallet craze a few years back?) - but these girls are making crowns and coming up with their own clever twists on the duct tape wallet, like making teeny tiny ones and putting them on key chain rings.  she may take after her mama after all.

there was this moment when we were driving and i saw the long line of cars creeping along in the oncoming lane and i thought it was totally bazaar that there are little people in these big, shiny, fast machines zipping around here and there without seeing each other’s eyes or height.  the moment passed.  i think i’m just exhausted and fighting mae’s never ending fever (she came down with it on thursday and will be going back to school tomorrow - finally.)

in other news, i’ve got the first round of patterns out to testing (insert squeals), a huge and hopefully final yarn order is headed to my door step, and my proposal is off to my editor in chief, the boy.  he comes in handy that one.  

ahhhhh

the next round of patterns for testing will be ready to go next week.  if you’re interested, send me a message through the contact form and let me know.  i’ll get the list out soon after.  i can’t begin to describe how crucial you testers are and how much I LOVE YOU GUYS!

xo