MuddyMoose

Drive By

2012-02-12T20:48:00.000-09:00

Sticks and String

Just a quick drive-by post to say that I finished Sawyer's octopus mittens tonight. They are in the sink blocking, so pictures soon. (Apparently small-diameter color work is a bit more challenging for me...) I wouldn't say I'm in love with them... but, blocking might fix that. I will say that I am insanely proud of myself for starting and finishing them within a month (not a calendar month, but 4 weeks). Yes, they are small, but there are TWO of them and they are exactly the same. Not exactly a super exciting knit. But, they are done and almost ready to wear!!

Next up on the needles is a Milo vest. The midwife that delivered Sawyer had a son this past year, so I want to knit him a little something. I know a lot of people who have knit up this little vest and it looks fun, quick, and simple. I was planning to cast-on tonight, but I think I'm going to head to bed. The yarn will be there in the morning.

Hope everyone had a nice weekend. Pictures of the mittens soon!

Normal-ish...

2012-02-09T11:47:00.000-09:00

Ramblings

I have been feeling a bit "off" the last month. My stomach has still been a roller coaster, and because of the new nap schedule Sawyer has been on, I haven't been seeing adults during the day. I could tell it was taking a toll on my mental health... Plus, when Sawyer was napping, I was napping to, which meant that very little was getting done during the day. On top of all this, it was so cold that I hardly could get out. February has brought warmer weather (a bit *too* warm... today it is 41!), and Sawyer and I went to the zoo yesterday! (Pics on his blog) That really helped. Being in the fresh air was amazing. We both had a great time. Then, my MIL was able to come over last night so that Weston and I could go out to dinner by ourselves. It was wonderful. We had dinner at Cattle Company (more on that in a min...) and had such a nice time. It was great to be able to sit and talk with Weston without a little person pulling on me or hitting me in the face. Then we still had some time to kill, so we went to Century Theatre and played a few arcade games. I beat Weston at air hockey, which was epic.... he beat me at everything else we played, but it was so fun! I finally feel like I am getting back to being myself. Today during nap time I have even done some knitting.

So, Cattle Company. As you know, I am not a fan of chains and box stores. I hadn't eaten there in five years. We had received a gift card for Christmas, and I am not one to turn down free food! :) I honestly didn't expect much, I was just excited to be out with my husband. I was very surprised to find that my food was AMAZING. Seriously. Wonderful. The salad was good, the steak was perfectly cooked, my baked potato was delicious.... We even brought a slice of cheesecake home and WOW... it was heavenly. The service was great. They had a wonderful selection of mixed drinks... I was really impressed and pleased. Granted, it was still pretty expensive (it is steak, after all) so we will probably only be back to use up the rest of our gift card, but I will say that I will keep it in mind....

February Already?!

2012-02-06T08:36:00.000-09:00

Sticks and String

This past week I started a small knitting group at Barnes and Noble on Wednesday nights. I have been interested in getting out and having more adult time, so this worked out perfectly! I do enjoy teaching knitting, but I find that I don't get to be very social while teaching... because I teach beginning knitting, my students really need my help! Which is great, that is why I am there, but I need some time out of my house, with other adults, where I can talk about things other than my kid. (Who is awesome.) I'm hoping the group will meet regularly. If you are in town, we are meeting at Barnes and Noble Wednesday nights at 7.

Oh, and in actual knitting news, I'm working on Sawyer's octopus mittens. One just needs a thumb and I just finished the ribbing on the other one. I really need to get new ink for my printer so I can photocopy the chart and not have to carry the book around! That is really preventing me from working on them... we spent a lot of time in the car this weekend, but it is a bit hard to have a book open on your lap and read a chart, so I didn't get any knitting done....

Mini-Me

Sawyer is growing and learning more every day. It is crazy. He is also getting two bottom teeth right now, so I'm expecting a few long nights.... last night was one. I'm also expecting him to start talking any time now. He is saying "Mama" and "Dada" to the right people now, which is fun. He mostly uses them when walking around looking for us. There is nothing more fun than hearing him run down the hallway yelling "MAMAMAMAMA". Because it has finally warmed up, we have been outside more, which Sawyer is very happy about. Pictures of him playing are on his blog....

Ramblings

This weekend was the SUPERBOWL... which we don't really care about, but our friends do. One of our friends is a HUGE football fan... his dad has a crazy party (bartenders, waitresses to bring you things you want, prizes, etc) so we always go there. It was fun that the bartender remembered Sawyer from last year. She commented that last year all he did was sleep (true, he was 4 months old) and this year he was all grown up! He was also very well behaved. He stayed in our little area, ate food, drank his water, and played with random things he found. It was great. I was expecting to have to leave early because controlling Sawyer is sometimes a challenge...

We also went out to Eagle River this weekend to see Weston's parents, who have been out of town since the middle of December. They were pretty excited to see Sawyer and he was well behaved, so it was a nice day. The weekend was so busy, it was a bit exhausting. It didn't even really feel like a weekend we had so much to do... hopefully we have a nice quiet week to top it off....

Finally Friday

2012-01-27T20:18:00.000-09:00

Right Around, Baby

Remember that rainbow scarf I was talking about... well, here are the first three yarns that I have spun for it...

I'm going to spin a different yarn before I finish the other half of these yarns... I'm tired of n-plying. :P

Sticks and String
A picture of the hat that I knit for Josh, but is too small. It is gorgeous. I am not sure what is going to happen with it now, as I think it is a bit tight for me as well, but I like to look at it.

Ramblings

I didn't do very good with my menu making this month. The first week, I rocked it. The menu I made somehow lasted two weeks, and since then, I have been bombing. Feeding Sawyer feels like a full time job, and it is exhausting. I'm trying to find snacks that are healthy and fill him up for more than five mins... Tonight Weston is at a friend's house, so I really should be taking advantage of the time alone in the house and knitting or spinning... instead I've puttered around on the computer and I'm almost ready for bed. Oh well. I hope everyone has a great weekend! I'm hoping it warms up soon. The news informed me the average temperature of the month has been 2.6! ACK! We are on track to have the coldest January on record. That is crazy. Brrr.

A long week

2012-01-23T10:26:00.000-09:00

Mini-Me

Sawyer had his first real fever this week. It was around 102 and I was getting worried. Luckily, with one dose of Motrin and a good night's sleep, he was recovered. He has had a pretty good week otherwise.... less crabby and more fun.

In the Kitchen
I don't remember if I cooked too much last week. I did make spinach lasagna and chicken ranch pizza.... I am probably going to make sweet and sour chicken tonight with fried rice. I'm always excited about that meal...

Ramblings

I haven't been feeling awesome lately. It is quite annoying actually. My stomach has just been a bit off and it is driving me nuts. I just never feel good. I'm ready to feel back to normal. Other than that, things are great. Alright, off to make a dinner menu for the week and maybe rest a bit while Sawyer is sleeping... right after my little rant.... feel free to skip it...

On my Soapbox

A random rant. I was out with friends this weekend and they started complaining about people smoking outside. (We were outside waiting for a shuttle) I told them it didn't bother me. They asked if I was for smoking. Here is how I feel: I don't care. It is their life, they are doing something that is their choice, I wouldn't do it and I think it is dumb, but I am for FREEDOM. If you don't like it, go inside! It isn't a big deal. I just get crazy when people want to tell others what to do. If what I'm doing is legal, LEAVE ME THE F*&# ALONE. Remove yourself from the situation if it is one you are uncomfortable with. I guess I am just super sensitive to the topic because of all the nursing in public things in the news lately. I found a website with some awesome pro-breastfreeding shirts that I loved... I plan on ordering some for both Sawyer and myself. There are baby shirts that say "if you are uncomfortable with me eating, put a blanket over your head" HA! Yes. Do that. Because my baby is fine. There was a shirt I wanted to get for Sawyer that says, "Weaning is for quitters". And my favorite (that I won't order, because it is a bit obscene, but I like the sentiment) "If breastfeeding is sexual, then bottles are dildos" Too funny. Alright, off my box now. As long as you don't step on my toes.

In circles

2012-01-15T20:41:00.000-09:00

RIght Around, Baby

Can you believe I didn't have a section for spinning? Crazy talk. Anyway, I broke out my spinning wheel today for the first time in a couple of weeks. It was so relaxing. I needed it. Yesterday I was grumpy because everything I was knitting/had knitted recently was crap. (Not really, but it felt like it) SO with nothing I wanted to work on on my needles, I needed to do something tonight. So I dug around in my vast fiber stash and pulled out some batts I have had lingering since the summer. They are from craftypuppylover and I have 6 mini batts that make up the colors of the rainbow. I'm spinning them each as a separate yarn (because my bobbin won't hold them all) and then I might weave them into a scarf with a white warp. We will see, but that sounds like an awesome plan. :)

Mini-Me

Sawyer, Weston, and I went to the museum yesterday. It was great fun. We bought a pass so that I can take him whenever I want, which is awesome. He loves the kid area. So much that when we tried to put on his coat, he threw an EPIC fit. There is just so much to do there. There is even an area designed for kids under 5. He just loves to run around.... It is getting harder and harder to keep up with him as he gets older.

On Pins and Needles
I am almost done sewing a stuffed train set for Sawyer. This has been a lingering project since I was pregnant. Weston was hoping I would have it done before the baby was born, then I was hoping to have it done for Sawyer's birthday, then Christmas.... now I just need it to be out of my face. I really am trying to finish things I have started and work through my stash because I am at max capacity. I am a bit overwhelmed and going crazy with all my WIPs. I can't remember if I mentioned it, but I put the binding on a quilt a week and a half ago... it felt wonderful to have the quilt done! (And even more wonderful to gift it to a very deserving friend) I need that feeling more often! Sawyer actually likes sitting in my lap and sewing, so sometimes I can get a bit done while he is up. Sometimes he starts pushing buttons, and that is when it is time to move on to another activity....

Sticks and String
Everything I have started is a PITA. Here is why.... I have one mitten of a pair finished (my squirrel mittens) but I wasn't overly happy with the puckering in the color work. I decided to block it before making a final decision on what to do, and blocking still didn't make me happy. It wasn't really puckering anymore, but I just was over it. I didn't want to knit the other mitten. I wanted different mittens. So, I am going to rip it out. I just finished knitting Josh's hat, which is great! BUT, it is too small. BLERG. I mentioned that the way the gage was listed was not normal, and made it hard to knit a swatch... so I skipped that part. I think I should have used thicker yarn and bigger needles, but oh well. Live and learn. I still have a beautiful hat that is finished.... other projects I have lingering.... the baby bundle blanket (that was supposed to be for Sawyer.....) needs about 10 million stitches picked up for the button band and then I will be finished... but that doesn't sound fun. I have a hat that I started, but it is double knitting, which I never really got the hang of, so I have to pay really close attention.... I also have a sweater for Sawyer that just needs sleeves. Probably should finish that. But they are knit flat and then seamed. Boo. I started a pair of handspun mittens yesterday during nap time, but it was clear early on they were going to be too small, so I ripped them out. Which is when I had a break down about having nothing to knit and all my knitting being crap. Maybe tomorrow I will start something new. And knit a gage swatch first. Who knows.

Until then, I hope everyone had a nice weekend. Please think sleepy thoughts for Sawyer, as he is teething like crazy and having the worst time sleeping. We all need a good night of rest....

Moose on the loose!

2012-01-11T20:52:00.001-09:00

Ramblings

Yesterday we had two moose in the front yard! I just love seeing moose. Although, I need to remember to check for them, as I don't really want to open my door to find one on the porch! With all the snow, they are probably having a bit of a harder time this winter than normal. I wonder if animals think about that stuff... do they all meet at some tree and complain about the weather?! I guess we will never know....

Mini-Me

Sawyer and I went to the zoo today. It was nice out (around freezing, so a nice change to the -10 we have been having) and we had a wonderful time. A lot of the animals were out. Sawyer loves to look at birds, and the tigers were cool, but his favorite animal today was the seal. One of the seals was "playing" with Sawyer. He would swim with us when we would walk back and forth. He would press up against the glass when we would stop. It was very fun. Sawyer was loving it. I can't wait to get the boots I ordered him so I can let him run around outside! His normal shoes just aren't warm enough for me to let him do that right now. I even splurged and ordered him some new mittens so he doesn't have to wear socks on his hands anymore.... this baby is moving up in the world!

In the Kitchen
Weston and I went out to dinner tonight (all by ourselves!) to Kinley's. We had never been, but had a gift certificate, and it was wonderful. We had a really nice time, the food was great, and they have a wonderful beer selection. The service was really good (and I don't even feel like that was because we knew our server :) ), it was a really nice night. Tomorrow I have another cooking class, about pasta and sauces. I'm looking forward to that as Sawyer loves to eat pasta.... so it will be nice to have a few more sauce recipes up my sleeve.

Alright, that is all that is going on here. Still knitting away on Josh's hat. Off to go work on that now. Somehow his birthday is sneaking up on me....

Adventures in the Bathroom

2012-01-06T19:57:00.000-09:00

Mini-Me

So I have been reading the book "Diaper-Free Before 3" and have decided to get Sawyer a potty chair. After spending two weeks basically naked in the house (due to a nasty rash after Thanksgiving) he is pretty aware of his bodily functions, so I have decided to take advantage of that. Hopefully. Today we practiced sitting on it. He kind of liked it... I sang wheels on the bus while he sat there, which he liked. I think this is going to take some practice. It will for sure be easier in the summer when I won't feel like he is going to freeze to death in only underwear in a shirt. He never seems to be bothered by his lack of clothing and often fights getting dressed, so maybe he is fine.... ?? I am going to attempt to sew him some little trainer undies.... more on that in the sewing section....

On Pins and Needles
Sewing Sawyer's undies is going to be my first adventure in sewing with knits. I have had some knit fabric sitting around for quite a while that I was going to make a hoodie for Sawyer with.... since that hasn't happened, my plan is to try and make training pants for him. He has started to not enjoy his bulky diapers, so my hope is that with the training pants and sitting him on the potty will be enough for being at home. I have a cute dalmatian print with firetrucks and a solid red to go with it... hopefully they will turn out ok!

Sticks and String
I have been knitting Josh's hat! I was a little worried about how it looked (the pattern doesn't give you a way to really knit a gage swatch... the gage is measured between cables... so I guess you can measure it only once you start your hat. Don't really care for that, but just decided to go with the needles it calls for and wing it)... I thought it was a little loose... then I re-read the pattern only to see the needles I was using was too big. Doh. At least I was only 5 rows into the cable pattern. So, I ripped back, and started over. I am now past that point and it is looking awesome.

