FO: Ryder's Blankie

After working on this baby for almost 9 months...here is Ryder's Blankie!

Crochet was really hurting my wrist for some reason (I've made other stuff and never been bothered - could be the yarn), so it has taken me a lot longer than I had wanted to make this blanket. Ryder was born in July and this was supposed to be part of his shower gift! Ooops!

Once again I have enlisted the help of my kids to model for me...

If you look closely at Maeghan's mouth you can see the stitches she received at the Dentist last week after she had a frenectomy done. Your frenum is the skin between the two front teeth that connects to the gums...if it is too big (as in Maeghan's case) it causes the front teeth to have a large space and perhaps grow like this /\, removing the extra tissue allows her adult teeth to hopefully come in closer together and straight. We'll have to see how hers progress because one of her adult teeth is mostly in and definately shoots out crooked like this \. Maeghan is also apparently a tongue thruster (when she swallows, her tongue pushes on the back of her upper front teeth instead of the roof of her mouth), and this can also causes two front teeth to push out at odd angles. Looks like we'll be buying shares in the local orthodontist business soon!

Anyways, here are the specs of Ryder's Blankie:

Pattern: Soft Waves by Jan Eaton
Yarn: Bernat Satin in shades of blue and cream
Hook: 5mm - H

I think the blanket turned out really well. The yarn is very soft with a nice weight to it, and is very easy to care for. Machine wash and dry. Perfect for a busy mother! I hope it becomes his favorite one!

My goal over Christmas was to clear up all of the Works In Progress, and I have pretty much done that now. I'm still working on my remaining sock, but that has become more of a travel project so it's moving pretty slowly. I think I really don't love the bamboo needles...it takes too much effort to slide the work around, I am determined to finish it though. The next socks I make I'm going to try Magic Loop...maybe I'll like that better. As it stands now though, my plan for my hang-over day tomorrow is to cast on for the Gathered Pullover:

Happy New Years Everyone! I need to go prepare for my guests!

Christmas and an FO!

Christmas has come and gone, and in the madness of it all, I didn't even manage one post! Maeghan's Christmas concert was really great. No pictures to post, as I was the video taping queen once again, but she looked so great! There was a dress rehearsal in the afternoon, which Connie and I attended, and the real performance was later that night. Maeghan knew her poems so well, I could hear her voice above all of the other kids, and she looked so beautiful up there on the stage singing the songs. We loved every minute of it!


We were very happy to have Granny and Grandpa came to stay with us over the holidays. It was nice to share it with them. Every year we open one gift on Christmas Eve, and the Christmas Eve present is the same every year...new pajamas. I suppose Owen is a little young to have remembered this from last year because he waited all day in anticipation of opening that gift. He kept asking me "Mommy can I open it now?" and I had to keep telling him that he had to wait until after supper. Finally the time came and the kids excitedly ripped off the wrapping paper. Owen took one look at his new pajamas and exclaimed "THIS IS NOT COOL!!!" He was so disappointed that it wasn't a toy. I was laughing so hard that I completely forgot to grab the camera. Poor little guy! He got over it though when he saw that everyone else also got pajamas.

Christmas morning was a whirlwind as always. The kids slept till 6:30am and then dragged us all out of our beds. Santa spoiled them rotten, and so did everyone else. Thank you everyone for the great gifts! As always, I was dismayed at the amount of wrapping paper that ends up in the trash/recycling bin. So Moira and I went the other day to the fabric store and bought all sorts of Christmas fabrics on sale for 65% off. During the next year, I'm planning to sew some drawstring or velcro closing bags to use for wrapping instead of paper next year. They can be used over and over again and I won't feel so bad about all of the waste! Another tradition I'm considering nixing is sending out the Christmas cards. Just think about all of the fuel that is burned flying millions of cards around the world every year, as well as all of the paper used for the cards, only for them to be tossed after a couple days. Yikes! I know email cards may be a little more impersonal, but they do seem a lot more environmentally friendly! Hmmmmm.....anyways, back to Christmas.....

After lunch the kids got busy with all their loot! Maeghan painted some beautiful piggy banks (from Aunty Melissa - thanks!),

And Owen rode on his new motorcycle video game...not even an eye injury could keep this little guy from riding hard! Heehee! (the cold cloth makes it feel better!)

