Tuesday, April 14, 2009

knitting for kids




I made this for E for Christmas. It is the Tasha Tutor shawl knit in Cascade 220 Superwash. I Ravel it here. I bought the yarn at the Woolly Bully in Tallahassee, FL this summer. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it at first but then my mother asked me to help her along with the edging and I just knew I had to make it for her.

I worked on it off and on for awhile. I finally finished it on the 17 hour drive down to my parents. I think I like best the way it really is holding up well. The yarn looks great even after it has been dragged across the floor of an elementary school, dragged on and off a bus, and finally down the street to our house. She has used it to carry dolls around the house and to snuggle up on the couch.





This is why we knit these things; to wrap them in our warmth even though we aren't there.

I love that she loves it!

Monday, April 13, 2009

Children

Sometimes... I swear... they grow right in front of you. E came home the other day and she looked like she grew while she was at school. I tried to capture it on camera and it was impossible. Her face just changed. I blinked and the old E was gone.
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Sunday, April 12, 2009

Easter Peeps




Well not my take on it - but lots of other people's ideas of peeps. We have looked forward to this contest each year. This year we went and looked at the slide show

Maybe next year we will enter, but with what topic? A mother crafting with her kids, gardens with veggies eaten by a deer? So many of life's trials to show in a peep.

It could be peep-tacular!

Saturday, April 11, 2009

sewing


I made these pants for E last week based on a pattern from this book by Heather Ross. I could have probably found a pattern in my stash that would work better for her but I really wanted to play with the pattern tracing wheel and paper. I had never done that technique before and it was cool. I made them a flare bottom because she had another pair of pants similar in style and she liked it. Plus that gives her a little bit more freedom of movement. We just happened to have a shirt that matches it perfectly which just thrilled E to no end.

I got the material at Jo-Ann's recently. E and I ran in there for something and she saw that fabric and declared they would be perfect for pants. I don't naturally look at purple owl material and think "Why wouldn't that make great pants?" But then that is why we have 8-year-olds.

She likes them and I guess that is all that matters.

Hot Cross Buns

I saw this post and just knew I had to make these. I have the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. We have been making bread almost daily since the new year. It was my resolution. But I have just started making the variations from the book. So fun.

Honestly, I had never had one until recently when we went into Panera one morning with the kids on my way to work. They had cut up some and they really tasted pretty good. I mixed it up yesterday morning. I substituted some white whole wheat flour into it - just to make me think I might be making something more healthy - and I used the base recipe for challah, not the brioche for the same lame healthy excuse.


Here is mine all mixed up.


I would show you a picture of them done... lets just say they are pretty much gone. They were that good.

Yum!

Friday, April 10, 2009

Gardening

I don't really know what I am doing. For years, I have listened to my mother talk about gardening. I have always been interested in it, but in a different way than her I think. I like flowers, but don't really focus on them. Food though, always a passion. I love the idea of growing my own food and cooking with it. I like the independent nature of the experience; the control over the process. I have always had a rebellious streak and I think growing my own food is a natural extension of it.

So today I got a huge chunk of my garden done. I have expanded my vegetable bed from last year and had 3 more beds. Basically tripling the amount of footage I have to plant. I need it too. Our eyes are bigger than our garden, so to speak.



T got into it too.


Thursday, April 9, 2009

Trial and Error


I have thought about this before. Not sure if it is worth putting out there. Maybe just secretly for a little bit. We'll see.
He looks so optimistic though. Like he could take on the world. Very real.