Ramblings
In other random news, I bought a few new articles of clothing today. My parents gave me some money for Christmas to buy new clothes (I have t-shirts and one pair of jeans that fits) so I went to a local consignment shop today and picked up two fancy silk tank tops and a black cardigan type top that I can wear over them. I now have clothes that look nice to wear when we go out with friends, which is nice. Pretty excited about that!

Alright, first post with the new headings. Hope you like it. :D Have a great weekend....

Titles and Lists

2012-01-04T09:52:00.000-09:00

In an effort to find more things to blog about, keep myself organized, and be less stressed, I'm going to go with the podcast style blogging. Plus, now you can easily search for things that interest you. Like, if you read my blog only to hear about what I knit, just scan for the knitting title and BAM! read away....

Here are some titles to look for in the future...

Mini-Me: Stories about Sawyer.

In the Kitchen: What I've been cooking or eating. Hopefully with links to the recipes.

On Pins and Needles: Sewing stories

Sticks and String: Knitting (and maybe crochet...)

On my Soapbox: Ranting. Which I seem to be doing a lot lately.

Ramblings: Things that don't fit anywhere else

I'm not super attached to the kitchen title, so if you have a better suggestion, let me know! I hope this keeps me blogging more and keeps you reading what you enjoy!

Dinner Planning Week 1

2012-01-03T10:43:00.000-09:00

We went grocery shopping yesterday to get everything I needed for dinner all week. My hope is that if I can go to the store once a week, with a plan, that I will make fewer trips, and therefore spend less money. Dinner last night was a old favorite... stuffed peppers. Yum! Tonight we will have leftover goat roast and homemade mac and cheese....

Happy New Year!

2012-01-02T07:52:00.000-09:00

And another year is here... 2012... possibly the year the world ends.

I hope everyone had a nice holiday. We set off a few fireworks, which Sawyer did not care for (odd, as last year he loved them) and were in bed by 10. Sawyer slept all night (through the fireworks and crazy dogs) and decided to sleep in until 6:45! A great way to start the year.

Now that the new year is here, I can reveal my theme for 2012 (straight out of the Jasmin from the Knitmore Girls playbook).... Sally 2012 is going to be "selfish"... now hear me out. This isn't what it sounds like. When I think of myself being selfish, I think of using my time more wisely, so that I can be a happier, healthier person. I am going to stop overcommitting myself to things so I don't feel as stressed. I'm going to start what I finish (maybe....), again, to lower my stress levels. I'm going to ask for help and ask for what I need. I'm going to knit and sew things I want to knit and sew (which is often for other people anyway, so it is both selfish and selfless) and spend my time doing what I want to do.

I started yesterday by spending the whole day at home, in my pjs, with Sawyer. It was great. We napped, hung out, read books, stacked things. He stayed in his pjs too.... it was -7, we weren't going anywhere. Today I am going to go to the quilt store (alone) to get fabric to bind a quilt. I also plan on grocery shopping for the week after making a meal plan.

I hope everyone has a happy and healthy new year! And, check back to see how selfish I have been. :)

Blog much?

2011-12-29T20:36:00.000-09:00

Sorry about the crazy three post day I had a few days ago... I often will write multiple posts on one day and then schedule them to post throughout the week (secret is out). So I had already had one scheduled, then I got all fired up about the nursing thing, then I hit post when I meant to schedule the knitting post... crazy town.

Anyway. Just popping in to say that we went to Zoo Lights tonight. There are a lot of pictures on Sawyer's blog. It was a lot of fun, and if you are local, it is worth checking out.

Also, if you are local, the new class schedule is up for Quilt Tree! (Where I teach! Come learn knitting from ME!) There are a lot of great classes going on. Keep warm on these long, dark, cold nights.... :)

Knitting Everything

2011-12-27T20:24:00.000-09:00

A few knitting nuggets I am really excited about:

1. My first skein of Dream in Color yarn arrived in the mail today. It is for a hat for JB and I can not wait to see it knitted up. (For those who are super knit nerds, it is a skein of Classy in the Peacock Shadow color way, which is a deep blue and the pattern I will be using is Cabled Canuck)

2. I ordered the skein from the Loopy Ewe (excellent customer service, love them) and I am now a Loopy Groupie. Which means I spend far too much money on yarn. :) It also means I got an awesome sheep calendar in the mail from them. Worth it.

3. This post from the Yarn Harlot. These lines are perfect.

When you see a knitted object, don't see a hat, or a sweater, or a pair of socks. See twenty, forty, a hundred hours of your knitters life that they have decided that you, or someone else is worth. (How much time did you spend getting their present?) Understand that far from being a thrifty or lesser way of giving a gift, things that are handmade are the most expensive objects there are.

4. This skein of handspun that will become mittens (I think). I spun it wanting a big, poofy, gradient yarn and it is perfect....

5. I am off to write supply lists for my knitting classes this quarter. They are supposed to be in the shop at 10am tomorrow. Nothing like waiting until the last min.... which, I guess would really be tomorrow morning.... so go me for being ahead of the game.

Christmas Round Up

2011-12-27T13:02:00.000-09:00

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas! Since we do Christ-ma-kah (presents all week long, more about family than things...) we had only one gift left on Christmas day to open, plus our stockings... it was SO fun this year with Sawyer! He is such a fun little man. Christmas Eve we went out to Weston's sisters house for the day and then over to a friends house for a little get together. Sawyer was able to play with some older kids (2 and 4) which he loves to do and we had a nice evening. Then on Christmas, we went sledding with some friends and all the dogs, which was a blast. It has just been a nice family weekend.

I'm mom's baby elf

All bundled up for sledding.

Investigating our stockings.

Public Nursing Soapbox

2011-12-27T09:52:00.000-09:00

This is me on my soap box. You have been warned.

So, I learned about a nurse-in on Twitter this morning. I guess Target has been harassing customers who breast feed in their stores. Not cool, Target. Not cool. When I first searched for this story, I found others that took place in 2009 and 2006, so I guess this isn't the first case. Here is another story about this same incident.

Here are my issues with this....

Briefly I will say that 2 female employees came and verbally asked me to move. The 2nd one told me that Target employees had been told/trained to interrupt nursing and to redirect mothers to the fitting rooms. Even after I informed the 2nd employee of my legal right to nurse in public she still suggested me moving closer to the jean display, turning to face another direction, and also turn my basket a certain way which would have put me practically underneath the jean display and totally barricaded me in. Employee #2 even hinted in a threatening way 'you can get a ticket and be reported for indecent exposure.'"

Um, first off, BF is not "indecent exposure". When I BF my son, you can not see any more of my boob than you can see in a low cut shirt. I would even venture to say that you can see less than most women show off in what society deems "acceptable" clothing. Also if employees are being trained to "interrupt nursing mothers" that makes me want to interrupt your day with a punch in the face. Would anyone interrupt a person eating a bagel from Starbucks? If not, then leave my baby and me alone.

And when she called Target corporate to complain, Hickman says the representative she spoke to -- she didn't get a name -- said "just because it is a woman's right to nurse in public ... doesn't mean women should walk around 'flaunting it'".

What would it look like to "flaunt" BFing? What does that even mean? When I am BFing, I'm not shouting and causing a scene. I'm simply meeting the basic needs of my child. Oh, and while I'm on the subject, I don't use a nursing cover. You don't eat with a towel over your head, why should I expect my child to? And if it is my right to do something, I can do it.

I just don't get it. A woman should be praised for doing what is healthy for her baby, not harassed and made to feel uncomfortable. Alaska is one of the states that BFing in public is protected. The law basically says that BFing is allowed anywhere where a woman and child would normally be allowed. So, if you wouldn't kick me out of Target for shopping, you can't kick me out for BFing. I have luckily never had anyone say anything negative to me about BFing in public. One time, a mother came up and told me how great it was to see me BFing is public and that I was doing a great job. That made my whole week.

Alright, off my soapbox. Back to life. Where I gladly BF my child when and where he wants. Because that is how it should be.

Critters!

2011-12-26T13:02:00.000-09:00

Here are the latest knitted FO in my house. Well, they are actually on display at work, but they will be back at my house in a few months. I think I am going to knit four more fish and make a fishing game for Sawyer to play with in the summer. They were quick, and I have so much of the noro I used left..... The turtle was very fun as well. I was crazy though and used sock yarn held double and size 2 needles. I wanted to poke my eyes out (and almost did a few times with the needles) because it was so fiddly. But, the result was worth it. Too cute!

Knitmore Girls

2011-12-22T09:45:00.000-09:00

I listen to the Knitmore Girls podcast, which I love.... Jasmin (the daughter) is pregnant and she just got put on "modified bed rest" so listening to her talk about that is a little funny. When I was on bed rest, I listened to every episode of the Knitmore Girls podcast that I missed (which was a lot, I found them late in the game)... I joked that Baby would know their voices more than my own. Jasmin said she had this "romantic view of bed rest and this was not it". HA! Don't I know it. Everyone kept telling me, "Oh, I wish I was told to do nothing all day... that must be amazing!" REALLY?!? Try it. BE IN BED ALL DAY. Only get up to go to the bathroom. You can't shower, you can't get your own food, you can't go find a book, change the DVD in the DVD player, nothing. You literally can only get up to go to the bathroom and try to keep that to a minimum (but also stay hydrated...). I did that for two months. Trust me, not a fun time.

Anyway, things are plugging along here in the house. I have some sewing to finish up, hopefully before Sunday, but who knows. I have a plush train set that goes along with a quilt for Sawyer that I'm trying to finish. I hate sewing it though... it is a big pain. I'm also not sure how I'm going to hook all the train cars together, so those two factors are slowing me down. I did give Weston his present from me the other day (since we do Christ-ma-kah in the house, we open presents all week) which was a new iPhone case with Sawyer's picture on it. It is pretty amazing. When it came in the mail, I liked it so much I ordered myself one with a different picture.

I also finished up a group baby blanket for a friend on Ravelry. It turned out rather cute. I will post pictures after I know she has received it.... (taking it to the post office today)

My class samples still aren't done. (wah-wah) The turtle only needs eyes, and the halibut should be a quick-ish knit. Just need to start it. Geez. Why can't I just have a few days where time stops but somehow I am able to just KNIT. I guess I should get on that instead of talking about all the things I should be doing.... off to do that...

Let's Cook Alaska!

2011-12-19T09:02:00.000-09:00

As I have probably mentioned, I have been taking cooking classes here in town, at a place called Let's Cook Alaska. Today, they are featured on Groupon! You can get two classes for the cost of one, if you are a new student. And if you are a returning student, check out their website for the same deal! Today only! I'm very excited. I signed Weston up for the Sushi class and I'm taking a class called "All About Chicken". I might sign up for Mexican and Italian before the day is over.... I just love learning little tips and tricks about cooking.

How is it Friday?

2011-12-16T10:08:00.000-09:00

Oh, Friday. You are probably the most loved day of the week. (Well, my favorite day is Thursday, but I'm weird...) How did you get here so quickly?!

I gave my mom her messenger bag. She loved it. I loved it. She showed it off at work. I got a few messages saying others thought the bag was great! Made my day. You know what I forgot? PICTURES. Epic fail. Luckily, my mom lives close.... so when she gets back from her trip, I will try and remember to snap a few pictures of the awesomeness that is her new bag.

We had Weston's parents and sister over for dinner last night. That is always exciting. We decided not to exchange gifts with them, as we are all on a budget... Somehow, we still wound up with quite a few presents! I guess we were the only ones who took that suggestion seriously.... ooops. Sawyer received two new books and a Monty the Moose DVD (which I was super excited about, I used to watch those DVDs all the time growing up and have all the songs memorized...). He loves the books, and was interested in the DVD for about 15 mins, mostly he likes the songs... I scored some Smart Wool socks, a new scarf, and a cool holder for wine corks. Weston got a gorgeous framed painting of his favorite place in Alaska, McCarthy. All in all, it was a wonderful night.

We have a Christmas party to go to tomorrow night, and then it is time to RELAX! We have been so busy this week since everyone is leaving this weekend that I am tired.... I taught my last knitting class of the year on Wednesday, so I really have nothing left to do... (well, that's not true.... I still have a lot to do. But, I feel like I might actually have time to get them done now)

Alright, Sawyer is still sleeping (napping rather, don't think the kid ever has slept past 6:45 in his life) so I better get cracking on a few things.... enjoy the weekend!

Tuesday...

2011-12-13T10:02:00.000-09:00

I am wearing my new PJ pants (win) but they are apparently a magnet for dog hair. (lose)

I made Sawyer breakfast (oatmeal, and an egg white and cheese omelet, win) I dropped my plate and omelet on the floor (lose)

Sawyer and I wrapped presents today (win) You can see pictures on his blog (win)

I had my pie class last night and it was AWESOME! We made mini chicken pot pie and apple pie. YUM! I think I see many mini pies in my future. They are just so cute! And you can make them and freeze them for dinner in a pinch.... (WIN!)

Overall, the day is going great. Let's hope that trend continues. I was a little worried when I dropped my omelet... I kept thinking, "Tuesday, you are starting to look a lot like Monday. And no one likes Monday."

Alright, off to cut out some project bags for a friend and then errands with Sawyer.

Once A Year

2011-12-10T19:46:00.000-09:00

I never go to the mall. When I was a teenager, I probably spent every weekend there (and on the phone, both of which I hate now) but now, ugh. The thought of going gives me a headache. But, for some wild reason, I decided to go with a friend today. It was crazy. I came home with a headache.

But, I was able to spend a JCPenny gift certificate I've been carrying around for more than a year. I got myself some new pj pants, which made Weston extremely happy, since the ones I have now I've had since high school.... I know. I really hate shopping for clothes though.

I'm kicking around the idea in my head of having more of a blogging template, with headers for different topics. That way, people who read my blog only to hear about crafting, or cooking, or Sawyer, can quickly find what they want to read and skip the rest of the crap, I mean information.... HA! Plus, I think that will help me stay focused and be able to blog more often because I will know what to talk about. So be on the lookout for that.

I'm a few quick seams away from finishing my mom's Christmas present. It may be my favorite thing I have ever sewed. I'm seriously impressed with myself right now. Let's hope I don't screw it up....

Random things

2011-12-07T14:26:00.000-09:00

1. I am annoyed that I have to go to REI to get pieces for the bag I am sewing. Really, JoAnn's?? No slide rings? How I wish there were a small shop that carried everything I needed and was locally owned....

2. I have decided for today that cookie dough is acceptable for lunch (for me)...

3. Sawyer has a NASTY rash that I took him to the doctor for. I was worried it was yeast or something else bad, as it hasn't cleared up in almost 2 weeks. And he spends most of the time naked. Turns out, it's nothing. Just a bad rash. And Sawyer has super sensitive skin....

