Practice!

I think the tuba is getting easier to listen to. :)

The one that taught me about gauge

I cast on this sweater 2ish years ago. I went to the yarn shop with Fran, and we saw the sweetest little sweater. She loved it and bought the pattern and yarn, and then handed it all to me and sent me on my merry way with it.

I knit a gauge swatch or two, figured I had it, and started knitting. I knit the fronts, the back, the sleeves, and then thought they might be easier to sew together if I blocked them first, so I threw them in the bath.

That's where I got my big lesson.

You see, the yarn was completely different after it had gotten wet. WAY different. It GREW. A LOT. And suddenly the reason I didn't get gauge on the needles the pattern recommended was pretty obvious. Because it grew once it got wet.

I skipped that step where you're supposed to wash your swatch the way you'll wash your finished item. I'd done that over and over again, and the swatch never really changed with washing. It might get a bit thicker, but the size was always pretty much the same - but then the fiber was always the same. I usually just knit with straight wool, or a wool and acrylic blend, or plain old acrylic. This was a fancy blend of merino, silk, and cashmere. It didn't do what I was used to, and there is where I fell down.

Faced with a way bigger sweater than I wanted, and having to do a bunch of seaming while matching up stripes, I stuffed it in a bag and walked away from it. But I did remember the lesson and made sure to wash the swatches when I cast on for bigger sweaters for me - you better believe that!

Finally, I took the pieces back to Fran and handed them over. I really do hate seaming, and she said she'd be happy to put the pieces together for me, but she was not going to knit that ruffle.

I got the pieces back from her this summer, and finally sat down yesterday to do the last bit. That ruffle went on for ages, but everything else was done, and even though the sweater was way bigger than I originally thought it would be, Eleri was now the perfect size to fit it, so I needed to get cracking before there was a chill in the air.

She picked out the button after her nap, and here we are.

2 years later, it's a perfect fit!

WIP Wednesday

With dental visits, orthodontist visits, car pool, and baseball coming up - knitting that travels well is essential.
Socks fit the bill.

First Day of School! 2013

I always think of Nemo yelling on the first day of school. Time, once again, for the quiet to descend on the house as the boys head off to another day of school. I have this last year home with Eleri, and then they'll all be school kids. I may need some holding and lots of chocolate for that. eeep!
They are both going back to their old classrooms, so the nerves and such that I always had for the first day of school don't come into play. Next year will be different, because everyone will be starting a new classroom, but this year is pretty smooth with more of the same as last year.

 

6th grader

 

3rd Grader

I told them to look cute, and this is what they gave me.

 

I told them to show me some blue steel, and they did this

 

Just look at Niall in the first one and Rowan in the second, and you have a pretty good picture.

We made sure they had what they needed, reminded them of the house rule (always be kinder than necessary!) and then they were off! They are both in the oldest grade in their classrooms this year, and they are looking forward to the bonus responsibilities and privileges that come with that. 

 

Have a good year, boys!

ow ow ow ow ow ow ow! And introducing WIP Wednesday

I got to try out the new Rex urgent care today.
Rowan dropped a spaghetti sauce jar on the front walk yesterday when he was taking out the recycling. He cleaned it up (he said) and I forgot ALLLLLL about it until right before lunchtime today, when I found a big piece of glass with my foot.
I now know what hurts the instep more than Lego. A big piece of glass.

 

5 stitches and a tetanus shot for me!

Black and white and after I got cleaned up, because I love you.

 

So, I'm grounded for a while. No pool for 2 weeks. I can't even shower for 3 days. :( Thank goodness for a tub and a shower head on a hose. Mama needs to wash her hair. 

 

What's a girl to do with forced sitting time? Good thing I knit. 

It's WIP Wednesday. I decided to start working on a Tempest Shawl, for my Goddaughter's first communion some time in the future. Yes, I have a lot of works in progress. I've decided that Wednesday is when I'll show you whatever particular one I'm working on that day.

instagram!

I'm going to add a button in the sidebar that will link to an instagram slide show. Why? Because I've been using instagram again since I got the ipad, and Mom doesn't have instagram and she isn't on facebook so she misses the shares of instagram there. TECHNOLOLOLICAH! gee. I'm making it work.
So, here's the slide show. And once I figure out how to add a little doohickey to the side, you'll be able to click that and see those. It will work as long as I remember to upload the pictures to my flickr and change them to public view and stick them in the instagram set.
Or you could just get instagram. MOM. *gives Mom the fisheye*

oops!

I was talking to Mom yesterday and she reminded me that I haven't been putting things on the blog. Oopsies!
It's been a very busy summer. I swear, Rowan has spent more time away from home than he's spent here! And we only have one more week until school starts back up again.
It's been SO RAINY that we haven't been out in the pool as much, or outside as much.

I promised pictures, though, so here are pictures of John's birthday.
John's birthday pictures
Flickr has changed their format, and I'm not a big fan of what they did. But it is what it is.

We had some entertainment this morning. Niall lost two teeth last night, but one is somewhere in the bottom of the pool. He put the one he had in the pocket with a note about the other one and hoped for the best. Our tooth fairy hasn't exactly been reliable lately. Imagine his surprise when he woke up to find this!

 

A teeny tiny letter!

It looks like we're going to be getting a new and more reliable fairy. Niall is excited about that. Will she bring golden dollars? Toys? Hotwheels cars?

 

Niall thinks it's pretty awesome.

Video fun

Eleri finally trusts her puddle jumper! It makes swimming in the pool so much more fun.


