Tinkerbell Slippers

The Lorax is into the Disney Princesses big time, but a few weeks back we found a Tinkerbell movie at the library, and now we are experiencing a little bit of a fairy phase. We have indulged in the other Tinkerbell movies as well - they are cute stories (though full of plot holes), I like that the fairies actually *do* something practical / useful, and they are not overly saccharine or obnoxious. I think part of me also has a fondness for the fairies - I like the stories about them being trouble makers (remember in Labyrinth when the fairy bites Sarah?!). And in theatre / drama club in high school we always made sure to have a little fairy dust in our shoe before a show. Anyway, Lorelai spotted a pair of tinkerbell slippers at some big box store - lucky for us she's pretty good about just looking, and then "putting it on her wishlist" for her birthday or settling to tell Daddy or Grandma that she would like to have them.

Dan was making a trip to the big box store and we had talked about buying her those slippers as a special treat, but as luck would have it they were sold out. I do not know why it didn't dawn on me earlier, but shoot - I could just knit them! How hard could that be? Not very - a quick search on ravelry led me to the Little Stay On Slippers perfectly sized already for wee feet. I dove into the stash for some lime green cotton yarn, some white yarn and the pom pom maker - and voila!


They went on her feet as soon as they were finished :) Success!

Coronation

Before I had kids (!! kids, I have kids!) I used to think that 3 or 4 was a nice number of kids to have - in my family I am the oldest of 3, my dad is the oldest of 4 and my mom is the oldest of 7. Now? I'm good with two and I have no idea how my mom, my Gram or my Nana made it work. Obviously they did and it was all well and good, but it's mind boggling to me now, especially as we try to figure out this new normal with the Lorax. Maybe it's the little moments like this that get you over the humps...


Our My sleep schedule is still pretty messed up, so when there is down time I am trying to lay low. My fingers are getting itchy to make things again - and it feels like I am constantly in motion - rocking, swaying, walking - when I sit still I still feel like I'm moving. Generally I am not a fidgety person. Even now as I write this my knee is swaying back and forth. I do think this is in part to my lack of knitting. Usually my hands are busy! I am really glad that I have been practicing crochet because that is easy enough for me to pick up / put down and then I have the satisfaction of having made something.

I made this little crown - using a random ball from the stash, in the P-newborn size it works up quickly and just fits.

The Lorax was very interested in it as well - and has requested a Tinkerbell Crown (Nevermind that Tink does not wear a crown. She has been pretending to put on / take off a "Morning Crown" and a "Sleeping Crown" whatever those are) Lucky for me, the pattern does go up to a size that should work for her. This was great practice.

I have started a quicky project for the Lorax that I hope to share in the next day or so - it feels so good to get those stitches in each day!

Arr!

Hurricane Season is upon us - apparently, we might even feel some of Hurricane Irene this weekend! One of the last things I did before having a baby last week (it was already last week! time seems to have stopped and yet sped up simultaneously.) was send off a knit gift. My uncle, of the knit kidney, left New England last year for the warmer shores of the Caribbean and opened up St.Johnimals, a pet outfitter. He is missed terribly and I wanted to knit him something else, but really, a) How do you follow up on a kidney? and b) What do you knit for someone who now lives the island life?


A Pirate Turtle - for a safe Hurricane Season and to keep the pirates at bay!


Sheldon needed a swig before his trip. My "Pyrate Speak" mug came from my trip to Virgin Gorda (which is a British Virgin Island, St. John is an American Virgin Island).


To quote one of my favorite lines from "Pirates of the Caribbean" - "Why is the rum gone?"

Yarn Along - August 17

The "Better Late than Never!" Edition - of course I had to do this when I realized it was Wednesday, but couldn't blog it until now.

~From small things
~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Take a photo and share it either on your blog or on Flickr.


