Safe sox.

I think I am starting to get the hang of socks.  Years ago, I made a pair for B, and then a pair for C.. and then I abandoned making socks.  Then last fall, during Outlander, I made my BFF a pair of socks watching episodes.  Last fall, I made her socks, a scarf for my aunt, a hat and scarf for my mom, a hat for my dad, and I believe a few dishcloths.  Truly, you can never have enough handmade knitted dishcloths lying around.. I have discovered they make great teacher's gifts...

Now it is a new season, and it was time to pick up the needles again.  I made myself a pair of socks, and now it is C's turn.  These are his pair.  I used this sock recipe Ribbed Socks for Kids (Pattern by Susan B Anderson).  It is a great recipe.  Everything the kids pairs I made to begin with were not.  I made a sock a week! I have left them on the stair so when he comes down the stairs in the morning, he should be able to find them.  Now, I am on to making a pair for Brandon... There is truly something satisfying about sitting on the couch, watching a show, and creating a really cool pair of socks.

A frenzy of dishclothes and making baby blankets :)

 For this baby blanket, for a baby girl, I went for somewhat earthy tones.  I am not quite sure if pink, purple, and greens qualify, but this works for me.  This was a really quick knit up, and it feels nice.  It is a heavier weight, and likely a blanket that baby can use for a long time.

I do enjoy knitting baby blankets, and I also enjoy not purchasing baby wool for them.  There is nothing wrong with the pastels, however, I think when Ken traipsed in to my life, he brought colour along with him.   I really have no desire to knit a baby blanket that is as white as snow, or is that pale yellow colour.  I also don't really want to do one in mint green, and full on pink or blue in my mind, is pretty boring.  My goal is to knit three baby blankets this spring.  I am currently working on number 2.  One for a lovely coworker, one for Brandon's physiotherapist, and one for one of the ladies at daycare who has cared for both of our kids.  All I would consider friends.  It is amazing when you consider the people that come in to your life as a result of your kids.

I normally take a basic pattern, eyeball it, adjust it to the wool I picked out, and run with it.  I know there are mistakes in here, and I know there are some of my hairs interwoven in to it.  Likely there are also some of Ripley's as well.  End of the day, it makes a blanket like this pretty unique.  I still have the blankets that were made for my boys.  It is pretty magic when you consider the time that folks took to make something for your child.  In my mind, that is a pretty big deal and I have been happy to make them for our loved ones as well.

Mission complete - a new hat

Done.  I was hoping to have it finished before the snow started on Sunday night.. but apparently there are limits as to what a person can accomplish during their waking hours.

So, I finally finished it tonight.  I shouldn't complain, I think all told it took me less than two weeks to make (especially considering how much free time I normally have).  This is a great pattern.  I will make it again, and if I use the same type of wool, I will use the man's pattern instead of the women's pattern to give it a little more width.  This one stretches out fine, but it could be a tad bit bigger (I am also a tight knitter).  All in all, I love the hat and I found the free pattern (Thanks Needyl aka Shana) when I was trolling for a cable knit hat to knit myself up.  I haven't attempted knitting like this since the last hat I made, and I missed it.  I actually learned a few new things in the process, and recalled how much I enjoy watching a piece like this evolve under my fingers.

Speaking of my last hat, I am not sure if I ever whinged about the fact that I lost the hat on campus, when I was picking up the kids from day care.  The other day, I saw my hat on someone else!  I was happy to see it didn't go to waste - like this, it was a handmade, woollen hat and I am glad to see someone else obviously saw some value in it rather than it just getting pitched aside.

First pair of socks...

Well, they aren't perfect, but they were a learning experience. I learned about the magic loop method (very cool) and about turning a heel, and the parts of a sock. My second sock was somewhat smaller than the first as I started to get paranoid that the yarn was not going to make it through the to end. I was surprised at how LONG my son's feet are, and all in all, a satisfying project. Looking at this pair, they don't look like they would fit a 5 year old.

Next time I will use a different yarn blend, and I need to get my own sock needles. I get the feeling that there is this whole sock culture out there of folks knitting really intricate patterns. At this point, I am all about comfort and utility. I don't really need to incorporate cables and fancy patterns in to my socks... I want to master the art of the" lets figure out how to make some socks, fairly quickly that fit without big holes around the heel flap that scream out comfort". The kind of socks you would wear in front of the fireplace with a tea beside you, a good book in your lap, your kids happily doing their thing, and your hubby doing his thing...

The finished products...

Small and Medium hats (for the boys)

Ken's Viking Hat...I won't admit how many times I tweaked those &*^$@* horns!

My boys.

Damn Horns.

It all started with the movie, How to Train your Dragon. This is a huge hit in our house, with two boys and all, a story about Vikings and Dragons, can you go wrong? I was searching out a hat pattern for inspiration to make myself a hat, when I stumbled upon this website, and this wonderful knitted Viking Hat. I thought it was pretty damn cool, but I didn't have the supplies on hand at the time.

Fast forward a couple of weeks, and I kept returning to this pattern. It would be perfect for my guys. So, a few road trips later, and I have three Viking Hats. One I made with 66 stitches, one with 60, and the last one with 52 around. I adjusted the pattern a bit, and the post I did a while back about bobbles was how I learned how to make my first bobbles. It is a very easy pattern, and my only hitch was making the damn horns.

I have made the equivalent of five pairs for three hats. Apparently I learn the hard way. There is a horn pattern attached with this pattern, but I ended up free-forming my horns on double pointed needles. I learned the hard way that "bigger is not always better" and the first pair of horns I knitted on to my hubby's hat looked like Texas Longhorns. Drooping ones at that. Off they came, and several other versions happened. I learned that smaller, tighter horns are better (who knew) and that when you fill them with stuffing, really doesn't work all that well. After attaching two pairs, I had the idea that perhaps I should just use the scrap wool to shove in to the horns, and VIOLA! My problems were solved and the horns looked much better.

