Yarn Over

Layered Freezer Paper Tee Tutorial

2012-01-30T14:27:00.002-06:00

There are already a lot of tutorials out there about freezer paper stenciling (links here, video here, or here), so I'm not going to bother explaining the basics, just how you can make a rather simple process more complicated. I've noticed that most freezer stenciled projects on the web are rather straightforward one-color affairs, and I wanted something a bit more exciting and complicated.

(Because I'm all about complicated. The more complicated something is, the more I like it. Why do things the easy way when you can do it the hard way?)

This is a regular tee that I purchased on sale last year for Miss Boo. It had a pocket on the front which was getting in the way of my stencil, so first I carefully removed it with a seam ripper.

Here is my image, which I shamelessly stole from Google Images (I just did a search for "Hello Kitty Image".)

I copied it and then stretched it to fit a 8x10 piece of paper, which I then printed out. It's a good idea to print out a few extras in case you make a mistake. If you're really clever you can print it directly onto the matte side of the freezer paper that you have already cut into a 8x10 paper size. (See paragraph #2 above as to why I didn't do that.)

From there, I taped my printed image onto the matte side of the freezer paper, and using an exacto knife, cut out all the white parts. Try to be careful not to cut anything else, and most importantly, SAVE THE BITS YOU ARE CUTTING OUT. You might need them later.

For lighter colors, I'd recommend doing at least three coats, so don't get impatient and pull off your freezer paper right away. Save your impatience for an intelligent purpose, like using your hair dryer to dry the paint quickly so you can get three coats onto the shirt in 10 minutes. Once the paint is dry to the touch, carefully peel off the freezer paper.

For the next layer, I decided to do the light pink sections. It doesn't particularly matter which sections you do first, but I find it's easier to do the largest parts first and then work your way down from there (do all of one color at the same time).

Using the same piece of paper as your first layer, cut it out onto another fresh piece of freezer paper. The advantage to using the same paper over and over is that you're more likely to match up the different parts. This time, ignore the white sections and only cut out the light pink sections.

Making sure that it's positioned in the line with the part you've already done, iron it onto the shirt and paint your color, again drying it with your hair dryer.

Repeat the process with whatever layers you have next.

Next comes my favorite part, adding all the bling and embellishments. I happened to have a black puffy pen and a clear glitter puffy pen, so I used those to do the outlining and eyes, along with a blob of yellow for the nose.

I really like a bit of 3-D or texture, so I added the purple rosette by hand stitching it onto the shirt.

Finally, I made two little bows with some leftover bits of ribbon I had on hand. I used a glue gun to form the bow, and then hand stitched one of the bows to the shirt so it wouldn't fall off.

Now, although you should've dried the paint with your hair dryer, I would recommend letting the paint cure for at least 24 hours before using the shirt, and definitely waiting that long before washing it. However, the great thing about this technique is that it doesn't wear out. The shirt itself will wear out before the paint does (and believe me, my kids are hard on their clothes.)

So what did I do with that extra bow? I glued a hair clip onto the back so that Miss Boo could have the same hair clip as her Hello Kitty!

Perfectly cute!

Homemade Butter Tutorial

2012-01-24T07:49:00.000-06:00

Making your own butter is such an easy thing to do, and it tastes much superior to that bland stuff you buy in the store. Think of the amazing combinations of herbs and butter you can create! Garlic butter and rosemary, for instance, or perhaps mint and butter over crackers!

First, start with your raw milk.

If it's sat for at least an hour the cream should have already floated to the top. How much cream you'll have will depend on the cow's milk and the amount of fat (cream) is in the milk. This milk is from Holsteins, which don't have as high a fat content as Jerseys.

Get your favorite ladle and carefully scoop out the cream, trying not to get milk into the cream. (It's not the end of the world if you get a bit of milk into the cream. Just do your best. You can console yourself later with a slice of bread and fresh butter.)

Pour the cream into a food processor or blender. (Or put it in a jar with a lid and hand it to the child who's been annoying you the most with his ADD energy levels).

Turn on your appliance and walk away. (Or tell Annoying Child to start shaking the jar and not to stop until it's dinner time.) Don't worry if it takes awhile before you see any results. (It usually takes my machine about 10-15 minutes). If you stop too soon you will having whipping cream. RESIST THE URGE TO STOP TOO SOON "BY ACCIDENT" JUST SO YOU CAN HAVE SOME WHIPPING CREAM.

We must have self-control.

We must have resolve and commitment.

We want butter, and you can commend yourself on your great restraint and moral fiber as you slather it liberally over toast.

When you start to see the cream curdle into yellowish lumps, you are free to stop the machine. In the picture you can see the butter has solidified and has separated from the little bit of milk that ended up in the ladle.

At this point, you can add a bit of good salt (a culinary necessity, if you ask me) and whatever extra herbs you wish. Give the blender/food processor a quick spin to blend the ingredients.

Plunk the entire concoction into a sieve (or cheesecloth if you are the type of person who has that sort of stuff on hand, in which case you would "place" instead of "plunk" your butter. I prefer to plunk. It's just who I am.)

I'm so surprised the kids haven't found my sieve yet. It is regularly requisitioned as a helmet in the War Against Evil Sisters.

Shake it around a bit to try to dislodge as much milk as possible. Once it's as solid as you can get it, plop it out into your hands.

Squeeze it and knead it as much as you can. You want to try to get out all the excess whey and moisture trapped in the butter. The whey is what causes the butter to go bad faster.

By the "whey" (heh heh) there is a horrible and disturbing reason why store bought butter lasts so long. This is a happy blog though, so I will leave it to your imagination as to why the store bought Butter of the Undead never dies.

At this point, shape it into whatever form you like.

If you're not going to use it right away or you have a bit extra, wrap it up in saran wrap and label it. You can freeze it for later use or stick it in the refrigerator. Refrigerated home made butter lasts about a week or so.

Now, it takes quite a bit of cream to make a small amount of butter, so I don't use the home made stuff for cooking, just for spreading on toast or waffles. Your butter should have a lovely creamy flavor and a slightly "cheesier" strong taste than the insipid Undead Butter stuff.

Sit back with a cup of tea and enjoy!

Classical Conversations

2012-01-22T19:16:00.000-06:00

I home school, and along with that my kids and I do Classical Conversations. They hate it when they're described this way, but the easiest way to describe it is that they're a bit of a home school co-op. They're nationwide and growing by 200% every year.

Anyway, along with history, art, and other subjects, we've been learning about the human body. For the end of semester project the kids got to assemble a full body tracing (their own body, actually) and add the organs and other assorted parts in (relatively speaking) anatomically correct places.

It was quite something to hear a child calling across the room, "Teacher, I'm missing my spleen. Can I have an extra spleen?"

Apparently along with having all her organs in the correct places, my daughter aspires to being Joker's sidekick.

(I have NO idea why she colored her hair green. Or her lips that freaky shade of red. I have ceased to try to understand her.)

Consolation Gift for Joshy

2012-01-16T17:39:00.000-06:00

I had started working on a Christmas gift for my brother Joshy last summer, and when I got it done, I was thrilled with how it looked.

It was amazing. It was trendy. It was practical.

Then I made the mistake of asking Handyman to model it so I could get pictures. He did. Then he refused to take it off.

(Now please understand that while I might act all huffy, in reality I was absurdly pleased.)

This was wonderful, because then I didn't have to knit anything for Handyman for Christmas, but then that left me without anything for my brother, and I had promised him something hand knit. It was December 2. Things were looking grim.

With flying needles and lots (and lots) of caffeine, I somehow managed to get his gift done in two weeks. It's even better than I could have hoped, and I think he'll get lots of use out of it (he lives in Maryland, where I'm told it's cold. I'm skeptical, as "cold" to a Hawaiian isn't the same as "cold" to insane people who live in the Frigid North like me.)

This is the Alberta Vest by Jared Flood, and what an amazingly well-written pattern it was! It's knit in the round as a tube (for non-knitting muggles that means it's easy knitting and fast because there's no purling required) and then armholes and the neck are cut open using steeks.

I used some Cascade 220 in a dark gray that I already had in my stash, and purchased some Chroma Worsted from Knitpicks. The yarns are striped every two rows, and it was fun to watch how the Chroma slowly blended colors.

(Chroma is a fantastic yarn and I'd highly recommend it. I'm not sure how much it might pill though, so I'd recommend using a rather tight gauge if you're working with it for garments.)

For the ribbing on the bottom, armholes, and neck, I was able to use up some dark heathered black yarn from my stash. Double bonus!

Learning how to steek (cutting into the knitting) was the last thing on my Bucket List of Knitting Techniques, and I was thrilled with how easy it was. I have to say, I was definitely holding my breath while I did it, but once I got it done I was so impressed with how easy it was and how useful it could be!

Steeking can be done either with a crochet hook or a sewing machine, but since the steeks were for the armholes and neck, both of which should have some stretch, I decided to try the crochet method. I'm very glad I did. I love the way the inside looks!

Next time I do a steek, though, I'm going to use a smaller crochet hook. It's nothing that anyone else but me would probably notice, but the crochet edges pucker a tiny bit. It didn't make any difference once the fabric was tacked down.

I hope you like it Joshy!

Digitgal Scrapbooking (Creative Memories versus My Memories)

2012-01-14T10:12:00.000-06:00

I love to scrapbook. I love the texture of the pages, the look of the many colors when paired with the photos, and especially, the ability to capture just a few of the special memories I've been fortunate enough to have experienced.

(I have a faulty memory. If I don't put it down, I will forget it.)

What was I saying?

Oh yes. Scrapbooking.

Anyway, the last few years have been very hard on my scrapbook capabilities. I don't have a designated craft room, so I have to haul all my stuff out to the dining room table to scrap, all while keeping an eye on the ~~little thieves~~ children to make sure they don't abscond with my stuff. Going to a retreat isn't usually fiscally possible.

Long story short, I'm getting farther and farther behind with my projects. At this rate, I will finish the kids' books when they have kids of their own. (At which point I will most likely be saying, "kids, what kids? Pass me another martini . . . ")

After doing lots of research, I decided to take the plunge into digital scrapbooking. I don't like the flat look of the pages as much as a real bonafide 4-inch-thick-scrapbook, but again, I'm getting desperate.

My choices were narrowed down to two, Creative Memories or My Memories. Both software programs were very highly rated. In the end I decided to go with the Creative Memories software for two reasons, 1) my consultant is nearby and could help if I ran into problems and 2) they have a fantastic sale going on and they ended up being the same price as My Memories (usually CM products are more expensive than anything else out there).

So far, I'm finding that the program is very easy to use. Best yet, I can download digital papers and embellishments from other sources into the program (which is good, as I think CM's digital stuff is way over-priced and I don't really care for their designs anyway).

(Etsy is a wonderful place to find all sorts of digital scrapbooking supplies like papers and png. file embellishments.)

Here are two pages that I just completed. They are 12x12 sheets that I will have printed out (prices seem to be about $2 a sheet). Since these pages are for Miss Boo's book (which is already half done with traditional scrapbooking techniques) I am just going to slip them into the page protectors.

