This weekend was our first for summer vacation. I could tell we all enjoyed it a little more than a regular weekend during the school year. I sewed two dresses and a top for Leelee. THREE items in a weekend (actually three items on Friday/Saturday), earlier in the week I finished her rainbow top. Which is the only picture I have to share, cause I haven’t bothered to snap photos of the sewed items.

I used the handy “Pick Your Own” website to find a local orchard to pick strawberries, cherries, black raspberries, blueberries, peaches, plums, and the old staple, apples. Of course all when seasonally ripe. We found the kick butt pumpkin patch with that website, and cut-your-own Christmas tree sites as well. Though we didn’t use the latter, as the husband declared we can not have a real tree until we live in a bigger place. He is pretty right on this, and bought a nice fake tree to appease me and the wild things.

A bit back I made a crayon roll with Skip to My Lou’s instructions, and this has been a big hit in the house. I adjusted it to hold a notepad, and the big kids like it for “waitressing” and it aids Leelee when she just gets the undeniable urge to draw and draw right now. I fear colored walls in the future… she’s rather dedicated to the craft of coloring.

Other than crafting, coloring, and finding places to pick fruit, we enjoyed some tea.

Looked for clues to find fluffy little robins after we found some eggs by our front door.

We see some very territorial robins flying above in our tree, but too many leaves (and to tall a tree) to see a nest.

And we listened to Mrs Piggle Wiggles Magic while we bought mad ice cream for our Alice in Wonderland slumber party.

Seriously way too good.

And even Leelee was ok with being at another store (she much prefers Kroger’s they give her cookies at the bakery) with the thought of cookie ice cream in the cart!

Someone may have bought the Hipstamatic App for my iphone, that takes these analog style pictures, thanks to Sara’s suggestion.

And all the discovery outdoors, tea parties indoors, picnic, ice cream, slumber parties, all caught up with her, as she crashed for a nap mid play at 11 in the morning. This girl naps promptly at 3 every day, never before lunch.

It was a good start to summer, up next.. Seattle. Now what to bring for the plane ride to entertain four kids. Not to mention the three hour layover in Minneapolis, three hours?!?! Still bumming that we didn’t get to fly to LAX for a shorter layover.

I’m definitely interested in suggestions on keeping them (and even myself!) occupied.

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Except, we are back from Chicago. A whirlwind hike up to the city, a dinner with my family, and back home to finish the last week of school. (The glory of home school is that I get to enjoy summer vacation just like I did as a kid!)

A quick lunch from one of the street vendors.

Birds (and ducks even) waiting patiently and expectantly for us to toss them some bread.

After eating, playing chase (of one another)…

Finding things in the grass..

Completely tickled, and laughing contagiously

Pointing out one bird, two bird… (I love the sears tower in the background… oh how I yearn to live in Chicago)

A little friend, who I found standing right next to my shoe.

Into the aquarium to stand above manta-rays.

Watch sharks swim by…

Stare at this creepy bloke…

Watch their new dolphin show “fantasea”

walk along Lake Michigan

run along the path way with a beautiful breeze blowing our hair…

name the types of columns along the Field Museum (from our study of Greece), and Solider Field… (also get asked for money while I take this picture)

trip and fall, and be rescued by Daddy

Complete the day with cake and presents…

I do declare, that Leelee had a wonderful second birthday.

And, that our trip to Seattle is going to leave me absolutely knackered! Good thing there is no shortage of Starbucks (or coffee for that matter) in Seattle.

Leelee’s golden birthday is tomorrow. I can.not believe that my baby, my last little one is going to be two! Where oh where has the time gone!?!

I still remember when she was this itty bitty…

And now she’s so darn big…

And talking up a storm…

Here she is reading, “Goodnight Moon” to me and Jeremy. When she says “mom” she’s pointing to the mommy bunny, which she started all on her own. Jeremy usually reads bedtime stories with her and said that she’s always pointing out “moms” in the books. Which of course, causes me to melt with love for the little sweetheart.

