knittingirl

the evolution of a hobby

I remember when I first started knitting. I would knit all day, a cup of coffee nearby and my pug curled up at my side. Every second not spent working was spent knitting, perusing patterns, and questing for the perfect yarn. *sigh* Enter Edith and Archie Bunker... "Those were the days..." These days I'm lucky to get in a few rows before my tired eyes start crossing! And that's if I have time to knit at all between work, my girls, and everything else. It's amazing that as our lives evolve, so do our hobbies. I no longer have the time for the more tedious projects of my past. Now I look for projects that have simple patterns and are easy knits so if I am interrupted, I can easily pick up where I left off. Long gone are my days of lace-knitting and attempts at fair isle. Oh sure, I'll revisit those techniques again one of these days. It's just not where my knitting is right now. Until then, I'll continue to collect those patterns and admire the fiber feats of others all whilst taking a super long time to complete a simple knitted toy, my yarn stash patiently waiting for my return on the other end of this cycle. I have a feeling my knitting will be better in the future as a result of the change my knitting is being put through, as with all things subject to evolution. I suppose only time can and will tell.

No wonder we turn grey after kids!

Last week big sis and I were in the backyard watering our late-planting vegetable sprouts when she decided to pick up a bug.  If you read this blog regularly, you know this is not an unusual thing for her, but check out what she picked up:

 

For those of you who are not entymologists, that there is a black widow spider.  Yeah.  Thank goodness it wasn't alive, but sheesh!  I heard Miss Clairol calling my name after this one.

And the winner is...

Miz Booshay!

Congratulations to you for being my blogiversary winner and thanks to those who participated!

Bunny Love

 

This is my progress on the knit bunny toy from Knitted Toys by Zoe Mellor.  I've just started the head shaping and am about 1/3 of the way done.  Then I'll knit the arms, legs, and ears, and tada!  A knitted gift! 

Big sis has already asked me to make one for her, so maybe I'll switch to knitted toys for my kiddos rather than wearables...

MIC-KEY Why, because we like you!!

My girlie finally agreed to a photo session when bribed with the promise of a lollipop, so here's Mickey.  The skirt ended up a little longer than planned, but hopefully that means she'll be able to get more wear out of it this winter...

                              

And to confirm it's twirliness... the action photos:

 

Again, I confirmed my dislike of acrylic yarn with this project, but considering it was a stashbuster and it's for a messy girl like Miss K, it's all good.

I'm already working on my next project, a baby gift for a friend, with some leftover Blue Sky Cotton... I'll show you progress soon.