Friday, December 31, 2010

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

For My Little Girl

A gift that we could all make together.  Not an original one but one that we had not done before.  A special gift for a special girl.  The big brother could take his time and peal off the wrappers.


We could make a mess.
And we could make some crayons.


Merry Christmas little girl.


So I've seen this idea all over the internet and when Ginny at Small Things posted about making them for her little girl I knew that we had to do it this year.  Armed with a bucket of old broken pieces that I've been wanting to recycle, we got to work on making them into something more useful.  We tried to make them glittery but I don't think that the glitter really worked.

Oh, and I got to make a little bag!






Wednesday, December 22, 2010

For Baby

I feel like I'm cheating a little here with the yarn along this week.  This is a project I finished a few weeks ago for a friend.  It is my second In Threes pattern.  I promised you two weeks ago that I would make three of these and this was my second.  A friend of mine gave me some dark purple yarn to make the third but that will have to be after Christmas. 

This is the before:


And this is the after:


  I quick took a picture at the end of the baby shower when I realized I hadn't taken a snapshot of the completed project.  I also made her a bib and some pretty burp clothes.  I almost want a sweater like that for myself!
  I might have to make this one.

The book that I will be reading is Louisa May Alcott's Christmas Treasury.  It is waiting for me right now at the library.  I read it to the girls last year and I think that I will have to actually buy the book and make it a tradition.  It is full of virtue and sacrifice.  Maybe a little will rub off on us!

Friday, December 17, 2010

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Yarn Along :: Thorpe

Last week I was so inspired by all the yarn along ladies!  Thank you for visiting and commenting too!  It's so neat to see that you guys are really out there.  All those posts are not not just pages on the computer but there are REAL people behind each one.  Who knew?  Hee hee.

So Wendy mentioned the Thorpe and I had to laugh.  My second daughter had just asked for a hat just like that.
 On the needles it goes!
Well, not until after a trip to the yarn store for yarn and double pointed needles.  I got the yarn that the pattern calls for and yum, it's so soft.  I think that I have officially become a yarn snob.  I walked through Michaels and felt each of the yarns and most of them felt so scratchy.  I really see knitting as an experience for me and I want it to be soothing and comforting.  Expensive yarn and bamboo needles seem to do the trick -
(I think I'm in trouble)


I don't know if it is because I'm a DPN rookie or not but putting 4 stitches on 4 needles (that seemed to be a size too small for the yarn) was tough.  As I was struggling through the first few rows I was wondering if this kind of knitting is good for me (you know, the experience).  This seemed too unruly and having to restart over and over was making the awesome yarn get all fuzzy.  I made it through and right now I'm not minding it so much. This picture is me in the middle of putting it on the circular needles (a bigger size too - I hope that doesn't make it too big!)
The pink my daughter chose is amazing.

The book is A Sane Woman's Guide to Raising a Large Family by Mary Ostyn.  It's very comforting reading a book by a woman who understands my heart.  It's like reading a conversation with a friend.  She has been there - double my family.  Wow, she's really been there.  In one of the first chapters she talks about how hard it was to share a baby sling with a relative.  She felt it in her heart and stomach that this was a sign of the end of babies.  The week before I started to read the book I had the same thing happen over a plastic potty chair.  It's hard for people to understand what getting rid of the potty chair really means.   I was so blessed to then read her experience and know that I'm not crazy!
I found the book randomly on the shelf in the library.   I think that the librarians ordered it just for me.  hee hee.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Blessings :: Ben

This is my guy.


He is a little man of many faces.


He just turned 5 this weekend.
He's growing and learning all too fast now.
The changes I've seen in him the past year are simply amazing.


Learning letters and numbers.  All his Classical Conversations memory work.
This boy even sings now, with words!
He's still shy but if you ask him to talk he will hold a conversation with you - a real one.

Ben is a blessing.  After having three girls the odds of having a boy where stacked against us.  We didn't feel our family was complete but after two miscarriages we weren't sure if God had any more children for us.  By God's grace he gave us another child and the boy we hoped for for many years.  (oh, and then right after that he gave us Bethany but that is another story)

So if you did your math you already know that we have five children.  I love them all so much and my life is a mix of joy and hardship. (boy would I say that I make most of my hardship!)  In all this I want to remember the multitudes of blessings, God's love and grace that He lavishes upon me, and I want that to scream out over all the negative thoughts that can run through my head each day. I'm starting my journey with Ann:



Thanking Him for:
  1. my boy
  2. a warm house (we are at zero degrees right now!)
  3. a giving husband
  4. soft yarn to knit
  5. a Savior who never sleeps nor slumbers NOR tires of ME!

Friday, December 10, 2010

This Moment::Friends

Joining Amanda.


Someone to share your delights with.  Someone who understands.  Sometimes the love they share is so evident.  Sweet joy.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Yarn Along - Threes

I'm joining in (very late in the day) with Ginny and posting about something I'm knitting and something I'm reading.

This is the "In Threes" pattern found here.

So when I saw that Ginny had cast this pattern on her needles a few weeks back I just knew I had to try it.  I'm happy I did and Caitlyn is happy I did as well.  Although this is a size 5T, and my daughter is 8 years old, her chest actually measured the 5T size.  I do have to put this back on the needles though as she is skinny but tall and I need to add a few inches to the bottom.  The yarn is Mochi Plus and VERY soft.  All the colors make this sweater a little busy for me but this is what she asked for.   What do you think?

I also made a second one for a baby shower (I'll save that for another post) and I'm planning on making a third for Bethany.  The name "In Threes" made me think that I just had to make three!

The book is Ginger Plowman's Don't Make Me Count to Three.  This is about the third time I've read it and it gets me every time.  The subtitle is "a mom's look at heart-oriented discipline."  I so desperately what to get to their hearts!

  Now you might see a theme here.  There are a lot of threes in this post.  Believe me, I didn't plan this.  I actually think this is quite funny.  Shhh... there are even three buttons waiting to be sewn on  the sweater!