Just Go Sit and Spin...

Honestly. I really have no idea where the time goes. Lets move on.

Where to begin. So much to get caught up on, craft wise. I think a large part of the blog silence was in waiting to gift the projects I was working on, so as to not spoil the surprise. Lets start at the beginning, shall we?



For my nephew's second birthday, I made a pair of skull shorties Ravelry details here. I think I made them more for my SIL, who has a great love and passion for wool shorties, longies and soakers. Anyhoo, the orginal pattern called for an owl cable which was adorable in itself, but then I saw the girl do the skull chart and just had to mimic. They turned out super cute and, well, I'm quite partial to the model as well ;)



Then for my BFF who is expecting her second bundle of joy in May, I'd been working on this. Too much fun. I found a bag of Bernat Jr. Jacquards that needed a home and well, went a little nuts. The little pink sweater was a pattern picked by her and knit by me, a wee Helena. But the show stealer is the little wee baby cloche. Can you say Oh Emm Gee??? I cannot wait to see that modelled. It'll just be too much.



This past weekend I attended the Martime Fibre Arts Retreat at the Atlantica resort just outside of Mahone Bay. This is the third year of the retreat and I finally made it. What a blast :) My photos are crappy because I didn't bring my camera (my bad) so these were taken with my phone. Now, I think anyone outside of the fibre arts community would look at going and sitting in a room full of other crafters as perhaps not a fun filled way to spend a weekend, but for me, it was awesome. I think a large part of the appeal was having such large chunks of time to sit and do whatever I wanted. And to be able to do it in a room, a large room, full of other people doing the same thing...well, it was just pretty damn cool.



I went with another crafty friend of mine (who's blog post should be up soon...right Heddy?) who didn't forget to bring a camera, and we arrived promptly at 3 on Friday afternoon, staked out our piece of real estate for the weekend, plunked ourselves down and commenced intense crafting. I brought some knitting to finish and my spinning wheel as well. I was a little shy to break out the wheel the first day, as the huge circle of spinners was a bit intimidating to a newbie like me. So I finished some socks while I took in the room. I'd never seen so many hookers in one place before...rug hookers that is. I had the wrong idea about rug hooking. When I thought of it before, I pictured latch hooking, which isn't quite the same thing. These ladies are quite the artists. They do some amazing things with bits of wool.

There were also quilters and felters, knitters, spinners and weavers. It really was very cool. I think I was so excited by the prospect of having so much time to sit and work on my projects that I didn't spend much time cruising the room chatting with other people. I did a little, but I think next year (oh yes, I'm already planning) I'd like to do more of that. Particularly the spinners. By the time I decided to sit down at my wheel on Saturday, the spinners circle was jam packed and wanted to continue to visit with my friends, so I was this one lone spinner on the other side of the room. There was so much I wanted to chat to them about and learn.

There were some amazing projects on the go too. Beautiful rugs, stunning quilts, squishy fibre and hand knits that you just wanted to run up to people and say 'Did you knit that? It's beautiful.' Like self striping socks for example. Sitting next to Heddy, working on my intricately cabled sock, I was made to endure endless reams of people who oogled and oooohed and ahhhhed over her three by one rib self striping sock. Of course I kid, but it did become quite the ongoing joke the whole retreat. Ladies would sail by, admire the sock, then bring their friends from across the room to have a look. All the while, I sat there baby cabling away, getting no love. Not that care. I don't hold a grudge. But I will have my revenge. Plans are hatching for next year.

On our way out, we did a little yarn bombing but you'll have to wait for Heddy's post for that. It was amusing. Plans are afoot for more bombing next year as well. I'm thinking extensive MochiMochi bombing. Can't you just picture the resort staff wondering what in the hell is going on with all of these little snails etc. all over the place? Too much fun.

Anyhow, here's what I managed to accomplish over the weekend;



BFF socks by Cookie A for my BFF. She knows they're on their way, so this isn't really spoiling anything.



I plied the last two skeins in the picture here to add to the others already spun, for a total of around 750 yards. I'm not sure of the content, this fibre was a gift, but it's so soft and squishy and awesome. I want to knit something really awesome out of it...for me.



I spun about one and a half bobbins worth of singles of this, a hand painted merino wool top that Heddy gifted to me as part of a little arrangement we have. I finished it just yesterday. Really an amazing turnaround time from fibre to yarn. I don't know if the colours really show up very well, but it has what we decided were deserty colours...muted oranges, greens and blues.

And that should should pretty much get everyone caught up. If you're thinking that hey, I'd like check out this retreat thing too, just head on over to the MFAR (Maritime Fibre Arts Retreat) group on Ravelry as the dates are now posted for next year. At first I thought the idea of no workshops or speakers or vendors would be a bit boring, but it was so the opposite of that. It was relaxing, inspiring and best of all, productive and a heck of a lot of fun.

Remind me to post next time about miss A's second birthday. Yep, she's 2 now. Craziness. There was some crafting related to that as well. For now, we need breakfast.

Until later...

A Sticker Situation...

I really thought I was being clever. Little A had taken to ripping the books I gave her to 'read' at night before going to sleep, and it frustrated me to no end. And broke my heart a bit. I loved that she would content herself with a book for the few minutes between the end of our bedtime routine and sleep itself. I just couldn't abide going in to get her in the morning and find one of our beloved stories in a heap of little flakes beside her bed.

