During my unintentional blogging hiatus, I was busy knitting things for Lollypop.
First up, I made a very sweet little hat, cardigan and soaker set. I am showing it here sans buttons because it took me forever to find buttons that would work and even longer to get them sewn on. The hat is Basic Baby Hat by Heather Tucker. The cardigan is the Puerperium Cardigan by Heather Brooker. And the wool soaker is the Wool Diaper Cover by Cynthia Combs in the newborn size (there’s a crochet version of that one!) I love this little trio and I hope Lollypop isn’t too big to fit into it!
The hat and cardigan are made with Knit Picks CotLin yarn in white and celery. The cotton and linen blend will be enough to take the chill off, but won’t overheat the baby. Even though Lollypop will be a spring baby, there’s at least blackberry winter (and possibly dogwood winter) in which a sweater will be necessary.
The soaker is made from Knit Picks Wool of the Andes. That’s a wonderful, economical choice for 100% wool and I use it in a lot of different types of projects.
Since we’ll be doing cloth diapers, wool is a really great choice for a cover. It wicks moisture away from the skin and unless it gets soiled, it can be used for a long period without leaking. If it starts to feel damp, you just let it air dry and reuse it. When it’s dirty, it does require hand washing and occasionally needs re-lanolizing, but that doesn’t scare me. 🙂
I’ve been rather inspired and I made several covers in two sizes to get us going.
Newborn in red yarn.
Small in teal and silver.
Size small in Pumpkin and Creme brulee. My favorite so far!
The are five sizes to the soaker pattern, and I really want to get a good stash of soakers going that will cover us until I feel like knitting again. (It took a few months to even have the desire to knit after Jellybean was born.) That means I need to make at least two more in the medium size before Lollypop’s arrival.
There are also the booties I made when I first got pregnant. Did I not share those? Oh my.
I promise I haven’t forgotten about you, dear blog. I’ve been thinking about you a lot, while I sit and knit these last few weeks. It’s just that, well, after moving and the holidays and birthdays and being in my 3rd trimester, I just needed some space for me. I’m sure you understand.
I’ve not been still. I’ve been working hard on things for Lollypop. There’s also the quilt top that I’ve been working on quilting this last week. I’ve had some other projects on my mind, too, but I want to show you something I’m really happy with today.
I’m 34 weeks pregnant, now. Toward the end of Jellybean’s pregnancy, I had two pairs of pants and a handful of shirts that were comfortable for me to wear. I’m pretty much back in the same position – with the same clothes, too! (I really hate to shop.) I don’t want to buy more maternity clothes, they’re expensive and I only have a couple of months left. It feels like money that could be better spent elsewhere.
Early on, I did buy a skirt in a pretty blue with white designs. I just never found a shirt I could wear with it. White’s not a normal color for me to wear. (I spill things easily and I have a toddler.) Most of my wardrobe is beer tshirts, blue jeans and solid colors. However, the last time I went home to visit my parents, my mom gave me a stack of shirts and one of them is white!
Before. I’ve got plans for those jeans that don’t fit right now, too.
I wanted to give this shirt an empire waistline with elastic. I measured the elastic around myself plus about an inch, then sewed it down around the shirt right under the button detail on the front.
It’s better, but I was really way too conservative with the elastic measurement and it’s not as tight as I wanted under the bust. One of my original ideas for this shirt was to just take in a pleat at the back, so I did that, too, just to bring it in more.
Pleat! This is centered in the back.
This is more of what I was going for!
I really like the end result! I have room for my bigger belly and I can wear my new skirt this spring!
Hi there, Lollypop!
When I was sewing the elastic down, I accidentally caught a bit of the bottom part of the shirt under the needle… twice! As a result, my seam isn’t perfect all the way around, and when I was undoing my mistake the second time, I accidentally made a small hole in the shirt. Oops. I’m not going to worry about it, though, since I only have a few weeks left to wear it.
I’ve been nesting and getting things together for the new babe. Preparing all my cloth diapers, making sure we have a place for Lollypop to sleep and getting clothes ready, too. I forgot how small those clothes are. It’s hard to imagine that Jellybean fit in any of those things! It’s fun to get everything ready, but it also makes me realize how close we are to the end! I’ve made lots of little wool diaper covers that I’ll show you next time and I may even have a quilt finished!
