Pirates!

Here is a picture of the fabric I bought in Juneau to make a quilt for Sawyer.  The plan is to use the map fabric as a border, the skulls as sashing, and the kid pirates as blocks. I think I will alternate big blocks of the kid pirate print with blocks of scraps in bright colors. I think it will be neat. Just have to finish a few other quilts up first! And, I'm hoping to make it twin size, so I have plenty of time before Sawyer will need a quilt that size. :)

Home again, home again

Oh... I love being home. I had a fun time on our mini-vacation, but there is nothing like coming home. I love my house, I love being around my things, I love my bed... I missed the pups. It is just nice to be home. I do wish my home were in a smaller town, but that will happen sometime.

So, we flew out on Saturday morning, and it was super stormy in Juneau. Before we took off they announced that there was a possibility that we wouldn't land in Juneau and would just go on to Sitka, so if you wanted to get off, now was the time. We stayed put. When we flew over Juneau, the weather was terrible. We were almost ready to land and then the pilot decided we had to try again.  This wasn't fun, as it was pretty rough and I wasn't feeling well. I claimed I would rather have another child than ever fly again. (I hate flying. HATE it. Another reason I love being home. No flying involved.) But, we did make it to Juneau. We almost wound up flying to Sitka on accident, as the turnaround in Juneau was about 5 mins. We didn't even know the doors were open yet and they announced. "Alright, is that everyone for Juneau? We are ready to close the doors." In a panic, we grabbed our things and ran off the plane. Woops. There was no way we were making it out of Juneau, so we wound up staying the night there and taking the ferry to Hoonah on Sunday.

The ferry was fine. Hoonah was fun. We were only there for the night, as we were taking the ferry back Monday morning. So, it was a super quick trip. We had a dance contest that night, playing the game Just Dance for Wii. There were brackets and everything.  It was a tough battle, but I beat out 12 people to win the sweatshirt and beer mug from the local bar (called "The Office"). It was pretty awesome. Then Monday we took the ferry back to Juneau with Branda and James.

We called a cab to take us to the airport (to rent a car and change tickets, Branda and James were trying to stay one more night with us) and told them we had a baby.  The cab showed up, saw Sawyer and said we were screwed. "There is not a single cab in Juneau that has a baby seat like that" What?!? Really?? He also told me I should have brought my own car seat and was very rude to me. We asked him what we should do, it's a far walk to the airport. He said he didn't know, but he wasn't taking us, and drove off. Crap. I felt terrible... he basically told me I was a shitty parent. (But, why would I bring a car seat with us when I wasn't really planning on driving anywhere??) We called the cab company to complain, the dispatcher was very nice and apologized. He said the driver was an idiot and just grabbed the wrong seat, he was sending a cab with the correct car seat right now. Whew. Then when we went to rent a car we ran into the same problem, no one had a car seat.  Everyone had booster seats.... but that isn't helpful when you have a 4-month-old.  So we went over to tell James not to bother changing his ticket, as we weren't going to have a car seat and the ticket agent from Alaska Air informed us that she had one we could borrow. Apparently, some people check their car seats and then leave them there, so they just hold on to them in case anyone needs one. Isn't that awesome? I was so happy that she was so helpful. (I will be writing AK Air later to let them know how helpful she was... it isn't often I get such great customer service at an airport) So the day was saved! And now we know that when we go to TX we need to bring our car seat....

We drove around Juneau a bit, had dinner at a local pizza joint, and hung out in the hotel. It was pretty fun.  The next day, Weston and I left on a later flight, so we drove up to the glacier, and went to a few shops.  I bought some pirate fabric to make Sawyer a quilt. I'm pretty excited about that. :)

Overall, it was a fun trip.  I always have fun when I'm with Weston. It didn't turn out the way we thought it would, and some parts were a bit stressful, but it was nice. I don't think I will be moving to Hoonah... it is a bit too small for me. My vote is still Valdez. I think we are going to try and make it there in the next month or so...

I will leave you with a picture of the scenery from the Juneau airport. Oh, and Sawyer did fine on all the flights and ferry rides. He just wanted to eat the entire time. So I didn't get much knitting done. Oh well...

Snow, a trip, and maddness

It is snowing. I love it. It is so pretty and winter-like outside. This is what I wish every winter day was like.