I have no idea why it's all pixelated like that. It looks normal on the ipad, but I've tried to upload it several different ways and it's always like that. Oh well. You get the general idea. She loves it!

I wanted a video of Niall, too, but all he wanted to do was make his stuffed panthers meow at me. I told him I wasn't going to film annoying. We'll see if I can get one of him soon.

The Harry Potter Project

So, it's been a while since I blogged. I could keep telling myself that so much has happened and I have to catch up, but that's overwhelming and only leads to me putting off updating. I've decided, instead, to just jump in now and post about today.

Our house is small for a family of our size. 1200square, and we can now say that we are definitely living in every inch of it. See, the boys have been chafing each other raw with living in the same room. It's not unheard of, and really not something I can blame them for. It's tight in there, and they have such different personalities. It's not easy!
But we only have 3 bedrooms...

John told me about how when he was a kid, and he and Dan were at each others throats, but they only had 3 bedrooms, his parents converted the dining room into a room for him until Ben moved out. We don't have a dining room, and we have a LONG time until Rowan goes to college, but it was a good idea - repurpose a spot for someone so that everyone has their own space.

One day, it hit me. We have a walk in closet in our master bedroom. That closet has a window. We don't actually USE the clothes in the closet most of the time. Most of the time, we use the clothes that are in our dressers. Half the time we can't even walk into our closet because of all the shoes on the floor. John's shoes are boats. Have you seen his feet?

I thought, and measured, and took everything out, and measured again. I thought some more, and climbed into the attic to measure the crib because it converted to a toddler bed and was smaller than the car bed. It would work if I took a shelf out and we figured out where to stash some clothes. John thought it was a pretty good idea, even though it looked like our closet had thrown up all over our bedroom.

I felt kind of bad about it. It seems very Dursley to stick a kid in your closet, even if it's the smallest kid in a good sized closet. But it has a window, right? Harry Potter didn't have a window.

We took out the shelf and spackled the holes. I found a mostly full can of purple paint, "Italian Fantasy," in the shed, so I painted it. I also had an extra vinyl Eleri that my friend made me when she made the one for the dress up station. The dress up station does not fit in her new room, but the spice racks I got from Ikea do, and they make nice little bookshelves.

She's spending her first night in there tonight. I just tucked her in, and she's smiling so big her face is about to crack. I wonder how long it will take her to fall asleep?

 

Looking in from our vanity area

 

I had to use the iPad to take pictures. I couldn't back up enough with my camera!

 

 

 

Take a picture of me sleeping!

 

 Take a picture of me building!

 

The fairy lamp isn't plugged in, but it's pretty.

 

The steps are from Mom, since Annabelle doesn't use them.

 

I think this is going to work out really well. Now we just have to get our room looking this good! 

Last day of school 2013

I'm so far behind in blogging it's not funny. But oh well. It's the last day of school!

For Rowan, the last day of 5th grade. He's grown so much! Today's picture of Rowan is weird. His shirt is hanging funny. I didn't notice the book bag weirdness when I was taking it.

  

He's a little taller. His hair is a lot longer.

Niall has also grown a bunch. He couldn't smile as well because last night he woke up to go to the bathroom and tripped over some stuff on his floor. His lip met a chair and is all puffy now. The caterwauling at 2am shot me straight out of bed. But anyway...

 

He's grown a lot, but his hair shrank.

One more year done!

 

Fall 2012

 

And now Spring 2013

 

More dancing

We've been extremely busy around here. Lots to catch up on.
Have a dancing video to tide you over.

We love dancing class

Thursday mornings, when I tell Eleri that it's dancing class day, she responds with glee.
So much fun! She's getting better at it, too.
Enjoy!

Niall's First Communion

 

Pretty Proud

You can see the full photo set here. 

Brothers

Once again, the difference in personality is glaringly obvious

Sewing fun

I will always be glad I learned how to sew when I was in high school, simply because I can do things like this.

Pixie-ism

Eleri has been asking me to put her hair in waterfalls lately.
What are waterfalls?
To the uninitiated, they are piggy tails.

Waterfalls are much more glamorous, don't you think?

 

She's sitting on the new window seat. That will be another post when it's closer to done.

Happy Easter!

I worked and worked to get the knits done in time. Success! But now I am more than a little tired of that shade of green. They look good though! Happy Easter!

 

 Getting all three to look at the same time is still a challenge.

...

Funny outtake

...

In other springtime news, we finally found Niall's missing bike helmet. It was in the shed, where I'd tossed it when I found it out in the yard a few weeks ago. An enterprising bird must have thought like it looked like a great place to build a home, but luckily it gave up before it actually laid any eggs in there. Or maybe I picked it up and tossed it into the shed in the nick of time! I love the look on his face here. It's like he's saying, "Do you believe the kind of stuff that happens to me?"

Niall's science fair project

Niall did his science fair project on tsunamis. Good choice for that one. Even Niall can't match the awesome, destructive force of a tsunami.

Practicing for the big day

Eleri will be dancing at the Raleigh Irish Festival for St. Patrick's day. The little guys are SO CUTE. I can barely stand it. I nearly burst every week.






and more cuteness

SNOW!

It's still coming down out there, but the kids are in for lunch. This is a pretty ideal snow as far as things go. Big flakes are sticking to the grass and roof, but the road is just wet.
Pics of Rowan and Eleri. Niall was not out there long enough. The child who has no problem walking out there barefoot to make a print in the snow doesn't actually like to STAY out there when properly clothed.