Taming the Toys

Here is our sick little boy.

Poor thing!  We are surviving his cold.

One of my favorite bloggers asked for pictures of how I'm taming the toys.  So, HollyJo here you go! :)

We had purchased matching tv and stereo units from Ikea back when we were living in NYC.  We continued to use the tv stand until London was mobile.  It was very low and on casters, so it was basically a death trap for a toddler.  I looked and looked for another piece of furniture without much luck.  Everything was waaaay more money than I wanted to spend.  So, we finally decided to move our sofa table and put the tv on it.  It had little baskets on the bottom shelf which housed London's toys for awhile.  As he got bigger, he started playing with (climbing on, dragging around, throwing) the baskets and I was afraid that they would start falling apart.  So I moved one of our under the bed boxes to the living room and it works very well. 

It isn't exactly stylish, but I don't mind.  It works well.  London can pull it out and even play in it.  With a December birthday and Christmas, he has outgrown this "toy box".  Now it houses stuffed animals and a few other odds and ends.
We purchased this toy box from Babies R Us.  It is exactly what I wanted.  When London has a big boy room it will be primary colors and we will move this into his room.  I really like how I can anally sort his toys into the bins and he can enjoy un-organizing them.  I also like how he can see all of his toys and choose what he wants to play with.  Traditionally toy boxes aren't as easy to access.
These are 2 small, unfinished book shelves that we bracketed together so he couldn't pull them onto himself.  They house his bigger toys that don't fit into the bins.  He loves taking his toys on and off of the shelves.  Some day I will probably paint them and put them in his big boy room for books, puzzles, games, etc. 

So, yea, our living room looks a little bit like a preschool right now.  I love it!  London spends 95% of his waking moments in the living room and I want it to be comfortable for him as well as us.  I like having a place for all of the toys while maintaining easy access to them for London.

Happy 100th Post To Me!

I've been totally stalling on posting because I have been waiting for something profound to hit me for my 100th post.  And then I finally decided . . .  eh, I'm just going to post.  So hear I am singing "Happy 100th Post To Me" as I type. :)

As many people are in January, I have been in a major cleaning and organizing mood lately.  We have been working on taming the toys in the living room, made London's bedroom more accessible to him as a toddler, had a major cleaning overhaul in our bedroom and bathroom, and the list goes on.  It feels so good to walk into a clean, un-cluttered, organized room.  It makes my heart sing!!

I have finished my crocheting homework a week early.  That's unheard of!  I am making a scarf for London and I think it will be a little short.  Oh well.  Maybe I will crochet onto the ends to add some length. 

London woke up with a fever this morning.  100.7  It is our first fever. :(  He has a runny nose and a little bit of a cough.  Let's hope this passes QUICK!!

The Dark Side

It is official.  I have gone over to the dark side.  I took a crochet class yesterday and I LOVE IT!!!  I learned 4 stitches (don't ask me their names because I find that to be quite confusing with half doubles, singles, and such) and they are coming together to make a stitch sampler scarf for London.  I am super psyched!  We have to do eight rows by the next class and I will be starting on row two today.

Lime Gelato Felted Bag

This is a long overdue finished object post.  I started this project in a class at Saratoga Needle Arts in January 2007.  I knit it up pretty quickly and felted it.  It took me forever to put the gorgeous ceramic button and snap on.  It was January 2008 to be exact.  My mom sewed the lining for me.  Now, January 2009 I am finally showing you the finished pictures.  I used it all of the time last winter and spring.  I love, love, love it and always get tons of compliments on it!

I love the super cute pink geometric fabric lining.  I picked it up at JoAnn's.  After being inspired by Vera Bradley bags, we took a piece of heavy cardboard, cut it to the size of the base of the bag, and covered it with the fabric from the lining.  It gives the bag support and structure.