So far so good! it's faster (not much, but I'm just learning) than regular scrapbooking with MUCH less mess. (Plus it's easier to hang onto my laptop than multiple sheets of loose paper).

Are you a digital scrapbooker? What do you think about it?

Ballerina Boo

2012-01-12T07:38:00.000-06:00

My little Miss Boo had her ballet recital in December. There's something so endearing about seeing your tiny baby girl prancing around in a pink tutu and wearing an enormous flower on her head.

It almost makes me believe that someday she will grow up into a lovely young woman.

(It's a good thing she's got a few years to work on it.)

Her teachers had all the students put on a rendition of The Nutcracker and did a very good job, in my opinion. Miss Boo and the other girls in her class were the Bon Bons. (This, of course, led to lots of variations on her knickname such as Banna Bon Bon, and Bon Bonna Boo).

I feel that it's important to emphasize how special these sorts of things are, so I always make sure to nag Handyman to get flowers. (I say nag, but I have a feeling he would do it anyway. He loves getting her flowers.)

I think the flowers from her daddy are her favorite part of the recital!

More Fun with Freezer Paper Stencils

2012-01-10T21:02:00.000-06:00

My sister Lynn and her husband Rob are avid tennis players, so for Christmas presents for them I decided to design matching tee shirts using my favorite freezer paper stencil technique.

(Special kudos to my other sister, Angie, for helping me come up with the motto on the shirt!)

One of the things I like to do when using F.P. Stencils is to add texture with fabric or sewing. On these shirts, for instance, I bought some cool fabric with sequins, and (after cutting out the font) did an iron-on applique with double sided applique backing.

(Cutting out the letters can be a rather tedious process if you don't have a Cricut or Silhouette to do it for you. However, if you do it by hand, first print out your font onto regular computer paper, iron the double sided fabric backing onto your fabric, tape the computer paper onto the fabric with scotch tape, and cut away! I use a lot of Scotch tape to help the letters stay on the fabric while I'm cutting. It's easy to remove later.)

Basically, I made the tennis ball first by using a dessert plate to trace a circle onto freezer paper. After the yellow/green circle was dry, I made the white stripes by again tracing strips (from the edge of the circle) and doing three applications of white paint. After that, I added the words "of the court" using more freezer paper and paint.

The crowns were images that I Googled and printed out onto computer paper (after blowing them up to the size I wanted.) I then taped them onto freezer paper and painted on the gold parts first, then did the colored sections. Finally, I outlined the crown with black puffy paint and added a few "dollops" of shimmery paint for "jewels".

Peter's Party

2012-01-02T05:12:00.000-06:00

Peter and his best buddy Gavin turned 8 this year (whoops, past year!), and so they had a combined birthday party with a Lego theme.

The party invitations were a wonderful PDF purchase from Living Locurto. My printer was acting up and the colors weren't coming out true, so we spent a little more getting the pages professionally printed at Staples Printing Online (which we then picked up in the store the next day).

While we waited for everyone to arrive, the kids played with the extra balloons. Why is it that you can buy the most expensive toys for your kids, but when it comes to pure fun nothing beats bashing each other over the head with a 10 cent balloon?

Gavin's mom, Brianna, decorated the cupcakes. Didn't she do an amazing job with the swirl and matching the colors? My cupcakes always tend to look like a bird squatted on them. I just don't have the patience for such detailed work (and I don't care for cupcakes, which is probably the bigger problem.)

Yes, I know, I'm insane.

Peter obviously doesn't take after his mother in this respect.

(His shirt says, "Survival Tip #1: Never leave uneaten s'mores uneaten".)

After eating the cupcakes and goodies the two boys opened their presents.

(Pretty much every picture I have of my son is blurred. I don't think he stopped moving for 12 hours straight.)

After the gifts were all opened the kids changed into their swimsuits. Only in the Frigid North will you see a child in a swimsuit and a polar jacket.

I have a theory that the farther one gets away from the equator the more one's brain begins to . . . oh never mind.

I am SOOOOOO GLAD that Handyman, Gavin's dad, and one of the other dads stayed during the party.

The. Pool. Was. CRAZY.

What did Brianna, her sweet twins, and I do while 8 year-old boys were being flung across the pool by their fathers?

We looked on in amazement. Despite what modern thinking would tell us, there is a definite difference between the genders.

Finally, after a few hours and the boys were tired (well, truthfully the dads were tired and the boys were starting to look a bit wrinkled), we got them all toweled off and back into their dry clothes.

For party favors Peter had collected a small handful of random Legos from his stash. I also purchased some cheese sticks and crackers as I figured the kids would be hungry after swimming. The bags were just clear party bags from Wal-mart, and then I printed out the napkin rings from the PDF and stapled them across the tops of the bags.

Cute!

Two More

2011-12-24T06:02:00.000-06:00

. . . finished projects.

(Only on a knitting blog do you see so many feet photographs.)

This is one of my own patterns that I wrote this summer, but still haven't gotten around to publishing yet. It's basically a spiraling lace sock with a picot cuff. The pattern is really easy, but writing it in a way that makes sense isn't quite so simple.

The yarn (Koigu KPPPM) is wonderful for socks, except that I was very perturbed to find at least 4 or 5 breaks in the yarn in each skein! When the cost of each skein is around $10 (it takes 2 skeins to knit a pair of socks if you're the average person with two feet), I think it's ridiculous to have to take the time to splice the yarn back together. I have to admit I felt very cheated by the yarn company.

Second up is a hat I made for my Dad's birthday, but which I am very bummed to realize now is too small.

(Ha ha, my dad has an ENORMOUS head, something I took into consideration when knitting the hat, but apparently the amount of yarn I had to work with didn't seem to care about the proportions of my father's cranium.)

The pattern is Koolhaas, a lovely twisting thing, and I knit it out of the most deliciously soft skein of Malabrigo yarn.

Oh well, I suppose I will have to knit another one. It's just that it seem so wrong to have to knit the same thing twice. The impatient soul in me balks at covering the same ground (or yarn) twice.

Drat. Drat

Drat. Drat.

Mitered Drape Vest #2

2011-12-23T14:00:00.000-06:00

I made this vest for my Mum awhile ago, and I thought another one might make a nice Christmas present for my sister Angie.

(Sorry for the blurry photos. I tried taking pictures with my camera's timer, but I suppose the camera kept wobbling after I pushed the button . . .)

It's the Mitered Drape Vest by Jane Slicer-Smith, and is one of those weird knits that are extremely simple to make, yet when you're doing it the first time it seems to make no sense whatsoever. All those boring knit and purl squares made for the perfect knitting-during-church project.

(Yes, I knit during church. The pastor and I have an understanding about this and everyone else in our congregation is already fully aware of my eccentricities.)

I knit this with some absolutely lovely 100% bamboo yarn that draped perfectly for this sort of project. I was seriously considering keeping it for myself, ha ha! So soft and, well, drapey!

Send me a picture sometime Angie!

(If you're interested in the knitterly details, see my Ravelry Page here.)

Three

2011-12-18T05:40:00.000-06:00

. . . Christmas gifts done and wrapped!

First up are some dishcloths. I know they're rather provincial, but when it comes to downright practicality you can't much beat a hand knit dishcloth.

(Pattern is called "Granny's Favorite", and I alternated solid

cotton yarn with a variegated skein every other row.)

They're indestructible, pretty, and really help brighten the experience of dealing with disgusting dirty dishes.

Next up is another pair of fingerless mittens. Seriously, if you haven't tried a pair on, you really must. We live in the Frigid North, but even up here these babies do a great job of keeping your hands (and even fingers!) warm while allowing use of your digits.

This pattern has ribbing all the way up that make it fit nice and snug, so it can fit a lot of different hand sizes.

Best yet, it doesn't use a lot of yarn so it's a great worsted weight project to finish off that ball of heathered black yarn that's been languishing in the ol' stash.

Finally, I have another scarf. Pretty wild, huh?!

I have to tell you, while I was knitting this I felt pretty psychedelic and "far out". These are not my colors at all, so this was an interesting experience. The yarn was difficult to work with but the finished product is lovely and sproingy (yes, that's an official knitting term. It's self explanatory). Wearing it is a bit like being hugged by an enormous squishy bath toy.

The pattern is called Dropped Stitch Scarf and is nice because it doesn't matter which side you look at. A lot of knitted scarves have a "right" and "wrong" side, which bugs me, because scarves tend to flop every which way without regard to fashion sense or latent OCD tendencies.

Okay, now time to get them in the mail!

75 Yard Mitts

2011-12-17T10:05:00.002-06:00

My friend Bonnie recently had a surprise birthday party, but as this was during my desperately-ill stage of pregnancy I wasn't feeling up to going. I felt very badly about missing, but thankfully I was able to whip up some nice warm fingerless mitts to put in her gift bag.

For some reason, this pair came out a little larger than the last pair, despite the fact that I used the same sized needles.

Hee hee, I couldn't resist showing you another gusset. I love gussets.

(I know, I need to get out more.)

Post Office Bliss

2011-12-15T13:45:00.000-06:00

Post Office Bliss? Bliss, you say?

Yes.

Packaging and mailing stuff for Christmas can really be a breeze, especially if you're savvy about how you do it.

First, pop into your local post office (hopefully yours hasn't been closed), and - get this - skip the lines and go directly to the counter where Priority Mailing boxes are shelved. Pick out an assortment just in case you're not sure which sizes you'll need. Don't worry, they're free, you don't have to check in at the counter or wait in line, and you can feel blissfully smug as you waltz past the frustrated and stressed people waiting in line.

(Now, if you're truly on top of things you can even go online and have the postal carrier deliver your boxes directly to your door - for free, but then again, you'd miss the fun of waltzing past all the frustrated and stressed people waiting in line at the Post Office . . . one must have priorities, after all, and yes, the pun is fully intended.)

Next, go home and happily plunk all your precious Christmas goodies into your free boxes. Once everything is packed nice and snug, go online to USPS.com (or you can click on the direct link here).

Make sure you have the destination selected properly, and then click on the "sign in" link. At this point, you might need to fill out the information for setting up an online account. It only takes a few minutes, and trust me, it's well worth your time. Have a credit card handy for paying for your labels as well.

Next fill out your mailing information. I like to click on the "notify recipient" link so that they know they have a package coming. You can also click on the link that will inform you when your package is delivered.

At the bottom of the page you'll need to list the approximate weight of your package. As long as you are mailing in a flat rate envelope or box, the amount doesn't have to be perfect. You can get a close enough approximation from your bathroom scale.

After that, just follow the links for selecting your flat rate priority box/envelope (or priority mailing stamp if you know the exact weight of your package) and print out your label. Once your printer has printed it out, cut out the label portion (keep the receipt part of the page for your records) and tape it onto your box.

Now here is another great thing about the post office. You can schedule a pick up of your packages for the next day. (Link here). Unless you're in a frantic rush to get your packages to the post office that exact day, just wait a few hours and let your friendly postal carrier get your package for you. On the website you put down how many packages you have and exactly where they'll be so your carrier can find them for you. When he or she does pick them up, they'll leave you a notification so you know the packages were received.

