knit. drink tea. repeat.

In the beginning of October I had a surgery.

It wasn't really major, but the recovery was still long and painful.

I entertained myself by working on a couple of e-courses,

filling up an art journal, and kitting.

And now, even though I've healed,

the ridiculous cold temperatures lend themselves

to cozy curling on the couch with some yarn and a cup of hot tea,

so I've continued knitting.

These are the projects I've completed in the past few months:

Lucy Hat

A beautiful, elegant pattern.

(I learned how to make short rows!)
This hat was an instant favorite,

well-worth the price for the pattern.

Sweet Life fingerless gloves

I was using up leftover yarn from the Lucy hat,

so these are shorter than the pattern recommends.
This was a fun pattern;

I enjoyed learning the mock honey comb stitch.

Irish Hiking Mitts

Once again, these are short (and have funky colorblocked thumbs)

because I was using up scraps of yarn.

The mitts are stretchy and comfortable.

I gave them to my Mum for her to wear at work

because her office is quite chilly in the winter.

Lotus Hat

This is not really a complicated pattern,

but I had the hardest time not messing up my counting.

So much unraveling...

Lizzy Lid
This was really not the yarn to use for this pattern;

neither the lovely stitch patterns nor the striping in the yarn

is showcased in this combination.

Live and learn...

cable baby

This darling baby hat is very stretchy to grow with baby

and makes the perfect little gift.

I'll definitely be making more of these.

I am always amazed at the variety and quality

of free knitting patterns available.
Thank you, you lovely people

who share your patterns with such generosity!

rite of childhood

[hot chocolate after chilly outdoor play]

big boy helper

After observing his fascination with the process of snow removal, my parents purchased a tiny snow shovel for Little Man. He simply loves using it and is quite proud of being able to help.

snow and ice

[one of my first attempts at close-up snowflake photography]

Well, after our lovely, long (for us) autumn, winter has set in with a vengeance. We have about 10 inches of snow on the ground right now, and yesterday had a balmy high of -2 degrees Fahrenheit. Brrrr!

I am so thankful for the cozy blankets on our beds, the roaring wood stove in the basement, the furnace that helps circulate the heat, and the yummy stew we had for dinner!

In spite of the bitter chill and the inconvenience of bundling up, the snow sure is pretty to look at. I suppose that when it really comes down to it, I'm thankful for the snow too. : )

greetings

photos

At the beginning of this month, I had the privilege of taking family/Christmas photos for some of our friends. We spent about forty-five minutes together and were able to get some shots we were all pleased with.

First we took some bundled-up outdoor photos in their snowy yard beside their large lilac bush.

Since it was barely over zero degrees Fahrenheit that day, the outdoor scene didn't last long, and we headed inside to try some photos in front of their decorated Christmas tree.

Their little daughter is almost exactly two months older than Brother and is such a delight to photograph. (Isn't she a doll?)

This last photo just might be my favorite of all of them. She was smiling up at her daddy who was standing behind me doing all he could to get her to crack a smile. I think that adoring little look was worth it all.

craziness

Life has been crazy busy lately. I'm hoping to get back into my blogging rhythm soon. In the meantime, I'll give a short re-capping list of what's been going on.

~We have battled colds and won. And then gotten colds again.

~We have enjoyed more snow.

~We have finished our Christmas shopping (I think) and have a lot of delightful little surprises up our sleeves.

~We have taken a whirlwind weekend trip to see Benjamin's parents.

~We have tackled begining a new schedule with earlier mornings and bed times (and I'm loving it).

~Benjamin's graduation date is set for the 20th of February!

~We have been prompt to doctor appointments, church events, family gatherings, and music lessons.

~Brother has had his three month birthday.

~We have gotten our family photos taken.

~I have started my own Etsy store! It has been a lot more work to get it going than I anticipated, but I have a few things posted and have a lot more ideas. I would be delighted if you would like to come visit me there.

