Summer

The weather was gorgeous today. Sawyer and I walked to the park after his nap, with Lucy on my back. It was nice. I have been absent here lately. I am really annoyed with the blogger app and looking to move my blog somewhere else, but all these things take time, which I can not find enough of. Instead of blogging, I have been doing research on Montessori schools and how to do some Montessori-type lessons at home. Sawyer is much better behaved when we have things to do, so my plan is to try and add a bit more structure by having one or two planned activities for us to do after nap, or in place of an activity out of the house. I have also been doing a bit of knitting. And dealing with sick kids. Both kids decided to go and get ear infections on me.....that was rough. Lucy is still recovering, but seems to be a lot better than she was. Hopefully we can all stay healthy for a while. 

Alright, my goal tonight was to order prescription sunglasses since it is summer. Off to do that. 

Better link

I hate the blogger app. I can't wait until I can save up for a new computer. Anyway, if you want to see my friend's giveaway here is a better link

Doll giveaway

Accomplished

Today I accomplished a lot. I made chili, apple crisp, and even crescent rolls....all from scratch. The rolls aren't out of the oven yet, so the verdict is still out on if they are tasty, but I know from experience that everything else should be! Not only that I took Sawyer to the grocery store and kindergym this morning (and Lucy too....) all without any major fits! As if that wasn't enough, we all walked up to the nursery to pick out some flowers (for a soon to be revealed project). Tomorrow I will probably just sit around to make up for all of my antics today. 

Another thing I wanted to mention was that a friend of mine is having a giveaway on her blog (http://prairie-girl-knits.blogspot.com/2013/05/im-late-im-late-for-very-important-date.html) 

and you should check it out. Sorry for the funky formatting, the blogger app did some updating and I can't figure out

things yet.....

She makes amazing dolls and is giving one away. 

Ok, off to get the house swept. 

My sweet kids

I just spent an hour trying to put Lucy to bed. While she isn't as bad as Sawyer was, she doesn't have the best sleeping habits....part of it is my fault, we haven't been super consistent with her routine because she is more flexible....but I think that is starting to bite us in the behind. Sleep is my least favorite part of parenting. There is something about it that drives me crazy. And I will never understand babies....they scream when they are tired....which is the opposite of helpful.

But, my kids are amazing....even if they don't speak English or sleep great. (We are working on both of those problems) The other day something happened that I never thought would. I made the kids matching hats before Lucy was born....and I never thought I would get a picture of them in them together. Especially since Sawyer has been running from the camera and hates hats. But, it happened. They aren't great, but it made my day.

Terrible blogger

So, I'm bad at blogging.... I haven't been knitting... I am in a funk. But, I did sew Sawyer some pants last night, out of fabric I bought around Christmas. He helped me sew them and was really excited until we finished them at which point he decided he wanted nothing to do with them.

There were some moose in the yard the other day. The family was about to head out to the front yard and I happened to glance out and see a moose walking across the yard! Thankfully I looked, as it turned out to be a mom with a baby, who strolled past a few seconds later. I love moose.

Hoping to get my knitting mojo back on track. I am just not in love with anything I'm working in, and casting on seems like so much work..... Ha! I did dye yarn to knit Lucy's birthday sweater. Because, she is suddenly SEVEN months old....what!? Hopefully I start that soon and have something to show for all of my time.....well, besides happy and healthy children. ;)

Where did March go?

How is it already the end of March?! I have been busy, but not really with anything too exciting...normal stuff. Toddler activities, knitting, washing the never ending pile of laundry. Last week was my birthday, and it was amazing. Weston had a whole day planned for me and it was all a surprise....he took the day off and took the kids to the museum while I went for a mani/pedi (second one ever....) and lunch by myself. What a treat it is to eat alone with only your thoughts...no screaming toddler or baby trying to escape your lap. It's the little things. :) Then he also took me to dinner while my mom and brother watched the kids. It was great.