No waiting in long lines! No having to deal with snarky over-worked postal employees who are the verge of going postal!

(Along with asking your carrier to drop off free boxes, you can also order stamps online and have them delivered to your door as well!)

Peter's Winter Hat

2011-12-15T10:04:00.001-06:00

Despite the crunch all knitters feel around this time of year (it's a desperate feeling rather like having a full bladder but concentrated in the fingertips), I decided to take an afternoon off to knit a special hat for my Peter.

It's been nearly two years since he dyed this yarn (so that I could make him a hat) and the guilt was finally driving me crazy. (Plus I just really liked the pattern and needed a valid excuse).

I used his yarn and stranded it with some Caron Simply Soft that I had in my stash. I was originally going to use dark blue instead of red, but I decided to go against my typically conservative color coordinating skills (wow, look at that alliteration!) and be wild and crazy.

I'm so glad I did, because (in my humble opinion) the fair isle came out looking awesome!

I decided to modify the pattern a little by ignoring the ear flaps and making a ribbed brim in the contrasting green color. I also added a fleur-di-lis to border the snowflake pattern.

Peter still likes to wear pom-poms (I'm SO glad he's not past the pom-pom stage yet; they're so cute).

One fat and fluffy pom pom later and he was good to go!

RAWR!!!!!

2011-12-14T17:15:00.000-06:00

I'm trying to keep expenses to a minimum this year (like everyone, I know!) and hand made gifts are often cheaper than purchased ones. My kids especially love knowing that their gift was made by Mom just for them. (I really hope that never changes!)

Peter is my Dino Man, and he loves anything ferocious and mean.

(When Peter was five his favorite movie was Jurassic Park. I know you might be shocked that I'd let my five year old watch it, but he wasn't scared in the least. As Handyman said, "Jurassic Park is only scary if you're worried about the humans." Peter associates more with the ferocious dinosaurs in the movie than the wimpy humans running around screaming.)

So anyway, for Peter's Christmas gifts this year I decided to make him screen printed hoodies ($4 on sale at Menards!) designed just with him in mind. (I personally loathe hoodies but my son adores them and would never wear anything else if I let him have his way.)

This first one I designed with a bit of a minimalistic "Mini Boden" idea in mind (if Mini Boden was a ferocious man-eating dinosaur, of course).

The second one is my favorite and I'm absolutely thrilled with how well it came out.

For both tees I just googled "dinosaur image" and searched for an image I liked. Once I found one, I just copied the image into a word document and stretched it to fit a regular sheet of paper. I printed out several copies just in case I needed more than one for the layers (as in the second hoodie). Then, I taped my image on top of my freezer paper and cut out the image (remember, when you're stenciling you need the negative image, so keep the outside of the image intact). You can use scissors but for the more detailed images and the letters I found I liked using my razor pen best.

I won't go into too much detail about freezer paper stenciling, because there are SOOOOO many wonderful tutorials out there, but here are a couple of tips I've discovered that seem to work well:

* Be willing to layer your image with more than one color and texture. For instance, perhaps a word could be cut out of fabric instead of just stenciled. It adds a nice finished touch. (Like the Hawaiian shirt I did for my dad last year)

* When you're ironing on the freezer paper, it's best to do this on a hard surface. An ironing board usually has some padding, and I've found it's harder to insure that all the edges of your paper are adhering to the fabric if you iron it on the ironing board. A hard kitchen table works better.

* Take the time to work in stages. Your first layer of fabric paint should be fairly thin so it doesn't run under the stencil by accident. Once you've applied your first layer there's not much danger of the paint seeping.

* Dry your paint quickly with a blow dryer. If you're patient, you can just let the shirt sit for a few hours until it's dry before starting the next layer, but I'm not patient (at all) and topping off the paint with a heated blow dryer works in a few minutes and you're ready to add the next layer. (BEWARE! Don't do this if you are using a puffy paint or an outline, as it can splatter. Only do this for brushed on paints).

Have fun with it, and if you do decide to try this, I'd love to see what you come up with!

Spamalot

2011-12-13T09:58:00.000-06:00

Handyman and I went on a date to see the musical "Spamalot", which is a musical (obviously) version of Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

We had never before been to the theater where it was held, and both of us were very impressed with the elaborate decor.

We had nosebleed seats so we had an excellent view of the ceiling.

The musical was fantastic, probably the funniest thing I've ever seen. Even the playbill was entertaining!

Here is a video clip of the scene/song "I am Not Dead Yet". Of course, if you haven't seen the movie this may not make much sense, but check it out anyway! (Facebook/email viewers will need to click here to see the link on my blog, and you might want to mute the music player on the right sidebar.)

And here's one more . . .

Fingerless Mittens

2011-12-11T10:03:00.000-06:00

These are fingerless gloves that I knitted for my friend Nikki's birthday party. Well, actually, at the time I'd only gotten one glove done so she was a bit flummoxed to find only one glove in the bag when she has two hands, but I explained that I was working on the other one.

(Knitters work off of a completely different time table. It has something to do with alternate realities and wormholes and spacial distortion. Just take my word for it.)

I love the way the thumb gusset grows out of the knitting around the palm. I know it officially proclaims my status as Dork, but I just find a well-knitted gusset fascinating.

(Plus it's just fun to say "gusset". And "schappes". And "smock".)

I'll shut up now.

Pattern: 75 Yard Malabrigo Fingerless Mitts

Yarn: Knitpicks hand dyed merino wool and Red Heart Shimmer in Green

Lil' Pumpkins

2011-12-07T09:59:00.000-06:00

I know, I'm SO behind with blogging!

(And also these pictures are terrible because I took them with my old camera and the flash wasn't working. Pretend the grainy photos are for "artistic affect".)

Hey look, they have the same expressions!

Discovery Center

2011-12-04T09:58:00.000-06:00

For Peter's birthday this year, my Mum paid for him to take monthly science classes at the Children's Museum. While Peter is off learning about the circulatory system or the endocrine system, I take Miss Boo and Gabe into the regular part of the museum for a few hours of play.

They really enjoy it, and I enjoy getting an hour or two of knitting time in while getting to feel like the world's best mother.

The outdoor section is closed after November due to the horrific winters we suffer through here in the Frigid North, but up till then the kids think it's the coolest part of the museum to visit.

Also outside is a "dino-dig" area, complete with the necessary tools and implements for uncovering dinosaur bones.

The little boy on the right is Caleb, Peter's friend who also attends the home school science classes.

"Look Mom, I found a skeleton! It doesn't have any guts!"

Miss Boo likes playing dress-up, especially as the Postmaster (or is it "post mistress"?). I suspect she likes bossing people around and delivering obscenely large bills.

The last time we were there she wore her special birthday earrings (courtesy of Auntie Angie), and stopped random strangers so that she could show off her bling.

Cyber Monday Deals!

2011-11-28T13:47:00.001-06:00

I have updated my Etsy Shop with some great Christmas deals. All items ship for free!

Please contact me if you have any questions or if you would like something designed just for you!

A Surprise Party

2011-11-24T09:57:00.000-06:00

My dear friend Nikki recently celebrated her birthday, and some of us got together and threw her a surprise party. To be honest, my part in it really only consisted of picking her up and trying to keep it a secret. Our friend Esther did most of the work of planning.

Well, on second thought, Nikki did a lot of work too, because she unknowingly made her own birthday cake.

Esther ingeniously told Nikki that she needed to order a cake for "a friend who loves gnomes". Nikki also loves gnomes.

Really, she does. She's defending the gnome, not trying to hack him into tiny pieces.

Honest.

Happy birthday dear friend!

The Windy City

2011-11-22T19:06:00.000-06:00

My sister Lynn and her husband were in the Windy City recently for a work conference, and I couldn't believe my luck when the stars were perfectly aligned and I was able to slip away to join them for the day!

We ate lunch at a really cool restaurant on the Magnificent Mile. The architecture and decorations were so interesting, and the food was even better. I've been craving Malasadas, a tasty donut-like treat I had as a kid in Hawaii, and you can imagine how ecstatic (*cough cough* delirious with joy) I was to find out that beignets taste JUST like malasadas!!!

Lynn wanted to pick out a birthday gift for Miss Boo, so we stopped by the American Doll store. She found her personal doll there!

(With the exception that a true "Lynn doll" would sport a fierce expression portraying a "I-will-wack-this-tennis-ball-down-your-esophagus")

After some window shopping, we stopped at a Lush store, where I found a new addiction. It looked like a candy store, but instead of candy (which I don't like) it was all handmade soaps and lotions (which I do like). They gave free samples . . .

After our shopping we headed back to Lynn's hotel room for a brief rest/snooze, and then we went to dinner at the new Michael Jordan Grill. I found the architecture fascinating. It was a weird mix of Neo-classical Saxon art. (I think I spent most of my day in Chicago looking up).

The food was amazing.

My steak was like butter, it was so moist and juicy. I was a very, very good girl and saved some for Handyman.

After that I had to catch the bus to head back home. What a great day in the Windy City!

Kettle Dyed Alpaca Yarn

2011-11-16T10:49:00.000-06:00

One of the advantages of having a Mum who raises alpacas is that I can indiscriminately ~~steal~~ borrow from her yarn stash. It's easier to justify this Misappropriation of Fiber when I'm using the ~~stolen~~ borrowed yarn for Mum.

(I'm giving it back, just in a different form.)

Because I didn't want to knit Mum's Unknown Project in white yarn, I decided to dye it, a harrowing process fraught with much nervous anticipation and occasional heart palpitations. (To be honest, it wasn't that hard, but working with $60 worth of fiber that can turn into a gelatinous mass of fuzz at any moment isn't exactly a zen activity).

First, I soaked the yarn in lukewarm water. (Before I added the yarn to the pot I tied it in a few extra places so that the skeins wouldn't unravel).

While I let it soak for a few minutes, I prepared my dye. I used Cushings Acid Dye in a color called Myrtle, and added about a teaspoon to a cup of very hot water. Once the dye was dissolved into the water, I added a bit of cold water to the glass.

I moved the pot of yarn to the stove, added a quarter cup of white vinegar so that the dye would set into the yarn, and then began "splotching the dye onto the yarn in sections.

After the dye had slowly dissolved into the water, I turned the stove on a medium heat. Once the water in the pot was just to boiling (not quite, but close), I let it simmer for 30 minutes and then turned off the heat to let the yarn cool slowly.

It's important not to "shock" the yarn with too drastic a temperature change, as that would cause the fibers to felt, equaling disaster and tears and general weeping and gnashing of teeth. (As I am having assorted tooth problems right now this would be doubly unfortunate).

Once the yarn had cooled, I hung it up to dry. I wasn't sure how it would look once dried, so I decided to go with a lighter shade of Myrtle before I tried altering it.

It was an okay shade, but I found I was trying to convince myself to like it, which is never a good sign.

I'm so glad I decided to darken the yarn, because when I repeated the whole dyeing process (this time adding a bit more dye so that the color would be more concentrated) the finished color was exactly what I was hoping for.

