Giggles By Toby

2 things from Toby this week that made me laugh:

1. He had his first field trip at school this week (we went to Aullwood, by the way), and I got to chaperon! (Thank you Grandma M for watching Lucy so I could spent that time with Toby!) He asked me several times when we were going to play on the hay bales, and I finally put it together - he thought we were going to a FIELD! LOL! Field Trip! Makes sense, no?

2. Tuesday night we went to vote as soon as Curtis got home, then opted to go eat out afterwards. I suggested Subway, and Toby asks: "Wat, do we live close to a SUBWAY???" His only association with subways until then had been the subway in Washington DC. Haha, try explaining that no, it's not a subway train, but a subway for sandwiches. We ended up at Arby's anyway (where we had to try to explain why there is a big hat on the sign).

DC Bound!

Some long over due pictures of our weekend trip to DC!

This is the mountains on the way home - the colors were lovely!

The Marine Memorial
The fam in front of the Potomic.
The zoo
We did a LOT in a limited amount of time and it really took us 3 days to recover! WE had a great trip though and can't wait to do it again. The kids had a blast as well :)

Fall Pictures

We took the kids out early one Saturday this month to get some Fall pictures taken, in hopes of getting some wall-worthy prints. I was very pleased with the pics of the kids and am just waiting for a good deal to get them printed now!





The family pic is ok...but I'm still making an appointment for a family portrait!

Pumpkins!

Thought I'd add some pics of pumpkin picking at Grandma and Grandpa Correll's house!



The kids love their pumpkins and can't wait to carve them...I keep telling them it's going to be awhile!

We're heading to the Renaissance Fair tomorrow if everyone can keep healthy for a couple days! It's been a rough week germ-wise, but I have my fingers crossed. I'm the only one who hasn't been sick so I've been eating apples and oranges like crazy! But I could use some extra sleep.

Mommy-Lucy socks

Finished some socks for Lucy and myself this week -


I'm working on lots of projects right now - started a scrap blankie from all my socks yarn leftovers....it's going to take forever, but I'll work on it bits at a time. It's also the season for working on gifts, and those I can't post, but I have been busy!

Alexia Jean Designs

I want to give a big shout out to my friend Lexi at Alexia Jean Designs - she and I had a dress swap for our two year olds - I made a Summerlin for her daughter, and she designed this chic pillowcase dress for my Lucy!

I'm happy that it's plenty big enough for Lucy to wear next year, since we're hitting fall and the end of cute sundresses here in Ohio!

Check out Lexi's site (linked above) - she has all sorts of gorgeous sewn items for babies and kids - the designs and quality are both fantastic :) I wish I had her eye for patterns - she can pair prints like nobody's business!

Thanks Lexi! You're awesome!

The Three Years Dress

I can't believe I'm getting 3 years out of this dress! I knit it when Lucy was 8 months old, and here she is, 3 months shy of 3 years old, and she's wearing it today! Woohoo!




Pretty exciting (to me, anyway). All too often, it feels like I spend as much time making the garment as they spend wearing it before it's outgrown.

Toby is begging for a sweater, and I'd love to oblige him, but I have Christmas knitting yet to do
as well as slippers for the family (our new house floors are COLD in the morning!). I hope I have time to add in a sweater for him, because, well, as long as he's asking, I want to do it for him! I know the day will come when he's no longer asking for these things, and the though alone makes me so sad.

I haven't been as busy on the wheel lately. For one, I want to use up some of my handmade yarn before spinning more - if I don't use it, I don't know what I need to adjust. And getting new things into the knitting queue is...interesting...as you can see from above! Next weekend is the wool festival at Young's Dairy (YUM!) and I will be looking for something new to try there. I love branching out! I bought some silk caps online last week and am looking forward to spinning them. The only problem is I have no idea how much yardage I will get out of them!