Then about a month ago, A got invited to her first birthday party. As part of the treat bag, she got a few sheets of stickers. I let her play with them and gave her a piece of paper to put them onto. It all seemed to go well. So well in fact that little alarm bells went off in my head, reminding me of my younger days when sticker albums were all the rage.

The next time I was out after that I found a cheap little sticker album and a few sheets of stickers. If nothing else, it gave me a 20 minute reprieve while she busily took stickers from one surface and affixed them to another.

She loved the sticker book. Loved it like no other. As a matter of fact, she loved it so much that she (still) clutches it to her chest and chants, "I love it I love it I love it!!!" That's when another little alarm bell went off. What if she took the sticker book to bed? After a long drought of no books at bed time, this might be a welcome change of pace.

That night I sent her off to bed with said sticker book in hand and we were both serenely content in the knowledge that we both got what we wanted. She, a book to 'read'. Me, the peace of mind in knowing that good money and a good book were both spared. If she ripped the stickers, who cares. I spent the rest of that evening congratulating myself on being one clever chick.

That is, until my husband got her up in the morning. Stickers, so I neglected to take to heart, stick to things. She did rip the stickers. Just about every last one that she had in her book. And they were stuck to e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. Her sheets, her blanket, her pillow, her hair, her stuffed animals. And still, a nice little pile on the floor. What I thought was a win, clearly a fail.

She still loves the sticker book, and it's still in rotation. I haven't put it in a time out. I just seem to be having the darnedest time finding any new stickers for it.

So it's Valentines Day. I'm not a huge celebrator, but I do enjoy it. It seems to perk everything up right when you need it, in the midst of February. A nice colourful day when everything seems endlessly gray.

A and I did some crafts.



Here we did the melty the crayon bits in the wax paper thing, then used my Cricut cutter to cut out some hearts. She loved this. I let her help as much as she could, even sticking the hearts on the window. We also made a card for constable daddy guy with the Cricut, which was very cute but I forgot to take a picture.



Then we made some cookies. Well, I made some cookies. My crafting partner had a particularly long nap this afternoon and I had to get these in the oven to free it up for supper time. But she swooped in at the last minute to help decorate the last four on the sheet. The little design on the cookies was courtesy of my friend Carrie (now sadly blogless) who sent a little care package for the two of us not long ago, which included some cookie stencils. Just so happened that a few days after receiving the package, a tutorial popped up online on how to make your own coloured sugars. Voila! Just plain sugar cookies, cut and stencilled. Too easy.



Also in that care package was a couple of meters of ballerina flannel, since my BFF knows how much my little girl is into ballerinas at the moment. It was kismet, since I was just about ready to go buy some fabric to make her a little bath robe. She always makes a fuss over my robe and she always seems a little chilly after her bath so when I mentioned to her that I would make her one, she was quite excited. I gotta say...the cuteness meter went waaaaaaaaaaaaay off the charts when she put this on. To see her walk around the house with it on too...it just about kills me. And it fits her to a 'T'. I can't stand it.

A and I both got lovely flowers from the special dude in our lives. I always enjoy getting fresh flowers and to see my little one's face light up over her very first rose was pretty priceless, I must admit. She keeps wanting to smell it! I think I'll have to press it for her.

Anyhow, now that Valentines Day is all wrapped up, I'm going to crash on the couch with a tea and a cookie. Hope y'all had a nice day. Until later...

Sneak Attack...

Sometimes I wonder if parenting isn't an extended exercise in abject failure. Okay, maybe that statement is a little too dramatic. Maybe it should be more a matter of learning, every day, every moment, with every breath you take, to lower your expectations. Of yourself. The child has no expectation of you, other than to be nice and feed them and play and sing 'Twinkle, Twinkle' 8000 times at their behest. They don't sit and stew over whether or not they are being properly socialized or watching too much television or getting a balanced diet or going outside to get a boost of vitamin D because it's winter and we all know that we're all vitamin deficient in winter and I've heard that it might be possible that vitamin deficiencies are responsible for learning problems or behavioural problems or was it just mood problems or was that iron?

I thought I understood, before I had children, about how everyone said you worry about them. I thought you worried about their safety and whether they were warm enough and practical things like this. I had no idea about all the lunacy of what is out there in the zeitgeist about today's modern parenting would seep into my psyche and threaten my mental health. There's no chapter in 'What to Expect...' about that. As a matter of fact, that book started it all. Don't eat lunch meat when you're pregnant, don't go near microwaves, stay away from dark haired strangers, they'll put a hex on your unborn fetus and the child will be doomed for all eternity.

So I sit and I stew. And I bounce back and forth between worrying that my not-quite-two year old isn't enrolled in eighteen activities and doesn't have a bevy of playmates for play dates and saying 'Ah *fudge* it, we're just going to sit here and watch Nemo of the 100th time because it makes her happy.' It fatigues me. It really does.

Sometimes I wish there was some sort of parenting quality control, some polite little bureau that checks in with you with a list of boxes to check off every six months or so and says, 'Lots of fruit and veggies? Check. Going to Storytime at the library? Check. Hanging out lots doing fun stuff like colour and Play-Doh? Check. Well, seems to me like you're a jolly good parent then. Keep up the good work. Oh wait, just one more question. Are you singing 'Twinkle, Twinkle' 8000 times a day? Right-o then, carry on.' (Why these people would be British caricatures, I don't really know).