It's a bit of a spruce green with hints of blue, and the color is so vibrant it almost seems to glow. Alpaca fiber is fuzzy and soft, so I wanted a vivid color that would contrast nicely with the natural hazy affect of the alpaca fibers.

I was hoping still for a bit more variation in the skein, but as this was my first time dyeing the yarn, I decided to go for uniformity of color among the three skeins rather than a more kettle dyed look. (I think it would be easier to achieve the kettle dyed look with only one skein to worry about).

Hope you like it Mum!

(There was a brief interlude when I seriously considered strangling Handyman. He was trying to make me tea, but didn't realize he'd turned on the pot of yarn instead of the kettle. Thirty minutes later the yarn was boiling merrily away and the kettle was cold. I was freaking out that he'd ruined all my hard work, but thankfully the yarn didn't felt. Handyman was soooooo lucky, because I would have cheerfully hacked him into pieces and buried him in the garden.)

Oakdale in October

2011-11-14T14:44:00.000-06:00

Near our house is a small nature center that has a fall festival every year. Two years ago Peter's picture even made the local paper!

We always try to arrive in time to eat breakfast there. It's tasty and not too expensive, and since it's a tradition it's extra fun! Pork sausage with pancakes and apple sauce, mmmmmm!

After we eat breakfast we visit the small craft vendors and the kids participate in the free activities.

These were cute, but buying anything alpaca-related from anyone other than Grammy is a cardinal sin.

The boys especially like the archery.

Peter, in true male fashion, blamed his lack of skill on the bow. Miss Boo promptly took his bow from him and hit the target three times. Peter then said that it wouldn't work for him because it was "obviously a girl bow".

(Apparently all the available bows were "girl bows")

Peter (with plenty of help from Daddy)really had fun making a birdhouse, which he proudly hung on the playhouse at home. Although I seriously doubt any bird will be brave enough to nest so close to an obviously well-visited spot, I'm hoping I can convince Peter to move the house to a safer location by spring.

A highlight event is always the "Barrel Train" rides.

Gabe especially likes this part.

Lots of family fun on a beautiful fall day!

A Birthday Breakfast

2011-11-12T09:49:00.000-06:00

After Boo's Birthday party, the next day we took her out to Amigos for a birthday breakfast with just our family.

I am half Dutch (translation: cheap), so the kids always drink water when we go out to eat, unless a drink is already included with their meal. However, this was a special occasion, so Miss Boo got to order hot chocolate with extra whipping cream.

(When they're teenagers I'm going to look back on the days when a cup of hot chocolate made their day and sigh for my depleted wallet.)

Boo's Birthday

2011-11-10T09:49:00.000-06:00

Miss Boo celebrated her 6th birthday this past October, and for her theme she requested a Mermaid Party.

(Not a "Little Mermaid" party, but a Mermaid Party i.e. generic. She was very specific on that point. Apparantly she wanted an equal-opportunity party for mermaids of different hair colors.)

Since everyone knows a self-respecting mermaid does best with water, I decided to have her party at our gym, which has an indoor pool.

To create a "seaweed" curtain, I bought two green plastic tablecloths from the Dollar Tree, taped them to the top of the door frame, and then shredded them with scissors. I had Miss Boo color several pictures of fish, starfish, and other assorted sea creatures, and I taped them into the seaweed curtain.

I borrowed a bubble machine and had it set up behind the curtain so that when the kids came through, they entered an underwater grotto.

This had the double benefit of providing a good 20 minutes of entertainment while we waited for all the guests to arrive.

After cake and ice cream Miss Boo opened her presents.

Usually the food and gift opening is at the end of the party, but because the kids were going to be swimming, I thought it best to get the food in their tummies for at least 20 minutes before they swam to avoid any "unpleasant recurrences".

She got some great swag.

After the gifts were opened, Handyman did the cleanup while I took the kids (and accompanying parents) to the pool area.

Thankfully I didn't need to get in the water, as I had "help".

For the goodie bags, I purchased gold gift bags from the dollar tree, and then stapled a fish border onto the top.

I couldn't find anything more specifically "mermaid", so I had to make do with what I could find and what I could manage with my depleted energy level.

It was a great success!

Simple Pleasures

2011-11-04T10:51:00.000-06:00

I haven't been doing much knitting lately, mostly due to the utter exhaustion that always accompanies my first trimester of pregnancy.

However, as soon as I hit the beginning of the second trimester my energy levels resume their usual manic/multitasking pace. Unfortunately I've been quite sick, so I haven't been exactly getting much done, but I was able to whip out two much-needed dishcloths.

(I was using the lack of available clean dishcloths as an excuse to ignore the state of the kitchen. It was scary, my friends, scary.)

There's something peaceful and relaxing about knitting something as simple as a garter stitch dishcloth. I have several whopper big Christmas knitting projects on the needles that are time consuming to finish, so whipping out something quickly was soothing for the soul.

(Other people go to therapy. I knit.)

Of course now I have no excuse for ignoring the kitchen any longer.

Drat. Maybe I'll give the dishcloths away . . .

Walk for Life

2011-11-02T12:51:00.000-06:00

Our local pregnancy center hosts an annual Walk for Life. Our church is fairly involved with them, and so this year Handyman and Sons participated in the event.

Several people donated towards the cause, which we really appreciated.

I'm so proud of my menfolk!

Setting Goals

2011-10-30T04:50:00.000-06:00

I’ve always wanted to get a tatoo, more specifically a (surprise! surprise!) knitting tatoo.

Something snarky and edgy.

Something that would make me unique in the nursing home.

Something that would identify my body should I ever wash ashore on a far-flung beach without proper photo ID.

I have found it. My dream tatoo.

Envy me, my friends. Envy me.

The Sick Saga

2011-10-28T09:25:00.001-06:00

When one becomes pregnant, one automatically assumes some degree of discomfort and pain. (It's part of the hidden clause in the fine print in alphabetical order including items such as heart burn, swollen ankles and vomiting.)

Lately though, I feel like I've been hit with one thing after another, none of which I can blame on the pregnancy clause. Week #1, I got sick with some weird cold with chills and other strange symptoms such as delirium and cravings for citrus fruit.

The next week, the kids got it. I was thankfully feeling a bit better, so we can pretend that Week #2 was a "good week".

When week #3 rolled around, I was feeling hopeful. I had a vague nagging pressure/ache in one of my teeth, but I assumed it was because I was grinding my teeth at night due to unresolved knitting issues. Chewing on only one side of my mouth and eating mostly cream of wheat worked only so well, because halfway through Week #3 the ache reached near childbirth-agony proportions. I went to my dentist on Thursday morning, only to be told that they couldn't do anything until the next day, and that "yes, you had an abcess and it popped, and that's why your jaw hurts because it's eating into your jaw bone."

(It's never a good sign when the dentist looks in your mouth and turns slightly green and calls in other dentists to take a look.)

The aching tooth was pulled on Friday and a bridge put in, and I was feeling hopeful that perhaps Week #4 would be better.

Week #4 has basically consisted of a steady diet of 3 Tylenol pills taken every 4 hours (including the hours in which I should be sleeping) and yet more cream of wheat.

Did you know that when cream of wheat cools you can use it like play dough and make all sorts of interesting designs to eat?

(My husband is convinced that a combination of two bottles of tylenol in a week plus sleep deprivation plus agonizing pain has resulted in my being in a drug-induced narcotic coma.)

Week #5 has begun with the the cheery opening of yet more debilitating tooth pain. (Seriously, how can my tooth still be hurting when it's gone? I'm convinced the spirit of my pulled tooth is haunting me. Anyone know a good tooth exorcist?).

This morning? I woke up with a sore throat and a cold.

Please pardon me while I weep with frustration.

Future Me

2011-10-25T03:49:00.002-06:00

Homeschooling and Socialization

2011-10-18T10:05:00.000-06:00

Disclaimer: This is not meant in any way to disparage the efforts other parents are making towards their children's education. I completely believe that what might work for one family may not be the best fit for others. I'm simply posting this video because I feel it's a rather funny way to combat the constant question of "how will you keep your home schooled kids from turning out weird".

After all, I went to both private schools and was home schooled, and I turned out perfectly normal.

{crickets chirping . . . }

(If you're viewing this post through Facebook or email, you'll have to click here to see the video. Also, you might want to pause the music-player on the right sidebar.)

A Special Afternoon

2011-10-12T14:36:00.000-06:00

Along with teaching music lessons, I home school, so it is a very rare occurrence for me to have any time to myself. You can imagine how delighted I was when my friend Stacey asked if my three kids would like to go to her house for a few hours to play with her kids. (In my head I was re-enacting my inner high school cheerleader routine complete with pom-poms and irrational glee.)

First, I made sure I was prepared with the necessities for my three (THREE!!!!!!) hours of surviving on my own.

1) Laptop with downloaded book? Check.

2) Knitting? Check.

3) Basic sustenance in the form of a pumpkin spice latte and caramel apple pie? Check.

Oh the bliss! For several hours I chatted with the other customers of the coffee shop, knit happily away on my project, and read a favorite oldie-but-goodie book on my laptop. (Yes, I can knit and read, as long as the knitting project is relatively simple.)

I got to eat lunch at a local restaurant that had just opened up. It was the sort of place that I would never take my children to.

Ah, Stacey, thank you for giving me a special afternoon to re-group and re-charge!

Pumpkins for a Lil’ Pumpkin

2011-10-10T14:22:00.000-06:00

My SiL Kathy had her baby shower recently, and for the baby gift she requested a pumpkin hat for her baby girl, who is due any day now.

Although I was hoping to find something a bit softer than acrylic yarn, I couldn’t find anything local that was the precise “pumpkin” shade that was also merino wool. I ended up using Vanna’s Choice yarn from JoAnn fabrics. It’s not my favorite, but I’m happy with the finished result.

The hat pattern I used is the Berry Hat, which I modified to look more like a pumpkin by working a K3, P2 ribbing after I did the rolled brim.

Of course I couldn’t just stop with a hat. After all, Kathy’s expecting a girl, and everyone knows a truly fashionable girl has a matching hat and shoes!

For the booties I used a mish-mash of several patterns, which would most likely bore anyone but non-knitters, and probably the knitters as well. If you are really that interested, you can view the detailed changes I made on my ravelry page here.

Lynn's Birthday Socks

2011-10-08T10:09:00.000-06:00

So my sister Lynn had her birthday in early September, so I decided to knit her a pair of socks as a gift.

I'm sure she was shocked. After all, I gave her socks last year, and the year before last (and maybe even the year before that?). I'm not very adventurous when it comes to gift-giving.

I am so ashamed to admit that although I finished knitting the socks on time, they are still packaged and waiting in my van. Considering that my sister lives almost 900 miles away from me, this is not a good sign.

I have every intention of taking them to the post office today and mailing them priority. I have set it as a priority on my list.

Right after I find my energy . . .

Maybe I'll hang on to them until Christmas and they pull them out with a cheery "surprise! bet you thought they were lost!" which I'm sure won't work because by then they most likely will be lost.

