Happy Friday from the Knit-Wit

Woo Hoo! It’s Friday. Another week has flown by and absolutely NO crafting to show for it. Pitiful. Down-right pitiful. However…I am experiencing another ‘flavor-of-the-month’ craft idea. My wife will attest to my multi-flavor craft repertoire, trust me. My flavor starts by seeing something on television, or in a book, or on the internet. Then, I log on to eBay and start looking. And then looking quickly turns into buying. But, I digress. BIG TIME.

Actually, it’s Dave Daniel’s fault. I bumped into his really cool blog site some time ago. While I really don’t know him, he seems like a great guy. And this dude knits some really great stuff. Lots of people stop by his site every day – check out the number of comments on his posts. Way to go Dave!

So…it’s time to learn a new skill. And this week it’s KNITTING. Yep, the age-old craft involving two pointy sticks and some string. So, as usual, I popped over to eBay and, since I already have tons of yarn, I clicked on “Buy” and typed in “knitting needles”. And I scrolled down the list and found a nice assortment of 40 needles for less than $5.00. I placed a bid and (wouldn’t you know it) the next day I was the winning bidder. In a few days I’ll have 19 pairs of straight sticks and a circular needle to play with.

I’ve already checked out some knitting ‘how-to’ books/videos from my local library. [I LOVE the library. Best thing since sliced bread. Especially for us attention deficit crafty guys. LOL!] I stayed up late last night and watched an instructional video (I’ll post the title and ISBN soon). It demonstrates all the basic (and not so basic) knitting AND crocheting stitches. It is a well-done video and I highly recommend it. I just wished I had a pair of needles to play along with.

Being the impatient person that I am, I had to run to WalMart today to get a pair of needles. Hardly knowing what I was doing, I bought a pair of 10-1/2’s. (I happened to see a scarf pattern that called for that size, so that’s what I went with.) I like them very much: they are shiny, blue, aluminum. I can’t wait to try them out. Tonight. Tonight.

That’s all for now. Have a great (crafty) weekend!

Warning! Purging Ahead!

The purging process has begun! My wife had the day off and spent a good chunk of time sifting through the cedar closet in the basement. That’s where we’ve accumulated lots of clothes we no longer wear. Some have not been worn in years and they are perfect candidates for the Goodwill bag. Other items belong to my oldest son and are waiting for their turn to be used by his brother (five years younger).

Other items in the closet are: toys (some are going to the trash, some are being saved as “keepsakes” and will be moved to the attic, some may be donated to the pre-school); holiday decorations (most will be kept -- the “worn and torn” will be discarded.)

The closet is also home to my fabric stash. And what can I say about that? “Don’t you touch my fabric stash!” Ahem. I’m sure I can (and will) move some of it out. But where will it go? Into a container to be stored somewhere else? Into the Goodwill bag? (oh, I’m not liking that idea!) Ha! Ha! Ha! Kidding of course. A lot of it could certainly be taken away, moved out, forgotten about. But most of it is good stuff that just needs to be converted from raw material status to WIP to finished goods. All before the Christmas gift-giving season begins. And in case you haven’t looked at the calendar, it will be October in just a few days. Holy cow.

Time. To. Craft.

Such a Beautiful Day!

Fall is in the air, that's for sure. And today is a beautiful day. Sunshine and seventy-something. Perfect. But, honestly, I miss summer. I had hoped to spend lots of summer evenings on the patio. Having dinner on the patio, (hamburgers on the grill, potato chips, lemonade and other summertime faire). I wanted to spend the evening in the hot tub with my wife, soothing music pouring from the outdoor speakers. Tiki torches. Lightning bugs. Clear skies with sparkling stars.

Where did all the time go? Where does it always go? Why do my plans never seem to pan out? Where do all these trivial, have-to-get-done tasks come from? Where is the fun time? Does it all go away when you're a parent? What am I missing? Why are my priorities all screwed up? Why am I asking all these questions?

Help! Call the white coats. I think I've reached the edge.

I'm Baaaaaaack!

Wow. Twenty days since my last (lame) post. But, hey, I gotta tell you: it’s been a busy/crazy/wacky time. My dad was in the hospital for a few days, and then transferred to a nursing home for almost three weeks. I’ll keep the details to myself (thanks for understanding) but suffice it to say, it was a little scary. However…I think we’re on an upward trend. Think positive thoughts, okay?

Crafting? Nope. None of that going on at my house. Although I did give the sewing machine a run for its money a few days ago. The weather in Northern Indiana has turned very Autumn-like (bummer). Wearing shorts to school is no longer an option on most days. So…my wife and I had bought several pairs of pants for the boys awhile back. And of course they are too long. But, hey: that’s why I have that expensive sewing machine (wink, wink). Honestly, it was a bit much, but (as I’ve tried to convince my wife) there are machines out there that cost a whole lot more. And I still scour eBay with ‘sewing machine’ in the search line. Hey! I can look; just can’t touch. Heavy sigh.

Blogging is my therapy and I hope to be able to post every day from now on. The Holidays are rapidly approaching and my wife and I promised ourselves we would hand-make as many gifts as possible this year. We say it every year, but this year we REALLY hope to make it a reality. We are seriously trying to de-clutter the house. I’m the cause of it, and I know it. [Admitting that I have a problem is the first step.] One of our top priorities is to get rid of things. A few things are being packed up and will be put in the attic. But a TON of things will be going to Goodwill or the trash can. And honestly, I’m ready to part with most of the stuff. It will be SO nice to be able to see floor space in the basement. And we’ll be using those big green totes for keeping the stuff that matters.

Ok…enough already. See you tomorrow.

Crazy Times Call For Crazy People - Count Me In!

Life has been more hectic that usual these days.

Both my dad and sister were taken to the hospital (separate situations) on Saturday, August 26^th. So…I’ve been playing the ‘running game’. Run here. Run there. Go here. Go there. Do this. Do that.

I won’t go into details here, but suffice it to say that it has been an eye-opening experience.

I hope to be back to blogging soon. It’s funny how our priorities can change so quickly, isn’t it?