Life With The Crew

Not My Usual Style

I recently made a small baby blanket for a friend using four different colors of Quince & Co's Chickadee.  I am intimidated by blankets and don't really get excited about them, so this one turned out a bit small, more of a big lovey blanket.  And so what to do with the remaining yarn?  I used Chickadee previously to make a yellow capelet/wrap for myself and I really like how it drapes when knitted on size 8 needles.  Do I really need another capelet?  Well yes, I do.  I have been wearing the yellow one inside the house now for about 2 months straight.  It is perfect because it is a warm layer (in my rather chilly house), yet it keeps my arms free when cooking and cleaning.  However, it does not cover my neck, which is almost always cold.  So I thought I would try a mock turtleneck version.  I could not find a pattern that I liked that used this amount of yarn (I did not want to buy more, just use up what I had), so I just went for it and made up my own.  With a lot of luck, it turned out almost perfect.

I wanted a little structure for the neck so that it stood up a bit, so I added the ridged rows to the stockinette stitch.  The second tier was simple knitting with evenly spaced yarn overs to increase.  I just kept guessing on the placement and luckily it turned into a nice pattern.  Then I thought that I would try an easy lace pattern that would make it drape nicely.  This is a branching lace pattern, shown upside down from the pattern that I followed.  I actually enjoyed the lace pattern, though I made sure not to lose my place!  The bright striped pattern is not my usual style, but I am happy with the end result.  It was more of a project piece; using my knitting skills to see what I could do.  

(The colors are Shell, Petal, Clay, and Pomegranate.)

The Little Babe's Technicolor Wrap

My brother recently returned from a trip to Spain.  He said that as he passed a narrow alley, something caught his eye.  It was a stall selling yarn and he knows that his sister is a knitting fiend.  So for Christmas he gave me two skeins of yarn - a lovely plum colored alpaca and a super bulky crazy rainbow colored skein of Malabrigo Caracol.  Since Malabrigo is a Spanish word, he assumed it was made in Spain, but it is actually made in Uruguay (and available in many yarn shops in the US).  I used another Malabrigo yarn to make a sweater for the babe two years ago.  I found a very basic shawl pattern on Ravelry and modified it a bit, using size 13 needles.  The little babe said that she wanted to wear it with the big part in the front, so I added two vintage metal buttons about three inches apart on one corner, and when worn backwards and buttoned through the large stitches, it makes a snuggly wrap for the little babe.

A Thrifty and Unique Gift Idea

An old book full of beautiful photos, yet one that we're not going to read.  Cheap picture frames from the Goodwill store.  Add them together and you have a unique piece of artwork.  I hung these three in our Airbnb rental and will be giving another as a Christmas gift.  

 

When It's Cold Outside...

~stick close to the woodstove,

(Molokai watching the fan spin.)

~make meals that warm you twice,

(Once when you chop the 20 pound squash, then when you eat the ginger and orange squash soup.)

~and drink lots of hot tea.

(Dried orange peels are my new obsession.  I don't buy oranges very often because of the huge food mileage involved, but the little babe loves them.  So in order to put the whole orange to good use, I started saving and drying the peels.  It is so simple and there are so many awesome things to do with dried orange peel!  Baking with it is the obvious use (squash quick bread with dates and dried orange peel turned out fantastic), but I have also been adding it to my herbal tea mix, and I made orange peel infused honey, which is spoon licking yummy!  You can also add the fresh peel to a bottle of white vinegar and let it infuse for an easy homemade cleaning spray.)

How are you keeping warm?

 

A Snowy Day Exploration

A snowy day exploration.

 

Thankful Tuesday - 12.13.16

Today I am thankful for...

~the first snow day!  Only about two inches, but that doesn't matter.  It was enough to delight and entertain - the little babe, the dogs, and me.  (The chickens, not so much.)

~relief from a mysterious back pain.  It may have come from wrestling with a 60 pound futon mattress in our Airbnb rental, or from hiking with the 35 pound (little) babe on my back every day, or from many other not very exciting reasons, but it was painful enough to keep me up at night and to break out the rarely used expired bottle of Tylenol from the depths of the medicine cabinet.  And then as suddenly as it appeared, it seems to have gone.  

~a lovely day with family talking about wedding plans, trying on my bridesmaid dress, and seeing the little babe twirl in several fancy frilly flower girl frocks.  I think both she and I were in satin and sequin shock, but it was for a good cause - Malley, we love you and are very excited!

~my industrious little red hens who are providing us with two or three eggs per day!  And for the fact that big bad Buffy has taken a little break from her egg pecking habit.

What are you thankful for today?