Have a great week, friends!
P.S.
I have no idea what’s up with my facial expressions in this post. That’s what I get for trying to take the photos myself!
Sorry for the radio silence last week, friends. We had a week full of birthdays and birthday celebrations. First, Jellybean turned 3, then later in the week was my birthday and my Mom’s the day after! We had the big party for Jellybean on Saturday and I spent the week prior making cupcakes and getting prepared.
I tried four different cupcake recipes before I found one that worked well enough that I was happy with it. The recipe I really wanted to make is my favorite chocolate cake – rich, moist and very very chocolaty – but it did NOT translate into cupcakes.
Yummy, just way too flat.
I may try those again sometime and not fill the cups so much. That recipe had a cup of boiling water, so I tried just leaving that out for the next batch.
Looks promising, if a little overfilled.
Uh, no.
After scraping all the bits off the cupcake pan. At least this will still taste good on ice cream!
The third recipe was Alton Brown’s fudge cake recipe from I’m Just Here For More Food. I liked it pretty well, good flavor, nice texture, but there were chunks of chocolate throughout the cupcake, which was distracting.
Pretty, and tasty, but not quite what I’m looking for.
At the 11th hour, I decided to try this recipe. They turned out pretty good. They are a bit on the dry side but they taste good and are firm and have a nice shape.
Almost perfect, and that’s good enough!
We have cupcakes and cupcake bits galore in our freezer. Since we only eat dessert two nights a week, we’ll be eating chocolate cupcakes for a while.
Anyway, the party was fun for everyone. (Even the little girl who got a door shut on her foot while playing… ouch!) It may not be Pinterest worthy, but I am pretty proud of what I managed.
Yes, we’re paw patrol fanatics around here.
Anyway, yes this is a knitting blog and I did manage to get some knitting done, too, thanks to a couple of snow days.
I finished Jellybean’s birthday present. It’s Rory from Huge And Huggable Mochi Mochi. It was so fun and fast to knit. The only problem was getting the final touches on it after stuffing it. I didn’t want Jellybean to see it, so I had to work only at night.
He doesn’t have a name yet, but Jellybean insists his tongue be sticking out at all times. Ha!
I finished the Maeve hat. I’m planning on the mittens, too, but I will definitely have to use a smaller gauge. The hat is warm, but I would like the mittens to actually fit.
Yes, it’s that huge!
I made myself another pair of felted slippers. My old pair are worn to death. They are fixable, (I’ll show you how I fix them later) but I wanted to try a new style, too.
Old and definitely busted.
New fuzzy hotness!
I’ve been getting a head start on Christmas gifts, too. I decided to make my nieces and nephew toys from Huge And Huggable Mochi Mochi by Anna Hrachovec. Those are going really great, just like the dinosaur, but I’m stuck on them until the eyes are delivered. I sewed the eyes on the dinosaur, since I know we’ve got a new baby on the way, but I think safety eyes will be just fine for theirs.
Thanks to the weather and timing, I still don’t have a photo of hubby in his new sweater. Hopefully he’ll get a chance to wear it this winter. Hey, there’s a chance of snow on Thursday. Perhaps I can convince him to put it on.
Other than that, I’m nesting. I’ve got about two more months before Lollypop’s estimated arrival date. I’ve started washing the tiny clothes and prepping the cloth diapers. I’m digging it all out of boxes and trying to figure out where to put it. We bought the new car seat, I’m searching for a new babywearing wrap, and trying to get all my breastfeeding supplies in order. We sold a few crucial items (bassinet, swing, bouncy seat, to name a few) to a neighbor after Jellybean outgrew them, so we’re trying to find new (or gently used) ones for Lollypop. I am excited to have a new baby around, but a little nervous about the changes that will happen around here. Thankfully Jellybean is a pretty easygoing kiddo. I think he’ll be a really awesome big brother.
I’m going to go knit on some toys, now. I hope you have a great week, friends!
