A New Phase

In one short week these little toes are about to start a brand new adventure…and this mama is beginning a new phase of mama-hood. It’s funny how phases and new adventures sort of sneak up on you undetected, until somehow, sometime, at some moment it hits you smack in the face and the mind-boggling reality of “wow…this is where we are right now” finally hits.

Aside from starting a new homeschool adventure we are starting dance class for the first time. We’ve done a lot of dancing at home together, doing what we can to practice techniques, adjectives (dancing fast, slow, sad, happy, excited, scared, etc.) and steps but mostly freestyling it with lots of Brahms Lullaby and Abba on Pandora. Not at the same time though…(yikes!)…and definitely with lots of costume changes!

With dance lessons comes the new phase of waiting in my life. I have waited for infants to be born (boy did I wait!), I have waited for infants to fall asleep, for toddlers to become toilet trained, waited for self-chopped 3 year old hair to grow back(!), waited for tooth after tooth after tooth to finally break through, waited for those first words to be slowly sounded out and read! … oh do mothers wait!!! This new “waiting” will be waiting for a child while she learns and adventures and experiences … and I sit in the waiting room … or on a chair in the corner! Our lives have been so connected, this first little one of mine. This separation, as slight as it is, is both a strange and exciting phase for us. When I first came head to head with it I was a bit taken back. For a split second that is. Then I began to think of all that could be done with those beautiful moments when I would be confined to a chair while my little beloved dances and grows in the studio. Though my mind danced around between writing, drawing, reading, and stitching, I think I have settled on knitting. Oh the joy of assigning myself a set time to sit and knit on a regular basis. I have big plans for the perfect hoodie for the mancub, and a delightful poncho for the little dancer. Oh boy! I can’t wait!

It is going to be a wonderful new phase. I am filled with butterflies of anticipation and excitement for all that she will learn and do in her classes. And my fingers are itching for a bit of solstice knitting.

The Sweater Vest

There has been a sweater vest on my needles for a long time.  It was a simple and straightforward pattern (found here) but still stretched my budding knitting skills and just plain stumped me a few times.  It has finally made it’s way off the needles and is very happy onto a very happy boy. 

  

I have a bit of trouble with my edges rolling up on stockinette stitch sections of knitting, so I finally learned how to block a piece.

 I don’t have a steamer…or those amazing foam pieces….so I used a spritz bottle and a towel. 

How to Block a Sweater:

1. Fold a towel (or layer a few towels) so you have several layers of thickness.  (I had four layers).

 

2. Gather your knitting pieces, a spritz bottle with warm water, and long straight pins.

3.  With right sides facing up spritz the pieces lightly (to dampen…not to soak!)

       

4.  Carefully pin the knitted piece flat sticking the pins straight into the towel layers.  Do not overly stretch the fabric. 

 

*You’re done with the spritzer now so hand it over to the little for a bit of squirting fun!  Oh the silly fun that was had! 

5.  Let it sit!  When the piece is completely dry unpin and finish it up!  ‘

*I’ve heard of a trick to avoid the rolling up…but haven’t tried it.  The trick is to purl the first stitch every row…whether it’s a knit or purl row.  Have you tried this?  How did it work? 

At any rate it fits perfectly and looks adorable…and we all love it.  It did, unfortunately, sit on the needle so long that it will only fit him for a bit.  Ah well…we’ll enjoy it while it lasts! 

Dancing Girl

As I watch my children grow and become themselves I catch glimpses of myself and my love in them.  In their faces, in their hair, in the way they react to certain things.  But some things are completely new.  They are not from me.  They are not from their Dad.  They are completely them.  Traits given to them to make them unique, to make them who they are, to guide and beautify their path here on earth. 

My daughter loves to dance.  It is a part of her.  She will dance to any music that is playing…anywhere…anytime.  And she’s good.  Her soul just responds to the music and it is truly beautiful to watch.  Her love of dancing is very special to me because it is so unique to her.  She most definitely did not get any dancing abilities from any part of her known ancestry!!!  It is simply who she is…and it is beautiful! 

For Christmas we made her a wooden ballet bar and a full ballet outfit.  We weighed the decision carefully knowing that once received it would likely be the only thing worn for a very long time!  

Recently I knit up a quick pair of ruffled leg warmers that couldn’t have been easier…or more happily received.  They are (in her case)  40 st k2p2 ribbing for 10 inches, then increase each stitch every other row twice to make the ruffles.  They are knit on double pointed needles which took a bit of getting used to…but I am a big fan now.  I think we might need more pairs….oh the possibilities!!!  We have a very happy, very warm and ruffely little dancer around these parts!    

Hands

I have been staring at these photos in awe for a while now yet I still don’t know how to share all that they mean, all that they capture.  So join me, and just be still, just be, just ponder the magnificence of hands…little hands…little hands within big hands…and all that those little hands can do…and all that they may do!!  

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Happy weekending folks!  What holiday preparations will fill your days?!?!

Join A Handmade Childhood next week for A Week of Christmas Cards.  A whole week full of Christmas cards to make with your children… from their artwork, from their hands, from their hearts!

It has begun…

 

The joy of fiber.  The joy of yarn in your fingers.  The joy of knitting.  It is soon to be her joy.  And that is my joy. 

(The wooden puzzles were made by my father for my siblings and I when we were young.) 

