A Date With My Girl

Oh this was just what we needed today.  Out to lunch, knitting at our coffee shop (and tea and crumb cake for dessert) and the library.  It was perfect.

Homemade this Year

It was especially fun to make our gifts this year because Grace and Jackson were so into it too.  During the week while Grace was at school Jackson helped me make some of our handsalve for those who like handsalve and some of our granola for those who like granola.



In fact Jackson just might have been the busiest of all of us with his gift making.  He made some ornaments for people of which he created and sewed completely on his own.  He also found this idea in one of his craft books and wanted to make it for Grace to hold the colored pencils we gave her for her birthday.



Ryan helped him with this project but he did a lot of the sanding all on his own.



Grace decided to make a sleeping bag for Jackson's beloved "Pengy" for him Christmas.



She also did the sewing all on her own.



And for my two little artists I decided to make Grace and Jackson some art aprons.  I filled the pockets with glue sticks, paints, tape, a small chalkboard and a few other little odds and ends.







And then for their chalk a little chalk pouch.





Nora's present is still unfinished.  She doesn't seem to mind at all though.  Sometime this month I should get it all wrapped up.



But the all star gifts this year definitely were Ryan's.  For Jackson a sward and shield.





For Grace a dollhouse.





Ryan worked so hard on these, sometimes until late in the night (in a cold barn) to make sure they would be finished (or almost finished... the dollhouse is waiting for some stairs) by Christmas Eve.  I think he would say it was all worth it though to see their faces when they first opened them.



I'm now trying to talk him into changing his profession into a toy maker.

Weekend Highlights

~ Making oatmeal on the woodstove
~ Reading a new book I LOVE
~ More sewing
~ Lazy Sunday morning
~ Fall work
~ Knitting with Grace
~ Beautiful weather
~ A visit from Katie and Kris
~ The chili they brought
~ Cozying up by the fire

Sunday Knitting with Grace

Today Grace and I started our new weekly tradition of knitting together.  We decided awhile ago that once school started we wanted to do something special together every week just the two of us. Since we both love knitting it sounded like the perfect idea.  My hope is of course that this tradition will continue until she graduates from high school.  However today she informed that she could only promise me the next 6 years because after that she would have too many friends that will want to be with her.  "Well we can maybe continue, but I can't promise it.  I'll just have to see."  At least have a six year contract.  Anyway, today we went into Stillwater to a little coffee shop over looking the river and knitted happily away for an hour.  Afterwords we stopped into our favorite knitting shop to gather ideas for our next projects.  Can't wait until next Sunday.

Nora Knitting

For Nora

Last summer I learned how to knit a baby sweater.  I wish I could say I've mastered something else since then but I haven't.  Instead, I just duplicated that same sweater (half a dozen times).  It is so easy and cute, why move on to something else. 



And when you end up in a hotel for over two weeks and need something to do... making baby pants to match the sweaters is a great fix (the kitten pants actually were made by Grace with some help from Mama).





And yes, I made this outfit before I "knew" I was having a girl (but really I always knew you were a girl Nora).



Maybe that's why this outfit is my favorite.  Or maybe it's cause you just look so dang cute in it.



And it seems like you think so too.

My Girl and Her Knitting

Last summer, when I started knitting my first sweater, Grace suddenly became very interested in knitting.  She begged me to teach her, and I hesitated a little since, well, I barley knew how to knit myself.  But I showed her anyway and to my surprise, she got it.  After she finished her small square, she was determined to make something with the same yarn I used for the sweater.  She decided on a scarf to which (I'm embarrassed to admit) I never really thought she would finish, mostly because it seemed like such a big undertaking for a five year old and I thought she would probably lose interest along the way.  But instead her interest grew, and she worked and worked.  And sure enough, she finished the scarf, only to declare that now she needed a hat.



So a hat was made (while I learned to make one along with her since I had never made one myself before).  And now she's moved on to making wash clothes for the new baby (really "soft and pretty ones, that the baby will love"). 

I'm so, so proud of her, but even more so, I'm so excited.  As we sit and knit together she will constantly say, "mom, I love knitting so much" and I just keep thinking... even if this ends up being the only thing we have in common someday, I am so lucky.  What a great thing to be able to share with each other.

Makin'

New clothes...






Colorful bouquets... (yesterday morning I got to sleep in for just a little... when I came downstairs Grace and Jackson were just coming inside with this beautiful bouquet. needless to say it was a pretty good start to my day.)


Winter scarves (Grace recently learned how to knit!)...


Dried herbs (for winter)...


Our favorite taco salad (with our lettuce and first tomatoes)...




(I think I'm starting to get my energy back...)

My First Real Knitting

Up until about two weeks ago my only knitting experience consisted of three squares, or "washcloths" to be exact. And while I really did kind of start to get the hang of it by square three, I still found it quite challenging. It seemed that knitting would just never be something I would be good at.



But then a few weeks ago a friend at work (who did not know how to knit when I first met her at the beginning of the year) was suddenly knitting herself a pair of pants, I became inspired. I made a trip to our local knitting shop where I picked out some chunky soft wool and asked for some help finding a very easy baby sweater pattern. The shop owner immediately took me under her wing and got me started.



A few days (and several trips back to the store) later, I finished this sweater. And while it is definitely not perfect, I still can't believe I did it. To me it is like magic that a ball of yarn can turn into a piece of clothing.

So tomorrow I get to give it away to it's new owner, my two month old niece Marina who is in town visiting this month. Can't wait.