WIP Wednesday

Hey look! I managed to do this on the "proper" day! Here are some of my many works in progress - I won't even mention the ones that are still brewing in my head!



It's supposed to be a butterfly (I'm using the pattern here). The idea was to make it look like a Monarch. I don't think I've succeded very well. It's still a WIP because I'm thinking about felting it. It's for a seasonal swap I'm working on. The next few are going to be less Monarch-y, but hopefully more butterfly-like. I'd originally planned on needlefelting a butterfly but it was beginning to look like the work of a kindergartener so I've switched tactics.



These are longies for the Beast. They look way too small - which probably means they'll fit (because apparently I'm crazy). I lovelovelovelove the colors - even if it is just store-bought yarn. The stitch markers are to help my addled brain keep track of the ribbing.



These are the needlefelted tree stumps I'm making for a "Waldorf stocking stuffer" swap. While this is helping me refine my tree root making technique, I am perishing tired of making these.

What are you working on?

They're done!

I finished the longies yesterday! Finally! They are, indeed, much too large for the Beast. The Imp can wear them and has plenty of room to grow. You live, you learn - right?

The colors in the first photograph aren't great - the light was fading but I felt compelled to take a picture anyway. The rest are from today. The older boys are outside with B (who has likely taken much better pictures with his phone than I did with my camera).












So now that they're done, I need your help - how best should I take care of them? I'm fairly certain that the reason our previous longies (that I bought on Etsy) didn't work out so well is because I used too much lanolin. Here in the land of Are-You-Crazy?!-It's-Too-Hot-And-We-Don't-Wear-Wool I've had very little luck with getting reasonable answers. I was once told to use some combination of baby soap, lukewarm water, and a tube of lanolin. I can't find any wool wash locally and am totally lost. Help!

Belated WIP Wednesday

This week has been a whirlwind. So much so that I can't even pinpoint exactly why.



Currently I'm working on the Dreaded Longies, ten tree stumps, and a butterfly (yes, it currently looks like an orange heart). I started and frogged a coffee sleeve this week as well. That's what I get for starting a new knitting project in the car, in the dark, and without a pattern. Yes. I ask for chaos.



While I was taking these pictures two of my other works in progress decided to join me. One of them is currently less work than the other. Both are completely adorable, though.

Oh, the week I've seen.

B took last week off of work. It wasn't as restful and relaxing as we'd hoped. We didn't complete everything on our lists. But oh! I do love having that man home all day! Today is his first day back to work since October and it's rough getting back into our groove without him around.

Last week I baked bread. Real bread. Sliceable sandwich bread! I used the recipe here - except that I used coconut oil instead of shortening and cut the entire recipe in half. Aside from my huge slices (this is what happens without a real bread knife), it was very yummy though a bit crumby. Yesterday I made two more loaves - using butter this time. They look *scrumptious* and will be sliced up (with my new knife!) for lunch today. I also made hummus and flat bread. It was a busy week.





I finally finished the first leg on the longies I'm knitting. They look really nice. Here's the thing.. they're nearly as big as the baby is. Oops. They'll probably fit the Imp, though they may be a bit big on him as well.





We've had our first fires of the season. They boys are hooked - and we're out of wood. Isn't that always the way?

WIP et al.

A couple of weekends ago my step-sister got married in Ohio. My father and my sister's family attended the wedding. We didn't make it for a great many reasons. After the wedding they drove to Pennsylvania to visit my aunt and uncle and my many cousins. My uncle is awesome. He's always built amazing things, cooks like nobody's business, and is one of the sweetest men I've ever met. He sent some wooden cars and two push toys (which I've failed to photograph) home with my family to give to my boys. How amazing is that? The Imp went crazy for the push toys - a dinosaur and a frog. They're long sticks with the animals on they end and their feet are wheels. Does that make sense? The Elf fell in love with the cars and I can't wait to get some beeswax polish on them.



I ordered some amber beads from Amber4You on Etsy. They arrived the other day and I've already thrown them together for the Beast. Can you believe that no one local sells amber teething jewelry? And they're so very expensive online. I understand why, though. Stringing those things was tough and I gave up on putting knots between each bead. Regardless, I'm pretty pleased with it.



I mailed my packages for the Artful Stone Swap hosted by GardenMama. I went back and forth with myself about posting pictures before my swaps were received. In the end I decided that if I didn't post it now, I'd forget and never post it. So here it is.



I couldn't resist these little guys peeking out of their pods.



And the longies are still in progress. With luck I'll finish them before he's out of diapers.



I've been working on this post since last night! Whew. Today I went to another breastfeeding support meeting and a class about starting solids. Now I need to catch up on comments, bake some bread, whip up some hummus, and get to knitting!