4. Sawyer loves to poop in his sleep (esp. naps) so that he can get up. I don't know how to change this behavior.

5. I have been watching Seinfeld again this week. Oh, man, how I love this show.

6. I should be creating a chart for my knitting class I'm teaching tonight. I hate computer work.

7. I am still knitting that little turtle. I'm almost done with the shell. I have a feeling it is going to be so cute it hurts...

8. I'm really going to go make that chart now.

Date Night

2011-12-06T09:42:00.000-09:00

My mom was nice enough to come over last night, watch Sawyer, and put him to bed so Weston and I could go to Bear's Tooth. We saw 50/50, which I had wanted to see since I saw the first preview (I love Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogan) and it did not disappoint. It was really good. I can't say too much without spoiling it, but I just loved it. It was sad, but great. Plus, since it was at Bear's Tooth, we were able to see the movie, eat dinner, and have drinks for less than $30. Deal!

In other news, I am getting our Christmas cards out. It is a lot of work for me to address everything and get it all put together, but I am almost done and I will be happy to put them all in the mailbox!

I am working on sewing for a present (so no pics/details) and I'm knitting my samples for classes next quarter. I'm knitting a sea turtle toy. It is very cute, but very small, which is my own fault (I wanted to use sock yarn)... I was planning on teaching more classes, but I think Weston is heading back to school, so we don't want to spend half the week apart.

Alright, back to crafting. Sawyer is napping and I need to take advantage of the free time.

My poor neglected blog....

2011-12-04T12:02:00.000-09:00

As I was searching for a previous post where I wrote about some knitting bags I made, I realized I have not blogged that much this year. Sad. Last year I posted 112 times, this year I'm only at 89. And with so few days left in the year (How is it already DECEMBER FOURTH!??!?), I'm sad to say, I don't think I can make it to that number. 2009 was a stellar blogging year for me with 169 posts! So why am I so absent this year??

I'm blaming him. As busy as I am, I never feel like I have anything to talk about. Sawyer and I do pretty much the same thing every week and that seems boring and uninteresting to blog about. But, I will try to come up with something. After all, I had one new year's resolution this past year, and I achieved it.... my goal was set pretty low.... to get dressed every day. (Having spent a fair amount of time the previous year in pjs due to being on bed rest, I figured it was a noble goal) So maybe this year will be to talk about the little things and realize I do have interesting stories.... in other news, I'm going to go put on some pants.

New Yarns

2011-12-02T09:10:00.000-09:00

For some reason, I have been spinning up a storm lately. Here are my two new yarns....

336 yards, 10 wpi

86 yards 6 wpi

I now have to focus on some other projects... I have some things I want to sew, and since all the parents are leaving for Christmas, I'm on a tighter deadline than normal. So, off to start cutting....

Zzzzzz......

2011-11-27T20:06:00.000-09:00

So, I think I mentioned that we were doing sleep training with Sawyer again. We had a couple of rough nights, and about a week of rough days with figuring out naps, but WOW, what a difference I have seen in my son! After reading about a billion books on sleep (ok, not a billion, but I would say that I probably did read between 15-20) I found one that worked and I loved. The Sleepeasy Solution is what we used, and it worked for us. I think we timed it just right for Sawyer, and he is now a sleeping CHAMPION. He goes to bed between 7-7:30 at night and stays in his crib until 6:15-6:30 in the morning. He does not nurse to sleep for naps or night time, which is a HUGE step for him. He has been taking two naps (morning nap has been 2.5 hrs! afternoon nap 1.5) and he is a whole new baby. Happy ALL the time. He has been walking everywhere. I think talking is just around the corner. He has been eating so much better. And, I really think it all is due to the fact that he is getting enough sleep. Now that we are all getting enough sleep, being a mom is fun again. I look forward to Sawyer getting up and playing with me. It's amazing.

So, what made this book so different? A few things. First off, it had worksheets to fill out. I was diligent and did every one (there were only about 4, but still, I didn't skip a step). It also told you step-by-step how to get your child to sleep. Other books make suggestions or give you ideas to try, I feel like this had actual directions. It told you what to look for if you are having trouble (is your child teething? separation anxiety? etc.) and broke down each problem by age group. It was great to see what problems Sawyer will be facing later and how I can help him cope. It also told me what to look for with teething. Every sleep book I read said not to start training if your child is sick or teething. Well, great. But, how do I know if his fussiness is due to teething or just lack of sleep? This book helped me figure out the difference. Also, this book had a chapter to read for when the sleep training was tough (ie. your child is crying). While I didn't read that when I was up at night, I did read it multiple times before I started the training with Sawyer and really appreciated it.

Honestly, I am probably going to take all my other sleep books to the used book store and only leave this one on the shelf. It goes through age 5, so I feel like it will continue to be useful should any problems arise.

I am just so proud of my little boy.... and myself, for sticking with things even when they were tough. While I do miss my morning baby cuddles, I am now teaching Sawyer to give kisses and hugs, so that is fun and cute. Better sleep for everyone is worth it!

Black Friday

2011-11-25T11:11:00.000-09:00

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We went to dinner at both my parents and Weston's parents houses, so it was a busy day.... Sawyer was very well behaved and ate a lot of food! It was fun.

Today we decided to do a bit of shopping... We went to Fred Meyer and I bought myself some wool socks, and we got Sawyer a duplo set and Santa pjs. (I really wanted to get him a Santa suit, but apparently if you are over 9 months old, they don't make cute holiday clothes for you...)

We also went to Lowe's and got Weston a few tools, which are on crazy sale today. He is hoping to build me a sewing table and Sawyer a nice bookshelf for his toys. He is pretty handy, so I'm excited to see what he comes up with!

So, we got some good deals on things we needed.... that is always a good thing. Now off to get lunch and enjoy the rest of our snowy Friday!

Destash!!

2011-11-22T09:16:00.000-09:00

What?!? Two posts in one day. Unheard of. Anyway, as I mentioned before (maybe... ) we are doing a deep clean of our house. There is a huge pile of things by the door that will be making its way to goodwill soon, and I have been going through my craft corner. There are a few quilts that I have started that I will not finish, and I'm looking to pass them on to someone who might want them. Even if you don't want to make the quilt I started, they include quite a bit of fabric... let me know if you are interested! I will probably also have some yarn soon as well....

All fabrics come from quality quilt stores (no chains). If you see something you like, but don't like the price, make me an offer. I would really just like to see these go to homes where they can get used. You can leave a message here, or email me through the blog (click on view my profile, then contact me). Thanks!

Stitch and Split Applique quilt. (Applique is not my thing....) This includes the book (24.95 cover price) and fabric to make the top that is the heart quilt. There are 5+ finished blocks, and many hearts cut out for other blocks. $40 including shipping.

Seeing Stars: Includes the book (24.95 cover price), and the fabric to make (most of) the cover quilt. I was making this quilt in all batiks. There is quite a bit of fabric here. I have the center of the quilt done, which would make a nice table topper if you didn't want to finish the whole quilt. $40 including shipping.

Twinkle quilt: Includes the pattern (10.99 cover price), three finished blocks, all of the center squares and star points cut out, and many half finished blocks. My plan was to use my scraps to finish this quilt, then I got rid of all of my scraps! $10 including shipping.

Cloth

2011-11-22T07:32:00.000-09:00

As you know if you read my blog often, Sawyer wears cloth diapers. He has a stash mostly made up of Rumparooz and a few Bum Genius diapers. I love them. I know the people will look at the cost of one diaper ($23.50) and gasp. How could I spend so much on diapers. Well, I don't. First off, cloth diapers are an investment. Sure, I had to drop around $400 to get all of my diapers, but since then I have spent $0 on diapers. And, if I care for my diapers properly, they will easily last through multiple children. They also have re-sale value. (I bought some of Sawyer's diapers used to save $)

When we were at Costco, I was doing some math and realized that depending on how many diapers you went through, you would spend about $400 on diapers in one year! And, I don't know many 1-year-olds that are potty trained. Which means, I am saving money.

People will also claim that I'm not really saving money because I have to do more laundry, making my water and electric bill go up. Well, in Anchorage, I pay the same for my water no matter how much I use, and I have a HE machine, so it costs very little to run. We have not seen any change in our bills due to washing diapers. Even if I did pay more for that, I wouldn't care. For me, it is still a better choice. Sawyer looks so cute in his CD bum. And, he has some extra padding when he falls! Plus, like I mentioned before, they are an investment.

I was reminded of another reason I love my CDs yesterday. We went to a friend's house who has a son that is three weeks older than Sawyer. When we walked into the baby's room we were hit by a distinct smell..... dirty diapers. It was a little gross. Sawyer's room doesn't smell. And, on the rare occasion that it does, it doesn't smell like that.... just like baby pee.

Anyway, just a quick post to remind people that I love CDing, it is easy, and people should look into it. Happy Tuesday!

Ups and Downs

2011-11-21T10:32:00.000-09:00

Sawyer has been doing ok at night. Naps are a whole other story... typical of him. But, I don't really want to talk about sleep.... I feel like all I do is talk about sleep. I once joked with Weston that we would have nothing to talk about if Sawyer started sleeping.

Here are some more positive things going on:

*It is 0F outside. Much better than the -8 it has been lately. I would prefer it to be 15 and snowing, but I will take what I can get.

*My wintertime shower curtain has finally gotten hung up. Halloween decorations are packed away

*We cleaned out the kitchen last night. We got rid of things we don't use or eat, so now we have a workable kitchen not filled with junk.

*We bought Sawyer a long underwear suit at REI yesterday to wear to bed. It is adorable on him, and now I feel like he is warm enough at night.

Alright, Sawyer is up from his nap. Off to go play with my little baby.

New header

2011-11-19T20:04:00.000-09:00

Every now and again I get a wild hair and decide to change the header. Tonight Weston mentioned the font in my blog description was hard to read.... so, new picture, new font color, and TA DA! All pretty. The knitting is a shawl I knit (my first lace) that was intended to be used as a nursing cover. Once having my child, I threw decency out the window, and never covered him or myself up.... so this pretty lace shawl has been unused. Sad. I should dig it out and wear it like a scarf.

Tonight is night one of sleep training for little Sawyer. He has reverted back to his old ways, and is sleeping with me again. Which is as much my fault as his. So, this will be a tough week for me. I always struggle with having him sleep alone. I love sleeping with him (minus the hair pulling and occasional face poking) but I don't think either of us gets the sleep we need when we are together. Hopefully things go better than I expect them to and we are a well rested family by Wednesday!

I went to a friend's baby shower today! It was so fun. I had some nice conversations with other moms (turns out Sawyer isn't the only non-sleeping baby in AK) and enjoyed some yummy finger foods. It was a really nice afternoon. I'm lucky to have such sweet and caring friends.....

Alright, off to go eat something and maybe head to bed. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Organize my life

2011-11-18T09:22:00.000-09:00

Maybe I should hire someone to do it for me.... If anyone watches Parks and Rec, my house isn't as bad as Leslie Knopes, but my craft "area" is... I do need professional help.

Weston and I have decided to do a full overhaul of the entire house. We have too much stuff, we don't know where it all is, and it drives us both nuts. (Him more than me, but when I lose stuff, I lose my mind very quickly and hate that I let the house get so crazy) We started last Sunday with the TV cabinet and Sawyer's toy box. Took about 30 mins, but that corner looks way better! I went through Sawyer's toys and put them into three categories: things he plays with every day, things he has never played with, and things he kind of plays with. The ones he plays with every day stayed in the living room toy box. The toys he has never played with made it into a donation bag (which made them very appealing to him) and the ones he kind of plays with got put away into his room. Some of those toys he just isn't quite ready to play with yet. I also rotated his books so he had some new ones to read out in the living room. My goal is to rotate all the books and toys twice a month so that he has new things to explore. And, he has enough toys that I think I can do this without buying anything. (Especially with Christmas coming, which means even more toys)

The cleaning was derailed by me being sick, but hopefully this weekend we will get back to it. (And, yes, I am feeling much better. Tuesday Weston took a half day off and my mom came and helped in the afternoon, so I was able to sleep/rest all day. That did the trick) I'm thinking of putting everything in my craft space that doesn't have a home into a pile and if I can't find a good place for it, it has to go. I'm just so overwhelmed at the amount of things and projects and lack of space. I never feel like doing anything because I walk in there and just feel exhausted. So, I would like my area to be a place where I can get things done.

And, yes, most people clean in the spring.... but, I find I am constantly cleaning. I have bad habits that I have yet to break.... plus, when it is -3 outside, I want to bundle up, stay inside, and be productive. So there it is. My goal. A clean house. Go.

Craft Fair and Recovery

2011-11-14T13:56:00.000-09:00

I had a booth at a craft fair on Saturday, with a friend, and it was a lot of fun! I didn't sell a ton of stuff, but I made a little bit of $$ (enough to buy Sawyer a cool wooden truck at the next craft fair and maybe take another cooking class). More importantly, I had fun.

Last night I came down with some sort of stomach bug, so I am desperately trying to recover quickly from that. Being a mom of a very active child, I do not have the time to be sick. Sawyer has been surprisingly accommodating though, even took a 2.5 hour nap today! Which means tomorrow will probably be a no nap day.... meaning I really need to get better!

Alright, off to rest and play catch on the couch.

Reflections and being thankful

2011-11-10T08:43:00.000-09:00

A lot of bloggers are blogging every day of the month.... clearly, I won't be doing that. I am just too busy right now to take the time to write every day. Something I can do is tell you what I am thankful for. Some bloggers are doing that every day, so I will write down ten things I am thankful for.

1. My family. I am very thankful that both my family and Weston's family lives so close and helps us out so much. I think I would have had a much tougher year without their love and support.

2. My husband. He is amazing. He puts up with my craziness, supports me, and surprises me. I couldn't ask for a better partner.

3. My son. As crazy as he makes me, he is amazing. Right now he is pulling every book out of his toy box, flipping through it, and then tossing it to the side. Too funny, that kid....

4. My dogs. I am very thankful to have two crazy dogs. They also drive me nuts, but it is nice to have someone always excited to see me come home (Sawyer normally bursts into tears when I come home....)

5. Being able to stay home. I am very thankful that I am able to be a stay-at-home mom. Even on days where I want to pull my hair out, I know that it is a choice I will never regret.

6. The snow!!! It is shaping up to be a wonderful winter. I am watching the snow fall right now and I am so excited!

7. The rec center. I am very thankful for all of the activities the rec center puts on. If it were not for Toddle Time twice a week, I may be a bit crazy! It is nice for Sawyer to get to play with other kiddos and I get to talk to other moms....

8. Knitting. I am thankful that I have the time and means to knit. It helps calm me down and allows me to make things for people that I love.