Creatures and Maps

We have had two wonderful discoveries recently.  The first being Creature ABC by Andrew Zuckerman.  The photography is absolutely magnificent.  Magnificent!!!  We have been swept away in the beauty and splendor of the creatures we have “met”. 

Did you know a Jack Rabbit can jump 10 feet high…or that a African Elephant can be heard 10 miles away…or that a kangaroo can jump 25-40 feet in a single bound?  If you didn’t know you must not have seen my daughter lately…because she most definitely would have told you too!

The second discovery has been Maps.  An oversized Atlas of the world has offered hours (seriously!) of curiosity and discovery.  We have named continents and countries, discussed languages and traditions, asked about animals and homes, traced rivers and boundaries.  And we have barely touched the surface.  Isn’t our world marvelous!  We are now geographers…and loving it! 

Oh…and there has been knitting too.  I have been getting better at multi-tasking while knitting.  I can now read stories and knit, discover maps and knit, play outside and knit…!  It is only snippits of knitting but those snippets are adding up!!!  Happy knitting, happy kiddlings and happy momma!

What have you discovered lately?

A Day…

There is a great focus on the handmade around here that’s for sure.  But today as I followed and played and discovered with my children, letting them lead and choose the flow of the day (not everyday do they choose the flow…but today this was best) we marveled at and enjoyed and were thankful for the work of other hands.  Great hands.  Divine hands.  And we were very happy! 

 

 

Can you see his scowl!!!  She was “encouraging” him to go back with her!!! (He won!…this time)

 

We also noticed quite a bit of knitting!  On this counter, on this table, hanging in a tote here, ready for hands whenever hands, any hands, (they certainly won’t only be mine!) are ready to knit.  Warm, cozy, comfortable knitting. 

   

  Happy day!!

How to Make a Fleece Lined Hat with PomPoms

I love to knit.  I am still learning a lot…and still wouldn’t call myself a “knitter”…but oh do I love it!!! 

I wanted to knit a hat for the soon-to come cold days for my daughter and came up with this.  (Truth be told…I started it last winter in hopes of it being a Christmas present…ahem…but tore the whole 4” of it apart a few weeks ago and started again with a few adjustments…so worth it!!!)

So….there is not a pattern for this hat…wait don’t be scared…having no pattern makes this one easier because you can adjust it for your skill level.

Step 1.  Measure your child’s head.  If you’re not sure where you need to measure just imagine where the brim of the hat would sit and measure! Then cut that number in half.

Step 2.  Choose your yarn…anything will do because you’re going to set  your own “gauge”.  Once you’ve chosen your yarn look on the package and find it’s gauge setting…experiment with the size needle that it suggests, or choose another, till you feel comfortable with the stitch size and tightness. 

(Gauge is very  important in knitting…don’t ignore it.  Gauge is the number of stitches and rows per inch in a piece of knitting) 

Step 3. Make a gauge swatch.  A gauge swatch is usually a 4”x 4” piece of knitting that you use to determine how many stitches you’re making per inch. 

This image is from www.lionbrand.com which has some great tutorials on learning to knit. 

In this image the gauge is set at 2 stitches per inch.  Yours might (probably will) be different. 

Once you know how many stitches you’re making per inch you can determine how many stitches you need to cast on to make the width you need. 

Step 4.  Cast on and knit.  I chose to make ribbing on the bottom 1 1/2” and then made thick columns of knitting, moss stitch, and 4 sets of cables.  (I wanted to get a good handle on cables so chose to practice them on this…I definitely have a handle on them now!!!)

You can choose absolutely any stitch…or combination of stitches that you want. 

Step 5.  Knit.  And keep knitting until your rectangle measures from the center of the forehead to the bottom of the hairline. 

Step 6.  Bind off. 

Step 7. Sew the side seams up. 

PomPoms.

I have done some experimenting and have found (for me) the best pompom making method…and this is it! 

-Cut two donut shapes out of cardboard with a little slice out of each. 

-Place a length of yarn between the two “donuts”.  Now wind yarn tightly around the two layers of cardboard “donut”…the more you wind the fuller your pompom will be. 

-Once you have the amount of yarn wound that you’d like pull the yarn that is between the two layers of cardboard and twist it…now slide your scissors between the two pieces of cardboard and snip the yarn.  Hold onto the twisted yarn that was between your two pieces of cardboard so you don’t lose all your yarn!

-Now you have this!!  Tie the yarn around your snipped bits as tightly as you can.  I usually add another piece of yarn at this point by simply sliding one between the cardboard and tying it tight. 

-Slide the cardboard out and trim your pompom if there are any “straggly” strands. 

Congratulations…you have a pompom!!!  You’ll need two for this project so get going on another!!!

Step 8.  Attach the pompoms to each corner of the hat.

Step 9. Cut a piece of fleece to the same measurements as what you knit for the hat + 1” for seam allowance.  (i.e.  if you cast on 9” worth of stitches and your hat is 6” from bottom to top then cut a piece of fleece 10”x 13”).

Step 10.  You’re almost done!  Sew your fleece up at the side seam and hem the bottom. 

Step 11.  Seriously you’re almost there!!!  Place the fleece lining inside the hat wrong sides together and stitch the two together at the bottom. 

You did it!!!  You now have a fleece lined hat with pompoms that you made all by yourself!!  Don’t you feel good.  This hat was made to keep a little noggin warm in windy windy cold western NY… so it’s one serious winter hat!!!