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Like a Little Bee

October 22, 2015 blogtest_2q7z6c 6 Comments

We’ve been so busy busy busy lately, but I think we’re about to get a little break for a few weeks.

We made our offer on the house and it was accepted, then we proposed our repairs, and that was accepted. The appraisal was good, our loan has been approved and we’re ready to go. Closing date is the 6th and we get possession 15 days after that. Right before Thanksgiving. Phew. I’m looking at the timeline, and looking at the still-mostly-unpacked state of our current house and it’s all a little overwhelming.

We’ve been traveling so much lately that I’m really behind in stuff that needs to be done. Stocking orders, laundry, vacuuming, grocery shopping… that sort of thing. So I’ve been spending this week just catching up on that stuff (except the vacuuming. I haven’t had a good chance to do that yet.)

I’ve started more sorting and clearing out today and hopefully we’ll make it!

Part of our traveling was our annual anniversary trip to Fall Creek Falls. We absolutely love this place. So much so, that we got married there. Since I was pregnant with Jellybean on our first anniversary, we’ve taken him with us every year. We’ve talked about letting the grandparents keep him for a night, but honestly, I enjoy having him there with us. We’ll see about next year, when there’s two of them!

We always take a big, long hike on the day of our anniversary and this year, we did 5.5 miles. Jellybean walked at least 2.5 miles of that all by himself. Of course those miles were slower, but he really had fun on the unpaved, craggy path. He likes to climb and jump and that was just perfect for him. He even went across the swinging bridge twice!

He was pointing out and saying all the letters. (Yes, that sign has been misspelled for years.)

The overnight lows were in the 50s, so the water was VERY cold. I still think he would have jumped in if we’d let him.

This is how you ride when you’re two and you’ve walked as much as you can.

We all had a good time.

I have a new product to introduce to you. I’ve been playing around with lip balms and lotion bars. I will have these available in the shop within the week:

This lip butter is made with shea butter, avocado oil and beeswax. It is soft, moisturizing and truly luxurious. The unscented/unflavored has a slight hint of honey smell, thanks to the beeswax, but has no artificial flavorings added. I do have plans for other flavors, currently pumpkin spice, strawberry, mint and pineapple tangerine. They will be $3.00 each and available in tubes, pots or slide tins.

Now, let me tell you about my secret ingredient. The beeswax comes from my Father-in-law. He has several beehives and the bees are his current favorite hobby. The bees gather nectar on wildflowers, fruit trees, grape vines, and the vegetable garden. His bees are NOT treated and the wax looks, feels and smells just so good.

The pumpkin spice flavor is up next, after I filter more wax. That has to be done when everyone else is out of the house, so I’m not tripping over the kiddo. My next chance for that will be the weekend, so hopefully I can have that and the unflavored lip butters up in the shop early next week.

Have a great weekend!

A Wee Little Announcement

October 12, 2015 blogtest_2q7z6c 4 Comments

Shopping for a house in a town two hours away is really exhausting. I’ve made a trip there every week for the last three weeks, but the ball is rolling.

I’ve been working away on hubby’s sweater as I have the chance. I have both sleeves done, now, and I’ve started the back, so I’m about a third of the way through. I’m very pleased with the progress of that.

There’s more big news that I can share with you, my friends. This is one of the very few times I will post a picture of my little man on my blog, but this time is worth it:

That’s right! We’re going to have baby #2 late April/early May. In keeping with the candy theme, Jellybean’s little sibling is nicknamed Lollypop.

I’m gearing up for the second trimester, and I’m getting my energy back and feeling the nesting coming on. Perfect timing! And I get to nest a whole new house!

So, yeah, this is on top of everything else going on, but we’ll just get all the hard stuff out of the way all at once, right? HAHA HAHAHAHA

Ahem. Sorry about that.

Have a great week, friends. I’m going to go get some rest. 🙂

Monday’s Update (Late) on a Tuesday

October 6, 2015 blogtest_2q7z6c 2 Comments

This is getting to be a habit, isn’t it?

I’ve spent lots and lots of time adulting this week. Things just gotta get done, ya know? The craziness of preparing to move plus trying to find a new house plus getting this one ready to sell (we can’t find any handy people who want to bid our job!) plus keep up with all the normal stuff we need to do (for some crazy reason, my family still wants dinner. Every night!)

