What a Life!

See more Wordless Wednesday posts here. And more Big Shoes pictures here.

Today is the first day of my new routine.

I work from home, editing knitting patterns, for a magazine and occasionally for independent designers. I’ve always been paid by the project rather than the hour. I mean, with little boys running around, it’s quite difficult to clock my time. But recently I learned from an independent designer that most tech editors charge by the hour, and even though I was working by the project for her, she wanted to have an idea how much time it took me.

So I went out and bought a stop watch. And tried to use it for a week. Not only did I have to remember to start and stop it when I worked, it was a very enlightening experience as to how much work I was getting done when I felt like I was really working hard.

Make that a painfully enlightening experience. I try to work whenever I have a chance, which includes whenever the boys are playing nicely, which means even when they’re both awake. My attitude was that I had to make the most of every opportunity I had to work. Then when they’re asleep (or at least Joey’s asleep), I take time for myself to recharge and such.

After one morning of working as hard as I could, pedal to the metal, giving it all I’ve got, I had clocked 20 minutes of actual work. Yes, ladies and gentlemen - 20 minutes. I was worn out. By the time Joey went down for his nap, I could barely knit (aka follow a pattern), much less edit a pattern. Not good.

After talking with a couple more people in the industry and learning what they manage to get done working from home with small children, I decided that I would no longer do anything more complex than administrative stuff - answer simple emails and discuss projects over the phone - while the boys are awake. Theoretically, I would work an hour before the boys got up in the morning, two hours while Joey naps in the afternoon, and an hour after they both go to bed. The rest of the time, I would be a domestic diva extrordinaire. Like the subtitle on my blog. Which was supposed to be tongue in cheek.

Seriously. That would be time when I could go outside with the boys and knit while I watched them play. Or putter around the house doing domestic things. The stuff I never have time for. Because I’m always too tired. I actually do like doing homemaking things. I’m only trying to work 20 hours a week. That leaves 148 hours to do whatever I want to do. But I swear, it felt like it was the other way around.

This morning, I didn’t get up early as I had planned. Steve got up at 4:15 and left at 5:00, then I slept until Joey woke up, so no quiet time working before the boys woke up (or taking a shower either). I puttered in the morning, sat outside for an hour or so and knit while they played. Then Joey went to sleep, I took a shower (finally!) and then I worked for two hours. It was hard work, stuff I’d been putting off due to not thinking I had the brain cells available to get it done. But I sat down and did it, and it was only 20% as stressful as I expected it to be.

I have another project I need to work on, but I have no idea when Joey will wake up so I’m enjoying some quiet time by myself. Tonight once the boys are in bed, I will hit that project and get it to the next stage. If it’s anything like this afternoon, I’ll get lots done while feeling like I made hardly any effort. That’s how it’s supposed to be, right?

I do have things I like to do for myself when I have some peace and quiet, so the remainder of Joey’s nap is in no way going to waste. The only difference is that my stress level is negligible compared to what is normally is. And I know exactly how long I worked. It’s like getting the sense of accomplishment without all the frazzle that comes along with it.

Serenity now!

No, really. I mean that.

Serenity now.

Exactly how I feel right about now.

May the weekend be long and relaxing!

[Go here to see the entire set. It's a hoot!]

When I saw this project featured over at Knit Picks, I fell in love. Not only did I love the shape of the bag and how they used entrelac to do it, I absolutely loved the colors.

Except for one. Fern. An ugly green. I’m not much for green, much less ugly green. So I subbed Maple Syrup for the ugly green [the brown in the picture].

I got the yarn, and then I had my doubts. I even held off on knitting the project, worrying that maybe I would have liked the ugly green better.

This morning I finished working the entrelac squares around the middle of the bag. And I am absolutely in love with the colors I chose and how they look together. What can I say?

I can hardly wait to finish this and start carrying my knitting around in it. That’s what you call a good knitting project - great yarn in great colors, interesting to knit and fun to use when it’s done.

Now if only I had more time to knit…

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Fudge Brownies

A few weeks ago at our Wednesday night knitting get-together, someone mentioned King Arthur flour - that even though it was twice as expensive as other brands, it was really good, and once you used it, you would never go back.

Consider me a convert.

I tried their bread flour first. On the package was a recipe for Oatmeal Bread. I use a Bosch to make my bread. You add flour until the dough is the right consistency and then let the machine knead the bread. I added everything in the order they said, got it to the right consistency, and let it roll. Then the dough got heavier and heavier and heavier. I thought it was a disaster, but it turned out to be some of the nicest bread I ever made. [I think the oatmeal was a little slow on the uptake for absorbing the liquid, making it seem like I'd added too much flour long after I quit adding it.]

Cheese Rolls - read to go in the oven

I checked out the King Arthur’s Baking Companion from the library and have been trying recipes galore.

• I made No-Knead Deep-Dish Pizza for Ben’s birthday while Mom and Dad were here. It’s the closest I’ve come to making Chicago-style pizza crust at home. I love Chicago-style pizza.
• I made Beautiful Burger Buns for our hamburgers on the 4th of July and Barbeques that Saturday night. The nicest over-sized onion burger buns I’ve ever eaten.
• Right next to the Beautiful Burger Buns is a recipe for Cheese Rolls. My Horn Rolls are incredibly light and delicious - these rolls made their glory fade in comparison.
• The Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies were okay and went quickly at the potluck I took them to, but I still think no chocolate chip cookies measure up to Butter Crisco’s Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies.
• The Devil’s Food Cake recipe I used for Ben’s Thomas the Train Cake was nothing to write home about.
• I had almost decided that their flour was good for bread but not sweets when I decided to try the recipe for Fudge Brownies on the side of their unbleached flour bag. I’m a sucker for brownies - fudgy brownies. Those brownies were better than any brownies I’ve ever eaten. In the cookbook, they have a recipe that is very similar - Raspberry Truffle Brownie Bars. We’ll just say I’ve already started my grocery list for next weekend (I usually shop on Thursday or Friday), and the ingredients for these are at the top of the list.

Beautiful Burger Buns

My mom always made homemade bread when I was a kid, and I must confess, I always thought it a treat when we got to eat store-bought bread. I’ve had the Bosch for ten years, but I’ve only made bread occasionally. I make good rolls and such, but every day bread just wasn’t worth the time or the trouble.

Until now.

I have a feeling my boys are going to grow up thinking store-bought bread is a treat, too. Just because it’s something different. Poor things!