If you are looking for my blog, it’s HERE!  I know it might seem silly have to a blog in a separate place, but I’ve had it for so long that I feel a little attached to it.

Did I ever tell you the story of why I named my blog “Sleepy Eyes Knitting“?

Well, here goes…

I learned all handicrafts from my Great Aunt Roberta.  She was a bicycle babe (even after the age of 60!), a bit too honest and a wee bit overcritical…but, oh, was she talented!  She taught me how to paint, cross stitch, sew and crochet at a young age.  My fondest memories are of her sitting in her small cottage (with beautiful stone fireplace) in a rural-ish town in Massachusetts – with the cuckoo clock ticking rhythmically in the background, the smell of my Great Uncle Bill’s pipe wafting through the air and Bob Ross’ “The Joy of Painting” playing on PBS.  I loved watching that show with her.

She would take me into her “craft garage” (which smelled faintly of mouse droppings, turpentine and damp wood) and let me browse through all of her STUFF.  If she noticed that I was interested in something, she would take it out and show me how she did it.  It was completely fascinating.

I will never forget that Great Aunt Roberta made a number of beautiful cloth dolls for me (some of which I ruined thoughtlessly by “feeding” them Coca-Cola), gave me my very first wicker sewing basket, crocheted a blanket for me before I was even born (which is slowly disintegrating and I have a hope to recreate it myself at a later date) and made my very first doll – Raggedy Ann (which I still have to this day, even though her head has become detached a few times…omg, poor Little Me!).

What has this story got to do with my blog name?

Well, not much.

But…

When I became pregnant with my second child, Benji, I had this feeling that I wanted to create something special for him.  Create a gift for him like my Great Aunt Roberta had created for me so many times.

I decided to make him a baby blanket.

For some reason, I didn’t want to crochet it…even though I already knew how to crochet.  It needed to be KNIT.  I don’t know why.

Destiny, maybe?

My mom had taught me how to knit a little bit, but  she had seemed unsure at the time how to cast on and bind off.   With the little bit of teaching she had given me, I was able to knit some very crude garter squares with a very cheap yarn (ugh…I cringe just thinking about it).  The finished blanket was pretty sad, but it was knit with love and I still used it to cover up my lovely baby boy.

As with most breastfed babies, Benji didn’t sleep much or for very long.  I was a zombie until he was about 2 years old.  During that “zombie” time, I was yearning for social interaction.  And, I had been frustrated by my inability to knit something lovely for my son.

My husband encouraged me to find a class, or something social, to do at night and he would take care of the baby.   At a local Ben Franklin store (not even sure if they have these stores anymore), I noticed that they were offering a knitting class.  PERFECT!

The class, taught by an amazing teacher, Darla Cote, changed my life forever.

Her class consisted of a small group of older women (who were all very nice to me) and we were instructed to knit 8 small squares to sew into pillows.  We learned 8 different stitch patterns, how to cast on, bind off, weave in ends, drop stitches and fix our own mistakes…etc.  Sooo awesome.

After my pillows were finished and I saw how beautifully they came out, I was addicted to knitting.  I was able to grab some Susan Bates straight needles, a few skeins of Lion Brand yarn (don’t all beginners start off something like this?) and knit at home when I had time.

Even though I was still incredibly tired and barely sleeping, knitting truly helped me.

When I found out that I could create a blog online and write about my knitting experiences to share with other people (hopefully knitters!), I jumped at the chance.

Yay…a new mom being social!

It took me a long time to come up with my blog name but, as soon as it came into my mind, I knew it was meant to be.

Sleepy eyes…knitting!

And that’s who I’ve been ever since.  I’m a little less sleepy now, but still knitting up a storm (and now designing, too).

If you’d like to read my very first post (it’s incredibly boring…beware), click here.

So, a short story made long, my Sleepy Eyes Knitting blog is at Blogger, but who knows what might happen in the future…

Enjoy!