Happiness Is . . .

Life. Captured.

Another Knit This Week

I just finished up my first, of what may turn into

many, "Mystery Knit Alongs".

The basic idea is you know what you are going to knit

in that, I knew that I was going to make a shawl, but 

beyond that you no nothing about what the final

creation will look like.

The designer gives you an idea of what kind of yarn would

be best suited to the pattern, in this case, a subtly 

variegated yarn as opposed to a wildly, hand-painted

yarn was preferred.  And with this mystery knit, the

designer had paired with a yarn-dyer and had a 

custom made yarn for her KAL (knit-a-long) that you could

choose to purchase (I did).  

And then you wait for the clues to appear.

Fun, fun, fun!

I started my project April 15th and finished 

exactly one month later.  

It's not too big of a shawl, which I like.

However, I haven't decided if I'm going to keep

it or gift it.  Purple is not one of my go-to

colors, but I couldn't resist this yarn for some

reason, maybe because was meant to be

for one of my many purple loving friends! {grin}

Pattern:  Roxanne by Liz Abinante

Yarn:  Hipster Sock in the Ethereal colorway by Little Red Bicycle

and the bottom border in Dream in Color's Smooshy Sock Yarn.

Verdict:  This shawl has cables and lace and lots of fun

texture to it!

Would I have chosen this pattern to make on my own? 

Probably not, but that being said, it was a lot of fun to 

join in the discussions and knit up a mystery item!

(Some have compared it's shape to Cylon ships from BSG.{grin})

A Knit A Week

A birthday sweater for Princess #1.

This one may look familiar, as it was the same

pattern I used for the Prince's b-day sweater!

She chose the yarn and then waited patiently

for me to finish, which I'll have you know,

was only one day after *her* day! {grin}

Pattern:  Hotshot by Julia Stanfield

Yarn:  Cascade 220 Superwash Paints in 

Fruit Smoothie

Verdict:  Turned out great, she loves it!  

The only modification I made was to add a 

kangaroo pouch to the front.

Happiness Is . . .

. . . feeling emotionally and spiritually recharged and ready to deal with life again, despite being physically exhausted.

*****

I follow that with a question for the Void:  How is it that my kids always seem to know when I've had a late (fun!) night . . . and choose the following morning to bless me with an extra early rising?!?!  Why, oh Void, why??

A Knit A Week

Easter Knits for the Royals

All of these patterns came from the amazing

book, Itty Bitty Toys by Susan B. Anderson.

I started this tradition last year, when I made the sock monkey

for the Prince's basket, hoping to distract him from

the lack of candy.  It worked so well for all the kids

that I did it again this year!!

A little hippo for Princess #1 out of

leftover Socks that Rock sock yarn in the

Wonderful Goodness and Mr. Greenjeans colorways.

A stripey snake, complete with slithery tongue

for Princess #2 out of leftover Misti Alpaca

sock yarn.

A reversible bluebird/egg with a little nest for Princess #3.

How cool is this pattern????  Love this.

It was made out of scraps of Cascade 220.

And last, but not least, a little "Biscuit" puppy for the Prince.

He is made out of scraps of Cascade 220 and other

stash finds.

Eleven

PRINCESS #1 is a . . .

* voracious reader

* faithful friend

* daughter of the One Most High

* responsible brother watcher

* creative creator

* lover of shoes

* gentle big sister

* giver of wonderful back scratches

* excellent scholar

* delightful dessert maker

* fast and furious bicyclist

* knitter

* wonderfully sweet daughter

Eleven years ago, we were blessed here at the Castle by the birth of our first born.

A daughter.

Thankfully, she broke us into parenting gently, however, her presence

rocked our little world of two.

We are eager to see what the "Judy Blume" years have in store for 

our sweet princess.  We know that she will continue to

grow ever in grace and beauty because of Who

she holds dear in her heart.

Happy 11th Princess #1.  You are dearly loved, Bugga.

Overheard While Playing Barbies

Princess #3:  I'm the Lost Princess.

Princess #1:  Well, I'm the Queen of Sheba.

Princess #2 scoffs (as only she can).

Princess #1:  I am!  I have I.D.

Princess #2:  Well, we're not going to bow down to you or anything, if you're just going to lie down in our crops.

Brilliant!