After finishing a big project, I often feel like I’m hungover from knitting. I’ve worked so hard on the one project and now that it’s finished, I don’t know what to do with myself.
On Friday night, I finished the knitting part on Hubby’s sweater. I wanted to wash and block the pieces this time before I seamed them together. We were watching a movie when I finished, so I couldn’t just get up and start washing without interrupting the movie. I didn’t expect the last bit of work to go so fast and I panicked a little, wondering how I was going to pass the time.
(I could just sit and watch the movie, right? Ha ha. It’s so hard for me to just sit and watch TV at home. I feel like I should be doing something productive with that time, too.)
I went digging in my knitting nest, as quietly as I could. I found a hat that needed repairing and a pair of gloves that were finished, except for the ends weaving in. I finished the hat quickly and wove in all the ends of the gloves and the movie was still going on. (It was the first half of the Lord Of The Rings: Two Towers, if you must know.)
Well, since I didn’t want to interrupt the movie, I had to stop there. It was so strange to just sit without any work to do with my hands, but I managed it! Ha ha.
I had to wash and block the sweater parts in stages. I did the front and back on Saturday, then the sleeves on Sunday. Then I ripped out the remaining part of the old sweater, wound it into a hank of yarn and it’s been washed and is drying now. I want to use the used yarn to seam up the sweater, but I needed to wash it in order to get all the kinks out. Trying to seam up the sweater with kinky yarn would just drive me bonkers. I would constantly be undoing knots, so it’s best to wait for that yarn to dry before continuing.
I was hoping to have the sweater finished by today. We’re expecting a bit of snow tonight and tomorrow, and I wanted Hubby to be able to wear his new sweater when we knew it would still be cold. It’ll likely be tomorrow before I get to work on finishing it, though.
In the mean time, I made a list of projects I want to work on in the near future. I’m getting a very early head start on a few Christmas presents for my nieces and nephew. There are a few toys from Huge & Huggable MochiMochi that I think they’ll love. The book is so awesome and the toys are lots of fun to make. I made one of them for Jellybean’s 3rd birthday (I can’t believe it either, yes, he’s 3!) which I’ll show you next week.
I need to make myself new slippers, since I’m wearing holes in the soles of mine. I have several different balls of sock yarn, so socks are always an option (although I usually keep those for the car.) I also have a pattern I need to knit again to make sure my pattern is right, so I can get that published.
In my latest yarn order, I also included some conductive thread. Remember these gloves?
Hubby’s Gloves
Hubby really likes them, but he has to take them off to mess with his phone. I’m going to run some of the conductive thread along the thumbs and index fingers. The thread will make his smartphone usable without having to get his hands cold. Win!
As I was looking at things to work on while I wait on sweater parts to dry and yarn to come in, I ran across a hat that I had started a couple of years ago. The Maeve hat is really beautiful! It was the first colorwork project I’d ever done. I ripped it out several times, never quite getting it right, and not being satisfied with my color choices. I made some changes to my color choices and I’m almost finished with it. There’s a mitten set, too.
The first iteration of Maeve. I swapped out the bright purple for green.
I’m nearly done with the hat, then I’ll decide whether to do the earflaps and mittens.
Maeve with green.
I’m also trying to decide what to knit for Lollypop. A Late April baby probably won’t need a wool sweater, although I could knit a 9- or 12-month size for next winter. I thought about a light cotton jacket, but it won’t be worn for long. I will definitely do a hat or two, and I have the little booties already. I thought about crocheting a blanket. I could definitely get that done before the birth, but what pattern? and what colors? I know Mimi is already making a Lollypop blanket, although the color and pattern are a surprise to me. So, what to do? What to do? Any suggestions?
Have you ever made a project that you thought you’d love, but when you got it finished, it just wasn’t anything you wanted anymore?
These days, when I’m knitting for myself, I try really hard to make things I think I’ll wear. That seems obvious, doesn’t it? So why, if I’m not a vest person, do I have three vests that I’ve made, but never worn? It boggles my mind, for sure.