The 3 Years Dress

I made this dress for Lucy when she was just a bitty thing - here's her modeling it at 8 months -

She wore it again last year as a long top, and yesterday I pulled it out when I was sorting through summer/fall clothes. This morning she tried it on and -

voila!
Woot woot! 3 years in a handmade outfit! I can't believe it's been so versatile!

We are loving the cooler weather. The kids are snuggled up on the couch with blankets, as it is a little chilly in here right now, but it feels fantastic to me! I have had 3 orders for new slippers in the last 2 weeks though - Curtis's have holes, Lucy doesn't have a pair yet, and I gotta admit, I might make a pair for myself - our hard floors are COLD of a morning! Luckily I made Toby's over the summer, so his are good to go.

We still have hummingbirds - for how much longer, I don't know. It seems we have lost a few over the last week or so. We still have one quite regular, and once in a while I see a second one hanging around, so I'm not sure how much longer we'll be seeing the little guys. I will miss them!

My goal for the next couple weeks is to start making some Halloween decor for the house/ outside. We have hardly any Halloween decorations, and I'd prefer to make rather thana buy. So we'll have to see what the kid and I come up with!

Yum, Octoberfest!

I should have taken my camera, but alas, did not.

We went to the Vandalia Octoberfest last night. The kids LOVED the polka music! Toby was asking me about the funny piano...when I explained that it was an accordion, he replied, "But it has a piano on it!" That it does, son. :) There were a few craft booths, but most importantly, the food.

Yum.

Curtis had a giant brat and sauerkraut. I had a delicious cabbage roll. The kids had hot dogs (eyeroll) and German pretzles...mmmmm.

And of course there was some good beer (for me and Curtis, not the kids).

There is just something toe-tapping about listening to accordions sing while you eat. Live bands are even better!

Oops, gotta go check the windows - it's RAINING (for once!)

Cooler Weather is Crafting Weather!

So I have several projects going on of late. I finally made my Owls sweater, and it's beautiful, but I haven't taken pics yet - need the hubby to get the camera on me! I love it, and will probably make more :)

Since finishing it, I've started two hats as part of a Knit Along (KAL). Here are in progress pics for both Toby's and my hat...the finished version will have a bill on the front and buttons.


I stumbled across another find this week - a $25 wheel in Cincy!
Isn't she beautiful? She's from Germany, and from what I (and another tiny wheel owner) can tell, it's a working wheel marketed to tourists? She's awful tiny, but spins just fine and I think the two of us will get along splendidly.

Here are some of my recent handspuns -
(The dark one of the bottom is what I'm making my hat out of)

This is a doll I made for a 2 year old's birthday. I'm very taken with her!
A close up of a handspun -

My Apologies!

I have completely neglected the blog of late...my bad! With fall setting in though, I think i will have a little more time at the computer. And while I don't expect to catch up on the missed months, I will start with that's going on of late...

Toby started soccer last month and seems to enjoy it. He's playing at the Rec center...and there are a LOT of kids in the lollipop league! He's on the Cheetahs and it's making Saturday mornings a lot of fun...even if that fun does start at 8:30!


Go Number 6!!!

Last month we also went down to the Newport Aquarium. Here's a pic of the kids with the Ohio River in the background, and Cincy on the other side -
Toby started school this week - he really seems to love his preschool. His teachers are so nice and the kids seem like a really good group.
It's a new schedule for us - school starts at 12:30 and pickup is at 3, so what is usually naptime at our house is suddenly the busiest part of the day. Lucy is having a rough adjustment as well - skipping naps! Argh! Of course, yesterday when we didn't have preschool she napped like a champ.

This weekend is the Octoberfest here in Vandalia, so we're planning to take the kids. I think it looks like a lot of fun, and Curtis is a big fan of all foods German, so I think we'll have a good time.

