The Sign Said Pull...

You know, I would love to believe that the boy can read, the handle said pull, so he did what he read.

In reality, I know it was pure curiosity. What will happen if I climb on this table and pull this red handle?

So, what will happen?

The fire alarm goes off. An entire church full of morning Bible Study moms AND an entire preschool empty out into the parking lot. The babies cry. The firetrucks show up. Oh yes, it was a real circus.

And Toby did it. He sure did.

We had a long talk today about what things we pull and what things we don't.

Oh what aTangled Web

Ok, spinning, not weaving, but I liked the literary allusion.

So I finally tried out my drop spindle and I LOVE IT!!! I'm not very good yet, but I had low expectations and it actually turned out much better than I feared. I've done more reading and think I know some things to fix for next timem but so far, FUN FUN FUN!!!

These are my first two singles, spun from the practice roving that came with my spindle. I did them in one evening and then let them sit for 24 hours before I plied them together. I put each ball in a coffee mug, threading the single through the handle and used the drop spindle to spin them counterclockwise (opposite of what you do to spin the single). Then I soaked the yarn and it is hanging to dry now - that sets the twist. Once it's dry I will take more pics. Some areas are overspun and some are underspun, but overall I was happy that it does look like yarn!


This is a picture of the singles before they were plied. I should have taken a picture of the roving before spinning...I will have to do that the next time!

I am also working on a blanket that has been in progress for a long time...it had been set aside months ago still needing an edging so I'm working on finishing that right now.

Oh Frightful Weather!

Frightful but fun :) For once they called for snow and the weather followed suit! We have SNOW! There's at least 2-3 inches on the ground now, with more to fall all day. Curtis is on snow day and Toby is in heaven :)

Here are my front bushes

And my front flower bed...the rose bushes are just covered with snow!


Daddy got Toby pretty good with a snowball!

Lucy was loving the snow too! She didn't want to go in at all - she was having so much fun tromping around in the snow!

A nice view of the house

Lucy's first step into the snow...total faceplant!

Toby venturing forth

As you can see, we've already been out this morning and will probably go out again later. Fun!

Let it Snow!

Believe it or not, we may actually get to see snow! They are calling for 3 inches, maybe more! Toby's already pretty psyched at the possibility of a real snowman! Gotta admit, I'm pretty excited too :)

Here's some pictures from the last week:

This is a dress I made for Lucy a while back...it was big, so I put it back until she grew into it :)


Toby and Lex playing the piano. Believe it or not, Lex asked to get on the bench. And happy hung out for a few minutes!


Lucy in a smilie mood


And smilie Toby!
We've had a nice weekend - Curtis was off today, so we've had some time to really enjoy each other without tons to do! It's been a long time since we had a weekend like this. Tonight we're finally going to get the Christmas things in the attic as soon as the kids get in bed...Curtis changed the oil in his car...I did laundry like I do every weekend...which reminds me, I never did get to my ironing today...guess I know what else I'm doing tonight!

For dinner tonight we had greek! I've been wanting to try some new meats, and this week they had lamb chops on sale, so on a whim I picked them up! I had a Greek Lamb Chops recipe, so I tried that along with a delicious Greek salad. Yummy! Lucy wolfed it down and even Toby deigned to take a few bites. It was definitely a nice treat!

Everyone cross your fingers and hope for snow!!!

Baby It's Cold! Sweaterdress

This is the dress I knit for Lucy over Christmas

“Baby It’s Cold!” Sweaterdress

Yarn: Any fingering weight or sock yarn, about 175 grams.

Gauge: 32 sts and 36 rows to 4” in stockingette stitch

Needles: Size 4 circulars and Size 4 double pointed needles

Cast on 70 sts on size 4 circular needle loosely. Join the circle, being careful not to twist the sts. Mark the beginning of the round. Work even in stockinette stitch for 8 rows.

Round Yoke:

Round 1-5: Work even on 70 sts

Round 6: K3, M1, *K2 M1, repeat from *15 times (104)

Round 7-12: Work even on 104 sts

Round 13: K4, M1, *K3 M1, repeat from * 15 times (138)

Round 14-18: Work even on 138 sts

Round 19: K5, M1, *K4, M1, repeat from * 15 times (172)

Round 20-25: Work even on 172 sts

Round 26: K6, M1, *K5, M1, repeat from * 15 times (206 sts)

Round 27-33 Work even on 206 sts

Split the yoke into front, back, and sleeve sections: Starting at the beginning of round, slip sts for each section onto separate holders: 38 sts for right sleeve, 65 sts for front, 38 sts for left sleeve, and keep the remaining 65 sts on needle to work the back.