One vest has been reclaimed for yarn for my Merle Sweater. Another one has been put in the yard sale pile. (It’s not worth it to me to reclaim that yarn.) The third is one is waiting for a project to come along that will be perfect for the yarn. There’s also a shawl or two that I don’t really care for. These projects all took time and effort to make, but they’re just sitting, not being used.
I’ve gifted projects that I don’t like for myself to people who I think might like them. These purple socks went to my mom as soon as I finished them. I expected the yarn to knit up as purple with just hints of the bright colors, but it turned out way too bright for me. She loved them (and they did happen to match the shirt she was wearing that day.) We’re both lucky we have the same size foot!
Purple Socks!
There’s this one
I bought a whole bunch of sport-weight yarn for that, cast on a million stitches (actually, I think it was only 300-something, but still) and actually made two sections like the above, then joined them with a cable down the middle. The trouble is with that lace part you see right there. I just can’t get past the phallic-ness of it.
It’s sitting in a bag, and the ends haven’t even been woven in. It’s been sitting like that for almost 3 years. It’s obvious I am not going to wear it, so I think it’s time to frog so I can use the yarn for something else.
My project page says I used 4 skeins for a total of 580 yards. I’m not sure if that’s what I used in the entire thing or if that’s just what I bought initially. I know I went back and bought more yarn after I decided to do something different than the pattern called for. I know I have at least that much, though, so I can work from there. So, off to the frog-pond it goes.
There’s this one, too:
Slippery bamboo cuff of a shrug-thing.
That’s the start of an Evening Shrug in Berroco Bonsai yarn. The yarn is Bamboo and nylon and it is so slippery! It’s very shiny, but it’s very hard to work with. It makes knitting a cuss-fest. I couldn’t even get it to stay in a center-pull ball. I don’t even know what I could stand to make with it. I think this yarn is going to the for-sale pile.
When I first started knitting, I picked up my knit stitches the wrong way. This made all my knit stitches twisted. I purled correctly, but the knitting was just wrong. I discovered this when I was taking a class learning to knit socks. I was probably halfway through with the pair, and I decided to just finish them out the wrong way then figure out how to knit right. This was 5 years ago, and I’ve never worn the socks. I never even wove in the ends. They’ve been sitting, unused and unloved for that long.
First socks.
When the first snow of the year hit, I realized Jellybean didn’t have mittens that fit. He has a mismatched pair, but they’re too small. I offered to make him more. I dug through my stash and found a really great superwash yarn in yellow.
“What about yellow mittens?” I asked him.
“No!”
“Well, what color would you like?” (I knew the answer already.)
“Red!!”
And I came across the first socks. They were knit with Crystal Palace Yarns Merino 5 Print. Red with hints of orange, yellow and magenta. Worsted weight, so they’ll knit up fast. Superwash for easy care. Perfect!
I had no reservations about ripping out the socks to make mittens. I wasn’t going to wear the socks, so I’m happy the yarn gets some good use. I used Dulaan Easy-On Mittens for the pattern. They took an afternoon to knit and as you can see, they’re great for snowball fights with daddy.
Look out!
The sweater I made for my husband is also being reclaimed to make him a sweater that actually fits. Yarn can also be reclaimed from thrift store sweaters! It’s fun to find a beautiful cashmere sweater for $5, then rip it out to make something new.
It may seem frustrating to make something, then just rip out all that work. However, I would rather rip out a project to make something useful than to just let it sit there, not being used at all.
Have you ever undone a project to make something new?
I’ve been quiet these last few weeks. It’s been cold and rainy and snowy around here. Jellybean and I are adjusting to life in a much smaller town. It’s been tough at times – we’re used to playdates and Mother’s day out and and being able to go to the zoo or the science museum or any one of several BIG playgrounds whenever the fancy strikes us. There are a couple of parks here, and he thinks they’re fun, but it’s been so cold and wet, we haven’t had many opportunities to go and when we have gone, we’ve been the only people there.
I spent several days looking for a MDO or preschool program in the area and that turned out to be a disappointing. The one program that takes kids younger than 3 is full and he’s not eligible for the others until the fall. So, we’re having to find other things to do. He’s a very social kiddo and needs time with other people his age to play with, so I’ve been looking for other ways to keep him (and us) occupied.