9. My house. I love my house. We are very lucky to be able to own our own home and love it.

10. Moose. I love seeing moose in the neighborhood. Sadly, they didn't eat our pumpkins this year....

Alrighty. Sawyer is now sitting in my lap banging my oatmeal bowl on the table.... So I guess that means it is time to play. I hope everyone is enjoying the snow and staying safe!

Cooking

2011-11-02T10:52:00.000-08:00

I have been cooking a lot lately. I took a cooking class last month about how to cook chinese food and learn to make sweet and sour chicken and beef broccoli... both were quick and easy! I couldn't believe it. That kind of spurred me to look into cooking more things from scratch and I have been loving it. I have enjoyed cooking for a while, but I get stuck in ruts and tend to cook the same few meals. I am taking another cooking class tomorrow about casseroles, and I can't wait to see what I learn. I am really interested in meals that I can make in large portions and freeze part of them for later. That way, on nights that I have to teach, I can still "cook" and have dinner with Weston and Sawyer, without the stress of actually having to cook and eat and get things together. (While I do enjoy cooking, sometimes cooking with a toddler in the kitchen is a bit stressful. He has realized it is fun to hang on and almost open the stove and open even the high drawers in the kitchen now, so he is dangerous!)

A few websites I really enjoy for recipes and such are allrecipes.com and foodgawker.com.

For Sawyer's birthday, I made quite a few things from scratch. I made marinara sauce for the dog bone breadsticks, onion dip, taco dip, and cookies. (I linked to the recipes I got online, the others were my own) All were a hit, and were gobbled up. In total, I spent probably 2 hours cooking, and most of that time was on the cookies! The dips and sauces took probably 30 mins total. Delicious, quick, and easy. My favorite things with cooking!

Another favorite meal recently is spinach lasagna roll-ups. These are a favorite of everyone in the house, especially Sawyer. I never have frozen spinach (it never really occurred to me that they made frozen spinach until I started reading more recipes....) so I just cook down a bunch in the skillet before I start. It might not be the "right" amount, but it works! I love spinach... I can get it at Costco (and it is organic), it is inexpensive, and very good for you. Again, three things I love when cooking!

I will try to blog about more things that I make as it happens.... I love hearing what others are having for dinner!

Winter is coming...

2011-10-28T10:11:00.000-08:00

The snow is sneaking down the mountains. The yard is frozen when we get up (and for a good portion of the day). I am actually wearing a coat to go outside. I had to scrape my windows yesterday (and my new 4-runner has far more windows than my old little truck!).Winter is on its way. I'm quickly realizing that I don't have appropriate clothing for Sawyer yet... he has a snow suit (which he has almost already grown out of....) and a lot of light weight coats, but no heavy winter jacket to wear when we run errands or go for short trips where wearing his snow suit would be silly. So, hopefully I will be able to find something at Kid 2 Kid this weekend that will fill that gap in his wardrobe. He also needs mittens.... have to keep those baby hands warm!

I'm also in the process of knitting a hat for a friend. He asked me to knit him a simple alpaca hat, so I did the math the other night and I'm ready to cast on. It should be a quick knit...

I started the first of three bears for Sawyer, but I'm not happy with it. I think I might try and go down one more needle size and see if that looks better. I also messed up the pattern (thanks to trying to knit in the car with an upset baby) so I have to start over anyway. Blah. Not sure if I'm going to get all three done by Christmas, but that is the goal.... (in case I didn't mention it, I'm knitting the three AK bears, a big white one, medium brown one, and small black one)

Other than that, I've just been sewing and getting things ready for a craft fair I'm vending at next month. I will post some pictures of what I plan to sell as the day gets closer. I am hoping to come up with some fun things... I have lots of ideas brewing! Of course, it is on the 12th of November, so it is coming up quick! I have quite a few things already ready, that just need tags, but I still want to get a lot done. Now, with Sawyer's party out of the way, I'm focusing all of my energy on that.

No big plans for the weekend. Weston is heading up to the cabin tonight, so it will just be Sawyer and I. We are planning on going to the Fall Carnival at the rec center on Saturday... hopefully Weston will be home in time to go with us. If not, I'm sure we will run into friends from Toddle Time, which will be fun! Between that and preparing for the craft fair, we will stay busy!

I hope everyone enjoys their weekend and stays warm!

Party Pictures

2011-10-23T21:13:00.000-08:00

Sawyer's birthday party was on Saturday and it was a blast. I think everyone (including Sawyer) had a great time. I was really happy that all the time I had spent on the party paid off... everything (minus the cake pops) turned out exactly as I had envisioned it. (The cake pops were still delicious, despite them not being decorated like dogs. The multiple ways I attempted to decorate them just did not pan out...)

Here are a few pictures of the decorations. More pictures on are my Flickr photo stream, and on Sawyer's blog. I made the flags out of fabric and bias tape (they will be saved for future parties!), the happy birthday sign out of paper and ribbon, and I hung 8x10 pictures of Sawyer growing up down the hallway. I also had cut out and assembled paw prints to hang around the house to incorporate the dog theme.

Birthday

2011-10-20T09:46:00.000-08:00

My little boy is one. A whole year. 365 days since I brought him home. Which is crazy. I feel like just yesterday I was still pregnant and terrified of giving birth. And then I was eating Moose's Tooth and told it was time to go have a baby. And now he is a year old. He is napping right now, and I am frantically making cake pops, paw prints cutouts, onion dip, etc... for his party of Saturday. And, yes, I know he won't understand it's his birthday and that the party is really for me... but I'm excited. We've lasted a year. If I can make it through the first one, the rest are going to be a piece of cake... right?!?

First picture at home. I knitted his outfit and made that quilt. :)

Being crazy yesterday. I made that baby...

Postcardly!

2011-10-17T10:44:00.000-08:00

I love mail. I love mailing things. Sometimes Weston jokes that I could single-handedly keep the USPS in business. (I actually have 12 envelopes that I have to take to the PO today to mail... they are not regular letters, so I have to make a trip) I love having a blog for Sawyer, but I also know that people enjoy having pictures for their fridge. I have been pretty good about sending pictures for holidays, but I wanted a way to do send them on a more regular basis.

Then I found out about Postcardly. This is a service where you can send an email to someone (using the email address they have set up for you...) with an attached picture and they turn it into a postcard and mail it! It is pretty cool. It is great for people who don't use the computer, and it is a quick and easy way for me to get something in the mail! I don't have to leave the house. :)

Anyway, I wanted to let other people know about it, as I think it is pretty sweet and have used it quite a bit.

I hope everyone had a great weekend! It is rainy and BLAH here. Hopefully it gets sunny or snows soon....

Massage....

2011-10-14T08:55:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Weston came home at 12:30 so that I could take a half-day off from my job as a mom. Which was much needed. Wednesday night was rough... Sawyer basically spent the entire night climbing on me and crying because he doesn't feel well (his nose is stuffy) and he is still teething (I think, he won't let me look in his mouth) PLUS he is getting ready to walk. The perfect storm.

The first thing I did was run to JoAnn's and sign up for a cake decorating class. I've been wanting to do that for a while, and the dates (in December) worked out with my schedule, so I went for it. I also picked up a few things to finish up stuff for Sawyer's party.... then it was off to my massage. I had never had a massage before. Weston had given me a gift certificate for one for Christmas, and I just got around to using it! It was SO worth it! I loved it. I wish I could do that every month. (But, at $80+tip, it is a bit out of my price range!) So relaxing and a nice break....

After that I took myself to lunch and just enjoyed some time alone. It was nice to eat a meal and not have to pick anything up off the floor or have to listen to banging utensils, etc.... There was a baby there that was a bit younger than Sawyer, and seeing her made me miss him... so I headed home.

So I enjoyed my mom break. I am going to try and take more time for myself, even if it doesn't include a massage... I find that I am much happier to spend time with Sawyer if I get a break. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Kids Sewing Challenge

2011-10-06T09:32:00.000-08:00

I'm thinking about participating in the Kids Clothes Sewing Challenge next week... the challenge is to spend one hour a day for 7 days sewing/crafting for kids. I have plenty to work on, so I think if I can get my act together and make a list of things I would like to finish, I could get quite a bit done. For more details on the KCSC go here...

Not much else to report. I finished Sawyer's dog toy for his birthday. It is stashed away until the 20th when I'm sure he will open it, throw it on the floor, and move on with his day. :) I enjoyed knitting it, and I used my handspun, and I am really happy with the results.

The pattern is a cheezombie pattern, and all of the patterns are SO cute! I have far too many of them... the whale, clam, turtle, mushroom, veggies, etc. etc. If you are in her Rav group (rav link) she often has 50% off sales, so that is awesome! The patterns are easy to read, quick to complete, and fun! There was NO sewing on this dog. Everything is picked up and worked directly onto the dog's body. Great construction. She is also starting to create crochet patterns of her animals so everyone can join in on the fun.

Alright, off to try and clean up my sewing corner and think about what to sew next week!

Snow and silliness....

2011-09-30T10:16:00.000-08:00

TERMINATION DUST!!! (The term we use to describe the first snowfall on the mountains) IT'S HERE!!!! And, it doesn't look like it will be going anywhere. It is about half way down the mountains. And gorgeous.

And, silly me. Thinking I was going to knit those mittens. After reading the pattern, I realized I only had a little more than half of the required yarn. Ugh. It would help to read things. So, the yarn might become some fingerless mitts... haven't decided quite yet. I'm a bit bummed, as I was so excited.

Weston is going out goat hunting again this weekend... I hope he gets a goat and makes it home safely! Sawyer has two birthday parties to attend, and I'm hoping to squeeze in a craft fair as well. So, busy weekend here! And, if there is time, I really want to plant some tulip bulbs in the front garden. I have been cleaning it up the past couple of afternoons, so if I can make it to the nursery on Sunday, I should be able to get them planted and ready to go!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Selfish Knitting

2011-09-28T11:16:00.000-08:00

I don't typically knit (or craft much, of that matter) for myself. But, right now, I am feeling the need to some nice, handspun, handknit mittens. And, yes, I have one almost finished, beautiful colorwork mitten... but those aren't what I want right now. I'm going to knit the spun sugar mittens (Rav link) out of some handspun that was gifted to me in a swap when I was pregnant. I knew when I received the skein in the mail that I would make these mittens. So, now, a year later.... I'm going to cast them on. I feel like I have earned it after all the crafting I have been doing for Sawyer and his birthday (his sweater, his dog toy, handmade invitations, handmade photo cards, etc...).

As soon as he wakes up, I'll print out the pattern and then wait until next nap to cast on.... mittens... you will be mine.....

Other people's children

2011-09-26T14:47:00.000-08:00

Sawyer woke up from morning nap just in time for us to rush to music time at the zoo. We were about 10 mins late, but it was still a lot of fun. Sawyer loves music and he thought it was fun to play with the musical instruments and clap with the music. Everyone was having a good time until....

Sawyer wanted to play with the drums.

Another little boy (probably around 4) was playing with the drums. Including drum sticks. I just stood back and watched, as kids that old are normally really good with Sawyer. They might not want to share, but they are nice. This little boy decided that Sawyer shouldn't touch the drums and hit his hands with the drumsticks until Sawyer moved them. Which was a little bit, because Sawyer can't always stand on his own. So he until he fell down crying. I rushed over to him and picked him up and calmed him down. But, being the determined child he is, he still wanted to play with the drum. This time, I watched the other boy. When he started to go at Sawyer with the sticks, I grabbed them and told him gently that you can't hit Sawyer with the sticks, that isn't very nice. I had to constantly redirect this child from hitting Sawyer, and other children, with the drumsticks. I was hoping the parent of this child would come over and intervene, but that never happened. It was very frustrating and disappointing.

I am fairly forgiving of kids at playgroups. I know that kids (especially around Sawyer's age) don't always know about personal space, or sharing, or not poking other kids, etc. BUT, I do try to stop Sawyer from hitting and poking as much as possible. I don't normally tell other kids what to do, but this was a safety issue. He really hurt Sawyer and he could have easily really hurt another child. All I can do at playgroups is help Sawyer learn how to deal with different situations, and show him how to act properly.

In other, happier, news.... I am knitting Sawyer a dog toy for his birthday. It is almost done. Just needs some eyes. He also received his very first birthday present in the mail today.... pictures on his blog soon.... I have also cut out all of the flags for his birthday decorations. Now to sew them onto the bias tape (which I think I will need more of) and see if I want to make more of them. I also have to get pictures of Sawyer printed for another banner I have planned. His birthday is going to be crazy.

A small weather update. It has been an amazing fall here. GORGEOUS. The leaves are all yellow.... the temperature has been cooler.... but it has been bright and sunny. I've been loving it. This morning, it was winter. It was 28*F when we took the pups out this morning. Sawyer was bundled up in his snow suit, a knit hat, and his snuggle thing in his stroller... he stayed nice and warm! (And is now well seen, thanks to my dad and his ever-growing collection of lights) I love the winter. I'm excited for snow. But that is all I'm going to say, because I know that by even writing that, many people are cursing my name. (But, seriously, if you don't like winter... you probably live in the wrong place)

Alright, off to finish a few things before he wakes up from his nap.

Dinosaur Sweater!

2011-09-21T12:53:00.001-08:00

Sawyer's sweater is finished. Pictures soon. I promise. But, I just wanted to post that it was done, because I was SO excited to finish it. It is pretty awesome....

Pictures sooner than I expected! I'll try to get one of the sweater off of him, so you can really see it... but these are cuter!

It's Fall

2011-09-19T10:59:00.000-08:00

It is fall here in Alaska. The weather is cooler, the leaves are changing, there is less sunlight.... ahhh... Fall. I love this season. Here are some pictures I snapped the other day on our way to the museum. We went to see the Mammoths and Mastodons exhibit. It was very fun. We went to the Imaganarium first, so Sawyer could play (pictures of that on his blog) and then we all went and explored the special traveling exhibit. It was very well done, and I learned quite a bit. A great fall afternoon.

Productivity!

2011-09-14T13:23:00.000-08:00

I've been getting quite a bit done lately. Sawyer's sweater only needs 1/2 a sleeve! I have finished a pair of mittens out of an old sweater (pictures soon). I have also finished quite a few sewing projects that are gifts... here is a picture round up of all those!

Moose in the Garden!

2011-09-12T10:40:00.000-08:00

Just last week I commented to Weston that I was surprised that the moose hadn't eaten my garden yet... it seems to happen every fall. Then last night, it happened.....

I don't mind it. I like seeing moose in the neighborhood... and it means less clean-up for me in the coming weeks! And my brussel sprouts weren't growing anyway, so I'm excited that someone got to enjoy them.

I also finished spinning this yarn... I love it! It is almost 300 yards of light worsted weight yarn.

