Knitting

I love knitting... off and on. It's actually kind of a love-hate relationship. Sometimes it's just really fun to pick up those needles and make something with my hands. It's a great sense of accomplishment and a wonderful release of creative energy. Sometimes, however, I am cursing my knitting project, wishing the scarf would just finish itself and regretting that I ever started such a huge undertaking.
Interesting, huh?

A while back I identified my main issue with knitting, which is the length of some projects. In an endeavor to learn how to knit better (after being sick of doing a lot of things only slightly well) I started making coffee sleeves - they were small, quick projects that I could try new techniques out on, and if it wasn't working I wasn't going to cry over having to unravel something I had invested hours and hours into. It was during this time that I realized I wasn't stressed about my ongoing projects - partly because they weren't very 'ongoing'. A few hours in and I was binding off my beautifully cable-knit coffee sleeve. I started to look for new ideas for things that I could knit quickly, when I came across a headband that I had found on Pinterest a while before. I gave it a whirl and was pleased to find that it took only a few hours to knit - and they were quite cute! You can find the pattern here. Well, I made one for myself, showed it to my sisters-in-law and they both said they'd like one, as did my sister and a friend that saw them when I posted a pic on Facebook. I've been making most of mine about half the width of the original pattern and they still look great! If you've never tried knitting or only know how to do the basics, this one is worth a try. A knit here, a purl there, a bit of yarn-over and you've got yourself a gorgeous headband. Or, you know, hit me up for one!

This was a great weekend, with a healthy mix of doing lots and doing nothing. It started with a night at a friend's birthday party where we spent time with some of the people we love the most. It was loud, but really fun! Saturday we had plans to go to my parents' for dinner and my Mom decided she was too busy to make the second dessert she had planned on doing, so I offered to bring something. My Mom suggested something like cookies, so I opted to make the Cinnamon Roll Cookies that I, again, found on Pinterest. They are super yummy, and if I remember correctly, they're even better the second day. I have no frame of reference for that this time though because, apparently, my brother thought they were fantastic. I made 4 dozen and between 6 of us there were only 10 left at the end of the evening. (Bear in mind, that was the second dessert!)
Today I lead worship in church, however that decision wasn't really made until Saturday morning so the crunch was on a bit to pick my songs and be ready to play this afternoon. I was a little concerned to find that my voice it a bit weak right now so all of the songs I had to actually transpose down to an easier key. Though, honestly, I'm probably the only one who noticed!

I'd best get off an start knitting again - I've got enough time before bed to finish another headband!

Mrs. VanderLeek ;)