Thanks.

A full week off with the kiddos and everyone is still accounted for. 
True, by Wednesday I was hunting down ingredients for my Bailey's recipe, which turned out fantastic by the way, but I digress. 
We've made it to Saturday. 
Accomplishments thus far... 2 hats I love and will have a hard time parting with. 
1 amazing turkey dinner, brining and smoking is definitely the way to go. 
Which lead to...Smoked turkey enchilada's with a chipotle cream sauce last night, enough said there.
Avoided the crowds on Black Friday.   Opting instead to purchase from my lovely computer and have it hand delivered to my door for free, all while receiving those 'doorbuster' prices that the masses were trampling each other for. 
Happy mom, soon to be even happier kids, bliss!!! 
Today, another Christmas project will hit the needles. 
A dinner not containing turkey will hit the table. 
Children will more than likely hit each other. 
And I will continue to give thanks for the privilege of being part of it all.

Coincidence?

Christmas knitting all consuming my brain, I retreated to my haven.  Footsteps on stairs followed by uncontrollable sobbing soon planted in my lap.

Elijah what happened?

muh, muh, my foooooot...

Arms encircle, tears ebb, tale of wrestling gone awry unfolds.

Wih,wih... will you make me some socks?

Um, sure baby I can do that.

Can you make them green and orange and blue???

Ummmm....hmmmmm...actually? 

Getting up I walk to 'the stash', rummaging until I find it.  The yarn.  The yarn I bought 3 years ago on a trip to Portland.  The yarn I spent way too much on, only to look at it upon my return and wonder what in the world would possess me to buy this yarn?  This green and orange and blue sock yarn??  3 years it sat and now tears have brought it forth.  Call it what you will.  I know this, this is True Christmas knitting.

Breathe.

It actually became humorous after a while.  Had a recipient in mind.  Picked the project, simply yet elegant.   Picked the yarn, yummy merino and cashmere.  Cast on 125 tiny stitches on 2's.  Knit 6 rows in pattern, that would be 750 stitches, only to discover a hole.  Hmmmm?   Rip it out start over.  125 tiny stitches, w/a 17 stitch lace pattern repeat.  Or was that 18?  Crap.  Whole pattern off.  Rip it out start over.  Cast on 125 tiny stitches, count them again to make sure....Can't get past 38, kids yelling, dog barking, 57, 58, 62, 71???   Arrrrg...put down till next day.   Cast on 125 tiny stitches using stitch markers every 10 so I wouldn't lose my place or my mind.  Cruising right along, brim complete!!! Hmmmm?  I have 5 button holes the picture has 3.  Sigh.  Reread pattern, read all project notes from others, still have 5, everyone else has 3, I'm a dork who apparently can't read, found my error.  Determined to sew the extra's shut I forge on.  Joining round!   Simple cross of one side to the other so button band will lay nicely on top of buttons, I've done this on pullovers, no biggie!!! Hmmmmm???   4 rows up, I realize my button holes are on the bottom and unless I think she'll enjoy buttoning it inside out something drastic needs to occur.  Drop all 6 crossed stitches back down 4 rows, recross and weave back up.  Honestly.  Time to decrease and be done with this demon hat.  "End of row 15 you'll have 84 stitches".   Um no.  More like 126, why yes I did read it wrong AGAIN and completely missed decreasing 42 stitches.   Quickly, throw extra 42 stitches in the final decrease mix so hat is not 3 feet long, bind off, throw on floor, stomp up and down, pick up, beat mercilessly on coffee table.  Breathe.  Place gently in bowl of warm soapy water, pat water out on towel, lay to shape, off to find buttons.

Grace.

One big gust and I'm suddenly blown right into Thanksgiving.  Best of intentions at updating the blog aside, life continues on at a pedal to the metal pace.  Project after project rolls off needles.  October birthed "Diamonds for Mom" an early birthday present.  Opting out of the zipper it called for, simple closure at the top of just her choosing.