 

 

Some Days

Some days this little babe of mine frustrates me much more than I would like.  I know that this is normal, but I wish that I could be a more patient parent.  Perhaps I should meditate for 30 minutes each morning, but I don't have time for that.  Relaxing yoga isn't my thing; I'd rather be burning calories on a run.  Drinking calming herbal tea?  I already have a cup at naptime every day.  My answer is to get outside.  Get her outside, get myself outside.  Change of environment and change of attitude.  And just when I am frustrated to the max, it seems that she will say or do something that cuts through the stress, wipes the tight lipped frown off of my face, and reminds me that I love her so much, even when she is driving me bonkers.

(See that little smiling face above?)

As we were in the process of walking in the door, coming home from a long bike ride, I was a bit fed up with the feet dragging/curb walking/dawdling that had made the walk up the hill four times longer than it needed to be.  And of course, I was the one carrying the bike, because she was too tired to walk it up herself.  Plus, I was cold and needed to pee.  So I dropped the bike, threw open the door, and as I turned to tell her to come inside NOW, she said, "Mom, look!"  And when I looked, what did I see, but a tiny little bird perched on top of the woodpile.  "Oh wow.  What is it?"  "A Carolina wren!"  Yes, indeed, it was and yes, indeed, it warmed my nature loving Momma heart.

 

 

Sunlight + Water = Brilliant

December has come in bleak and dreary; warm sunlight and blue skies were nowhere to be seen.  Last night a wet snow fell, ending with a bit of rain, and so this morning the branches were covered with water droplets.  The sun graced us with her presence and the world glittered.

A Tunic Fit for a Hobbit - Puddle Duck

My latest knitting project is a Puddle Duck tunic for the little babe.  After knitting my version of the Annabel Cardigan for myself, I had two and a smidge skeins left of the undyed Osprey from Quince & Co.  As soon as I saw this pattern, I knew it was perfect for the little babe.  It is a tunic length, which I love for layering over tights and long sleeve shirts, it has two pockets (a necessity for her), and the Puddle Ducks are characters in several Beatrix Potter stories, which she loves.  It was an easy project, but I did learn a couple new things.  It called for a German cast-on, which is a bit confusing, but I believe the point is that it makes a stretchier edge, good for a neckline, so I did it.  And I love how the decorative ridge pattern down the front is simply made by slipping one stitch!  The two pockets hidden in the garter stitch hem were also easy but interesting.  Much simpler than the kangaroo pocket that I made for my Montagne sweater.  They are perfect for storing all of the little things that she collects, including a hobbit ring.  She and her father are currently working their way through the Hobbit stories and she is a bit obsessed.

There is an adult version of this sweater, called Nutkin (another Beatrix Potter character).  It is now saved in my Ravelry favorites!

Doing Great

Every day I walk the two slow dogs up our street.  We used to make it the whole way around the big block, but that became too much for old man Chip.  Then we would turn around at the end of the first street, but he was dragging through that, so now we're down to two houses in and that is more than enough for him.  Lola could go farther, but since she is not up to Ruby's fast pace, she and Chip make up the slow sniffer team.  And almost every day, we see the "nice lady", who spends more time walking her dogs than I do.  I used to call her the crazy lady, because it seemed that all she did was walk her dogs and drive to the park to walk them again.  I would literally see her driving to the park three times a day AND walking them in the neighborhood.  The little babe learned which was her car since we saw it so frequently.  (This wasn't really as mean a term as it sounds, because I can easily fathom neighbors calling me the "crazy Corgi and baby lady".)  But then one day the little babe called her the crazy lady and I had to put a stop to that immediately, so she became the "nice lady".  I do not know her real name.  We say good morning and remark about the weather as we slowly pass each other on opposite sides of the street, but do not go into deeper conversation.  Something has always been a bit different about her; I thought she had perhaps had a stroke at one point, from the stiff way that she carried herself.  However, over the past year we have seen her driving less and less and now she is not able to drive at all.  She does not walk as far as she used to and to put it bluntly, her body looks like it is breaking down.  I do not know what illness or disease she has, but it has altered her drastically.  Yet, she continues to walk her dogs every day.

As I crested the top of the hill today, moving fast and light with just Ruby and not weighed down by the little babe, I saw the nice lady sitting on the bench in her front yard, waiting for a ride.  I said good morning and she asked me how I was; I replied with the typical, "Good."  "No," she replied, "you're great."  I made some lame comment back and continued on, but immediately started thinking about her reply.  Yes, I am great.  I have a healthy working body.  I live in a safe neighborhood.  I get to spend my days with my creative and beautiful daughter.  I have a caring and handsome partner.  All of my needs are provided for.  I have no reason to not be great.  The dog poop, the cat vomit, the mouse poop on the kitchen counter, the bills due, the regular frustrations of life, do not really add up to anything that subtracts from that greatness.