So Many Distractions

I'd love to tell you I'm sorry for not posting in almost 2 months.  But you know what?  I'm really not.  I have no pressure here to post constantly.  I don't feel like my readers are pressuring me either.  And I've had life to deal with.  Alot going on right now for me and blogging just hasn't been on my things to do. I am however sorry that I haven't really wanted to blog.  I think that so much of it has to do with my toddler.

Little Miss A on Mother's Day

And toddler really is the only way to describe her now.  Baby definitley doesn't fit anymore.  She runs me ragged.  She is constantly getting into things. We are constantly telling her no, pulling her down from climbing furniture, and dealing with tantrums.  She's hit the terrible twos quite early.  She's also been sick 4 times already this year, which of course doesn't help the behavior any and makes it even more challenging.  It's a big reason why I haven't touched my blog.  Why I haven't touched much at all.

Oak Trail Hat

That's not all of the stress in my life.  I can't go into detail (for the safety of my husband and anyone else in his battalion) but my husband is deploying soon.  Sometime in the next few months.  This will be our first time going through a deployment while married and of course the first time with a baby.  It amazes me how much there is to do before d-day, as if it isn't stressful enough knowing he's going to be gone.  But man, I swear this time is more stressful than the actual time away will be!  It doesn't help knowing that we have every weekend packed with plans already and we will be doing some traveling.  Needless to say, its very possible you will see more posts about Army life and possibly some venting.  Everyone told my husband couples get into more fights before a deployment than any other time - I'm not surprised one bit.

Spring Foliage Mitts

I wouldn't say all this has put a halt to my knitting, but it sure has slowed the train down a bit.  I've finished three things in the past few months.  Two of these projects were for the Alana Dakos KAL that was with Subway Knits.  I made the Oak Trail Hat and the Spring Foliage Mitts.  The mitts I think will be a Christmas gift for my Grandma.  The Oak Trail Hat was gifted to my Aunt (In Law).  I finished it while visiting the family and she took quite a shine to it.  I decided it was such a nice, quick knit that it didn't really need to come home with me.  I do, however, want to make another one.  The construction is quite unique and it was very easy and fun to knit up.

Mrs. Tumnus Shawl

I also finished the Mrs. Tumnus Shawl by Eskimimi (on a side note, if you have checked out her blog Eskimimi Makes, I highly suggest it!).  I've never made a shawl from the outside in and this was a new challenge to me.  I will say that this project is what pushed me into charts - rather than reading the written directions like I always have.  It was lace on both sides and the chart just all of a sudden really made sense to me!  This shawl turned out gorgeous. I actually ran out of yarn and had to find a contrasting color for the center.  I wasn't so sure at first but after I knit it, I fell in love.  I almost decided to keep it, but I made it for my husbands Grandmother and I know she's going to love it.  In just a few weeks I'm going to be able to give it to her in person - only the second time I'll ever be meeting her.  I can't wait!

Stripe Study Shawl & Socks On A Plane

On the needles I have a few things going on.  I started some simple stripe socks a while back with some Knit Picks Feleci and was too bored with it so I ripped and started the Socks On A Plane pattern by Laura Linneman.  Much better for my brain right now.  Also have the Stripe Study Shawl on the needles in yummy, bright Wollmeise!

Lettuce Pullover (its more navy and less gray than it seems here)

Last but not least, a blast from the past!  I started the Lettuce Pullover in March of 2011.  Didn't even get to the sleeves when I got pregnant and decided I didn't want to finish a sweater I wouldn't be able to try on.  It went in hibernation through both moves, then got unpacked into the hibernation stuff.  Last week I pulled it out.  It's been on my "things to do" list for this year and I looked it over, looked at the pattern and really thought I was going to have to pull it out so I started looking at the other patterns I could make with the yarn and I kept coming back to the Lettuce.  Well, I thought if I'm just going to pull it out (i didn't know what size needle I knit it in!) I might as well try it first then pull it out if I can get it right.  Tried sliding the stitches to one needle, a size six, which I soon discovered wasn't the right size for my gauge even though it was what the pattern called for.  I switched down to size 5 and I'm on the right needle.  And now I'm almost half way done!  So excited to really finish a sweater!  Finally - linking up to Tami's Amis WIP Wednesday.  Nice to have you back if you're a reader and thanks for visiting.  Come back again if you are new!

