Knitting In The North

The Honeymooners

We are home!  It has taken a full week of re-entry to be able to sit down and tell you, but here I am!  How is it that a week away from your children requires a week of re-establishing every rule, boundary and line in the household?  The kids are not exactly misbehaving, just checking.  And checking.  And checking.

It was a wonderful trip, a trip of a lifetime, really.  I realized just today that I have no regrets - I did everything I wanted to do, and am not sad about the things I did not get to.  I am happy to report that I did something every single day that I had never done before in my life, plus a few repeats that I was happy to try again.  I will fill you in, of course, but give me a few more days...

Why I Do What I Do

 

 

 

Another Mothers Day has come and gone - I was deliciously spoiled all day, and I hope you were, too!  Stuart made me a delightful breakfast in bed, I was given wonderful handmade things from my children, and I was reminded - yet again - to be thankful.

 

 

Here, then are five reasons I love being a mom:

• There is nothing better than hanging out in bed with my crew - the more, the merrier.
• They say the most entertaining things, especially when they think I am not listening.
• There is always someone to give you a hug when you need one.
• I would never think to deal with my perfectionist tendencies without all this motivation.
• I learn so much, right along with them!

 

Stuart & I are off this weekend for our big honeymoon - see you on the other side!

 

 

FO: Earth Day Socks

It was about a year ago when Brian first asked me for a pair of green socks.  A simple enough request, but made just a week or so before Liam's arrival, it got lost in the shuffle.  In this rush of spring energy I've been feeling, I remembered what Brian would like, and got out some yarn. 

He'd been telling me all about Earth Day, and we realized that this yarn looked kind of like the earth, with it's blue and green, and pretty springish, too.  It was a good choice, and Brian is very happy to have had the light of my creative resources turned on him for a little while.  I need to do more of this kind of thing for him - I think of all the kids, he is the most appreciative of my handmade gifts.

Particulars:

Pattern -  A Good Plain Sock, by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, from Knitting Rules

Yarn - Patons Kroy Socks Stripes, Greens, 1 ball

Needles - 2.5mm DPNs (my favourite, 5" long wooden ones)

Notes - Nothing too exciting here, I knit these socks on 48 stitches (which just barely fit Mr. Brian-who-Won't-Stop-Growing).  In the past, when picking up stitches at the gusset, I've tended to only pick up one strand of yarn, which always left a funny line right there.  This time, after making sure I slipped the first stitch of every row on the gusset, I picked up right through both strands of the slipped stitch, which made a nicer looking heel flap line.  Maybe something you've always known, but it was a lightbulb moment for me!

For good measure, one more shot of the handsome guy...

Thunderstruck

We had our first (usually very rare here) thunderstorm yesterday afternoon.  I love it when we get a good storm, and was thrilled to listen to the rumbling in the sky.  Gwenyth, not so much.  Her take on it:

"You make thunder by banging the clouds with a stick.  (Waving a long stick in the air for emphasis, of course.)  I don't like thunder.  It's not my favourite."

TCT: Spring Cleaning Clean Sweep

Doesn't it feel good when your house is clean?  Do you feel the urge to do a little spring cleaning at this time of year?  I know I do, so I jumped at the chance to join Simple Mom's Spring Cleaning Party!

Day One consisted of cleaning up all the messes around the house, so that I have a clean slate for the rest of the week.  Here are a few before and after shots:

  My desk before...

 ... and my desk after!

 Our corner table before...

... our corner table after!

 The entry way before...

 ... and the entry way after (with helper)!

This process is extremely satisfying for me - I tend to put off cleaning up certain areas, because I don't think I have the time to do it "perfectly".  Yes, I'm still working on that, and this was a good lesson for me - a great reminder that I don't need a whole day long cleaning spree, but that if I take a few minutes here and a few minutes there, I can still get a whole lot done, and feel wonderful at the end of it!  Would you like to join me?

Dishtowel Totebag

I would call myself very much a beginner sewer, but over the last year or so I've been longing to do more.  When my mum came out last summer (just after Liam's arrival), she bought me a new, basic machine as an early birthday gift.  I've had a great deal of fun with it, learning how to use it properly.  I just sat down at the machine with the manual, and taught myself how to thread it, wind the bobbin, change the presser foot and needle, etc.  There have been a few little things for Gwenyth sewn up of late, which I'll show you when she's in the mood for a photo shoot (I've worked every day for the last week.  She is not amused.)

My very first project with this new machine was a Tea Towel Totebag.  I came across this wonderful tutorial, which was very easy to follow.  I borrowed Stuart's laptop, and took it down into the studio, so I could follow along each step.  It was a very satisfying project, and since I finished it I've been on the lookout for fancier towels to use!  Simple, I know, but nice looking, and extremely useful.  I feel that if you can combine both of those factors, you've found a winner.  My library books seem to agree, they look perfectly content being packed around in this bag!