It's really hard not to think you totally suck at this job sometimes, when really it's just you. Which it is, a very large portion of the time. Example; I tried to play with A in the snow this past weekend. I went and dropped $25 bucks on a sled and three minutes into the excursion, I get the familiar mantra 'Alldone alldone alldone!' Three minutes. I don't know why I took it so personally. I guess the effort to reward ratio was a bit one sided, and my feelings were a little bruised. One trip to get the sled, one trip back, get bundled up, three minutes in the fresh air and sunshine (which in itself seems like a monumental feat some days) and I am utterly defeated.

Then there is this whole food issue. All in all, she's a good eater. Really can't complain. Just not a fan of meat and most veggies in their whole state. So with my Christmas Chapters gift card, I bought Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld. I'd seen her schlepping it on Oprah a few years back and then just recently, the follow up cook book. The whole premise is to sneak extra veggies and other good stuff into your cooking in the form of purees. Then you make stuff that kids like already, like mozzarella sticks and burgers and pancakes etc. etc. I'd been kind of doing this stuff anyway, more along the lines of sneaking extra veg in pasta sauces, but I wanted some actual recipes to get an idea of measurements and portions and so forth.

So I got all the veggies and prepped all the purees on Saturday in anticipation of making a weeks worth of recipes to try. Saturday night I made the mozza sticks. Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I should tell you that I use recipes the same way I use sewing patterns. Really more of a guideline. The recipe in the book called for cauliflower puree and mozza cheese whereas I had a small chunk of cheddar I wanted to use up before breaking into some new cheese, so I used that and some squash puree (part of the idea is to match up colours, so that the kids don't catch on to the ruse). Also, I didn't plan on using any of the low fat substitutes that were called for in any of the recipes. They creep me out. So does cooking spray. Why use something that comes from an aerosol can when a little bit of olive oil will do? It's not like she needs to watch her calories. Me, that's another story. But we're focusing on her. And I feed her well all of the time. I just need a little peace of mind that she's getting a good balance.



Anyway, I mixed them, froze them briefly (like the recipe said) and lightly pan fried. Look just like mozza sticks, eh? I wasn't sure how they'd be received since A isn't really old enough to have any sort of preconceived notion of what constitutes 'fun' food, other than say, pizza which she really likes or noodles, which she could eat every day of her life and never tire of. So I really played up the whole aspect of them being 'cheese sticks'. Would you like to try some cheese sticks tonight for dinner? See, I made cheese sticks. Aren't these cheese sticks good??? FYI, she really digs cheese.



I was encouraged that she seemed to be taking to them right away. But, a few bites into it and she was spitting it out. Fail. I, on the other hand, thought they were great. Definitely tasted cheesy, with a touch of sweetness. I'll try them again. Maybe it was the breading she doesn't like. Maybe it was the hard sell. Like I was going to get a commission if she ate them up. That'd probably annoy me too.

The next morning I tried the scrambled eggs with the cauliflower puree. I was really skeptical about this one. I like cauliflower (and really, almost all veg), but I wasn't sold on how a puree in eggs would taste. Turns out, quite good. Both she and I ate them all up. Win. That night for dinner she had a choice between my husbands Superbowl chili or my cheese and sweet potato quesidilla (with homemade flat bread. Hubby brought home whole wheat flour for another recipe he tried and I've been endeavouring to use up the bag). The chili won, but only after she refused to eat it in her chair, was excused to the living room (which is my way of not throwing a huge fit myself because she won't eat dinner. It's done wonders for my blood pressure, not to mention likely doing much less damage on my poor daughters future relationship to food), came back to the kitchen and orbited me in my chair, occasionally entering my atmosphere for a spoonful of chili. Whatever. She ate it. Beans and meat and all. I'm still calling it a win. With an asterisk.

Today for breakfast we had french toast with sweet potato puree and we both enjoyed that as well. Overall, I'm calling the book a success. I'm going to try some of the baked goods with the purees, as I'm sure she'd gobble those up no problem. I'm much calmer knowing that she's getting as close to a full compliment of fruit and veg in a day. That part of my crazy internal dialogue has quieted somewhat. Which is nice
The only thing that bugs me about the book is that any time Ms. Seinfeld includes a tip or an anecdote (which are dotted throughout) she refers to 'healthful' food or 'healthful' eating. Is that even a word? If it is, it's awkward. What's wrong with health-Y? It's snobbish nit picking I know. But every time I come across it, it bugs the crap out of me. That's my only complaint.

Also, I made socks.



I wanted them done for my birthday at the end of January, which they were, so I actually got to wear them on my big day. They also qualify for my January Self Imposed Sock Club (a la the Yarn Harlot). Win again. The February pair are in a time out because I'm upset with the pattern. I think they are going to be waaaaay too big. Thinking of starting a different pair. My club, my rules. We'll see. Other than that, I'm either knitting up or have finished some gifts, which I can't talk about. That always seems to be the way.

Until later...

Some thoughts on housework...

Confession time. I'm a lax housekeeper. I see it as one of my primary duties as a SAHM (stay at home mom...took me a while when I first saw that too), but if truth be told, I certainly don't keep up with it with any sort of verve or urgency. This is in direct contrast to how I was raised. My mother, another SAHM, was a committed and devout, details oriented housekeeper. That is, until she finally got to an age where she hired a cleaning lady. Honest to goodness, half of the house I grew up in looked like a magazine spread. It was impeccably decorated and impeccably kept, mostly because no one was allowed in those rooms. You know those houses where they have a formal living room that no one sits in and you're just supposed to hurriedly run through on the way to your room? Yeah, that was my house.