Basil and Spices

2011-10-06T09:43:00.001-06:00

In the spring I planted two small basil plants in my herb ~~splotch of bare ground~~ garden, and then I ignored them all summer. When one of the basil plants got big enough to start wandering over the walkway, I finally decided to pay them some attention and cut them up for pesto.

Why, oh WHY have I never experienced the aromatic and culinary delights of pesto before?!!!! If I'd known the practically religious ecstasy of gustationary bliss that would have occurred I would have been a pesto making priestess all summer!

I didn't want to spend the money on pine nuts (plus I couldn't seem to find any in our area, but I live in the Midwest where basil is a bit of an exotic herb) so I used walnuts instead. Before adding them to my blender with the washed basil, I toasted them a bit first in my little toaster oven. The flavor was much better, and well worth the small extra step. Then I added a bit of parmesan cheese and olive oil for a typical pesto mix.

To preserve it, I put it into ice cube trays (thanks Penny for the idea!) and once they were frozen I popped them out and put them into a large ziploc bag for later use.

Pure ecstasy. Sometimes when I'm stressed I pull them out of the freezer and sniff them.

I know, I'm weird. It's my version of crack.

The other spice that I've been whipping up is my own homemade version of chili powder. It's much better than the store bought thing for several reasons.

1) it's not too difficult
2) it gives you an excuse to grow lethal peppers
3) it provides an excellent method of torture should you ever need it on an unsuspecting family member or friend
4) the flavor has more depth and the heat is muuuuuuuuuuuch more intense, (which I should have probably listed as reason number 1 before reason number 3, but then, we all have our own set of priorities)

See how innocent and innocuous it looks?

Looks can be deceiving.

(I have a tutorial here that you can view if you'd like to learn how to make your own pepper powder spice)

Poor Gabe!

2011-10-04T09:34:00.000-06:00

Sometimes it's nice to have siblings. Of course, there is the usual torture and mayhem and Lord-of-the-Flies hierarchy that goes with being in close contact with people that you didn't get to choose, but there are perks too.

The other day Gabe was playing outside barefoot (against the rules, but the silly Kanaka will take his shoes off to climb trees) and he cut his foot pretty badly on some loose piece of broken crockery.

(Don't ask me how the crockery came to be broken. From what I understand, it had something to do with Peter's Viking spear and Miss Boo's failed cooking experiment. I didn't inquire further than making them clean it up.)

Anyway, after rinsing off the little guy's foot so I could see where all the blood was coming from, I put him on the couch. I came back from getting the antiseptic lotion to find him laid out like a little maharajah in all his bloody glory.

Peter and Miss Boo had propped his "cracked" foot up on pillows (thankfully they had pillowcases on the pillows), put another pillow under his head, and covered him with his favorite blanket. While Peter tried consoling the happily crying Gabe, Miss Boo was dabbing at his foot with a wet washcloth.

Gabe thoroughly enjoyed all the dramatic attention, and I am happy to announce that his "cracked" foot has healed up nicely. For now.

Niabi Zoo Adventure

2011-10-02T08:58:00.000-06:00

On the second day of our camping trip we visited the Niabi Zoo, which we learned was fairly new. Just like the Putnam Museum, it was fantastic! So kid-friendly!

The very first thing we did when we arrived was to take a train tour of the zoo.

We really didn't have much of a choice, as Gabe (as well as Peter and Miss Boo) would have had a nervous break down otherwise.

There were sculptures all over the place that the kids could climb on. I have at least twenty photos of the kids on cement animals. They were very insistent about having their picture taken with each. and. every. animal.

I thought that the zoo's use of additional purchase options was very clever. For instance, for $1 you could purchase a small handful of fish food to feed the well-fattened fish and the equal well-fed swans and ducks. $1 isn't much, so it's easy for a parent to justify the expense of placating a begging child.

(Handyman and I, however are cruel, heartless, and cheap parents who are immune to begging children. We reminded the kids that we have koi at home that they can fatten for free. The kids were not impressed.)

The bird aviary was another great example of clever marketing. For $1 you could purchase a cup of nectar with which to entice greedy birds onto your arm. Gabe, at least, was not eager to try this experience.

*Sqwakkk!* "Kids for breakfast, kids for breakfast!"

A wonderful place to visit and one I'd certainly recommend!

The Putnam Museum

2011-09-30T08:26:00.000-06:00

While we were camping we wanted to take the kids to some local museums, and Handyman really wanted to visit the Putnam Museum which he'd seen good things about online.

What an excellent choice! It was by far the best history museum we had ever visited, at least when one is also having to consider the needs of children. Every exhibit section (which had the typical cool items behind glass) also had a hands-on area for children to kinetically explore.

Well, I say "children", but perhaps I should include a wider age range . . .

Along with an area of local history and history of the plains Indians and early pioneers, there was a really cool section that had ocean themes.

The staff was extremely friendly and helpful, and I nearly fainted when the section guide actually urged the kids to climb on the giant squid. (What, my children are allowed to climb like maniacs all over your beautiful exhibit? I had no idea heaven was underwater!)

Handyman also seemed to get into the moment. I am sad to say that he lost his fight with the paper mache' squid.

There were even flippers for the kids to try on while they "swam around and explored the ocean depths"!

(The best thing about flippers is that it slows them down, making them easier to keep track of. I'm taking serious consideration of trading all of Gabe's tennis shoes for flippers. Just think how practical they'd be in the winter when they can be converted to snow shoes!)

I was personally stunned to see the finest example of the fiber arts I had ever seen.

It's a hand crocheted art sculpture of the coral reef, and as someone who has personal experience with coral reefs, I can tell you it was breathtakingly accurate.

I just wish that my photos could do justice to the beauty of this piece of art. It was amazing.

Then there was the woodland exhibit.

It was equally fantastic!

(Did you know that if you purchase a year admission to certain museums, it also allows you free access to hundreds of other museums all across the country? Its a reciprocal program that isn't advertised because it cuts down on the potential admission fees of an individual museum, but is legally required for federally funded museums. For a list of museums that are also part of the Putnam Museum reciprocal program, click here. It's an excellent bargain!)

Camping at the KOA

2011-09-28T08:21:00.000-06:00

Handyman found a fantastic buy-one-night-get-one-night-free deal at all KOA campgrounds in our state, so we decided to take a short family vacation and rusticate for a weekend out in the wilds.

It was rough, my friends, very rough.

We had to deal with less than optimal conditions, including fantastic weather, an air conditioned cabin, a mini refrigerator, a beautiful view overlooking a lake, and a pool with small water park.

We were forced to forage for s'mores and camping donuts and steak and potatoes.

Yup, we felt like true pioneers of ye olden dayes.

You say Potato, I say Oh Goodie!

2011-09-26T08:21:00.000-06:00

Last year our potato growing efforts were a bit of a disaster (lots of work that equaled one measley bucket of tiny potatoes), but this year Handyman was very pleased (and very smug) to show me that he could grow a decent crop of potatoes.

Peter was a big help with pulling the potatoes out of the ground. Gabe and Miss Boo were also supposed to help, supposed to being the operative words.

Handyman and I have visions of creating our own child labor force right here in the Frigid North. Yup. We pay in ice cream sandwiches.

So far we haven't had any complaints from the employees.

Boo's Bling

2011-09-24T11:59:00.000-06:00

I love having a little girl. It's so much fun going shopping with her, because she gives me an excuse to indulge in all my worst vices (why yes, we SHOULD stop for a latte at McDonald's and also get you an ice cream cone . . .).

So, a bit on a whim, while we were shopping at Wal-mart we decided that it was time that she got her ears pierced. My mum took me to get my ears pierced when I was about that age, so I told myself that it was an important female family rite of passage.

(To be honest it was mostly because I thought they'd look adorable on my ~~ladylike~~ cute daughter.)

Women are so much braver than men. Thankfully I don't have to deal with piercings with the boys yet, but I have a feeling that I'll never have to battle that one with Peter. Last time he had to have a shot, it took three nurses to hold him down.

Boo said it just stung for a second, shrugging like it was no big deal (despite the fact that the otherwise lovely Wal-mart associate couldn't get the gun dislodged from the earring and it took a bit of gentle tugging to separate it from her ear.)

Doesn't she look so sophisticated and grown up?

No? That's okay. I like my snarky Boo just as she is.

Obsessing Again

2011-09-22T11:54:00.000-06:00

Awhile ago I wrote up a pattern for a lovely pair of cabled socks which I decided to entitle "Obsession Socks" because the cables were so fun I couldn't seem to put the needles down.

I finally got around to knitting up another pair. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to keep them for myself or gift them. I just love the way the cables on the edge of the foot continue all the way to the toe past the decreases. It's the sock equivalent of using sparkly nail polish on your toes.

I need to work on the pattern a bit more, because despite the small needle size, the socks still feel a bit baggy and loose. I prefer tight, snug socks.

So perhaps I'll give them away.

My Lego Maniac

2011-09-20T11:59:00.000-06:00

Any of you remember that song from the 80's TV Lego commercial that went something like, "Zach, zach, he's a Lego maniac . . ."? I just remember that the kid actor had really cool (in my 8 year old opinion) spikey hair and an awesome denim jacket with denim jeans tightly rolled around his ankles in pure 80's fashion. 8 year old me thought he was so cute.

I've since changed my mind. I have someone much more cute to watch now.

My little Lego Maniac. The boy lives, eats, and breathes Legos.

Banning him from his Legos is the single best incentive to get him to be nice to his sister.

Well. Hmmm.

2011-09-12T16:00:00.000-06:00

Because I couldn't think of a better title.

Because right now my ankles are swollen and resemble Hobbit feet (minus the hair, thank goodness!) and I don't feel like sitting at the desk and typing too much.

Because I'm having trouble breathing because I need bigger pants with lovely stretchy elastic sewn in.

Because I'd planned to announce this in a much more dramatic fashion, but oh well, my energy and creative levels have deserted me.

Because I'm growing another person which (I estimate) will make her/his grand appearance sometime in April. Or May. Or perhaps March.

(I'm not good at figuring dates. That's what my midwife is for, as well as other very useful things.)

Because I'm pregnant, and life is lovely!

There He Goes!

2011-09-07T11:42:00.000-06:00

We don't have a driveway, so the kids haven't gotten much of an opportunity to ride their bikes. For some daft reason it never occurred to me to let them ride their bikes on the sidewalk in front of the house. (I'm directionally challenged, what can I say?)

Of course, this all could have been subconscious self preservation because our house is on a steep hill and I didn't want to have to haul bikes up and down the hill every time they wanted to ride. Now that the kids are bigger I can be lazy and make them haul the bikes up and down the hill. (My secret nefarious goal is to have my own child labor force).

We've been working with Peter to teach him how to ride his bike without training wheels.

He's worked so hard at it, and despite occasional mishaps, he's learned to ride his bike by himself!

*Sob* Another milestone reached.

Hopefully it'll be awhile before he decides he wants to learn to drive.

(If you're reading this post through email or Facebook, you can't see the video below unless you click here to view the original post.)

