Progress

I've been meaning to post.  However, a few things got in the way.  First, I'd be crazy not to admit that this winter (the worst since 1898) in Winnipeg really got me down.  We decided to travel east to see family in the USA for Passover, and that was a good decision.  Family visits are complicated and travelling with 2.5 year old twins internationally is not a great thing to anticipate...but just getting to see family...and all those flowers, all that grass, all those playgrounds and long walks outside made the effort worth it.

In truth, the plane rides were smooth and if you have to go across the continent on two flights each way, we somehow found the best  combination of flights to Virginia.  I figured out (mostly) what to pack.  The only person with a deficit--only two weather-appropriate pairs of pants--was me.  Luckily, we made good use of my parents' washer and dryer.

Right before I left, I finished two sweaters.  One is for the boys (the striped lett-lopi from a previous post) and I don't yet have a photo of it in action.  My mom was kind enough to sew a zipper in, and away we went out to play in it!

The second sweater was for me.  This one was amazing to contemplate, so I had to try it.  A  whole sweater from Bulky Lopi (very thick, lightweight singles yarn) on size 17 needles.  I made Nu but skipped the turtleneck and knit it a little differently, with a slight A-line so it would not be too tight.  It came out so well that I am wearing it today.  This might seem bizarre to those in warmer climes but we had sloppy snow this morning here and dark clouds; it ain't all flowers here yet.

It was hard to catch a whole body photo of it, so here is a close up of the enormous stitches and a poor snapshot of the sweater as I am wearing it.  One advantage to long term tummy trouble (finally, a diagnosis, for those who are medically inclined, you can click here) is that my sweaters fit better now.  That is, everything hangs loosely on me.  I've lost some weight in a way I did not intend to, but things seem to be stabilizing, I hope.

Another bit of progress:  When the boys were very small, many of my 5 spinning wheels stayed just where they lived before the twins were born.  Over time, we moved things to fit more toys, play pens, etc.   Also, the only time I managed to spin was while wearing one baby in a sling and the other boy was asleep or with another adult.  This was a rare occurrence.  As they became more mobile, I faced reality and moved all the spinning wheels to my office space, far away from daily activity.  One wheel remained in my bedroom, but it got dusty and dirty from lack of use.  In fact, it had been months since I spun on a wheel.  I used my trusty spindles in the basement playroom every so often, and that was it.

Both boys like to play at spinning and one "knitting" attempt involved an entire skein of yarn and many of the toys in the play room.  We had to cut off that yarn to clean up after they went to sleep!  Anyway, lately, both boys have asked me to put a spinning wheel into the playroom so "Mommy can spin on a spinning wheel" again.  They have been entranced by a Curious George episode with spinning in it, and I am thrilled.  Maybe the novelty will work, I don't know, but today I moved one wheel back to the playroom where I can use it again while they race cars and build block towers.  We'll see what happens...but it might be a small step towards getting some of my old life back.  :)