And later in the afternoon Kevin, Connie, and Ryder came to have a delicious Turkey Dinner with us. It was a pretty relaxing day for me as I didn't have to do any of the cooking! Grandpa took over and served up the Turkey and all of the fixings. Yum Yum! We spent Boxing Day at Conor and Holly's, it was nice to see everyone again!

And finally, on to the FO - Tudora

Tudora was a Christmas pressie made for my mother-in-law Moira. I used one ball of Bernat Cashmere Natural Blends and size 4mm needles - US 6. Not surprisingly there is pretty much no cashmere in this yarn, but it does feel very soft, showed the stitch definition well, and was very affordable - especially with a 40% off coupon from Michael's! Hehehe. I think the toggle button I found at Walmart looks very nice with it!

I hope everyone had a safe, happy holiday season!

Owen the Brown Nosed Reindeer

Wait a minute...it sounds kind of funny calling him a "brown nosed" reindeer, but, I swear he really just had a brown nose! The last couple of weeks have been crazy busy as usual, and the highlight of the week was Owen's Christmas concert "The Night Before Christmas"." He was a fantastic reindeer, and was right into the whole performance. It was really entertaining! I didn't take too many pictures as I was video taping the whole thing, but here is what I got: Owen being mauled by Santa,

And here is the little reindeer showing off the loot that he got from the big guy.

(Sorry Aidan it was the only picture I had!) I've been madly trying to prepare for Christmas already, I don't have much time off before the holidays so I'm doing as much as I can now. Can you believe that I bought for 15 neices and nephews! CRAZY! I didn't realize I had that many, I'm going to have to up my monthly payments into the Christmas Budget so I'm better prepared for next year (payroll savings bond...I thought if I started this last year I wouldn't go into debt this year...it helped, but unfortunately still wasn't enough!) I think that I'm going to also plan for more handmade gifts next year, the time just got away from me this year.

Well, that's all I've got for now, stay tuned for Maeghan's Christmas concert which takes place next week, and at least one FO is on it's way!

Houston, We've Got a Problem...

Notice anything wrong with this picture?

How about a closer look:

That's right folks, I've already worn a hole in my fuzzy feet. How did this happen so soon you might ask? Well I'm thinking there are three possible answers.

1) Patons Classic Merino does not felt well: I tend to disagree with this theory as I have heard on many occasions that this is a fabulous felting wool.

2) I have not felted these long enough to provide a nice sturdy fabric: this is a pretty good theory, and you can see for yourself in the above photo. Way too much stitch definition. I should have felted them longer.

3) I am in denial of the actual size of my feet: This theory probably hits the closest to home as I had to stop the felting process too early because I was in fear of them not fitting my feet. Apparently I need to knit a larger size and then felt longer.

I'm going to try to sew them up and throw them back in the washer for another round of felting.

Wish me luck...I just hope this won't be another item on my long list of things to do that I never get around to doing!

In other news, Owen is going to be a reindeer in his Christmas concert. Has anyone seen a long-sleeved brown shirt for really cheap? Unfortunately we have a short-sleeved one, but that is not the requirement for his costume. At least he's not wind again.......

IT'S A BOY!!!!

Congratulations to Bronagh and Jeremy on their new baby boy! Baby Jack was born last night at around 9pm weighing a wopping 9 lbs! As far as I know (Aidan took the message cause I was sleeping, and unfortunately he's not that reliable for the details.....) mom and baby are doing fine. I'm going to go see them later today. I love new babies!

Edited to add.....

Baby Jack was born at 9:40pm weighing 9 lbs 4oz. Mom and baby are doing great! He looks a lot like Isaac did when he was born...crazy hair!

Oh boy...I'm in for it!

My ever growing children have shown me once again that I'd better start thinking of some suitable answers to some tough questions. Aunty Bronagh is in the hospital today having the baby!!! Yay!!! So this was obviously a topic in the car on the drive home today.