It's all in the Family

2011-09-05T12:06:00.000-06:00

I bought the kids a set of Knifty Knitter Looms from JoAnn Fabrics, and Peter and Boo work on it occasionally when they're driving me nuts and I make them sit on the couch and knit.

(Well, that's my reasoning. What I actually tell them is that it's time for "Fine Motor Skills Development.")

They don't seem to mind too terribly much, especially when it's time to finish the project and they can finally wear it!

(Boo's working on a scarf that she'll most likely finish when she's in high school. I don't truly mind because then I won't have to worry about sharing my stash with her.)

Happy Birthday Oma!

2011-09-03T12:18:00.000-06:00

I was going to gift this cardigan to my Oma for Christmas, but since I was down there so close to her birthday, I decided to just give it to her early. The Monastery is located in the Sunny South, so she most likely won't be able to wear it for another few months, but at least she has it and can look at it before then!

The pattern is February Lady, which is lovely to knit and a great project for it's fit. It's knit from the top down, so the length can be adjusted and tried on as it's worked. Best yet, it's free!

The buttons are (in my opinion) rather cool, because they're made from recycled plastic but they feel like wood.

The yarn is heathered and has a lot of subtle color variations, and if you look closesly there are bits of green in it. Knowing my Oma likes to wear green a lot, I went with these buttons rather than the obvious brown choice.

It looks great on her!

She even modeled it with her usual finesse and grace. (I'll leave it up to you to figure out where the sarcasm comes into that statement. And no, it isn't an arthritic condition that is causing that particular gesture. That's just natural Oma, ha ha!)

A Week at the Monastery

2011-08-31T12:15:00.000-06:00

My Opa was diagnosed with stage four bone cancer not too long ago, so I was very happy when I had the opportunity to fly down and spend a week with my Opa and Oma (without kids, skip skip, joy joy!).

It's been over seven years since was at the Monastery during blue berry picking season, so I tried to make up for it by picking as many blueberries as I could.

Life at the Monastery is very slow.

Slow can be very nice.

We took long swims in the lake,

spent an inordinate amount of time discussing plants,

and speculated on the whereabouts of a pesky beaver.

There were spa treatments,

and practical jokes.

(I have photographic proof that my love of practical jokes is genetic.)

It's always hard leaving the Monastery for the hectic pace here in the Frigid North!

Peter's Raglan Pullover

2011-08-29T11:53:00.000-06:00

I try to knit the kids each a sweater every year, and although I started this sweater for Peter last spring, I just now got it done. Thankfully I made it big so it should be a loose fit when the cooler weather finally starts in the fall.

The dimensions are from Ann Budd's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns, which is a formulaic way to design your own sweaters using the calculations in the book. As math is not my strong suit, this ended up a bit bigger than I had anticipated, but as it took me much longer to finish then I anticipated, it was a happy coincidence.

(Perhaps my math skills and realistic knitting skills are communicating subconsciously).

Basically I designed a stockinette stitch raglan, but every time I changed the color I did one round of purl so that there would be a bit of texture. I'm still not entirely sure I like the finished result. Sometimes I make things too "interesting" and they end up looking home made and kitschy.

I love the colors though. I used a brown and a lovely cloud blue from the brand "I Love This Yarn". The yarn, although acrylic, is wonderfully soft. I'm hoping it wears well too, especially after my disappointment with Peter's last pullover which I knit using Caron Simply Soft. (After only a few wears it pilled so badly I had to throw it away, even after trying to clean it up with a sweater stone.)

For the hem I knit a rolled cuff and then a few rows of ribbing stitch so that it wouldn't want to roll too far. I really like that particular detail of the pullover, as hems and ribbings always give me a bit of bother with the way they look.

All in all I'm very pleased with the final result, and as long as it wears well I think I might make more patterns like this for the other kids. I'm envisioning something fuchsia pink and lime green for Miss Boo in the exact same design. What do you think?

Our Local Library

2011-08-27T11:28:00.002-06:00

I know I've mentioned it before, but I have to say again how thankful I am for our local library. It's not only large, but it's also part of a huge network, so I can get practically any movie or book through inter-library loan, saving me lots of money (which I then have to repay due to damaged books/movies from my kids.)

Their wonderful children's department has all sorts of fun crafts and reading incentives.

They have adult incentives too (although these I gladly have to pay for.)

One night I took the kids to the Pajama Storybook time. They were very excited to be able to wear their pajamas and took great care (great, agonizing, time-consuming) care on exactly which stuffed animal to bring. As fitting their personalities, Gabe brought Stitch (from Lilo and Stitch), Boo brought her Hallowed (i.e. Hello) Kitty, and Peter brought his roaring dinosaur Rexie.

Amy, the director of the children's department, is a fantastic reader. The kids were transfixed.

Peter especially like the story "Where the Wild Things Are". For some reason I've never read him that one. I could see that he felt a kinship with the boy Max.

Or perhaps he felt a kinship with the wild things. That's more likely, actually.

Winnings

2011-08-25T11:28:00.000-06:00

Although I didn't win as many blue ribbons this year as I did in previous years at the fair, I entered enough things that I still managed to get a tidy amount of prize money; enough at least to pay for my week's pass and for the kids to go on rides on the midway.

One thing that really thrilled me though, is that my Oma won first place for her needlework.

There was a division for antique needlework, and I entered a table runner that my Oma had made when she was in her twenties (but we'll be polite here and not do the math to figure out if it's my Oma or the table runner that's an antique).

Congratulations Oma for a first place prize!

Gardening

2011-08-20T11:24:00.000-06:00

I'm trying to do a bit better with my garden this year than last year.

Every year it gets a bit better, but the progress is slow. I don't have that "knack" that some gardeners have for arranging plants in a bed. My array of plants usually look like they were deposited there willy-nilly.

Unfortunately those darn asian beetles have come in swarms and destroyed most of my plants. I am normally very much anti-pesticide, but the site of clumps of beetles feeding where my roses used to be pushed me over the edge into a beetle-induced pesticide rage.

I like plants, but I'm not really that educated about them as to where they thrive best and what sort of soil they like. However, I'm trying to learn (although it's a slow, difficult process, ha ha!)

I found strawberry plants on sale for only a few cents a six-pack, so I decided to put them as an edgeing border between the back yard walkway and the garden.

I actually took the time to read up on the conditions they like best, and I tried to mix up a soil combination that they'd like, with sand, regular soil (which is quite dark but heavy) and peat moss for acidity.

I think it worked because I only lost one plant!

This is a photo I took of our garden in July. Now it looks like a jungle of five foot high tomato plants. I always forget that tomato plants, when they do well, do really well up here.

Those tall cabbage things next to the regular cabbage are called brussel sprouts. We love them, so no matter how many we freeze for the winter we never have quite enough. Yum!

In the background you can see the grapes growing along the fence. If the beetles don't eat them all first, we should have a very good crop this fall!

Midway at the Fair

2011-08-15T11:28:00.000-06:00

Our county fair is pretty spectacular, in my opinion. The midway has quite a few rides, and every year we get the kids wristbands (for unlimited rides) and take them for a night of fun.

This year I did well enough with winning prize money from my fair entries that it paid for all of us to get a wristband.

This was Gabe's favorite ride. The guy at the top of the slide was laughing so hard every time Gabe got ready to slide down, because (no big surprise) Gabe would literally fling himself down the tube face first.

Despite Peter's hopes his airplane never did catch his sister's airplane and therefore he was not able to knock her out of the sky. I'm sure the fabled Red Baron had a similar expression when he flew.

Miss Boo was. not. amused.

I love that there are practically no lines. Once the ride is done, the kids can get right on without having to wait. Waiting isn't something that comes easily to a three year old.

Unfortunately our evening was not without incident. Poor Miss Boo was running to get onto another ride when her feet slipped out from under her and she smacked her face on the metal stair. For a heart-stopping moment I thought she had hit her eye, but thankfully it was just her cheekbone.

She was pretty distraught, but thankfully a bandaid and cotton candy eased the pain somewhat. She spent the rest of the week telling everyone she met that "her face fell off at the fair".

Peter is tall enough to go on the adult rides, so Handyman took Peter on some of the bigger more exciting rides.

Good times!

The King and the Princess

2011-08-13T11:25:00.000-06:00

I just love our library. They have the best activities for kids, and it's really been fun to participate with the summer reading program.

A few Saturdays ago the library hosted a "Princess Tea", and Handyman took Miss Boo.

I'm so proud of my man. He had to wake up at 5 (on a Saturday) in order to get his work done so that he could get home in time for his daughter's tea party.

Miss Boo had the best time, and it was so cute to see the care with which she picked out her outfit and hair bows and jewelry.

Princess Boo.

Yup, that's my girl!

Invited for Dinner

2011-08-11T11:22:00.000-06:00

The kids invited me to "dinner" up in their play fort, so I grabbed my camera as proof that I can occasionally be a good mommy and play with my children.

We had cheetos (confiscated by the kids from my cupboards without my knowing it),

and snow peas, also confiscated.

Now I know why my plants don't seem to be producing that well this year.

Church Picnic

2011-08-09T11:27:00.000-06:00

Our church had a picnic at one of the local parks, which was a lot of fun. One of the elder's wives (who is not elder but quite young :) had some fun games set up.

Nothing says Christian Fellowship quite like gleefully bombing someone with a water balloon.

To be honest, it was such a hot muggy day that the bombees didn't really seem to mind all that much.

Be not fooled by innocent expressions. Beneath sweet exteriors hid devious intentions.

Very devious intentions.

Lots of fun!

Camping

2011-08-07T11:18:00.000-06:00

Over the July 4th holiday Handyman and I decided to take the kids on an impromptu camping excursion. I think the kids were (insert heavy dose of sarcasm here) just ever-so-slightly excited .

Handyman's dad has a little area set up behind their house which is perfect for camping. It's fairly secluded, there's a fire pit, a shady spot, a flat area, and best yet, an ice chest filled with soda.

Privacy is sketchy, depending on whether or not the cows are nearby to watch what the crazy humans are doing.

I love this sign (which is an actual official sign). Handyman put up one in our bathroom which is appropriate as he sometimes uses it and it's best to warn everyone else, snigger snigger.

Since cooking Smashpillows (Gabe's word for marshmallows) is a necessity when camping, we decided to follow Auntie K's lead and have Smashpeeps.

I know that Smashpeeps aren't much different than Smash pillows, but there just seems to be something slightly morbid about roasting fluffy chicks over flames.

There's a little stream not far from the camp site, and the kids had fun splashing around in it and making a dam. Peter was convinced there were crayfish, but thankfully he didn't manage to catch any. That child wants to turn anything into a pet.

One of my family's camping traditions is to make "donuts". Basically you just get canned biscuits, poke a big hole in the center, and fry over a skillet. Dust them liberally with sugar and cinnamon, and you get Camping Donuts!

Wow, does the taste of that ever bring back childhood memories!

The next morning Handyman had to work, so it was up to the next Man of the House to help break camp. Men are always willing to do work if it involves using interesting tools.

Go Raptors!