I’m making progress on her little top that I’d like her to wear for her birthday. Just the sleeve left! When she woke up this morning she ran to it on the ottoman, and said, “pretty.” So I believe I’ve done well in my aim to please.

Jeremy’s boss had his last day yesterday and we had a little going away shindig for him. Too much cake and excitement, left Leelee exhausted on the drive home.

(That was taken as I was getting her out of the car, no flames for her being unbuckled)

And now we are packing our bags to head to Chicago for the day. Since it’s Leelee’s golden birthday, and though she won’t remember, we aim to do something she will get immense joy out of it… which is taking her to Shedd Aquarium. She’s absolutely fascinated by fish, water, and aquariums. I wonder if she’ll be a little swimmer like her Mama.

It’s always bittersweet when thinking of moving, like living even farther from my sister, Erika. We met up in Chicago (a perfect half-way point) in March and had such a wonderful time.

We tried getting all the kids in a photo.

Which is really, just ridiculously impossible.

I’m rather fond of this one, though it doesn’t include my nephew, Landon.

In May, she had her second child, a little girl that they named Adison, and we went to visit her. Erika and baby are doing wonderful and I’m beyond pleased.

In the end though, moving about, visiting places, has always been my nature, even when I didn’t have the means to do it, or the spunk to carry it through. And I’m beyond words happy to not live in Iowa. I figure in about ten years, I’ll write a bunch of novels, and they’ll all take place in Iowa, and I’m good with that.

As for now, Memorial Day weekend, the husband is out working. Earning more for our trip to Seattle in June, (can.not.wait!), and me and the kids are lazying around.

Leelee is pushing Ari’s doll in the stroller we bought for her. I figure each girl deserves a stroller to push around outdoors.

The big kids are cleaning up their rooms, cause they are quite out of order from many hours of imagination.

As for me, I finished the toy bear that Aislyn wanted, and Leelee has since claimed.

pattern: Henry the Bear by Jess Hutchison//ravelry project page

And starting on my next project, a cap sleeved top for Leelee out of scraps, modified and inspired from Jcasa’s own version.

pattern: Seamless Sweater by Shellee Floyd//ravelry project page

I believe nap time will be spent knitting with the fan on, iced coffee on the shelf, and Pride and Prejudice playing in my ears. (Elizabeth Klett does the reading for this version and I highly recommend her.)

Hoping everyone has a nice, safe Memorial Day weekend.

I have spring cleaned, and moved previous posts to the drafts folder, in honor of new beginnings and fresh starts. But still, I’m just dipping my toes. No promises, life-long commitments, or secret handshakes going on here.

Simply put, if I’m not being creative in a tactile sense, then I’m not blogging. They don’t inherently seem to be connected, but they are connected to my person, and if I’m not in the mood to create, then I’m definitely not in the mood to blog.

Maybe it’s spring, it just makes me happy, and inspires me to create and be a better… mom, wife, friend, sister. Cause I have been inspired. It seems ruts are easy to get into, and I was in a definite one with my wild things, who had quite fittingly, taken the title to heart. They would have fit in nicely in Maurice Sendak’s book. Thankfully, they are back to their sweet, perfectly agreeable, loving little selves. Or… as close as they ever were.

And all it took, was for me to remember my parenting motto… It’s really quite simple. If it’s broke, fix it. If what we are doing, no longer works, then I need to do it differently. I can’t just sit here, and bang my head against a wall, and wonder why my head hurts. So I fixed it. I put my focus back on my kids, back to the ages they are, and the kind of Mom I wanted and needed to be.

And one of those things I want to be, is a Mom who can create a little rocket, that inspires my son to do this:

and jump around, and make “rocket” noises, like this:

There’s no time for getting worn out, tired, or even lazy, when there’s a toddler in the house. She’s just as determined to climb the slide, as she is about everything else she puts her mind to.

So, we’ll say I’m dipping my toes into blogging again, back to the simple things, the good, wholesome, make my heart sing, type of things.

