Category Archives: kids

September 13, 2007 · 3:05 am

Mini Posts

I have too much too say and little time to say it, so here, in no special order are all the things I’d like to have the time to write a nice long post for but instead will give the abbreviated version:

1. Creativity and Four Year Olds.

(Photo taken by Little Man himself)

As Little Man is staring hard at another Lego creation:

Me: How do you know when it’s done?

Little Man: When it’s cool. It isn’t done yet because it’s still not cool.

So there you have it. How do you know when that special project is really done? When it’s cool.

2. A Problem
I really want to knit the Baby Surprise Jacket, toddler size. I have no idea how to size it up; I’ve never knit one before and I can’t figure out how to make it bigger when I’m not even sure from the picture how it all goes together. Suggestions? I want to stick with worsted weight as that’s what I’ve got, so sizing it up with bulkier yarn won’t work.

3. My Contest

My Flood Relief Contest is turning into a sad little contest with only two, yes TWO entries so far. That’s great for these fine knitters, who so far have a 50/50 chance of winning yarn but I am perplexed. Do knitters not like farmers? Not like vegetables? Not like Fleece Artist? Are they just procrastinators who know they still have 16 days to officially enter? (I did get lots of “good idea!” e-mails, but just two official entries) Is it the colorways? (Because I do think they’re lovely). Do I need to offer chocolate as well? (I will, you know, offer chocolate too.) Do you all spend your last $20 on coffee and sock yarn? I am truly perplexed.

I have dreams of being able to say “The knitters (and sewers, do I need fabric too? I’ve got it!) raised $500 for flood relief and so far we’re at $40. If everyone donated $5 each, think how much we could raise!!

4. Embarrassment

There is no worse feeling than having to tell the tech at work that your child somehow broke your laptop screen by throwing some random object at it, which happened to then hit the screen in the two minutes you were not in the room with the Precious Laptop from Work, even thought you kept it up on the Very High Buffet, out of reach from little hands. Because you can tell the tech has no children, so you ramble and say stupid things like “Maybe it was a superball” and the tech keeps mumbling things like “Apple won’t warranty this” and “well, you get the prize this year.”

Amazingly, the tech brings you a new laptop. A crummy one that he can’t fit all you music on (a problem, since you’re the music teacher) but at least it’s a laptop. You leave it at work and happily come home to your hacked together IBM.

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Filed under contests, family, kids

September 9, 2007 · 6:19 pm

I’m in Trouble

Just as I was feeling bummed that Creative Fibers was closing, thus eliminating all near by spinning products, I found out that The Fiber Studio had just opened up this week. Just minutes from my house.

This should not be a bad thing. Except that the shop is beautiful: hardwood floors, natural lighting, beautifully decorated, and lovely, lovely fiber. And of course, when you have a shop that gorgeous you get an owner who is equally delightful. Pam was friendly, welcoming and made me wish I could stay there all day rather than rush back into the car when my three guys were waiting for me. She’s going to be offering classes and spinning groups. And this is why this is all a bad thing, because I am going to spend all my money there and my family will never see me anymore. The store is that nice.

Pam also sells a bit of yarn, dyes, beads, and all sorts of other lovely things we all can find a use for. Two items came home with me:

Some beautiful hand dyed suri alpaca.

I have no idea what to do with this right now but I have a sneaking suspicion that I can count on Pam to teach me. I’m waiting for that class list!

This was an exciting find:

You are looking at a pack on vintage kimono fabric. I’m really wanting to make this into a quilted circular needle holder. If you are loving this and are sad you can’t run over to Pam and buy some, you can also order at Ah! Kimono

Pam is having her grand opening the 21st and 22nd of September. Be sure to stop by!

I have a boring WIP to add.

Plain old anklets. Practical but not that exciting, and not even a clever photo to spice them up a bit. But they are done, I’m happy, and I’m one project closer to buying some yarn.

Stats:
yarn:Regia bamboo/wool
needle: size 1
pattern: plain old, typical sock

I hope you are all enjoying this wonderful weather as much as we are. This was actually last weekend, as I’ve not been well this weekend, but at least I can enjoy it in my own backyard.

Lastly, don’t forget to get in your Sow the Seeds contest entries in to me. Did anyone watch the video? I’m curious to hear what you thought.