Take all that and add in a toddler who’s dropping naps (woe is me!) and it’s a struggle to get anything done.

I’ve instituted a daily quiet time for the toddler, which will allow me too get something done, and I’m using my MDO time to pack and sort through all our stuff. Which only leaves bedtime for knitting. The plus side is that we can put jellybean to bed early when he doesn’t nap and he usually doesn’t have an issue with that.

I’ve been focusing on my husband’s sweater for the last week or so. I’ve finished one sleeve and made good progress on the second. The pattern is easy and predictable, so after the first repeat, I didn’t need to look at the chart anymore.

This sweater is constructed differently than my cardigan. My cardigan was knit all in one piece with no seams. This sweater is knit with the front, back and sleeves being separate pieces.

Patterns always start with instructions for the back, then the front, then sleeves. I started with the sleeves, though. I do have a reason! The sleeves start out at the cuff, and are only 54 cast on stitches rather than 120-something. I used the first sleeve as a gauge swatch, so I sorta cheated. Turns out I hit the gauge right on the money so there was no need to rip out. Always a good thing.

When I started the second sleeve, though, I realized I forgot to change one of the needles after the cuff. (The ribbed cuffs are usually knit with a needle one or two sizes smaller than the body.) So I knitted the entire sleeve with an 8 on the wrong side and a 9 on the right side. Oops.

I’m not really sure if that will have a huge effect on the overall fabric, but just to be on the safe side, I forgot to do it again on the second sleeve.

I have a few stockings that are washed, blocked and ready for details and personalizing. Two are for the shop and the other two are claimed. One of these nights, I’ll take a break from the sweater and get them finished up.

I have plans to offer some luxurious lip butters and lotion bars in my shop this fall, too. My father-in-law keeps bees, so I have an awesome local source for untreated beeswax. I’m very excited about this!

Tomorrow we’ll be looking at more houses. Wish us luck that we find one we like! Have a great week!

P.S. I wrote this entire post on my phone, since I’ve been to busy to sit down at the computer. I hope the mistakes are few and forgivable. 🙂

Slow News Day

September 28, 2015 blogtest_2q7z6c 2 Comments

I’ve been doing way too much adulting this week.

Most of my free time this week has been taken up with contacting handymen, realtors and bankers. You see, we’re planning a move that has been a desire for several years, but several life events have happened that makes now the right time to go.

So, I’ve had to be an adult and take care of some very important things this week. I don’t like that very much. I’d much rather use my free time to knit and sew, but we all gotta do what we gotta do. 🙂

Anyway, this whole thing will be good for us, once we’re through it, but it is definitely stressful right now.

I have used some of my toddler sleeping time to knit, mostly in the evenings. I’m finishing up my third stocking of the season – the one for my friend Ashley that I’m not sure about the color. I’m going to get them all washed and blocked and then I can finalize the details.

I’ve not made any more progress on the lion costume, although Jellybean asks about it. I might take one MDO day this week and work on that.

I am still working on the spinning challenge occasionally. I think I don’t really enjoy spinning as much as I want to and I’m considering destashing my fiber and spindles. I just really want to be using my free time to knit, not spin, so the tools for spinning are just taking up space. I’ll try to finish up the 4oz I’ve got going now, but I think that’ll be it for me.

Only one photo for you today. And it’s not fiber related at all. We had to have some septic work done on Monday. (YAY, she said sarcastically) Jellybean loves big machines and he was glued to the window watching the backhoe dig up our back yard. Not so fun for our bank account, but great entertainment for a toddler!

As we progress more toward the packing and moving part, things may get slow around here. I hope you’ll forgive a few missed posts. Hopefully we’ll have this all done before the end of the year and I’ll be back in the swing of things!

Have a great week!

Quickly, a day late

April 14, 2015 blogtest_2q7z6c 3 Comments

I realized this morning I’m late on my weekly blog post. I knew yesterday was Monday, and I kept feeling like I was missing something all day, but just couldn’t put my finger on it. Well, now I know what it was.

I’m sure you’re all wondering how the new experience of Mother’s Day Out went for Jellybean. Well, it went great last week. He was so excited to play with new kids. The first day, we were outside with a bunch of other families waiting for the door to open. He was holding my hand and he had this smile on his face watching the other kids play. He kept leaning forward, as if he was going to run off and play, too, but then he’d sway back and lean against me. When the door opened, he was ready to go.