This was my psychic landscape as well. Over the years, it's crept into more and more of my subconscious, taking over those parts of the brain that are well suited to adolescent rebellion and keeping all of your worldly belongings in a heap on the floor. Things really started to change in university, where I roomed with perhaps the most disorganized person I've ever met. In first year I ended up with two roommates in residence, one of whom was prone to walking on her bed with her shoes on (books on a shelf up above and she only 4' 10") and a wide variety of food stuffs to be found in amongst her bedding. Whenever she left for a weekend, my other roommate and I, tidy organized people that we were, would pounce on her third of the room and clean it up. I don't think this ever sat well. In any case, my little corner of the universe at that time was always swept, mopped, be-postered and pretty smelling. It was then that I started making my bed on a regular basis. It just calmed me down to come back from my classes (when I went) to see the quilt my grandma made and the afghan my mom made smoothed out and welcoming me to blow off my reading and instead sit down and watch some Star Trek.

Now I live in an unfinished and in perpetual renovation house devoid of baseboard in most rooms or real flooring in the entire upstairs, half finished moldings around the windows and more dog hair and claw scratches than I had ever anticipated living with...ever. Yet my expectation of my home is to live in something resembling House and Home. Thank you mother. I continually endeavour to lower my expectations. In doing so, I've come up with some basic rules of thumb for me to live by.

1) Whenever I get cranky about having to do housework, which we've already established is not often, I try to remember the kind of effort it would've taken to do 100 years ago and then I calm down about it. I put the clothes in the washer and walk away. An hour later, I come back and put them in the dryer, then walk away. I put the dishes in the dishwasher, set the 4 hour delay button and go to bed. When I wake up there are clean dishes (this NEVER ceases to amuse me). So all in all, it's really nothing to get so uptight about.

2) My benchmark for cleanliness is Hoarders. Have you ever watched that show? These people who are literally burying themselves alive with crap (sometimes, literally)? If I can stave off that particular outcome, I think I'm meeting my quota.

3) Really, no one in this house seems to really give a sh*t about this except me. I'm not counting the little one or the dog, so we really know who I'm talking about here. He never complains, so I guess I shouldn't get so bent out of shape over it.

4) When things get to the point where they start to make MY skin crawl, it's time to break out the Lysol.

5) Other than keeping the kitchen and the bathrooms at peak cleanliness at all times, everything else can wait until I have company coming.

This, of course, is all just a series of elaborate excuses to create more time for crafting. Hence;



I'm addicted to granny squares lately. I had some acrylic scraps and I broke into them to try out this rainbow-y blanket. This took me two evenings to do, which is why I heart crochet so much. I've used up as much of the scraps as I can for this, so now I can throw the rest away with a light heart.



I can't stop spinning!! Seriously. I think I've done nerve damage. Both my legs feel tingly all the time. But still, I can't stop. Chicken Betty sent me some fiber eons ago and it's so lovely that it practically spins itself. I've spun up about 400+ yrds already and have roughly 5 oz left to do. I think I'm really starting to get a hang of this too.



Little A is really into ballerinas right now, and on my latest trip to the fabric store I found this ballerina themed flannel. Gimme a bunch, please. I had hoped to make jammies and a fitted sheet for her crib, but instead bought enough for jammies and a top sheet. This is her throwing a mild tantrum over Idon'trememberwhat. But she was still for about ten seconds, so I managed to get a photo in.

This last one comes with a warning. Upon viewing, you may be overcome by an insatiable urge to make this. Just sayin'.



I got this through the Martha Stewart Craft a Day email. I pretty much get only newsletters in my inbox anymore. Anyhow, this looked irresistible so I had to try it. Felted sweater teacup pincushions. Really too easy. I raided Frenchy's for all the wool sweaters they had and came up with these two...so far. I still need some i-cord trim for the saucers, but really, in an evening (sans i-cord mind you...I did those another evening), they were done. And adorable. They're from designer Betz White.

Speaking of housework, I've gotta go figure out what to make for dinner. That's a whole other post.

Until later...

Output...

The other night, during our bedtime routine, I was singing my usual repertoire of songs to miss Bean when I decided to ask her what she might like to hear next. We'd already been through several renditions of 'Koopa' (Kookaburra), 'Rock-a-Baby' (Rock-a-bye-Baby) and 'Fwisee Song' (Not sure of the actual title, but it's the one where the two fishies 'swam and they swam all over the dam.' I'm going with The Fishy Song). She answered with 'Deedle-dee'.'Deedle-dee?' I repeated. It took me a moment to search my mental Rolodex for what this might be. Then it dawned on me. Sometimes, for no discernible reason, I hum the Super Mario Bros. theme song, substituting in 'deedle dee's' here and there. She did a celebratory dance when I figured it out.

So some of the following is going back a while. I thought I had deleted photos of some of my Christmas crafts, but they suddenly appeared when I plugged the memory card into the reader on the desk top. Weird. I don't understand computers and I don't have the patience to try and understand them. I know 'working' and 'not working' as defined by me. That is all. The entire spectrum of my understanding of computer science. Anyhow...



This is a scarf I started knitting when I first received the yarn from a friend of mine (Colinette Jitterbug, not sure of the colourway other than to say that it is LOUD). I wasn't sure who it's recipient might be until about half way in when it seemed to suggest that a hip and stylish young lady might appreciate such an accessory. Fortunately for me, I know such a young lady! So it was to her that this was gifted at Christmas and I think it was pretty well received.



