Cutest little wool soaker butt!

Just finished little man's wool soaker! How cute! It turned out really nice, I like it a lot with the small adjustments I made to the pattern. Thanks to my dear friend Trudi, I started out with the Ottobre wool soaker pattern as a base. Then I came across a few other patterns that I liked different details of, so I added the additional ribbing from the Sheepytime Sheepy Sack pattern at the bottom of their pattern page. I love how it came out. I made the legs just a bit longer. And I made the waist a bit longer as well, and then folded it down in half, before lacing the drawstring through. I thought about adding eyelet holes for the drawstring, but decided against it, so that as he grows bigger if I need, I can unfold the waist for a longer rise and not have to worry about holes from an eyelet row. The Ottobre pattern was super quick to work up and was a pleasure to knit, so I'll definitely be doing about 6 more of these! :-D

n

"Momento Bowl" & Beautiful Yarn Storage Ideas

We've come across a great book, "Weekend Knitting" by Melanie Falick. I highly recommend this book if you appreciate the beauty in the medium that we work with as knitters and crocheters. The pictures are heartfelt and warm, the ideas are great and the little tid-bits throughout the book, capture the rythmic, homely essence and pure beauty of knitting.

From this book, comes an awesome idea ~ We call it our "Momento Bowl." While our bowl is still a work in progress, it is still pretty and inviting. As we finish projects we will begin adding smaller sample balls of yarn and prettier needles. But for now, the simplicity of what we have works both as a beautiful storage solution and a Momento Bowl to share and create memories with friends for a long time to come!

Weekend knitting describes it best:

"Inevitably, if you leave knitting projects or pretty yarns or knitting books around your house, some of your guests are going to want to knit while they're visiting. To be ready for such situations, try setting up a quests knitting bowl or basket. In it place a small piece of knitting (just a few rows worked on a set of pretty needles) and yarn leftover from finished projects. When quests ask to knit, invite them to add on to the knitting you've started with whichever yarn they like best from the bowl. After a while (months or years, depending on the industriousness of your guests), you'll have a long, colorful ribbonlike momento- a memory quilt of sorts - of creative time spent with friends and family. You'll see the inevitable holes created bu the knitters who learned to knit on this ribbon as well as the complicated stitchwork of the experienced knitters who have stopped by."

-- Weekend Knitting, P. 129

Speaking of storage solutions -- do you see my nifty little yarn ball winder? Oh, I absolutely love! See how neat my balls are? (you should have seen them before!). On the storage front, this book has some great ideas for decorating with yarn (I've starred [*] my favorites!):

"

• Place pretty colors together in clean wooden bowls*, natural baskets, or other creative holders. Scour yard sales and antique shops for unusual choices. Casually combining an assortment of colors often leads to new discoveries about how colors play off one another.
• "Dress" a vintage dress form in yarn. Drape yarn across it's shoulders, or around it's neck or waist.
  
• Drape yarn around the back of a chair or on the door of a cabinet or armoire.
• Fill an armoire with yarn and leave doors open to display.
  
• Use a hank of yarn as a curtain tie-back.
  
• Hang different colors of yarn on the pegs of a coat rack.
  
• String an assortment of yarn on a cord and hang form a wall hook. *
• Line up cones of yarn on a shelf.
• Set up shelves and cubbies along an entire wall and arrange the yarn in a pleasing sequence of colors and textures. While some knitters will do this in a storage or workroom, it can also work well in a more public space.
  
• If you like to paint, draw or take photos, consider using your yarn as a subject for a still life. "
  

-- Weekend Knitting, P. 41

DD Learned to KNIT!!!!

After much trial and error ~ well, a little trial and error.. :-D, It is with great pleasure and excitement that I announce that DD has got it!!! She learned to knit! We tried a few months back and she wasn't ready yet, but after her big sis came for a visit and learned to knit, she decided to give it another try.. and she got it! She's very excited, and spends her own time concentrating on "her" knitting.


She is really enjoying it and keeps adding to our Momento bowl.. (I'll fill you in on this neat tid-bit later).

Here she is casting on (her favorite part). She is already planning her Christmas gifts for next year!




Now we can sit and knit together.. oh the joys of mother-daughter bonding.

n

Stinky Diapers?

Well, turns out that my dear little ones cloth diapers were coming out of the dryer smelling somewhat fishy because, Desitin contains COD LIVER OIL... hehehe That would be a really good reason! But after a good stripping, cold wash, then Hot wash with 1 C baking soda, dawn, Oxyclean and 2tiny caps bleach, then a few really HOT washes, all clean and smelling fresh again!

Breakfast in Bed... :-D

DD decided that she would make Breakfast today, since I've been under the weather the past few days. She decided toasted Blueberry Bagels and butter were in order, and a delicious cold cup of milk. She also decided that this pretty serving plate would make a grand compliment to her breakfast plan! Pretty decisive for a 5 yr old, I think! So we sat in bed together and ate our bagels and shared our cup of milk. It was a delight!

n

Hello and Happy New Year!

Well, Christmas gifts are done, and the holidays are over! What a wonderful time of giving! Everyone loved their gifts (that's my moms lace scarf in the pic). One thing I learned in making gifts this year, I will be starting VERY soon on next years gifts! :-D

It has been some time since I posted, mostly because of the holidays - preparation, guests, festivities and aftermath. I hope everyone's Christmas was blessed and New year will be great! I thought I'd give a little update and get used to getting on (and off) of my blog, in an effort to make it a more regular part of my day... :-) So, I was browsing around some of my favorite blogs this morning, and went to check on the Large Family Logistics blog to see if she was back up and running. And she is! not too many posts, as she is taking care of her precious little guy, who was brought to this earth prematurely, and is doing exceptional now! So, other then a few minor updates, there won't be much going on, HOWEVER.. there is so much wisdom in this site. and I find myself going back time and time again, for motivation, wisdom, inspiration. When I forget what to do, how to do it, or don't know where to get the energy to do it from!, I wander back over and read various topics on home keeping, home management, home Schooling, etc. I decided to borrow an update feature from her, I think it's kind of neat, short sweet to the point, so with a few minor personal adjustments:

Listen In:
:-( little sniffles, coughs (from mom AND baby) and the hum of the Vick's humidifier.

View from the front window:
Pretty day in GA, cool and crisp but bright and sunny!

Supper Plans:
New years Leftovers~Yes we still have them!

In the garden:
Greens & Kale (Broccoli is all gone! it was mm mmm yummy!)

Beauty in the common things:
Little gleam of sun, shining through the window.

On the Needles & Hooks:
3 scarves and a big cozy wrap! (It's that time of year!)

Something New:
I am finally on Ravelry! Yeay! I LOVE this site, if you haven't signed up for an invite yet, please do, it is awesome! For those already on Ravelry, my page is http://www.ravelry.com/people/ngabriel
Please come by and visit!