Owen wanted to know how the baby got out of Aunty Bronagh's tummy. So I tried to explain it as honestly as possible without grossing them out too much. Owen then wanted to know if the baby would be covered in pee...I said no...how about poo?...I said no once again. I really need to start thinking about these things in advance to come up with some better answers. They really had me stumped at first, I wasn't sure how much information they would be able to handle.

The second topic that threw me tonight was that Maeghan told me her boyfriend broke up with her. She's six. How can a six year old have a boyfriend? Does she really even know what that is? I asked her what he said to her and she told me that he just told her he didn't want to play with her, but that she was sure he was breaking up with her in his head. Once again, she's six. Does this already start at the age of six? Crazy, I thought I would have a few more years. How do I approach this in a way where she will always feel comfortable coming to me, and confiding things in me. What do I say to her? A couple weeks ago she told me she kissed a boy (the same boy) in the library at school. I asked her where and she told me on the lips. I told her that if she has to kiss a boy to please just do it on the cheek, because she doesn't want to get any germs and get sick. Hopefully this will stop the smooching. I want her to grow up with confidence in herself, and not be one of those girls that is always dependant on having a boyfriend so I also mentioned that it is WAY more fun to just be friends with boys than have them as boyfriends, especially at her age.

I'm probably reading too much into all of this, but I would appreciate any advice I can what I should be doing/saying. This is all new to me!

Maeghans "New" Room!

Finally, the finished pictures of Maeghan's "new" room. If you will recall from a previous post, Maeghan requested a PINK room. A very pink room. So that is what she got. I think it turned out really pretty. Unfortunately I didn't take any before pics, but I will remember to do so when we do Owen's room. Aidan did a fantastic job...I remember years ago, when we still lived in rentals, asking him to do fix-ups around the house, and he would never do them. He would always tell me that it wasn't that he couldn't do them, but that he didn't want to sink any money into someplace we didn't own. I told him I would believe it when I saw it...and look now. He proves is capabilities once again! Well done Babe! I made the pictures small because there are a lot of them. Just click on them to make them bigger and you can see more detail. So here it is...Maeghan's finished room.

First shot is of her bed from the doorway.


Pretty canopy given to Maeghan for her birthday from Aunty Connie


Picture of the window with a new curtain from your favorite as well as mine...Target


Check out the new character style moldings created from scratch by Aidan, it looks amazingly better than the old window.


And the pretty new tile in the window seat. I briefly considered putting a comfy cushion in there, after all it is a window seat, but I kept picturing Maeghan sitting there reading and then accidently falling out the window and landing two stories below. I think not. Tile it is! This was Aidan's first time tiling EVER. I think he did a great job.


Here is the freshly painted closet with new satin nickel handles. The closet was also painted a slightly darker pink to help it stand out more - on orders from Princess Maeghan. You can also kinda see the new baseboards that Aidan made...they go well with character style moldings around the window and door.


And the new shelving unit from IKEA, I like the detailing at the top, makes it look really feminine.


Gorgeous new moldings around the door to match the ones around the window. I love them, they add so much to the room. Way better than the early 80's style that was there before!


Pretty new door! (Well newly painted anyway). Also new hardware (hooks and handle).


Maeghan did most of the moving in and organizing herself. This is the shelf that is up beside her bed. It holds her very precious "Super Bear" which was a gift from her Uncle Conor on the day she was born. This is one amazing bear. It protects her from any bad dreams or boogeymen, and just having it there, looking down over her, makes her feel so much safer.

Juliet And I Are On a Time Out

(Warning to my non-knitting pals...this will be a very boring post for you!)

I finished the lace portion on Juliet last night and took it off the needles to try it on before I finished up. It was too big. Not extremely big, but the arms were big and the back seemed really bulky and hung out quite far from my body. So.........I ripped it. Sniff sniff. It was hard to do, I really wanted to be done it and to move on to something else, not that I don't like knitting it, but I think I have a fairly short attention span and crave a new project. Anyways, I'm going to start again tonight during Grey's Anatomy on the XS and hopefully it'll work out. I'm considering decreasing the increases on the set up row for the lace. Maybe doing K1FBF instead of K1FBFB. If I do that 13 times (on the back section only), that will remove one section of the lace, and hopefully decrease the bulk in the back. Any thoughts? I don't want it to end up too small though. I am making the cropped version if that helps any fellow Juliet knitters out there. Partly to blame is probably my yarn choice - Patons Shetland Chunky...it is a bulky yarn, therefore a bulky cardi will be made!