2011-08-05T10:17:00.000-06:00

My little Peter started T-ball this summer, and he was absolutely thrilled to discover that he was part of a team called the - wait for it - RAPTORS.

Since birth, Peter has been convinced that he is more dinosaur than human.

Thankfully the rest of the human population is starting to realize this as well.

Yarn Dyeing

2011-07-27T10:54:00.000-06:00

Two years ago I hosted a "Yarn Dyeing" party, and this year since I'm teaching a few little girls in our church how to knit, I figured it was time to host another one.

We used the Knitty directions for dying yarn with Kool-Aid, which is wonderfully easy and creates bright colors perfect for kids (and it's relatively cheap!)

It cracked me up, because the girls were very careful to pick their favorite colors and apply them just so.

"Oh no, I got a bit too much green on the green part!"

The boys, on the other hand, were not as particular.

Not at all.

It was a bit like being in the middle of a water fight involving flying splashes of psychedelic colors.

Once the yarn was dyed, I zapped it in the microwave for 2 minutes at a time until the colors were set.

Then we set the yarn on the porch to dry.

It was a very pretty sight, I must say!

Ruffle Skirt

2011-07-25T10:30:00.000-06:00

This was an attempt at sewing a ruffle skirt for Miss Boo with some leftover fabric I had. Unfortunately, I don't think my proportions were correct, as the skirt seems a bit "wonky".

Of course, the fabric looks wonky too so perhaps it's meant to be, ha ha!

Strawberry Tarts Top

2011-07-20T06:37:00.003-06:00

This is a cute summer top perfect for hot weather. Best yet it can worn over a long sleeved blouse or tee to extend the summer fun!

The straps are adjustable, so it can be worn either as a little girl's summer frock, or a bigger girl's top.

You can see this and a few other items on my etsy page here if you're interested!

Raiding the Monastery

2011-07-17T19:00:00.000-06:00

When I was last visiting my family in the Sunny South I was able to sneak away for a day and visit my Oma and Opa at their lovely home, which my family has dubbed the "Monastery" due to the peace and quiet and general air of serenity.

Oma gives, hands down, the best back rubs. When we all get together at Christmas it's a bit of an unspoken race between my brother and I to see who gets to sit next to Oma and score the first back rub. An Oma back rub is a hybrid of zen oneness with nature mixed with Yanni-like euphoria combined with an out of body experience leading to the most wonderful coma-like state of complete bliss.

Oma and Opa used to raise orchids, and I always enjoy seeing what types of orchids will be in bloom. For my birthday last March, Opa gave me a particularly lovely miniature phalaenopsis orchid with purple blooms that is budded out and getting ready to bloom any day now.

Their greenhouse used to be hung floor to ceiling (and hanging from the ceiling) with exotic plants, and although they've been retired for years now there are still a few plants kept here.

I think I got plant cuttings from every green thing around Oma and Opa's house, and Opa was nice enough to pot them up for me for my return trip home.

"Zis pot is okay, Rado? You want a bigger one you will need helup."

I love Oma and Opa's Dutch accent. I used to tease Opa about it when I was a young (and snarky) kid, but now I find it completely charming.

This table of sand has a heat coil running through it to help seedlings start faster.

"Why yes Opa, I'll take that one too. And that one. And that one over there."

Opa and Oma found especially funny that I had to bring some bamboo poles home for Mum. It's a bit of a family legend that when I was 10 I cut through a 3 inch bamboo pole with a pair of dull kitchen scissors. It took me the whole day, but in the end I got my fishing pole.

What I lack in brains I make up for in pure pig-headed stubbornness.

(Thankfully this time instead of dull kitchen scissors I had a dull saw. I'm learning.)

Of Pigs

2011-07-15T18:59:00.001-06:00

My kids and their friends the PK's love to play together.

They especially like mud.

Lots, and lots, of mud.

I blame it all on the influence of the PK's. My children would never . . . oh yeah, there was this one incident. And this one.

Oh shut up, my kids are pigs.

Definitely their father's children.

Vinyl Deck Chair Covers Tutorial

2011-07-13T21:03:00.001-06:00

Aldi was selling some deck chair cushions for a fantastic price, so I picked up three for my deck furniture. Last year, however, the neighborhood cats were using my deck chairs as their personal lavaratory and I had to throw out the old cushions.

This year, to deter the cats and to help the cushions stay dry in case of storms I decided to sew clear "pillow cases".

From JoAnn's I purchased clear vinyl (usually used to cover tablecloths) and cut it into a large rectangle. I measured the length of the cushion (including the "fatness" of the cushion) along with the width. I doubled the width and added an extra inch to the width and about 8 inches to the length of the final cut, using a marker to help me cut straight lines.

If you're going to sew vinyl I'd recommend getting a leather or vinyl sewing needle, as it's very sturdy and will help your machine .

I folded my large vinyl sheet in half and sewed one end that would be the top of the cushion, and down the side of the case (the vinyl is folded so that the fold is on the other long side of the case).

Be sure to set your stitch width quite wide, because if the stitches are too close together they will just create a perforated line where the vinyl will easily tear.

Once you're done, turn your covers inside out (so the seams are inside the case) and slip your cushions into them!

I left the bottom of the case open and folded them under the cushion. If I were a more particular seamstress I would have done something professional to the bottom like adding a zipper or snaps.

I fold them under. It's the way I do things.

Besides, I'd rather spend the time sitting in the chair enjoying my porch than fussing with zippers or snaps.

The Best Gifts

2011-07-09T06:28:00.000-06:00

. . . come with hugs and kisses and don't ruin the flower beds.

On another note, our county fair is opening tomorrow, and today I'm busy getting all the things ready that I am going to exhibit. (Yes Oma, feel free to make exhibitionist jokes.) Keep your fingers crossed for me that I win a few things!

(So that I earn enough prize money to get a cream puff. Or two. Or three.)

Sue's Socks

2011-06-29T16:48:00.000-06:00

When we were in Michigan visiting my aunt and uncle, we stopped at a yarn store. Some people visit monuments or national landmarks.

I visit yarn stores.

Because I didn't have enough yarn (please insert heavy dose of sarcasm here) I purchased a skein (or two, I have voluntary fiber amnesia at the moment) of lovely alpaca sock yarn called Alpaca with a Twist

Because my Mum sells alpaca yarn, it felt a bit like committing yarn adultery, but I honestly had to say that Mum's yarn, while infinitely superior, alas does not have any nylon content and so isn't really the stuff to use for socks (at least not if you want to be able to wear the socks for more than once before they get holes.)

This is a pattern I made up and which I hope to eventually write down (in my spare time) and either put it up for sale or just have it out for free in my pattern shop. I wasn't paying attention when I knit the second sock, and made the diagonals going the same direction as the first sock. My intention was to have them going opposite directions, but perhaps my brain was traveling starboard and the socks went along for the ride.

Anyway, I got them done really fast (the pattern is lots of fun to knit; simple enough to do without paying too much attention, yet interesting enough to keep one going.) It's already packaged up along with a bag of chocolate chip cookies as a thank you gift for my Aunt and Uncle.

"Thank you gift" sounds much nicer than "bribery to let us come back next year and ~~destroy their house~~ visit".

Ha ha, not really, because Paul and Sue are extremely generous and hospitable, but it does help assuage my guilt for all the plants I got and the stuff the kids broke as well as any lingering mental trauma!

Hilton Head

2011-06-25T16:55:00.001-06:00

The first place we stayed at on Hilton Head was a resort RV park.

It was rough.

Very rough.

Since it was Memorial Day weekend, the beach was pretty crowded, but we didn't let that stop us from heading to the beach every day!

We had a delicious lunch served up by Mum, our deli assistant extraordinaire. I love that her deli counter is a boogie board!

My sister Angie and her husband Mike along with my niece Michelle and nephew Caleb were able to come as well.

Miss Boo quickly staked out a nearby sand pool as her "territory".

The kids found all sorts of interesting creatures like hermit crabs, sand dollars, and even a few cannonball jellyfish!

Hey look, an oreo! Mmm, gotta love that creamy filling!

Given Gabe's proclivities for wandering off, I made sure to dress him in something bright yellow to make him easier to keep track of. Even so, we did have a few heart-stopping moments with "WHERE'S GABE?!" followed by "oh, right over there poking that jellyfish. Good, he's okay."

Handyman enjoyed kayaking, but dude, it was my vacation for goodness sakes! I didn't want to do anything that resembled work.

Ahhhh, now this was my idea of vacation!

Off to the Beach

2011-06-19T04:04:00.003-06:00

At the end of May the kids and I were lucky enough to have been able to fly down to see my family in the Sunny South.

Despite the airport delays due to thunderstorms in our area, the flight went fairly well, and the kids were very, very good, for which I was supremely thankful.

I dressed them all in matching Aloha outfits so that if (Heaven forbid) one should wander off (not naming any names) it would be easier to spot them.

(This had the minor detraction that if one of them misbehaved I couldn't pretend they weren't with me.)

Soon after we got to our designated "camping site" on Hilton Head Island, the kids found a really neat place to ~~torture~~ try to catch fiddler crabs.

Peter especially loved it. My big boy loves the freedom of exploring and finding interesting things. Sometimes his imagination is annoying (because he's rarely in the present, which is inconvenient when I'm trying to tell him to put his shirt in his drawer and I later find it in the refrigerator, but anyway . . .), but at times like these, I'm so thankful for his adventurous and curious spirit.

My brother Nathan was also able to come, and I was so pleased and impressed with how cool he was to his nephews and niece. I think there's something very special about a college kid being willing to spend time with little children and not being "too cool" to notice them.

Of course, at the first opportunity I had to try out the French Bakery. I'm not sure how "French" it actually is, but let me say the cream cheese and passion fruit croissants were c'est magnifique.

When we got to the beach Peter was so excited that extemporaneous items of clothing went flying. (Notice his shoe mid-air at the bottom of the photo . . .)

That's a picture of my dad heading toward the waves with Peter.

Something about the smell of the sea and the sound of the waves seems to lift a load off my shoulders that I didn't know was there before. All of a sudden I'm once again 11 years old and I can climb huge banyan trees and spend all day playing (which is a total mental fabrication of epic proportions, but one cannot escape the memories of one's childhood.)

Despite Gabe's tendency to be wary around water, he didn't mind the beach at all and took to it like he was fully channeling his tiny bit of Hawaiian blood.

Miss Boo of course showed off her swimsuit modeling skills. Someone make sure to ~~dope me~~ give me extra courage when she's a teenager.

I love seeing the ecstatic glee on my baby's face. I can't help but smile like a fool myself.

Hmmm, perhaps I see now where Boo's modeling tendencies come from . . . (sorry Dad, couldn't resist :)

Mum took some time to catch up on some reading and enjoy the bit of quiet while the rest of the ~~hooligans~~ family were swimming.

What a perfect way to start summer!

Summer Top for Miss Boo

2011-06-17T08:48:00.001-06:00

It doesn't happen often, but every once in a while I'm hit with the strong urge to sew. Most of the time sewing isn't feasible for me, as it's difficult to imagine a sewing machine fitting into my very hectic schedule. (Knitting can be stuffed into a purse. A sewing machine, not so much.)