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Filed under kids, spinning, stash

July 28, 2007 · 1:25 pm

Bleh…

I’ve got the blogging and crafting blehs…My ankle socks are nearly done but due to the fact that my crafting room is one without an air conditioner I am just not motivated to make much else. Add to that Knittybaby’s marathon 90 minute bedtimes and Little Man just being SO Little Man lately and I’m wiped out.

My evening blogging time has also been replaced lately with my obsession with Raising Your Spirited Child by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka. I can’t stop reading it and re-reading it because WOW, all of a sudden my children make sense to me. I don’t write too much about this issue because when my kids read this blog 20 years from now I don’t want it be all negative; I tend to stick to the funnier troubles or the postive stuff my kids do, with maybe a little complaining now and then. All in all my kids rock and I want that to be the vibe around here. That said, as great as my kids are, they are not what one would call easy (yeah, I know, no kid is easy but there is a definite spectrum) and I’ve been feeling more and more frustrated lately.

In a nutshell, Kurcinka talks about temperment: intensity, perceptiveness, sensitivity, adaptation, persistence, energy (there are a few more). Everyone has these but a spirited kid has it to the next level. As she says, they are simply “more.” This explains why Knittybaby has the sleep issues he does and why Little Man can have a day where he meltsdown every twenty minutes all day long. I could write for pages but I won’t; we have a new bagel place to go check out this morning. But I’ll say again: WOW. Even if your kid is pretty even tempered I really think every parent, grandparent, teacher etc. should read this book.

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July 17, 2007 · 3:33 am

Have you had your serving of dairy???

Thanks for all the dragon love. I’m excited to finish up the jacket but I have so many projects going on at once now. Now that the hard part is done, I’ll try to put on a little bit of trim here and there so it is done by Christmas.

I actually have a bunch of FO’s to show you, but I’ve got toe issues and I just don’t feel like modeling socks for you right now. I stubbed it last week, which just left it a bit sore for a couple of days. Then, Little Man stepped on that same toe while I was making breakfast last Thursday twice, rather hard, and ever since then the toe pain has been awful. It’s a little swollen and kind of purple on top and hurts like hell, especially when I’m on my feet. Could it be broken? Would a doctor do much if it was? I’m debatig if I want to squeeze in a doctor trip tomorrow. In the meantime I’ll just keep my feet up tonight.

I also have new WIP’s to show off. Two more pairs of socks went OTN this weekend. We went down around Madison for a huge family reunion. It was really a great time and I had the chance to reconnect with cousins I haven’t seen in over twenty years; I really hope we can keep this new connection going. The boys had a blast, but it was a bit odd realizing that now I’m the mom with little ones running around the farm. I used to be that kid!

The trip meant a lot of driving time, so I finished up one pair of socks, cast on for a new pair of bamboo/wool anklets and also meant to work on another pair of socks. But I brought the wrong issue of Interweave with the wrong pattern. So I cast on for the Embossed Leaves socks instead. (Lucky I always bring plenty of sock yarn.)

My knitting time on the way home was not that pleasant however. The boys were exhausted; in fact I’ve never seem Little Man so tired. Four nights of being up until ten or eleven plus his incredibly picky eating habits left the poor kid a total wreck. On Sunday he only ate two pancakes, two snow cones and a few bites of potato salad. At supper it was a couple bites of his sub and a little milk. We were desperate for him to get something in his system so we let him keep his milk with him in the backseat. Bad choice.

I don’t know what exactly set him off but the kid hit a mental wall. He spilled a little bit of milk on the back seat and as I turned around to try to clean it up he threw his entire bottle of open milk at us in the front seat. Milk everywhere: all over both of us, the dashboard, the stick shift, the stereo, my knitting….I’ve never seen my poor boy so tired and upset in as long time. Little Man yelling “Mom, you’re a bad lady!” while Knittybaby is crying and milk is dripping…and all the Skeptic and I could do was laugh because what else can you do in a situation like that???? It’s not really his fault. We’re the dummies who kept him up that late four nights in a row and fed him nothing but party and road food. Wouldn’t you throw your milk too?