Sawyer's sweater only needs one more sleeve. I tried it on him last night and it was SO cute! I hope he enjoys wearing it.... luckily he can't take his clothes off (yet) so he won't have much of a choice. I have also sewed him some dog pants to wear to his party. Pictures of those soon!

Hunting, teeth, and my sanity

2011-09-06T09:37:00.000-08:00

Weston leaves to go goat hunting tomorrow morning. If he doesn't get a goat, he won't be back home until Sunday night. Which is a long time.... 4 long nights by myself. Best case scenario, he gets a goat right away and comes home. :) I really hope he gets a goat on this trip, because if he doesn't, he will be heading out every weekend until his tag is expired to try. I would also like some meat for the winter.... and a sweet new rug.... I'm really hoping to have good nights while he is gone, but it is going to be tough....

Sawyer is teething. He has two bottom teeth (they have poked through, but still aren't all the way in) and those apparently were easy. He had one bad night with each of them, and no other issues. I don't know which tooth is coming in now (he won't let me mess with his mouth) but last night was bad night #3. And naps have been getting worse. I know his mouth is bothering him because he doesn't even open his eyes or lift his head to fuss, he just lays there and chews on his hand and cries miserably. It is sad. I feel for him. I've been trying different things to help him, but nothing has seemed to do much yet. Hopefully he gets better soon. This morning, he did nothing but cry for the first 1.5 hours he was awake. Which brings me to my past point.... my sanity.....

Sometimes I think being a mom drives you insane. I don't understand how I can love Sawyer so much but also be so annoyed by him. Granted, today he doesn't feel well, so I'm not bothered too much by his fussiness. But on days that he is grumpy for no apparent reason, I get grumpy. I think all the crazy hormones and emotions that you go through being a parent also trigger something in your brain that makes you crazy. I wonder if science has looked into this.... so when you think about how crazy your parents are, just remember, you probably made them that way.....

State Fair!

2011-08-29T20:47:00.001-08:00

I love the fair. LOVE. Weston says that I have a strange affinity for the state fair... which is true. I look forward to it every year... as soon as the snow starts melting, I get excited for the end of summer and the FAIR!!

When I found out I was pregnant, I was excited to take my baby to the fair. And this year, I was able to do that! We went as a family on Friday, because it was kids day. I really wanted Sawyer to be in the diaper derby.... He decided to wait until the race was over to crawl, but it was still fun!

Sawyer loved walking around (he was in the backpack the whole time, strollers at busy events are not my cup of tea) and looking at everything. Especially the animals.

For a video of Sawyer in the diaper derby, and his take on the State Fair, check out his blog.

Quick run down.... Sawyer's sweater just needs sleeves, and I picked up the needles to finish it on Saturday. Of course, I've been spinning like crazy (who knows why... just what I feel like doing) so that has been hanging out on the counter teasing me. I haven't sewn anything lately. Although I have a lot to sew... I need to cut out patterns and fabric.... which is my least favorite thing to do. Maybe during morning nap time tomorrow.

Sawyer has decided to give up afternoon nap. I can't remember the last time he took one... I know he hasn't done taken one in his crib since Thursday. We will see if tomorrow goes better. I don't mind him not sleeping if he is in a good mood, but when he gets cranky, I get SUPER cranky.

Alright, off to spin more and then head to bed. Have a great week!

Baby, you're a star!

2011-08-24T14:53:00.000-08:00

Sawyer had a photo shoot today.... and not with me. My MIL has a friend who has a friend (confused yet?) who is part of a production company. Anyway, they needed shots of a baby boy for a baby book of expressions. So, Sawyer was supposed to be super happy, asleep, and upset. He had one expression for the entire photo shoot.... "uninterested".... so, I don't think that he will be in the book.

OH WELL!

You are still a star to me, Sawyer.

In other news, my books from Amazon came today!!! I'm SO excited to try and make some cake pops... I kind of want to make ALL of them. There are sheep, Easter eggs, bunnies, cows, ghosts, turkeys, owls, snowmen.... and the list goes on! I just love them. I might run to the store tomorrow to try and get the supplies to try some out. If they are yummy, expect to find plenty of them in my house....

I am still knitting. I just have the ribbing on the birthday sweater, then it is on to the sleeves. I have also finished one washcloth for a swap I am in... I'm going to try and knit a hat for the swap too... just have to find the pattern I want to use... it's for a little girl (the swap is in my mommy group on Rav, all babies were due in Oct 2010)! I'm so excited to knit/sew for a little girl! So fun. :)

And spinning.... I finished one skein of yarn the other night. It is drying and then I will take some glamour shots of it. I'm really happy with the way it turned out.

And crafting.... I have started working on Sawyer's birthday invites. I am planning on sending something special to the family members, which I have made a mock up of and plan on assembling soon. I also hope to make a mock up of the invites for everyone else soon so that I can get started on those. Hopefully by doing a little bit every day I will have them done in no time!

Alright, Sawyer is napping, I guess I should be productive....

Dog Birthday

2011-08-18T07:59:00.000-08:00

So I have been planning Sawyer's birthday.... yes, it is still 2 months away, but that isn't that long and I have a lot to do!! I have been looking up ideas online and found these cake pops that I am very excited about! I have also thought about getting a big box and decorating it to look like a dog house. Sawyer can play in it, and it will also become a place where we can put all the gifts. I'm also planning on serving food in dog dishes, making dog bone shaped cookies, and a giant dog paw cake.

All this dog planning has made me rethink his birthday sweater. I feel like it should be a dog sweater! Who knows. Obviously, I am going to finish this one, as I am almost done with the body and just have the sleeves left.... but.... maybe.... I might knit a dog one too. Crazy. I am for SURE going to knit him a dog toy. I have a pattern that should be quick and easy.

In other news, Sawyer and I went to story time at the zoo yesterday! We bought our zoo pass, which means we can go whenever we want (awesome) and his grandparents can take him for free as well (double awesome). My friend and her two boys came, everyone was well behaved, and we had a great time! The stories were about wolves and then we got to go see the wolves and listen to the zookeeper tell us all about them. Sawyer really enjoyed it. Mondays at the zoo are music and Wednesdays are story time, so I have a feeling we are going to be spending a lot of time there!

Alrighty, off to enjoy some quiet time while Sawyer is napping....

Books!

2011-08-17T13:14:00.000-08:00

I have a lot of books coming my way.... I got a little carried away on Amazon this week.

The Mason Dixon knitting books (bought used), The Wonder Weeks (a parenting book), The Baby Led Weaning book and cookbook and Cake Pops (WHAT?!? How cute are these?? I might be making about a million of them).

On top of this, I also bought two books at Title Wave today (I checked both the library and Title Wave for these books before ordering... I have about 5 books on hold at the library too.... I have a lot of reading to do!) one on baby sign (I might be giving in...) and another on babies brains. I also got Sawyer a Baby Einstein DVD to try out. He was kind of into it. He liked when the other babies were on the screen. He even waved to one! That was exciting.

Hopefully they will all be on my doorstep soon and I can get through them quickly. And, hopefully there will be a lot of cake pops coming out of my kitchen! :)

Dinosaur sweater!

2011-08-16T09:04:00.000-08:00

I am knitting a sweater for Sawyer for his birthday. I am further along now that I was in this picture, but I am loving it. I wasn't too sure about my color choices, but now that it is knit up, I think it is great. And, yes, I know Sawyer loves dogs, but I like dinosaurs and I still have some say in what he wears. I need to take advantage of that for as long as possible.

The sweater is from Tot Toppers, which is a favorite line of mine. Kate has a great aesthetic, and designs a lot with little boys in mind, as she has two adorable boys.

And, if you notice my pictures looking better, it is because my amazing husband bought me a surprise present! A brand new, crazy nice camera! I am now the owner of a Canon Rebel Ti. I have been taking a TON of pictures (as in 450ish since Thursday) and playing with it. I still have everything set on auto, but plan on actually learning to use it with all the manual settings. I started reading the manual today, so hopefully I will be on my way to amazing pictures. Be sure to check out Sawyer's blog for great pictures of him! Obviously, most of my pictures of him.....

One other thing I am doing to learn new things is taking cooking classes! Josh mentioned wanting to do this, and it has been something I've been interested in doing for a while, so I am taking one with him. It is all about how to cook chinese food! I'm really excited, as I like chinese food, but have no idea how to cook it.... I love learning new things!

Out of the Closet!

2011-08-09T10:05:00.000-08:00

Pictures!!!

This is the whole closet. All of those pizza boxes are quilting projects in various steps of completion.

Books! And all of my handspun yarn (not all spun by me)

The second shelf of yarn is yarn that I have projects picked out for and the third shelf is yarn that I don't know what I'm going to do with, but loved too much to destash.

All of my fiber.... it is a bit out of control....

The bags hanging are knitting WIPs. I feel great about how organized this is, and how I can see everything I have. I have my fiber stash cataloged on Ravelry, so I can look at it without having to dig through everything. I need to do that with my yarn, but I can see all of it, so I don't feel rushed to do that. I need to get a small desk to sew on, the big table I am using is just too big for the space. Other than that, I'm pretty much done! Exciting!

Also, Sawyer is getting a tooth. Any day now. I felt it in his mouth and his gums look unhappy. BUT, he is in a good mood!! :)

Guess who's swatching?

2011-08-07T13:09:00.000-08:00

That's right, I finished all of my class samples, and I am swatching for Sawyer's birthday sweater!!! I need to measure and see if I can start, or if I have to knit another swatch (fingers crossed for starting!). I am EXCITED!

In other Sawyer news, we are on day three of getting him to nap in his crib. Day one (Friday) did not go well. He slept 30 mins each time, and it was terrible. Day two went better.... slept 40 mins in the morning and afternoon nap was 30 mins followed by 15 mins of being awake and another 30 mins of sleep! Progress. This morning, he slept for an hour! I am so proud of him! It has been hard, but I'm hoping he will continue to get better each nap, and soon it won't be an issue at all! It has been super nice to have some free time during the day to clean, knit, and be on the computer! I do miss the baby cuddles (and the napping!), but he normally likes to just sit with me for about 10-15 mins after waking up, so that is nice.

Other than that, not too much going on here. It has been raining a lot, which is fine. We go walking in the rain, but not to the park so much.... I'm thinking of taking Sawyer to the indoor playground we have in town to see if he likes that.

Alright, off to go make the best use of my baby-free time!

August!?

2011-08-02T10:23:00.000-08:00

I need to kick it up a notch with my blogging. I've been knitting like a crazy person, with not much to show for it. I've finished my felted clogs and need to weave in the ends on a scarf (which is scrappy, so there are a lot of ends). I still need to knit a washcloth and a hat before I can focus on my "me" knitting again. (these are all class samples I'm working on)

I'm going to have pictures of my closet soon. I'm really happy with my organization. My yarn is so pretty!

My new knitting plan: always have three projects on the needles. One out of handspun yarn, one for Sawyer, and one class sample. The idea is then I won't have these crazy "my samples are due in two days and they aren't even started" knitting freak outs. And the sample may sometimes be something for Sawyer, so that would be great! Hoping that works out.

Next on my needles is Sawyer's birthday sweater. It is a top down yolk sweater with dinosaur colorwork. Yea!!! I might go pick out the yarn today. Maybe. Depends on my mood.

Alright, I hope to get back to regular blogging soon... Until then, Happy August!!

Christmas in July

2011-07-23T20:57:00.000-08:00

Last night we had a Christmas in July party/BBQ.... We had quite a good time... here is a quick picture recap.

Sawyer wasn't a fan of the Santa hat... big surprise.

Look! We are having fun!

James telling Branda what he wants for Christmas

Branda made these AMAZING olive penguins! They are the cutest food ever!

Robby was telling the keg what he wanted for Christmas....

Yeah, that is the Christmas tree on top of the awning.

It was seriously hot for the party. Like 74 or something. Out of control. I was very thankful for the warm weather though.... today it was windy and cloudy.

In other news, I took the time to organize my fiber closet tonight. Pictures later, after the mess is better contained. I also have another plan (surprise!) to get more knitting done. All will be revealed in due time.

Drive By....

2011-07-16T05:31:00.000-08:00

I have finished two more skeins of yarn, bringing my total up to five for the tour! Pictures soon-ish. One skein is destined to be a hat for Weston (and maybe a matching one of Sawyer depending on how much yarn is left) which I also hope to finish before the tour is over. The other I have no plans for.

Sawyer has been crawling all over the house. He has mastered the army crawl and is a human swiffer. Even after sweeping two or three times a day and running the roomba, it is amazing what he can find and crawl through on the floor.

It was an AMAZINGLY gorgeous day out yesterday. We spent most of it outside.... I even did my tour spinning out in the backyard. It is looking like today might be more of the same....

I hope everyone has a great weekend!!

Yarn!!

2011-07-13T20:21:00.000-08:00

I have finished three skeins of yarn during the tour so far, and I'm hoping to finish up a fourth tonight. Besides that, not much going on here. I went to the dentist for my 6 month check up and had no cavities! That is huge for me. I was really excited. Hoping to stay on the right track..... ANYWAY, here are some pictures of my finished yarn.

This was spun for a bulky yarn challenge. It was hard for me to spin this thick after trying to spin thin for so long!! It is SUPER squishy and will probably be a cowl of something fun.

Not sure what I will do with this, but it is so sweet looking. The soft, subtle color isn't something I would normally choose, but I really like the results.

This is my favorite yarn!! I planned how I spun it and it turned out better than I thought it would, which is great! I'm hoping to knit Sawyer a vest with it.

The view from my spinning wheel. :)

Tour de Fleece

2011-07-07T10:25:00.000-08:00

It's Tour de Fleece season!! For those who don't know, TDF is a spinning challenge that coincides with the Tour de France. I have been spinning my little heart out. I've finished two skeins and I'm working on a third.

Sawyer is officially crawling. So, keeping him out of things is pretty much taking up all of my time now! He is also very chatty lately. He's a funny kid.

Here are some pictures to tide you over until I have more time to write....

Ok, one picture. That is all I have time for. Sawyer is pulling on my pants now....

Forest Fair Fun!

2011-07-01T20:23:00.000-08:00

My friend, her two little boys, Sawyer, and I all made the trek to the Forest Fair down in Girdwood today. It was a lot of fun, despite Sawyer deciding to cry the entire car ride... he has decided cars aren't his thing lately. We ran into a few people we knew, got to eat some yummy food, and enjoyed the music and hand crafts!

I was very good and didn't buy any yarn or fiber! Even though there was some awesome stuff at very good prices, I resisted. I knew I didn't have the space.... GO ME! I did buy Weston a flask with a map of AK on it, because the map had his favorite location (McCarthy, where he will be spending the weekend) on it. He thought it was very cool.

