Goals for 2009

Happy New Year to everyone! I am hoping that 2009 turns out to be an easier year than 2008 was. Of course it's already off to a better start since we're almost three whole days into the new year and no disasters have occurred yet (knocking on wood until my knuckles are sore!).

While reading a few other blogs that I follow I noticed one post containing photos of all the items the poster had knitted in the year just past. Needless to say, I functioned nowhere near that level of efficiency last year. In fact the vast majority of things I knitted were out the door and gone before I even thought to photograph them and blog about them. My goal for this year is to at least mention every project that I work on during the year and to post more frequently.

Right now I'm knitting a small Christmas tree skirt. We have a small fiber optic Christmas tree that's about two feet tall which sits on the corner of the piano (in addition to the regular tree in front of the living room window). When we were setting it up I decided to spiff it up a bit, and dug a tree skirt out of my craft show box to put around the little tree. While it is very pretty it is of course much too large for the little tree. So after all the commotion of Christmas stockings and other craziness was finished, I decided that this would be a good time to knit a tree skirt that was made for that specific tree. I started working on it yesterday morning, and I've frogged one section about five times now. Finally I realized that I needed to make more sections and therefore more increases per row so that it would be more flat as opposed to conical (did I mention that I'm knitting by the seat of my pants as opposed to following a pattern?). Once I adjusted the number of sections it has gone very well and I just need to keep knitting for a while to make it bigger.

Next projects on the knitting list (not necessarily in this order):

1. finish up the two prayer shawls I started before the Christmas rush - one for a local friend who lost her son unexpectedly this fall and one for a five-year-old who has recently been treated for cancer;
2. an out-of-season Christmas stocking - I've had the pattern idea floating around in my head ever since I finished up the last set of stockings right before Christmas but really didn't want to tackle yet another stocking right away;
3. a fairisle hat with earflaps for a dear friend of mine - yet another patternless project. E sent me a photo from a catalog and asked me to make a hat like it for her. She didn't want to buy the one from the catalog because a) it had a little bit of green in it and she hates green; and b) she would rather give her money to me than this impersonal company;
4. several pairs of socks for myself (actually I hope to knit at least one item every month this year that I get to KEEP!), my beloved spouse, and other fortunate family members;
   
5. a couple of felted bags to sell on my Etsy website, along with a purse organizer that I've been designing in my head for a couple of months now;
6. at least a couple more snowball hats to get the pattern transcribed for sale on my Etsy site; and
7. the ever-present cotton dishcloths that I work on when I need a totally mindless knitting project.
   

I'd guess that this list ought to keep me busy for at least most of January. If not, there are at least another half-dozen projects waiting in the wings when I get these finished up. If I totally run out of ideas I also have a fair amount of WIPs and UFOs that I can tackle as well.

An Actual Post About Knitting

In looking over the recent posts in this blog, I noticed that while the title of the blog is "the knitlady" I have included very few posts that were actually specifically about knitting. So I decided that it's time to post something that actually pertains to knitting.

I've been knitting since the age of nine. When I was ten I knitted a blue sweater which I actually wore a few times before I outgrew it. During high school I started taking my knitting to school, where I first knitted in study hall and then eventually started knitting during classes. The first Christmas that I was married I made an afghan for my new in-laws, which impressed them to no end. When I was first pregnant, I knitted an outfit and a sweater set and crocheted a blanket which I used to bring each of my three sons home from the hospital. (Katie never wore the coming-home outfit since she was born at home.) Over the years there have been times when I knitted quite a bit and other times when I hardly knitted at all. The past several years I've been in a pretty much constant knitting phase again. My kids tease me about knitting in my sleep (I really don't!) and knitting while I'm reading, but they all like the hand-knitted socks that they receive occasionally for Christmas or other special occasions. My daughter Katie once introduced me to a friend that she had brought home as "my mom who is a knitaholic". (Katie knows how to knit, too, but she rarely admits it any more.) And everyone who knows me knows that I don't like to drive because it cuts into my knitting time.

I've had many people comment to me that they "don't have the patience" to knit. Well, I'd have to say that in all honesty I don't have the patience to NOT knit. I find that I am much calmer and more focused with knitting in my hands than without; therefore the knitting goes with me almost everywhere I go. It's a great stress reliever under less than ideal circumstances and I've learned to keep a bag packed with some sort of project at all times, in case of emergencies. This habit served me well when Mike had his heart attack, as I grabbed the knitting bag on my way out the door to the hospital. When we got him home three days later and I unpacked the bag, I had 14 dishcloths finished. So I managed my stress levels while simultaneously adding to my craft show stock. It doesn't get much more efficient than that!

The only thing I haven't figured out yet is how to knit while I'm blogging.

