Fleeting moments

Today brings the sixth month mark for Noah. He is amazing me more each day, I really wished that I learned so quickly and absorbed so much!! He seems easier than Corbin was, though is does have Corbin's constant entertainment. Speaking of Corbin - his energy constantly amazes me, though thank goodness it has been a more positive energy of late and we have been getting to color & bake together. He is starting to draw actual pictures and not just scribble, it really blows me away.

Finally got to dye some more tonight. A couple pounds of roving and a few skeins of yarn. They are steaming as we speak, and I can't wait to see them in the light of day. I won't have any pictures for awhile as my new camera lens is not here yet (but is on its way - yippee!) and while we have a zoom lens for the camera, it is almost impossible to take pictures in the house with it. I guess that just leaves me no excuse for not updating here!

Knitting has been cruising right along! I finished the back of my minimalist cardigan and started my first sleeve. I think I will get a great deal of wear out of this sweater and can't wait to finish it! I feel quite victorious that I have finished the largest single portion of the vest - especially as it has the largest area of repetitive knitting! Moss stitch for the win!! Lol!

Alright I can feel myself starting to go into ramble mode - so - I will spare you all and say "goodnight"

p.s. Sock Summit came out with tons more info and I am about to die with excitement.

p.p.s. I have one more sale to go in my Etsy shop before I hit 70 sales. Be the 70th sale and I will include a full priced like item in your package for free!

action photos!

So I couldn't wait for Easter and badly wanted my boys to wear their vests today! So they did! I sewed the button's on Noah's vest this morning and they are a perfect fit! I will definitely be ordering from Wooden Treasure's again! (In fact they are a Phat Fiber Contributor and are doing a give away contest right now!) The boys both seemed pretty comfortable in the wool and Corbin loved pointing out "his vest" and "Noah's vest". I am totally brain washing him to love hand knit items, I talked to him the entire times that I was knitting his, showing it to him, having him feel it. It was awesome! So here are some photo's of them both in their vests, taken just earlier this evening! (Don't mind the drool marks from Noah ;P )

Still alive!

The blogging mojo has just not been with me lately but I am pushing through tonight!

My sweet Noah is going to be six months old one week from today and it is hitting me like a ton of bricks! I just look at my boys and I just can't believe the time has passed so quickly. I know this is one of the favorite "phrases" of a parent, but it is so true. Noah is now in full blown mobile mode. Unfortunately it also means he is starting to fight going to sleep, he has just been rocking back and forth on his hands and knees, and really it just cracks me up!

I have made a nice bit of progress spinning and knitting the past couple of weeks. I have a side-to-side vest for me, Minimalist Cardigan (again for me), a forest canopy shawl, and a pair of yoga socks in "active" progress right now. I am enjoying jumping between projects right now, which does surprise me a bit, as having that many wip usually stresses me out. I did finish one item. Corbin's Vest. It is still drying so I don't have any action shots yet, but I will do a fiber to finished vest photo group for ya. The fiber is Blue Faced Leicester dyed by Fat Cat Knits in her "Clyde" colorway. I used right about 3.5oz spun in a light worsted ~ approx 230yards to do the vest.


My boys will now have matching vest for Easter! Mom mission accomplished!

Sock Summit!

So today some friends came over and we got some real plans made with reservations and everything for Sock Summit 2009! I cannot wait and have several projects in mind to have done by then. Now I am anxiously waiting for the class list & overall schedule to come out so we can devise our daily plan! The details are still being worked out but we will be working in a family vacation around SS09 too (something John and I have been meaning to do for awhile!).

On to the promised pics from Monday's Dyeing marathon! I will be putting up these yarns into the shop throughout the week!

Whew!

Marathon dyeing session tonight....took it out of me! I did my most colorways in one evening - a whopping (at least for me :) NINE! With at a minimum of two skeins per color. So I should have lots of fibery color to share with you tomorrow! I also have some news to share about socks! Hand knitted ones of course! That's all for tonight!

Noah's Cobblestone Inspired Vest

This is gonna be quick as I am supposed to be heading out the door...

Tada! I love how this vest turned out and it fits him perfectly (well still enough room to grow that it should fit for a little while I hope!). This was going to be a Baby Surprise Jacket, but I started it in November and my little one has grown at quite a fast rate. I used my yarn, handspun from Pigeonroof Studios Roving (my fave indie dyer). I haven't gotten buttons yet, so I have stitch holders pinning the shoulders together.

Beating the Winter Blues

So in a totally non-fiber related post (did you see that I still got the word "fiber" in!) it is now March. Many other places it is already getting warm, or they know that warmth is on the horizon. We up here in the AK still have a good couple of months before it will truly be warm. So for this short and simple post I have a short question.....

How do you beat the winter blues?

or if you don't like that one...

What is your favorite thing to do inside?

Thankful

Sometimes I let my own frustrations build and I forget how blessed I am. I have a wonderful husband who loves me and bends over backwards to care for me and his boys. Not only that but he listens, responds, and always squishes my yarn when I ask him too (I am trying very hard to reciprocate in the area of snowboarding....).

My toddler is two, and I think I am having my lack of patience constantly thrown in my face. I have been reading the book "Making children mind...without losing yours", (don't laugh) seriously seems as though the author wrote it personally for me. I had been doing really well, but being sick was seriously bringing me to my limits. I also felt like I was in a downward spiral of feeling too sick to do anything, but then feeling even worse because I was doing nothing. So I used the excuse of running out of milk to head out to the store. I was amazed at how much better I felt at just getting some fresh air. My head instantly cleared and I felt so much more like my normal self. I think it did the same for Corbin as he cheerfully (and loudly) sang his version of the alphabet down the aisles of Carrs Safeway. After groceries, dinner, and hot chocolate, we made our way home and things ended on a sweet note with me reading to both my boys before tucking them into bed. As things are tight right now I have no "professional" pics, but here are a couple pics I've taken this past month of my boys. I thank God for their health and the light they bring into my life.

Before getting my butt off the couch today I did make lots of knitting progress while watching P.S. I love you (A great movie) and Blues Clues - Blue's has a Baby Brother (yes, I could probably recite this movie to you). First, I finished the february baby sweater that I had started in January and I am very satisfied with how it turned out! I wish I had taken pictures when there was natural light as there is no "shine" to this yarn at all, nor is the purple so bright, but you get the idea. Secondly I finished one mitten out of my handspun, the yarn was a little hairier than I expected, but I think it will wear great and feels very squishy on my hand.




I dyed up quite a bit of my new yarn bases and can't wait until they are set and dried and I can share pics! They look very promising!!!