We also saw a mom and baby moose cross the road while walking back to the car, another moose on the drive home, and a dall sheep almost on the road! It was a great wildlife day. Between all of that and the moose that was in my yard on Wednesday, I have seen quite a bit of wildlife this week!

I also got a good chunk of knitting on my scarf done while driving to and from the fair, which was nice. I hate knitting scarves, but I am teaching a "My first project" class, and a lot of people like to knit scarves, so I need one for a sample. I'm using scraps and it should be quite the fashion accessory when it is done. :P

I hope everyone has a safe and fun 4th of July holiday!

Alaska Bears

2011-06-29T06:29:00.001-08:00

It's been a while since I posted. Sorry.... I have been busy. Cleaning my house, going to weddings, playing with Sawyer, knitting, etc.

I had fun at the Solstice Sale!! It was a blast. I wound up getting yarn for three bears that I want to knit for Sawyer. My original plan was to knit one, but they didn't have the yarn I wanted, so I was looking at bulkier yarn. Then I had the idea to knit a small, medium, and large bear. THEN I had the idea to make them brown, black, and white like the bears of Alaska. Which seems like an amazing idea. Especially when it is after 10 and you are buying yarn on sale. :) So here is the pattern I am planning on knitting. I think it is ADORABLE! I can't wait for Sawyer to have his bears.... (but first I have to knit my class samples for next quarter, a scarf, an afghan square, and a felted clog)

Sawyer has officially moved into his own room! He slept in there the past two nights, and while it isn't completely put together the way I would like, it is a step in the right direction. He even slept in his new crib last night! He did well, minus the fact that he woke up at 4:45 this morning.

We went to a wedding this past weekend out past Sutton, which was beautiful. We met some fun new people and had a lot of fun until it was time to go home. It was a long drive out there, and we had planned on camping, but then I decided that we should head home because I was worried that if Sawyer slept with me, he would not be able to sleep in his bed the next night... so we drove home and Sawyer was unhappy for pretty much the whole ride. BUT, he slept in his bed, and I didn't have to worry about it.

I hope everyone had a great week.... anyone have fun 4th of July plans??

Eating Local

2011-06-21T12:02:00.000-08:00

As I have mentioned before, I really do my best to shop local. I am also trying to eat local. When I eat out (which isn't too often) I try to avoid chain restaurants... why give my money to a corporation when I can give my money to a small business? I have also started to frequent the farmer's markets, and trade friends for things. We have a few friends who hunt and fish, so we trade them for things we may have. This gives us fresh food that we don't have to worry about.... we have been enjoying deer tacos the past month. They were delicious. And today I made chili with some meat that I bought from the farmer's market that was grown in the valley.

I really enjoyed cooking the beef. I normally don't like cooking meat (one of the various reasons we don't eat it that often)... but this meat had very little fat, and didn't smell like meat as it was cooking. It was easy. So hopefully the chili is yummy and I will be motivated to get meat again at the market.

Tonight I am going to a yarn sale at Far North. It is a Solstice Sale.... (yes, it is summer solstice.... sadly, the last day we will be gaining daylight) and I am going with a few projects in mind. I might also bring some yarn there to go into their donation bin so that maybe my stash will stay the same size. :)

Alright, off to try and finish two seams on a baby jacket before afternoon nap time. Happy Solstice.

A few FOs

2011-06-20T16:37:00.000-08:00

I have been slowly plugging along at my to do list. I have finished some monsters for a trade (pictures of those later, as I want them to be a surprise for the recipient), pillowcases for Father's Day, the yarn I was spinning (well almost, it is still on the wheel, but it is finished), and I am half way through a baby jacket. So, getting there, slowly but surely. Here are some pictures of things that have gotten done....

The mud pie baby blanket I started when I was pregnant. All finished! Blocked, ends woven in... and is now in a box for future babies.

Weston's pillowcase. He loves prairie points (the little orange triangles), they are all supposed to point one direction, but I don't iron my pillowcases, so they do what they want after coming out of the wash!

Hopefully more pics to come soon!!

Full Plate

2011-06-14T15:10:00.000-08:00

I may have taken on a bit too much. I have a lot to do, it seems. Luckily, most of the "need" to get done stuff is sewing, so it doesn't take as long as knitting, but I made a list the other night before falling asleep and it was a bit daunting. It doesn't help that Sawyer has been napping with me (or rather, I have been napping with Sawyer...) so the 3 hours a day that I am normal in super production mode are gone. (Not that I am complaining. I will never get this time back with my son, and one day, sadly, he will not want to cuddle with me anymore. So, I am cherishing nap time until he is ready to nap on his own again) I'm trying to squeeze in things here and there. And, I'm also trying to really utilize the time after Sawyer goes to bed.

Anyway, I should have quite a few FOs to show you soon if I can keep my act together and not go insane. :)

In other news, Sawyer is busy growing like a weed. He is now wearing 12 month clothes. He also is eating more and different foods. He still doesn't have teeth, but enjoys really small pieces of bread and bananas when I am eating. He also loves to get his hands on things he isn't supposed to have (cords and remotes seem to be his favorite) which I think is pretty typical of a baby. He is still adorable and full of love.

In my knitting world, I have been working on a kids sweater that I pulled out of hibernation. I also am working on a colorwork hat for Sawyer. I need to knit my class samples for next quarter, but they all require me to purchase yarn (oh, boo) and I'm having a hard time making decisions about that, as well as actually breaking down and doing it....

Alright, I need to get to work, Sawyer is happily zooming around the house and I'm sure he would like to run into my feet repeatedly...

Big Book of Knitted Monsters

2011-06-11T05:29:00.000-08:00

As promised, here is a book review! First up, Rebecca Danger's Big Book of Knitted Monsters.

I love this book! It is so cute. Sawyer has one monster knitted (so far!) and I hope to add more to his collection soon. If you have seen her other patterns on Ravelry, these are very similar. (In fact, I think some of them are a lot alike... but they are all cute) The book is a great deal though because there are 20 different patterns, and even at full price the book retails for $18.99, making it less than $1 a pattern.

The book has great directions, and great pictures of how to do the different techniques. It made me almost want to try magic loop again, as Rebecca hypes it up pretty good. I decided to just use two circular needles though, as I really am not a big fan of magic loop. I would say that if you wanted to try the technique, this book does have great directions, and the monsters are simple enough that it would be a good first project.

I think the book is great. If you want knitted monsters, I think this book is the way to go! You can knit them out of any yarn (bigger yarn=bigger monster) and they all turn out so stinkin' cute! So grab your needles and start knitting!

The Other Side

2011-06-06T07:58:00.000-08:00

Sawyer is now sleeping on his own in his crib (well, the pack-n-play that we use as his crib). He has good nights and ok nights. Saturday was a great night, I heard him stir at 8:30 and then not again until 5:30. Last night was ok. He woke up twice and Weston had to go in and remind him it was still bed time. We have been sleeping in the living room for fear that if he sees us in our bed when he wakes up in the middle of the night he won't go back to sleep. We are hoping to move him into the other bedroom (aka my craft room) this weekend. We might be attempting to sleep in our own bed tonight.

In knitting news, I have been trying to finish up lingering WIPs. I pulled out the Mud Pie baby blanket that I started when I was pregnant and was able to finish that up this weekend. That made me very happy. I will be storing that for future baby as Sawyer has his Thin Mint blanket and I don't think he needs two knitted blankets that are the same size. I'm thinking of pulling out the hooded baby blanket that just needs a button band and finishing that up too. Maybe I will even bind a quilt this week. Who knows.

Other than that, not too much going on. There may be a bit more destashing happening as my crafting space is going to move from being a whole room to being a small part of our master bedroom. We'll see what I wind up doing....

Day One and Thanks!

2011-06-02T13:14:00.000-08:00

Thank you to everyone who posted comments here (and on Rav, and my mom who called me because she doesn't post comments...) about my being a good mom. It really means a lot. And I would say that 90% of the time, I feel like a good mom. BUT, as anyone who is a parent knows, it is easy to second guess yourself and think you are crazy... especially when things aren't going so peachy.

We accidentally started sleep training last night. I teach knitting on Wednesday nights, so Weston puts Sawyer to bed on his own. Normally, I am home before he wakes for the first time, and that is when he comes to bed for milk and cuddles the rest of the night. However, last night, I was goofing off chatting with the ladies at work, and Sawyer woke up before I made it home. So Weston put him back down. And from there we decided that we were just going to go with it, and I was not allowed to go into the room... Weston was going to deal with him all night. We slept in the living room... Sawyer woke up 4-5 times, crying/fussing (pretty mild stuff really, compared to what I was prepared for) for between 10-30 mins each time. Weston would go in and remind him that it was still bedtime, and he was safe, and we love him, and then leave him alone. The hardest wake up was at 5:30, because I knew he was probably hungry by now, but I wasn't going to get him up until at least 6:15. (My goal is to have him sleep until 7am, but I figure if I can get him to sleep until Weston wakes up, that is a good start). He was extra fussy then and finally fell asleep right before six only to wake up 10 mins later. Then I went in and got him. And he was in a pretty good mood, actually! He still wanted to cuddle with me. He didn't hate dad. It was a nice morning. He is a bit more tired than usual today, but I think that will pass. Hopefully tonight goes better, but just in case, I am preparing mentally for it to be worse.

In other yarn-y news, this showed up in my mailbox yesterday.... a GORGEOUS skein of handspun from a friend on Ravelry (thanks Sara!!). It was quite the surprise.

This was my yarn smile after opening the package.

I'm not sure what I am going to knit with it, but I have been petting it and loving just staring at it. Sara spins amazing yarns and this one is just beautiful! LOVE it. (For those curious, the fiber is Faulkland from KnittinK and the colorway is Superhero laundry day.

And here is a picture of Sawyer's handspun hat. I knit it out of yarn I spun with fiber from Storied Yarns, which is run by another Rav friend of mine (hi Jess!). Her stuff is amazing. Her ability to interpret books and characters into yarn in fiber is really cool. I did the Dr. Seuss club with her.... still need to spin all of that ....

I have pictures of Sawyer in his hat (for a precious few moments before he ripped it off of his head) on his blog.

The other thing I want to mention is that I will be reviewing a few books soon... I've decided that I should/could do that since I own a ton of knitting (and sewing!) books, many of which are new, and I like to support independent designers (which I can do by reviewing their books!). So be on the lookout for that in the coming weeks. And if you have a knitting or sewing books that you might like to see reviewed, let me know. I might already own it (!) or I might be looking into getting it anyway.

I hope everyone has a great Thursday afternoon!

Failure and Mom Guilt

2011-06-01T08:32:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow we start sleep training with Sawyer. We are going to have to let him cry it out. I am posting this because I might be absent for a while.... I have a feeling I'm not going to get much sleep for a few days at least. It is supposed to take 3 nights, but Sawyer is stubborn and I'm anticipating 5. I'm not happy about having to do this. I have tried so many other things. We have been struggling with his sleep for three long months now, and I am at a loss for what to do. This is a last resort. I feel like I have failed him and myself, and this is the hardest thing I have had to do. BUT, it will be better in the long run. He won't need me to nurse to sleep, he will be able to lay down and go to sleep for other people, he will learn to sleep on his own, etc... I just have to keep telling myself that.

(And please don't tell me how I'm making a terrible choice and it is unnatural to let my baby cry. You don't know my child, I really have tried everything I have read and thought of. And not for a few days, for weeks I would try new things and still nothing. I have been giving this my all and I am at the end of my rope. We all need more sleep, including him.)

So, that is my mom guilt of the century. Maybe the next kiddo will be a better sleeper. Or maybe Sawyer will drive me so insane he will be an only child. Who knows.

On a happier note, Weston and I went to the movies last night. I think it may have been my first trip to the movies since before Sawyer was born! We saw the Hangover 2. Meh. I would wait for the video. I didn't think it was that funny. But, I still had a good time going out with Weston and enjoying some adult time.

I also finished a new hat for Sawyer. Pictures have been taken, and will be posted soon. He rips it off as soon as I put it on him, so I think that means it is a success. :)

Alright, off to shower and tackle this rainy day. And keep your fingers crossed that Sawyer will surprise his parents and not be a terror for the next few nights...

A simple bag of chips....

2011-05-27T09:58:00.000-08:00

My husband teases me a lot about various things... my ability to leave everything I touch out and strewn about the house, my addiction to chocolate, my love of horrible television shows, my obsession with chips... just to name a few. But, I know he loves me. He finds little ways to tell me that every day, without actually telling me (which he does quite a few times a day too...) like when I had a tough week, I found a twix bar in my truck when I was on my way to go teach knitting.

And last night he brought me home a bag of potato chips... yum. :) This may be a small thing, but he hates going to the grocery store, made an extra trip, and bought something he would never eat. All for me. Which was awesome. Because I know I will really appreciate them this weekend when Sawyer is being a pill and I'm home by myself (because he is camping until Monday). I can just take a break and eat some chips... and really, that will make my day a bit easier.

Because it is the little things.

Like, even though it drives me crazy that Sawyer wakes up at 5am, when he rolls over and smiles at me, I think, "Ok, fine... you are too cute... you win" and get up with him.

I hope everyone has a fun and safe holiday weekend.

Crazy Cake

2011-05-25T08:42:00.000-08:00

So I did wind up making my Apprentice cake... it didn't have my prediction of the winner (but I was right), but it did have an abstract picture of the Trumpster on it...

Not bad for realizing at 6 o'clock that my cake wasn't frosted and having to make powdered sugar in my blender for the icing...

I had a pretty productive time while Sawyer was napping yesterday. I was able to make this pair of pants.

They are going to be hanging in the shop for a while as a store display, so I made the 2T size, so when I get them back, they should still fit Sawyer. Aren't they adorable?!? I am going to make him a pair that will fit him now out of some dinosaur fabric I have. These were super easy to sew (6 steps!) and easy to customize. You can put the pockets on the side like I did, or on the butt like normal pants. There are also directions on how to make a ruffle instead of a cuff to make them for little girls. I'm thinking of making a jacket to match these pants with a coordinating fabric that has the dogs on it... cuteness overload!

Weston is going camping again this weekend... Hopefully Sawyer isn't too much of a pill. He has been demanding to sleep with me and eat every 1.5-2 hours. Maybe he is growing? Either way, today we are going to the book store to look for yet another sleeping book.... I am a sleep expert, but Sawyer is a tough student... I'm also going to look for some other baby food books as I really want to start making his baby food. I have everything I need (I think) so I might try and start that this weekend too.

Alright, he is napping now, so I need to shower and perhaps lay down as well... have a happy Wednesday!

