Add it to the list

Kids need attention. Lots and lots of attention. There are hugs and kisses to give, squabbles to mediate, toys to redistribute, and lots of instructions to give. Lots of instructions. Twice, three times, louder & louder - whatever it takes. The housework doesn't end, either. Laundry is endless. There are bills to pay. Homework to supervise. Meals to prepare, grocery shopping to do, and dishes to wash. At some point, I think I need to mop, vacuum, and/or dust. Possibly clean a bathroom. And I've also got this sadly neglected blog. Wait, I'm married? Okay, add "talk to husband." Oh, and somewhere in there I work a full-time job. But instead, with all the free time on my hands, I've started a new hobby that is truly time-consuming.

Hi, my name is Jennie, and I'm a knitter.

Totally addicted, y'all. At home, I want to knit when I should be doing everything else. Brian rewinds the DVR at some key plot points, so I can actually see what just happened, instead of hearing it while I'm looking down at my knitting. I knit with people at work during lunch. I knit in the pediatrician's waiting room, the oil change place, and on the bus. I surf websites at home, joined 3 different knitting email lists, and I cruise the yarn section at Michaels looking for clearance sales. I search on Craigslist for people selling yarn, and look for garage sales with craft items. I went to Goodwill to find sweaters to unravel. Anything to keep me in the loop and adding to my stash.

Recently I made my first project to give away to someone outside the home. It was a heady level of nervousness and excitement to give someone a gift that I had spent weeks making with my bare hands. I had really thought way too long and hard about it and poured over all of the details and bored everyone to tears by talking about it. It was a dishcloth, for god's sakes. You would have thought it was the Sistene Chapel the way I showed it off.

Next project for giving away was a baby jacket and pair of booties for a baby shower for the Amazing Babysitter, who's due in May with a girl (yay!! - wait, I'm losing my babysitter! BOOO!!!). So multiply the planning and fretting and discussion by 100.

If you are considering knitting, the first step is to bookmark www.knittinghelp.com. A plethora of free videos show you exactly how to knit, all the basic stitches and all the weird ones, too. Those videos got me through some very dark places on my first 3 projects. They also have an app for the iPhone/iPad so you don't have to go online for any videos.

The second step is to join www.ravelry.com. That's like the Facebook of knitting, where people can find patterns and pictures of projects and all kinds of yarn. Plus forums full of people having the same problems you are with the same patterns. Or who like to talk about knitting or local yarn shops or whatever. It's the ultimate knitting groupie website. Sometimes it's hard to figure out how to stop browsing Ravelry so I can get back to knitting.

But anyway, this blog entry is cutting into my knitting time. Right now I'm working on a project that I hope I can finish quickly, that is if the laundry doesn't rise up and swallow me whole. I promise I will try to keep you all updated. These kids are getting pretty big, and awfully cute. I'd hate for one of them to graduate kindergarten before I post another entry.