September 30

On September 30th, we got our first snow. We were having an unseasonably warm September; it was a lovely extension of summer! Then overnight we were surrounded by a winter wonderland. We seem to have skipped Autumn this year. The temperatures are dipping down to single digits (Fahrenheit) nightly, and we have continued to get more snow.

We have pulled out our winter coats and fired up the furnace. We have began wearing warm sweaters and using our down comforter. I don't think I'm ready for this! Apparently the trees aren't either; they are still holding onto their leaves.

In spite of my grumbling acceptance of the sudden change of season, I have to admit that the snow and ice have beauties of their own. Our carport is wearing a stunning glittering, dripping fringe, and on our chilly trip to church on Sunday morning, I realized that I could see tiny, perfect, individual eight sided snowflakes. I always forget about that and get to discover it new again every year. Seeing those lacy individual snowflakes never fails to take my breath away. They are so lovely.

March in Montana

And this is part of the reason I was so excited about finding three new sweaters in March, when most of the US is pulling out warm weather clothes. Yesterday started out as a sunny and warm short sleeve weather day. I believe it was even over 50 degrees. By mid-afternoon it was raining, and by late afternoon, it was snowing hard. Over the course of the evening, it dumped all this lovely wet snow! And today it is sunny and drippy-melting. In a few days I might be wearing sandals again, but I’ll expect to be back in my cozy sweaters at least for a couple of days before the end of April.

Little Men want man's work too

Recently Little Man has had a fascination with firewood. As you may recall from a semi-recent post, he has been delighting in carrying around small logs in imitation Daddy and Grandpa. The last few trips to our back porch/car port have had him all excited about the wood pile and the axe (yikes!). Thankfully the axe is too heavy for him to lift yet, but he tried to lift it for all he’s worth!

Yesterday Benjamin took Little Man outside and allowed him to safely help chop a few small pieces of firewood. Little Man seemed almost ready to burst with pride at his grown up job, and was more than slightly grieved when we decided it was time to come back inside.

I’m looking forward to the growing joys and challenges of keeping our Little Man busy and stimulated mentally, spiritually, and physically. And I’m thankful to know where to go for more wisdom when my small supply runs low!

Winter Blues

Got the winter blues.
stock the fire,
bundle up,
try to get the errands done.

Got the winter blues.
sick of the cold,
short days,
those long, dark nights.

Got the winter blues.
ready for spring,
sunshine,
warmth, and planting time.

Got the winter blues.
be patient,
thankful,
wait wait wait.

Christmas Treasures

It finally warmed up enough to take Little Man out to play in the snow! We had a ton of fun pulling him around the street in his little sled, introducing him to the snow, and making snow angels.

We gave him a set of classic wooden blocks for Christmas; he likes them and can already stack up to three on top of each other.

My dear guys taking a breather after wrestling.

My parents gave Little Man an old lap top they had that was collecting dust, and he loves it. He has been enjoying having a computer that he can touch, "type" on, and play with the mouse. It has been a lot of fun.

We had a relaxed, laid-back day with my parents that was a true relief from the crazy busyness that has been going on lately. I hope that you had a joyful and peaceful Christmas. What are some of your treasured moments from the holiday?

cold without, busywarmth within

Actually, it's been pretty cold inside too. (The frost on the window in the picture is inside our house.) Our poor overworked furnace isn't doing so well keeping our house warm. Considering that it's currently -15 degrees with a windchill of -31 degrees, we are not surprised. Still, we moved our mattress out to the living room where the gas fireplace keeps the chilly air slightly more at bay.

Yesterday we got somewhere between 6 and 12 inches of snow--it's hard to tell how much it actually was because the wind blew it all into drifts, so in some places it is much shallower, and in others it is significantly deeper. It is so beautiful! I am excited to have white Christmas...

Little Man loved watching the snow fall (he also loves crackers with peanut butter, can you tell?). I wish I could have taken him out to play in the snow, but I didn't think it would be wise to take him out in the bitter cold.

Yesterday was just the day for sitting curled up reading (or blogging), but I resisted the urge and instead finished a couple of projects whose looming deadline (today) prompted my self-denial. ; ) Not that they weren't fun too...