So a while back a friend of mine turned me on to the most brilliant piece of parenting weaponry ever:  the written tattle-tale.  (Now, I know many of you, dear readers, do not have children who can write just yet, so please tuck this little gem into your back pocket for future reference!  You will thank me later, I promise!!)

Back to the weapon.  So, if either of my older two have need to tattle, it now has to be in the form of a written complaint.  They write down their complaint (isn't this great?? A little bonus handwriting assignment too!), and turn it in to me.  I read said complaint (usually with much self-contained giggling) and then decide what should be done about it.  It has cut down the amount of tattling done in the castle substantially!!  It is not nearly as much fun to write down all of the terrible atrocities committed to your person, as it is to run over and immediately blab them all to your mama.  Writing them down takes some of the heat out of the mad and slows you down as you decide how to write the heinous wrong doings of a sibling.  Brilliant!!

I alluded to the other little bonus with handling tattles this way, and that is getting to read the complaints!!  This is one I received today, and I am hanging on to it! {grin}

It is a joint effort by Princess #1 and Princess #2.  It reads:

Mama, Princess #3 stole one of Princess #2's Easter candies for no reason at all. (Princess #1's handwriting.)


And she is a j-werd. (Princess #2's handwriting.)

Priceless I tell you.  Absolutely priceless.

Try it my friends.  You will like it.

Can You Handle More Randomness??

1.  I hope so.

2.  Because I don't have any energy to form coherent thoughts today.  It's been an exhausting couple of weeks.

3.  I even broke down and made coffee.  If you know me, you would know that is a rare occurrence.

4.  Of course, my version of coffee is all about what you add to the coffee to make it taste less coffee-ish.

5.  I wish coffee tasted the way it smells.

6.  I finally finished a test knit I've been working on.  It looks really cool.

7.  If I get permission, I'll post some pictures on the blog.

8.  It took a lot of attempts to get it right, since I was learning some new skills.

9.  Every once and a while it is good to get out of your knitting comfort zone and try something different.

10.  That being said, I'm not sure I'll ever double knit anything, again.

11.  But I know how to! {grin}

12.  I'm making tennis racket shaped pasta for lunch.

13.  My parents bought it for me.

14.  When I was in 1st grade I picked up my first tennis racket and was hooked.

15.  My parents haven't forgotten that love I had.

16.  And I like that about them.

17.  Thanks for putting up with a bit more random, dear readers.

A Little Randomness

1.  I have not been motivated to post anything on the blog as of late.

2.  In fact, I am forcing myself to type this post.

3.  It may be time to be done with blogging.

4.  My kids are driving me insane today.

5.  Not that I'm not always on the brink, but today, I'm full on.

6.  I hate yelling at my kids.

7.  But I did today.  A lot.  Really loud and often.

8.  Felt good at the time, but now, not so much.

9.  I know why, but I can't post it.

10.  That makes me want to start a new, completely anonymous blog, that I only let select (non-judgmental) people know about, just to talk about the "taboo" subjects.

11.  Like yelling at your kids or bad days or things/events that cause you incredible stress and possible ulcers.

12.  And if this day wasn't enough, now I have to feed them.

13.  So, what I'm making for dinner is completely unhealthy.

14.  I don't care that it is, because they will all eat it without complaint.

15.  At this point, I will do anything to avoid the complaining, whining, and general gnashing of teeth that this day has brought.

16.  Just keepin' it real for you, dear readers.  Some days, life sucks here at the Castle.

A Knit A Week

A Momo Sweater for

the Prince to wear on Easter!

Verdict:  This little sweater is adorable!  It was knit from the top

down, which allows you to avoid any pesky seaming, 

and it is knit up with sock yarn, how cool is that--

one more justification for continuing in my

sock yarn obsession! {grin}

Yarn:  Jill Draper's Splendor Sock Yarn in

the Beatrix color way.  The colors are straight

out of Peter Rabbit-so fun!

Pattern: Little Momo by Terri Kruse 

Overheard After a Trip to Papa's Farm

Princess #2:  Oooh, look at all those baby boy calves!!!

Princess #1:  Those aren't all boy calves, you're seeing their umbilican (her word) cords that haven't fallen off yet.

Princess #2:  Yes I remember, you have to watch how they go to the bathroom, so you can tell if they are a boy or a girl.