This was a cowl I knit for my sister (Ridged Lace Cowl) which, I think, turned out quite pretty and soft. In retrospect though, I think I may have eliminated a repeat or two. I like cowls to be, well, cowly, but this might be a bit too much so. Either way, it was fun and fast to knit and blocked out really nicely.



Crochet made a good showing this year as well. These were a couple of lunch sets I made for some culinary-inclined toddlers in my life. Shamefully, my own was not among them. Another of my goals this year is to craft more specifically for her. I made virtually nothing for her for Christmas this year, and that's just not acceptable.



I also made a bunch of Chicken Betty's Summer Coaster Set's (pattern available through Ravelry) this year. They're perfect little gifts. Quick, easy, festive...can't ask for more than that.



Once I was all done with Christmas, I was itching to get back to my wheel and starting working on my spinning again. I pulled out some pencil roving from the stash and within a few days had it all spun up.



Singles ready for plying.



Finished product. I have a confession to make. Once I'm done spinning and plying some skeins of yarn, I carry it around with me for a while, like a security blanket or a teddy bear. I'm just so amused with the fact that I can actually turn roving, raw wool (okay, it's been washed and carded by the time it gets to me, and in most cases, dyed as well), into actual yarn. And it's not half bad either. This is roughly 266 yrds. I'm trying to get up the nerve to actually knit it into something. Any suggestions?



Finally, on an organizational tear at the opening of the new year and in keeping with my resolution to make-over my craft room, I cleared out the corner I had designated as Miss A's space for creating...



...and ordered my pneumonia-stricken husband to put up shelves. Yes, I am ruthless in pursuit of my own goals (relax...he'd already been on a weeks worth of anti-biotics by then. I'm not totally heartless). It's a little sparse and bare at the moment, there's lots of ways in which I can cute it up, but for now, it's fitting the bill. She has somewhere to colour and Play-Doh (which she is a little freakishly attached to I have to say) and we can hang together in our collective creative space which is a dream come true.

I've got other WIP's to show, but the clock is running out on nap time here, so I'd like to spend a little time at the wheel before I have to put the mommy hat back on. More later...

Resolutions...

My dog has a flatulence issue.

I just thought I would share, since enjoying it all to myself seemed so unfair. Luckily for me, his hours of operation seem to co-incide with my relaxing time, the evening. Isn't he considerate.

I guess it's not really entirely his fault. We've had to switch types of dog food. Not the brand mind you, just had to go from big chunks to mini chunks because Superstore in their INFINITE wisdom, have randomly decided not to carry the big chunks anymore. I'm adding this to the long list of things I really super adore about the Superstore in town and just living on the edge of civilization in general, where basic goods and services are a luxury at the best of times.

Anyhow, that was the dry stuff. Mini chunks. Then they stopped carrying the wet crap we mixed in with the dry crap, so we had to switch that up as well. Ever since then, it's been methane city. Honest to goodness, one night last week it was so relentless and noxious during the night that it woke me up. This is my life people. This is my life.

So here we are, it's 2011. It dawned on me late on Jan. 2nd that Jan. 1 was 1/1/11. And that was only because my iPod told me so. Things that make you go 'huh'.

I know resolutions are, I dunno, overdone, outdated, cliche, never followed through, but really, what could it hurt to at least make up a vague list of things I'd like to do differently this year than last. 2010, for me, as far as years go, hmmm...how to put this delicately...sucked ass, so I'm endeavouring to do my best to go into 2011 with an open mind and a hopefully less cynical attitude.

Thing the first; I was quite close to ditching the blog last year, but I think I'll hang onto it for a little while longer with the express understanding that I'm more going to just write what I want to write about. I think I have a better chance of actually making a point of stopping by and throwing some thoughts around, see what sticks. I think the general mood will be less crafty at times. Crafts don't rule my world like they once did, although they've made an impressive come back in the last few months. But I still have a lot on my mind and I think I can make it funny to read.

Thing the second; Less Facebook, more actual books. I'd like to make a list of at least 12 books I'd like to read or have always wanted to read or maybe should read just for the sake of being well read. I miss books and I really do think I've gotten stupider since I stopped making them a priority in my life.

3rd; Less tv. This is a no brainer. The DVR makes this stupid easy to do. I never watch anything when it's on anyway, so most of the time I'm just sitting here crafting with some background noise. That could be radio instead.

4th; Re-do the craft room, make it more functional for me and my Bean. I'm brimming with ideas and already went on a tear this afternoon decluttering and reorganizing. I have plans for furniture purchases, window treatment sewing and some mild painting, all of which is totally do-able and will hopefully yield a much more pleasant and efficient space to be in. I've designated a couple of corners for Miss A and her arts and crafts and I can't wait to get her little areas set up.

5th; Try to do one thing this year that I've always wanted to do. Last year it was yoga, which I did and really enjoyed. Haven't decided what it might be this year yet though. What would you do?

That's a modest start anyway. I'm also going to try and get this laptop out of my living room. Hopefully once the craft room (slash-office slash-playroom) is up and running, I can put it up there and leave it there (there's already a desk top occupying real estate on the desk. Ideally I'd like to ditch both of them, or at least the desk top, and get a Mac. But we'll see). It interferes too much with little A being around. I sit here and putz around on it while she's trying to play with me, the constable sits here and plays computer games on it while she's trying to play with him...it's insane. Out of sight is so out of mind it's not even funny. And the time has come.