I got him to his room, talked to his teacher for a little while and went to kiss him goodbye. I said, “I’m going to leave, but I’ll be back this afternoon to pick you up, like we talked about, ok? I love you.” His response? “Ok, bye.” He did really well, had a great day and even napped!

So last week was fun, but today.. oh today. When I walked out of the room, he ran toward me and wanted another hug, so I hugged him and picked him up. He said, “Swing, slide!” (He wanted to go to the playground) and I had to tell him that no, he needed to stay in the room and I would be back later to pick him up. Then he cried. It was a big, ugly cry, too. All I could do is turn around and walk out of his sight. His teacher took his hand and lead him to the art project for the day and when I peeked around the corner again, he was ok. But oh, the heartbreak!

There was another mom standing nearby who’s kid is in Jellybean’s class. She said her son just could not stop talking about mine last week. He says that Jellybean is his best friend. It’s so sweet and made me feel good that he has a little friend to look out for him.

So, what did I do with my extra time last week? Well, first, I took a shower. I didn’t have to worry about a toddler having free reign on the house (although he usually hangs out in the bathroom with me when he’s here.) I didn’t have to hurry because someone else needed the shower. I didn’t feel guilty for using as much hot water as I wanted. It was glorious. Thursday I mowed the yard and got to take ANOTHER shower!

My main intention was to use the time to work on commissions, but I haven’t done that yet. I did manage to get the knitting done on my current commission project last night so all that needs is a bath and a block.

I did do something fun today. I took an old worn-out quilt and cut pieces out for smaller quilts. I cut one piece to be a small quilt for Jellybean. I repaired some of the holes where the pieces were coming apart and sewed some binding on the front. I just have to sew the binding down on the back and he’ll have a new little blanket. I cut another piece to make a blanket for the dog’s bed. I just zig-zagged around the edge of that one and it’s done. It’s been nice to sit at the sewing machine today.

That’s all I have for this week. Thanks for reading and have a great week!

Big week!

April 6, 2015 blogtest_2q7z6c 2 Comments

Boy, this last week has been a big one. I’ve spent most of the week with stuff related to Jellybean.

On Monday, his new big-boy bed was delivered. No more sleeping in the crib, this kid has a huge double bed, now. It’s made a difference – he’s been sleeping so much better than he was on the old, cheap mattress we had in the crib. ($30 mattress that lasted a year and a half before it got too uncomfortable.. that’s not too bad!) He’s got one set of dinosaur sheets and one set of construction vehicle sheets and he’s pretty happy!

New Bed! — Testing out the new bed. Look at that hair!!

Tuesday was a REALLY big day. First on the list was his very first haircut. He had been complaining about his hair being in his eyes and getting in his mouth when he was eating, so I made an appointment to get it cut. He did so great, didn’t cry or refuse the cut. I had to hold him a little bit, but mostly I just held his hand while I cried. There went the last little bit of baby. He’s a little boy, now.

Short Hair — After. It really does suit him.

After the haircut, we toured two places for Mother’s Day Out. We’re lucky that one of them has a spot available, and he starts tomorrow. This is a big step for us, and one that I think I probably should have taken sooner. He’s so active and so interested in what I’m doing that it makes it difficult to get any real work done around the house. So, for a few hours a day, twice a week, he’ll be hanging out with kids his age and Mama gets some time. I’ve got so many plans for that time, I know it won’t all get done, but I hope I can be productive with it.

The rest of the week, I have spent preparing myself for the Mother’s Day Out. Making sure I have a blanket, enough diapers, and change of clothes packed up. Getting a small backpack for him to carry his stuff. And trying to figure out what in the world I can send for his lunch (nothing messy; nothing that needs to be heated up; just simple, easy-to-eat foods that he can manage pretty much on his own.) I think It’ll probably end up being a granola bar, banana, cheese stick with maybe some carrot/pepper/celery sticks and nuts. I hope that out of all of that, he’ll eat SOMETHING.

Since the decision to try to find a place was so quick, and at an odd time of the year, stores don’t have their school supplies out right now and I didn’t have time to sew anything. Thank goodness the program has extra nap mats – those are NOWHERE to be found right now. I went thrift store shopping for the backpack and I found one – it was the right size, solid black, no cutesy characters or anything…. but it had “Collin” embroidered on it. I looked at it for a long time. Except for having someone else’s name on it, it was perfect. I bought it anyway.

