I'm back!

 I'm back!  I hope.  😀

I really don't even know where or how to start explaining where I've been.  Honestly, I think I had a miniature nervous breakdown and I went to a pretty dark place for a while.  The mother-in-law's Alzheimer's got to be WAY more than I could handle.  We weren't safe with her and she wasn't safe with us.  We were all beyond burned out from trying to care for her but we were trapped and had no other option.  

If you've ever provided 24 hour, in-home care for an advanced Alzheimer's patient, you understand.  If you haven't, well, you'll never truly understand.  You just can't.  The life you lead caring for someone with Alzheimer's is just beyond description.  Things happen that are just incomprehensible.  Again, if you've 'been there, done that,' you'll understand.  If not, well, I sincerely hope you never do.

Anyway, we were finally able to get her into a very nice memory care facility back in May and I've been detoxing ever since.  And yes, detoxing pretty much means sitting on my butt, stitching.  I can't believe how much better I feel now.  I knew I was struggling before but I didn't realize just how badly until she was no longer in the house.  That sounds horrible but...

So, what happy things have been happening since I last posted?

I finished the Anisah shawl but never photographed it before putting it away for the summer.  I am happy to report that after a few soakings, the yarn stopped bleeding.  The shawl did loose a little color but I'm still very happy with it.

Hayden had her first birthday party.  She was so funny.  She had her own cake and was a little confused by it at first but once she realized she wasn't going to get scolded for making a mess and playing with her food... She Loved it!  All I can say is, I am SO glad the party wasn't at my house and I didn't have to clean up all that smashed cake!

Next, I finished an Adult Modular Cardigan.  No decent photos of that one either.  But despite the lack of photos, I LOVE this design!  It was so simple to knit even my stressed out/overwhelmed brain had no trouble with it.  The only hitch is that it's all garter stitch so when you are making one for my big size and really, it's more of a jacket than a cardigan, well, it's a LOT of garter.  But it was fantastic TV watching/reading, stress free knitting.  And the finished product fits perfectly And, the way the mitered square runs across my chest makes me look like I have some boobs.  Yay!

The next knitting project was a shawl with yarn from Organized Chaos.  Again, no photos.  We have a roof leak and it started raining IN my room.  I moved a bunch of stuff, including my mannequin wearing the finished shawl, into another non-rainy room and well, I keep forgetting it's there.  Out of sight, out of mind, you know.  But, Organized Chaos yarns are totally unforgettable.  If you aren't familiar with them, you should definitely check out her shop.  I'm not an affiliate or anything, just love Heather's yarns.  And to be honest, I met Heather at a trunk show and have been sort of fan-girling ever since.

I knit approximately 1,000 wash clothes and made almost as many potholders.

Okay, so maybe I didn't really make 1,000 but I made a lot.  Thank goodness I have an Etsy shop.

Remember making woven potholders on a plastic loom as a child?  Well, these are larger.  The finished potholder is more trivet sized at 8 - 8.5 inches.  I LOVE them!  And I can NOT stop making them!  The simplicity, the nostalgia, the improved loom construction and the pretty colors have been a huge help with my destressing process.  If you are looking for a new obsession, check out Harrisville Designs.  A word of warning for the craft-minded though...  They also sell yarn and weaving supplies.

Hayden LOVES riding on the back of her parents' bike.  I find it odd though because she HATES riding toys.  She screams bloody murder if you put her on her hobby or rocking horse, her baby tricycle or her little ride-on jeep thing.  Maybe she just feels safe behind Mom and Dad.

Remember the Christmas wreath needlepoint I did last year?  I started another.  And I'm almost finished!  I cannot believe how fast this project has gone.  Actually, I can because my arm is unbelievably sore from the repetitive motion of pulling the needle and thread through all those stitches.  How pathetic is it that my arm is sore, sore like I've done 500 reps of lifting 200 LB weights at the gym.  Not that I have any idea how sore I'd be from doing that.  But my arm is sore.  So sore I've begun having to not needlepoint every other day.  But I so desperately want to get this finished and checked off the list. By the way, if you are curious, I am once again using Palette yarns.  I can't get over how well Palette works for needlepointing and best of all, it's inexpensive and comes in every color imaginable.

And one last photo of Hayden...

We were at Red Lobster for dinner the other night and she got mad when she was told she couldn't have another crab cake.  She was good as gold though.  She never cried or fussed or squealed or did normal baby things that annoy the other diners.  But damn if she can't make herself understood with her facial expressions!

Well, that catches us up to a week or two ago.  Since this post has been so long, I think I'll save the last week or so of crafty happenings for the next post.

Speaking of next posts, I'm not sure when that will be.  I want to get back into a regular posting schedule but I'm still being gentle with myself.  Or maybe I'm making excuses to do nothing but sit on my butt and stitch all day.  That very well could be.  I have to admit, I have been very much enjoying my destressing process.  But Mike gave me six weeks to detox/destress and then I'm expected to look for a job. So, while I destress from the MIL, I am stressing over getting my Etsy shop back up and running. I'd pretty much abandoned it for a few years.  But, I would SO much prefer to be an Etsy seller rather than a worker-bee.  If you know anyone who needs a giant, 8" loom woven potholder, please, send them my way.  😁

Unitl next time, Happy Stitching!