Miracously we did make it home, all in one piece, but you can all understand now, with the toe and the milk and the general fatigue why there was no knitting photo shoot today. But in order to give you at least something good to look at I’ll give you some Little Man art. He suddenly went from the typical random four year old scribbles to faces and people. I’m pretty excited for him:

Lastly, to quote Knittybaby who is officially babbling his real first words now:

“All done.”

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Filed under kids, knitting

July 8, 2007 · 3:25 am

Let’s see how far I get

Trying to blog, answer e-mail or basically do anything lately has been a nightmare lately, thanks to two constantly overtired boys who both refuse bedtime and are taking about two hours to go to sleep every evening (I still curse daylight savings for this). This means my evening blogging/knitting/spinning/sewing time is cut drastically. So rather than do one big Estes post, we’ll just see how much I get done before the Skeptic gets off the phone for our movie night or one of the boys wakes up again.

Before I get to the fiber and yarn, I need to send out a very belated and wonderful thank you to my swap partner for the Spring into Summer Dishcloth swap, Erica. She has even better pictures on her blog, so be sure to pay her a visit. Everything was wonderful; I was especially excited about the beautiful stitch markers and the flower cloth. I’ve knit a few before but never for myself and I’ve always wanted one.

Pretty, huh?
So on to Wool Market at Estes…

I’m going to start with the yarn since it’s all on one picture. The yarn selection was great and it was fun to get a chance to see some new stuff. It was a little overwhelming and I pretty much wandered around for three hours trying to figure out what to buy. I controlled myself pretty well with the yarn:

From left to right starting on top:

1. Textiles A Mano Shanghai 50/50 silk wool blend. My favorite.

2. I am so bummed I can’t find the receipt for this. It is angora and nylon and it is dyed by a woman who based all her colorways on her husbands Wyoming photograpy. Her stuff was beautiful and I was hoping to order more someday. Anyone know who she is? The tag just has a picture of the photograph it is based on with the yarn info.

3. Brooks Farm Solana, 100% wool. Their booth was overwhelming and I spent so much time there, couldn’t handle it and grabbed this. I love it but wish I had more as they had a Clapotis in it that was so snuggle and squishy. I might have to e-mail them to see if they have any left. Their yarns are amazing and I wish I has gotten a few more skeins of their stuff.

4. Plain and Fancy Sheep and Wool Company, two skeins sportweight. Noticing a weird new color trend for me here? No web site for these guys.

5. The springiest, sproingiest (is that a word? It has to be for this yarn) fingering weight ever. 100% Cormo by Elsa Sheep and Wool Company. I need more of this.

6. Lastly, this was not at the Market but at The Stitchin’ Den in Estes Park. It’s Lonesome Stone Yarn, 100% merino superwash in Fruit Salad.

And with that, I’ll call it a night.

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Filed under kids, stash, travels

July 3, 2007 · 3:23 am

I had wanted to show you all this:

But instead I have to deal with this:

Never ever, EVER, no matter how sweetly he asks you, never let your four year old help you ply.

I’m going to cry some more and continue the hours of untangling.

18 Comments

Filed under kids, spinning

May 24, 2007 · 1:03 pm

Monster Mash

If you’re like me, you can’t bear to throw out any scrap of yarn. Even the little 6 inch leftover scraps I trim off after weaving in ends…I keep them all. This is not just me being a little over obsessive about yarn. It does serve a practical purpose, as looking at all those scraps shoved together in a plastic baggie often give me new ideas for color or texture combinations that I may not have thought of otherwise.

However, sometimes little boys find those bags of scraps. Sometimes those little boys want to “make something” with those scraps. And sometimes a mom wants to try to get a few minutes of peace and quiet and decides that not all those scraps are really that important. With that thought, I give you this very, very mini tutorial on how to make a monster with your pre-schooler.

1. Put your baby down for his nap first. That way you will get your ten minutes of quiet.

2. Gather your pre-schooler and explain that it’s a special day: they get to use Mama’s Yarn Scraps. Watch them jump up and down with glee.

3. Grap a handful of scraps and cut them up into little furry pieces.

4. Draw a monster. Make sure he’s got a big, fat body. As you can see, refined drawing skills are not necessary!

5. Fill up your monster’s furry spots with glue.

6. Now comes the best part. Tell your child to put the monster’s fur on. Show him how to mash down the yarn onto the glue. Tell them to do a few pieces at a time so it sticks really well. And then, sneak away. Mop the floor, do the dishes, fold some laundry, or (gasp!) say the hell with housework and go and knit. I was a good girl and mopped the kitchen.