However, I did manage to sew a few cute summer tops for Miss Boo before we went on vacation.

(This picture is of the back of the shirt)

I messed this one up and did the straps on the wrong side, but thankfully the straps are long enough that I can wrap them over her shoulders and tie them behind her neck, so it still works and doesn't look weird.

I don't know if my tastes are changing or if it's just the advent of summer messing with my internal color scheme, but I find I'm suddenly drawn to psychedelic colors.

If I start liking peace symbols and hearts, then all is lost.

Flower Tee Refashion

2011-06-15T07:56:00.000-06:00

I needed a few extra tee shirts, so I decided to try to refashion a basic tee that I found on sale at Wal-mart. I have to confess that because I teach music lessons every day, my wardrobe leans more toward the semi-dressy, so when I want something comfy and casual I'm don't have a lot of options.

First I purchased two shirts, one in the size I wanted to wear, and an extra-large shirt (the multi-colored one) for fabric.

I really liked the multicolored shirt, because it will match with any solid tee and it's got lovely color layerings, along with a subtle silver shade running through it.

I'm not going to post another tutorial because there are so many excellent ones already out there. Basically I cut out two layers of odd circles or hearts, pinched the center and sewed through the two layers with needle and thread, and then sewed the "flower" onto the shirt.

I'm very happy with the way the flower part came out, but I'm not overly thrilled with the top as a whole, mostly because I don't care for the fit of the tee. It's a box-shaped top, instead of a more fitted hourglass top that I prefer, but since the whole thing cost me under $10 and the point of this tee is to have something casual anyway, I figure it fits its purpose.

Mother's Day Planting

2011-06-11T07:55:00.000-06:00

For Mother's Day this year the "kids" took me out to a wonderful brunch at a local restaurant.

Afterward, we spent a nice afternoon at Grandma and Grandpa L's house planting onions and potatoes in preparation for fall harvesting.

(I say "we", but as it was Mother's Day I exerted my holiday rights and watched the proceedings from the comfort of the van and knitted a sock.)

Handyman put down some hay in between the rows, in hopes that it would cut down on the weeds. (I have a suspicion that this was just an excuse to use the skid loader with the kids.)

Hopefully this year we'll have a better yield than last year!

A Pirate Ship, a Castle, or a Den of Thieves

2011-06-09T07:58:00.000-06:00

We were very blessed to receive a swing set from a friend a year or so ago, but when I saw the chance to get this wooden play set for free, I couldn't pass it up.

Thankfully The Brothers were able to help move the rather heavy contraption from it's former (unappreciated) home to its new (ecstatically received) home.

Despite Miss Boo's rather skeptical expression, I have no doubt she'll be bossing her brothers around her "castle" within no time!

Springtime Quiche

2011-06-07T08:00:00.001-06:00

After working hard in the garden for the past two weeks, it's so rewarding to be able to benefit from it!

There's not much that can beat a piping hot bacon and asparagus quiche for dinner!

Morels!

2011-06-05T08:02:00.000-06:00

It's sort of a spring tradition for the men of my household to hunt morels. Unfortunately this wasn't really a good year for them, but thankfully they were able to find enough to squeak out a meal or two.

Peter was especially proud of the morels he found!

Two More Cowls

2011-06-03T19:38:00.000-06:00

Miss Boo's two ballet teachers did such a lovely job this year, so I decided to knit them each a small cowl as a thank you present for their teaching and being willing to put up with my occasionally disobedient and usually snarky daughter.

I used some lovely alpaca yarn that my Mum sent me from one of her alpacas (Mum has the most beautiful stuff; you can contact me if you're interested in purchasing any or email her directly at Aloha Windmill Alpaca Farms)

The pattern was Abstract Leaves Cowl, which was a fun quick knit and wasn't hard to memorize.

The yarn Mum sent had the most lovely loft (that means it was extra poofy), so I think it will be extra warm in the winter when extra warmth here in the Frigid North is a necessity.

Another Violinist in the House

2011-05-27T09:00:00.002-06:00

I know I usually natter on about knitting on my blog, but in order to fund my ~~mad skills~~ well-under-control knitting habit I teach voice, violin, or piano music lessons to about 18 or 20 students.

(I'm not sure of the exact number of students because if I knew for sure I'm certain to panic from the strain and mentally implode. This would have a negative affect on my ability to knit.)

Miss Boo is 5, so I started her on piano almost a year ago, and just recently began teaching her the violin.

She has the teeniest little instrument that looks like a toy (it's a 1/16 size, which measures about 15 inches long from scroll to chin rest.)

She sounds appalling, but I don't tell her that. I'm the teacher, so I have to be loving and supportive. I'm also her parent, and I often wish that I could pay someone else to listen to her.

All beginning violinists (no matter the age) sound like they're trying to stuff a cat into a coke bottle with chopsticks, so this isn't any indication of future progress.

I am just very careful never to schedule two beginner violinists in a row. My nerves can only handle so much auditory torture.

3

2011-05-25T09:04:00.000-06:00

My niece Michelle and my son Gabe have their birthdays only a few weeks apart. Because we're going to be celebrating in a week with the rest of my family, we kept the excitement on the birth day down to a minimum.

(I wish I could completely claim this was true, but to be entirely honest, I was worn out and didn't feel like doing much. Excuse me now while I wallow in guilt and feelings of total inadequacy.)

Not wanting to have nothing for my little man, I put together a quick quilt which I painstakingly pieced together from bits of fabric that I hand wove late into the night.

(Actually, no, I just purchased the top panel from JoAnn Fabrics and sewed fleece on the inside as batting and backed it with Gabe's favorite satin fabric in the color of his favorite "bwankie".)

Thankfully, he likes it. Not as much as his regular "bwankie", but enough that if stanky bwankie needs a wash he can deal with the substitute without a total meltdown.

I also took a video of his birthday present from Oma and Opa, a neat little toy from the Cars movie. (If you're viewing this post through Facebook, you need to click here to see the original post. Also, you might want to pause the music on the right sidebar first before playing the two movie clips.)

Birthday Dress

2011-05-23T08:51:00.000-06:00

My adorable little niece Michelle turned 3 a few weeks ago, and it's become a bit of a tradition for her gift from me to be a dress that I've sewn just for her.

I've already made quite a few of these dresses, and it's become my favorite go-to design for a cute and quick summer dress.

My sister Angie likes hearts, so when I saw this fabric clearanced after Valentine's Day, I bought it in hopes that she would like the pattern. (It's always SO difficult picking out designs for someone when your own taste is so radically different. I personally detest hearts, but for my loved ones I'm willing to suffer.)

I don't line all the dresses I've made, but this one I decided to line, using plain cotton fabric from a sheet I got on sale from Goodwill. (GREAT way to stock up on lining fabric. There's just something that feels morally lacking about paying extra money for fabric with no pattern on it, ha ha!)

Happy birthday Michelle!

The Pink Carnation

2011-05-18T16:03:00.000-06:00

The Pink Carnation series by Lauren Willig has been one of my favorite book series to read, and I was thrilled when I was able to get my sister Angie addicted to it as well. It's a fun combination of a historical fiction with romance and a bit of suspense thrown in as well, or you could say it's like Jane Austen meeting up with the Scarlet Pimpernel and going on a "bit of a romp" through Napoleonic England.

(Disclaimer: I would rate this series as being for adults, not for kids).

Anyway, Angie and I have had many hilarious phone conversations and texts involving our favorite phrases from the books ("the horror of knee breeches"), and I think both of us find that the Mischief of the Mistletoe is our favorite book from the series.

When Angie came to visit for a wonderful surprise birthday trip, she got me one of the best birthday presents I've ever had - a special treat to symbolize each book from the series, starting with a Christmas Pudding (an instrumental item from the Mistletoe book)

Inside the beautifully wrapped muslin ball was an amazing assortment of items!

The first thing I pulled out of the "pudding" was this lovely necklace. At first I only admired it for it's prettiness, but when Angie grinned at me and said, "That's a pink carnation", I totally fell in love with it!

Item #2 was an antique postcard from France with pink carnations on the front. We had fun squealing over how pretty it was and trying to figure out where in England it was sent to and imagining what sort of person it was who sent it.

A dashing spy, perhaps? Who knows? Maybe, "Have a lovely Christmas" was Pink Carnation Code for "beware of a man wearing a purple hat."

She also got me another funny postcard with a picture of Napoleon Bonaparte (the evil villain). Really, no wonder the man felt he had to conquer the world. It takes cheek to wear such silly clothes like that; he must have had a towering sense of his own supremacy.

An orchid postcard to symbolize "The Orchid Affair".

A beautiful set of earrings to go with "The Betrayal of the Blood Lily".

A stunning set of knitting stitch markers (which I guard jealously) to match "The Masque of the Black Tulip".

An emerald ring, to go with, of course, "The Deception of the Emerald Ring".

Handmade miniature paper rose earrings to go with "The Seduction of the Crimson Rose".

And finally, an exotic perfumed sachet of jasmine bath scents to go with "The Temptation of the Night Jasmine."

All of the items she got vintage or handmade through Etsy! Awesome!!!

Coolest. Gifts. Ever! Thanks Angie!

Science Fun!

2011-05-10T16:59:00.000-06:00

My Mum is a fantastic science teacher, and when she was here she kindly offered to have a "Science Lab" for my kids and some of the other homeschoolers who were interested.

No, that is not a homeschooler she's holding, it's our rabbit, Paganini.

Mum sets up "stations" where a small group of 4-5 kids learn a certain thing about the science topic, which in this case was weather.

My friend Rachel got to do the experiments with the Bernoulli Wind Bags, which was a huge hit with the kids.

Alyssa ran the "Tornado Station" which was a rather wet job.

While the adults figured out what we were supposed to be doing, we kicked the kids outside to the back yard to experience "Weather" first hand.

It was for scientific purposes.

This was an experiment that we tried to do with barometric pressure, but for some odd reason the straws didn't want to co-operate, despite the best efforts of Tonya and Andrea.

It was a chaotic but fun afternoon learning a little bit about part of God's wonderful creation!

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T08:07:00.000-06:00

I just wanted to wish all the wonderful moms out there a special Mother's Day, and especially to my own sweet Mum.

Thanks Mum for all the lessons you tried (and hopefully succeeded) to teach us about honesty, kindness, character, punctuality, cooking, and most of all, thanks for your wicked sense of humor!

Down

2011-05-06T16:16:00.000-06:00

I consider myself a generally chipper person and I am very rarely depressed, but just now my right leg aches rather badly and the pain is a bit more intense than it usually is. It's so lovely outside and I'm feeling sad that I can't work in the flower garden as I'd planned.

Ah well, it's probably silly to post this to the world, but sometimes it's nice to have a shoulder to lean on, even if that shoulder is ethereal.

Now I'm going to give myself a stern talking-to, take a few more ibuprofen, brew a lovely cup of aromatic tea and marinate in a tub with bath salts.

I'm starting to feel better already!