I bought the ceramic button at Saratoga Needle Arts.  It is handmade, but I don't know who made it.  I glued it on with apoxy and totally faked the little piece of yarn going through it.  It is covering part of a snap which is the actual closure.
I made the handles longer than the pattern calls for.  I was knitting the handles at the last class and everyone who had finished theirs said that their handles felted much shorter than they would have liked.  Mine comfortably fits over my shoulder.
This is one of my most loved finished products.  It was a great knit too.  Love it!!!

Pattern:  Gelato Bag by Bev Galekas  

It is a Fiber Trends pattern and I enjoyed it.  I had to re-start it after ripping it out, but I think it was user error.  Or too much chatting while knitting and not enough attention to the pattern.  Ah well! :)

Yarn:  Cascade Pastaza  3 skeins

I didn't love knitting with it and I shaved my bag a little after felting.  I wouldn't buy Pastaza again.  I think I held it with Cascade 220, but I don't remember.

FO: Christmas Stocking

Yea!  I have a finished object to tell you about!! :)  

I started a Christmas stocking for London when I took a class at Saratoga Needle Arts back in July.  During the classes I knit all of the stocking, but then of course stalled out until December.  The pattern is designed by the woman who was teaching the class.  The red and green stripes towards the top are a twisted rib.  The letters are duplicate stitched on after the stocking is finished.  It was my first time doing duplicate stitch and I think it turned out quite well.

I did two hand, two color knitting for the trees, checkerboard. and holly.  The little red holly berries are french knots--again a first for me.  I used Cascade 220 Superwash in red, green, and white--maybe a quarter of each skein.  Plenty left to make more stockings for our family!

I hope your holidays were fabulous and your new year is off to an amazing start!

Is it Spring yet?

So last week we got hit with a horrible ice storm and lots of power outages.  Then yesterday about 1pm it started snowing and it is now 10am and it hasn't stopped yet.  We have at least 8 inches--probably more.  And guess what?  Another storm is supposed to start dropping a foot of snow starting tomorrow morning.  Mother Nature is really putting a damper on my plans.  Two Fridays in a row London and I were planning on meeting up with friends that haven't met him yet and we had to cancel.  Today we were going to meet another friend who hasn't met him and I can't see that happening.  Also, I was going to finish Christmas shopping this morning and at 2:30 today I am redeeming a spa gift certificate.  I am REALLY hoping I can still make it to the spa.  I feel badly for the merchants having to deal with the two weekends before Christmas being affected by the weather.

On a more positive note, it is absolutely beautiful out there.  It is so nice to be snuggled up under a blanket in my warm and cozy house and look out at the snowy scenery.  I'm also almost done with gift wrapping---snowy days are good for gift wrapping.  

I hope you are safe and warm and snugly on this wintry day. 

Thawing

Life is getting back to normal in our area.  There are till 50,000+ people without power and some school districts are still closed.  But, for the most part the ice is melting and life is normalizing.  It was actually really warn today--over 50! 

So, today while waiting at my chiropractor's office it suddenly dawned on me---Christmas is next week!  NEXT WEEK!!!  When did that happen??  I am in disbelief!  I have more shopping to do and I haven't wrapped a single gift.  

I only planned on one knitted gift this year.  I was hoping for more, but I only planned on one.  Well, the problem is my parents still don't have electricity and my mother has been staying with us since Friday.  Guess who the knitted gift is for.  Right!  Ugh!!

Ice Storm

So, our corner of the world had a horrible ice storm Thursday into Friday.  We are very fortunate.  There are "state of emergency"-s in many of the towns and counties very close to us.  There are 200,000 people in our area without power.  We have only had brief power interruptions.  Very, very fortunate.  My parents have been staying with us while they wait for their power to return.  According to the weather forecast, it will be awhile before we thaw out.

We are also very fortunate because we were able to see 4 friends today who we haven't seen since October 2007.  It was a wonderful day and London greatly enjoyed meeting them.

I am feeling blessed!!!  It is a wonderful place to be!!!

The New Winter Knitty

The new winter Knitty is up and man am I loving it!  I took a quick look through the patterns, but I need to give them a better look when I have more time.  I have to say I love, love, love the fish hat.  I really wish there was more time before Christmas because my brother's three children would LOVE it.