So, on Tuesday (you know, While I Waited) I had an appointment to check amniotic fluid levels - turned out that the tech could only find one pocket of fluid to check, and that level was low enough to send me over to the hospital that afternoon. In a manner that was strikingly similar to the situation with Lorelai, they broke my water around 8, and by 10-ish things were really progressing enough that there was no time for the epidural I wanted, and Ta-DAH! 10:36pm, the lil'nutmeg Nathaniel Thomas was here! . It is still so very surreal - I can't believe I have had another baby. I can't believe we're already back home. I can't believe how similar this one is to Lorelai - he's slightly smaller than she was (7.9lbs, 19.6 inches), but the head full of hair really seals the deal I think.

It seems a bit crazier to be home this time around - Jackson is constantly on guard / edge, and Lorelai is still full of endless energy. She's getting to indulge in extra tv time this week that's for sure. But all is well so far - we could all use more sleep, but we're healthy and happy, so we just take one thing at a time.

Back to the yarn along-ing. I did bring hexipuffs to my ultrasound appointment, but I didn't work on them because I thought for sure I would drop the little balls of yarn and they would roll away. Instead I worked on a sock, but that wasn't the greatest idea either - I realized that I would have to try on the sock at some point to know where to decrease for the toe and I couldn't exactly reach my toes then. Oh well, live and learn.

While I wait

Trying to keep myself occupied and distracted (without being too grumpy or antsy) this week as I continue to play the waiting game with the lil'nutmeg and the hospital. Thank goodness for knitting! I'm still working away on the hexipuffs:

And have also sent off a bunch of mini-skeins for a swap - I am really looking forward to getting the chance to try out some new yarns this way!

Over the weekend I finished the last of my WIPs! Well, the active more short-term ones - if you look at my Ravelry project page there are several WIPs, but most now are in hibernation. I am choosing to ignore the "Neon Nightmare" and the "Beekeeper's Quilt" as those are truly long term projects, though they are active. This most recent WIP is a gift and has been shipped off to the recipient. Once I know it has been received then I'll be able to blog about it.

This is a very strange feeling to have my needles "empty" for the most part - no deadline knitting (hoping to pick up testing / sample knitting again in September), a closet full of yarn, a ravelry queue that is ~30 pages (?!) - one could get lost in options and my decision making lately has already mostly fallen into the general "Meh, whatever" category. I did decide to go with another project that has been on my mind lately - Andrea's Mitts. These slightly cooler days must have me thinking for fall, so I pulled out some Rhinebeck yarn ( silver Delly's Delights Farm O-So-Soft) and a purple yarn which sadly lost it's tag (I think I got it in a swap, can't find it in the blog, phooey). These might end up a Christmas gift, or I might keep them, right now I'm 50/50.

I started yesterday and am increasing the thumb gusset now. I am surprised as how quick these are working up. So far so good I am enjoying them and I know I have plenty of yarn to make another pair after this if I am so inclined (grey + pink, maybe reversing the purple + grey combo too).

Pondering

Amy, of thingswemake, posted some really interesting points to ponder last week. I found that I kept thinking about them, so I sent her a rambling email with my point of view on things. Her post on Thursday quoted me! :) I wanted to share the blog-love and suggest it if you need something to ponder or are looking for inspiration (she does a fantastic job finding indie / handmade art, sharing recipes, and her wedding photos are adorable!)

This moment. Squee!

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Bit by bit

So it is Wednesday, a day for Yarn Along, and pretty much all I am reading this past week is Lorelai's books and the blogs. My attention span is quite possibly the lowest it has ever been - actually what I have been "reading" the most is to keep my computer next to me while I knit and I can keep an eye on the Ravelry Radar. I started a new project as well - a very long-term project, without any sort of goal at this point in time, and no specific deadline - this is a selfish project for me, The Beekeeper's Quilt. When I first saw it on Ravelry I thought it was cute and clever - especially because it uses sock yarn leftovers! I have a basket full of sock leftovers and sock minis that have made their way into my stash either through trades or swaps or whatever.

