Projects! (and an Announcement)

 I just bought fabric to start a new project. I'm making a baby quilt! No, I'm not pregnant. My stepdaughter Kristi is. That's right, I'm going to be a Grandma (actually I think I've decided on Grammy). Kristi and Simon have already picked out the baby set they want, so I bought the matching diaper bag and took it to the fabric store to pick fabrics for a quilt.

 I haven't decided on a quilt pattern yet, I want something fairly simple though, so the fabrics stand out. The bottom fabric is flannel and that will be the backing so baby has something cozy to snuggle with.

Devon's future sweater

I made myself a May Day resolution this year that I would post all of my completed projects on Ravelry. A May day resolution is what you make when you are a really big procrastinator AND you have a deep seated opposition to New Year's resolutions. I was looking at my Ravelry page recently and realized that I hadn't posted any completed projects in a while.  Then I realized that I haven't actually COMPLETED any projects lately. There are three main reasons for this. One is that I don't usually feel like knitting or crocheting as much in the Summer. Two is that I have managed to start too many projects at once (again, this is a reoccurring theme with me). And three is that I haven't had as much time to work on projects since Owen started the Ketogenic diet. I decided to post all of my partial projects to help goad myself into actually finishing something.
  My longest outstanding project is Devon's Sweater. It is a beautiful finished pattern, but I don't really like the construction method so I've been having a hard time working on it. I'm almost to the interesting part so hopefully it will go faster for a while. I gave up on the idea of finishing it for Christmas and decided to aim for her birthday in February instead.

 I'm the farthest along on Brenna's Sweater. Which is, of course, the project I just started. Brenna needed something with long sleeves. I'd planned to have it finished by this weekend, but got derailed by my eye injury. I should wrap this up in the next week though. I just need to do the sleeves and find buttons. Okay, I probably won't get the buttons this week, but I should finish the actual knitting.

  The other project I've been working on is the Sock Yarn Blankie . I don't actually plan on having this finished anytime soon. I know full well that this will be a long term project. I wanted something to do with all my scraps and something to work on when I get sick of my main projects. I'm not sure how big I'm going to make it. I figure a baby blanket is a reasonable goal to start with (especially with Grandbabies starting to arrive!) but I might make it into a throw size for me when it gets cold. I'm not even making a possible goal of anything bigger than that. I'll save that for larger than sock yarn! I really am enjoying knitting this blanket and might very well cast one on in worsted weight scraps in a couple of years when this one is finished.

 I'm also trying to finish a few babies before Christmas. The pink one was supposed to be a present for last Christmas, but things were so nuts with Owen's health that it never got finished. The lavender bunting baby is for Brenna. I have made a bunting baby for each of my kids when they were born or in their first few months. Brenna's got side-railed by Owen's medical issues, so I'm finishing it by Christmas this year for sure. I also plan to make dressable baby dolls for Owen and Brenna. Owen got his bunting baby for his first Christmas, but I've never managed to finish his regular Waldorf doll (I've made these for all the kids too). Brenna is actually about the age the other kids were when they got their dolls, so if I finish hers by Christmas, I'll be all caught up. It's amazing how many things haven't gotten done since Owen was born. I keep feeling like I'll get caught up some day and things will finally get back to normal. It's been really hard to adjust to the fact that this IS our new normal.

 I also need to make Brenna's stocking before Christmas. When Cameron was a baby I made crazy quilt stockings for everyone in the family. I'm not actually over due on this, a few of the other kids haven't gotten theirs in time for their first Christmases, Morgan actually missed two Christmases being born only one week before her first. I didn't get pictures since I haven't even dug out the fabric yet.
 I also still need to finish the projects I FAILED to finish during Kids Clothes Sewing Week. I asked Brenna if she thought I could finish everything in time and she was quite emphatic with her NO answer.