I apologize for the long delay between posts. I feel like I never get the chance to sit down long enough to actual post, either that or I'm too tired. Anyways, life, as always, has been extremely busy around these parts. We've completed another set of swimming lessons - much to my amazement both kids passed, yippee!!! I've been working away on Juliet, I'm about halfway done now, and I've also finally cast on for the second sock in my pair - just started the heel flap.


Miss Maeghan has lost another tooth! Finally! This one was just hanging there for quite some time. I was trying to convince her to let me yank it, but she wouldn't hear of it. Eventually, a boy at school accidently kicked her in the mouth (not hard!) and the tooth came flying out. Unfortunately she lost it, and is quite worried that the tooth fairy might not pay her a visit if there was no tooth. I told her to write a letter explaining what happened and hopefully the tooth fairy will feel sorry for her and still leave her a few coins. I'll let you know what happens.

Owen has still been playing hockey with all the big boys, recently it was his turn to play goal. Here he is decked out in all the goalie gear which is ginormous on him. He is so happy!

Halloween was a lot of fun again this year. Maeghan was a scary witch, and Owen was a brave knight. This is such a great age for trick-or-treating. We only went to the houses in our neighborhood and the kids thought that was great. I know soon enough they'll want to be out for hours, but thankfully at this point they are just as happy handing out treats as they are getting them. Aidan decorated the house up again...it was the scariest house in the complex. He had red lights glowing from all the windows, and the shadow of one of Maeghan's dolls was swinging in the window. Pretty spooky!

Owen's hair had been getting really shaggy and long, and the only way he would allow Daddy to cut it was if he was able to cut Daddy's too. I think there is a certain thrill for all little kids if they get to hold a set of buzz clips to their Dad's head! He loved it! It was pretty funny, he didn't do too bad of job either!

Well, I think I've mostly caught up. I've got to try and post more frequently. I'm sure I'm missing sharing with you a lot of the little things that really brighten our days. Some of the things that come out of the kids mouths are hilarious...I've got to start writing them down, and what better place?

We are waiting on pins and needles for Bronagh's baby to arrive! Her due date was yesterday, and so far as we know, nothing. Isaac believes that this one will be a girl, and he's already named her Lucy. He is going to be bitterly disappointed if it is a boy! I'll let you know as soon as we hear something. It's baby # 3! It should come pretty fast!

FO: Fuzzy Feet

I love my Fuzzy Feet!!!

Before:

After:

They are so cute and comfy. And felting is so fun! They were a very quick and easy knit. I'll probably have to whip off a few more of these for gifts! I'm wearing them right now and my feet are toasty warm. This is a very good thing considering that Aidan won't let us turn the heat on yet. He likes to beat out the year before in how long we wait to turn it on. It's a good thing we live in a townhouse because we are benefiting from the heat of our neighbors!

I'm off work this week on a mini vacation. Owen has had to stay home from preschool these first 3 days because of a nasty cold he received courtesy of one of his little friends. He's starting to get a little stir crazy this afternoon, and he keeps asking when Maeghan will be home. This is a first, he usually wants to know when she'll be leaving! Haha!

Well, that's it for now, I'm off to play an exciting game of Chutes and Ladders...wish me luck!

FO: Ms. Marigold

Finally something finished! It feels like it has been a while! This is Ms. Marigold -we've had a love/hate relationship. I'm leaning towards the love side right now...we'll see how I feel after I give it a wash. I hear alpaca tends to grow, so it may be HUGE afterwards!



I had a real tough time getting gauge with this tank. I ended up going up a few needle sizes from what was called for and getting a somewhat looser fabric which I don't love. It is very soft and comfy though, not itchy at all! I wish I didn't feel so self-conscious when I am wearing stuff I've made myself. Hopefully I'll get over that after I've made a few more things that I like! I will probably make Ms. Marigold again in the spring with a different yarn. MLE made a really nice one out of Rowan Wool Cotton which I may give a try.