WIP

The longies are (very slowly) coming along. They don't look like much right now, though.



I've also been working on my Artful Stone Swap. I have to save them for when the Imp isn't around, though. He loves rocks. He also loves throwing. This is a bad combination.

As if that weren't enough, I've joined a "Waldorf Stocking Stuffer" swap through a Yahoo group. I'm making ten wee felted tree stumps. They need to have been received by the host by December 1st. I'm not feeling rushed... yet. It'll come.

Any sane person would stop there. Me? I'm wondering how I can find some more wonderfully crafty people to swap with.

Blergh.

This weekend has been.. rough.

I officially give up on attempting knitting patterns where a rectangle is supposed to magically transform into a cute, little animal. They don't work for me. I simply can't make them correctly. This duck that I've been working on.. it's sad. Very sad. So sad that I'm not going to take a picture of it. I'm not even sure I'll ever get around to adding a beak because it's just so not worth it at this point.

And the longies. Oy, the longies. Let me say this right now: I hate knitting swatches. Period. Ugh. I have so little time in which to knit that it seems like an enormous waste of time. Especially when I end up with the exact gauge that the label said I would. Don't get me wrong, I see the merit and value in knitting swatches. I just don't have the patience for it. So. Swatch completed I was faced with changing needle size and knitting another swatch or line-by-line calculations. Math is right up there with swatches for me. But in this case, math won. With the patient help of TheSittingTree, my step-mother, and my husband I managed to figure this out. I think. We'll see.

Right. So knitting did not agree with me this weekend. Here's hoping this week is better.

{this moment} - painting

A Friday ritual inspired by Soulemama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment to pause, savor and remember.

Swap and a finished project!

I received a lovely, lovely swap package from TwoLittleSeeds this week.



In it were three packages - each labeled for one of my kids. And a yummy smelling tea bag for me!

The Elf:


The Beast:


The Imp:


The Imp didn't want to wear his the day it came. So the Beast wore it. But today, fresh from the laundry basket the Imp requested the "buttons!" and so I was able to photograph him.

The Elf has been watching me knit and craft things for other people. One day he inquired why I hadn't made something for him yet (let's ignore for a moment that I haven't made anything for myself, either). So I had him look through some books of patterns that I'd gotten from the library. He chose a caterpillar finger puppet from this book. Being the kid that he is, I suggested things we could do to make it more to his taste. We settled on an alien puppet. He requested three red eyes and two antennae. I think the middle eye looks more like a nose, but he's pretty happy with it. Also, it's more of a several-finger puppet. Oops.



And now to go work on my other two in-progress knitting projects!

I keep meaning to post about the amazing giveaway over at The Sitting Tree. It's open for another couple of hours. Hurry over and leave a comment here to win some lovely patterns (and yarn to complete them!).

Catch up and {this moment}

I've been slacking with the posting and image editing this week. So now I think I may try and compress it all into one post.

Let's see. Over a week ago the older boys and I painted blotter paper leaves. We tried several different methods and none of them worked exactly as I thought they would, but fun was had all the same.



I finished the dolls for my swap with TwoLittleSeeds and moved on to my swap with OutsideCat. I thought I'd do a quasi step-by-step photo thing. Of course, once I started adding color I sort of forgot to stop and take pictures. Oops.



I started out with a simple rolled piece of plain wool and felted it until it was firm and the right size.



Add four rolled cones. It's okay if they seem a little long or thin. When you add color it tends to thicken and shorten them. It gets shorter because it becomes more densely felted. I find it hard to do more than tack the original cones together.



Stick the cones on and there you go! A ghostly tree stump. Add color - dark for the bark and twisted lighter wool in a spiral pattern to make a tree ring-like pattern. And there you go!



I didn't take progress pictures of the mushroom house. So all you get is the finished product for now.





And finally. My moment. Which I'm going to cheat and explain. Two years ago (or so) we rescued a kitten being bled to death by fleas outside. We nursed him back to health and he's a happy, fluffy Faustus now. His litter-mate was not so easy to catch. In fact, we never did. He's a gorgeous feral fellow that I've named Constantine. In the past couple of months he's gotten more comfortable with us and is often seen in our driveway (when he isn't chowing down on the food we put out for him).

A Friday ritual inspired by Soulemama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment to pause, savor and remember.



Whew. The end. For now!

Serenity

For my niece's 13th birthday I made a knitted firefly ship.



It taught me a lot. I knit the whole thing on a circular needle using the magic loop technique. I was supposed to hold the yarn doubled but I really didn't want to try figuring that one out. I suspect that would account for the larger holes where you can see the stuffing peeking through.