I decided to ignore the fact that I am already working on a blanket (the Neon Nightmare) for me and just recognize that I could not stop thinking about this project. I have a lot of sock scraps, I am expecting a new baby any day now and between that and my 3.5 yr old daughter I think I need to have a more portable project for snuggling / waiting in the car / etc, just to keep the knitting going. I've been at it for about a week, and my word, these are addictive little buggers to work up. I can't quite tell if it the addictiveness is due to being able to make a hexipuff in ~45minutes (more or less depending on the amount of distractions going on), the thrill of getting to see the different color changes in the sock yarns work up, or the ease of having such a portable project.

I think I have about 11 done in the last week. For now I'm just keeping them in a clear glass vase on the mantle. I have also been going back through the sock scraps and pulling out some for my own use, some for trade / swap. It is a lot of fun to work with some familiar yarns again, and I look forward to swaps and trades to get exposure to new-to-me-yarns as well.

I am going for a very scrappy look, though I can see how easy it would be to get ultra obsessed and create a picture / pattern with these. The estimates for size run from ~1000 hexipuffs for a bed-size blanket to several hundred for a lapghan / baby size. Right now I'm not sure where I will end up. For now this is a great project and I'm loving it!

Made for Baby

Last week at SnB, my fellow knitters provided a little celebration for LittleNutmeg! I was so surprised and am so flattered by their kindness and generosity! Wife,"Mom",Knitter took photos - if you click on through you'll see that I am making the same face in pretty much each one :) My little one is quite lucky to have "Knitting Aunts" that all wish him or her well! I mean absolutely NO disrespect to anyone else's knitting, and I do hope that the gals are not offended by my photos of their items with Jackson - but it is what I tend to do around here, and since there isn't any other appropriate sized little one around, he gets to model!

Wife,"Mom",Knitter blogged about the Funky Chicken she made - I've decided in it's Muppet-ness, this chicken is to be called "Camilla" (that was the name of the chicken who was Gonzo's main squeeze).


Denise has ensured the baby's coolness with a pair of Baby Converse!


Costumechick worked up a stunning bamboo lace shawl / blanket that I look forward to snuggling under when it cools down a bit (and as we continue to crank the AC) in one of my favorite shade of teal blue.


Lisa crocheted an "Under the Sea" blanket - I just love the colors in this and the detail - the turtle shell swirl, the octopus tentacles!


Archiknist knit a pair of baby legwarmers (these were on my to-do list, now I don't have to!) and matching hat!

I think Jackson approves - everything is snuggly!

FakeKnitter made a delicious cake that was such a sweet treat that night and for breakfast! Lorelai loved the frosting especially!

I am so honored to call these ladies my friends!

Yarn Along - Aug 3 Stripes!

from small things

Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Take a photo and share it either on your blog or on Flickr.

I've been mostly trying to stay on top of the blog reading this past week, so that's my google reader page on the ipad. I am dreaming about starting new projects, but I am actually only working on two things. My Neon Nightmare, a massive granny stripe blanket - it is starting to get heavier and take up more space as I work on it. So far, I've got 28 rows done, about 11 inches, and I am planning to work this up to use up ALL the yarn that I have for each color. I do believe that when the cooler days and nights come this way (and they are coming!) I will look forward to working on this. This project is boosting my crochet confidence as well, so I am quite pleased. The red & white stripey thing is part of a surprise gift that I do not want to talk too much about - the recipient has swung by my blog once in a while.

I have another striped object to share - I finished the Rainbow Marley last week at SnB. I made myself finish the twirly bits on the top, and thanks to Costumechick for her input on the twirly bits - she suggested putting them together tassle-like (versus pinwheel style) and that seemed to work out just right.

Jackson, back at work.


Will you go away if I don't look at you?


Seriously kid, we're the original siblings - help me out and take this off my head.