the hustle

i can’t believe it’s been a full week since i was here last. the boy called me yesterday wondering where i was and why i hadn’t been posting updates on the birds. hmm. good questions.

to start, let’s start at the beginning. easter? we stayed home and i cleaned and we ate food but nothing fancy and it was a real “scotts” kind of holiday celebrating in that my mama and step-dad don’t do holidays because they are hard working people and the best holiday is the uneventful one.

there were eggs of course and easter cookie house decorating.

and this past week, there was knitting (duh)

this is the fastest little sweater whipped up in a day! find the pattern here

remember the yarn i spun… here? i spun it into 3 color ways by plying the light and dark together, then the light by itself and the dark by itself. i really had no idea what to knit so i decided a circle would be it. good round midnight moon. it’s small having used size US 6 needles and measures only 24” in diameter, but i lalalalalove it. you can find the pattern i followed here. i didn’t do any sort of edging though, just a few rows in garter. ta-da!

and there was even a date night! we went out for first friday to see the wonderfully talented sweet heart that is maryanne who had some work in the primary colors exhibit. then we ran into all of our friends that we only see when we venture into the city for events such as this.

we even ran into hubbie’s carl and went out for drinks. we were really getting crazy. ha!

and there were early morning painting parties

a busy week, yes. but on top of all of this - i’ve been on a massive cleaning spree. each day i tackle one or more rooms. the downstairs bathroom, lovingly referred to as “the kid toilet” got a good scrub and painting. there were muddy dog scratches on the walls, kid doodling, scrapes and marks of all mysterious sorts and painting was the only suitable option. then, i emptied the kitchen and filled boxes of unnecessaries, cleaned, and rearranged. a marvelous thing happened after that. with such a stunning kitchen and bathroom, the rest of the house looked a lot like a shit hole. the play area and toy closet were next. i plowed through there the next day. i cleaned out the laundry room a while back, but it got a touch up, too. yesterday was my work area and the kid’s room. granted, the kid’s room was such a disaster it ended up being more of a cleaning for sanity spree than cleaning for clarity spree. the work area on the other hand was the most profound transformation.

i had so much that i held onto because i thought i’d hem those or fix that zipper or transform that stained shirt into something... someday. but, as time went on i realized someday never came and finding fabric i bought soon after having alizah (11 years ago) was the final straw. drawers of remnants and scraps and bits of yarn and JUNK got dumped. goodbye. i tell the kids before each holiday that they must clear out the toys they no longer love to make way for new ones and i realized i need to do the same. i mean, not with yarn of course, but you know… other stuff.

the last room is our bedroom and the real issue is laundry - like, when is it not? and that feels pretty damn good. we’re reusers for sure but i suppose there’s a fine line between reuse and hoard and i’m feeling that out. slowly. there is a lot more painting that needs to be done (like the whole house) but i’m totally ok with waiting for the next big push of energy. no forcing. no fighting. it’s counter productive anyway.

now, for the birds. our birds are crazy. they lay a lot of eggs, you see. they sit on them for a couple days, then ignore them for the most part. every time we get ready to dump the nest, there are more freaking eggs. we tease them that they’re bad parents, but i don’t think they understand. as with most things around here, we’re just gonna feel it out and when the time is right - the nest is outta here.

and finally, for the biggest news here in the strangehower home… we got our little mae registered for kindergarten. she’s so excited - bounding with joy actually - and she got alizah’s kindergarten teacher which nearly sent her into a baby heart attack. her happiness is nudging my gloom aside. but, still. bittersweet.

so, with that, i believe we’re up to speed. boy? are you out there? xo

frog. and not the amphibious kind.

it happens.  every knitter knows the power of the frog… or the devastation as it can sometimes be.  today i frogged after hours, days rather, of searching for a solution that would never be found because when a cast on edge is wrong, it’s wrong.  screw it.  i ripped it all out at work and (thankfully) mare was on her way with my new eyes so i didn’t have to cry into my knitting bag.  she was wearing her short row sweater(!!!) and it looked absolutely fantastic!  don’t ask me why she hasn’t posted proper pics of it to the ravelry page (geez).  oh ya, my new eyes!

HA!  mare’s hubby hooked it up.  they’re really quite fantastic people to have in your corner.  now, i see - in 3D and it’s hard to believe i was looking at the world the way i was for so long - flat and blurred.  hmmm.  interesting.

any ways, it was a good week despite a completely failed pattern writing adventure.  a really spectactularly fantastic week now that i look back on it (with my new 3D hindsight).  my needlework wasn’t a total bust… i did manage to whip up this sweater.  yes, i said whip up as it only took about 3 days and with no actual pattern holding me down the stitches magically created this recycled yarn into the perfect little pull-over.  i think the wine helped.  

