The New Mousewife store

I've been off on a rather long hiatus.  I cannot promise to update my blog more than sporatically, but I do hope to update a little more often than I have been doing lately (which is to say, more than not at all).

I've been up to a lot just lately.  Most of my attention has been focused on the rapidly growing little Mouselette.  I can hardly believe how big she has gotten.

But aside from my life revolving around motherhood, I've been very busy designing, submitting, accepting rejections gracefully, designing more, submitting more, etc.  I try to keep finding time to sit and spin.  I spoiled myself with a tahkli spindle this fall, as well as a WooLee Winder for my spinning wheel (Christmas gift).

But mostly, over the last month, I have been prepping to re-open my etsy shop.

I shut down my shop when Mouselette was born.  I just did not have the time or energy to keep up with it.  I still don't have the time or the space to keep up with creating spinning batts and handpainted yarn and roving.  But what I have been getting back into lately has been my love of clay.

I've been making polymer clay spindles, crafting knitting needles with fancy little toppers, making stitch markers, carving crochet hooks, and doing all sorts of little things like this while Mouselette eats and/or naps.  So, as of January 15, 2013, Mousewife Knits and Yarnables will be re-opening with a new focus.

Here's a sneak peak:

handwoven project bags.

 bead whorl spindles and spindle bowls.

knitting needles
and even handcarved nalbinding needles.

There will be the occasional bit of roving, batt, or yarn, but it won't be the primary focus of the shop anymore.

A New Blog Post

So I take a hiatus and when I return, I find that blogger has completely changed their format.  I'm not sure how I feel about it.  I don't like change.  I like things to remain old and comfortable.  It's possible that the new posting format (which is only behind the scenes, so you readers can't see it) will eventually grow on me.  In order for it to do that, I will have to post more often.  In order to post more often, I will have to find more time.  In order to find more time.... I think, quite possibly, my baby will have to start kindergarten.  Or at least learn how to go to bed and take a nap.

I can hear her through the monitor right now, playing.  Not sleeping.  Not at all.  H and I picked up a crib bumper pad from the second hand store.  It's really pretty and matches the colour her walls will eventually be (when we get around to painting and decorating her room, which won't be until after the basement is done and I can move all my yarn and wool out of there).  I know bumper pads are bad for babies, but I'm pretty sure they mean little babies, and my little one isn't so little anymore.  She's 8 months old and is squirmy and mobile.  So after she got her leg and/or arm stuck in the slats for the umpteenth time, we decided a bumper pad would be a good idea.  Unfortunately, it's pretty, and she likes pretty things.  They distract her from sleeping.

On the subject of knitting.  Yes, I have been.  In fact, now that Lil Bit is all mobile and stuff, I tend to sit on the ground and knit beside her while she plays.  I could sit on the couch, but it's too far away if she starts crawling off her (recently extended) playmat.  I have several projects on the go.  I have plans to finish my mother's sweater (I know, I know, it's still not done) during the Ravelympics (also occasionally referred to as the "Knitting Olympics") this summer.  I've been working on a number of other projects, too.  Unfortunately, those are super secret projects that I cannot post about until I know whether some of them are going to be published and until others that have been accepted for publication have actually come out.

I will say this:  I designed my first ever shawl a few weeks ago.  I did it using charts.  I've never charted lacework before (actually, I've never done much with lacework at all).  In fact, I've never done much with charts until now.  I submitted it for publication, but I don't want to say where or with whom.  I can't even show a picture of the shawl until I know if it's accepted or not.  But it is beautiful.  I couldn't believe how really beautiful it turned out.  I was (and still am) very happy with it.  My fingers and toes are crossed.

My post is done now.  It took me 15 minutes to write.  My daughter is still not sleeping.  I can still hear her playing through the monitor.  It's taking all my willpower not to go in there.  I know she'll fall asleep eventually.  And hey... at least she's not screaming.  ;)

Time flies

Time flies when you're having fun.  Turns out the old adage is true.  I haven't purposefully neglected my blog.  I've just been awfully busy.  My life is a neverending pile of laundry.  I keep meaning to vacuum.  I could be doing that now, but my poor neglected blog needs an update.

First, updates in the world of knitting...

I've been pretty busy.  Mostly, I've been catching up on some "me" knitting.  In February, I picked up some wool to spin and knit a pair of longies for the Mouselette.  They turned out well.  Unfortunately, the problem with only having a set amount of wool to spin is that sometimes you end up with insufficient yardage.  That was the case with the longies and I had to finish the cuffs in a coordinating yarn.  Still, they turned out quite nicely. 

I also knit myself up a pair of fingerless mitts.  I revisited my old "Fancy That!" pattern and discovered that it is actually a pretty decent knit.  I was pretty happy with the way they turned out.  The yarn was a bit thicker this time around, so they are a little looser than I'd like, but they make very comfy driving mitts.

I'm still plodding away at a certain sweater I promised my mother.  I had gotten to a decent point on the last version, but when I started the sleeves, I realized that I hated it too much to finish.  So like any self-respecting knitter, I tossed the whole thing in the closet and started over.  I'm nearly done the new version.  It needs another 3" on the body and then the sleeves and then I'm done.  It's actually quite a bit lovelier than the original version.  It's more understated and classy.  I can't post a picture yet, though, as I'm just not done enough.

