Return to Knitting

I haven't touched my knitting needles since December and my plans to return to knitting during the Memorial Day weekend didn't happen. I'm not going to focus on the reasons why I haven't knitted in over 6 months. I'm going to focus on that I am finally spending some quality time with my yarn again.

On Sunday, I decided to spend a little time knitting. Mid-morning I claimed our favorite armchair in the corner of our living room right by the window and got reacquainted with a pair of socks I needed to get finished.

This is what it looked like when little Miss Shana discovered the yarn bowl in the middle of the floor:

I had to laugh because whenever something in the house changes, she freaks out a little and stalks whatever it is that has changed.

The last time she did this was when I changed out her food bowl to a new one. You don't realize just how much a little thing like that can affect a cat.

After the yarn bowl was thoroughly investigated and then relocated to my lap, I spent a few hours turning the heel flap and began progress on the foot.

By mid-afternoon I took a little break to focus on some scrapbooking and after dinner resumed knitting on the couch. This is what Shana thought of that...

After attacking my yarn a few times, Manny was so kind in trying to distract her for me.

Eventually she gave up when she realized she wasn't going to win this battle.

On Monday, I decided I was going to bring my knitting to work with me again and knit during my lunch break. By the end of my break, I think I had made some decent progress.

As of today, I'm an 1.5" away from starting the toe. My plan is to complete it by the end of this weekend and immediately start on it's mate.

Going forward I am going to focus on balance. I have too many hobbies and not enough time. I need to find a balance where I feel I am able to spend time doing each of the things I love.

Right now I think I have figured out my new balance.

Hobby #1 - Reading: I am an avid reader and love to spend copious amounts of time getting lost in my books. Right now I am reading during my subway commute to and from work and then 10-15 minutes at bedtime. While I am not devouring my books like I used to, I am happy I am still getting time to read.

Hobby #2 - Scrapbooking: You guys know that this is where I have been focusing all of my creative juices. After not being able to scrapbook for over two years, once I got my new crafty space setup I tried to make up for lost time with a hobby I hadn't been able to do for so long. I've got myself more organized during the past few months and therefore I feel can be more productive with the time I am spending scrapbooking. I am currently scrapbooking a little each day on the weekends and occasionally during the week after work when I am not too tired.

Hobby #3 - Knitting: My hopes going forward is that I will spend one morning on the weekends getting in some action with my knitting and as long as my project remains portable, I will continue to bring it to work with me to knit during my lunch break.

I have one more hobby, sewing, to eventually work into the rotation. Don't know when I will make that happen and right now I am choosing to focus on the new balance I've just started.

So tell me, am I alone in this? Do you guys have more than one hobby and struggle with finding the perfect balance between them all?