"Football Hoodie" completed just before hunting season began.  A woolen behemoth to wrap around my love while he was stalking the big one.

Knee-highs for the girl rounded out football and soccer season.  Mindlessly knitting while little legs ran.

A quest for the perfect fall hat resulted in a cabled and brimmed chapeau, not sold on the brim a bit too Sherlock Holmes.  May rework this one in the days to come.

Successfully added 2 inches to a sweater I made last year and regreted binding off too early, now it's perfect!  Frogged and rewound another sweater I did last year and was forever irritated by.  Some mistakes are known only by me and some are blaringly obvious. 

Finally, Grace.  A cabled beauty I've been pining for since publication last year.  In keeping with my theme, I screwed it up.  Not once, but twice.  I know right where they are.  I know where it all went awry.  I also know where I recognized it, where I stopped what I was doing and where I moved forward, correctly.  No need to go back and try to fix it, wouldn't have mattered to anyone but me.  I know they're there.  Nobody else does and I kind of like it that way.

Comfortable.

The cooler nights have admittedly been getting to me.  Summer took so long to arrive I no longer care if it stays.  Pining for wool.  I not so jokingly tell my family we'll get an alpaca when we buy our house.  For now I'll make do with a simple sweater made of one. 

Kids at school, canning done for the year, garden putting it's energy into ripening the last fruits.  Nothing to plant.  No activities to plan. 

Frantic running from practice to games even finds it's rhythm.  Picnics packed, eating in the grass, knitting draped on lap, watching them run and run and run...

Lengthened waist.  Lengthened arms.  Left off buttons.  Simple stockinette body shows off the thick/thin baby alpaca blend.  Perfect for the morning walk to school, while the air is still crisp.  Turn on the radio and curl up with the second cup.  Is that a leaf that just fell?

Comfortable.

Ch..Ch..Ch..Changes

Trust me, my lack of posting is not an indication of a lack of knitting. 

Quite the contrary, I finished one sweater, another that's missing 1 1/2 sleeves and a third that all too soon will also need homes for arms. 

In other words, I'm knitting just not writing. 

I loved this pattern since I found it back in January. 

After reading about how to 'fit' my knits more, I knew it was time to take knowledge to needles and this was the platform.

I love it.  Once again, I had to make some changes because of me, not because of her pattern.  Her pattern was perfect.  I am not.  Change the gauge.  Change the length.  Change the increases.  Change, change, change.  Perfect?  No.  Still messed up on a lace row, saw it as it laid there blocking.  My eyes roll back, figures. 

Summer comes to an end and all the real changes rear their heads.  School starts for all, slowly, but starts nevertheless.  Would love to say I'm basking in the silence, needles clicking steadily away but I haven't found my rhythm, yet.  Still too twitchy. 

More change on the horizon.  It lays outstretched in one hand, while the other hand is firmly on my back.  Two hands to come together at a time only He knows.  Calm resolve in the Divine plan.

Day 4 of a long weekend.  Summers last stand, keeps windows closed and sprinklers on.  Round ball of wool becomes a collar, a shoulder, an elbow, a wrist. 

Everything changing right before my eyes.

Complicated.

Luckily, this one didn't smell.  100% silk so the potential was great.  Airy light, rippling drape, just in time for Summer. 
Looks ridiculously complicated.
All over lace,elegant.
4 different lace charts, scary.
Customizing size away from pattern, confusing.
Seaming all pieces together, boring.
Complicated?
No.
One week of knitting, not even every day. 
Including a full day of ripping back, after a failed attempt at therapy knitting. 
Lace is for a clear head. 
Rhythmically counting off each stitch.  28,29,30,31...only to return again 1,2,3,4...over and over until all that seems so complicated, ceases.
The pulse that pounds the temple, slows.  7,8,9,10...
Ears open.   Ah, so that's what He's been trying to say. 
Priorities firmly re-assessed.  Back to my simple life and it's amazing here.

sniff..sniff...