Toby is watching his favorite show right now - How It's Made, on the Science Channel. He LOVES the show. It's too cute watching him! Both he and Lucy have taken to drawing and coloring a LOT lately...and you can tell in how improved their pictures are! It warms a mother's heart...especially one who loved drawing so much when she was a child! (I like to think I'm still an artist at heart... I mean, come on, I make YARN!)

What a Beautiful Mess, what a beautiful mess I've made!

In my kitchen, anyway! I've been busy today. We went to the orchard down the road this morning and I bought half a bushel of apples. I really had no idea how many I needed to make some applesauce to freeze, but that seems to be the right amount! It made 3 big batches of sauce...but I will get to that in a minute. First, the dramatic reveal of ...

The Man Sweater!

Ta Daaaaa! I want a picture of it on my hubby, but he is balking at modeling in this crazy heat. Crazy man. Anyway, it fits great, and I'm so pleased! It took almost exactly 2 months to knit...and at least a week of finishing.

Ok, back to the kitchen. So the first batch I sweetened with marshmallows. The second with sugar and cinnamon. And the third...well, why not try peaches? While I cooked the apples on the stove, I cooked the peaches in the microwave until soft, then put them in my Foley Food Mill.

Churn away, and when only the skins are left, look underneath and...
I stirred the peaches and apples...the concoction was sweet, but lacking something, so I added cinnamon -
Mmmmmm! Perfect! I have two half gallon containers full of applesauce, ready for the freezer!

And pumpkin bread is now in the oven - and I am DONE in the kitchen!

If only I could spin spin spin all day

Darn kids, just won't let me lose myself in craft for the day. Well, to be fair, the state of the household would be a slippery slope as well.

Yesterday I pulled out my $1 cards and started playing. It took me about 7 or 8 rolags (the name for the ball of fluff you end up with after carding) to get the hang of it, but in the course of 30 minutes of Food Network I had a whole basket of rolags. Still, I wasn't sure how long exactly a rolag would last - just seconds or minutes? So last night I did spin up one of them, and while I didn't time myself, I would guess it was about 10 minutes of my slow speed spinning to use one of them, so just a little time carding gets me a whole lot of wool ready for spinning.

The wool I've been using is left over stuffing from making Waldorf Dolls last fall. It comes as a batt - just like you would use in a quilt, but it's pretty dense stuff, so I had a feeling carding would open it up and make it better for drafting - and I was right. It's much easier now. And now that I have a feel for carding, I can card together different fibers and colors to make some very interesting spinning!

I spent only a little time spinning last night as I'm getting very close to finishing the Man Sweater, and I'm pushing myself to finish it. I'm to the last bit of knitting now - a band around the bottom.14 more rows and I'm DONE! Well, then there's the finishing - lots of sewing, and weaving in ends, and then the dreaded zipper (which I have never tried and am more than a little nervous about).

And as much as I'd love to spend every free moment with my wheel, Christmas is coming and I'll be darned if I'm sweating it out to the last minute trying to finish everything. I'm not going to make a lot this year - unless I get some very cool ideas - but I always like to make some things for the kids and am now scouting out some ideas.

Also on my short list - I'd love to make the Owls Sweater for myself. I love it, and have yet to make myself a sweater, but I have a feeling that will be once the Christmas things are done.

Not to mention, I know 2 more people having babies now, and I'll want to make something for them.

The list is never-ending, but I love it!

A Fiber-y Weekend

First, this is my merino I have been spindling for-ever. Finally finished it, plied it, and all washed up!

Here are the first two bobbins worth off my wheel, in my homemade lazy kate.
The make shift scotch tension on my wheel.
All shined up! Thank you boiled linseed oil!

I've had lots of fun this weekend with the wheel - we've repaired broken leather and one of the bolts (not an original one, something that's been replaced) has been giving me some issues, so the hubby and I are working on getting it smoothed out. I've been having so much fun though!

I plied up my first skein last night, then kool-aid dyed it. The dye didn't take great, but the skin isn't so great either, so it was more just play. I have no idea what I'm going to do with that loosely plied 65 yards of mysterious wool, but I'll find something!