4KCBWDAY2 A Mascot Project

Your task today is to either think of or research a project that embodies that house/animal. It could be a knitting or crochet pattern – either of the animal itself or something that makes you think of the qualities of that house.

Alternatively it could be a type or colour of yarn, or a single button. Whatever you choose, decide upon a project and blog about how and why it relates to your house/creature.

Be the bee. It's hard not to be the bee. So many projects on the needles all at once. So many bright colored yarns always calling my name! I do have to admit however, I've been flocking towards more natural colors just recently. I feel this may have to do with the Botanical Knits KAL I've immersed myself in, hosted by Subway Knits.

There's another reason I've been keeping coveted for a while now. Shh.. It's a secret, okay? It's not easy to wear bright colors. I know, surprising! I find that I give so many of my projects away. I've come to a realization that so many projects are gifted because I don't ever wear the colors I k it the wonderful patterns out of, no matter how much I love the yarn.

I think I have to figure out a way to tame the beast that is the bee in me. I will never stop being drawn to bright colors, but there must be a way to tone them down. This has gotten me thinking about stitch patterns and textures that help to camouflage the brights. I've discovered the linen stitch and I hope to create a cowl. In keeping with the bee theme, I would love to knit this in bright yellow! Combined with black of course to help tone down the yellow.

I'm thinking a pattern similar to this but a bit tighter around the neck. Yellow and black.  Or another bright color combine with a deeper color.  Opinions?

4KCBWDAY1 The House Cup

A busy bee.  A worker bee.  That's me.  Today we are to pick our house, and I feel that I and my knitting fit into The House Of Bee.  Apparently I am not alone.  Last I checked, 56% of participants fit into the same house.

The House of Bee: Bees are busy and industrious, but can flit from one interesting project to the next as bright and shiny things capture their interest.

I'd say this description fits me well.  But it's not really the busy part, or the flitting from one thing to another that does me in.  It's the "bright and shiny things" bit.  I could sit here and describe what this means, but I don't think it's necessary.  The easiest thing would be to show you. 

See what I mean?  BRIGHT & SHINY!  To read more Day One posts search 4KCBWDAY1 with your favorite search engine or go check out the thread about it on The Blog Hub.

4th Annual Knit & Crochet Blog Week!

I cannot believe it is already that time of year! This is the fourth year in a row I will be participating, and maybe it will get rid of my blogging ennui. I've been out of sorts with blogging lately. In fact, I've really been out of sorts with a lot of things lately. I apologize for my absence. If you don't know about KCBW please go check out Eskimimi Makes. Here you can find the topics for each post, but I encourage you to look throughout her blog for more information. I also highly recommend checking out her patterns!

A few things I love about this week:

} you are given prompts so you have topics for a whole week of blogging

} they require more creativeness than you might usually use in your blogging and sometimes it makes you "step out of the box"

}the prompts can really make you evaluate yourself and your craft, which is really necessary a few times a year and can help you become a better you, whether that means a better writer, blogger or even knitter

} each post every year has a unique tag so if the bloggers use the tags correctly you can easily Google the tag and find every post from that day to read. Sometimes my favorite part of the week is reading other people's posts!

It starts today so I will be making a separate post for Day 1.

Action Packed Week

I forgot to post my Gratitude Sunday. Wrote half of it. Does that happen to anyone else? I do it more often than I'd like to admit. Today is WIP Wednesday. I have nothing to share. One thing on the needles and one hibernating.

But today I'm driving to St Louis. Ill be spending the week with a bit of my husbands family. One of which is a good friend and a knitter, and has volunteered a guest post some time on the future so I will keep you updated on that. So there will be some casting on this week. There will also be lots if LYS visits. There will also be knitting so I sure hope this means lots to blog about this week! Stay Tuned!!