To answer some of the comments from the previous post, I just thought I would quickly update Miss A and her screeching. She hasn't exactly outgrown it yet, but I did try a few avenues of dissuasion. Time out in her room wasn't effective since she saw that as a prime opportunity to just keep at it, only louder and longer (and I got kinda tired going up and down the stairs all the time. I know...I'm lazy). Getting cross and raising my voice was an exercise in futility because loud begets loud. So one day, in the van, at the end of my rope, I used up the only ammunition left in my arsenal, the oldest trick in the book.

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

Trapped in the confines of my 2001 Chevy Venture Mom-mobile, I let loose with the longest, loudest, high pitchiest screech I could possibly screech. And didn't that shut her up right quick.

Then the very next day, she was at it again in the living room, only her father was standing right next to me. I didn't even hesitate, just belted one right back at her. He went a little cross eyed and his ears bled a little bit, and he even commented on 'wow, that really hurts the ears' to which I replied 'Yes. I know. That's how I feel every time she does it to me. All day long. For days on end.' The post script to that would be, 'DO YOU GET WHERE I'M COMING FROM NOW, HUH???'

I have to say...things have been much quieter around here since then. She still attempts a screech from time to time, a very little one, almost a whisper, but she is ever wide-eyed and watchful of mommy, should she make good on her threat of 'Keep it up, and I'll do it too.'

Until later...

Seeking Advice...

What can I say. If only blog posts composed in the head would magically appear on screen then I would be obscenely prolific. But if the choice comes down to blogging about doing a thing or actually doing a thing, then the doing wins out. Time is precious and all that.

Luckily for the one or two remaining followers of this blog, some of my Christmas gift knitting has already been received and opened, so I am free to share what I've been up to.



First up a pair of pink socks, Par 5 is the pattern. I quite liked this knit. Impressive results. Knit for a friend of mine who wanted to gift them to her sister. I hope she was pleased.



Next, this irresistible little guy that I knit for my nephew for Christmas. I'm really not one for monkeys, they just don't do it for me, but I have to admit, I was thoroughly charmed by this little fellow. As was little A. She kept chatting with him while he was being constructed and assembled. Methinks she might enjoy one of her own.



For my niece who is a huge Tinkerbell fan, a pair of Tink slippers. Just regular felted slippers with gigantic white pom-poms. I have to say, I was pretty geeked about these once they were assembled. I was told that they were such a hit that they had to accompany my niece to bed the night she opened them up. Now that is high praise indeed.

There has been various other items in there as well, some of which are still in transit and some of which I unfortunately did not photograph before they left my possession. C'est la vie.

Now here is where I ask for some advice. It's of the parenting variety, for those of you who may be so inclined. My daughter likes to screech. You know the kind, that high pitched squeal/scream that only banshees and toddlers are capable of. It started out as just a means of exploring her vocal range and has quickly turned into a way of torturing me, since I have a very low threshold for noise. I had tubes in my ears as a child and was VERY sensitive to loud noises back then and have since discovered, still am today.

This screeching...it goes beyond just annoying or bothersome for me. It's like drilling an ice pick into my temple that somehow finds it's way to the very core of my being. And since she is a) my child and b) my daughter, she innately knows just how insane this noise makes me and now uses it to express her frustration and displeasure when she doesn't want to do what she has been asked or told. A couple of weeks ago, she was so incessant with this bloody sound that it literally gave me a headache. For days.

I'm sure that the effect that this screaming has on me is exacerbated by the fact that we spend ALL of our time with one another. My husband doesn't *quite* get the full effect, answering my pleas of cessation with 'she's a kid. Kids do that.'

So my question to you, dear blog, is how do I make it stop? Or am I doomed to just have to live with it until she outgrows it? I really really don't like it. As a matter of fact, I hate it. I hate it in the house, I hate it with a mouse; I hate it in the store, please little A, no more. She's a good bean, and really, this is my only complaint, so I consider myself lucky. But it does drive me nuts.

Anyhoo, hope y'all have a good holiday, yo. Catch you in 2011!

Until later...

Death by Cute...

Just when I thought things in this house couldn't get any cuter, I stumbled upon this tutorial at Twelve Crafts Till Christmas. I was hunting around for some doll accessory patterns and this fit the bill to a tee. Don't tell little A, but I sent a request off to Santa for some doll furniture, and since she's been super awesome all year long, I'm thinking he just might bring it. She loves her baby dolls and I love crafting, so it really was a perfect storm.

Diaper bag and accessories

Can you stand it? Cuz I can't. Seriously. That little pack of diaper wipes took a total of nine seconds to make and it just makes my teeth clench to look at it. And yes, I even overlap-folded the 'wipes' so that when you pull one, another will pop up.



This project cost me a grand total of zero dollars since I had everything I needed in my stash. Have I mentioned before how much I love having a little girl???

It's going to very difficult to sit on this one till Christmas. I hope she loves it as much as I do. Until later...

I'm Forever Cutting Circles...

I think I might have some kind of manic craft disorder. I can go for long spells where I have no desire for crafting. That would be the low end of the cycle. Then I cycle up to where I am now, in hyper craft drive, where I can't seem to stop myself and leave a pile of projects in my wake. Here's what I've been up to lately.