The first project that I finished was a custom Christmas card for a lady in our church who wanted to give it to a coworker for a Secret Santa deal. (I blotted out their names in the picture, because some people are nervous about the Internet, and I didn't have the chance to ask permission.)

She gave me the wording she wanted in it, and as you can see, I turned it into a festive calligraphy card. I decided to mount the words on a fairly simple background and am so pleased with the classy way it turned out.


I also finished a baby quilt as a gift at a baby shower I attended today. It is bright. I think I am going to call it "cherry rose pinwheels". "Cherry" because that's what the bright pink and green remind me of, rose because of the tiny rosebud print that pulls it all together.

We finished off the evening by going over to our friends' house (the ones I took family pictures of) where we made home made ravioli. Mmmmm...my husband is an amazing cook!

We were excited to use the new pasta roller they got us for Christmas. We have been wanting a pasta roller for years now, and when they brought it out to give to us, I was almost speechless! It works so quickly and efficiently rolls out sheets of pasta that what would normally take a lot of time and effort.

Tonight our church had its annual Sunday School Christmas program. My husband and mom teamed up to write and direct it, and it went so well! I was so proud of them. Little Man was a cute little sheep, but sadly, I forgot my camera, so I have no photos. :(

I am looking ahead to another full week as I am hoping to finish my Christmas baking and make deliveries of plates of cookies. In addition, we are playing at the nursing home of Tuesday. We also have a small Christmas concert at a local coffee shop on Friday evening! I'm so excited!

I should close this long post and move on to my menu planning!

Snowy Day Spontenaity

This morning I went over to my mom's house where I helped her with one of her quilt projects. (Since she is visually impaired there are things that work a lot more efficiently if I help her with them; I like it--it makes me feel needed and useful. Plus we enjoy working together.) Then she watched Little Man while I went and voted.

After lunch we went to the store where we bought some groceries and got our free Starbucks coffee for voting. ; ) The very nice lady working there gave us a small hot chocolate for Little Man too! Boy, did he like that. Then my mom came over to my house. I was going to diligently work on the quilts I'm making for my brother-in-law to sell when he sells his Celtic knotwork art this spring at some Celtic fairs (check out his site, it's pretty nifty). But who wants to be predictable when you've just had a good cup of coffee and you are in your cozy living room contentedly watching a movie-set-perfect snow drifting by the windows? I mean, come on, it's a no brainer. ; )

So I decided to be spontaneous. A while back I found the cutest chocolate brown and vanilla ice cream retro flower print fabric at the thrift store. Feeling inspired to dress up our new-to-us couch, I decided to make couch pillows! I will post pictures tomorrow after I buy pillow forms for the cases I made today.

And I decided to make a Very Cute Tote Bag all my own. See, a while back Molly of a Foothill Home Companion posted about the funky-fun apple and orange polka-dot tote she had just made, and I've been mulling over making one of my own since I saw hers. Since I couldn't find the pattern she used, I combined the retro flower print and some leftover curtain fabric with my sewing skills and practical common sense and made up my own! See how cute final product turned out? ; ) Now I can hardly wait to use it.

Little Man is teething hard and is one moody fellow. One moment he will be happy, sweet, and giggly, the next he will be fussing, screaming and hitting. I can understand his grumpiness seeing that he has two molars that are part of the way through and two more that just broke the skin today as well as four other little teeth that I think are trying to come through. : (

Here is a cute picture of him in one of his happy moments. He was all ready to go out into the cold weather and was waiting for me to get my coat on. I couldn't resist snapping a photo of him playing with his trike all bundled up.

Today he started feeding himself with a spoon. He's already getting the concept though he is far from perfecting the art. It's so cute to watch him trying so hard and still getting food all over. I think he might be a lefty since he tried with both hands multiple times and the left hand was consistently less clumsy. I'm not really surprised since both of my grandfathers are left handed.

I think that's all for today, so good night!