making things

 It turns out that making things, creating something, is a really core part of who I am.  That when I am so busy with twins that I don't have time to eat (...and going to the bathroom is rare!), I still dream and imagine what I could make when I have time.  This probably keeps me sane sometimes.

I finally started trying to imagine things I could do quickly and to find pockets of space when I could manage it.  These mitts are an example.  Tentatively called Northern Climes, they combine two patterns. A flying bird and a "northern lights" one, at the tip.  In any case, I only manage to knit on these guys when I am in the car with both babies and my husband is driving....maybe once a week.  As you can imagine, these mitts are taking a long time to make, and I am designing them as I go.  (2nd, 3rd, and 4th mitt are easier in that respect)

My other project was to create two sweaters out of felted, recycled old sweaters.  I made these for two babies (girls) but my boys were happy to model them.  The leftover recycled sweaters were left from wool soakers I made for the boys.  (the boys are cloth diapered and wear wool soakers to bed.)  The red and purple sweater is all Merino wool.  The other sweater has orange Merino collar and sleeves and a beige cashmere body.

There are no patterns.  I "eyeballed" it, cut the pieces freehand and sewed these on my sewing machine.  From start to finish, I could probably go from felted sweater parts to a new baby sweater in 45 minutes to an hour if I were going full speed ahead.  (I'm pretty twitchy these days!)   I never have 45 minutes at once though, so heaven knows how long these took!

To update things, yes, we still deal with health problems quite a bit here and have a doctor's appointment every week or two.  The boys are ok overall, but we have lots to follow up on.  It is still rare for me to get to sleep more than 3 hours in a row.  I can't remember the last time everyone slept through the night.

All that said, sometimes, I manage to make things.  It makes all the difference!