Men plan, God laughs

Well, my little plan hasn't gone quite like I'd intended. My Ravellenics effort went down in flames when 3 of the 4 children decided it would be fun to all start running fevers at basically the same time. Joseph is the only one who, thus far, has escaped illness. Kent and I chalk it up to the awesome antibodies and natural immunity I'm passing on to him at every meal. :-)

The projects I started will be completed, just not in the next several days, which was my original goal. I can't talk too much about one of them as it will be a Christmas gift for someone who might be reading this right now.

The progress on the quilt has been halted during my Ravellenics push, but since I just "tendered my resignation" in that area this morning and admitted defeat, I can now pick back up with the quilting without feeling that sense of panic or disloyalty that has attacked me these past couple of weeks every time I even looked at a new pattern on Ravelry.

So, I should have some updated photos in the next week or so, time and sick children permitting. :-)


Craft on!

Much too much

Yes, I'm aware that its been almost a year (!) since I last posted. Life as a full-time mother of 4+husband+dog is constantly teetering on the brink of Crazy Chaos Precipice, so the blog was the first sacrifice.

I haven't been idle in the craftiness department, though. Quite the opposite. I'm now the proud owner of a lovely spinning wheel I fondly refer to as "Hermione". With her help I have created a couple of beautiful and original yarns. 

"Dreamsicle"--2 ply fingering weight
80/20 merino/silk

"Faeryland"--2 ply laceweight
60/40 merino/bamboo

I have also been knitting, of course, and have begun quilting a congratulations quilt for my sister, the future lawyer.

Yes, I'm hand quilting it. No, it's not small. Yes, it will be ready for Christmas. No, I'm not crazy.

Also, the Ravellenics kick off Friday! In a nutshell, the Ravellenics is a knitting and crochet competition of sorts that follows along with the Olympics. The basic goal is to challenge yourself, and participants join teams--I'm a member of Team SHERlocked this year, because I'm just cool like that.

I'll be back soon to update on the quilt, as well as my progress (or lack thereof) with my chosen Ravellenic challenges.

Craft on! :-)

The madness is abating.

We're getting settled into our new home in San Antonio and life is beginning to return to its previous level of chaos. Hopefully I will have some updates on my WIPs soon, complete with new pictures of my progress. That is, as soon as I find which box my camera/computer connecter is in...

I am humbled.

Today, I am thankful and ashamed of my selfishness.

As I sit here holding my well-fed, happy infant son and watch my daughters play with an abundance of toys while dressed in their clean, new clothes in our large home, protected from the sun and wind, I realize how insulated my life is.

Why was I blessed to have been born in this country, where I have grown up with every opportunity and have never had to go to sleep hungry at night when so many others do?
Why have I always taken for granted the religious freedoms I enjoy simply for having been born an American?
Why have I not spent every spare second of the last 29 years of my life on my knees, thanking God for everything I have???

No more. From this day forward, I will take full advantage of the freedoms I have, thus far, mostly taken for granted.

If you can relate to any of these thoughts, please consider donating to an organization that helps those most in need, here and around the world. This one is one of my favorites.

  

A new Blessed in Heaven!

The Royal Wedding was pretty cool, but it just didn't hold a candle to this.

Happy birthday, C-Monkey!

There hasn't been much progress on the shawl front, but I have a good excuse....

We had a fabulous time Saturday celebrating my middle child's second year of life! Almost my entire family was in attendance, and great fun (as well as burgers, cake and ice cream) was had by all.

Now that the madness of party planning has ended, it's back to the frantic struggle to finish the Mystery Shawl in time for my cousin's wedding at the end of May. 34 days sounds like a long time, but I also have to allow at least 8 hours for blocking. It may come down to pinning this shawl out on one of the hotel beds the Friday night before the big day.

I should probably go ahead and add "blocking pins" to my packing list for that weekend...

Current WIP

That's Work In Progress, for you non-crafty folk. This actually is not my only current WIP--as a knitter, having only one project on the needles at a time breaks some unwritten yarny rule. This is also the case with quilting, spinning, stitching....basically any form of handwork. We are a fickle, fickle group.

But I digress.

This is a portion of the "In Dreams" mystery shawl that I'm knitting with the Lord of the Rings Knit-along group on Ravelry . This particular pattern is based on Galadriel's crown, and is designed by Susan Pandorf. (If you're a knitter who enjoys knitting lace, look her up on Ravelry. Her designs are beautiful.) A mystery shawl is exactly what it sounds like--the designer sends out the pattern in sections (called "clues") over a predetermined period of time. After completing all the clues, you have a finished project, in this case a shawl. Part of what I love so much about the "mystery shawl" concept is that you have no idea what the finished product will look like once it's done. Very exciting.

I'm about 1/3 of the way through Clue 4, and Clue 6 will be released this Friday. Yes, I'm behind, but as my 3 children still expect to be fed and cared for during the day this can't be helped. Truth be told, I'm actually not as far behind as I expected to be at this point, but the state of my house might be a clue as to why...

I'm truly loving this pattern. The lace is gorgeous and the color is perfect for a spring/summer shawl. Coincidentally, it also perfectly matches the dress I'm wearing to my cousin's wedding next month. If I can manage to finish it, (fingers crossed, everyone) it will be the perfect accessory.