Here is my little soccer star. First time playing in goal and he loved every second of it! Why do they have to make the jersey's so large for such a little guy? Poor kid! He looks like he's wearing a dress! Didn't matter to him though, all he care about was diving on the ball anytime it came near the net. Even if diving was completely unnecessary. It was all about getting dirty!

Hello New Car!!!

My new car is HOT!!! I absolutely love it! Yes, it is a brand new, 2008, Mazda 3 Sedan. It has a lot of hutzpa (well, I guess compared to the crappola Neon, anything would feel powerful!), and I don't feel like a "mom" when I'm driving it, which is great, considering I am a mom. Not that being a mom is a bad thing.....well, anyways, I'm sure you know what I mean. According to Aidan, the only thing hotter than my new car is me IN my new car. How sweet is he!


Owen has become the splitting image of his dad. He is out skateboarding all the time, I am surprised he can evan ride on that thing! I sure can't. He's even doing tricks and board flipping moves - yes, you can tell how well I know the lingo.

Look at him ride it! He's a little pro!

We went for a good walk the other day down in False Creek. Vancouver is a beautiful city, especially on a hot sunny day! I had never been down to this particular area before, and was pleasantly surprised by the gorgeous view of the city from across the inlet.

And here is my dear Miss M, or gap tooth as we now like to call her. She wants to help with everything and won't take no for an answer. Here she is grating cheese for our lasagne the other night. I hovered over her in fear that she was going to shred her little fingers, but no blood was lost, and we had a great supper.

We have begun to renovate Maeg's bedroom. Today we emptied it out (I can't believe a little girl can have so much stuff!!!), she's bunking with Owen for the next week or so. It's hard for us to do it quickly because we both work five days a week and I'm also working some overtime tomorrow so that makes for a very short weekend. We ripped out all the baseboards and mouldings, and scraped off the sticky tile laminate that was in her window seat. We also taped around the ceiling and primed over the flowers that were painted all over her walls. The highlight of the day was when I removed the door handle while the door was still closed and we were locked in for a few tense moments. Actually, Maeghan was the only tense one, tiredness and hysteria had set in for me and I laughed uncontrollably until Aidan managed to figure out how to open it! I'm such a dumbass! I have never really renovated anything before, so already I feel like I'm learning a lot. Aidan doesn't usually let me help him when he does stuff, I'm not sure why.................

What color are we painting her room you ask? Well pink of course! Apparently no other color will do for our little princess! I tried to talk her into a nice soft green, or a bluey lavender, but she was so not into it. It just means we'll have to repaint it in a few years when she grows out of it. I'll post some pics when we are done. Hopefully that will be in the near future.

Ms Marigold is coming along. I'm on the bottom waist ribbing now. I haven't been able to work on it very much these last few days. Hopefully an FO to show you soon!

From the Mind of a 4 Year Old

Owen: Mommy, I like ketchup the best.

Me: Oh yeah? Why is that?

Owen: Because it comes from Ketchup Cows...

School Is In Session!

Here is a picture of Ms. Marigold in progress. She's a really fun knit, she feels like she is just cruising along after that darn sock! That thing took forever! A few people have asked me if it's for me or Maeghan because it looks so small, but the fabric seems to be pretty stretchy so my finger's are crossed that it will fit me!

Maeghan has started Grade One! Yipee! She's an all dayer now, and thank goodness so far she loves it! I had to work on the morning of her first official day of class so Aidan was given the job of photographer before they left. Unfortunately the camera batteries died after only one shot, and here it is:
She's really not that subdued about the whole thing. She was really excited, and I'm surprised she didn't even crack a smile! She looks kinda like a snotty teenager. She was wearing a really cute pair of black knee high boots, but Aidan didn't manage to get that in.

When she got home that evening, I asked her how her day was and she said that she loved it and she couldn't believe she got to stay there all day. I asked her what her teacher's name was and she said "Mrs. Humming Clams" MRS. HUMMING CLAMS!!!! Is that not the cutest thing you have heard today! The teacher's real name is Mrs. Cunningham, all week Maeghan has been practising to get it right, and she's at the point now where she calls her Mrs. Cumminghams. Getting closer!

