Thursday, February 26, 2009

thrummy thrum thrum

they are finally done! yeah! this was a project that i learned alot on
after i ripped apart the first mitt there was no regrets though
when i started thrumming, i was kind of flying by the seat of my pants
i didn't really know what i was doing, plus i hadn't knit mitts before
it landed up the first mitt was too small and bulky
so i reworked the whole pile of thrums from one mitt (which took 3 hours...sigh!)
and in the end they almost completed two mittens!

i am thrilled with the way they turned out
they have been on their maiden voyage today
and performed their job beautifully
i have already been asked if i would commission a pair
this ends any projects for me for a while
i have a few people that i need to get busy creating for
some of you know who you are!
this weekend i want to start on a scrappy quilt for our violin teacher
and my needles already have their eyes on another project

what's been keeping me busy

we have been a little busy around here lately
we decided a while ago to paint these rooms
and are just getting around to the prep
we are doing school in the middle of this mess,
so i won't mind when things are back to where they are suppose to be
the jury is still out on the colour
i like the gingerroot and cork by themselves,
but they are a little bit too much with all the wood in the kitchen
hope to have it decided soon, because then maybe we can paint on the weekend
we took the railing off the stairs to fix the wall
it had big seam on it that had popped because of bad drywalling job previously
it would have taken a bucket of mud to fix it,
that wasn't a viable option
so we started from scratch

Monday, February 23, 2009

burrs

today was not an up day
it was a bit of hard slugging
struggling with an old issue
of ill-spoken and unfair words directed at me
really rather unpleasant
the image i have of how it makes me feels is
i have a burr buried deep in my fur
i try repeatedly to get it out, but can't quite
in fact the effort of trying makes it harder
then i ignore it and forget it is there
until the time that i move the wrong way
and the pain goes shooting through me
sometimes it even makes me bleed
the truth though is that God says
"I have chosen you and not cast you away" Isaish 41:9
"I have loved you with an everlasting love" Jeremiah 31:3

Thursday, February 19, 2009

sometimes...

sometimes when things are hard,
you need to find a new way to look at them
sometimes when you are having fun at play
life throws you a curve ball (or in this case a snowball)
sometimes when the day has been rough
you need to sit with a friend and create
sometimes when life feels crazy
you need to take a break and watch from the sidelines
sometimes to get things done
you gotta get dirty

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

dinner

homemade beef, barley & potato soup
crusty bread with oil & balsamic vinegar
lemon meringue pie

supper is all ready

now, i just have to survive my kickboxing class
really, i would rather just eat

Saturday, February 14, 2009

won't you be mine?

i baked cookies
the girls decorated
the girls got little valentine gifts
and kinder surprises
in the package i made each of them a new pillowcase
i had the fairy fabric in my stash and just needed to use it for something
all three pillowcases sewed up in an hour
fast, easy and economical
tonight the big cheese is taking me out for dinner!
how nice....sushi! yum!

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

now you see it, now you don't

this is my thrummed mitten that i have been working on
until recently it looked like this
and now it looks like this (below)
i was really frustrated with my progress, for a number of reasons,
and decided to pull it out and start over
a friend said i should just keep moving on
but i had completely lost my motivation for the project
probably the biggest reason was it was really hard to get on my hand (too small)
but i had also dropped a stitch, made my thrums way too big,
accidentally knit the cuff too long etc
so two nights ago, i took a deep breath and started to unravel
i feel much better now! feels like a clean slate
last night i began re-working my thrums
and this is what they are suppose to look like
wispy, ends tucked together and rolled a bit in the middle
mine are probably still a little bulky but not as bad as they were
so here is to my new start!
today when i couldn't find my children
i found one cuddled up here
and the other cuddled up here
guess when it is cold, there is not better place to be
then snuggled up under quilts and blankets!

Monday, February 9, 2009

full moon

today was one of those days when you wonder "what's up?"
school went well overall and the girls finished up early
i got a noon kickbo class in,
which is a treat because it usually doesn't happen
but all three of the girls seemed to be getting under
each others skin today
all day
just before supper i had heard enough of the whining
and said out loud, to no one in particular
"is it a full moon or something?"
i stopped and then thought "why not check?"
so i made my way over to the calendar...and it was!
so bizarre! not sure i really believe that the moon has that much "sway"
but it was pretty funny and coincidental

Friday, February 6, 2009

here comes mischief

you know it is a good thing that God gave us this girl
life just wouldn't be the same without her
she makes me laugh more often than i can think of
and gets into "clever" mischief
------------
today the big cheese and bugsy had just left
the phone rang and i was talking to oma
i came back into the kitchen about 10 minutes later
to find boo-boo under the kitchen table
i said to my mom "oh, it looks like someone is up to something"
at that point the culprit looks up and gives me her charming smile
until I actually get close enough to see what she is doing
------------
this is what was keeping her busy
she had found a marker and coloured all 10 of her finger nails
at this point i thought it was permanent marker
i had to look away several times because i couldn't help myself from laughing
this is her drowning her tears and soaking her nails

and this is the result of ten minutes of soaking and scrubbing with a dish brush
so much for water soluble markers...should write staedtler about that

Thursday, February 5, 2009

latest project

here is the quilt top that was in the box a few weeks ago
i pulled it on a couple of nights ago and decided that i really wanted to finish it
so i started on the last set of borders and got them on that evening
i think it turned out really well
it is a lot brighter than i usually do, so it was a nice change
the quilt was put together by sewing light and dark strips together
then cutting them in opposite light/dark triangles
then four triangles are sewn into squares
the quilt is for our trailer, remember we live in the north
would you use wool batting and flannel
or
cotton batting and minky?
will show more when it is quilted and the binding is on...might be awhile though!?

Monday, February 2, 2009

snow day

we awoke to find our world blanketed in snow, yet again
it really makes for a peaceful morning, a nice start
these pictures are taken from our deck door
other than homeschool, we pretty much had a snow day
we shovelled and stomped, made a sled run
the girls made a snowman
changed into dry clothes
we read books
drank mocha's
played a family game
cuddled in warm PJ's under homemade quilts
a good day that way
just no crafting....but lots and lots of thoughts of what i want to do