The Land of Wool and Honey

Predictable Is

The first post of the year always, always, always equals New Year's resolutions....am I right?

Annoying.

I actually have proof that :

A.) I say the same thing over and over.  And over.  And over.  And OVER. 

B.) Resolutions are not my forte.  Have I ever finished a quilt?  No.  Did I knit a sweater a month that one year?  No.  Are all my needles free for starting new projects whenever I desire?  No.  50 pairs of socks?!?  What was I...on crack cocaine?  Dear Baby Jeebuz.  I'm embarrassing myself. 

Which is really the thing I'm trying to say, here....what's the point?  What's the point of making resolutions?  I mean, when I say I'm going to give up sugar only to scarf down seven no-bake cookies three hours later, I'd say it's a lost cause. 

I think  it's mostly about the rigidity of it all.  The all-or-nothing .  I think I used to believe the only way to take myself seriously was to become an all-out, balls-to-the-wall fanatic. 

Fanatical works if you have all the time in the world, or a less-than-desirable social life, or willpower. 

I have none of those.  Obvs.

I do, however, have three resolutions I've made--and stuck to--so far in 2014, which makes me kind of like a success story.

1. Write one letter every day.   I realize that I am so utterly attached to my iPhone that I have physical pains--not unlike substance withdrawal--when I leave it at my house for a quick walk or trip to the grocery store.  Writing a letter is my little rebellion against myself--or maybe a way to appease my own guilt?  (If I write a letter or six, it kinda makes up for spending an hour on Pinterest?!?)  I have lots--LOTS--of thank-you letters to get caught up on, so it helps to have a goal. 

2. Try one new recipe a week.  This is me trying to be a better wife, really.  Poor Curt.  He really doesn't ask much of me, truly, except that he'd like some hot food on the table once in awhile.  That little sweetie, he'll even eat leftovers.  The very least I can do is attempt to mix it up a little bit--for all of us.  Sasha is eating little snippets of real food all the time, including avocados, beans, noodles--she even had her first bite of chicken on Saturday.  So making real food from scratch is becoming increasingly more important; it's totally fine to poison my body with undicipherable ingredients in pre-packaged food, but my baby deserves a little bit more effort.  Some of the winners from this experiment so far include: Skillet Italian Chicken with Orzo (Cook's Country), Venison Meatball Soup (Betty Crocker), Crockpot Applesauce (the Pioneer Woman) and No-Yeast Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls (random recipe search). 

3. Read one book a month.*  Again with the digital dependency.  I read tons and tons of content, all over the interwebs, every single day.  Heck, every single hour.  The only thing that has kept me from reading more books is laziness.  Plus, a better reader makes a better writer.  

Aaaaaaand, it's a new year, so I have new knitting progress, yo!  Behold, a trio of hats:

Project: Gift Wrap Bonnet by Carina Spencer.

Started & Finished: sometime in fall 2013.  I just can't remember.  (Mom Brain.  Not to be confused with Pregnancy Brain.  Close cousin.)

Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in small amounts of Natural, Continental Blue and Lettuce.

Needles: Addi Turbo 16" in US 5s & 7s.

Notes & Mods:  Love this pattern!  The only thing I changed was the bind off on the top...I used Kitchener stitch vs. a three-needle bind off.  This is the baby size....I think I'd knit a larger size (the Toddler size is the next size up)  for little miss, even though when I finished this, she was only 7 1/2 months old.

 

I don't know...I think it's a little small for her?

A wee elvish thing I knit from some of my own handspun back in December, in the two days we traveled to the U.P. to say goodbye to my wonderful grandpa.  I will miss him so!

Trying on a hat I found in my stash--mystery yarn, pattern I created myself about 10 years ago.  

 It suits her.

 

 

 *Edited to add: I started this blog post in January and here it is February...I did not meet January's goal on this resolution.  I am about halfway through American Pastoral by Philip Roth--I am trudging along, but wishing it was better.  (I mean, it did win the Pulitizer, right?!?)  I have rifled through about 40 pages of Rabbit, Run by John Updike and gazed longingly (twice) at Benjamin Busch's memoir, Dust to Dust (which I started two years ago!) but have yet to finish anything.

Back to Basics

Knitting.  Oh, knitting.  It starts and ends here, you know?  Stitch, stitch, stitch.  A few minutes into it and I realize I have a huge, ridiculous grin on my face.  My two hands making something--anything--and it just feels right.

I said good-bye to a verrrrrry stressful job three weeks ago.  So stressful I didn't know how maxxed out I was until I wasn't there any more.  (And that's all I'm going to say about that.)

