It’s a Family Affair

We all know what it’s like to have family obligations. Some of them are more taxing than others, and some are actually a joy.

Or so I’ve been told. For me stitching and major family events have, until recently, always gone together like peanut butter and chocolate, or Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. The last couple years, however, I’ve fallen behind for two reasons: first, I’ve been doing so much knitting and pattern writing in my semi-professional capacity that the thought of doing more knitting in my free time can sometimes be off-putting (a little bit ironic, doncha think?); and, second, because my family keeps getting married and having babies (not to mention celebrating Christmas!) at an alarming rate. In spite of the good example I’ve set as a cat-owning, misanthropic spinster, members of my family keep insisting on pairing up and producing offspring.

Here’s the latest addition to my family–my cousin Tom, his son, Thomas, and brand-new baby Brooke:

And here, from Halloween 2006, are my adorable twin cousins from the other side of the family:

Now, when you see results as spectacular as these, you can see why they keep marrying and having kids, but my dilemma remains: what’s a self-respecting stitcher to do when she falls behind in birth and marriage samplers, baby clothes, and even Christmas gifts?

You know what they say about the road to hell… Here’s my most up-to-date list of family stitching projects I’d like to do (in pseudo-chronological order from least to most recent):

1. wedding sampler for Sarah and Spencer

2. wedding sampler for Pat and Leslie

3. birth sampler for Hudson

4. Christmas 2005 present for Uncle John (yikes!)

5. Wedding present for Moira and Eric

6. Christmas 2006 present for Laura

7. Congratulations! You were born! gift for Wylie

8. Congratulations! You were born! gift for Brooke

9. Congratulations! You are about to be born! gift for unnamed baby brother of Hudson coming in May

10. Wedding sampler or knitted gift for brother getting married on June 9th

Phew! I’m exhausted just typing these out.