Double Pointed Needle Case :: Knitting Accessories

Here's my latest sewing project: It only took a couple of hours with most of that time being used to cut and iron the fabric. I have been wanting a case to hold all of my double-pointed knitting needles. Having a sock knitting addiction leads to a lot of little bamboo sticks lying around the house. But everything I found online was either really expensive or very bulky, and I wanted something that I could roll up in a suitcase or throw in a tote bag for a long car trip.

I searched and searched and finally stumbled upon the blog of a woman in Brooklyn, NY.

She had this pattern and a great tutorial for this Double Pointed Needle Case here: http://onepotato.blogspot.com/2007/01/double-pointed-needle-case.html Many thanks to RFG over at One Potato for such an easy to follow tutorial and great inspiration in all of her projects.

The case started as this:

Four fat quarters courtesy of Jo-Ann Fabrics at $1.25 each. It happened to be a buy 3 fat quarters and get a fourth one free. So, in total this project cost me about $7 -- that included the interfacing and the thread. Not bad, eh?

Here's the final result. The case is designed to holder DPNs size 0-11. Mine isn't very full because I seem to have a lot of socks on the needles right now.It turned out even better than I expected. The inner lining fabric wrinkles a little bit once the case is full and rolled, but it is exactly what I was searching for.

And the best part? I have enough fabric left to make one of these handmade pin-cushions that I found over at The Purl Bee:

Vacay...Away...Hooray!

I haven't completely let my new priorities take over - the blog is still on the daily to-do list. Kevin and I took a kid-free vacation, and I've been swamped with "real life" stuff since we made it home. The vacation was wonderful.

We spent three nights at our condo in the mountains. We skied three days in a row which I don't think I've done since 2004 (Before Kids - or BK for short). Got to eat Indian and Thai food which is an experience that has become infrequent since our kids became old enough to express their EXTREME opposition to it. Had a leisurely dinner in a restaurant with friends. No "feed bag!" That what's we call the red zipper pouch in which I carry all of the emergency snacks and toys to keep my kids occupied in case of a slow (or even average) wait person.

I even took a very quiet and languorous trip to Target by myself. Never has perusing drive belts for vacuum cleaner felt so indulgent! But something else happened in the midst of all this child-free bliss. While waiting in line at Target a toddler two check-out aisles over started chattering to his mother. She understood every word of the incomprehensible babble...and I physically hurt. It was that primal milk letting down sort of pain that twinged through my body. That little voice made me ache for my kids. Not enough to get in the car and run home that instant. (I may be attached, but I'm not crazy -- it was only the first night), but enough to realize that my threats to run away to Mexico are full of hot air. I'd be on the next kayak out of the Sea of Cortez to get back to all of the nose wiping and argument refereeing. What can I say? I'm a sucker for my kids!

We came home on the day of Alex's 4th birthday party. Pictures to come soon of Scuba Party 2009. I guarantee the scuba diving birthday cake is unlike anything you've ever seen. Pretty? Probably not! Unique? Definitely!

I can bring home the bacon...but shouldn't I just fry it up in the pan?

When Kevin and I made the long awaited decision to have kids, we agreed that we both wanted me to be a stay-at-home mom. I was raised by a mom who stayed home with us, and I loved the feelings of closeness and security that came with knowing my mom would always be around to dance with me or paint with me or just cart me around from activity to activity. I wanted that for my kids. I wanted that for myself. Or did I?

After being home with our first born, Alex, for a few months, I started to get antsy. Not antsy to get away from the house. Not antsy to get away from Alex. Simply antsy to explore other venues of myself while being a mom. Slowly but surely I started picking up writing gigs, volunteering opportunities, consulting jobs. Suddenly my noodle in the acronym soup had changed. I was no longer a SAHM. I had become a WAHM without even knowing it.

Part of this transition was simply that I like being busy. I like feeling as though I'm being intellectually challenged and that I'm doing something to better the world. Deep down, I think my greater fear was becoming obsolete as a person. I would soon be able to define myself as a mother, but would shortly not be able to define myself as anything else. This really scared me.

Something about writing "stay-at-home mom" or "homemaker" on my tax returns made me cringe a little bit. If I'm honest with myself, I'll admit that something about those phrases didn't feel good enough to me. In spite of the fact that SAHM was the title I had dreamed of my entire life and a title that I truly believe is the most important one of all in this world.

Here's what I've learned. I have loved being a Work at Home Mom - a lot! I love spending time with my kids and helping them to become better people. I love the picking and choosing that comes with having my writing career and my consulting job be secondary to my primary responsiblity as a mother. Don't like the option that's being presented at work? Don't want to seek out a new gig? Don't want to go to work today? No big deal. My "real" job is being a mom. I can say no to all of those things that I don't want to do in my freelance life.

