Not the Year of the Blog

2011 has not exactly been the Year of the Blog for me. The days are passing into weeks, weeks blurring into months and half a year is gone and it's hard to fathom exactly where it went.

I've been living up to the "Knit" part of WKSB& G, though. The knitting bug has had hold for months now. If I need it, I knit it. A mobile phone cover; scarf; socks; headbands; a tea cosy; a purplish bag; a warm cardi; dishcloths. I finished this one this evening:

From Work in Progress

You can't see it very well but its a simple raised dash design. I've knit this one before and it makes a lovely soft, hard-wearing dishcloth. The yarn is Panda Cotton Blend 8ply. I always check the bargain bins at Spotlight for odd cottons for dishcloths. One skein is enough for about one and a half dishcloths.

As soon as I'd woven in the ends on that one, I cast on another. This one has the Star Trek insignia- because every kitchen needs a bit of sci-fi, you know! Ravelry.com has lots of free patterns, meaning my kitchen sink will never lack variety!

Sewing has had to give way for a while to my yarn obsession. Apart from emergency mending, the machine has been having a long holiday. The baking side of things is pretty slow too. That's probably not totally bad as I'm trying to cut down on white flour. Of course there have been soups and yummy warm dishes from the crockpot. Winter has to have some highlights!

My garden is sadly neglected. Truth be told, I'm not feeling very motivated when 80% of what I plant is decimated by birds, mice and insects. Even carrot tops are disappearing. Some cauliflowers are bravely battling on and have heads almost ready to harvest. They're my first ever caulis so its not all doom and gloom. Perhaps when its not so cold I'll find some incentive to get out there again and give it another go. What I wouldn't do for a really big rodent-proof greenhouse and somewhere to put it!

Mostly my days are spent doing what homeschooling SAHMs do all day. That's my 'other' growing project. Now that it's term break, you would think we'd get a bit of downtime but no, the first week was totally booked out with social engagements. We had lunch out or had people over every day. It was enjoyable- some of these are new friends that we're loving getting to know- but a little overwhelming too. Mostly for me. Even my less-social homebody child is getting to the age where he wants to be hanging out with friends a lot more. This week I'm insisting on some home-time to catch up on chores and prepare for the next term.

I'd love to hear from our (very patient) readers as to what you've been knitting, sewing, baking or growing.