Transitioning…back home…into autumn…into English…into the round of activities. I’m looking at all the things we used to do and my body and soul are saying, “No.” I was good at our life before and juggling all those balls, but I don’t want it back in the same form. I’m feeling rebellious and melancholy at the same time as deeply satisfied to be here. Somehow I need to find a way to preserve the golden things from this summer: the wide expanse of moments together. I need to be with the kids rather than just near them.
My crafting life is looking busy, too. My plan this fall is to outfit all of us with mittens, hats, and neckwarmers. We need to have them, we need warmth, and they are part of a primal need for nesting that started this summer for me. I need to clothe my loved ones. I also plan to knit Rainer his long-awaited purple sweater and Tias (I-Don’t-Wear-Parkas) should have a 100% wool sweater rather than the 80% acrylic sweater that I knit for him a few years back. And there’s Christmas knitting and crafting to come, too, especially as I’m doing a Buy Nothing New/Handmade giving season this year.
But, as I wait for the yarn for the hats and mitts to arrive in the mail, I’m possessed by a deep-seated urge to knit little whimsies. Yarn leaves and flowers are making me smile. No pressure, no sizing, fast and purposeless. A little light-hearted creativity to keep me from drowning in the transitions.
Handmade Homeschool 
LOVE the leaves! I want to make a bunch now. Were did you find the pattern or did you design them yourself?
How did you weave the yarn ends in so cleanly on the leaves? How did you keep the selvedges from curling? Cool photo.
-Christine who hasn’t knit in half a year due to carpal tunnels and a 5 year old who throws himself in her lap without checking for needles
These are so cute. Do you mind if I copy? I think they would be lovely decoration for a hat.
Christine, the edges did curl a little after blocking, but not too much. As for the weaving in, the edges are just woven into the back side and cut off. They’re there, you just can’t see them. 🙂
Wisteria, go ahead and copy them. I slipped the middle stitch after the yarnover section was done, that kept it a prominent ‘rib’.
I definitely recognize that feeling of not wanting to be exactly as it was before. When we had our big trip to Europe, I purposefully didn’t just jump back into everything we did before when we got back. I wanted to be more reflective about what we were doing. And I think that is part of the value of a trip like that.
The leaves are great.
Thank you for the reminder to be WITH the kids and not just NEAR them.