Organizing and a Cowl

I have been de-cluttering and organizing.  

My craft room ends up being a catch-all for the whole house.  You know the drill . . . wrapping paper, gift boxes, off season clothes, out grown baby clothes, early Christmas present purchases, the doll house my great aunt made in hopes that one day I would have a little girl to enjoy it.  Ya know how it goes.  Then, there is the craft stuff . . . sewing machine, yarn, fabric remnants, yarn, WIPs, yarn, a bit of roving, yarn, knitting needles, yarn, books, yarn, magazines, yarn and more yarn.  It is also the guest room on the rare occasion that we have an overnight guest.  I have surrendered to the fact that it is what it is, but it will be organized and look decent if it kills me!!!

I have purchased a metal shelving unit and rubbermaid bins to store my yarn.  So, I have sorted through most of my yarn.  I enjoyed petting my collection of fiber and dreaming about which project would make the yarn really sing.  I also sorted through my knitting needles.  It is unbelievable how many needles I have.  Very few of them are repeats.  Amazing!

I ripped out 2 of my long standing projects that I am not interested in finishing.  I've finally given myself permission to rip out what I don't like.  Yea!!

I took a class last Monday at Saratoga Needle Arts on Cat Bordhi's Moebius Cowl.  The cast on took a little bit to figure it out, but once I got it man was it fun!!  I am almost finished.  Talk about a quick knit!!

A long, long time ago . . .

Once upon a time a knitter who loved Socks that Rock started reading a blog by another knitter who loved Socks that Rocks.  Princess Irish Girlie lived in a far, far away land called The West Coast.  The West Coast was a fun land.  The people of The West Coast loved to dine on cupcakes and dance the belly dance.  Princess Irish Girlie was a very generous princess.  She was always knitting things for Sir Snowboarder and Lord Lil' Guy.  Princess Irish Girlie even held contests and gave wonderful gifts to strangers.

In the land of The West Coast, the people love to measure their chickens.

Princess Irish Girlie wanted the knitter of The East Coast to be able to measure her chickens, too.   So, a beautiful and fun chicken measurer was gifted.

Princess Irish Girlie also wanted to share with the knitter of The East Coast the wonderful custom of rocking their socks. 

Thanks to the generous Princess Irish Girlie, the knitter of The East Coast learned the joys of measuring chickens and rocking her socks and she lived happily ever after.

First Halloween

Two of my favorite Halloween pics.  

I hope you don't get tired of baby pics.  I don't think I will ever tire of posting them.  

New Project!

I took a class from my LYS last Monday.  It is the Bartholomew's Tantalizing Socks from Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters.  Cat Bordhi is simply amazing.  I can't even begin to think about how her brain works.  I have had this book since shortly after it came out.  I have been waiting for a class because it seemed a little much to figure out on my own.  I am hoping one class will help me understand the basics of the book and then I can apply those concepts to any pattern.  I hope! :) 

The book is divided into the basic sock architectures.  You first knit a baby sock to practice that sock architecture technique and then you knit adult size socks.  

I am knitting the Little Sky as my learning sock on size 5 (dpn) needles with Mountain Colors left over from my very first pair of socks.  We needed to be ready to start the heel at the next class and I am all ready!

Then, I am knitting the Bartholomew's Tantalizing Socks (which needs a nickname because man, that's a lot to type!) on size ones (2 circs) with Lorna's Laces Black Pearl.  This is my first time using Lorna's Laces.  The colors are gorgeous and I can't wait to see how it knits up.  I have completed my cast on and one row.

This is a pretty cool way to kit socks---both London and I will end up with a pair!!!

BSJ FO!!!

We interrupt this Rhinebeck recap to bring you a Finished Object.

I present to you the Baby Surprise Jacket made in Cascade 220 Superwash.

It is big on him, so it will be good for next winter.  Isn't it amazing how this blob of knitting turns into a sweater???

You can see how it folds up by focusing on the darker blue stripe.  Simply amazing!