Weekend Blues

2011-05-21T17:42:00.000-08:00

Weston went bike riding and camping this weekend. He left yesterday and won't be home until tomorrow. Leaving me home with a needy baby and two crazy dogs by myself for two and a half days. Not much fun. Sawyer had a ok night... woke up at 1:30 and demanded to sleep with me after that (this week, he has been getting up at 4 and sleeping with me until we get up at 6:30 which isn't too bad) It was kind of nice to have the whole bed to ourselves for that... today he has been kind of crazy. Hopefully tonight goes well and Weston gets home early-ish tomorrow.

In knitting news, his socks are DONE!! No pictures yet.... he wore them to work and showed them off and told me repeatedly how well they fit (which I told him, of course, I made them just for you!). I was glad that he liked them so much.

The mystery shawl has been a bit more trouble than I anticipated. I've had to start over once and today had to tink back quite a bit.... apparently counting is not my strong point. I think I'm on my way to success now... (of course, I'm only on row four... but there is a lifeline put in and I'm going for it!)

JB is back in town!!! I was very excited to see him yesterday and I went and saw his new place today (that has carpet, and I thought Sawyer was going to crawl... he is so close). It is so nice to have him home.

Tomorrow night is the finale of Celebrity Apprentice. I know, I can't believe I watch it either.... we have another couple who comes over every week for it and it is quite entertaining to watch together. I'm going to make a cake with my prediction of who is going to win on it... fun times!

I hope everyone is having a nice weekend. I'm having an ok time. Just very happy that I'm not a single mom, because this gig is hard! Kudos to those who do it full time....

Start and Finish -itis

2011-05-17T13:31:00.000-08:00

I am in a knitting zone right now. I am a mere two repeats away from finishing Weston's sock. The first chart of the mystery shawl I'm knitting has been released (a mere 12 rows... I can do that!) and I have volunteered to test knit a hat for a friend on Ravelry. I pulled some handspun for the hat and just need to wind it and knit a swatch... I think that will be a quick knit.

So, yes, I'm starting new things, but the finishing of the sock is on the horizon... and I think the hat will be such a quick knit that it doesn't really count. :)

I'm also very close to finishing Sawyer's train set that goes with his train quilt. All of the houses and train cars are sewed flat (they had to be lined with fabric and batting) and now they just need to be sewn into their 3D shapes and stuffed. Which is kind of a pain, so I'm putting it off for a little bit....

Weston's birthday is tomorrow and Sawyer will be 7 months old on Friday. Oh my goodness, how time flies. He must be growing, because he has been taking unusually long naps in the morning. Like almost 3 hours long. Weirdo. He is pretty crazy with his sleep, it seems like he sleeps all the time or not at all... kind of like everything else he does... extreme. I'm hoping he takes a good afternoon nap so I can get another good chunk of knitting done...

Sunday Surprises

2011-05-15T08:47:00.000-08:00

I'm listening to the "Black Eyed Peas" station on Pandora and getting ready to wind a skein of yarn...

I'm going to be doing the mystery summer shawl designed by Wendy Knits. Details on her blog. It uses one skein of sock yarn, which I have plenty of (yeah for using my stash!) and it is worked from the bottom up, so every row gets shorter! This will be the first shawl I have worked like this, so I'm excited to get started.

The clue that was released today was the cast-on and set up rows. Two rows of knitting. I think I can handle that.

Maybe you will knit along with me?

Officially mobile

2011-05-12T15:09:00.000-08:00

Sawyer has figured out his walker. He zooms around the house in a desperate attempt to get the dogs, or anything that is on the coffee table that he shouldn't have. Nothing is safe from his little baby hands how. He loves it though. He thinks it is so fun to see something he wants and be able to move towards it... it is really fun for us to watch him too.

And, yes, I'm sure you aren't "supposed" to have walkers for your kids now, or whatever, but I don't care. He is having fun, and that is good enough for me. :) Plus, I know my youngest brother had one, and he learned to walk, and can still walk, just fine. And we don't have any stairs, so there isn't that safety issue....

He is also really good at rolling over to get things that he wants. No longer can I leave him somewhere and trust he will be there when I get back. Luckily, he hasn't been pulling himself up onto things and climbing.... yet. Although he has learned to open drawers. So far he just opens them and then wheels away, he hasn't taken anything out yet... I'm sure the next few weeks are going to be fun!

Outlook

2011-05-11T09:00:00.000-08:00

Weston cleaned my car as part of my mother's day present and he found 3 forks in it. He told me that it is crazy that I can't bring things back into the house and that there were not one, not two, but THREE forks in my car....

I said that I'm just glad they weren't missing. And that there was one in my purse.

I guess it's all in how you look at it.

Mother's Day

2011-05-10T09:40:00.000-08:00

My first Mother's Day has been awesome. My husband is amazing (he kind of makes me feel like Mother's Day is every day, he takes such good care of me) and we have had a great weekend. Yesterday we drove out to Talkeetna and walked around the town, had lunch, and then came back home. It was beautiful and you could see Denali in all of its glory. On the way home we stopped at the yarn shop in Eagle River so I could pick up this....

Yes, I bought a loom. I have wanted one for a while, and Weston was going to make me one, but this just seemed easier. :) My MIL had given me a gift certificate to the shop for my birthday, and I did mean just to buy a few skeins of yarn, but they didn't have the colors I wanted, so I decided to spring for this instead. I have been playing with it today and it is so cool and fun!!! I think I'm going to get some cotton and weave some dishcloths to practice.... we'll see though. I might just dive in after this practice piece I'm working on now and go for it.

Weston also got me flowers on Friday and a card and giant kit-kat today. My card included this little slip of paper, which cracked me up (it's a Seinfeld reference... my husband gets me).

Overall, it has been a great weekend. I just love having family time. Be on the lookout for weaving projects from me now.

Monitor

2011-05-04T12:31:00.000-08:00

Anyone who has been to our house knows that it is small... less than 1,000 square feet. Two bedrooms. Small. So, I never had a baby monitor, as I could easily hear Sawyer when he woke up. (Seeing as how he hates sleeping, he makes it quite known when he is done) I decided that I would look for one at the big garage sale this weekend because it would be nice to be able to go outside and work on things while he was asleep. I mentioned this to my dad who promptly went out and bought us one...

And, I love it! I never realized how awesome it would be. I am able to go outside and work in the yard, or just knit. I'm also able to close the door and not worry about the volume of the tv or radio, because I have the monitor. It has been really nice.

I've been speeding along on my spinning. I have the first 4 oz done and I'm almost half way through the second 4 oz. I think my plan is to finish up the 2 oz I'm working on and then ply it so I will have one skein to start knitting with on Saturday at class. I think it will look really nice when it is done.

I've also been sewing a bit here and there. When I have a few mins, I have been sewing a small stack of blocks for my rag quilt. I would like to get that done, as I think it will be nice to cuddle with on the couch and also great for Sawyer to play on the floor with.

I start teaching knitting again tonight, which is how I will be spending my Wednesday nights for the summer. Tonight is beginning 101. A fun class to teach, as I love watching people when they realize they "get it". Off to go get all my stuff together for that....

Mommy Break

2011-04-28T17:03:00.000-08:00

Yesterday my MIL came over to watch Sawyer and after I put him down for his afternoon nap I left my house... alone.... I went to Target to get some 50% off Easter candy (but only bought a few things as the bagged candy was still only 30% off. I hate when they do that.) and then took myself to Arctic Roadrunner for lunch. I had a burger, fries, and a Dr. Pepper. And I didn't even feel bad about the soda. I still had a while before I had to be back home, so I just sat there and knit. And knit. And knit. It felt like forever. It was realistically probably an hour and an half. But it was amazing to be able to knit without having to take a break to untangle the yarn from baby hands or to hand a toy back to Sawyer. I got 2 repeats on Weston's sock done (yeah, that pair of socks I started for him last summer....) so I'm a bit closer to finishing that. I think I might try and get it done in time for his birthday...

It was really nice to just get out of the house and have some me time. I get out a lot more than I used to when Sawyer was younger, but he still pretty much goes everywhere with me... I'm really thankful that my MIL is so willing to come in and watch Sawyer as often as she can.

In other news, Sawyer still isn't into eating food. We keep trying the rice cereal and he keeps making a face and spitting it out. We tried sweet potatoes today and he made a face... after about 3 spoons of it though he didn't spit quite as much out. So I think we are going to stick with those for a few days and see how he does.

I did get my fiber stash all photographed and up on Ravelry. I have a lot, but not quite as much as I thought, so that is good! :) I need to start spinning some yarn for a baby surprise jacket for Sawyer. I am hoping to take a class that starts on May 7th.... guess I better get spinning!

Scooter

2011-04-26T09:19:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a great weekend. We had a nice little Easter. Sawyer, Weston, and I celebrated at home... Sawyer got a set of blocks made of recycled plastic from an awesome toy store in town, Sweet Adeline's. It is definitely worth checking out. I wanted to buy everything... a lot of things weren't "age appropriate" for Sawyer yet, but he is very advanced and will be ready for the toys soon! :) Anyway, Weston would build something for Sawyer and then Sawyer would destroy it... we called him "Baby Godzilla" Very fun.

We then went to my parent's house for a little while. My dad had bought him a walker, which Sawyer is almost tall enough for... he can scoot around in it a little bit, but give him a couple of weeks and he will be zooming around the house like a crazy person. My parents really enjoyed spending a few hours with Sawyer. It has been a while since they have seen him, as someone in their house has been sick for the last few weeks...

Other than that, not much going on. My goal for the day is to write down everything I have in my fiber stash... I have plans for some of it and hope that by going through it and looking at it all that I will come up with an idea with what I want to do with all of it. I also hope to go through my yarn stash again and make sure that everything in there is still something that I want... sometimes things tend to wind up in there that I don't really need. I need to keep making space... soon I would like to move Sawyer into his own room. He is a noisy sleeper (when he does sleep) and it drives me crazy.

Not sure if I mentioned this, but my mom and I are trying something new. Every Tuesday night (hopefully, tonight is the first night we are getting together) we are planning to get together and craft. My goal is to spend a few hours working on something that is a WIP, hopefully turning it into a FO. Then, if I get enough things done, we might start working on a crocheted afghan.... a long-term WIP, but if we work on it every week, it would, in theory, get finished in a reasonable amount of time...

Alright, have to shower while Sawyer is napping. He does not appreciate me showering when he is up and is quite loud with his displeasure.

Cloth Diapers pt. 2

2011-04-21T07:58:00.001-08:00

Just remembered a few more reasons that I use cloth on Sawyer. It has to be more comfortable... would you like to wear paper underwear?? Having worn paper underwear (it's what they sent me home in from the birth center) I must say that cotton is WAY more comfortable. It's also easy, cute, and not wasteful. When Sawyer pees on me when he is being changed, the diaper just goes in the pail, not in the garbage. I didn't waste any money, where as throwing away a diaper could cost up to 25 cents.

Here is a great article about cloth and one of the companies I have ordered from, the Happy Baby Company. They have excellent customer service.

We are heading to the doctor today to get the go ahead to feed Sawyer. Be on the look out for the update on that in the next couple of days! I might try to get it on video....

PS. Just found another great article on cloth.... maybe the more people see, the more popular it will become!! I love my cloth diapers!!!

6 months old!

2011-04-20T08:18:00.000-08:00

Happy half-birthday Sawyer! I can't believe you are already 6 months old. It has been very fun watching you learn and grow.... I do wish you would sleep better (if you had a baby report card, it would look something like this... "Cuteness: A+ Picking things up: A+ Overall awesomeness: A+ Sleeping: F") but, other than that, I don't have too much to complain about. You are a great baby (minus the sleeping thing) and it is so fun to watch you play and enjoy life. You have been really into the pups lately, reaching for them when they walk by, and talking to them... which has been really fun. I can not wait until tomorrow when we go to the doctor and get the "go ahead" to feed you solid foods! Watch out... this will be exciting.

Organic

2011-04-18T16:03:00.000-08:00

I must be on a hippie blog post wave... next up... organic food.

During the summer, I grow a fair amount of the veggies we eat in my garden, spinach, peas, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, etc. It's awesome. Most of the other veggies we eat come from our Full Circle Farm CSA box. We recently upgraded to the family size box and started splitting it with Weston's parents, who are trying to eat healthier.

My MIL mentioned that she heard (on the Today show, probably) that you shouldn't (or probably, rather, don't have to) buy organic foods with peels, like an orange for example, because you don't eat the outside.

This leads me to my point, which is why I eat organic food, when possible. I think it is better for me, and better for the Earth. I don't want all of those chemicals on my food, in my water, or in my soil. So, for me, I purchase as many things as I can that are grown organically. Even if I'm not going to eat the peel, because in my mind, it is still better for the ecosystem to be growing organically. We have dramatically lowered our meat intake because we simply can not afford to buy meat that we feel good about eating. We are looking into buying a freezer and half of a cow from a farm in the valley, but we need to save up some $$.

Anyway, if you can afford to buy only those organic foods that are on the "dirty dozen" list, buy those. It is important to asses why you are doing things and what is important to you. For me, buying as many organics as I can get my hands on is my mission.

Cloth Diapers

2011-04-14T09:02:00.000-08:00

In case you didn't know, I cloth diaper Sawyer. I have done so since he was about 3 days old. (I used disposables at first because I had bought them when our washer broke two weeks before my due date and just decided to use them. If I had to do it again, I wouldn't have used them...) When we first started with cloth, we used flat cotton diapers and waterproof covers. It was simple and easy. They were what you would think of when you heard people saying "cloth diapers". Then, around 3 months, Sawyer's skin began to get too sensitive for the flats. His skin would be constantly irritated, and I couldn't solve the problem. I was also in the process of looking for a nighttime diaper that would keep him dry all night.

I bought a few Bum Genius pocket diapers to use at night and loved them. They kept him dry all night, and he would wake up with nice, un-irritated skin. So I bought a few more and decided that I would switch to them exclusively. We went to our "local" (in Wasilla) diaper store, Arctic Baby Bottoms, and bought 14 of the Bum Genius diapers, 9 with snaps and 5 with velcro. I decided I didn't like the snaps (and had luckily, kept all but one of them in the packaging, as I knew I just wanted to try them) and was able to take them back. I also was having weird leaking issues with them. It was getting annoying to have to change Sawyer's clothes every time I had to change his diaper.

Then I decided to order one Rumparooz diaper. I LOVED it. I asked if Arctic Baby Bottoms could get them for me (as I like to support local business) and she was able to! So, now I have 16 rumparooz and a few other Bum Genius diapers that I use in a pinch. These diapers are so easy to use. They are cute, easy to wash, and everyone I show them to is impressed... who knew cloth could be like this?