I volunteered to make a cake for my friends daughters birthday. She was having a Halloween themed party this year, and was looking for a witch cake. After a little contemplation (and research on the interwebs) I came up with this;



Yep, that's all cake. Well, except for the hat brim and ribbon. I had a heck of a time trying to make black icing, so I went with a purple hat and what I like to refer to as a copper kettle for the witches cauldron. Hey, it's cake. It's more important that it taste good (which by all reports, it did). I made the card too. I KNOW. Paper is usually not my medium, but a while back I finally bought the paper dolls cartridge for my Cricut Expression machine (it was a gift if you recall) and I gotta tell ya...it's fun. I never thought I would find myself making cards, but there you have it.

I also never thought I would find myself making wreaths, but in the past week I've done not one, but two. I saw a tutorial this time last year at WhipUp for this ruffly felt circle wreath and my initial instinct upon seeing it was MUST MAKE. However, the thought of cutting a billion felt circles with the tools already in my arsenal didn't appeal. Which lead me to buy a circle rotary cutter recently.



Now I'm addicted to cutting circles. I need project ideas that require circle cutting. Any ideas? I need to justify the purchase of the tool for something other than felt circle wreaths (although I could make a couple more of those too. Quite a quick project to put together, and the result is pretty and satisfying. I'm thinking either one in Christmas colours or another in blues and white to go with my living room Christmas decor). The wreath is almost finished, I just ran out of felt last night. You really do need to buy it by the meter for this project. It takes quite a bit more than you think.



I saw something similar to this at one of my local yarn shops and thought 'Ooo, that's charming.' Yes, I say stuff like that to myself. So I picked up a small wreath at the dollar store and hot glued some yarn balls from yarn stash to it and badda bing, badda boom, you gotcha self a wreath. I'm thinking some small knitting needles or double points might be in order somewhere on there as well.



Also for the aforementioned birthday girl, I knit this matching sweater and hat set for her Build-a-Bear friend Bunny (which I guess would make her a Build-a-Bunny, but I digress). I wish I had thought to snap a photo of Bunny modelling her ensemble. She was quite fetching in her new digs.



I've also been stash busting. I threw together this trick or treat bag for Miss A out of stash materials. I inherited this rather hefty orange canvas that I wasn't sure what to do with, but it came in handy. I've also made two of these and two of these but they are going to be gifts, so I'll just leave that as a teaser.



Finally, I finished this quite some time ago and have been meaning to throw it up here, but just haven't gotten around to it. It's a little cloth book that I put together for Miss A and was mostly assembled for her first birthday. It's genesis dates back to, hmmm, 2006? when I cut out all the pages and the letters.



I used the left over material from A's crib set to make the covers and remnants out of my fabric stash for the letters. I wish I had been able to do a little bit better job of outlining the letters, like say machine embroidery or something, but after four years, I just really wanted it completed so the quick and dirty route seemed to fit the bill.

And that pretty much sums it up for the time being. I'm currently caught up in a flurry of Christmas projects that I'll be gobsmacked if they're done on time. Every year I swear I won't do this to myself and then do it anyway. Guess I'll go pick one to work on for a while. Until later...

My Girly Girl...

There will be people out there who deny what I am about to say until they are blue in the face, but sometimes stereotypes turn out to be true. I don't know as I would have wholly believed it myself until my wee one came into my life but there are just innate, fundamental differences between little boys and little girls. In my case, my little miss A is all girly girl.

I will admit that I have zero issue with dressing her in pink at any and all opportunity. I delight in doing her hair. Dresses make me all squishy inside. And then of course there were the 20+ pairs of Robeez in her closet before she was even born (cut me SOME slack, most of those were hand-me-downs). That being said, I also delight in watching her get dirty when she plays, buy her Tonka trucks and get equally squishy when she sits down to watch football or hockey with her dad. My mantra from day one has always been if she's happy, I'm happy.

But try as I might, she really does dote on her baby dolls to the exclusion of the Tonka's. The first time I took her into Payless, her eyes got as wide as saucers, her little index finger pointed in the air and she let a breathless 'SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOEEEEEESSSSS' escape from her tiny mouth. I brought a bag full of summer clothes home from Walmart (of the Damned...can't say Walmart without adding that at the end) and she trailed after me wailing until I realized that she wanted to inspect and examine the contents. There she was, sitting on the kitchen floor, holding up her outfits and smiling with approval. You can't teach this stuff.

Then there was the day that she started doing this;



That's just a little plastic bag that some doll accessories came in, but one day, I happened to glance up from whatever and there she was, parading around the house with her little bag in the crook of her elbow. Shortly after that, I picked up a little silver clutch from Frenchy's and today, miss Fancy Pants had to have it with her at lunch.


The lady who lunches

She's all about mimicking now, wanting to do what I do. I think it's fantastic. Watching her learn something new every day is really the most incredible part of being able to stay at home with her as I do. She'd been wanting to use my broom and dustbin prior to our trip to PEI, so I had it in my mind to get her her own little set of cleaning tools. I remember playing with my own when I was a child and just the mere fact that they were scaled down for my size delighted me. Sure enough, I found a complete set at that fabulous toy store I mentioned in my last post.



Best...purchase...ever. There hasn't been a day pass since that she hasn't swept or mopped or toted her little cleaning bucket around. She even learned how to empty her little dustbin in to the garbage. Best part? That's the only time she ever opens the garbage. Hysterical.