We’ve made a habit of going to the local library’s story hour and he just loves that. I also signed him up for gymnastics again. He’s in a more advanced class, now, so I am not out on the gym floor with him. We had our first class last Monday and I was a little nervous about how he would do with the differently structured setting, but I was pleasantly surprised and very proud of him! He really enjoyed the class, too, so that one’s a winner! I’m still looking for maybe one more regular thing to do, but we’re both doing better now that we’re getting a routine settled.
Anyway, on to the topic of this post! I’ve finished several things in the last month that I would like to share with you.
First of all, I need to show you guys the stockings I finished this year. First up is the one I made for Ashley’s new baby boy. I love the way these look together.
All four stockings by the fireplace. So sweet!
Next, the four stockings I made for Amanda. These were the ones that pushed me out of my comfort zone and I’m so glad they did! Projects like this help me learn new skills, polish up old skills and are a real boost to the confidence!
I just LOVE the display!
I also finished a sweater. Not the one I told you about, but one for Jellybean. It’s been difficult to get him to actually WEAR it, so I have no cute photos of him in it yet, but I love the way it turned out and it fits him well (at least as far as I could tell for the two minutes he had it on!)
Checking it out.
He wasn’t fond of wearing last year’s sweater, either, but I thought that might have been because it was wool. This sweater is made with Knit Picks’s Mighty Stitch, which is 80% acrylic and 20% wool. It’s soft and has a silky feel to it. But he still doesn’t want to wear it. 🙁
It looks nice, anyway.
We’ve had a round of snow this past week. With the snow came the realization that my kiddo had no mittens that fit. Luckily, mittens are fast and easy, especially for little hands. I used the pattern Dulaan Easy-On Mittens by Julia Farewell-Clay and I made these in an afternoon.
They’re awesome, but he won’t wear them. He puts on his old mittens that barely cover his hands to go out and play in the snow. *sigh* I really thought I had a few more years before he refused to wear the hand knits I made for him.
He needs a new hat, and he asked for a Mickey Mouse hat. Maybe he’ll actually wear that one if I make it.
In between these projects, I have still been working away on the re-knit of Hubby’s sweater. I’ve finished the sleeves and I’m working on the back, now. I’m also working on a birthday gift for my soon-to-be three year-old (THREE?! yes, three.) I’m looking forward to showing that to you, too.
I’m a little belated with my New Year’s greetings, but I’ve been busy!
I hope you had a great holiday season. We had much going on, but since we moved closer to ALL our family, the traveling was not as bad this year. We’re in the same town as my in-laws, so it’s about 10 minutes to their house and we’re an hour or an hour and a half closer to everyone else. I hope this means that we’ll be able to visit our families more often.
After my disappointing finish with Hubby’s sweater, I went ahead and took all the seams apart so I could easily get it unraveled to remake it. I decided to do both sleeves at once, so they’re coming along, but I needed a little break from it.
Yes, it sort of resembles a bra, right now.
So I started Jellybean’s winter sweater. I’m using a wool and acrylic blend yarn and it’s got a very nice sheen to it. It’s very soft when knitted up, too. I hope he’ll want to wear this one more than he wanted to wear last year’s. He’s totally his father’s kid, though. He doesn’t want to wear a jacket at all in the car, so for quick trips or errand runs, when he’s in and out of the car a lot, I’ve been known to ask him not to wear one.
This one, seems to be a winner, so far. I asked him to try it on before I started the collar and button bands and he said, “Oh, my new sweater!” and put it on happily then started to run off with it, but it was still attached to the yarn ball!
It’s been washed and blocked, but I still need to find my button jar and I have no idea which box that’s in. I may have to just go find some new buttons especially for this sweater.
Now that the knitting is finished on Jellybean’s sweater, I’ve picked Hubby’s sweater back up. Doing both sleeves at once is not such a great idea after all. It’s a great technique to get two of something done quickly, but it takes a bit of concentration. I’ve made several mistakes this time around just because I’m so distracted with a toddler running around. These mistakes aren’t the game-over type, though, and they’ve been easily fixed.