I guess the reason I am posting this is to have people think about modern cloth diapering. It isn't primitive. You don't need to use pins anymore. My diapers are put on exactly like a disposable, but I don't throw them away. And because Sawyer is only on breast milk right now, everything just goes in the washer. When he starts food (next week!) I will start putting flushable liners in the diapers so I can just pull out the liner and toss it in the toilet before I wash them. No scraping, no dunking, simple.

So why do I use cloth? I hate throwing things away. It's wasteful. I don't want my child to live on top of a landfill. It is cheaper.... I don't actually think we could afford to use any other diaper. And, yes, I spent probably $400 on his diaper set up now, BUT it is a one-time cost. I'm done. And, if I take good care of my diapers, I can re-sell them and recoup at least 50% of my cost, or use them for any other children we might choose to have. You can't do that with disposable diapers... you just throw money in the trash. Another reason is disposable diapers are filled with gross chemicals that I don't really want next to my child's junk.... one of the chemicals in diapers is known to cause TSS and was required to be removed from tampons... yuck. So, if you are having a baby or know someone who is having a baby, give cloth another look. It's awesome!

Oh, mom...

2011-04-12T08:59:00.000-08:00

I am guilty of dressing my son in crazy outfits and making him do baby photo shoots... I figure this is the only time I will be able to do this, as soon, when he can move, he will just run away or fight back.

This was one of the pictures from the shoot yesterday. It's not the best one, but it is one of my favorites because it shows how Sawyer is learning to play with things. It is really fun. He is very good at reaching and grabbing things that he wants to grab... and then putting them in his mouth. Soon (next week!) he is going to be able to start eating food, which I am SUPER excited about. It is going to be quite the messy and fun adventure.

The hat Sawyer is wearing is one that I knit for him. I made up the pattern. There are pipe cleaners running up the sides of the ears to keep them upright. Weston is obsessed with how awesome he thinks Sawyer looks in this hat, and I'm pretty sure he will be wearing it everywhere he goes this month.

In other news, I finished spinning my swap yarn and it made it's way into the mail today. I am now spinning for the Little Mermaid SAL that I am in... my batts are Sebastian, the crab... they are red, yellow, and sparkly and I love them! I will see what happens with them... I was planning on autowrapping them with gold thread, but that didn't work out, so then I was thinking of plying them with some yellow yarn I have... so we will see if I do that, or leave it as a single.

Not too much sewing being done, and I kind of have an excuse... we had a new water heater put in yesterday. And it is in my craft closet. So, I need to find space for a bunch of stuff that used to live in the closet.... Not too much knitting either. I was really focused on finishing my swap yarn, as that had a deadline.

I will leave you with two more pictures from Sawyer's various photo shoots. Sometimes the rejected pictures are my favorites....

Wine

2011-04-07T11:32:00.000-08:00

I listened to an awesome podcast the other day about how much the price of wine effects how people thinks it tastes. It was quite interesting. (The podcast was Freakonomics, and can be downloaded on iTunes) Basically, if people were told the wine was more expensive, they would rate it higher. There was even one person who made up a restaurant and a wine list, then submitted it to a wine magazine in an attempt to win an award. He was trying to prove that the awards were basically an advertising scheme. He won an award... even though on his wine list were many expensive wines the magazine had previously bashed. It was quite the embarrassment for the magazine.

When tastings are done where the tasters (both trained and untrained) have no idea how much the wine costs, it seems that almost all of them choose the less expensive wine. So drink up! And save your money for more cheap wine. :)

It's funny...

2011-04-06T11:29:00.000-08:00

I remember grocery shopping with my mom. She has a habit of not reading things and winding up at home with the wrong items.... diet coke instead of regular, plain chips when she wanted BBQ, etc. When I was with her, I would mention when she was buying something that was out of the norm... "oh, wait, yeah, I want the other one"....

The other day Weston came home and he was all excited because he had found 5 bottles of his favorite shampoo on clearance at Carrs. 50% off! Too bad three of the bottles were conditioner. "Oh man... I didn't see that"... silly...

Not that I am not guilty of forgetting to read. It often costs me time and not money... as I typically forget to read patterns, knitting or sewing patterns. Then I think "damn... that just took X minutes and now I have to undo it"...

So, lesson learned. Take the time to read. It might save you time and money.

A collaborative FO

2011-04-04T12:41:00.000-08:00

A long time ago (September of last year) I became obsessed with knitting a sweater for Baby (who is now Sawyer, but at the time, was Baby). I was on bed rest, and my amazing friend Kelsey picked out the yarn for me and brought it to my house.... I then knit the sweater.... I finished the knitting in January.... then the sweater sat in a bag...

And sat....

And sat....

It just needed to be put together. The sweater was steeked, which I had never done, so I took it into work so another knitting teacher could help me. I carefully sewed my steeks, and even cut one of them. Then back into the bag the sweater went.

Where it sat some more.

Every time I thought about the sweater I would be annoyed at myself. I just needed to finish it. I even took everything out of the bag one time to finish it, but then became so overwhelmed that I wanted to throw it in the garbage. I didn't care about this dumb sweater anymore. I was sure it was too small for Sawyer and I just wanted it out of my life.

So in a fit of desperation, I emailed Kelsey and asked her to finish the sweater for me. Yes, it was kind of a cop out. BUT, I also feel like it was a very adult move to ask for help. If being a new mom has taught me anything, it is that asking for help is not a weakness, it does not make you a lesser person, it is a GREAT thing. So, I did it. I asked. And she finished it for me for my birthday. Best present ever. And, it is even a bit big for Sawyer. He has been wearing it with the sleeves rolled up on dog walks the past couple of days....

She did an amazing job and I am very grateful. Thank you, Kelsey, for all of your help and being the amazing knitter and friend you are!

I'm home

2011-04-03T10:41:00.000-08:00

We made it home from Texas. I have a lot to say, but no real energy to talk about it right now. I think I need to decompress and have a little bit of time before I talk about the trip. I am VERY glad to be home.

I am almost finished knitting Sawyer's monster. I just need to finish 1.5 legs and seam him up. I am really happy with my yarn choice (cascade 220 tweed) and I think when it is finished, it will become a favorite toy. It does have to go on display at the shop for a while (I am teaching a class) so I will probably cast on another one (in a different pattern) for Sawyer to play with while this one is gone.

I am going to run a few errands with my mom today, to Costco, Target, and a fabric store. I need to get fabric to finish my brother's pillowcases that I promised him for Christmas. Oops. Better late than never, I guess. I'm waiting on Sawyer to wake up.... when that kid is on his schedule, he is an awesome sleeper.

I hope everyone had a nice weekend. I am loving the weather! It is nice and warm.... I can tell summer is almost here!

What a difference a day makes

2011-03-23T10:13:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I wasn't doing so hot. I was a mess. I wasn't sure that anyone was ever going to sleep again. I was struggling with what to do, as the Dr. recommended crying it out, and I just didn't think I could do that. I had one last book that I had read and didn't try... The Baby Whisper Solves All Your Problems. I decided to try the sleep technique in this book, and it took a little over an hour last night, but I got Sawyer to sleep and he didn't wake up again all night. I woke up, to pump, and because I would hear him rustle around and I thought he would get up... BUT, I got some sleep and this morning I felt like a whole new person. I was excited to see Sawyer, he was happy to wake up because he wasn't exhausted. It was amazing. This morning I put him down for his nap using the same technique again and he was asleep in less than 10 mins. I couldn't believe it. I feel like we may have found something that works for him, and I am soooo thankful. Even if we backslide, or it continues to take an hour, I feel good about the path we are on, and I am feeling much better about mom life. Whew.

In other, more fun news, I have had an AWESOME mail week!!! I received two amazing swap packages, and a package of goodies that I traded some sewing for. Here are some pictures:

This is my "Here Comes the Sun" swap package from Jen. It included a bunch of cotton, and a spindle to spin it, a fun book, and the blue yarn is cotton to knit Sawyer a little vest! Adorable!

My Handspun Swap package from Katelynn. Amazing stuff. There are more photos on my flickr page if you are interested in the yarn. I haven't decided what each skein will be yet, but they are all gorgeous! I'm pretty sure I am going to weave with the middle one, as the texture is very fun and I think weaving with it will really show it off. And yes, that is sheep confetti. :)

My package from Carrie. I had sewed a set of monsters for her that I traded for credit to her Etsy shop. I used that to get the handspun yarn (which is seriously beautiful in person. I love it SO much!) and then I bought the two braids of roving. My plan is to ply them together and knit something for Sawyer.

So that is all my mail!! It really helped brighten my day today. We leave for Texas tomorrow. I am really nervous about the flight. I am such a terrible flyer. Luckily, Allie is flying with us, which will be a HUGE help. I'm hoping to get a lot of knitting done on the trip. It is going to be WARM (75-80) which will be nice. I will take a lot of pictures and report back. I have never been to Texas, so it should be an experience. :) I hope everyone has a great week, and I will hopefully continue to have amazing luck with Sawyer.

It's my birthday...

2011-03-21T15:16:00.000-08:00

And I'll cry if I want to.... lack of sleep is causing me to slowly lose my mind. My sleep plan isn't working. Sawyer is waking up every two hours like he did when he was first born. Sometimes he goes back to sleep, sometimes he doesn't. Most of the time I don't...

This too shall pass....

Sleep Deprived

2011-03-17T08:20:00.000-08:00

Sawyer has not been sleeping well at all. Which means I have not been sleeping well. I am starting to get sick again, due to the lack of sleep, which is annoying.... I was almost done with this cold and now it's back again. I finally called the Dr. yesterday (our pediatrician's office is awesome and has nurses you can talk to and they will help you with things without you having to come in. Then they also consult with your dr. and call you back with additional information. I love it) because I didn't know what else to do. He used to be such a good sleeper!! The nurse suggested feeding him before I went to bed, even if he wasn't awake. Ok. So, I tried it last night, and he slept until 3am! Crazy! Because the night before he got up 3 times in that same stretch. So, my plan is to continue to do that and to get up around 2am and feed him again before he wakes up. Then gradually move the 2am feeding until it is magically at 6 or 7 am when he is supposed to get up. It might take some time, but I am just excited to have a plan that doesn't involve him crying for hours and breaking my heart. So fingers crossed that this works out. (I still didn't sleep well last night as I kept waiting for him to wake up. So, hopefully tonight I am over that....)

Not too much else going on. It's snowing. :) Happy Alaskan Spring! I actually don't mind it, as it covers up all the ick that spring brings. Break up is my least favorite time of the year. It is gross and yucky and it feels like it will never end...

Also, today is my last Thursday at work. This is actually my last week. I'm pretty excited. I decided to stay home with Sawyer. Work was just a bit too much for me, and being gone for the long 6+ hour days was taking a toll on both of us. I am very happy that I will be staying home, but I'm also really happy that I tried working. I think I would have always wondered if it would have been better had I not tried it. And, I think I am going to go back to clerking at the shop one or two shifts a week, which will be just enough to get me out of the house for my sanity. We'll see. I'm still planning on teaching knitting, as that is what I truly love to do...

Alright, Sawyer is down for his morning nap (oh yeah!) so I need to get some stuff done.... I hope everyone has a happy and safe St. Patrick's Day!

Time check

2011-03-13T12:42:00.000-08:00

So, it has been 10 days since I last posted. Crazy! I have been busy. I am better now... which is great! I took a day off of work and my SIL came over to watch Sawyer so I could nap, and that made all the difference in the world. Luckily, Sawyer never caught what I had, so he has been his happy little self!

He learned to roll over this week, so that has been exciting! I'm pretty sure he did it just because he hates being on his stomach so much, but whatever works. I have also been able to get him back to napping, which is WONDERFUL. It has made such a difference in his attitude and everyone else's well being... he is a much happier baby when he gets enough sleep.

In crafting news, I am almost finished with his bunny hat. Just have one ear left to knit (I have to try and remember HOW I knit the first ear, as I did it on a whim while teaching sock class last week....) and then I will need to decide if I want to add any color to the ears, or leave them white. I might dye the insides of them pink (or blue...) or duplicate stitch some of the ear, or just leave them as is. We will see.

I have also finished spinning the singles I was working on. This is some THIN yarn!! Even after it is plied (which I am working on now) I'm thinking it will be a fingering weight. Which is awesome, but it is taking forever to ply.... I want to move on to my next yarn which is for a swap.... I'm hoping that there will be enough of this yarn to knit Sawyer a little vest. It is mostly black with peeks of green, so I think it will knit up nicely into any pattern. I'm excited to get it off the wheel.

Weston also has finished my quilt rack, so it is displaying 5 of my quilts. I need to take pictures and post for everyone to enjoy. He is now working on building my loom, which will be fun to play with!

I am also finishing up a quilt top. I was laying it out on the bed, but now Sawyer is napping, so I don't think I want to risk waking him up. Just three more rows to sew together, then sew all the rows together, and BAM! Finished top. I will be happy to have it done. It is actually a pretty neat quilt, it is just a bunch of my scraps sewed together and then cut into blocks. I only had to buy fabric for the sashing (which I actually bought a few years ago, but I just haven't finished this top) so it was a relatively inexpensive quilt.

That is really all that has been going on here. We leave for TX soon. Boo. It's also almost my birthday! YEA!! I love my birthday....

I hope everyone had a great weekend and remembered to SPRING forward... dumb daylight savings.

Ick

2011-03-04T06:58:00.000-09:00

I'm sick. It's just a cold, and not a big deal, but I am a HUGE baby when it comes to being sick. What makes it worse is there is little I can take since I am breastfeeding. So I have been eating soup, drinking tea, and trying to rest. Which is hard when Sawyer is still on his nap strike. I'm taking today off of work (I only went in for a few hours yesterday) but still having my SIL come in to watch Sawyer, so maybe I can rest a bit. Sawyer only woke up once last night to eat, so maybe we are on our way back to normal??

Other than that, not too much going on. I cast on a hat for Sawyer that is going to be a bunny. It's a simple roll-brim beanie that I am going to attach bunny ears to. I did all the math to figure out how big it should be, so I'm excited to see if it fits. :)

It is Fur Rondy here (which is our winter celebration) and tomorrow we are going to see a roller derby competition. Pretty excited for that, as I hear they are supposed to be a lot of fun. If it's not windy, we are also planning to go see the snow sculptures. And the Iditarod starts tomorrow!! Crazy! I wonder if Lance Mackey can win again....

I hope everyone has a good weekend!

Pirates!

2011-02-28T18:16:00.000-09:00

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

2011-02-23T08:24:00.000-09:00

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

2011-02-18T09:28:00.000-09:00

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!

2011-02-15T08:44:00.000-09:00

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!

2011-02-09T14:24:00.000-09:00

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!