Today’s “to do” list.

This is my last free day before heading off to my folks for the holidays and I have more stuff to do than I can possible get done.  I need to go pick up my hubby’s Christmas present, bake some cookies to take to the folks, knit a pair of mittens (this is really the problem).  Oh, why, oh, why did I leave the Christmas knitting to the last minute?  I had a list made up before Thanksgiving.  Why do I do this every year?

I did manage to get a lot done this holiday season craft wise.  I made stockings and cards and a lovely pompom garland.  I did, rather a lot of baking.  None of it was cookies though and I feel deprived.

Woodland Sprite!

As everyone knows, all toddlers should look like adorable woodland sprites. Here’s a super quick, super easy, pointy hat to adorn your little one this winter. It’s knit flat in a super-bulky, super cheap, machine washable yarn, it’ll make a great last minute present for the holidays and it’s fun.

Woodland Sprite Hat

• Yarn: Lionbrand Thinck & Quick
• Needles: U.S. size 11 circulars (used as straights), a spare size 11 for grafting
• Gauge: 10 st and 16 rows equal 4 inches
• Techniques: knit, purl, short rows, Kitchener Stitch (once you get the hang of it it’s easier than you’d think)

Cast on 20 stitches using any invisible cast on, I like the figure 8 myself. But tutorials and methods abound so pick the one you like best. Make sure you have 20 stitches on both your needle and your stitch holder. Leave those unused live stitches alone, you won’t need to worry about them for quite awhile.

Row 1 and all odd numbered rows knit to the end. This is your wrong side.

Row 2 (first short row): knit 4, purl 15, wrap and turn.

Row 4: knit 4, purl 14, wrap and turn.

R0w 6: knit 4, purl 13, wrap and turn. Continue in this manner until you’ve worked 10 short rows and 21 rows total.

Row 22: knit 4, purl to end.

Repeat row 1 through 22 two more times.

Now it’s time to pick up those live stitches from the holder and work that kitchener stitch. It’s not that tricky and there are oodles of tutorials and videos out there. For me, it works better if worked from the stockinette side, which is the wrong side of the hat.

This pattern is sized for a toddler but can easily be adapted for an infant or an adult. Simply cast on 19 stitches and work 9 short rows per section.  For an adult cast on 26 stitches and work 12 short rows per section.

Chistmas crafting will commence in 3,2,1….

Halloween is over. Not that I did anything to honor the holiday; after a decade of dressing up as if “Everyday is Halloween”, to quote Ministry, it’s really not my thing. Christmas on the other hand, is my bag baby. And this year we’re aiming for a hand made holiday.

So here’s my preliminary list: handmade cards, hand knit mittens for the family, a new quilt for my boy, a few handmade toys for the boy, and of course lot’s of handmade ornaments.

Plus, I promised a friend I’d knit a bunch of toddler hats for her shop.   As it stands now, I’ve got 2 done and about a dozen to go.  It’s going to be a busy couple of months.

An unholey terror. But cute as hell.

This week Ronan discovered that he could move a chair form the kitchen table to the kitchen counter and have access to any number of items on said counter.  Including things like the sugar dish I use for my coffee and a change dish and my car keys.  The sugar was deemed good, the change was dumped on the floor (“Moneys!”) and it took me an hour to find the keys.  Hopefully he gets bored soon.

Fall and the Tradgady of a Rubber Castle.

Ronan and I walked the neighborhood this morning; we checked out all the gorgeous fall foliage. The sun was shining. It was a welcome change from yesterday’s cold and rain. And from Saturday’s tragic bouncy castle collapse.

Saturday we took the little man to get an overprice pumpkin at a low key, little fall festival out in the middle of nowhere. The whole thing was rather disappointing but they did have a bouncy castle that wasn’t over run but much older kids. It was pretty much empty and Ronan was eager to get in there, emphatically demanding to “bounce, bounce”. I thought the castle would make the drive out there worth while and that the little man would have a good ol’ time jumping around. Unfortunately things took a nasty turn just after I shoved the kid up through the tiny entrance. As I was preparing to climb in with him, and he was happily bouncing away, the generator keeping the whole rubber structure inflated ran out of gas.

Did you know that those things come down in about 10 seconds? Cause I didn’t. That’s much faster than it takes a two year old or his mother to figure out what’s going on and get said two year old out of the damn thing. Had it not been for a quick reflexed teenager my baby would have been crushed by a blasted BOUNCY CASTLE! Thankfully she got him out of there before anything heavy came down on him.

Needless to say, the kid is now terrified of bouncy castles. And bouncing. I haven’t been able to get him to even jump on the bed. Oh, I hope he gets over it. I hate that he’s scarred of anything and I feel like this is somehow my fault.

So today we will carve a pumpkin and make pumpkin bread. I’ll knit a hat or a pair of chunky mittens for the kid. We’ll have a nice stew for dinner and enjoy fall.

And for the first time ever we’ll watch baseball in October because it looks like the Rockies are going to the Series!

Two years ago today,

I was about an hour away from giving birth.  Where does the time go?  How the hell did two years slip by?  My little man is just that now, a little man.  He has opinions about everything.  He helps me put away the dishes.  He cooks toast and eggs in his new play kitchen.

I’m blown away by how grown up he is and how much he’s changed over the last year.  He’s no longer content to observe the world; he must tough, taste, and smell everything.  He asks “What’s that?” at least a hundred times a day.  He wants to know what I’m doing and where I’m going at all times.   And he’s such a boy, his favorite things are cars and trucks, trains and boats.  He loves anything with a diesel engine.

And the new words are coming at a rate I can’t even keep up with anymore.  Dog, cat, bird, lion, monkey, bear, bunny, frog, bug.  Car, truck, bus, train, firetruck, bike, skateboard.  Spoon, fork, plate.  Milk, juice, ice cream, yogurt, grapes, banana, apple, meat, peas, beans.  Hammer, drill, screwdriver.  Street, grass, tree, rocks.  Everything has a name and he wants to know it.

Two years ago I was about to meet this brand new person and I was terrified.  Now there is this little individual living in my house and I can’t really imagine what my life would be like with out him.

Feeling Fall

I can feel it in the air this morning. Fall is coming and I feel the urge to feather my nest. There are blankets to be made and hats and socks. There are sweaters that need finishing and new projects of all sorts wandering through my mind. Once upon a time the first chilly mornings of fall made me so sad. Winter was around the corner with it’s long nights and seemingly endless cold. Winter here runs from the Halloween to Easter, half the damn year. By January it feels like it will never, ever end.

Now, the coming fall means that there is knitting to be done and quilts that need to be finished. All the things that it was to warm for over the summer are calling to me. Crafting has cured my SAD; I now appreciate that there are more bright sunny days during the winter that bleak gray ones. When it is gray I know that chances are the next day will be bright and crisp, that I’ll be able to sit on my balcony and drink my coffee and knit despite it being December.

So there’s been a lot of knitting around here but none of it’s particularly interesting. We’re stocking up for winter I guess. Lot’s of hats for the shop and a sweater or two for the little guy.

Thursday is Green.

Today is Yellow.

The Color of the Day is Orange.

Today is orange.