Needless to say, I have spent more time on the horns than I did knitting all three hats. This is a simple pattern, and I am grateful that I found it. The hats are a hit, and each of my guys can wear them with pride. It was magic watching Connor put on his hat and check to see if his horns where there.. and then Brandon getting to preschool and running around showing everyone his hat... now that I have improved my hubby's horns.. it will be great how to see it looks now. Makes my simple green hat seem not quite as colourful!

I will post some pictures of the finished hats tonight. I am pretty damn pleased with myself.

I needed a new hat...

Rolling out my latest knitting project, a hat for myself. I took a pattern I found online and then reworked it for my own purposes... I think it turned out pretty good! Next on the list... viking hats for the kids :D

Bringing out my last knitting project

Over the last few years, it seems that my knitting has focused on baby blankets, dish clothes, and hats. Months ago I had meant to post about the latest baby blanket - and here it is. Much thanks to Kelz.. I have discovered a place to get amazing, incredible, and very reasonably priced wool. It is beautiful to work with, and the colours are beautiful. I prefer to not knit in acrylic, etc, and favour wools and cottons. This is a good weight, and not itchy!

This was a pleasure to make. When I make a baby blanket, I pick a knitting pattern I like and just go for it. I eyeball the size, and then decide when I am done when it looks "just big enough". Seems to work for me!

frozen in time

I have been meaning once again to capture some thoughts, but it seems that when I have been sitting down in front of my white screen, not a lot of comprehension or inspiration has been happening.

So, I regress in to some random thoughts.

I hope that I unconsciously allow for change in my life and that I don't pigeon-hole people in to one role in my life, and who they are going to be as a person in my life, for their lifetime. I got the sense from an old friend recently that they had no clue who I was in the present moment, nor did they really seem all that aware of the fact that their notions of me are about 10 years old, and even that is a bit generous. I guess I want people to see who I am becoming, and not just who I have been.

This goes back to that post I had linked to a while ago - why write someone off today when you don't know what their true potential is?

I am more today than I was yesterday, and by tomorrow, I hope that I am a little more than I was today - whether it be something learned, or a moment that takes your breath away, and just having lived another day with some kind of story to tell for it.

I still hate paying for parking.

I am reading a book called Committed, and I think I enjoy it more than their first book (which has really become a bestseller) but I am not quite sure how much I like it. Parts I am really enjoying, and parts make me reflect, and other parts are too self-deprecating making sure that their reader does not give the author more authority than they can lay claim too - I guess too many qualifications at times for a biographical book that is from their own (limited) point of view, education, and experience... I do get it you aren't an expert, or an anthropologist or a sociologist... and that you are on your own path of self discovery ... check! let's move on already...

We had a pretty cool play date this morning, and this afternoon we made some pretty yellow play dough. Brandon has never played with play dough and I really wanted him to experience it, especially since there is so much you can do with it creatively and with your hands... What a satisfying thing to do! Like so many other things that seem so much harder before you try to do it yourself... it was really easy to make. This is the recipe I followed:

Play Dough Recipe:

1 cup white flour ( I used whole wheat)
1/2 cup salt
2 tablespoon cream of tartar (find it in the spice section)
1 tablespoon oil
1 cup water
food coloring

Mix first 4 ingredients in a pan. Add water and mix well. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 3 – 5 minutes. Dough will become difficult to stir and form a “clump”. Remove from stove and knead for 5 minutes–add food coloring during kneading process. Play dough will keep for a long time stored in a covered plastic container or plastic sandwich bag. This makes a good amount of play dough.

I officially lost the title ... again

I spent a lovely afternoon with the boys out at Barnet Marine Park. I love it there because it is a somewhat wild park. It isn't perfectly groomed, and you are never quite sure what you might see - like eagles catching salmon, freighters coming in to the inlet, or even a loon fishing... We were checking out my photos from the day... and ... my DH started laughing when he got to this photo. Then I realized that B is in the background, doing a face plant in the sand, making sand angels (his words, not mine). I had asked him why he was doing it that way, and he didn't really have an answer. The fact he was doing this, as I was taking a photo of myself, once again, kicked me out of the running for the mom of the year award.

Pork and Root beer?

Pork and root beer you say? I am intrigued, to say the least.

So I have hauled out the old slow cooker, got us some root beer, a bottle of my favourite Guinness infused BBQ sauce, and I am about to turn it on. Up until now I have been using a seasoning packet, which calls for the addition of ketchup, brown sugar, and apple cider vinegar. It has been consistently good. This will be a good sayonara to the (old) crock-pot before it's much better replacement arrives.

However, this recipe is blissfully simple, and on my fav recipe site, it was getting rav reviews. Plus it is made with root beer! Sounds like pretty low risk to me...

It is a gorgeous day out there, and a simple dinner where the bulk of the work is already done is perfect. We will serve this up with some warm buns, coleslaw, and some homemade french fries.

I have my fingers crossed that this recipe rocks....

A different kind of pulled pork...

Ingredients -

• 1 (3 pound) pork loin, roast, boneless shoulder (depends on what you want to spend)
  
• 1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle root beer
• 1 (18 ounce) bottle your favorite barbecue sauce

The How to -

1. Place the pork tenderloin in a slow cooker; pour the root beer over the meat. Cover and cook on low until well cooked and the pork shreds easily, 6 to 7 hours. Note: the actual length of time may vary according to individual slow cooker. Drain well. Stir in barbecue sauce. Serve over warm buns.