Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Drive-Thru

Lately I find myself spending lots of time thinking about yarn. I've been knitting for about 6 years and I go through phases where I knit nonstop and then other times when I don't pick up the needles for months. Usually the winter is knitting season and the summer is for sewing. This spring though, the knitting bug seems to have no interest in departing. That's ok by me. I could spend hours clicking through Ravelry, flipping through books, dreaming and planning.The problem is, I just don't have time right now to get much done. I content myself with a few rows before bedtime or while I'm cooking meals but would really like to have uninterrupted hours in my favorite chair with my feet up and a project in my lap. A girl can dream can't she? All that said, I don't have anything new finished but I thought I'd share another project I finished over the winter. I knit this sweater in just a week in January. Granted, I was recovering from a minor surgery at the time and was able to just lay in bed and knit.

The pattern is one of my favorites and one I'll use over and over. It's the Drive -Thru sweater by Wendy Bernard. It's knit with Cascasde 220 so it's fast and the resulting fabric is soft and durable. There are truly endless ways you could customize this pattern and that's one of the reasons I love it! I'd knit it once before in the wide faux-isle stripes but this time wanted to challenge myself. I've kept this sweater in my favorites for years, wanting to make something similar. I adapted some of her beautiful charts from here wanting to incorporate more purple. I still find colorwork a challenge but I felt like I made definite improvements working on this. Even though the kiddo picked out the colors and declared it "awesome!" I don't think she's worn it once. Ah well, I made a larger size so it'll fit her next year hopefully too. Sometimes the best part of knitting is the journey and not the end result.

I've really reached a point in my life where I'm craving simplicity and quiet. Our days are so incredibly hectic, I'm constantly frazzled and stressed trying to fit everything in. I guess I'm afraid of life passing me by, so I want to do as much as I can, to fill each day to the brim. But am I enjoying it? Not so much. I feel that a lot of things are being left out, like reading with my kids, playing games, cooking healthy wholesome meals, knitting, sewing, reading my own books, all things that are so incredibly important to me. There's just no time these days. I know that everyone struggles with these things, how do you all juggle it?

6 comments:

  1. Well shoot, I waited a little while and then stopped by again because I of course did NOT have the anwswer to the question but sure as hell wanted to find out what it was. So... no one has phoned in with the solution yet?? Of course you did ask what is probably THE MOST DIFFICULT question for moms to figure out. Let me think on this a bit more and see what I, and other reader can come up with...

    p.s. that sweater is AWESOME

    ReplyDelete
  2. I certainly don't have the answer, but my husband's mantra (with regard to mountain biking) is 'Reduce expectations to improve performance', which always makes me chuckle.

    ReplyDelete
  3. That's some gorgeous knitting! I don't really have an answer to the time problem, though; I've recently declared that We Shall Freeze Things, because cooking takes too long. I don't know if that will make a difference....

    ReplyDelete
  4. After thinking about it for a few days I really only have one itty bitty thing to share on the juggling issue. One thing that has been really helpful to me is making a meal calendar. It made dinner and shopping so much less stressful. We ate better meals and we saved time and money too. I fell off the wagon on this but am getting back into the swing of it and I feel really good about that.
    We also make a "Summer Fun" notebook before Summer vacation starts and fill it with outings and activities we want to do - then at the end of the Summer we aren't sitting there regretting all the things we didn't do. Plus, it always gave us something to look forward to everyday. Basically if we write it down, it's much more likely to actually happen. I suppose that's the gist of my advice. That's all I got ;)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I just found your blog care of How about Orange, am going to add it to my favourites - love love love the sweater. Thinking about my knitting - abandoned in the corner mmmm for the past 4 months. The juggling thing its so hard - when I do craft - I'm up late to fit it in & the house is usually a mess and I just live with that, I'm with Skinny La Minx- reduce expectations. Superstressed out - an unplugged holiday for the weekend to a rental house at a quiet beach. At home having a bit clean out and decluttering seems to help. I also try to spend one weekend day just at home - no going anywhere just mucking around.
    I have to add I went parttime at work a couple of years ago and phew is it great, I figured I just spend what I earn and it is so great having the extra time that I have just learnt to live with the reduced income.
    sweetgeorgiathecraftysquirrel.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. Like Corrine, I'm back FOR advice - was totally sittin back waiting 4 the all-star lifesaving tips. My house is falling down around my ears and I'm squeaking by. On one hand, I'm terribly happy but I still have all these things I'm not getting done. If I lower my expectations to meet my actual output, then I'm killin it. Otherwise, I hear you. And, yes, PS, that sweater's gorgeous.

    ReplyDelete

Your thoughts are always, always welcome. Just know that I appreciate each and every one of you even if I don't always have the chance to respond.