I've been telling anyone who will listen (so I apologize, friends, for repeating myself), but I feel like I won the lottery.  The Ultra-Mega-Millions, hysterical-happy-screaming, wake-up-at-3-am-because-your-mind-is-racing-with-electric-ideas-for-peace-and-goodwill kind of lottery.  My life has taken a turn that I did not see, could not have seen, and it is obvious that I landed smack in the middle of where I should have been all along.  I feel like I've stepped into a magical wonderland filled with loving, creative people who GET IT.  I'm so proud of my sister, Liz, who is my other business partner here at Wool & Honey, for allowing me to take so much time to get my gosh darn act together.  I know it sounds like I'm exaggering, but I'm not.  

I feel like I am the luckiest person alive.

Every day, I take my baby WITH ME TO WORK.  This feels simultaneously so bizarre and so natural that I find myself zoning out several times during the course of the day, just staring into her eyes.  Like, "Hey there, Friend.  Isn't this so fun?  To just be together?" 

 

 She loves trying on the samples.

I've been making food.  Real food.  From scratch. 

Sasha's first bites of carrot.  Which, you can tell, she really cares nothing about--she only has eyes for Daddy.

Curt and I take turns reading out loud to Sasha every night,

Thank you, Lindsay B. from Cincinnati--I am still working on my thank-you cards!  She loves her book.

We are getting fresh air and exercise (well, we were before rifle season started.)

 

Babies in sunglasses.  Probably my most favorite thing ever.

Oh, right.  The knitting.  Ahem. 

The knitting, you see, is just another part of this full-life puzzle that seems to be fitting together so well these days.  I'm organizing my knitting piles (there are so, so many)

I'm closing in on my first start-to-finish FO in a long, long time.

The Gift Wrap Bonnet by Carina Spencer, to be the sample for a new kit at the shop.  I'm working on the boy version now in Malabrigo Worsted in Continental Blue and Natural (with a Lettuce brim).

This will be the girl version (Geranio/Natural, tipped in Lettuce),

and this is the gender neutral version in Rhodesian/Natural, outlined in Lettuce.

The baby is in bed now, so starts one of my favorite parts of the day: knitting, tea and Frasier reruns!

An Entirely Different Plan Altogether

Oh hello there, Faithful Reader.

As I assume there is, by now, only one of you.

Funny story.  On August 29th, the day after I posted my last entry here on the blog (and the day after our eight-year wedding anniversary,) I discovered I was growing a tiny human.

 

Hand tucked under her chin, even in the womb, she was already contemplating something.  And smirking.  You can see that, can't you?

Yes.  A girl.  Who, on Thursday, May 2nd at 8:19 a.m., joined our little fambly:

the fair-weather ecstatic fisherman,

the pensive kitters, who still isn't sure how she feels about the baby,

and Mama, who is not nearly as tired now as I was in this photo.

Introducing....

Sasha Gray Kelenske

Born on Thursday, May 2nd at 8:19 a.m.

9 lbs, 14 oz.

22 1/4 inches long

(You can say it.  Dang, that's a big baby.)

Her first photo, in the bath about an hour after she was born.  Check out those cheekers!

Her first car ride, coming home from the hospital in a hand-me-down strawberry hat that her mama knitted for a different new baby...almost nine years ago!

My little whistlin' Dixie!

In the car on the way to a soccer game at Daddy's school.

My whole world.

June 2, 2013

July 2nd, 2013

August 2nd, 2013

September 2nd, 2013

A very happy baby at a very good daycare.

October 2nd, 2013

First Halloween with her cousin, Landon, who is only 7 weeks older than she is.

There are no words.  Or, as I told one of my best friends the other day, no words that aren't followed by huge, happy, hormone-laced crocodile tears.  (Oh.  My.  The crying.  It's outrageous.)   

 And just like that, she's six months old.

November 2nd, 2013   

To say that I've knit a few things for the baby would be like saying that peanut butter is a rather tasty condiment or that, chances are, you can catch a pretty nice sunset in Hawaii.

So far, I've knit this little munchkin 10 sweaters, two dresses, two pairs of legwarmers and two pairs of socks.

Unfortunately, most of that happened before she came into this world.  The knitting around here has been the equivalent of about three rows a week.  Oy.  

That is primarily due to the fact that until just last week, I was also working as an office manager for a consulting firm in Traverse City.  The tides have changed, however, and I plan to gorge myself on a steady diet of yarn, chubby baby thighs and glorious, riotous color for the duration.

So glad to be back.

 

Big Plans

I hate to be the one to break the bad news (it's not all that bad, really,) but in just over a month, it'll be Time.  Time again to start up with the 12 Knits of Christmas.  (You can read all of our shop newsletters here--please know, though, that we are entirely sold out of every kit from 2011 and 2010.  The links might still be live, but we've technically taken them off the site.  Confused?  Me, too.  HTML is not my first language.  It's not even in the top five.)

