Crafts

“…than from a sheep you’ll never meet”! What a great subtitle! I just had to pick up this book the other day. I’m not sure if I could ever bring myself to knit something out of dog fur, but we sure could collect enough if I wanted to. Plus, Molly has a lovely reddish-gold coat…and I’ve always wanted to learn how to use my mom’s spinning wheel. I’ll put it on my list of things to do if I get really bored with the typical craft projects someday.

I’ve never knitted anything so fast in my life! I’m almost to the shoulder shaping on the back of my sweater! I imagine I’ll be done with the back and started on the front by the end of the weekend. I guess it’s maybe time to pick up the two stalled knitting projects that I hadn’t finished because I thought knitting was a very slow process. Of course, I’ve been knitting to the exclusion of all else – I’ve only appliqued a couple of small pieces in the quilt, and my house is a bit of a mess… But, I have to take full advantage of the enthusiasm I have at the beginning of a project. If I can get at least 3/4 of the way done before I start to get bored, the momentum just takes it the rest of the way. Otherwise, the project ends up in my half-finished crafts pile. Poor half-finished crafts. There are even a couple in there that I don’t like anymore because my tastes have changed, or because I started them when I didn’t really know what I was doing and they look awful. What does one do with half-finished crafts that are no longer wanted?

I got my sweater pattern in the mail on Monday and spent the entire evening driving all over creation to find 10 skeins of the yarn in the same dye lot. Last night I finished the border on the back – why do all sweaters start with the back, anyway? – so I think the project should go pretty quickly. Which is good, since I found another knitting project I want to do. I’m going to resist buying the yarn for as long as I can, though, because I don’t want to encroach on the enthusiasm I have for my sweater right now… Oh, but the temptation is so strong. :)

I finished the first set of blocks on my quilt over the weekend, and I have a new knitting project that I’ll be starting soon. Yay!

(That’s Tina’s name for me lately.) I am totally addicted to knitting at the moment. The mystery knitting project is in garter stitch – knit every row – which means it can be totally mindless. The past several evenings, I’ve been up until the wee hours of the morning, knitting and watching movies. Consequently, I’ve almost got the project done. I won’t be able to post more pics or anything about it until I’ve given it away though. (That’s the problem with most projects destined to be gifts – you can’t show them off!) Another consequence, though, is that I’m very tired.

All Done!
The christening gowns are done. Completely. Right down to the little tags and all the ribbons (and those darn hems – I hate hemming things!). I even found time to sew buttons on the two little sweaters my mom and I knitted before the girls were even born – good thing we made them big! I checked out my film camera, replaced the batteries, found several rolls of Portra film… Aside from packing clothes, we are ready to go! Now I just have to sit down tonight and watch the new Star Trek pilot that I recorded last night while I was doing all that stuff. Ahhh. Time to relax. And worry. The dresses are supposed to fit infants up to 13 pounds. At last weighing (yesterday) the girls were about 12 pounds apiece. Ack! Can babies gain more than a pound in three days? Nobody thought they’d gain six pounds in six weeks, but they have… I guess we’ll find out in a mere 48 hours whether or not they fit. And there’s not a whole lot I can do about it either way. Except worry. :)

I finished the first christening gown on Saturday. I haven’t finished the second one yet because I spent tonight playing in photoshop trying to make my leaf banner. Oh, well – I still have until Saturday! Here are a few pictures of the dress and bonnet – click on any image to see a larger version… It’s rather difficult to take pictures of the dresses – they’re very sheer and very white. Well, ivory. And white. Whatever. :P

Sew What?!?
I’m in the middle of about a million projects. Ok, maybe not that many, but there are a lot! I’m making a wedding gift. Can’t say what ’cause I think the future recipient might read this occasionally… I have a couple of cross-stitch pieces to do for my twin nieces. Christmas is coming, and I have wonderful intentions of making a number of the gifts I’ll give. And I volunteered to make the twins’ christening gowns. Two of them, of course. So, maybe I’m nuts. :) I have six weeks to come up with two (identical) angelic gowns. The thing is, I can’t wait – I wish I could skip out of work right now and go buy the fabric. There’s something about buying all the stuff to start a project that’s particularly enthralling. But, I’ve decided I need an apprentice. The thing I hate most about sewing is laying out all the pieces and pinning and cutting. Especially with slippery fabrics – satin, organdy – all the stuff these gowns will be made out of. If someone else did the cutting, I’d enjoy this so much more… Unfortunately, it’s not likely I’ll be able to talk Denis into it! :)

I’m wondering if it’s genetic to always have more on my plate than I ought to be able to handle. My mom’s like this too. I think my grandma might be. I guess it’s like being Italian & Catholic and having guilt built right into my pores – the chronic need to fill up every second of the day with something to do is just written on my DNA. I can rarely relax in front of the TV without some knitting or cross-stitch or something – even laundry to fold. And to just sit and veg – that never happens – there’s just always too much to do. I suppose it’s unhealthy to not be able to sit still and do nothing for a while? But then again, I wouldn’t get half so much done. And as it is, I’ve got, oh, about a million projects half-finished in the closet… :P