{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, please leave a link in the comments to your moment.
Sweater #17, also known as the last sweater of the year. I can't believe I knit 17 sweaters; that's a lot of sweaters when I see it all together in one large number. Most of them were kid/baby sweaters, but for good measure I had 2 adult sweaters. Both of which were later shrunk by Husband. Let's not talk about those again.
This one is the Ribbed Baby Jacket by Debbie Bliss. It's cute on paper, but I'm not sure how well this will work out. The front seems very short and the rest of it seems very large. I added the button and a crocheted chain for a loop. There are no instructions for a button, so I just kind of guessed. I figure it can be taken out if it needs to be. Also, ribbing can be added on the bottom if it needs to be.
The yarn used was Nashua Hand Knits in Julia. It's a wonderful mix of wool, mohair, and alpaca. It's soft to knit with and even softer after blocking. I will definitely remember this yarn when I need something soft to knit with.
Two Woodland Shirts by Sew Liberated for two children who love to match.
One bucket for all of Daughter's treasures lined with fabric colored by her brother. My bobbin was acting up on the top sewing, but I couldn't bring myself to care enough to rip it all out.
And one stuffed baby clown for Son based on a drawing by his sister. It is the only other stuffed animal allowed in his bed besides his puppy. (Also, it's supposed to look weird because clowns are weird.)
*Work in Progress
We took the kids to Zoo Lights in the city. It was so full of light, Christmas cheer, and people. So many people. I wasn't too surprised though since the weather has been downright gorgeous for December. Even Husband (who hates anything below 80° F) has been loving the weather. The line was too long to see Santa, so we skipped it (which was fine with me). We did get to see some monkeys and lions.
Daughter started out the night walking, but in order to get a better view, she conned our friend into carrying her on his shoulders. Son was more interested in the cookies that my cousin made. And both were kept warm with hand knits.
The Tiny Tea Leaves Sweater for Daughter was finished long before the Solstice. The third skein of yarn matched the second one perfectly, so I completely lucked out. There is still some striping, but it's not nearly as noticeable in real life as it is in the photos. I blame the flash.
Daughter absolutely loved it; especially the vintage buttons that look like jewels. Exchanging gifts on the Solstice was an awesome idea and the handmade gifts went over really well. Everybody (but me) got a handmade gift which is good because now I have something to blog about for the next week.
The pattern for the Tiny Tea Leaves can be found here and I would say it's well worth the $4. I kind of want to make one for myself, but the wide neckline worries me. I've already had problems with that. The yarn is Quince and Co Chickadee, soft enough for Daughter with wonderful drape for me. Plus I know she'll be warm.
It's been busy around here today. We're exchanging gifts tonight so I had some last minute things to do, plus Daughter is off from school for winter break now and Son has decided that he no longer wants to wear diapers. So, yeah...busy.
The baby blanket is started and I already love it. The puffs are a bit annoying, but it's all worth it for the end result.
Also on the needles is the Mangyle. It's a solstice sweater for Husband, but because I had so many other things to do it kept getting put off. He's okay with it not being done by today, which is good because I might be a fast knitter, but I'm not that fast.
Happy Solstice to all of you!
*Work In Progress
I remember taking photos of the process of doing this dry erase calender, but now I can't find them. I just emptied the memory card from the camera recently and they weren't there. Nor were they in my Picasa. Which means they're lost somewhere on my computer. Picasa does this sometimes and then I have to go search for them in the pictures folder; only I'm too tired to do that today. So instead you get pretty pictures of it finished and hanging on the wall.
After college I didn't think I'd ever use a dry erase calender again, but Husband hates writing on the paper calender we have. He thinks it's archaic and that I should be using the calender on the computer. But, I'm not on my computer all the time like he is. So this was the compromise - anything that happens in the current month gets written on the new dry erase calender; anything in future months gets put into the computer calender. On the first of every month I will transfer everything over. This was the first month of it, so we'll see if it works.
To make the calender I used an old frame that I had in the attic (it's a 12 inch x 16 inch). I left a 1 inch border on all sides and drew a grid (the squares are 2 inches x 2 inches) directly on the wrong side of the glass with a Sharpie. I was lucky enough to have a mat with the frame that I cut down to fit in the 1 inch border; I then let Daughter draw on the mat. She started out drawing pictures (in the top photo you can see she drew a person) until she got bored with that and decided she'd color the rainbow. I wrote the days of the week directly on the mat so that I wouldn't have to try to write backwards. I then used some white fabric to cover the cardboard backing of the frame. Then I had to wait over a week for Husband to hang it (to be fair, it took so long because he had to move a thermostat).
The only thing I had spent money on were dry erase markers. I found that only the dark colors really show up, so if anybody needs some light colored dry erase markers let me know. Also, I'm not going to tell you what was in the frame. I don't want you judging both my decorative and musical taste. Suffice it to say that it was from those years after college but before children.
I woke up to screaming yesterday. When being woken up from a deep sleep it's hard to tell the difference between excited and scared screaming. I got out of bed so quickly I was dizzy only to realize that Daughter was just super excited that she lost a tooth.
Once I got over the dizziness (I'm fine, just got up really fast) and the shock that I have a child old enough to lose a tooth (!) I remember that we had nothing to put the tooth in. It spent the morning on the counter and in her hand (perhaps the tooth fairy exists so that kids don't just keep staring at their lost teeth and showing everybody). I spent the morning searching DIY tooth fairy pillows. I was just hoping to find a template for a tooth to put on the front of the pillow. I know how to make a pillow, but I didn't feel like drawing a tooth. Instead I found the cutest Monster Tooth Fairy Pillow ever. Better yet, I even had the stuff to make it.