7. You may get called back to draw a monster dog and box to add to the picture. But nevertheless, your child will happily glue yarn, you’ll get a little break and when you’re all done:

You’ve got a furry little monster, one baggie less of yarn scraps, a thrilled pre-schooler and a happy mom.

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May 9, 2007 · 3:48 am

Joy

We made it to the May Day Fesitval on Sunday. We missed the parade, which was sad as it is really one of my favorite events all summer. Take some time to check out the link; fabulous puppets and constumes. We did manage to get there to see the pagent and sing “You Are My Sunshine” with the crowd…I love that part and it always makes me tear up just a little (I’m sappy like that) but the best part came afterwards, when Little Man, Knittybaby and I were heading back to the car while the Skeptic finished up his work. (He always gets stuck doing audio for Mayday).

Anyway, the three of us were getting ready to hike up the big hill towards our car, but we decided to grab some ice cream first. As we sat there, a local Cuban band started up. They were fabulous and Little Man was really into it. He finished up his ice cream and found a pink, wilted flower on the ground. I was beat and trying to convince him to head up the hill with me. We got about 20 feet up when all of a sudden he puts the flower stem between his teeth and just started dancing this happy, gleeful little dance…the funniest most joyful dance I’ve ever seen. The kind of dance only a four year old can do. I neglected to have my camera, but it was one of those moments that I will always have captured in my heart. I gave in and we ran back down the hill into the crowd and I watched him dance his little heart out until we were finally tired enough to head home.

I finished the apron on time. Wiggly boys are not very good models.

The finished shot:

Finally, for my Dishcloth Swap partner:

When did you learn to knit? Who taught you? Wow, four years ago now! A friedn got my started then my Grandma made sure I really knew what I was doing.
What was your very first completed object? A little garter stitch hat for Little Man. Your most recent? A hat and sweater set for my nephew.
What was the very first thing you sent to the frog pond? A sock (pulled out and started over) Your most recent? A sock! 🙂
What is currently on the needles for you? Four pairs of socks, Swallowtail Shawl, a Noro Cotton/silk scarf.
What types of needles do you enjoy working with? I’m pretty flexible. Pretty much depends on the typw of project. But usually bamboo or Addis. What have you tried and hated? The only ones I really hate are super sticky ones.
Have you knit dishcloths before? Yup!
1. What was your favorite one? Mason-Dixon
2. Least favorite? None, really…
Do you use homemade dishcloths or face cloths yourself, or give them as gifts, or both? Both!
What are your favorite and least favorite scents? (For your body, such as soap/lotion/etc) I love lavender and citrus, but it’s got to be 100% natural, no artificial dyes or fragrances. I’m pretty sensitive:-)
What are your favorite colors? Pinks, blues, browns. Lately I’m on a yellow and green kick.
What colors (if any) are your bathroom and kitchen decorated in? Blue bathroom. The kitchen, pink!
What other hobbies and crafts do you enjoy? Spinning, sewing, crochet.
Chocolate: Dark? White? Milk? Ew? All of the above! (except ew:-)
Do you like salty treats? What kinds? Cashews, almonds, any kind of nut really.
If you could go anywhere in the world for one day and spend the day any way you wanted, where would you go and what would you do? Italy. Eat and knit
Do you have any allergies? (Yarns, foods, etc. that might impact what your pal can send) nope!

Crying baby, not proofreading tonight! 🙂

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Filed under finished objects, kids, swaps

April 22, 2007 · 3:11 am

Catching Up

I have so much to post about, I’m not even sure where to start. Knittybaby has decided it’s okay to sleep on his own again. He’s still not quite %100, but at least he wants to play again and get back to normal baby business. He just needs extra cuddling and sling time.

Between Knittybaby’s virus and the swap I’m way behind, so I’m actually backing all the way up to last weekend. I have something I absolutely love to show off!

I finished the garter stitch baby sweater! This sweater and accompanying bonnet went to my sister-in-law for her baby shower last weekend. I was right up to the wire with the bonnet. Thank goodness she’s not a knitter, as I actually spent last Friday knitting it right in front of her. When my otherSIL asked me what it was I answered, “a purse.” Sneaky me!

