sorry to have been so silent… i’ve been, well, busy making new friends with the minis. i’ll get some photos up soon but in the meantime you can tap your foot to some wire with my boy miles.
sorry vera, this is what you miss out on with those darn naps.
i can’t quite believe how soon our lives will change. that by jeff’s birthday we will have a four person family. that thought just keeps blowing me away. i’ve been slow to post but i’ve been running around like a crazy person here at home finishing up so many home projects. (many that perhaps i didn’t need to start right now) but man am i happy with how many things we’ve accomplished of late. i of course neglected to take photos of just about any of the work yet. that part of documenting has taken a backseat for me for whatever reason but i should get on it while i still have my hands free.
i’ve been working from home solely and will soon go down to four days a week. a move i’ve been dreaming of for years and can’t wait until it happens. having just one more day off a week will be such an incredible gift for both my family and my psyche. ooh just typing that makes me giddy. then maternity leave will start mid-september (unless these babes get as restless as i am) but i’m hoping they’ll hold out and get as big as can be… well not too big that they can’t get the heck out but you know what i’m saying.
so there it is. the countdown begins. and with each day as i grow larger and more uncomfortable i spend just a few moments thinking of the family that has gotten me to where i am today and continue to inspire me forward. i am just so lucky to have such love in my life. such friends. such joy. and hopefully i’ll impart that on to these little ones too.
and because i can’t stand to post without a photo here’s one simple shot taken secretly just over a month ago as i sat with my sister at the fabulous shower she and my mother threw for me back home. it was a quiet moment with my sis. i’m so glad she’s in my life and i’m so glad these little ones will know the joy of having a sibling. i never imagined it would happen instantaneously but now that it is i get more excited with each day. (and more nervous of course… this might just be the hardest thing we’ve ever set out to do). but i’m sure all the work will be worth it.
holy crap kids, i’m having babies!
i’ve been feeling rather lucky lately. lucky to have such dear friends and family. lucky to have my home and jeff. lucky for this pup. and oh so lucky for these little ones kicking their way within. i’ve also been feeling exhausted and overworked. nothing so much beyond the norm in terms of my working day, but i find myself struggling to keep up. so today we’ll take a break. a road trip. perhaps our last before these wee ones make their entrance at the end of the summer. we’re off to new hampshire and the hudson river valley of ny.
in some ways i know this trip will start off hard. being in a car for nine or so hours is perhaps not what my body will appreciate. but there’s something cathartic in this journey too. we haven’t made this trip by car in some time. it changes everything i think. it’s slow and mindful though sometimes chaotic. it’s guided by quick stops. usually by coffee and fuel breaks, this time by our pup and much needed stretching.
i hope we take it slow and breathe it all in as we muster up this coastline. all five of us together. though two of our party still quiet in voice.
my small joys for this week have been plentiful and the start of this trip will open up plenty more i’m sure. so i’ll leave you with a few moments from this past week.
an early morning tennis game with my two favorite boys:
a few quiet moments of making… something i’m doing far less often than i’d like. thanks sarah for giving me a much needed assignment:
today jeff found a new friend. he’s a shy little guy. a real slow mover and he fits on the tip of a finger. the garden is in full bloom so it’s no surprise to find this little guy. i hope we get to see more of him.
in other news of tiny creatures, the wiggler’s and i are growing pretty big these days. i’m expanding faster than i can find long shirts and stretchy skirts and my train rides are filled with silent hurried fingers on my needles.
i’ve gotten one sweater nearly done (ran out of yarn before i got to the sleeves) and a second sweater started, well so far just the hood. just waiting on another round of skeins to arrive to really get down to business. the house is quietly shifting it’s focus too. we’re having a bunch of work completed on the hallway upstairs and the back roof. a room that i’m too shy to yet call a nursery has been painted and FLOR laid in place. we’re just settling i guess. and hoping the next few months don’t pass too quickly so we run out of time and focus to get stuff done. i guess i should add agility and energy to that list too. i’m just trying to be quieter. which if you knew me you’d know what quite a task. but there it is. the quiet before what i hope to be a happy storm of new voices filling the halls of our home.
i’m not sure if my idea for that post title refers to the knitting projects i have in my head or upcoming posts, but either way i’ll do my best to work on both since i’ve been more of a slacker than usual with anything creatively minded. ok, not really, but i’ve been really bad about actually documenting any of it.