I have a tendency to over complicate things.  I'm female, it's what I do.  Sometimes, I crave simplicity. 

Smooth lines. 

Subtle detail. 

Calm. 

Peace. 

Sometime, that's exactly what I get.  More often, everything just stinks. 

Quite literally that's what I got with this last project.  Simple, quick, gleaming silk reflecting suns rays. Perfect. 

Unfortunately it smelled awful.  What seemed so easy, what seemed so indulgent, what seemed so right, just stank. 

A camping trip in the great outdoors and a soak in some serious fabric softener has tamed the beast but I know what lies under the surface. 

Forever tainted.    

Don't get me wrong, I still love the pattern. 

The kids enthusiastically helped pick out the buttons.  Cap sleeves for summer vs. the full length originals. 

Still, simple. 

Still, me. 
Casted on, hooded pullover for the man. 
Celebrating our 13th  Anniversary today, this next one is for you my love.

Seven.

I can't even say I would like to have my days filled with a general fluff of the house in the morning and complete freedom from there on out. 
I'm too twitchy.
Luckily, that is not the case, so here I am playing catch up, writing the girls birthday blog a full week and a half late. 
I'll do my best to leave out pinings for the oldest who is making his homecoming from camp today. 
I'll also leave out any gratuitus mentions of all the mommy time the youngest got with brother at camp and sister at grandma's.  I won't talk about how we sat outside the yogurt shop slurping chocolate off gummy worms or how we poured over a bike map spread before us in McDonald's Playland, plotting our morning ride. 
No. 
This is about the girl.

Quickly approaching age 3, she still didn't talk.  If you've met Ethan you would know why.  It was time for a girls trip.  I loaded her up, fuzzy pink backpack with the horsey sticking out the back and we headed for the airport.  Nodding in confidence to all the "how cute's" and "isn't she adorable's". 
I knew. 
She was.
That trip marked her first major change.
She was able to speak!
She was also infatuated with the in flight bathroom and potty trained herself.  Nice bonus!
In a blink, seven candles ignite on birthday grasshopper pie. 
An unconventional request from an unconventional girl.
Waiting 12 weeks to change out her first pair of earrings, inaugural pair removed, she refuses to let me near her.  Holes closing before my eyes. 
This was hard.
I was mad.

Not so much that I paid for the process and wanted a refund.  Well, maybe a little.

But that she kept repeating over and over "I'm not strong enough,  I'm not strong enough"

What?!

The little waif that climbs to the top and over anything...not strong enough?

The princess that tackles her older, larger brother without smudging her eyeshadow...not strong enough?

The athlete that takes no prisoners on the way to the goal, not afraid to hone her elbow jab skills on her own team mates...not strong enough??
Seven.
Will of her own firmly established.  Lineage recognized.  Chuckling softly at family traits awaiting her own brood.  I love my girl.  Her mental fortitude alone confirms the strength she believes she lacks.
You are mightier than you know my daughter.

Blessed.

When the random thought to knit overtook me, I figured my family at the very least would think I was insane, or more insane.  But that persistent voice in my head won out, needles and yarn purchased I settled in.  Granted it was hours of me locked in my room screaming at tiny needles and unruly, squeaky acrylic but I did in the end succeed. 

My first box of yarn arrived shortly there after.  A gift from a friend who acquired it for free on Craigslist.  

Addiction established. 

A hat gifted to my mom, resulted in two huge bags passed on from one of her friends, excited that I was taking it up. 

Most recently, a Christmas hat for my sister leads to conversations of yarn with her friend and now another bag ends up on my doorstep.

 

I still don't know the why behind me picking up needles. 

I don't know if I'll ever be privy to that information, if the stars will align and it'll all make sense. 

I'm more than confident in the necessity though.  I gave up on coincidence a long time ago.  For whatever reason, bag after bag keeps finding it's way in, it's not my place to question, simply to cast on. 

My "Thank You" hat knit for my sister's friend.  I love the cable band and cloche styling, hope she does too!