I am in love with this project.

Patterns: Garter Stitch Baby Jacket from The Baby Knits Book by Debbie Bliss. The bonnet is a free pattern from Hello Yarn.

Yarn: Rowan Soft Baby in Meadow and Claudia Handpaints in Bearded Iris.

I’m pretty happy with the Soft Baby. It feels a lot like knitting with fleece, and the only thing I don’t like about it is that it has that fleecy tendency to pick up every piece of lint and cat hair in a mile radius. Other than that it is a nice baby yarn. The Claudia? Butter.
The pattern for the sweater was easy, but I didn’t like the unfinished look it seemed to have, plus the Soft Baby was crying for some contrast. I also felt that the sweater needed more width in the front. When I went to button it as is, I didn’t like the way it pulled in the front. The crocheted button band allivated that problem, plus I love the look of it.

The bonnet is an excellent basic pattern. I changed the I-cord ties to a side tie with buttons. I think I sewed them on a little too close together.

I’m happy to say the ensemble got “oohs” at the shower and my SIL seemed to love it.

The rest of the weekend was wonderful. We spent Sunday down by the creek with the boys on a perfect Spring day. We spent a lot of time just wandering, wondering if we really could ever be farm people. I could go on for pages about this issue…I guess I’ll save that dilemma for another day. I think the bottom line is that no matter where we lived we’d miss what was elsewhere…

Little Man had an exciting discovery, however. I wish I had the camera with us. He and the Skeptic found an entire beaver skeleton buried in the muck along the edge of the creek, pretty much fully intact. I had to get over my “ish” factor but Little Man was so enthralled. I love watching him in moments like these. The best part was we also found where the beaver had been chewing the trees and found quite a few stumps. What an amazing lesson and a wonderful day.

One last thing, since I’m on the topic of wonderful things. Then I’m calling it a night. In my rush to get Little Man to pre-school on Thursday, I left my purse on top of the car and drove off. Smart, I know. In what can only be called our “transistional” neighborhood, I figured it was gone for good. Nope!! Some lovely man found it, called me up and delivered it to my house. Every penny, every check, my phone, all still there. This so restored my faith in my neighborhood and the people in it. I get a little frustrated with the goings-on at times. But here’s a guy, who (I’m only guessing) probably could have used what was in that purse more than me. I wish I could send him something but he would only give me his name. Anyway, thank you Feliciano!!! You made my day. I only wish you were reading this to know how much I appreciated your kindness.

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Filed under finished objects, kids

April 18, 2007 · 3:27 am

And the winners are….

Thanks so much for Knittybaby’s get well wishes! He’s no better or worse. Still has a fever of about 102F and is fine as long as he’s on someone’s lap or sleeping next to him. So tonight we’re back to non-stop nursing in the rocker with the laptop on the end table. Thank goodness I’m an excellent one-handed typer!

I finished the Knitting Circle last night. Really, a wonderful, wonderful book. There’s a little bit of the “eclectic group of knitters bonded through knitting!” stuff that appears in many of the knitting fiction books out there, but the writing rises above it and there is no cheesiness whatsoever. Can I just recommend you not read it when your kid is coming down with some unknown feverish bug? This is a serious tear-jerker as it is. I have never bawled so many times while reading a book. But it was worth it. Now go hug your kids.
Okay, on to our winners! The first two receive needle cases, the third yarn.
And the random number gererator says:
1 Set of 3 Unique Numbers Per Set
Range: From 1 to 63 — Unsorted

Set #1: 51, 37, 42

Comment #51 was left by Tiphanie!!! You win a needle roll….

Comment #37 was left by Anne! Another needle roll….

Comment #42 was left by Tammy!! You’ve got some Gale Woods yarn coming….

E-mail me at knittymama AT yahoo DOT com with your snail mail, three favorite colors, and if you won a needle case, what style you’d like (regular double points, mini sock needle roll, hmmm….I bet I could even make one for circs). I’ll get to the sewing this weekend and get all packages sent out in a week.
Congrats to the winners! And thanks to everyone who entered. I’ve enjoyed getting to know some new blogs and reading all of your birthday stories.

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Filed under books, contests, kids