Meet Grace!

Thanks to an ad in CraigsList, I am the proud new owner of a spinning wheel!


I picked this little beauty up in Cincy this morning for ...wait for it...$20!!! Holy Canoodle, can't beat that! Now I'm off to do some web research on cleaning her up and using her!

Coming along

Still chugging along on hubby's sweater. It's knit pseudo-in-the-round - it's a cardigan, and will zip up the front, but I knit the sleeves, then joined them to the body and now it's just raglan decreases all the way around...forever. Or at least that's how it feels. I love the yarn though, so at least it's nice to work with!

I just finished plying my merino roving that I've been working on since...before we moved! It's a solid lavender, very pretty. I haven't skeined it yet, but I think I got some nice yardage on it. I had a little bit left over and plied it with the little bit of alpaca I had left from last year - it's a very pretty 25 yard skein. Maybe it will be a coffee sleeve? LOL, it has to be something small!

The rest of it will get skeined tonight or tomorrow, then I can take pics!

I've started a sock with the yarn that I bought at the Wool Gathering last fall...they are going to be beautiful!

Also managed to hem up 3 pair of hubby's holey jeans into shorts this morning. Definitely not as much fun as other sewing, but eh, had to be done. Now that that's done, I can cut out the other skirt I bought fabric for. Though I'm thinking about looking for another pattern - I love the other pattern that I've used, but I already have 2 skirts out of it, and am thinking a little variety might be nice. Just maybe :)

I still need to tread Toby's slippers, and need to do a pair for hubby, Lucy, and myself.

It's also time to start thinking about Christmas knitting - I have a couple people in mind for handmade gifts this year :)

Mish Mash

I just realized I haven't posted on here since this Spring! It's not that I haven't been busy - I have - I just have been horrible at updating!

So here are some things I've been busy with:

Lucy got her first Barbie, so I made my first Barbie dress...super easy and quick. I found a basic template online and can use it to make many different things. Has a basic velcro closure at the back, simple for my 2 year old to operate (though she prefers her Barbies au naturale)

A new tee for Lucy - knitted with Patons Grace I had on hand. Very cute and easy, though the neck has a tendency to stretch out through the day and by the end hangs down. Cotton is a tad heavy for a toddler's abuse on clothes.
Not mine. Didn't make them, grow them, nada. I did however take the picture. I thought this color combo was gorgeous, and would love to find some pansies like this sometime. Or make an outfit for DD in these colors.
Lucy's Summerlin - I knitted the top with Lion Cottonease...super easy! Then sewed it to the skirt with some Pooh fabric on hand. Quick and easy - and cute!
Knitted socks
Rhubarb - black raspberry pie I made yesterday. It was a success!
These roses are in my yard - planted them a couple weeks ago. I love how the one plant has two colors of blooms! After planting, I cut away the blooms so the plant would put more energy into rooting at first, but I wanted to document the colors in case I kill it before it ever blooms again. LOL. But, it does have some new buds forming! Yay!
Knitted peas in a pod for the kids' kitchen.
My first needle felted animan - it's a sheep in case you can't tell. Sigh. The ones in the book were much cuter.
I've started a sweater for hubby, with PAtons Classic Wool. This is the cable band around the waist, then the stitches are picked up around the side of this panel and worked up. I'm now working on the second sleeve, then it will be the top. It will have a zip front (the pattern is Avast).
This was supposed to be a dress for me, but alas, I did not have enough yarn to make a dress. So it became a top...but it's not exactly flattering. Sigh. I'm still decided whether to wear it or frog it.
I'm also working on a set of modge podge blocks, covered with scrapbook paper. Need to continue this project!
Well, there is my update. I have a few baby sweaters I've finished recently, but haven't taken pictures of yet....and finished a pair of slippers for Toby last night - just need to get them felted. Next on the list!