More Than I Can Chew

Every year, the company I work for donates dolls to the local shelters. They purchase the dolls and then ask that employees dress them and give them back for donation. It's completely voluntary and since those 18" dolls give me the creeps, I usually avoid the whole shindig.

Well, this year...I've decided that I really should participate. I really like to create things and I can crochet dresses for people, so why not dolls...why not dolls, indeed...

I wanted something relevant to a little girl so I decided to do two dolls, Anna and Elsa from Frozen. I searched on Ravelry, but I couldn't find anything that would really work...so that means that I will have to make something up.

Now this is good news for Ravelry and other pattern sites because I will write it up and offer it for free, but I don't have a lot of time to do this so...we'll see how it all goes.

Wish me luck...

Excited

So this Saturday is Rhinebeck and I can't wait to go. My sister-in-law, a fellow fiber lover, will be coming along with me.

It's not so much all the buying options, but just seeing how many people are into what I'm into. It makes me feel like less of a weirdo. Some people think it's strange that I knit and crochet because I'm not a little, old granny hanging out in a rocking chair knitting up booties. Despite the recent "blow up" in popularity of the fiber world, it still remains quite a small blip on people's radar.

In other news, my Marshall sweater is chugging along quite rapidly. The pattern is easy and mindless so I 'm plowing through the body of it now. I haven't taken any photos of my progress because, even if I did, I probably wouldn't take them off my camera for days and days anyway.

I've stalled on the shawl. I think it's because I've pulled it out 3 different times, so now I have to kind of grin and bear it to get through the first bunch of rows before it will become fun again.

And since I have no content driven photos, here's a picture of something pretty.

Brush off the dust

I know in my last post I said that we had found our stride. I think that I might have been lying. 

Sometimes, that feeling of being in control is hovering just out of reach and it's covered in a slippery coating that is impossible for me to hold on to. Other times it's so far away that I don't see it at all. The worst part is that other people seem to have figured it all out, but I feel as though I'm not even close. Between guilt for working full time and being too tired to play with my kids at night and feeling rundown, it's as though I'm burning my candle at both ends and the middle is rapidly approaching. I almost have a feeling of impending disaster. Is this normal? If I could just put together some kind of strategy, maybe things would smooth out. At the moment, that is my priority; figuring this crazy life of mine, out.

I try to draw inspiration from people who have more challenges than me, because, truthfully, my life is good. I have a house, a family, a good job, and live in a safe area. Everyday, I work to remind myself that I have these things and even though everything is unbalanced, it's all good...

Step one, really, is to let go of the pressure. Let go of the self imposed, idealized versions of my life. I can't be super woman; I can't have a job, run a household, read all kinds of intelligent books, design patterns, write my own book, and care for my children, perfectly. That's the rub...perfection.

So, while I struggle to find my stride, maybe I will find time to log it all in here, and maybe I won't.

In my snippets of free time, I have been crocheting and knitting like mad. I've started a sweater as a Christmas gift and a shawl. The sweater is coming along ok, I had a few gauge issues, but I think I've worked it out. The shawl is still not working right. I used to knit/crochet very tightly and it was an annoying thing, but now it seems I'm the exact opposite and my gauge is way off. The sweater worked by going down a needle size, but the shawl...gosh...driving me nuts. You can see my tribulations on my Ravelry project pages.

And just because she's cute, here is a picture of my daughter.