It’s been a little easier to get more actual knitting done since we moved and got settled. This house is all one level, where the old house was two. My knitting was downstairs in the old house and it took some planning to go down there with the kiddo awake. Here, however, my knitting is still beside the couch, but the couch is in the main living area, so I can knit a few rows here and there throughout the day without having to cajole Jellybean into going downstairs (and staying out of everything that was down there!)
We’re enjoying our new digs very much. We’re still getting things just so, but it’s coming along. Jellybean and I are starting to find some fun things to do around here, too. He really enjoys the library’s story hour.
I hope you’ve had a great new year so far. Tell me, do you craft? What are you working on right now?
Well, it’s not a disaster, but it’s not right, either. I’m counting this as a learning experience.
I finished his sweater on the evening of Christmas. I had him try it on at different points during the seaming process, so I knew what the result was going to be. But since the seaming was quick and easy, I went ahead with it so I’d know what I needed to do to fix it.
Now, before I show you the (hilarious) photo, let me tell you that this is NOT a gauge issue. My gauge was spot on. It’s also not a pattern or yarn issue. The pattern pieces measure approximately what they’re supposed to.
Where are his hands??
This was a measuring issue.
One of the ways to measure for a sweater is to use a sweater the recipient already wears and loves. The trouble here is that I didn’t have an actual sweater to measure. I measured a shirt that was meant to fit looser. This sweater, however, will grow a bit with wear, and it just ended up way too big.
I will say that the patten didn’t mention anything about the amount of ease. That would have been helpful in determining the size I needed to make.
The pattern is written for four sizes. I measured him to be between a medium and large, so I made the large. As it turns out, I needed to make the small.
I should mention, also, that the shirt I used to measure is several years old and he’s lost a bunch of weight since then.
When I measured his actual body, he was a full 8 inches smaller around his chest than the pattern size I made. Oops.
If it was just the sleeve length, I could have dealt with that easily. I would have undone the cuffs and unraveled the sleeve and then reknit the cuffs. But this is just a whole mess.
The only thing for it is to reknit the whole thing.
At least I know for sure I have enough yarn.
P.S.
This will certainly help. What a wonderful surprise from my aunt for Christmas!
The stockings I’ve been talking about for so long are finally finished! I was cutting it close with these. We’re halfway to Christmas already. I’m just glad I have really awesome customers.
Last year, I made Ashley a set of stockings for her family. Remember these?
Well, they’ve added a new little one to their family and asked me to make a stocking for him, too.
(There is no cool brick at this house. Boo.)
Well, Ashley was so impressed with the stockings I made last year, she gave her sister-in-law a gift of two stockings for Christmas. Then Amanda asked me to make two more for the rest of her family.
As you can see, Amanda’s style is much different from Ashley’s. And, in all honesty, mine, too. She sent me some ideas of ones she liked and we talked about colors and I got to work. This set of stockings was so far out of my comfort zone, but that is a really great thing!!
As it turns out, I really loved designing and knitting these stockings. I don’t have one favorite, but different parts of them ended up being fun. The green plaid on Amanda’s stocking was fun to knit and I really love the snowflake on Addie’s stocking. I think these will look great on the mantle!
And now, I’m done. I tried to knit a little bit on Doug’s sweater, but I’m just so tired. After having six men, and two trucks haul all our furniture and all the boxes that were packed, we still had to rent another 15ft truck to go back and get more stuff and there’s still little odds and ends that are left in the garage (and a few plants. I keep forgetting those.) It’s frustrating and expensive, but we all got sick in the midst of moving and we just couldn’t get everything packed up.
I’m starting to feel more like myself, now. I also am suddenly feeling very pregnant. I’m halfway through and I can no longer suck in the bump. I have had only one pair of jeans that fit for over a year, now, but those are rapidly becoming uncomfortable. I appear to be in a different shape than I was with Jellybean because the only pair of maternity jeans I wore with him don’t fit me well. I’m wondering about the other maternity pants, but they’re still packed away. I do know where my boxes of clothes are, they just haven’t been unpacked yet. I have one skirt that I brought in the suitcase – thankfully it’s black so I can wear it with just about anything. I really don’t want to have to buy more clothes that I’m only going to wear for 5 months, but I might have to bite on a new pair of maternity jeans.