FO: One Sock

One sock down...one to go. When? I don't know...I need a break from those tiny needles!!! But here is the one...

Besides the fact that I need a pedicure...it's pretty good, eh? I love it! It's a little on the snug side, because my gauge ended up being a little off of what I thought it was. Still fits though, and that is all that matters. I need to pick up the stitches along the heel flap differently though because when I am wearing the sock you can see little holes where it is pulling. I thought I read somewhere to pick up through the back loop? Or do you pick up under both strands and then on the next round knit through the back loop? I haven't a clue. I'll figure it out though.

And here is my sweet Miss M. Finally lost that front tooth. It was hanging there for 4 weeks before it came out. We had nicknamed it "Snaggletooth". She looks so cute. So now comes the awkward stage of her adult teeth growing in and looking far to large for her little mouth! She put the tooth under her pillow, but I think she wasn't really sure if the tooth fairy was real or not because when she woke up in the morning she looked under her pillow and shrieked "The Tooth Fairy IS real!" I love it!

Happy Birthday Owen!

My baby is 4 now! Owen's birthday was on Friday, and we had a birthday party for him and his friends today. They did a trip to the firehall, and then back to our house for cake, presents, and play. I can't believe 4 years have gone by since he was born, and I thought it would be fun to show how much he has changed over the last four years.

Here is Owen, just one day old. I can't believe how tiny he is. He looked like such a wise old man in the first few weeks. He was born two weeks early weighing 6lbs 10oz.


And here is Owen at his very first birthday party. He was such a sweet baby, always full of smiles. He started crawling at 9 months, and walking at 11 months. He was always trying to do things that were way too old for him, including riding his dad's skateboard, and his sisters bike. I really miss this age.....

This is Owen at age 2. He was not afraid of anything. He loved to play hockey out in the parking lot with boys 3 times his age, he held is own too!

This is his third birthday...already turning into the little man we see today. He learned how to ride a two wheeler bike while he was three. I've never seen such a little guy on two wheels going sooooo fast!

And this is Owen now, four years old......

Little man you have grown so much over the last few years! I'm really looking forward to the next four. You are very smart, athletic, and tons of fun! I love it when you are being silly, and your breakdancing is amazing! Besides being one handsome little guy, you have a really great personality and I am really thankful that I get to be your mom. I love you!

Happy Birthday!

Melissa's Wedding and a Sock

Finally I have some time to show you some pictures from Melissa's wedding. Here is the "Maid" of Honor (mom says I was actually the "matron" of honor, but seriously, could it make me sound any older?) I look all pretty and graceful in this shot, but I swear, not 30 seconds after this picture was taken I tripped on the aisle runner and am very thankful I was able to recover before I did a face plant. Seriously, flip flops on an aisle runner. You've got to be kidding me!

And of course the beautiful little flower girls. That is Maeghan in the middle, on the left is Adin's niece Bronwyn and on the right is my brother Dave's daughter Brooklyn. They were so precious...Maeghan did a really good job of keeping the other girls heading down the aisle. She is a pro now, this is her 5th time if you include her "honorary" flower girl status at Conor and Holly's wedding....she was only 5 months old then. My mom made all of the flowergirl dresses and the flower thingy's they were holding. She's very talented, that mother of mine!

And here comes the gorgeous bride! Doesn't my dad look hot!!! Melissa was stunning, not surprisingly.
First Kiss!

And of course, no post would be complete without the baby shot! My handsome nephew, Gage. He's totally starting to laugh now! What a cute kid!

Here is gorgeous shot of my sister and the back of her dress.

My parents and Gage:

We had a really great time at Melissa and Adin's wedding...it was pretty hectic, but having all of the family together really meant a lot. It doesn't happen too often!

And on to the sock...

Oh yes, I know this is what you have all been waiting for. My first sock...almost complete. It has been a really slow go because I'm having some wrist problems stemming from work, but I've been plugging away at it, and now am at the toe decreases. I will have to wait a while before I cast on the second sock, my hands got a little cramped up from the small needles on this one and I need to give them a bit of a break. Hopefully I will be able to model it for you over the weekend.