Tomorrow morning the family is leaving for a vacation... we are flying to Juneau and then to Hoonah, Alaska. It is a super small town, and I am excited to hang out and do nothing for four days. We have a friend who is from Hoonah, and she went back home for her birthday with her husband, so we will be hanging out with them. Should be quite the adventure! And Sawyer's first plane ride.  It will be a nice preview for how TX is going to go. Luckily, this flight is only 1.5 hours....

Also, lately I have been obsessed with learning to spin on a spindle. Why?? Because of the previously mentioned TX trip, where I feel I will need everything in my power to keep me sane. I have been lusting after this one on Etsy. Might not be too long before it is in my mailbox.... That is my current maddness...

Alright, off to get ready for the trip.  Have a great long weekend!

Belated Valentine's Day Wishes!

A year ago on Valentine's Day, we found out we were expecting our little baby.... yesterday we didn't get any life-changing new (thankfully!), but we still had fun.  After we all made it home from work, we went to True Value to pick up some stain for a quilt rack Weston is building for me.  I'm pretty excited that soon my quilts will be on display instead of folded in a closet. After that, we came home, hung out for a bit, then I made nachos for dinner and we watched Inception. About half way through the movie we took a break to put Sawyer to bed (who has been sleeping like a champ at night....nap time, not so much).  Bedtime is becoming more of a routine that involves everyone, and it is a nice wind down at the end of the day.

Inception is a crazy movie. I am really enjoying it so far, I think we have about 40 mins left.  It is a bit different than I expected, but still very good. I love Joseph Gorden-Levitt and Ellen Page, and they are both playing big roles...

Also, I kick butt at making nachos. They rival Bear's Tooth they are so good. I should have taken a picture.

I hope everyone was able to spend the day doing something or being with someone they love.

Destash!

I am in full on destash mode. I went through my yarn and fiber stash and decided that if I didn't have a project in mind, or if I didn't think I would get to it within the year, it was gone. So, that means great stuff if you are looking for some good deals! I have it all up on Ravelry here... all prices are negotiable, as I would just like it to go to a good home where it will be used and loved.

Thanks for looking!

Eek! Steek!

So... I cut a steek yesterday. One of the sleeve steeks in Sawyer's sweater. Toni (one of the other knitting teachers at work, she is a master knitter and pretty much the best knitter I know. I would love to grow up to be like her) helped me. It is going to take more time and finishing than I expected, but I am on my way. I have to seam up the other shoulder, and then I will sew the sleeves in... they are in the sink getting ready to be blocked right now, so that may be able to happen tonight. Then, I will be able to steek the front of the sweater, pick up a billion stitches to knit a small collar edge, and then sew in the zipper.  I was complaining to Weston last night about all of the finishing work... mostly the picking up stitches part.

"I don't understand why I pick projects that have parts I HATE in them...." "You know that blanket with the hood I started (that is now too small for Sawyer), it only needs a button band, but I have to pick up like 198 stitches, so I put it away..." Weston asked if 198 was a lot. "Well, it's almost 200...so, yeah, it's a lot." I wasn't in a good mood about it. The weird thing is, picking up stitches isn't that bad. I just hate thinking about it. Once I get started, I still complain, but I get it done. So be on the look out for a finished sweater....in about a week?

Also, in other crafting news, Weston has taken it upon himself to help me clean and organize my craft room. This is good and bad. Good because Weston is very good about organizing things and making sure everything has a home. Plus, since he is helping me, he gives me a task (sort everything into piles, go through this binder, where does this go?, etc) and then I have a goal.  When I clean my room myself, I get overwhelmed and mostly just quit. So, I feel like this will help a lot.  When we are done, everything will have a home, and if it doesn't have a home it will be going away. The reason this is bad is because he now knows the full extent of my stash.... he hans't been too surprised by it, but he is encouraging me to work from my stash and finish the MANY WIP I have started. Or have all the supplies to start. I now have a "rule" that to start a new project, I have to finish two WIP. Which is probably a good idea. But, boo.... I really wanted to start knitting a shawl and I was going to cast on as soon as I finished the sweater. But, I now have to finish something else. So, I'm going to bind a quilt. Quick, easy, done. :) And, yes, that counts... I already asked.

So, as soon as the room is all clean, I will post pictures. AND, I may even share the crazy list of WIP so that you can keep me honest too.  Off to go block some sleeves and maybe cut that binding out.