I’ve been wanting to for a few months, if my lack of posting didn’t tip that off. I was hoping to make it through the next few months though, but I’ve got no desire.

I’ve been doing my writing almost daily since December, and I just can’t do everything.

Darci basically spammed me to death with her knitting, and forced me to pick up my needles. I now have a hat that just needs decreases. I may finish it before winter is over. Probably not. Last year we didn’t get cold temps or snow past January, and snow’s been melted for weeks now.

My foxtrotter pattern went live in December. You can find it here

And if you want to see it:

It’s a big hit in this house, and with Ari’s friends too.

For Iowans, we are heading back in May, when my sister has her little girl. So no date set yet.

Jeremy’s regional wants us to move in the next 6 months or sooner. Looks like our time in Indiana might be coming to an end soon. I’m really going to miss the Children Museum up in Indianapolis. No idea where we will go, his regional would like him to stay in his region (We don’t have to, but Jeremy really likes working for his regional).

If that ends up, his locations are New York, Pennsylvania, Alabama, and Kentucky… Oh Tennessee too, but we aren’t going there. Or PA ether. And probably not New York too… lol. Basically the only that sounds the best of his region is Kentucky, it’s Louisville and area. I have family there, it’s a city, and makes decent money.

The bigger ticket is Alabama.. apparently its a big oil town. Gosh, it’s crazy to think of living in the south, and in an oil area.

But really, I’m not thinking of anything too hard, nothing is open currently, and there’s no point to wonder about each place.

I finally updated with more music, I’m pretty geeked. I got all the Beatles now, and more classical music (cause I likes it), and then some old time gigs from my childhood, Tracy Chapman (I only like the one album). It makes me think of my Mama and growing up, she listened to it, to death. A nice reminder of the good times. I already had most of the new stuff, so it’s a bit more fleshed out. Added older ones like Van Morrison, and Journey. A good mix now.

And my daughter is officially 9 years old. I can’t believe it’s even possible. I’m so proud of her, and just in awe of this great kid. She’s having a giant slumber party with all her friends, and can’t wait. And I’m getting her signed up for Girl Scout Camp again this summer, thankful that there is refunds if we end up moving.

And I believe that’s a good way to end it. Everything’s going good, ups and downs, but that’s how it goes. I’ve blogged for something like 6 years. It’s had a lot of great purposes and it’s filled them nicely.

I made myself search-able on facebook (now that I’ve blocked the evil). Find me here. (BTW the evil I speak of, is not anyone who ever reads my blog, in case anyone gets self-conscious).

You can also to keep in touch.

When my oldest was a baby, she was gifted a pair of chunky fabric bootees that were adorable on her chubby feet. With this image in mind I began searching for a good pattern, I found loads of great patterns. They all came short in regards to my worsted cotton, and size 6 dpn’s though.

So came Leelee’s boots. There is no rocket science in these, I just wanted them to stay on, be cute, and work with her outfits. They are knit in the round, top down, use worsted weight, tie with i-cord, and hopefully stay on your little one’s feet as they do my own little Leelee’s feet. Added bonus she loves to play with them.

As always I’d love to see your projects; I’m available to answer any questions, and most importantly Happy Knitting!

*new size to come after Miss Pickle outgrows this size; she has peanut feet what can I say.

Modeled by Miss Pickle.

Sizing
Age & Length

0 – 3 Months – 4in / 10cm

Material List
MC – 1 skein Peaches and Cream – Taupe *will not use a full skein*
CC – 1/4 skein Peaches and Cream – Pale Pink
US 6 / 4.0 mm Double Pointed Needles (DPN’s)
Tapestry Needle (for seaming)

Gauge
5 stitches per inch.

Stitch Patterns

Ribbing Pattern:
Round 1 – *K1, P1*

Seed Stitch Pattern:
Round 1 – p1, k1
Round 2 – k1, p1

Cuff
Cast on 26 stitches.