BUT...and this is a big BUT. I'm not very good at being a WAHM. In trying to combine my two careers - that of a money-earning part of the working world and that of a child-adoration-earning part of the home world - the career that suffers is the one involving my family. There are many times when I find myself saying "One more minute" (which is really 30 more minutes) while I finish up an article or a newsletter layout or a strategic planning agenda. Meanwhile, the dishes sit unfinished, the laundry sits unfolded and the kids sit waiting for mommy's much needed attention.

What I've noticed is on the days that I am fully committed to my SAHM job, my entire family (including myself) is much happier. Things are clean. Things are organized. Mommy has more patience. And life is a lot more fun. So, I'm trying to find a balance. Selfishly, I don't want to give up my WAHM career. But honestly, I want to a more focused mother, a more focused homemaker and a more focused partner. I'm working on ways to divide my time more evenly so that I don't have to stop writing or mothering, but can do each one just a little bit better.

There's no right or wrong answer. And I know there's no panacea in the "Mommy Wars." But I feel like I'm having my Mommy War as a civil war within myself. Any suggestions?

You Can't Beat the Views

I've been caught up in workout land for the past three or four days, so haven't been blogging on this site. Let me just say, as an aside, I haven't worked this hard in years. This P90X thing is kicking my behind. Yesterday was 90 minutes of Yoga (supposed to be an easier day). I did poses that I didn't even know my body was capable of doing. And if I could figure out how, I think I would do yoga everyday. Even in the midst of two boys yelling at each other and even bonking each other on the head with toys, I managed to reach a semi-peaceful state of mind.

On to other news. There have been a lot of discussions with friends and with my husband recently about the "perfect place." What is the perfect place to live? Why do we make the choices that we do? We've chosen Colorado for the amazing quality of life: the skiing, the 300 days of sunshine a year, the fact that our kids can grow up climbing rocks and seeing elk every day. The list goes on and on.

When we're really honest though, we didn't choose Colorado for the social life. 90 percent of our friends and family live in the Midwest. That's not to say that we haven't made friends (even some pretty good ones) since moving to Colorado. But if we were really choosing a place to have an active social life and daily heartfelt connections with our dearest friends, it wouldn't be Colorado.

So, every so often, we question. Is this the right place? Would we be happier somewhere closer to our dearest friends. But then I have a day like today. There are moments that come out of the blue when I'm driving down the road, and the place in which I live literally takes my breath away. This is what I see when I look out my living room window in the morning. No houses, no road noise. Just a couple of horses snorting around looking for some fresh wintertime grass.

And this is what I see when I visit our public library:

Yes, those are elk. That little sign that you see on the right side of the photo is the "Welcome to the Evergreen Library" sign. That sidewalk ramp that mama elk is tromping up is the very same sidewalk ramp that I will use to get into the library.

And this is the view from the playground where my kids will go to elementary school.

What more can I say? Colorado (especially where we live) is big and bold and beautiful. It makes me feel alive. Like I can breathe a little easier and step a little lighter. My spirit is rejuvenated daily by our surroundings. Even though some days, I'd like my spirits rejuvenated by my best friends living just down the road, I know that will come with time. For now, we're in the "perfect" place - mentally, as well as geographically.

Setting Some Me Priorities

With little time to myself these days, I'm needing to establish some priorities and set some goals in order to make sure I don't waste that precious alone time that I do have. Below is a short list of things that I've been thinking about.

Getting in Shape:

After being pregnant or nursing for four years straight (roughly), it's time to whip this body back into shape. Amazing how before kids, even at my laziest, I would hover around 130ish. Now, post-babies, at my laziest, my body has settled into being comfortable at 140. NOT acceptable for my size and shape. So, I was reading a facebook survey the other day (25 random things) written by a friend of mine. She is currently attempting this workout program called P90X. Then, the very next day, I was watching t.v. and saw an infomercial for the program. I ordered it on the spot, figuring it was some sort of a sign. In fact, it's probably just blast marketing on the part of the P90x people. Either way, it's on its way to my house, and I'll post updates as to how it's going. I think it's going to kick my a$$. My goal is to simply do my best and stick with it for 90 days. At this point, even if I'm not ripped and shredded (not the goal here!) by the end, at least 90 days of activity vs. 90 days of sedentary existence is good.


Bettering the world:

I've registered to walk the 3-Day walk for Breast Cancer in August. My training for that will begin in March. I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to pull off the P90x program and train to walk 60 miles in three days at the same time. But hey, you have to have big goals, right? In the meantime, I'm excited to kick off the quest to raise $2,500 for something in which I believe. Want to sponsor me?

Writing:

The musical is in full swing (in my head). It's time to get some more of it down on paper. I'm setting a goal to have the book (script) completed by May 15. Songs have lots of notes right now, but no lyrics in process. If I get the script finished by May(ish), I'm hoping to have the songs completed by June. Possible? Yes! Probable? We'll see.

Oh, and in the midst of this, I've committed to helping plan my husband's high school reunion which will take place next summer!

Whew! I'm tired. Taking a breath and then off to get this stuff started!