I took my handy seam ripper to that embroidery, and pulled it all out. Then I found some iron-on applique patches of a dump truck and a loader. Simple and quick and it’s almost brand new!

All that’s left to do now is to fill it full of his stuff.

I’m a little worried that he’ll have a rough time, but I know he’ll be ok. He’s a friendly and outgoing kid and is always interested in new experiences. He’s started having fun playing with other kids at play dates and at playgrounds instead of just doing his own thing alongside them. As with just about every new experience, I’ll probably have a harder time than he will (see above about the haircut.) 🙂

I’ve been knitting in the little spare time I’ve had. I’m working on some commissioned projects that I can’t show you until after Christmas. Tomorrow’s supposed to be rainy and yucky here so I’m hoping to get a good amount of work done on them.

Enjoy your week as if you were a toddler with a sandbox!

In Honor of Margaret

February 23, 2015 blogtest_2q7z6c 6 Comments

My grandmother was an amazing lady. The oldest of 10 siblings, she was more like a mother to the younger ones, even though she had her own child when her youngest two brothers were born. She was always active with her family, her church and her friends and she never let anyone tell her she couldn’t do what she wanted to do. She traveled a lot, she’d been to Hawaii with the senior center, she told me stories about the road trips out west that she took with her sisters, I think she might have visited every US State except Alaska.

Family was so important to her. She was our matriarch and genealogical researcher. She adored all of her grandchildren and was able to be a part of her four great-grandchildren’s lives.

With her first Great-Granddaughter, Ella.

Christmas 2013 with all the great-grandkids (and granddaughter-in-law)

She was kind, loving and thoughtful to everyone around her.

She was smart, funny and crafty. She did quilting, cross stitch, knitting, crocheting, and scrapbooking. She was in charge of printing the church bulletin for Sunday service. She remembered everyone’s birthdays (which is something I can’t even do with the aid of a calendar app!) She enjoyed good clean jokes and would give you THAT LOOK when you said something inappropriate.

Enjoying the shawl I made her for her 80th birthday.

I used to do a lot of quilting and I took her with me to a quilting retreat one year. We both had such a great time, and it’s one of my favorite memories.

At the quilt retreat, sporting a brand new purse I had just made for her.

She was as much a part of my growing up as my parents. She went to band concerts, school plays, awards ceremonies, and graduations. She even went to marching band competitions and sat in the rain to watch us play.

Trash bags are really great rain bonnets!

Last year, we found out she had cancer. It turned out to be an aggressive form of melanoma. Her doctors sent her to Vanderbilt’s cancer specialists, which I happen to live close to. The trips were long and very hard on her, but I’m grateful she was able to make them and that Jellybean and and I were able to see her so often.

Shortly after the first trip, I started the Haruni Shawl. I needed something to work on that would let me get lost in thought as I knitted. This pattern had been in my Ravelry queue for a long time, so I finally got the yarn for it. I cast on and got to work, and it wasn’t until much later that I read the description.

“The name Haruni means ‘Grandmother’ in Quenya, Tolkein’s elven language.”

Perfect.

It took about 6 weeks to make it and during this time, my grandmother was back and forth to Nashville several times seeing doctors and specialists, preparing for surgery and then not having it, and finally making the decision to receive palliative radiation therapy and hospice care at home. The whole time feels like a blur.

We were fortunate that we were able to go visit her twice before she passed away. Before our last visit, I knew it would be the last time I would ever see her. I knew that I was fortunate to have the chance to tell her anything I needed to say. I told her that I was so glad we had the chance to have an adult relationship and that I loved her very much.

She told me to “…take care of that baby.”

I will, Mamaw. Don’t you worry about that.

Aunt Kat’s New Houseshoes

February 16, 2015 blogtest_2q7z6c 6 Comments

I am working on a post about a shawl, and in it I’m trying to tell my Grandmother’s story. It’s difficult and emotional to write (she passed away this past June) and it’s taking me a long time to finish it.

