My One-Handed Life

These days, I need to find creative ways to do everything with one hand. The other always has a child draped across it, either nursing or sleeping. Heaven forbid I be allowed to put the sleeping child down for a moment. Oh my, no. So, I'm getting creative. I can cook myself lunch one-handed (pre-sliced salami eaten standing in front of the fridge while rocking a sleeping baby with one hand). I can shower (rinse my head in the sink with a hand-held sprayer while supporting a nursing child with one hand). I have not, however, figured out how to knit with one hand.


But I can crochet.

This is a blanket I am making using all of the odds and ends from my stash. I wish it weren't mostly blue. I feel so hackneyed making a blue baby blanket for a boy. But the fact of the matter is, I had more blue odds and ends than any other color. And I tried just using random balls of whatever but it looked better having some unifying color. This is my first real attempt at crochet. I thought I was doing a double crochet but it turns out it was a single crochet. Who knew.


Here's the Mole dozing on a blanket I knit way back when I had two hands available. The crochet blanket is one my grandmother made when I was a baby. She was quite a hooker, my grandma. Unfortunately she's not still around to mock my not-really-double-crochet. But I'm sure she'd be proud. See how I'm copying her ripple blanket design? She was big into the ripple blankets.

Oh, and please note the Mole is sporting a soaker I knit. I have to say it fits rather nicely. As do these pants.


Of course everywhere we go people can't resist saying "already wearing lots of yarn." True. But as the Squid is growing older and more opinionated I need someone to dress who won't argue with me. And now you know the real reason for having a second child.

P.S. this entire post was typed with one hand.