I have yet to sew on the little sheep buttons from Rhinebeck.  I have a year to get them on.  :)

Thank You!

Thank you America!  

Thank you for getting out and voting, to ending apathy, and for letting politicians know how you feel about the current state of our union.  

Thank you for learning from our mistakes as a nation and refusing to repeat them.

Thank you for setting an example that every child born in our country can truly dream big and be whatever they want to be.  

I have never been so proud to be an American as I am at this moment!!

Rhinebeck Part 2: The BMFA Edition

I love Blue Moon Fiber Arts!  It is even worth the super long, but super friendly line at The Fold.

Here is Lunasea in Leticia.  I've never kit with it.  It is a super bulky wool that is destined to be some sort of hat for me.

This is a close up of Nyame Silkie Socks that Rock.  I'm not sure what its destiny is.
Some gorgeous Mochaberry in Socks that Rock Heavyweight.
Rare Gems in Silkie Socks That Rock.
I was REALLY hoping to find a Sock Monkey kit and I did!  It is enough to make one big and one small one.  I know the purple-y color is Thistle, but I'm not sure what the other one is.
If you can believe it, I still have more BMFA for another post.  I have lots of WIP and even a FO to update you on, too!!

I hope you had a great and safe Halloween.  Ours was low-key and fun.  Today we are heading to an indoor water park.  I can't wait to see London enjoying the water!  Have a great weekend!!

Rhinebeck Part 1

Rhinebeck was wonderful!!  I am sure you are shocked!!! :)

London and I posed with a very friendly sheep.  London was VERY brave and studied her carefully.

I bought a needle felting kit for my niece for Christmas.  I also bought two pumpkin kits for myself.

I bought these super cute sheep buttons for London's BSJ.

In another post, I'll reveal my Blue Moon stash enhancement.  I also have a BSJ updates for you!

Rhinebeck Here I Come

It is Rhinebeck Eve!  I can hardly wait!!

My husband, baby, mother and I will be taking the journey down the thruway to the fiber mecca.  I am soooo very excited!!!  It will be my mother and son's first time.  Unless you count last year when I was 7 months pregnant.

I hope to be there before 9am when the gates open.  Then, of course a straight b-line to The Fold and Socks that Rock.  I am contemplating purchasing yarn for Lindin from Green Mountain Spinnery.  I also am interested in a felted pumpkin kit and matching super soft yarn and fleece for thrummed mittens.  I can't wait to see those sheep herding dogs and London's reaction to all of the animals.  It will be a great day!!!!!

I seamed up and wove in the ends on London's Baby Surprise Jacket.  I didn't add the buttons yet.  It will probably be huge on him this year.  I think he will still wear it tomorrow---kind of like a blanket with sleeves.  So if you see a baby in a blue and green striped BSJ and an Itty Bitty football hat be sure to say hello!  I think I'll be sporting my Socks that Rock Chevron Scarf.

I'm off to dream of fiber---nighty night!

Busy Bee!

Or should I say busy beading?  I've made three sets of wine glass charms and I will also make some ribbon bookmarks that are embellished with beads.  This is the first time I have done either project and so far so good!  

I am going to promote my private practice at a human services professionals conference on Friday, so I thought I would bring some crafty items to sell as well.  I also wanted to get them into my mother's retail business before the holidays.

London had his first teething biscuit tonight.  We had a hard time finding a dairy-free kind and my parents discovered one over the weekend. 

He loved, loved, loved it!

Can you tell???

Seriously Cute!

London attracted much attention on Saturday at the Hildene Art and Craft Show in Manchester, Vermont!  He is holding his Christmas present from his Grandma (he'll forget and think it is brand new on Christmas morning!).  A very nice stranger took pictures of him loving his new book because the author thought he was so cute and wanted to put him on her new website.   Luckily, she emailed them to us because both Mommy and Grandma forgot their cameras.

I know I am biased, but I think he is a cutie.  All day people complimented him on his hat.  I made it for his coming home outfit from Susan B Anderson's Itty Bitty Hats.  The Yankees jacket got a lot of attention, too!