I've also been knitting up a storm. I finished Lucy's sweater (minus sewing on the buttons, but it is a bit too big for her right now, so I'm not too motivated to do that), made my mom a pair of felted slippers, knit one fingerless mitt (the other will be finished this week) and started a pair of mittens for my mom. Whew! I also broke out my spinning wheel and started something new. It is a rainbow batt, so I am spinning it a thin and plan on chain plying it so the colors stay together and I'll have a stripey yarn. It will take a while, but I'm enjoying spinning again!

Alright, off to get Sawyer dressed and head to the museum! Some friends are in town from Soldotna so we are getting all the kiddos together....hopefully they have fun!

Almost a sweater

I've been working away at Lucy's sweater....only the sleeves left! I really like it. I need to pick some buttons for it...probably some silver ones....but that requires a trip to the store, so it will have to wait a bit.

Sawyer LOVES his mittens. He has worn them almost every time we have left the house since they have been finished and even napped in them one day. Silly kid. I also recently dug out a pair of felted slippers I made a long time ago that fit him now...and he loves those as well.

Quick pic of the kiddos, in case you don't follow their blogs.

Finished Mittens

I did it! I finished Sawyer's mittens in February. That means I finished two things in 28 days...which is pretty amazing for me! I am really happy with Sawyer's mittens. I plan on knitting a lining, but I have to run to the yarn shop for some laceweight alpaca.....

Now I'm planning my knitting for this month. I know I plan on knitting at least one gift, and maybe some fingerless mitts.... We will see! It's also the month of the iditarod, which means yet another knitting challenge! I might try and knit Lucy a sweater during the running of the Iditarod.

Took the kids to the zoo today, you can see more about that on their blogs. :)

A snapshot

There aren't too man days left in February....I might be able to finish Sawyer's second mitten if the kids cooperate and I skip napping all week.... They are going to be a matching pair of raccoons. Sawyer apparently isn't a fan of mis-matched items, as we found out yesterday when trying to put on socks that didn't match.

Anyway, I was trying to take a picture of the kids and myself yesterday....and this is what happened. I feel like it captured the true nature of how my days go....

Fur Rondy fun!

I love Fur Rondy! It is so fun and there is so much to do.... We have an action packed weekend ahead of us. This morning I took the kids to meet some of the Fur Rondy mushers and their dogs and Sawyer loved it. One of the mushers (from NY!) had a small kids sled and hooked a dog up to pull Sawyer around. I think that is his preferred mode of transportation now. This weekend we plan on going to the pioneer pancake breakfast, the parade, the fur auction, and ice bowling. We also plan on going to see the snow sculptures and the model train exhibit sometime. And we are hoping to catch Zoo Lights this time around. There is a good amount of snow on the ground now, so it will be really pretty. Oh, and the dog races! So much to do!

Apple Crisp and Mittens

This week I discovered apple crisp....it's like apple pie but without all the fussy work of making a crust! Amazing. Sawyer and I made one together on Monday and it was gone by the end of the day..... then I made one on Thursday for Branda's birthday.... and it was gone by the end on the night. I'm making one now, and even though it is just Lucy and I at home right now, there is a good chance it will be gone pretty quickly! Sawyer loves helping me cook, and we are working our way through a book called Alpha-Bakery. It is put out by Gold Medal Flour and is one that Weston had when he was a kid. The recipes are simple and delicious. The only problem with that is they are too quick to make.... if I'm working alone, getting an apple crisp ready for the oven takes about 10 mins. Dangerous.

I've been working hard on Sawyer's mittens. I'm going to finish the one I'm working on and reevaluate. I want to line them, as there are rather long floats, so I want to make sure they will fit. I'm about 10 rows from finishing the first one...if I still like it when I'm done I'll have to decide if I want to make another raccoon or a beaver.

I do need to start a simpler project that I can work on during the day or while in the car, as I can't always read a chart.... maybe I'll do some Rav pattern searching today and figure that out.