Divide stitches among 3 of your DPN’s.

Join yarn and work in ribbing pattern for 2 1/2in.

Eyelet Round
k2, * yo, k2tog* repeat to end of round

knit 3 rounds

Turning for Top of Boot
knit 5 stitches, turn, purl 9, turn.
Working only the 9 stitches, slip first stitch on each row. knit 15 rows in stockinette stitch, ending with a knit row.

pick up 11 stitches on left side, between needles. Using the slipped stitches for guide.
knit stitches on next needle.
pick up 10 stitches on the right side.

Rearrange stitches as such
9 stitches on first needle; (these are the ones you turned for top of boot)
19 stitches on needle 2;
19 stitches on needle 3

knit 4 rounds (this is the side of the shoe)

change to cc
purl 1 row

Sole
You will be working in Seed Stitch Pattern (above) and decreasing as follows.

Round 1 – Decreasing Round
needle 1 – k2tog, *seed stitch pattern*
needle 2 – k2tog *seed stitch pattern* to last two stitches on needle, k2tog.
needle 3 – k2tog, *seed stitch pattern* to last two stitches on needle, k2tog

round 2 – *seed stitch pattern* all needles

Repeat Round 1 & Round 2 until you have:
needle 1 – 6 stitches
needle 2 – 13 stitches
needle 3 – 13 stitches

bind off in seed stitch pattern

seam bottom.

I-Cord
Cast on 2 stitches and work in I-Cord on your DPN’s until you reach your desired length.

Tip: After a few inches I thread it through the eyelet holes on the shoe and knit the I-Cord until it’s long enough to tie comfortably.

Embellishment
I used the instructions for Flower 1 from the Knitty Petals. I cast on 50 stitches for flower, and it made 4 petals.

Labels: knitting

The easiest, funkiest baby blanket, ever. Or that I’ve personally seen. I’m not a big fan of pastels, and when my good friend, Kris got pregnant, I really wanted to make a great baby blanket but couldn’t find anything that was fun, easy, quick, and colorful. All important, since my yarn arrived two weeks before her due date.

The toddler size makes a great lap blanket, and this could easily be adjusted by casting on more, or using more skeins for length to make it an adult sized blanket.

Some color ideas: Azure & Periwinkle, Pink & Buttermilk, LightBlue & Buttermilk, Blue & Light Blue, Lime & Azure, Burnt Sienna & Azure, Burnt Sienna & Lime, Orange & Yellow, Red & Yellow.

Size

Infant 28 x 34*

Toddler – 34 x 41

Material List

Knit Picks Crayon {100% pima cotton; DK weight};

5[7] skeins of each color.

1 pair US #10 straight or circular needles *do not join*

Gauge

3.5 stitches per inch

With this blanket it’s really not imperative to do a gauge swatch.

*I’m not certain what the final length was on the infant size.

Pattern

With both colors of yarn (2 strands, one of each color), cast on 100 [120] stitches with Long Tail Cast on method or another stretchy cast on.

Fold up, and wrap with a ribbon and give it to the happy new mom, she will love it.

If you use this pattern, I would love to see the finished results. You can leave me a comment here, and don’t forget to post it at ravelry!
shown in buttermilk & pink

Size

2T/3T

Measurements

23″ waist

17″ length (from top of strap to bottom ruffle)

8″ chest

Material List

Caron Simply Soft Yarn {100% acrylic; worsted weight};

1 to 1 1/2 – 3oz. skeins of Main Color [MC] color.

1 skein of Contrasting Color [CC]

1 pair US #7 circular needles

1 pair US #6 DPN’s or something close

Darning Needle

Ribbon *optional*

Gauge

4 stitches per inch

Modeled by Ais, shown in country blue & natural/cream. Pattern

Ruffle

Cast on 184 stitches. Be sure that your stitches are not twisted on the needle before joining. Place a stitch marker at the beginning of the round.

Knit 6 rows in stockinette stitch.

K2tog across, leaving 92 stitches

purl across next row