Domestic goddess in training

I've even conned her into doing her own laundry. 'Bout time she started earning her keep around here.



After a long, gruelling day of housework, a little preening is in order. Always best to keep up appearances.

All in all, she's a hoot. I can't get enough of her. I could go on all day, but I suppose this will suffice for now.

Until later...

October Light...

I really don't know how it got to be October already. I mean that. I've been in such summer ending denial that even the other day, as I was culling my daughters drawers and closet of pretty little summer outfits that tragically, weren't worn long enough at all, I still kept a few tops and skirts and shorts near the top of the pile kidding myself into believing that there may yet be a few more warm days. But the cold is coming. I can smell it. Winter is there, lurking, like the giant Nothing that threatened all of Fantasia in the Neverending Story. I really don't know what it is about this year, but the prospect of the unceasing void of dull and dark and grey has me gripped in a vice of dread that I can't seem to shake off.

On that happy note, it's nice to be back. It was an unintentional absence I guess. I've been grappling with the fact that this is a hobby blog and I rarely hobby at all any more. I have a bolt of fabric in the craft room for curtains, a half spun bobbin of fiber on the wheel, three quarters of a pair of socks still lingering on the needles. Lots of great ideas, little to no ambition when the days work is done at 8 pm. I've come to terms with it. A few stitches here, a sideways glance at all my former creative outlets looking forlorn and collecting dust. I really don't know how some people do it. But, with the onset of autumn, I seem to be feeling the spark of renewed interest. My cooking mojo is slowly returning. I actually want to finish those damn socks cuz it's driving me crazy. I have clear deadlines for a few projects I'd like to finish. Other than that, it's all gravy.

Part of this may have to do with the fact that I recently got back from a wee vacation. The constable, myself, the wee one and the constable's brother's family all loaded up and headed off to PEI for a week. I hadn't been since I was six or so. I was looking forward to going back.

With two couples and three kids total, we rented a cottage. This was it



and it was awesome. Plenty of room, all the amenities you'd need and a hot tub. With a view of the strait. Score.

After settling in, our first road trip was to Cavendish, natch, to visit Green Gables. The movie had just come out prior to my last visit, a million years ago, and my mom had read me the book prior to our trip as well, so going to Anne's house back then was a HUGE deal to me. I heart Anne, always have. Going back I felt like a kid again. I wanted to jump up and down.



I'm such an Anne dork that I put both little A and myself in braids for the occassion. Anyhow, with kids in tow, we didn't spend as much time there as I would've liked but opted instead to check out the Avonlea village attraction thing which, surprise surprise, was closed for the season (it being September and all). Rather disappointed in that one. Looked like it would've been fun for the wee ones. Always next year I guess. I did manage to drop a stupid amount of money in the Anne gift shop however, getting all the movies on DVD and some raspberry cordial.



The whole area is just one big Annapalooza, and I ate it right up.

Speaking of eating, we weren't far from the Cows Creamery factory, so we did a little day trip there as well.



Maybe the best ice cream I've had. Pretty darn creamy.

Then there was Charlottetown and shopping and the discovery of perhaps the happiest place on earth, a toy-slash-yarn store. Yes, you heard me correctly. Toy-slash-yarn. The place was called Owl's Hollow and I could've spent all day there. I was expecting the yarn selection to be of the Walmart variety, but I was pleasently surprised and picked up some Diamond Baby Alpaca Sport and some skeins of a merino silk blend (couldn't find a link to that) both in pretty shades of blue (no photo, cuz they're upstairs and I'm down here and it's already taken me three months to get back to blogging. If I leave now, there's not telling when I'll get back here). I also picked up some fiber for spinning from the Rustico Bay Wool Sweater Company and some other knitty/sweatery/wooly/gifty shop in Charlottetown. The fiber there came from Belfast Mini Mills, another place I'd like to check out if I ever make it back.

Then, on the last day of our trip, before we headed back to NS, we took in one of the events of the Fall Flavours Festival with takes place during the month of September on PEI. See, the constable and I and his brother and wife, we're big fans of food and cooking and perhaps the eating most of all. We were pretty excited about the prospect of an ENTIRE month dedicated to good eats. Some of the events on the calendar were a bit out of our price range however, but there was a family picnic scheduled the day we had to check out of the cottage. So we headed back to the Cavendish area on our last day for lunch.

If you're familiar with the Festival then you might know that it's hosted by chef Michael Smith, the Food Network's Chef At Home (here in Canada at least...not sure about the States). I'm a fan, so is my sister-in-law, and, well,



we got to meet him too. I bought a cookbook, got a signature and on Sunday night, we made page 196



the Potato Bacon Cheddar Tart. People...this dish is life changing. It's two pounds of bacon. It's bacon pie. If you want your man to be putty in your hands, make this. Then lord it over him for the rest of your life. "If you finish those bathroom renovations today, I'll make bacon piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee."
Despite the fact that we didn't make any of the other culinary events, the entire week was full of epic dinners that were full of awesomeness. A roast over an open fire, a lobster feed, fettucini alfredo with enough butter and cream to make your heart stop. *Sigh* It was delightful. We concluded that it's probably best that the four of us don't live closer together since we'd all likely be pushing three bills by now.

So those were the highlight. It was nice to get away and even nicer to visit with family. I took a whole heap of knitting stuff with me and barely knit a stitch. But I've got a bunch of projects lined up from now until Christmas, so hopefully I'll have more success in both the hobby and blog departments.

Until later...