Princess #1:  Yep.  That's right.

Princess #2:  But it only works when they go #1, you can forget about #2.

Queen {shaking head}:  The things your Papa teaches you.

What Goes Around

The entire month of March, give or take a couple of days, some member of the Royal family has been sick.  So, so much fun.  And it wasn't just one illness that hit each one of us, it was the combo.  Fever, throwing up, coughing, sneezing, 20,000 boxes of tissue runny noses, sometimes even a double dip (Princess #2 and I both got sick twice) like I said, fun.

School crept along at a snail's pace depending on who was sick, I should mention that we have a couple of Oscar contenders in the dramatic category when they get sick.

Poots training, believe it or not, has continued to go splendidly.  Of course, the Prince being dehydrated, probably helped our cause while he was sick.

Knitting was done it bits and snatches.  I purchased huge balls of colorful acrylic for the older Princesses and they have been going to town.  Princess #1 is making a garter stitch blanket with her ball and Princess #2 is making herself a poncho.  It's been fun to watch their confidence take off as they attempt "real" patterns.

However, I am hearing lots of these kind of phrases now:

"In a minute Mom, I'm in the middle of a row."

"But Mom, I really need to get five more rounds done before I stop."

"I really, really feel like I need to knit."

"Can we take a knitting break?"

And for the record, they came up with the last two phrases on their own, I promise.

A Knit A Week

No-Purl Monkey Socks for Christmas 2011!

Woo-hoo, my 2nd Christmas knit is completed!

Verdict:  This is the third time I've made this pattern and

each time I just absolutely love it.  It looks great made up with

most any kind of yarn, is easy to memorize and looks

great on.  It is a free one from designer Cookie A. and

you can find it using the link above on knitty.com

Yarn:  Splendor Sock by Jill Draper in the Northampton colorway.

The colors of this yarn scream spring, doncha agree??

The red is perfect, tulip red.

I think I'm going to have to wrap these up now, so

I won't be tempted to give them a test wear.

Overheard After Dinner

. . . some Kingly wisdom.

Princess #2:  I'm not planning on having a boyfriend.

King:  No one ever plans on having a boyfriend, and those that do seldom end up with one.

Poots Update

I hesitate to mention how potty training is going here at the Castle.  It is going so well, that I am typing this post with one hand, while knocking on a piece of wood with the other! {grin} This is because in my experience, as a mama, the minute you say things like, "Oh yah? Well, my little Susie has been sleeping through the night for weeks now!", then that very same night, little Susie will be up fifty bazillion times.  It's true.  Kids love nothing better than to prove their parents wrong.  From this opinion, I cannot be swayed.

So, where was I?  Oh yah, the Prince is doing awesome.  Even went so far as to stay dry during our errand running this morning, even though he told us the entire.way.home. that he needed to "poots".  We're at the point where he is wearing his big boy unders all day, except for sleeping and is doing pretty darn well at telling us that he needs to go.  Secretly, the King and I are still waiting for the other shoe to drop as far as his training goes.  We're keeping our hopes on the down-low that this first run is a success.

All this being said, to show you this little gem of a product! I think these would be very handy in toddler size!  I could have a box in every room and the car!!

A Knit A Week

Have you ever wondered what a "thrum" is?

Me either.

That is, until I had the chance to make some

thrummed mittens--then I was all ears.

A thrum is basically a piece of roving which 

is unspun wool.  In my case, the very pretty pile 

of fuzz you see below.

You have to separate the roving into

 little wisps, which

you then knit together with your working yarn.

Each thrum makes one stitch.  You leave the ends

of the thrum hanging inside the mitten for an

extra layer of warmth.

This is the inside view of the mitten.  All that fluffy goodness

just waiting to warm up your hands!

I wish you could see these babies in person, in order

to truly appreciate just how squishy they really are.

This particular thrummed mitten kit came from

the amazing Jill Draper.  She dyed both the yarn

and the roving I used, as well as provided the pattern.

Thrumming is rather addicting.  I have enough roving

left over that I will most likely be making more of 

these chubby mittens!!

Overheard While Playing

King:  What's the magic word?

Princess #3:  Daddy, may I please have the ball?

King:  What's the other magic word?

Princess #3:  You have no power over me!

Life. Captured.