It's nice and small to fit those really small teeth that are lost. The tooth just goes right in the mouth, the tooth fairy comes and turns the tooth into money. I think next time the tooth fairy might turn the tooth into a small toy; Daughter wasn't too excited about the money. I used wool felt sheets because that's what I had. Instead of cutting a 5.5 inch x 6 inch piece for the mouth, I cut a 2. 75 inch x 6 inch sheet (since you don't have to worry about unravelling with felt). I also added some rick rack to the top (thanks for the rick rack the other day Mom!) so that it could hang.
Ours is a multi colored monster, mostly because I didn't have enough pink felt, but Daughter likes it. After all, it is her two favorite colors (for now).
And here it is hanging on the back of the door so that the tooth fairy doesn't have to climb a ladder and search through over a dozen stuffed animals, three blankets, and two pillow pets to find it. It was recommended by me that it should get hung on the door. I like to make things a bit easier for the tooth fairy.
{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, please leave a link in the comments to your moment.
It's a good Thursday. The day before the end of the week and it's been a very busy week. Full of appointments, holiday pageants, and lunches. Tomorrow is a play date. When I made the calender I purposely left today to do nothing. To have some down time and Son is forcing that on me as well.
I have had a very needy two year old this morning. It's making blog writing a bit impossible at times, or anything really. Keep in mind, this isn't a complaint. Sometimes it's just nice to sit down and cuddle; forget about laundry and dishes. Listen to a good record while Son takes off his pants. He's shunned pants lately and I've no clue why.
Soon enough he'll have to put his pants back on and we'll go get sister from the bus. Next week I'll tell you all how I made that calender using things I already had. For now though, I'm going to enjoy the music (while leaving my pants on).
I'm in the very beginning stages of the *work in progress today. The yarn's not even wound into a ball yet. However it will become part of a baby blanket; one that I've wanted to make for quite some time but have had no one to make it for. (This isn't actually for anyone I know; it's commissioned - before you start spreading rumors or getting hopeful.)
Son is watching me write this and keeps pointing at the picture than back to the actual thing. He's a man of few words that Son of mine. That is how real time this blog is today.
Yesterday I got to go into the city and enjoy a day as an adult. I had a beer with lunch, hot food (twice!), no one that I had to share with, and a whole train ride to read. As if that weren't enough fun, I got to go see a taping of the Rosie Show with my cousin (also friend).
It was a gorgeous day so it was nice standing in the rain. This was the point where I got close enough to take a photo of the door. We showed up almost an hour before we were supposed to and the line was already to the end of the building and starting to wrap around.
I wasn't pretty enough to be in the way front, but that was fine because it's a small set. So no matter what you have good seats, and this way I didn't have to worry about being on camera. I was there for the musical guest anyways.
There's a very blurry Rosie; she allows photos after the show for a short time. She seems to have a really good rapport with the audience, very chatty and very friendly. The people that had been in the audience numerous times seemed to get the good seats. That piano behind her was where Tori Amos played. I'm not going to lie, seeing her play in such an intimate setting ranks up there with the birth of my children (children coming first).
I've had the Oliver + S Sailboat Shirt pattern for quite some time, since at least this summer, but it has taken me this long to make it. I'm not really sure why anymore, perhaps it was all those difficult looking parts of it that turned out to not be so difficult. Or perhaps it was because I just hadn't found the right fabric until I saw the above fabric at Purl Soho. I am so glad I took a chance in purchasing that fabric. Daughter was with me when I opened the package the day it came in the mail and she was in love. It worked to perfectly for her and for this shirt, the drape, the colors, the tiny flowers, and the way it matched those buttons I've been saving for nothing.
The pattern came together so well. I took a chance with some contrasting stitching even though the fabric is busy and I'm glad I did. Daughter loved it so much she wore it for her first ever train ride and even told people that I made it.
I've decided to continue the Thankful theme into the weekends. It's a good reminder of how much I have to be thankful for and how lucky I am. Today I am thankful for greenery in the winter before everything is white.
{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, please leave a link in the comments to your moment.
They are finally finished. Two faces each on the palm side; they could kiss now. They may have already been forced to kiss in an impromptu puppet show. The worst part about these wasn't the ripping back almost the whole mitten because I read the pattern wrong, it wasn't the ripping out the face, it wasn't even the duplicate stitch. It was weaving in the ends of the duplicate stitch. There's no place to weave in on the same color. For non-knitters, you're taught to weave in the color red ends into the knit color red, but in this case the only red is the duplicate stitch smile and nose. So I did the best I could, some ends were hidden better than others and one clown has a freckle. That's okay because as you can see, Daughter doesn't care.
It's a short WIP Wednesday as I can't tell you anything about this. It's a secret and I'm not sure the receiver looks at this blog. Suffice it to say that there is something on my needles though and that is what matters.
I've also added some stuff to the shop. I know it's not really a WIP, but it will have to count for today.
I've also reopened my Etsy shop. Not because I've suddenly had a change of heart about Etsy (I still think their support of resellers is atrocious), but I know that there are people that trust shopping off Etsy more than other shops. Now you have a choice about where to purchase from.
*Work In Progress