so where to start, well let’s just say it’s been a busy year so far here at chez mess. we geared up our energy reserves over the winter and put them to good use by finishing some long awaited refreshes of the house. i’ll have to post pictures soon since that documenting part has been slow going, but it shall be stated that we have finished work on (another reworking of) the garden, our 2nd bedroom, and have slowly begun tearing off part of the roof of our mud room to fix a leak that’s been begging for help for over a year. we still have to finish the patio outside and the hallway upstairs is the biggest project left in the house, well with the exception of my studio that needs new walls and insulation but that one’s too big to actual pretend it will happen anytime soon so eh…
what’s with all the renovation steam you ask? well, we’ll be enlarging the household soon and we’re trying to ready ourselves before we have no time at all.
yup, that’s right, it’s super weird for me to say out loud still but we’re expecting. and here’s the kicker, there’s two of ‘em coming. yipe! twins on the way, sometime in late september/early october. these little rainbow hats are the first of many projects i’ve been mulling in my head and after a recent score of *far too many* jamie harmon skeins of yarn from the maryland sheep and wool festival, my hands they are a twittering with woolens.
next up, knit stuffed beings of some sort and perhaps a few sweaters. oh lordie, we’re in for a ride huh?!
yeah i’ve been a lazy poster for the past few months. a lot of swimming, sleeping, working and of course eating. oh and rearranging. jeff and i stayed home for the holidays (yeah it’s been a while since i posted) and spent all of christmas weekend rearranging the house. his office moved into the basement where my studio had been and i got some much needed natural light by moving into the back office. yay! now she’s all set up and i’ve been sewing up a storm. it’s good to be back. how’s about a tour:
more photos here
hopefully Laurie will be opening up her goodies soon! i can’t wait and hope she likes all the goodies headed her way for back-tack 4.
this swap has been so fun to do. i love the idea of combining three different types of gifts. and the option to include food is always ok by me.
This year’s theme: Gold, Frankincense, & Myrrh
The first item is something that sparkles [the Gold part] – and while these don’t literally sparkle, i thought the fabric i used for these pleated placemats made me feel all sparkly inside.
The second item is something which has some sort of sensory aspect to it [the Frankincense part] – and how could i not share some of our homemade peach jam from our peach tree.
The third item is a small gift for your partner for Christmas [the Myrrh part] – and i figured being in South Dakota, Laurie might need help keeping her hands toasty all winter long, and what better way then with Eunny Jang’s Endpaper Mitts. These I knit up with aqua and gray yarns from Frog Tree. My all-time favorite alpaca yarn. It’s crazy soft and wears so well for years.
so that’s it, it was such a great creative jolt that i’ve been looking forward to for so long. i just hope my partner likes it as much as i do!
well i’m humming away on my swap for back-tack 4, i’m hoping laurie will like what i’ll be sending her way. so while i’m crafting away, which feels so good given my extra super long hiatus on making of any kind, i’ve been ogeling her home. it. is. gorgeous. have a peek for yourself if you don’t believe me.
it’s taken me long while to get motivated to step away from the house renovations and get creative again… and to start things off i made a short video of the hilarity that was halloween this year. my sis and her husband dressed up as dog bounty hunter and his wife beth. dare i say amazing. so what better way to get my creative blood pumping than to make a wee video of their talented portrayals. oh just see for yourself:
ok ok, back to making.
tuesday nearly gave me an ulcer. i don’t know about you but i was a nervous wreck all day. it didn’t help that i found myself watching hacking democracy mid-day and just about scared myself to death by the end of the film.
all i can say is thank you america. the hope in my heart more than makes up for the ulcer in my gut.
and this just about says it all:
via swissmiss
lisa organized a really great postcard swap to kick off the fall. i always love a swap and gocco is just so easy to dig into, especially when i walk down the stairs into the studio and realize i have days of organizing before i can get anything actually made down there. usually as soon as i hit the third stair from the bottom i let out a sigh, then a yelp, and then i turn around and come back upstairs where it’s nice and clean. but honestly with all the organizing/rearranging/cleaning that’s been going on around these parts, it’s only a matter of time before i make it down there for real.
until then, gocco and i can rendezvous on the dining room table. and my walks with henry can help source my inspiration. ahh fall. i so love this season.
you can see all the creations folks worked up over here on the flickr group: gocco swap.