Body (Armhole to hem):

1. With right side of back facing and st st, start where back joins left sleeve. Cast on 6 sts for underarm, work sts frolm front holder, cast on 6 sts for second underarm, and work across back section. Total 142 for body. Mark the side seams at the underarm midpoints (after sts 3 and 74)

2. Shaping: Work even for 12 rounds. Inc 1 st at both sides of both seam markers on next round (increasing 4 sts per round), and then every following 21^st round twice to 154 sts.

3. Hips to Hem. Inc 1 st at both sides of seam markers on every 10^th row 4 times. Total 170 sts. Work even to 15 inches from underarms.

4. Hem: Work 8 rounds in garter stitch. Cast off remaining sts loosely.

Sleeve:

1. With right side facing and double pointed needles, rejoin yarn and work sts from right sleeve holder. Cast on 6 sts for underarm. Total 44 sts for sleeve. Join the circle, taking care not to twist sts. Mark the sleeve midway on the underarm.

2. Dec 1 st at both sides of the marker on every 10^th round once, then every 11^th round twice to 38 sts.

3. Work even until sleeve measures 6 ins. Dec 4 sts evenly across last row (34 sts remaining)

4. Hem: Work 8 rows in k1p1 ribbing. Cast off remaining sts loosely.

Finishing:

1. Graft or sew the sleeve and body sts together at the underarm.

2. Weave in loose ends.

75 Minutes

Ok, 75 minutes...seems like an odd amount of time to blog about, right? Well, today 75 minutes was a monumental and documentable amount of time BECAUSE....Lucy made it 75 minutes in the church nursery without crying today!!!!!!!! This morning was my first Bible Study session, and I was nervous about dropping her off in the nursery, given her past "issues" with separation, and even though she had a better time of it on Sunday, I know she was better then because Toby was with her. Today Toby was in a different class so I was prepared for a repeat of MOPS last fall (reminder: absolute screaming from the time I dropped her off to the time they had to call me back to calm her down). When I dropped her off, she started playing with 2 other babies, and I sneaked out, expecting to be called back soon. When I went to pick her up, she was crying, but they said she made it an hour and 15 minutes...but then the older class came through to watch a video and when she saw Toby she lost it. Which is understandable. I am just PSYCHED that she made it so long before she started crying! This is wonderful!

The Bible study was good for me too. It's a pretty big group, which is fun, and I know some of the women there so I don't feel totally out of my element, but there are plenty of new faces too. It seems like a good place to be. Toby had a great time in his class, coloring, singing songs, and watching a video. I think this will be good for all 3 of us!

It's supposed to get COLD today. Our high was around lunchtime and then the temps started falling. It's now down to 49 and supposed to be in the 20's by the time Curtis gets home from work! The next three days are going to be cold - I heard on the noon news that this could be the coldest temps this area has seen in 9 YEARS! That's a long time - but the nice thing is, Ohio sees colder weather than this each year...so I know it will only last a couple days and chances are, it will be warmer from here on out! Wheeeee!

Just a quickie

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. It's taken me a bit to get back in the swing of things. And I haven't taken any pics lately, so sorry, none of those today!


Everyone is good. Curtis is getting ready to travel again...I think he has another 2 weeks before his trip, but then they start up in full force. Toby is feeling much better. Last week he had an ear infection and a deep cut on his toe (which is still healing), but he's acting fine this week. I also found 4 splinters in his hand yesterday...we got one out, but we're just going to watch the others for now, hoping they will make their way out on their own. We met friends at the park yesterday and the kids definitely needed some outdoor fun time! It's going to get really cold later this week so I'm trying to get out while we can (I'm talking highs in the 20's, so seriously, COLD!).

Lucy is happy and getting old too fast for me! She is suddenly mimicing everything...It's so darn cute, but she is definitely acting the toddler now. Next week I'm putting her in the toddler room at MOPS instead of the infant room...hopefully she will tolerate that better.

So we're good, but things are fairly quiet...hence no updates of late.

ciao!