my two favorite moments of the week:

i totally have this thing for glass milk bottles and i’m sort of violently jealous that my mother’s fresh herbs are growing so prolifically right now on her kitchen counter.  what the smack is that about?  i’m eternally thankful for bunches of these herbs she hands out every time i leave the house like parting gifts.  i also really enjoyed looking down at that enormous ball of yarn.  isn’t it divine?  it was to become a hooded cropped jacket.  it’s now back to being a ball of yarn (or two).  blast.  oh, it’s cascade bulky economy or something… 450+ yards a hank.  pretty nifty i’d say.

my two favorite mae moments of the week:

the girl ringing us up couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw mae sipping on that jungle juice.  she was at the register i worked a whopping 14 years ago.  wow.  that just made me throw up a little.  moving on.  mae also loves to take shots of wheat grass.  this kid.  she’s a complicated melody.  oh, and that snuggle sandwich?  ya, i know.

it snowed a little, too.  and it’s COLD.  we’ve been dodging winter with 40-50 degree weather and it finally caught up to us.  i picked alizah up from school the other day and when we came home mae was shoveling the lawn into her sled.  she calls it a sleigh and i’m never going to correct her.  the kids are ready for the serious white stuff and i’ll admit it sounds ok to me right now.  most things are sounding ok and i’m finding myself more optimistic than usual.  hubs starts his new job on the 23rd, he’s almost completely off the cigs, i’ll be quitting my job (again), and i may get the opportunity to teach a knitting class this summer.  let’s knock on wood and say, once again, thank you.  more please.

thank you, more please.

gratitude.  it’s been a topic here.  choosing happiness and joy over defeat and sorrow.  our alizah is prone to seeing the glass as half empty and it was time for a talk.  she is a quiet child, mostly.  she is brilliant and beautiful and secretive and sly.  she’s a slippery one and i normally choose people with grit to share my time with.  it’s funny how we have been gifted to each other.  our talks often shift toward the side of lectures and this one was no different.  it’s hard to keep on the side of conversation when she is so tight-lipped.  how do you get through to a pre-tween that the cast shadow is only one perspective?  all you have to do is turn around and the light will be shining in your face.  so, i force happiness upon her for now.  my mare.  my lovely, kind mare has been buried under the burden of bad news repeatedly and yet i can still hear the smile in her voice.  my heart aches for everything she’s been through these past months - now more than ever.  i’ll follow suit.  i’ll smile through the pain like i’ve done so many times before. we’ll be the example still.

i had a dream last night that mae and i were driving through a cemetery on a cold, stormy night.  in the dream i got creeped out and then was suddenly walking down a dark hallway toward a morgue.  i could see a man’s body on a table at the end of the hall and i grabbed for the wall, then was transported to a crowded room where hubs and i were arguing about money.  a man came over and emptied his pockets giving me $1.37.  i burst into tears knowing he had just giving us everything he had to his name. more often than not my dreams are telling me stories.  i’ll stay aware.

i’m staying quite busy on the pattern writing front and am eager to move forward still.  i wrestled with a fairly simple bonnet pattern all last week and still have one arm to complete on millie (pictured above).  that bonnet.  so silly.  i was the bonnet lady for so long and there i was knitting, ripping, knitting, ripping, writing, scratching, knitting some more.  i thought i’d gone mad.  it’s those simple solutions that can be so damn elusive!  in the end, i finished and am quite happy with the outcome.  millie will be done soon enough and dellie is in testing.  lauren sent me pics the other day and so far so good.  god love her for working the 2T.  this is going to be such a relief when she’s finished.  i decided it was time to knit something for myself.  i need it right now - so one sweater was ripped to make way for the new.

i do this.  it’s actually one of my favorite things about knitting and something that makes most people have a knee-jerk reaction.  once i’ve knit something and i feel i’ve gotten my fare use of it, i will rip it out and re-stash the yarn or cast on immediately.  if i sew something i can never have that yard of fabric back, but if i knit something, that yarn is as perfectly useable as the day i bought it or spun it or what ever.  it’s the ultimate recycling and this yarn is five inches away from it’s new life already.

xo

p.s. squam registration opened today!  i wish i wish i wish i was going.  another year.  or, maybe i’ll surprise myself as i’ve resolved to do….

the busiest of them

these days, i mean…  i felt like i’d been treading water for far too long and now everything is magically falling into place just as it should.  it all comes in time.  the changes are coming to us like waves on the beach - sometimes slow and low, other times high and fierce.  we need it here.

the artisian fair is this weekend.  how is it here already?  i’m scrambling to get an inventory, make tags, price (ugh), and find the gaps.  there are always gaps.  i’ll post more about it later.  right now i’m totally burnt out on it and i feel the weight of all the things i’d still like to get done.  the booties are my fave though, so i’ll share them now.

and, yes, it’s true.  i finished the short row sweater in record time. so sorry kal friends.  i sort of smoked you guys.  it was completely unintentional!  on the bright side, i am completely smitten with the finished product.  mare tried in vain to get decent pics of it during our craft date so i guess those will have to wait.  here are pics of it during blocking:

not the greatest, i know.  but, you get the idea!

and in other news, it’s official!  (thanks goodness that’s over with.)

love.  xo