Yarn Along

Joining in the Yarn Along this week with Ginny.

I just finished a Plain Vest for Nalah last week and a pair of mittens for Solomon.

I have been using up a lot of yarn from my stash. My goal is to only use my stash yarn, but I have case of one skein syndrome..you know where you just buy one skein because it's pretty but you really don't have a plan for how or when your going to use it. I could make a lot of hats, I guess but I have been wanting to make larger projects lately.

I won 100$ gift card from a local yarn shop when I was pregnant with Nalah and I have hoarded it until this past weekend. I finally decided what to make...something for me! I have just started this sweater the last few days. I am using Cascade Yarn Eco + wool in a pretty rusty orange brown color. I am reading on Ravelry that it is a quick knit, but I disagree....with 3 kids I can only knit this in the wee hours of the night when I can actually concentrate. Hopefully I finish before summer ;)

Not reading anything exciting. I am desperately trying to end our seemingly endless money troubles and this book has been spoken of very highly so I am giving it a shot. Financial Recovery by Karen McCall.

Goats and baby Elephants....

Thanks so much for your kind words regarding my last post. I am trying to stay optimistic but to be truly honest, lately I feel like a beetle that is  trapped on its back, legs and arms kicking and flailing in desperation...all my vulnerable parts exposed and waiting for the birds to come.

Nalah and I decided to find peace for a few moments by staring(me) and shrieking(her) at the goats in the zoo. And we got to visit the new baby elephant too.

There is nothing much sweeter than a baby elephant, oh my goodness!

Animals always bring me peace.If only I could fit a goat in my van to bring back home. ;)

Small beauties, a big one, and changes...

I though I would share with you the small beauties I found on my morning walks this weekend......

 

.... and a much bigger one.

Well I took it upon myself to find beauty in the small things this weekend. I needed a break from my reality, if just for a small moment. We got bad news this week, my husband got laid off again. This is the third time he has been laid off in five years! Every time it has been because there is not enough work for all of the employees, and in the most recent case he was the newest hire and the only person who was not a family member, so he didn't really have a chance when they started letting people go. It is scary to be in this situation AGAIN, I have to say I hated his job, but still any job is better than no job. I will not miss my husband being gone for a week(sometimes weeks) at a time. Traveling like a truck driver. It was really really hard for me over the past 10 months with a new baby and two older children, to do it all on my own without a break...day after day. I am exhausted.This last job put us in a very hard situation It was hard on our marriage and on the kids too, especially Solomon.

So bad news but at least we have an opportunity for change now.

He had an interview already last week for a LOCAL job doing the same kind of work.

Please send us good thoughts and job finding vibes.

Yarn Along: Some Whimsical Knit Gifts

Hello, I though I would join along with Ginny for the Yarn Along this week now that the Birthday and Holiday crafting chaos is over. Whew! I though I would share some of the knitted gifts I made. Some gifts were made and given so quickly I didn't have time to photograph them but I did make time to photograph my favorites.

Fist up is a knit kitty for my animal loving baby girl:

 

 Such a fun little knit and since the color changes where on the inside...no weaving in the ends. I  found the pattern here.


These cute little cacti were super fun to make. I made several in different sizes and one teeny cactus ornament. They are just so much fun. The felt flowers were purchased at JoAnns as were the teeny flower pots, but you can find the pattern here.

  I made this fun cozy cowl for my mom, and made one for me too in a  grey natural wool color. It was so quick and the pattern was fun I will definately make more of these in the future. You can find this pattern here.

And for Solomon's Birthday I made him Finn  the human and Jake the dog from his new favorite cartoon, Adventure Time. If you haven't seen it you should, it is very strange. Ben and I don't mind watching it with him the characters are so funny. You can watch an episode here.

I had a good time making these guys. It was the first time I have even done duplicate stitching. I am pumped and have so many ideas to use it in my own patterns. If only I had more time to knit these days...sigh. If you know an  Adventure Time fan you can find the pattern for free here.

I just started reading Steven Kings Full Dark No Stars which is a collection of four novellas. I used to read and enjoy Steven King a lot when I was a kid and I haven't read any of his work since then. I used to be really into scary stories when I was young, not so much anymore but I really enjoy his writing style.

What are you knitting these days? Join along with Ginny.

10 months!

Well I am a day late but since I missed posting anything on her 9th month I am doing pretty well.

Nalah is a funny babe with a great sense of humor. She is always joking around with us and making funny laughs. She is a great eater and had her first taste of Pirate Booty(that she snagged from Sollie) and loved it. She eats her veggies better than any of us which makes me happy especially since my 5 year old wont eat ANY vegetable willingly. She is crawling like mad and standing up on her own and scooting along furniture all over the house. I can't take my eye off her for a minute since she seems to constantly put tiny toys in her mouth and her brother is a very busy and messy guy who leaves his stuff out all the time. She can say teeth and kitty and repeats words back to us all the time.She still loves taking baths and I am hoping to take swimming lessons with her soon. She  says "Aye" to everyone and everything, I'm not sure where she picked up the east coast accent. She had her first tiny braid in her hair, it cracked me up! Our girls both had raging baby mullets.

She had a fun first Christmas and really enjoyed Sollie's Birthday party. She really loves being around people. Riding in the cart at the grocery store is at the top of her list. She is such a flirt.

 Even though I have done this before I can not believe how fast this first year is going! So bittersweet for me, but ever since she was born she wasn't happy being a little baby, now that she is getting around with her older siblings she is a much happier little lady. She's got big plans this babe of mine, I can't wait to watch them unfold.

Time to move on

The New Year brings forth uncertainty as we are still looking for a new home. Unfortunately after looking for several months the only places we can afford have turned out to be less than desirable places to live. I am starting to be overwhelmed with the move and all that it involves. Hoping to find a miracle and some good luck for our family for once. We have had a really tough several years financially and health wise. I am really trying to be optimistic about the future but am feeling kind of down. Been listening to an old favorite song a lot these days to give me rainbow colored glasses for a while. I have to remember change can be good. Bring it on!

Party Time....

Solomon decided the theme for this years  Birthday party would be Giraffe. I had a lot of fun crafting away (or possibly went a little post holiday craft crazy again). Solomon had been wanting a pinata since we went to a little friends party back in May. I wasn't sure how we would pull off a pinata in January...inside..but luckily our move to the first floor apartment came with ample ceiling space. 

Here is my attempt at a  giraffe pinata:

 

 I really had no idea what I was doing. Thankfully I started messing around with it several days in advance because I ended up having to start all over after the first one blew up(literally) when I put it too close to the wall heater to dry.  It turned out a lot better than I imagined and we decided to do the trap door pull string pinata in the end so he is still in one piece and currently staring at me from the other room. I have the urge to tape it to the top of our van...along with my, "I knit so I don't kill people" bumper sicker I would really get the looks, wouldn't I? Actually maybe not here in Portland ;)

Then I found these cute cupcakes on a google search for giraffe cake. They turned out cute but a bit much to actually eat.  Mine were slightly different with the chocolate chip eyes and brown sprinkle manes. So fun!

We had a fun night with friends celebrating Solomon and the New Year.

We ended the party with a few fireworks,which are tricky to find in January by the way. Thank goodness for communities and yahoo groups, I got some for free from a family who planned to just toss them out.( I just watched a cute movie called Craigslist Joe about a guy who lived off of Craigslist and the kindness of strangers for a month. It was cute.)

****Wishing you all a wonderful New Year filled with love and light!*****