Why I Haven't Been Blogging

Okay, so it has been a couple of months since I actually posted a blog entry here. I haven't really forgotten to post, but life has been REALLY hectic for a while (even more than usual). Right after Thanksgiving I had a request from my grandson's mommy to knit Christmas stockings for her niece and nephews. She picked out the patterns and I bought the yarn, and I thought we were good. Unfortunately along with everything else going on, it took a lot longer than I had expected to get the stockings done, so I was knitting every spare moment right up until Christmas Eve.

Meanwhile, my Aunt Pat had fallen and broken her hip at the beginning of December. Due to pre-existing medical issues she wasn't able to have surgery immediately to repair her hip, and her condition rapidly deteriorated. Unfortunately she passed away in early January.

Right after Christmas I left for a week on a mission trip with three other members of my church, along with my brother, Ron. We had an incredible week doing drywall finishing, painting, and cleanup at two houses in Slidell, LA, which had been heavily damaged during Hurricane Katrina. An awesome experience, but, again, not much time for blogging.

Then just as I thought things were going to calm down and be reasonable again (I'm not sure why I ever think that any more), my dear husband Mike suffered a serious heart attack on Super Tuesday, right after voting. (I think that definitely says something about our choices in this election!) He was transported to Carlinville Area Hospital for initial treatment before being transferred to St. John's Hospital in Springfield. During catheterization it was determined that he had a 90% blockage of one major artery in the heart and a stent was placed at that time. The Springfield doctor said that the excellent emergency treatment he received in Carlinville did much to reduce the severity and long-term consequences of the attack. He was released from the hospital on Friday, February 8, and has been doing very well ever since.

So now that I've pretty much given up on the idea of my life ever being calm and under control, I decided that the first thing I needed to do was get the blog going again. I still have lots of cool knitting tales and grandson stories to share, and one of these days I'll actually figure out how to post photos here too.

Meanwhile, Mike's doctors have said that it's important to have plenty of fiber, so I guess I need to go buy yarn.

Guess I'm a Blog Slacker Now!

Well, after two posts fairly close together at the beginning, I've been reminded that it is now close to two weeks since I have posted. And how on earth did it get to be December already?? Didn't we just have Easter a couple months ago? Of course it's been pretty hectic around here, but what else is new?? There certainly has been a lot of blog fodder going on in my life, from how we spent Thanksgiving to my craft shows and knitting projects, not to mention the latest adventures in the life of the world's cutest grandson (I promise I'll have photos of Kindon up soon). However, after Thanksgiving weekend and all the accompanying commotion, I got up on Monday morning with a serious case of brain mush. I think I just went on overload, because I couldn't remember half of what I needed to be doing, couldn't focus enough to get some of my complex (and very time-specific) knitting projects started, and basically didn't accomplish a thing all week. Here's hoping that the coming week will be a little more productive.

I finished up my craft shows for the season on Thanksgiving weekend. I still have a lot of stuff left but don't really have the mental energy to try and find another craft show to do. So I guess I'll be inventorying, boxing things up, and storing them until next year. Next I have to get busy on the knitting projects that need to be done so that the people who are buying them can give me money (a good thing since I'm not generating other income right now). At this time I'm finishing up the toe on a Christmas stocking that I need to deliver on Wednesday, and I have orders for a "red" hat (with purple trim), a pair of white gloves with red flowers, and six more Christmas stockings (and a partridge in a pear tree, LOL). If I could just figure out how to knit and type at the same time, I'd be all set. And despite what my kids will tell you, there is no truth to the rumor that I actually knit in my sleep. If I did, there would be no issues with getting things done on time. :)

Until next time, stay warm and well.

An Introduction to the Knitlady

I started this blog for family and friends to stay updated with the events in my life, and also to provide a forum to show my knitting projects.

I have been knitting since my mom taught me when I was nine years old. At various times in my life I didn't knit a lot, but now knitting has once again become a major part of my life. My daughter actually introduced me to one of her friends once as, "My mom, the knitaholic." I take my knitting with me to meetings, classes, conferences, and even Sunday School class. Over the years I've knitted everything from simple dishcloths and scarves to complex afghans and two lace tablecloths. I find knitting to be relaxing and very enjoyable as well as allowing an outlet for my creative energies. More recently I have also been knitting prayer shawls, and I'm attempting to get a prayer shawl ministry group started at my church.

Now that I'm mostly unemployed (long story for another post) I've been knitting lots of things to sell at craft fairs in the area. This coming weekend I'll be doing a craft fair in Jerseyville on Saturday from 8 to 3 at the Holy Ghost School, and another one on Sunday in New Douglas at the community center from 1 to 4. I also plan to upload photos of my work to this blog so that people who aren't close enough to attend my craft fairs can see what I have to offer.

I welcome comments and feedback from everyone. I'm anxious to hear back from people so that I know someone is actually seeing the blog.