Holiday Knitting Spirit, Where Art Thou

As Christmas approaches, there is always much discussion about Holiday Knitting. There are even some people who share all of their finished Christmas gift items and parade them around Ravelry with photos to boot! (I'm not jealous...)

I am sad to say, holiday / gift knitting has never, ever been one of my strengths. If I want to doom a knit project to fail, set a deadline, and have someone in mind while knitting. Failure. It will not get done, and is likely still sitting in my endless basket of WIP’s.

Truth be told, I am not even one to make a big to do about Christmas shopping. The malls and super stores are no place for me during the holiday rush. I much prefer to do my shopping from the comfort of my home, dressed in my sweats sipping my cup of decaffeinated tea.

So for anyone who may worry or anticipate a knitted gift from me. Please, lay your worries to rest, I will do no such thing! And for those of you who are kind and proactive enough to knit for others, please pass some of that spirit onto me... Next year!

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Well, did it work? I have been gone for, oh, two whole months now… And was scantily present prior to that. Let me explain.

In June, after being unemployed for 7 glorious months, I went back to work. It was a welcome change from my non-routine of lunching with friends, knitting, and sewing, but took me quite a long time to get back into the swing of things. I had quickly forgotten what it was like to manage a 7:30 – 5:00 work schedule, have a husband, sew, and try to maintain some kind of contact with friends and family. Notice there was no mention of house cleaning or cooking in that last statement, so imagine how many things have fallen by the wayside in our house! Knitting – why, yes, - I still made time for knitting.

Then came July… and August… I recently looked at some past posts in my Ravelry group and laughed as I had declared around on August 21st that my sewing mojo had returned and RoseKnits shop updates would once again be a regular occurrence. During this time, we had many visits from the good state of Detroit and in September, my sweet baby sister, Rita, paid us a visit and we were off to Springfield for a weekend family gathering.

The story goes uphill from this point with a little downhill swing :-) The uphill part. John and I found out on our way to Springfield that we will be welcoming Baby Saltsman #1 into our little two person family + one dog family next May! The downhill part. For the past 10 weeks I have done nothing but come to work, go home, eat, and go to sleep. Seriously. My weekends – spent primarily on the couch. Please do not ask me to do anything because the fatigue was nothing like anything I have ever before experienced!

As we jog into 13 weeks of pregnancy and the beginning of our 2nd trimester, I really do feel like a less tired person. I have started sewing again. Knitting again. And staying up past 8:00 p.m. I even mopped the floor last weekend! So, here’s to my return, regular shop updates, and renewed energy… At least for the next 13 weeks.

I will post pics this weekend of the home improvement projects that have been going on – thanks to John, not me. Unless choosing the paint colors count.