My Grandmother’s story centers on her family and besides her daughters, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, her sister Kat is a very large part of the story. Mamaw and Kat have always been very close and when Mamaw needed to move out of the house she lived in for 50 years, Kat insisted she move in with her. Mamaw always said it was temporary, but we were all glad she wasn’t living alone.

Kat took care of Mamaw, right up to the very end. I know I am not the only person who feels enormous gratitude for everything Kat has done for my Mamaw and continues to do for my family.

So, when Mom asked me to make Kat a pair of felted slippers, the answer was yes, without hesitation.

This is the seventh pair of these slippers I have made. They are fairly quick, and very fun to make. They do take a fair amount of yarn, and the felting can be nerve-wracking (if you go too far, you have to start all over!) but it’s so satisfying to have them come out just right.

Kat loves them. Mom said she put them on right away and I think they’re probably getting a lot of use right about now.

I am so very glad.

The Nights Are Long, But The Years Are Short

February 9, 2015 blogtest_2q7z6c Leave a comment

That’s what one of my mom friends is fond of saying and boy, it’s so true.

Today my little Jellybean turns two.

Motherhood is no joke. Jellybean can make me furious one minute and doubled over in laughter the next. I’ve watched this little man grow over the last two years and I’m blown away. We’ve come so far and we’ve all survived.

And there is so much more yet to come.

We had a small party on Saturday with pizza, cupcakes and dinosaur party hats! He got to see Mimi and Papaw, Grandma and Grandpa, and Joey and Julie, and lots of other friends. Mimi and Papaw even stayed overnight and came over to play.

Today has been a nice, quiet day. I offered to take him to the bounce house (which he LOVES!) or to the science museum, but he wanted to stay home and read his new Curious George book (Thanks Mimi!) and play with blocks. We did take a walk down to the lake, but it was too cold and windy to stay out long. Then in for lunch and down for a good, long nap.

He definitely takes after his Mama and Dada in that regard. A lazy birthday sounds just right to me.

Happy Birthday, Jellybean.

Love, Mama

Baby’s New Houseshoes, Take Two

January 26, 2015 blogtest_2q7z6c 3 Comments

Bolstered by the success of the slippers I gave to my Mom & Dad for Christmas, I decided to give Jellybean’s slippers another try. The knitting happens with a double strand of worsted-weight wool and size 13 needles, so it goes pretty quick. It’s the felting that is so tedious.

You take your very large wool item (that you spent no small amount of time on, mind you) throw it in the washing machine with a pair of heavy jeans, hot water, and a little soap and let it agitate. If you’ve ever accidentally shrunken a wool sweater, you know what happens next. The fun part is that if you pay attention, you can carefully control the felting process and stop it when the item is the size you want.

Now, if you remember, I had a felting mishap on the last pair. (Anyone want them? They should fit a size 5 toddler foot, $15. Let me know.) But this time, I was very careful and it paid off.

I made the next larger size for this pair and I think I felted them down as far as they would go. At the end of the process, I checked the washing machine every two minutes. They didn’t shrink at all the last two times I checked. They are a little big, Jellybean wears a size 8 right now and these are about a size 9. But they work now, and they’ll fit for a while, and he has discovered how much fun they are on the linoleum!

And now we all have a pair and I’m so proud. It’s my job to keep my loved ones warm, you know.

As I mentioned last week, I’ve been working on some sewing for things for the shop. One idea is a hanging circular knitting needle organizer. My first go at that one works, but it doesn’t really fit what I was aiming for, so it’s back on the drawing board.

The other idea is a storage roll for crochet hooks.

This is actually the second go ’round for this idea. The first one fit exactly what I was aiming for, until I accidentally flipped it upside down and out tumbled all my hooks. That’s when I decided I needed a flap at the top to keep everything contained.

There are 10 pockets in the roll, enough to hold 10 different sizes of crochet hooks, and the pockets are all about an inch wide, so there’s plenty of room for hooks of all types.

I love this. I made it because I desperately needed to organize my crocheting supplies (there are more hooks hanging about in this house, I just know it.) but I really love the simplicity of it. Are you an on-the-go hooker? Toss the roll into the bag and you’ve got whatever size you need. This would work well for sets of small-diameter double-pointed knitting needles, too. It’s the only one of its kind right now, but there are plans for more to be made for the etsy shop.

This has been a productive week and I have even more good stuff to show you, but all in good time, my dears. Have a great week!