Swapiness

Lazy, tired, whatever...I haven't posted about crafts in awhile. But I have been somewhat busy!

I'm part of a swap this month and am working away with grand ideas. It's a fun one...use up stuff in your stash and tailor it to your partner. The person I've been matched with is super crafty, so I'm a little nervous about living up to her expectations! We have a lot in common and I've been following her blog for about a year now.

I finished my Mara this spring.

You can also see me wearing it here (3rd pic down). I love it! I used madelinetosh worsted yarn in a rusty red color. It's very bouncy and warm.

I'm now working on a citron (summer shawlette) as part of a knit-a-long in my knitting group and am using Malabrigo Lace in sky blue.

I'm waiting for a package of goodies to arrive from Jimmy Beans Wool. I used up a gift certificate I recieved from working their booth at Stitches West in February. Helping out at their booth was a great "behind the scenes" look at what it takes to have a yarn shop presence in the fiber world. It was non-stop work but totally fun if you love fiber and fiber freaks. I was still pumping at the time and it was my first weekend away sans hubby and baby. It made for a crazy weekend and was well worth it.

pumping in the hotel room

Flashback

I wanted to document this part of my life, so here is Part 1.
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I started knitting six years ago (around 24 I think) after I graduated from college. My boyfriend (now hubby) had a few more years to go with school and I found myself with free time I wasn't used to having. I've always had an artsy side and sometimes I would wander around craft stores for fun. One day I found myself in the yarn aisle and a peppermint skein of yarn spoke to me. Sounds funny but it's true. I ended up buying it to knit a scarf for my roommate, but I first decided to on a scarf kit that came with all the tools I'd need to get started. I was clueless about knitting but knew then that I had to learn. Over Christmas I asked my sister to show me how to knit since she had dabbled in it. But, she quickly got frustrated teaching me and said my needles were too big to learn on :-) Michael came to the rescue the next day. He taught himself and then taught me, all within a matter of a few minutes. Dang engineers.

I started knitting my bulky cream scarf in simple garter stitch. I was so facinated by it and took it everywhere with me. On New Years Eve my friends saw me knitting this huge scarf and asked me to teach them too. We came up with the idea to organize a knit day on Superbowl Sunday. We socialized, ate brunch, and knit together. It was so fun that a few of us decided to start meeting once a week. The rest is history. Really! So much has happened since then. Maybe you are wondering what happened to my first scarf? I sent it to my dear friend Patria, who was living in Manhattan at the time getting her masters and she doesn't do well in cold weather. She and I have always sent fun gifts back and forth to eachother through the years and it was fun to be able to send her something I had made myself. I wonder now if she even has it anymore. She lives in Hawaii, not the best place to wear bulky scarves :-)

Our initial knitting group began with 3. Debbie Stoller's Stitch n' Bitch Handbook had just come out and it was a big deal at the time. I loved the idea of a SnB so I started a formal one where people could find us online. We tried out different coffeehouses and landed at Naked Lounge, a hip little coffeehouse. Looking back now, those were truly awesome years for me. In a way, I feel like a huge part of me opened up at this time. Growing up, I was always pretty shy and I only had a few close friends. Once I went to college and then becoming involved in this, I became a different person. I never knew how social I was and I found I loved to organize and gather people together.

I couldn't wait for knitting nights to come. It meant knitting of course, but more importantly, seeing old friends and meeting new ones.

Our group had such a presence that people passing by couldn't help but say something. Guys stopped and stared. They shared stories of their grandmas knitting and couldn't believe that a bunch of young women were knitting together. We even had a guy join our group for awhile. It was exciting to be part of something that was coming back into popularity, which was obvious when our group was contacted by the media a few times for magazine pieces and a TV spot. We eventually outgrew our space at Naked Lounge and started coffee shop hopping again. After a couple tries, we landed at Tupelo Coffeehouse, Naked Lounge's newer sibling in East Sac. This is where the Sacramento SnB resides today.When the knitting group began, many of us were single, dating, renting, in college, or new working professionals. Now it's a different story for many of us. Things really started changing when one of us became pregnant. We slowly started becoming mommies one by one.With Regina's daughter Maya being born, we started a tradition by gathering together in secret before the arrival of the new babe and knitting a blanket. Since then, each mom that has come to the group regularly has recieved a unique blanket of their own. The blankets have become more sophisticated through the years.

When I joined mommyhood last year, I recieved a beautiful "nature-inspired" blanket from the group. I was just commenting at my knitting group last night, as I made some repairs to Maggie's well-loved blanket, how I didn't expect to even get one after she was born! It never crossed my mind, I guess I was too wrapped up in everything else going on. Maggie's blanket was designed by one of the Sacramento knitters who recently became a published designer. Maggie's blanket design is for sale through Knitpicks.

As a few of us have moved further away from downtown, the need for another knit nite arose, so we started a group in Folsom. What I have always loved about the knitting groups is that they are free and open to all. They are one night during the week where I can go to decompress after a long day, share thoughts and experiences, indulge in a treat, and reconnect with friends.

