By Lisa Gutierrez on 07/31/2009  So, it’s hard to knit during naptime when your child refuses to nap. Who would have known?! Anyway, I [thought I] discovered the trick to getting him away from the yarn and needles I am using–give him his own. I found the biggest needle I have and let him hold it. He was in awe at first–shiny! kinda cold! bluuue!–and I knit a bit. Then, he gnawed on the end for about a minute (it’s a little bendy) and I knit some more. Finally, he went wild and started using it like a drumstick, banging it on things like the carpet, a hot wheels car, a pillow, etc. Things were going good and I got to knit for a solid little while. Then…then, he walked over to me, quite adorably, and SMACKED THE HECK OUT OF ME WITH THE HUGEASS KNITTING NEEDLE. I yelped and he of course thought it was hilarious and proceeded to hit me again and again and again until I was off the floor and standing by my craft table. Time for another idea, me thinks.
I got some knitting done, though! I presume I’m about 40-50% done with this. I would know for certain, if I could locate my tape measure. Nathan (4 years old now!) has a habit of commandeering it for play.
Jason (husband. remember him?) will be going on his bi-annual Las Vegas business trip at the end of next month. About a week after the ex-toddler starts pre-K. These two huge events have prompted me to pick out my next major knitting project. I’m finally…FINALLY!…going to knit myself a sweater. I’m about 90% certain I’m going to knit a February Lady Sweater. It’s based on a Zimmermann pattern from my favorite knitting book ever (Knitter’s Almanac). How cool does it look? Very.
The attack puppy:
By Lisa Gutierrez on 07/29/2009 It has become increasingly more difficult to be crafty with my baby around. He’s not really a baby anymore, but rather a toddler–and a grabby one at that! It doesn’t help that everything he gets his chubby little hands on goes straight to his mouth. This includes, but is not limited to: crochet hooks, knitting needles (!), wool (i.e. FELT-ABLE) yarn, books, and printouts. Pretty much anytime I want to make something he has to be asleep or otherwise pre-occupied with more toddler-suitable playthings.
I started knitting a Mustard scarf (ravelry link) on Sunday and was only able to knit ONE repeat (that’s 4 rows, guys! on only 26 stitches! arg!) and then the same thing happened the next day–only one repeat! Andrew would drop whatever was in his hands and toddle to me as quickly as he could. He’d kinda swat at my needles & chuckle and once he even attempted to put his mouth over the end of one…WHILE I WAS KNITTING! Now that’s dedication! Anyway, what I’m getting at is this: there is a severe lack of knitting-productivity around here. I can get away with crocheting because I can sort of hide the hook in my fist, but I’ve had my fill of cupcakes, for now. So, I’m hereby dedicating all nap times to knitting! Well, at least the ones that don’t consist of tidying up or other “more important” (psssh) tasks. I leave you with a photo of my mustard scarf’s humble beginning:
and he who may be the reason I never finish:
By Lisa Gutierrez on 11/11/2008 I apologize for the neglect of this blog. It’s just hard to sit down and post when you have a chubby little guy pawing after you wanting milkies and lovies all day. I end up making things while I nurse him or when it’s late at night and all the boys have finally…finally!…gone to bed.
my sewing machine has taken a back seat to the fiber arts: knitting, crocheting, needlework. Those are all easy to do while you breastfeed. I have quite a few projects in my queue. MORE than I want to even talk about. I recently moved things around in my craft zone and piled all my “incompletes” on top of each other. really, a lot are “never starteds” and it makes me feel like I haven’t done ANYTHING in a long time. Ever since the beginning of my pregnancy, I’ve been less enthusiastic about crafting. On the other hand, I’ve been totally gung-ho about collecting craft supplies. Seriously! I don’t usually buy full-price, though. I gather coupons, I visit garage sales and thrift stores, and I scour closeouts. Just the other day, I visited a JoAnn that’s closing and bought 15 zippers! 15! I don’t even make things with zippers, BUT they were 90% off and I couldn’t resist. Who DOESN’T buy something that’s 90% off??? Crazy people, that’s for sure. I also bought a whole bunch of Gütermann thread at 80% off. The store closes (it’s actually moving to a new, BIGGER location) tomorrow and it’s making me anxious! I want to go right.this.very.minute. I think I may wipe them out of thread and zippers. They’re already out of useful yarn (wool) and only have yarn I’d pretty much never use (novelty). I would like to scour the remaining fabrics, but I usually have a baby attached to me and he gets fussy when I stop moving, so I tend to go in and come out really quick. Maybe I’ll check out the 90%-off remnants bin. There’s bound to be something in there I can use, right?
this is the chunk who keeps me from my sewing machine..  but I can make things like this while I nurse..  on the needles:  deliciously lemony socks
By Lisa Gutierrez on 09/18/2008
As many of you know, southeast Texas just got hit by a hurricane. I live in Houston, so my family and I “hunkered down” at my aunt’s house. Power went out before midnight, Friday evening, and isn’t predicted to come back on until after next Monday. That’s going to be a whole 10 days and 11 nights without power. They actually said it may be later, so who knows. Fortunately, my mother-in-law got her power back on Sunday afternoon. We’ve been here since Sunday evening. The boys and I only had to spend 2 nights in hot sticky weather. We are so thankful! My heart goes out to all those who lost their homes and/or loved ones as a result of the storm. Everyone in this area–be well!
Anywho…I brought 2 projects with me for hurricane fun. I sewed the buttons on the BSJ the first night. The next day, when the power was out, I brought out my embroidery project only to discover my embroidery floss had been chopped in various places. Guess who did that. Nathan! I remember the other day, finding my scissors where I never leave them (under my chair!). He must have climbed on the desk and fished them out of their container and tried to “cut” things. the floss is a mess and not salvageable. It’s in little hanks, so one cut makes like 30 pieces of string or something.
I can’t wait for more fall-like weather, so Andrew can wear his new sweater!
coconut buttons!
By Lisa Gutierrez on 07/19/2008
|
Disclosure You may find affiliate links and banners throughout my blog. I earn a small commission from purchases made through these links. It helps pay for keeping this blog running! All reviews and products are items I have personally used and loved. |