When she opened it today at her party, my niece had no idea what it was. I'll be honest and tell you that my heart fell a bit. Her mother (my sister) had no idea, either. When I told them, they were all oohs and aahs. I think it's possible that my sister greatly overstated her family's interest in Firefly. Or maybe when my family geeks out, we really geek out.



My step-mother and the other knitters and creative types all thought it was amazing. I think it was mostly because it's only the second pattern I've ever tried - which I'm told is adventurous for a beginner. Maybe I was supposed to stick to flat things? My whole motivation for learning to knit was so that I could make toys for the kids.



In any case, I am pleased with how it turned out. After a few more interestingly shaped toys maybe I'll be able to design Moya and some DRDs (since I haven't come across a pattern already in existence). Mmmm. Farscape.

{this moment}

A Friday ritual inspired by Soulemama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment to pause, savor and remember.

WIP and a swap.

My oldest niece is a recent fan of Firefly. Her thirteenth birthday is coming up and her party is this weekend. What do you gift a newly turned teenager who doesn't seem to have many interests beyond video games? Well, you knit Serenity, of course!



This is just the "head" of the ship. I've gotten the body done since then and am currently attempting the tail. It's been an adventure.
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The lovely TwoLittleSeeds graciously agreed to a swap with me. Here are two of the three dolls that will be headed her way (the third hasn't been started yet).



The hat for this orange gnome was improvised from the pattern at Plain and Joyful Living and a child's hat pattern I found on Ravelry. I like that the hat is super long and skinny with a slight curl.



This one I'm not too sure about. I think I may have put the arms on too low. This was also my first attempt at hair. I used the tutorial at Wee Folk Art. I'm not sure I have the patience for doing it too often.

With luck I'll make it to the library tonight where two books with knitted toy patterns await me! Of course, I won't be able to knit anything from them until the third doll and Serenity are done. But it'll be fun to plot and plan.

{this moment} - a happy mess

A Friday ritual inspired by Soulemama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment to pause, savor and remember.

Second Birthday.

Yesterday was the Imp's second birthday. It's hard to believe that he's only been a part of our family for two years. But here he is, eighteen pounds heavier and much more mobile. And still my sweet little monkey.





Rainy weather kept us from our playground plans. Instead we followed an adventurous little boy through the mall and later all over the library. For lunch we treated ourselves to pizza and pasta at a little pizzeria we discovered recently. To my surprise, the Imp even ate a fair amount.

A few (mostly ignored) gifts were given. I did not manage to make a special dessert (he doesn't really care for cake) nor did I manage a special beeswax birthday candle. I waited too long to get started on these things. It doesn't help that the Imp doesn't yet understand birthdays. He honestly had no idea that yesterday was special in any way. B, my husband, doesn't celebrate birthdays much. He'll go along with what I plan but in truth he thinks it's all silly and pointless. I won't lie and tell you that it doesn't hurt, because it does. It's just one of those things that we don't see eye to eye on. I try to tell myself that it's because he didn't carry this life for nine months. I tell myself that if he'd been on my side of the birthing, maybe it would be more significant to him instead of viewing it as a merely "physical process" as he does.

But no matter. Starting now, I'm going to celebrate birthdays the way I choose to (with the kids' wishes taken into consideration, of course). I will knit birthday crowns and decorate birthday candles. And I will not let the ambivalence of anyone drag me down. I grew these kids, I labored to bring them into this world, and I will celebrate that.

On a less ranty note, here is the knitted doll I made for the Imp. He doesn't care much as yet, but yesterday was a big day for him - lots of activity and a missed nap.



I made it using this pattern just as I did the smaller doll. This one was the twelve inch doll - though I haven't measured it to see if that is accurate. It did take more than one skein of yarn, though. I used smaller needles than it wanted because I felt that there were too many gaps in the stitches of the smaller doll (that could have been user error, I admit). I have plans to make a hat for it.



My seams still need work. This one looks better than the small doll at least.

{this moment} - in which I cheat

A Friday ritual inspired by Soulemama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment to pause, savor and remember.

These two moments were nigh simultaneous.




(The Beast tries to suck his thumb and nurse at the same time. It's adorable. And completely counterproductive.)

Knitted dolls

Thanks to the great folks at Wee Folk Art I was able to fulfill a deep desire to knit a toy for my kids. I used their instructions to make a five inch doll.



I probably should have stuffed it more. And I've learned some things about sewing knitted pieces and following patterns. I've also learned that I shouldn't knit in the car while talking to my husband - I sometimes forget to pay attention to whether I should be knitting or purling.



Of course, that hasn't stopped me from starting a twelve inch doll for the Imp's second birthday (in just one week!). The above photo is just one leg of the doll. It's going to be a tight fit on these needles.