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Spiritual Knitter in AZ

by on April 14, 2012 in Family, Sam and Sophie

Very belated photos from our Spring Break trip to visit my parents in Arizona in March:

Heidi and Dad at Brewers’ Spring Training opener. Yes, I am knitting a sock.

Every good spring/summer vacation should start with a mani-pedi (compliments of my mom). I went for green, and when the lady asked me if I wanted a flower,  I asked for a shamrock and got this instead, which I thought was pretty cool! (Slight language barrier, as she was Vietnamese.)

 

Grandma and Sophie in the pool. We spent every afternoon in the swimming pool. The kids loved it.

Sam in the pool. He loved swimming on  his own (with life jacket, of course).

The two Eds reading by the pool. The similarities are uncanny–note hats and shoes!

Ed and I hiked Camelback, but an easier climb than last time two years ago. This took only an hour, which was tough enough for out-of-shape me.

Ed at the top (of the middle of the humps) of Camelback.

Gifts from Auntie Sue and Uncle John: T-shirt and bee costume. The kids held hands a lot while we were down there.

Hike on our last day there.  Wish I had a photo of our visit with the Misiewiczs. Looks like we didn’t take any. Still, a very nice and pretty relaxing trip, considering we had two toddlers with us. Thanks, Mom and Dad!

I knit for bears

by on March 9, 2012 in Knitting, Sam and Sophie

We interrupt Selfish Knitting Month (or my two month’s late report of it) to bring you some unselfish knitting.

My son asked me to knit a sweater for his teddy bear–which is actually my teddy bear from when I was about 1 year old. I called him “Boo Bear” since I couldn’t say “blue,” and, as you can see, he’s had quite a bit of fixing up already. I got him out to show to the kids and Sam started carrying him around. I figured a sweater might protect him a bit. After all, he’s already 45-plus years old.

I used the free Teddy Bear Rollneck Sweater pattern (Ravelry link here) and some blue superwash wool from my stash. The pattern assumes you know how to knit a top-down raglan sweater (“move sleeve sts from scrap yarn to needles and begin working in stockinette stitch”–it took me awhile to figure out which stitches it meant). I chose to just have the rollneck and did K1P1 ribbing at the sleeves and bottom. For next time: Bears have very short arms.

Then Sophie asked me to knit a green sweater for her bear (which I had knit for her last year). I just used smaller needles and slightly thinner wool/acrylic from my stash. Maybe this was a little selfish after all, since it makes me so happy to see them playing with handknit toys!

The dreaded between-Christmas-and-New-Year’s birthday

by on January 13, 2012 in Food, Holidays, Sam and Sophie

Our daughter’s birthday is December 29. (And unlike parents who give birth, we did not rejoice because she was born just in time to be a tax deduction. It doesn’t work that way for adoption.) For her first birthday with us, we had a nice family party at my parents’ house. But this year I wanted to have a “real” birthday party for her. And my friend Kristin, who also has a December birthday, pretty much badgered me into it!

When asked what she wanted for her birthday, she said, “Cupcakes and balloons.” Later, she got more specific: chocolate cupcakes and a snowman cake. Now, I’m not into shaped cakes, but I figured I could do a snowman. Two 9-inch round cake pans, a few chocolate stars (left over from the Peanut Blossoms), a real carrot for a nose and the cupcakes arranged like a hat. Voila!

About 30 family and friends came for a fun afternoon party with fun, pizza and presents. I can’t find my camera right now, so here’s a photo taken by our neighbor (the mom of the cute baby Sophie is holding.) She’s wearing her felt birthday crown I made last year and an adorable dress with an machine embroidered snowman, made by my Aunt Pat. What a cutie!

I’m so excited to have a girl who is 3! She is a happy kid and a very focused, hard worker. She loves having stories read to her, crafts and playing outside. She especially loves her Daddy–and the Hello Kitty purse and accessories we gave her. Happy birthday, sweet Sophie!

Mittens

by on January 8, 2012 in Knitting, Sam and Sophie

I just finished a pair of mittens for my 5-year-old niece Elena, who lives in Kentucky. When we were visiting over Thanksgiving, I was knitting some mittens for Sam and Sophie, and she was mesmerized. She was very vocal about what color mittens I should knit her: pink, purple and light blue. (Of course her mom avoided gendered pink clothes for her as a baby, so now she’s into anything princess. Go figure.)

I used a pattern created by my mom, which works for kids, men and women. For Elena’s, I used size 3 and 5 needles, cast on 36 stitches, knit 2 inches of ribbing (about 18 rows), another 1.5 inches to base of thumb, then 2.5 more inches before top decreases. Thumbs are 2.5 inches. I added about 30 inches of I-cord to string through her coat, so she doesn’t lose them. I used wool from my stash.

These are ones I made Sophie, out of some stash cashmere to match a new yellow jacket. For them, I also used size 3 and 5, cast on 28, 1.5 inches of ribbing, another 1 inch to base of thumb, 2 more inches before decreasing, and 1.5 inches for thumb. Also, about 28 inches of I-cord.

And these are Sam’s, also of stash cashmere. They’re so soft (and already a bit worn). Same measurements as Sophie’s. I learned how to do jogless stripes with this project, using these instructions here.

My mom says every kid should have hand-knit mittens, and she knit Sam and Sophie their first pair. I was happy to be able to knit something useful for my kids.

On the 12th day of Christmas

by on January 6, 2012 in Friends, Holidays, Sam and Sophie, Thrifted

Some final holiday pictures, as the Christmas ends today with Epiphany.

The moon last night, with Christmas tree and lights.

Sophie works on her gingerbread house. (Got the kits at Aldi this year for $3.99 each!)

I’m so glad our kids love cooking and crafting. Tonight they both asked for their Mama-made pajamas, but they were in the wash. Warms my heart.

The gingerbread house making has become an annual tradition with our friends Lincoln and his parents.

Some of my new-to-me, but vintage, Santa face mug collection in my new kitchen (and some Santa’s Butt beer that Ed got in his stocking). More photos to come of what was my most creative project of 2011.

OK, now the tree and decorations can come down. Happy Epiphany.

A new Christmas tradition

by on January 1, 2012 in Holidays, Sam and Sophie, Sewing

I started a new Christmas tradition this year–making new pajamas for the kids that they got on Christmas Eve.Sam helped me pick out the flannel at the Joann’s down in Lexington over Thanksgiving. (They were having a sale for like $2/yard.) He picked out this rocket ship print for himself.

I chose this monkey and “sign peace” (as she says) print for Sophie. I used this tutorial to make the pajama bottoms, using a pair that currently fits as a model. (Same size for both kids, as they’re only about 2-3 pounds apart right now.)

I then used freezer paper and blanket stitch to attach a circle of the flannel fabric to a purchased red T-shirt for each of them.

The final piece of the package–and the one they loved the most–was a mini “corn bag” (or “corn pillow,” as the kids call them). They’re those microwaveable fabric bags full of field corn (not the popping kind) that keep your toes warm all night. More about corn bags in a future post.

Here they are wearing them on Christmas morning. When they ran into their bedroom after bath on Christmas Eve, they were so excited to see the new PJs and corn bags. Sam remembered the fabric and asked if I knit them. When I said I sewed them, Sophie said, “Thank you so much, Mommy, I love them!” Totally worth it.