Ravelry Holiday Swap

Most of you who read my blog don’t do Ravelry, so I will have to fill you in.  A group of Ravelry folks were have a kind of secret Santa gift exchange.  There was a theme: De-stress and Knit (loosely).  Part of the swap was to send something from your stash and the other part was to send something to help a person recover from the madness and stress of the holidays.   I got my package the day we left Iowa and had only enough time to open it and snap a few pictures.

I had a great swap partner!  She’s in the UK.  I got some gorgeous green merino wool that I have never seen before, several patterns, chocolate, tea, cocoa, a recipe book and the girls each got a chocolate Santa!!!!  Each item was separately wrapped which made for a good deal of excitement for me and the girls.  The last to be open was the chocolate santas (per instructions) and the girls went crazy.  My swap partner goes my the name Sulkycat on Ravelry.  This was great fun and have had the opportunity to “meet” two new people through this experience, Sulkycat (the giver) and Cockeyed, the one I sent a package to.  

This was my first swap and will certainly not be my last….great fun!

Lost Teeth

Our oldest girl, Grey, lost her first TWO teeth.  I noticed about three weeks ago that a permanent tooth was coming in behind a baby tooth.  I waited a week thinking that the baby tooth would loosen.  It never did, so I made an appointment with our dentist in TN and he said that the baby tooth had to come out.  He also found a second one was in he same shape and pulled it. 

So, unfortunately, she lost her first two teeth unnaturally.  She did not seem to care.  I knit her a special pouch to take with her to the dentist.  The dentist was kind enough to deposit the teeth in a treasure chest and then put the treasure chest into the pouch.  That night the tooth fairy visited.  He exchanged the teeth for six gold coins.  I think she got a few extra for the suffering at the dentist.  She was a trooper according to Henry.   The extraction required a couple of shots in the gum.  but, she made it and is six dollars richer for the trouble!  Here’s before and afterimg_0193.jpg     img_0198.jpg

Snow and Ice…gotta catch up with the weather

WOW.  I lived in TN my whole life.  So moving to Iowa has been a definite experience.   I’ve found the area to be beautiful and people friendly.  I knew I would get to see some snow……..but, WOW!  The first snow/ice was on Thanksgiving.  That one was only about 2 or so inches.  The next was one week later, another 3-4 inches.  And this morning a thick, glassy layer of ice on top of all of the misc ice/snow that  did not melt.   That we have had three frozen precipitation incidents before Christmas is in itself, mind-boggling.  But, the thought that it did not melt away before getting another is unbelievable for a Southern gal.  Nothing stops here…school is open, stores on a normal schedule, etc.  

Update:  just got a call from the school system…I spoke too soon.  The schools are closed today.  The ice is rather ugly out there and I don’t think it’s stopping anytime soon. 

The best part of this whole snow thing is the sheer and utter joy it brings to the girls.  Check it out:

Advent Calender for Knitters

Check out this advent calender for knitters. 

http://www.garnstudio.com/julekalender.php?lang=en

You ask in wonder,”where did you find this?”  I reply, “Ravelry, of course.”  Ravelry ROCKS!

Staye tuned, I’ll try to post picture of our handmade (kid made) Advent Calender tomorrow. 

Happy Thanksgiving

Like everyone else in cyberspace, I am going to indulge myself with a post about being thankful. 

In my day to day life I get caught up in chaos that comes with two young children.  The fussing, the rushing, the crying and the whining.  But, if I replay the days in my mind,there’s this…the hugging, the loving, the kissing, the snuggling, the helping.  An then, on top of all of that there is a house full of love when a family is all together, like they should be. 

I’m thankful for Henry, he gave me the girls and continues to be the greatest father and husband.  I’m thankful for the girls for all of the reason listed above and that I’m somehow a little softer because of them…I needed to be.  I’m thankful for my family in the states and in France ;-).  I’m thankful for my friends, those who have kept in touch even though we are very far from home and those new ones who have been so warm and embracing.  I’m thankful to my job… they thought enough of me to keep me even though I’m 600+ miles away.

And I’m thankful for two more things…a little less serious than the last.  I’m thankful for Ravelry and SNOW ON THANKSGIVING!!!!!!! 

Henry’s Hat

Henry wore his hat today.  He got a lot of comments on it.  It hasn’t been blocked yet, but he couldn’t resist.  He has been dying to get his hands on it.  I’m loading a few pictures of my most handsome husband in his new hat.

Almost done

A little more knitting content here….I am so excited.  I finished the fair isle portion of Henry’s hat.  It’s below.  This was taken about 4 days ago.  Now I have added the partial lining and tacked it down.  All that is left is washing and blocking.  Henry’s had it on and loves it!  It is super warm although it looks pretty light weight because the fair isle basically makes a double knit hat.  Plus, I lined it from the bottom edge to about 2.5 inches with cashmere!  He had it on inside for about five minutes while modeling it for the girls and had to take it off!  It’s too warm for inside wear.  It looks like I finished just in time since they are calling for snow on Thanksgiving!  I could like this place.

For you Sock Knitters…you know who you are!

You should check out All Tangled Up’s website.  It’s one of my consistently favorite blogs.  She is weighing sock yarns and comparing the weight with what is on the label.  A lot is pretty surpising.  A couple of grams here and there on a dk or worsted weight yarn may not make that much difference…but in sock yarn, it could be the difference in an unfinished second sock…especially if you’re knitting top down.   Here she is    http://www.alltangledup.com/

Check this link out

I found this on Gleek’s website.  www.gleek.net   She has a really good blog with a bunch of links to patterns and such.  I used to go to her blog to find interesting patterns before Ravelry happened.   Anyway, she had a link to this - http://metaatem.net/words  - You gotta try it out.  Type a word in and it gives you the word in pictures. 

Knitting Content!

I took a faire isle class about a week ago.  I started a hat for Henry with a skull motif, but had some difficulty with tension and I got messed up on the pattern.  So yesterday morning I ripped it out.  I was heartless!!!!! I went to Crazy Girl Yarn Shop for a stitch and bitch session and got a ton of stuff done!!!!!! TAAAA-DAAAAAAAAA