A rattle and plans

I knit Lucy this fun mushroom rattle this weekend. I had some handspun at I wanted to use to make her something, and this was quick and easy. She loves it. It has a bell in the top and some crinkle stuff in the stem. It is easy for her to grab and shove in her mouth....and the top kind of looks like a boob! Lol

My next knit will be mittens for Sawyer. I have to go buy some black yarn to go with the blue I have already. I was going to use white, but I think the black will look better and it won't get dirty as easily, which is probably a good thing with mittens. I might try and get the yarn today if I'm super adventurous and decide to try and take both kids to the store....or I might just wait until I'm at the shop on Wednesday to teach....

We are going to hopefully make it to the zoo today. It's pretty warm out and I think it will be fun! Sawyer has been watching Monty the Moose this morning and making all the noises for the animals....he is so funny!

Lucy's blanket

It's done. I finished it. And I am so proud of myself..... There were a lot of challenges that I overcame to finish this darn thing....and none of them really had to do with the knitting (which was actually relatively simple). 1. I had bound it off only to realize I hated the bind off in the pattern and it was too small. It sat around forever before I finally got it back on the needles. Then it sat around forever before I started knitting it again 2. The yarn. Wow. The yarn. I used malabrigo rios and it was a PAIN. One skein was virtually impossible to wind, and two others had a lot of spots I had to cut out. And because it is a superwash yarn (which I didn't realize until after I bought it....darn my reading skills sometimes) I couldn't spit splice it and I had SO many ends to weave in! Between the last two skeins I had ELEVEN ends. Unacceptable. But, I wove them all in, blocked it and I'm pretty darn happy with the result.

Lucy loves it as well. She thinks it is delicious.

(Oh, and Weston did great at home with both kiddos while I was at work....Lucy was pretty crabby when he was putting Sawyer to bed, but other than those 20 mins, she was wonderful)

Just keep knitting

Still working on the blanket that won't end. I decided to add one more repeat, because I would have to add the last skein for just the bind off anyway....I didn't want to have to have ends that close to the edge, so I decided to make it just a bit bigger. Sooo..... Five more rows. I can do it. I just want to finish before the beginning of February.

Tonight I go back to work! I haven't taught knitting since July? Or maybe August. I can't remember, but it has been a while. I'm excited, as tonight is beginning knitting, which is one of my favorite classes to teach. I love seeing people learn! And sharing something that I love so much with others is always fun. I'm a bit nervous as it will be the first time I've left Weston with both the kiddos. I know he is capable, but Lucy hasn't been too fond of bottles, so I'm hoping she doesn't just scream at him all night.

Yesterday was Josh's birthday. He is our best friend and we are so lucky to have him in our life. We went to the Double Musky for dinner (his favorite) and it was a lot of fun. Lucy was wonderful, the only bad thing was the drive. It was dark and raining. Yuck! But, I had great company, so it wasn't too bad. We are going out with him again Saturday (Birthday week!) and I'm really looking forward to that.

I'm not sure what I'm going to knit next.... Time will tell. I am really itching to knit some colorwork, and have patterns and yarn for the CUTEST kids mittens (owls and raccoons) so they might be jumping on my needles soon. I also want to knit the kids sweaters.... Who knows.

Alright, off to sit and watch Duck Tales with Sawyer. Morning toddler cuddles are pretty awesome.

Finished objects

I have already completed two things this year, which is pretty amazing for me! If I continue on this path of production, I will have quite a lot to show off this year! I finished Josh's hat, and I love it. He loves it too and is already sporting it around town. I was so excited to finish that and be able to cast on something new (I've been diligent about keeping my WIP number low) but instead I decided to pick up and finish my Hemlock Ring blanket that I started when I was pregnant with Lucy. I attached my last skein of yarn last night and if I keep with it, I should probably be able to finish it in a couple of weeks. Each round is over 400 stitches and growing, so it takes a while....she could use a blanket full of mom love right now though. She has such a stuffy nose and it makes me so sad. There is not much you can do for such a young person, and she is pretty miserable. Thankfully, she is still able to sleep (although all her crazy sounding breathing keeps me up) so she will with any luck be over it soon....

Alright, back to the never ending blanket.