With the girls back in school the last two weeks, I have found myself needing a project to keep my hands busy while I sit at volleyball games, piano lessons and the like. I immediately wanted to pick up some knitting needles, buy new yarn and get busy. But, in a huge effort to just use what I have, I finally dug out my knitting bag yesterday.

Let me tell you, it was a hot mess. 2 unfinished sweaters, piles of needles, a bunch of papers - all jumbled up.

I haven't picked up any kind of knitting since last August when I all but completed my Sullivan. Now wait, I take that back. I did finish knitting the applied i-cord sometime in the winter or spring when I wanted the yarn for granny squares. With just two underarm seams to kitchner and all the ends to weave in, I abandoned it for the crochet hook. I know. Silly me. 

I took the bag with me as I sat at the gym door collecting admissions for volleyball games. I pulled out the Sullivan (which also looked like a hot mess), borrowed a tapestry needle from a friend (yes, not a single one in the bag, and yes, lucky to have a knitter in the gym) and got to work. By the time my shift was over, it was ready for blocking.

This one is going to be a beauty. I just know it.

Next up, the unfinished blue tea leaves. Now if I could just remember what size needle I used two years ago, those sleeves would be done in no time at all. Or maybe I should go back to my Elizabeth Zimmerman fair isle number. That just needs button and buttonhole bands. Decisions, decisions.

I snatched these flowers at the farmer's market last Saturday morning. They are still going strong and are the best smile-inducers now that the kids are back in school.

I think I lost my blogging mojo this summer. I'm sure you have guessed that already. No big news, right? But, I'm not finished blogging or going to throw in the towel yet. I think I just needed an old fashioned break and without realizing it, I took one.

I've been in this space for six years now. Six years! And when I think about what my life was like then, with two little kids who needed more immediate attention and more constant watching, I wonder how the heck I did it. Seriously. How did I find the time to be here 5 days a week with something to say? Now with the kids older, needing less watching, but more of my driving time and much, much more of moral support, I find that I don't have the kind of time that I think I need to be here. And that's the catch...I don't really need a ton of time to stop in and share a little tidbit. It doesn't have to be a huge, finished project that gets me to take photos, sit down and write. I used to share the little things, the progress of projects, small works in progress, stacks of fabric, photos of my day. I used to be more spontaneous about it all. I'd like to go back there and I'm going to try to.

I'm not going to promise posts 5 days a week. That's kind of unlikely right now. But I'm dipping my toes back in slowly. I have some finished things to share. And some unfinished things, too. I have a couple of great books to tell you about and some online craft courses to share (complete with giveaways!). I've got advice to ask about stocking the freezer for school lunches. I might just post some photos if I feel like it. Maybe I'll tell you about the cleanse I've been doing for the past couple of weeks. Or maybe not. Who knows?

So, hi. I'm Erin. Nice to see you again.

Hey there. Long time, no blog. Life, people. Summer.

School starts Wednesday. Wednesday. And there are still four skirts I need to hem. Ahem. But otherwise we are set and ready to go. I hope (fingers and toes crossed) to be back here a bit more frequently. Not as if that would be hard. Geez. I have been a slacker.

But, I've been reading a lot. Tons, actually. The amount of pages turned may inversely correspond to the amount of blog posts this summer. Or not. Who knows? Here's what I've read on my summer vacation:

Orchid House by Lucinda Riley

Gillespie and I by Jane Harris (Small coincidence, huh? My Jane Harris gave this to me for my bday)

The Marriage Plot by Jefferey Eugenides

The Newlyweds by Nell Freudenberger

In One Person by John Irving

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner

Bowling Avenue by Ann Shayne

A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny (7th in a series - all mysteries, best read chronologically)

Eight Inspector Montalbano books by Andrea Camilleri (again, mysteries that are best read in chronologically - these are not necessarily listed in order. There are also a few (5 or so?) that come before these that I had already read):  The Age of Doubt, The Patience of the Spider, The Potter's Field, The Track of Sand, The Wings of the Sphinx, The Paper Moon, August Heat, Rounding the Mark

That's 17 books since my birthday. I'm impressing myself.

That pile up top? 5 are mine, 2 are Fatty's. 1 of mine we will both read. Bonus points (and maybe a prize?) for anyone who can figure out whose are whose.