In the world of patterns, I'm still working away at several projects and enjoying them immensely.  I think I will put the soaker pattern on paper, as it came out of my own head.  I think I will make it free, just as a reward for cloth diapering.  Not that I think using disposables is bad, it's just that using cloth is a COMMITMENT (especially once your kid starts solids) and that kind of commitment deserves a reward.  In my opinion.


Now on to the other half of my life: Mouselette.
There's not much to say that the picture doesn't communicate.  The bonnet just kills me.  I love it.  I picked it up when she was a few weeks old and it's just fitting her now.  It's going to be perfect for the summer.

She's not crawling yet, but I'm fully expecting to turn around one day and see her halfway across the room.  That stance is just full of crawly anticipation!

That's it for the update for now.  I think it would be easier to update if my life was less two-dimensional.  ;)  I'm sure I'll have another update in a month or so.  ...after the Knitters Frolic in April, for sure!!

Busy baby, no time to knit

It's incredible how much time a small child takes.  She's generally a very easygoing kid, but she still requires so much time and attention that I've sadly been neglecting my knitting.

However, I've managed to get a few things done.  First and foremost is the last edition of Little Seasonals.  It's available on Lulu now.

I am extremely proud of this one.  The patterns inside are really something!  There are two cowls, a pair of mitts, and a pair of gloves.  I had fun designing the gloves.  They are a 3-in-1 design with a plain glove and a handwarmer that can be worn over the glove or alone.

Teresa designed a wraparound cowl with a button (it's pretty and I want to knit it for myself).  My cowl slips over the head and is a complicated-looking but actually very simple braided cable design.

We are talking about possibly putting the four books together and creating a special edition offering all sixteen patterns at once.

Also, Lulu now offers epub conversion so an ebook can be offered in the iBookstore and on the Barnes and Noble website.  I am now in the (probably slow) process of modifying the original books to match their specifications for conversion.

In other news, Little Knit is teething.  She is 4 months old on Saturday.  That's making my mind boggle a little.  On the one hand, it's already four months??  And on the other...it's ONLY been four months??  It's going so fast and so slow all at the same time.

And in final news...we have no hot water.  That sucks!

Swatches, sketches, submissions, and knitting

I'm getting back into the swing of knitting.  It's easier on the days that Abby naps well.  Truthfully, I should be cleaning the bathroom right now (I'll do that as soon as I'm done this post), but I wanted to get one more swatch done while she napped.

I have a confession to make.  I'm actually a very bad artist.  I'm not actually much for sketching.  I swatch and knit.  I don't really sketch my designs.  However, sketching is a necessary part of design submission, so I am learning to do it.  I am sketching a bunch of gloves, but I had to sort of cheat.  I took a photograph of my hand and turned it into a sketch in my photo editing software, then I shrunk it down, printed it off, and traced it to use as a croquis (fashion blank).  I'm still terrible at turned stitches into drawings, but I think I can get the point across with excessive labelling.  I did discover inthis process that sketching makes swatching easier.  A small 4"x4" square combined with the drawing is ultimately less work than knitting a small sample for every project.  It also gets the point across nicely.

I'll be pounding out about 35ish of these designs over the next month or so, to include with my book proposal when I resubmit.  I don't plan on the book being a 35 pattern book, but I'm hoping that having a large selection of possible patterns will encourage a publisher to pick up the book. 

It's an entirely new process for me and not at all the way I usually design.  I suppose everyone has their own process.  Mine is to get a picture in my head and, because I don't draw very well, just start knitting it.  In all honesty, that's how I did the Sense and Fashion handwarmers for Jane Austen Knits.  I did the design before the "sketch", and was very nervous about my submission as the sketch was really incredibly crummy, so I just included the entire glove as my swatch.  ;)

If I'm going to continue getting really serious with my designing, I might actually take a fashion drawing course.  There's one offered at the local college.

Happy baby

This face makes it all worth it!  The waiting, the infertility that came before, the tears, the pain, the hopes, the prayers.  The swollen ankles, the stretch marks, the gallstones.  The sleep deprivation, the walking, rocking, bouncing, begging her to please sleep.  The fight to learn how nurse, the feedings at 3am, the late nights, the early mornings.  The complete lack of time to knit because she just wants mommy to hold her.

When she smiles and you know she's smiling at YOU, you want to move heaven and earth for her.  I keep waiting for it to become normal, but it doesn't.  Every time I see her, awake and happy, tired and fussy, or sleeping peacefully in my arms... it doesn't lose it's magic. 

Jane Austen Knits

I have been absolutely DYING(!!!) to make this post and show off these pictures.

Jane Austen Knits is now available for download in electronic format.  It will be hitting the shelves at your local bookstore any day now.

In it, you will find a pattern by yours truly:  Sense and Fashion Handwarmers. 

Jane Austen Knits volume 2 is scheduled for 2012.  Yes, I will be submitting again.  Fingers crossed that I make the cut.  I expect the competition will be a lot stiffer this time around, since many new designers who did not know about the first publication will be submitting to the second.