When Ravelry came on the scene, it changed knitting as we knew it. I'm seriously addicted. Ravelry is a website where you can document your projects, yarn/fiber stash, browse projects and patterns, buy/sell goods, and join/chat in groups. Our groups are both on here. The Sacramento group has a following of 300+ members and the Folsom group has a following of 70+ members.

Many people have come and go and there have been times when I haven't gone to knit group for awhile. But I love to knit through and through. It makes me happy and excited about something for the future or just in the moment. I knit to have "me" time, stay connected, learn new things, see and touch beautiful, colorful fibers, and to be involved in something special. I am so thankful to have found this craft when I did. I didn't realize until after things got going how much I needed something like this in my life and I am glad it stuck.

I could write more and post more pictures from years past, but that's it for now. Hopefully more down the road.

Love to all my dear knitters!

Mishmash

My current favorite picture of Maggie on our borrowed radio flyer trike. Classic!

I just spent some time away with the ladies in my family and it has taken me a full week to get things back in order at home. It's been a week full of work, sickness, birth, and staying up too late. I've wanted to blog and have a few posts ready to go but no pictures uploaded yet. A post on my beach weekend is on its way.

Since I was without my camera the past few months, I didn't get many shots but I just discovered where hubby filed his :-)

We tried a free swim lesson a little while ago. We didn't continue, but I'm exploring having her take lessons this summer with our local park and rec district. Such a cutie, I am going to be so sad when she grows out of that ruffly little swimsuit.Days with dad...At the park for our midwives yearly breakfast - good fun on the swings :-) We've been getting more and more belly laughter out of her. She's tickleish right under her ribs and doing "airplane" with her is almost impossible. She's just too tickleish!

Out of the box

I guess hubby couldn't wait for Mother's Day. Um, I mean Maggie. While she slept peacefully, I opened up my new red camera. Same model but oh so much sweeter. Skinnier, 14.1 mega pixels, bigger screen, and it's very own matching carrying case, which then matches my purse. I'm going to take much better care of this one. It will.not.get.fried.by.rain or wind. I'm hoping it will be indestructible.

Thank you Mick for the early present, you really didn't have to but I really really love it. Now off to take pictures...

On a high

I saw Dr. Sears and his wife speak yesterday. I forced myself to go not because I didn't want to but because I got overwhelmed with my "to do" list yesterday morning at work. This happened recently where I had wished I had powered through it and made what I wanted to do happen, so I had that in mind all morning. I drove the winding Placer County roads to get there and it was relaxing and beautiful. The event was held at the Flower Farm, a place I have practiced yoga at and enjoyed coffee with a friend. It's a beautiful site. Strawberries are for sale in the sheds right now, so I stopped and got a few cartons along the drive. It really made me appreciate where I live. Spring is transitioning to summer and it was so sunny and green, with fields of lupine and other bloomers at their peak.

I've blogged about Dr. Sears before, I just love his baby book. Recently, I have been reading his book The Successful Child. I really liked the opening of this book where he talks about the meaning of success and how his view of success is based on nuturing relationships and other more meaningful things, not money, possessions, etc. It's a goodie.

Their talk was about Primetime Health - getting your body on track by moving and eating real wholesome food in order to stay healthy as you age. He talks about 9 essential steps to achieve this. I enjoyed watching him and his wife interact with eachother. They were very open about their personal lives and I appreciated that.

I sat at a table right next to a woman I have wanted to meet for more than a year. Joanne was very warm and a joy to talk to, I felt like we had a special connection from the get go. I snagged a copy of her new cookbook. It is such a beautiful book, I can't wait to share it with everyone! Joanne has been the founder of many things in Placer County and this past year, she invited many guests to her home so that she could cook for them with seasonal produce and other food from the farmers market. On the website, one of the photos that flashes by is my friends from work. I had a spot to go last summer but didn't go and wished I had-what a cool experience!

Up, down, and all around

Life looks so different now yet similar at the same time. I think I envisioned being a parent/creating my own family differently before I entered this new world. I have a tendency to envision fairy tale scenarios and not be all that practical in my mind sometimes. Not to say that I don't have fairy tale moments now, but the day to day life as a parent can be quite grueling in the blink of an eye and it often throws me for a loop. I agree with the parents I have talked to over the past year that this is the hardest job I will ever have.

After a hard week, I woke up to a new week full of joy.

Thank you to our friend for dropping in last night spontaneously and making us feel like normal fun-loving adults once again.

Thank you dear hubby for suggesting I use a box of hair dye I found stashed under my bath sink. It was something spontaneous to do (there's that word again!) that brightened my mood. I am now sporting "roasted chestnut"-colored hair that has a nice shine in the sun.

Thank you to my dear friend Jessie for going out on the town with me. I needed the uninterrupted girl time.

Just when you get to the point where you don't know what move to make next, life surprises you.