We had the mid-pregnancy anatomy scan ultrasound and everything looks good. Lollypop has ten fingers and ten toes and everything is in the right place. We did not find out the gender. I think my family has started a betting pool, though.
I know I have at least one trip back to the old house to look forward to this week, but other than that, I’m taking it easy. My next project is to focus on Christmas shopping, since I didn’t get the chance to knit any gifts this year!
Well, we made it to the new house, along with all the furry pets and the furniture. Some things did get left behind, such as the fish, and some random odds & ends, but we’re going back to get those this week.
The move itself went pretty well. I had the job of transporting the cats (we have four,) the dog and the kiddo to the new house. I gave all the cats a tranquilizer pill that morning and put them in their crates. They were definitely not happy about it, but it was the only way to keep them safe and get them doped up for the ride. This is the first time Jellybean has taken such a long trip with Daisy (the dog) in the car, too, since he’s been forward facing in the carseat. Daisy gets very excited when she sees livestock suck as horses, cows, goats, etc. Jellybean thought it was hilarious that she got so excited and he would just cackle at her.
We’ve gotten things unpacked enough that we can cook, eat, sleep, work and relax, so we’re pretty settled. The rest of the boxes will get unpacked as we can. Or they may get sent directly to the yard sale in 6 months, if we haven’t opened them by then. 🙂
Jellybean has surprised me with his understanding of what’s been going on. I was so afraid that I hadn’t explained everything to him well enough and that when he realized that we weren’t going back to the old house, he would be devastated. However, he seems to really get that this is where we live now and that we won’t go back to live in the old house. All of his stuff is here, and I’ve made sure to unpack and set up his favorite toys and books, so I think that helps. He says he likes it here.
The new house has some definite advantages over the old one. The kitchen has a lot of counter space, it’s all one level, and the bedrooms are large. We did lose some living space, however. We had a living room upstairs and a den downstairs, and we used the den at night, after Jellybean went to bed so we could watch a little bit of TV. Now we just have a smallish living room and we haven’t been brave enough to watch anything after he goes to bed, for fear of waking him up. We haven’t even hooked the TV up to anything. We’re not big TV folks around here.
One huge advantage to this location is that we’re closer to all our family, now. We’re 10 minutes from my in-laws and an hour closer to everyone else. My parents came to visit over the weekend so Jellybean has had the chance to see all his grandparents in a week. He got to take a long walk around our new neighborhood with his Papaw and read a few books with Mimi. He’ll get to spend more time with Grandpa and Granddaddy, too.
I’ve been working on stockings when I can. I have the bright set all knitted and ends woven in. They got a little bath on Sunday afternoon, and when they’re dry, I’ll do the duplicate stitch for the names and one of the reindeer. I think I can have them done by the weekend. Sunday’s bath was just water, just to get the stitches to even out, but I need to find the box with my wool wash in it before I get ready to do the final wash. I’m afraid it might be in one of those boxes that got left, but I’ll either find it or go buy more.
I miss my friends back in Nashville, but we’re only a few hours away, now. I do have friends who live here, too, which will help me get adjusted to the area. I lived near here about 15 years ago, and while not much has changed, 15 years is a long time. I’m still going to have to find my way around and find things to do. I think the first thing is to find a new Mother’s Day Out program for Jellybean. I hope we can find one we like as well as our last one, but it’s going to be hard to beat his teacher, Mrs. Kathy.
I feel like this post is rambling so I’ll stop here. It’s been a crazy few weeks and we’re just now starting to decompress. I feel a little disheveled in just about every aspect!
I hope your holiday season has been fun for you so far! Here’s to a joyful season for all of us!
P.S. – Oh yeah, I’m halfway through the pregnancy, now. Little Lollypop is giving me some strong kicks and I’m starting to feel them on the outside, now. I told Jellybean he was going to be a good big brother and he says I’ll be a good big sister when Lollypop is born! Ha ha!