Every year that goes by, I'm getting more and more efficient.  (Or am I...)   Not only do I have 11 of the 12 Knits determined, but I've got them strategically placed in grouped sections that I think will flow nicely. 

Please note that I said "determined".  I did not say "patterns written", nor "yarn ordered", nor "kits assembled"--I didn't even allude to the fact that there are "projects knit".  But this is a heck of an improvement from 2008, when at least one of the kits (Week 6, I'm looking at you!) was tearfully maniacally determined around noon that Friday.

And I know I say this every year (I say it because it's true), but this year really is going to be bonkers.  I can't wait to roll these bad boys out.  There are several that work really, really well together, especially if you're someone (ahem!) who prefers to keep said gifts to yourself.  (Who would do that?!?)

If you're as excited as I am for the gifty season ahead, drop me a line at woolandhoney AT gmail DOT com--I'll be happy to add you to the email list.  (You can safely unsubscribe any time you want to and of course, we never share your personal info with anyone.  Ever.)

* * * Also.  If you're interested in rounding out your fiber-based magazine collection, there's a good chance I might have an issue or two that will fill in the blank spots, including a very rare copy of the unfortunately defunct Craft: Magazine.  I'm doing that thing I do in the fall vs. what I should do in the spring: a serious deep clean.  Finally ready to pass on some of these well-loved mags to a better home.  Yours, maybe?  Check out my Etsy shop here.)

Penelope

Project: Penelope, the Empathetic Monster

Started: mid-July (?)

Finished: end of July (?).  July has been a blur.  Obvs.

Yarn: Be Sweet Cotton Candy.  One skein each in Lilac and Violet.  A few inches of embroidery floss for the belly button.  Safety eyes found here.  Stuffing can be had here.

Needles: US 2 dpns.

Mods: A few that I meant and one that I didn't.  I sewed her ears on wrong, so she's a bit more like Shrek. (I didn't have the pattern in front of me during assembly.)  Instead of working a three-needle bind-off at the top of the head, I bound off in normal knit fashion and seamed her up.  Less awkward and just as neat.  Each of the ears and the feet call for seams (in the original pattern photo, you can see them clearly) and I have to say, I think it looks amateurish.  So I left the stitches live and Kitchenered them together, which looks polished and neat.  (If I do say so myself.)

Notes: Very simple (knit-wise) and very good practice for the beginning stitcher.  It's a model project for those learning how to seam properly, but take note: it takes time.  The knitting probably only took me four (six?) hours to complete, but the seaming easily added another three.  I rarely mind in situations when the finished piece ends up coming out so well.  LOVE her.

And I can't decide--teeth or no teeth?

Summering

Well, shoot.  That's got to be a new record.  Longest Blog Absence EVER. 

Over the past five weeks, I've been:

 

: swimming every single day.  Still.  Even if sometimes that means it's 11:30 before I get wet.

: taking in a record number of spectacular sunsets.

 : adding to my growing rock collection.  Finding a ton of Leland blues!

: joining our friends on a private sunset cruise.

: eating, drinking and making merry with some of my very best friends.

: eating, drinking and making merry with my extended family for an entire week to celebrate my grandparents' 60th (!) wedding anniversary.  Wandawood has been a part of my life forever--it belongs to one of my aunts.  The cottage we rented sleeps 18.  That's a lot of sand inbetween the sheets, people.

: picking thousands (THOUSANDS) of ears of corn.

: revisiting some of my very favorite places around Leelanau County.  Playing tourist.  Stopping at scenic lookouts and taking a gagillion pictures.

Obviously, I've got to press and frame this bad boy.  But the stitching is completely done, including the tedium of weaving in every last end.  Whew!

: finishing a few languishing projects.  Man, does this feel good.

: prepping to start a few more.  New and improved living room, here I come!

: hosting a few trunk shows at Wool & Honey. 

: reading like a madwoman.  Currently in progress?  Dust to Dust: A Memoir, Swamplandia! and 11/22/63.  Last Friday, while delivering corn to the IGA, I stumbled upon the annual used book sale at the Glen Arbor town hall--everything you can fit in a paper grocery bag for five bucks.  FIVE BUCKS!  22 books later....

: designing, ordering and assembling very cute little kits for the shop.  Getting ridiculously excited for fall.

: loving every second of summer. 

The chill in the air is the one true sign that fall is upon us.  My fingers have been flying in anticipation of the long scarf/cowl/sweater season ahead.  Looking forward to sharing more of my FOs with you this week.  Thanks for reading, friends.  You'll be hearing from me again sooner than you think.

