Getting Ready...

I am so ready for spring! I am back to listening to bruddah IZ on my computer and dreaming about Hawaii. I am thinking warm thoughts, putting on an extra layer and sometimes, just turning up the thermostat. I wonder if my little oscine friends outside are thinking the same warm thoughts.

I have been restless being indoors for so long. That has turned out to be good for getting projects done around the house. I've decided to cut up all of my old baby receiving blankets (they were so small and my children were so large that they only ended up being used for about a week anyway) and make some home made baby wipes. The first couple of wipe sessions have gone well and I know that they are gentler on my babies' skin. Of course, we'll be taking the disposables on the road. I'd like to say that I'm THAT hard-core but I'm not. I can be a weak woman when it comes to diaper changes sometimes. Whatever is easy and quick, right?


Springtime will come on soon I'm sure, now that I've got my seeds started. I planted them last night and have them all snuggled up and thinking green thoughts in their warm, wet dirt beds. That's a grow light shining on them. We don't always get much sunshine here anyway and when we do, the room they are currently residing in isn't always the sunniest. Grow lights rock!


And since all of the stores around here are all out of rock salt, I must tread carefully on that path!

More Snow and My Hand Knits

Are you wearing your hand knits this winter? Well, that is if you actually live in a climate that has true, bite-your-skin winter. This girl is probably out picking lemons from her citrus grove as you read this. In February.

I know places like this exist, but I just can't bring myself to imagine them in all this snow and ice. February is definitely the month for those of us who live in the northern tundra to escape somewhere exciting and warm. I can't wait until we can do that! Maybe when the kids are potty trained. Or, maybe not. I haven't yet had the experience of "Mommy, I have to go potty!" every three minutes.


It's so cold out this winter season, my hand knits have had a decent run. The first picture is of one of my favorite hats that a really sweet and dear friend of mine knitted for me years ago. It actually fits my big head (seriously, I was the kid on the softball team that had to wear the biggest helmet) and the crown is perfectly shaped. I've never been able to knit a hat that didn't go over my eyes. I do have a pattern for a new cable hat; just in time for spring! Well, you can't always time these things.


What on earth is this? No, I'm not super-organized and already wrapping presents for Christmas next year. I wish. I've got this idea in my head that won't go away and I've been tinkering with a few patterns in my head that I would like to get out onto fabric some day. My sweet hubby has been helping me with the math (I don't have the patience to figure that stuff out) and I've been trying to cut out a pattern out of leftover Christmas wrapping paper. I'm too scared to waste even muslin right now. So, we'll see what happens with this blob; albeit a very festive, colorful blob.

Keep warm and stay on the path!

"Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes." -Oscar Wilde

On they way to my parents' house this past friday, I finished the Debbie Bliss toddler hoodie that has taken me ages to get around to finishing. I PROMISED everyone that saw this hoodie that I followed the pattern but it didn't turn out quite how I wanted. The torso was a little short, the arms are slightly too long and the hood, well, let's just say that it made my two-year old look like he was going to be in Jedi knight training. Or it looked like a bucket for carrying extra produce or groceries. I honestly have a hard time following DB's patterns sometimes and I know it's the way I'm reading the pattern. Oh well.


You win some, and you lose some. To be honest, we completely lost it when we tried this on our son. He was scared of the thing and put up a little fight when we wanted to slip this over his head. I can't blame him!


Now I have some great, cream-colored yarn for a new project. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Happy Valentine's Day!

This is our valentine craft for Chandler's V-day party today. What 2-year old wouldn't appreciate googly eyes?

Celebrating the path ...

WIPs Everywhere

I just can't seem to be well this year. Since January I have been deathly ill a couple of times. Well, I wasn't in the hospital or anything, but I sure felt like I should have been. I just can't seem to get ahead in the good health department this year. So, I've decided that for Lent I am going to go bed early, wash my hands a lot, drink lots of water, eat better, make time for some exercise and just take care of myself in general. I learned my lesson during the most recent virus and committed myself to getting better.


That said, I am sorry to say that there are no more late nights in the sewing dungeon for me. If I am a good girl and get all my chores done, I can go back down there, but not at the expense of losing sleep. At least not during the cold and flu season. So, I am back into my knitting projects for a while. They are multiplying and following me everywhere. In the kitchen (you can probably see the banana bread crumbs still fresh on my counter top - we love that stuff around here). In the dining room (yes, that's my ice water in the background). I am almost finished with the second edition of the fair isle baby cap as well as the Debbie Bliss Toddler hoodie. I am on my last sleeve to finish up the piece. Hopefully there will be some pictures soon of the hoodie in action.

Until then, stay well and take care of yourselves!

Back on the path...

Compassion Brings Bloggers to Uganda!

Compassion International, a nonprofit organization sponsoring children in order to break the cycle of poverty, is sponsoring a very special trip to Uganda this month to allow some special people to see their good work up close: Bloggers! Yes, Compassion is brining along 15 bloggers, including my fabulous SIL, to blog about their trip and experiences they will be having in this amazing country among even more amazing people.

For a list of the participating bloggers, please follow this link.

Please take time to check out the site by clicking on the widget at the right (under my Flickr widget). They will also have a Flickr group that will chronicle their day-to-day with photographs (taken by my SIL as well).

Thanks everyone!

(PS - that photo is from the Compassion Flickr account, but it is NOT from Uganda. They don't have any Uganda photos up yet, but aren't those kids cute? They are from Haiti.)

More Printable Iron-Ons

I've finally had a few moments to modify my original iron-on t-shirt transfer. Unfortunately, I've missed Chandler's first birthday, but I should be able to make a t-shirt for another deserving little birthday boy in the future.

I am in the process of creating non-birthday transfers for white t-shirts for little girls and boys - so stay tuned!

On the path...

Obsession, Part II

I haven't really been able to make it down to the sewing dungeon again, but have instead started another fair isle baby cap for a deserving little head. These caps don't take up too much yarn and are good left-over yarn stash (if there is such a thing) busters if you keep your small, used balls of leftover yarn like I do.

Hopefully I can get back to the quilt-a-long soon.

On the path and hiking along...

Winter White

We've been trying out all kinds of indoor activities to beat the stir-crazy blues in our household. The big activity right now is so simple, so elegant, yet offers all kinds of fun for some busy little hands. That activity is ... Lima Beans. Yes, hard, dry, white lima beans. They are too big to fit into a nostril or down an ear (believe me, my son already tried) and they make such a nice sound hitting a glass bowl. We've been busy making pretend soups, transferring the beans from a large bowl to smaller ones using mugs, wooden spoons, our hands and cups. My son routinely requests the "beans" every evening after dinner. It doesn't matter what I do to try to distract him to do something different. Fun, fun for everyone!



Now is the time for all of you northerners to get out and use your handknits! I've been outside shoveling the snow and ended up taking photos of the beautiful, velvety goodness. Of course, I say that now, and in a few weeks I'm going to be wishing for spring. My husband already wishes for it. Probably has something to do with shoveling the driveway at 6AM this morning. Hmm...





On the path...