Trick or Treat!

This past weekend was filled with family, friends, candy, and costumes!

An adorable "Garbeeege Twuck"


And the cutest skeleton ever.

Hope you and yours had a very happy Halloween!

Summer Memories v.1

It's been three months. Three months?! THREE MONTHS. Ack. We've been busy enjoying the weather, our growing boys, and all the pleasures of the summer. Now that it's officially over, I'm feeling a bit nostalgic.

Nostalgic, especially about the Michigan State Fair. This year was the last year for the fair, as our governor cut it from the state's budget, due to monetary constraints. It was the longest running fair in US history.

J-man feeds the "beeeeeeg goat."

The State Fair has an exhibit called the "Miracle of Life." Michigan State University's agricultural program brings all of it's very pregnant livestock (cows, sheep, pigs, ducks/chickens/quail/turkeys, etc) to the fairgrounds. The animals then give birth at the fair. Hence, there are oodles of cute little babies running around!

Um, there were many more cute babies than this. Apparently I was too engrossed to take more photos. :)

And of course, J-man had his first carnival ride experience. We had enough cash for him to ride two rides (when did those midway rides get so expensive?), and he chose to ride the same ride twice. The "flying bees" were a hit with this kiddo.

J-man and daddy experiencing the bee excitement.

Little R spent most of the time in his stroller, but, in true little R fashion, he was super happy to chill out and watch the rest of us have fun.

Cutie pie.

Bye-bye, State Fair.

I'll be back with some knitting-related content soon. I promise. :)

Five stitches later...

A kitchen knife slipped while I was unloading the dishwasher yesterday. As I told my husband, "It doesn't really hurt, so of course I can still knit!" He thought I looked super ridiculous, so he snapped a photo.

Today I'm thankful that the Lord made our bodies with the amazing ability to heal themselves. Bumps, bruises, even broken bones heal on their own (with a little help from medical professionals, sometimes). How awesome -- fearfully and wonderfully made -- we are!

Eight Things I've Learned This Week.

Eight Things I've Learned (already) This Week:

1. Goo Gone takes crayon "art" off of walls.

2. Little boys have an inbred talent for football-throwing. Seriously, my two-year-old picked up a toy football and threw me a perfect spiral this morning. I'm an adult, and I still can't seem to master this skill. Maybe it's a boy thing.

3. Those Jehovah's Witnesses never give up.

4. Toddler + bike = newly found independence. My little boy used to insist on holding my hand at all times. This afternoon he tried to ride away from me on his bike.



5. A little fresh air brightens up even the most challenging of days.



6. I can pray, and ask God for help, about something as little as my kiddos' naps. He always answers.

7. Sometimes the project you're feeling a little iffy about ends up being one of your most favorite finished objects of all time.

Liesl, pattern by Ysolda Teague

8. One good project deserves another.

Mara, pattern by Madelinetosh

Busy.

Oy, I've been so far from my blog lately. I'm a bit sad that I've neglected it, and haven't really been commenting on your blogs, either. But I'm still here! And I'm reading your blogs, even if it's a bit difficult to leave comments (mostly one-handed, holding a babe, and running after a little J-man, who seems to have more and more energy every day). Here are a few of the things that have been keeping me busy during the past month:

J-man (27 months) and Little R (4.5 months). We're still awake more than asleep most nights, due to Little R's appetite. But, ah, he's soo cute, I'm really unable to hold a grudge.
Most of the time.

FLS, finished sometime in late March.

EZ's Mitered Mittens, in Gherkin's Bucket handspun yarn. The impending warmer weather apparently has no bearing on my mitten knitting addiction.


Fallen Leaf Frilled Triangular Scarflette, in The Plucky Knitter's 2-ply Cashmere laceweight.

I'm really hoping that spring and summer will bring more inspiration (and time!) for blogging. For now, thanks to all of you who have come back to read this, despite my hiatus! I know that the craziness of life with a newborn must be nearing an end... and things will hopefully feel more and more normal within the next few weeks. For now, I'm still knitting, and living each day minute-to-minute. :)

thank you for recycling.

Just a quick, shameless plug for my little sis's new shop. Check it out over on Etsy, where I spend waaay too much time and money.

And also, a gratuitous baby shot:

Three months old!

Happy Thursday! My February Lady is nearing completion, so hopefully I'll have some photos soon.

By the wayside.

I've stashed my blog by the wayside lately, in case you haven't noticed. :) There's been some crazy sickness going around this family: first the J-man gets sick, then passes it to little R, who passes it to me, and so on. I think that relay has happened three times this winter, and it's getting to be pretty tiresome. But I'm on the mend, and *hopefully* spring is coming soon.

Here's a little parade of FO's, finished between late February and early March:

Big Snugs, pattern by Maggie Pace



Gloria cowl, pattern by Orinda5



Baby Janes, pattern by Michelle Miller



Fiddlehead Mittens, pattern by Adrian Bizilia

The Fiddlehead Mittens are actually a WIP. Although I've finished the outer mittens, I'm still working on the lining. For some reason, now that it's getting warmer, I've caught the fair-isle mitten knitting bug. Luckily (or maybe unluckily), I live in Michigan, so there are probably two more months of mitten wearing weather to come.

I'm now working on a February Lady Sweater for me! It's slow going, since I've only had the chance to knit a few rows each day, but I think I'll be really happy with the outcome.

That's about all that's going on in this neck of the woods. But, oh, just in case you haven't gotten your daily allowance of baby cute, here's a smidgeon of sweetness:

Don't you just wanna smooch those chubby cheeks?