Vacationing

Is it just me or does it totally feel like Friday?  I'm thrilled to have a little retail reprieve this week--the shop will be closed tomorrow for the holiday, of course, but I'm also taking a rare personal day on Thursday to spend a little extra time with my sweetie. 

In my knitting bag, I've packed two new projects:

Penelope, the Empathetic Monster,

and a vest of my own creation--a custom job for a customer's wife's 90th birthday.  She is so cute!

I plan on spending plenty of time knitting over the next two days--as well as cooking, reorganizing my pantry, swimming and finishing that blasted sampler (!)--unless the frosty adult beverages festivities get the better of me, of course.

Happy 4th, all.  Grateful for so much. 

Knitting?

Back soon with real knitting content.  I've been too busy summering to do much else!

 

Scatterbrain

Well, hello there. 

I was having a conversation with a friend last week, one in which we were getting to The Real Meat of It All, she stopped me mid-sentence and said, "You do know there is a very real possibility you have A.D.D., don't you?" 

No, G, I didn't know.  Huh.

It got me thinking.  About why I get so many ideas but forget get distracted never follow through I don't always manage to flesh them out.  Why it's so hard for me to stop eating sugar call my grandparents  remember to send Christmas cards  keep up with some things and abandon others painting the living room blog regularly knit a pair of socks every week for a year. 

I don't know.  It might be real.  It might not.  It doesn't really matter.  What does matter is finding out how to re-train the brain.  That's definitely real.  Sheesh.  I've always been a list maniac (although I'm quite sure it doesn't count when you forget where you left the list) and I really am a hard worker, but I need to trick myself into developing a few more successful habits.   I'm trying out egg timers, rationing the Cruising of the Interwebs, cleaning up bits of my workspace one afternoon at a time, shooting for good sleep every night....it's a work in progress.  I'm a work in progress.

Hey, look!  Sailboats!

Ahem.

There are also some really big things going on in my life right now.  Nothing I can't handle (and nothing bad,) but lots of transition going on up in here.  And many of these things are making it extra difficult for me to concentrate.  It's hard not to beat myself up about falling behind or getting distracted, but every day it's a little easier.

So instead of forcing it ("it" being rigorous levels of efficiency and total world domination), I've been doing my best to entertain myself with really fun stuff while I'm not organizing and re-structuring my life.  That saying "work hard, play hard"?  My personal mantra.  I've been knitting a little, reading a lot, putting up food (pickled asparagus!), spending time with friends, jumping in the lake and doing the best that I can to Be Here Now.  I think it's working out splendidly.

I spent this weekend, as I do every first weekend in June, with my college roommates Meghan and Sara at a cottage on the lake in Northport.   It feels so good that, even after 12 years of friendship, we can flow into our relationship so well.  I mean, we're really different--from each other and the people we were when we moved away from Holland in May of 2002--but somehow, after this weekend, it doesn't feel like it.  Maybe it's because I feel like I really, really know myself.  Better than I ever have.   And they get me. 

Of course, we have doughnuts.  Doughnuts will always be the tie that binds.

We spent our short time together talking and eating and laughing and browsing for used books and walking on piers and talking and eating and laughing some more.  So nice.

* * * * *

And, because I am a master of procrastination and well-versed in The Art of Shifting Priorities, last week I created a shiny new website to share with friends and family my summer bucket list: to swim in Lake Michigan every single day.  Every day for the 99 days between Memorial Day and Labor Day, I will seek out the Big Water and jump in it.  I'm eight days into the program and rockin' it.  

It's a simple concept, but I figured it was worthy of its own space here online.  A space that I am super, super proud of.  Funny thing about web design: the more websites you build, the easier they are to create.  This bad boy only took me about four days.  (I have to add that I would be nowhere without Instagram.)  You can also check out the Facebook fan page, if you're into that sort of thing.

It's kind of extreme, especially last week when it was in the 50s almost every day.  But you know me.  I'm kinda into weird rules.  As Sara said to me this weekend, "Of course you are.  You're either all in or not at all.  That's how you've always been, Wass." 

Funny.  I thought I was the only one who knew.

Gearing Up

Lake Leelanau, Sunday morning, about a mile from home. 

: So ready to for my first swim of the year.  (More on that later.)

My alphabet sampler, two days ago, just a few hours away from completion.  Still.  Not.  Finished.

: So anxious to hang this on my wall.  (Well, after I paint the living room, that is.)

Another shawl, this afternoon, about an hour in.  I know what I'll be working on this weekend.

: So excited for our very first order of Madelinetosh (40 [!] colors of Tosh Merino Light), which just left the Texas warehouse this afternoon.  Early next week, we'll be snapping photos like mad and loading them onto the website.  Whee!