the state of things

Mama's late night Christmas toy making workshop has officially opened....
Yarn, thread, scissors, felt scraps and other materials have been multiplying over every work space in the home....spilling out onto the floor...

The dishes are piled in stacks.... the laundry baskets are over flowing... the floor needs some love...

It is cold outside.... really cold....This week I structured my schedule around dropping and picking up kids from school, and my next pot of tea...

Rather than waking, showering, dressing in real grown up people clothes and taking the day by the horns like a really determined housefrau.... I woke up, showered, put on a clean pair of yoga pants and slipper socks and cuddled up with kids on the couch with knitting in my hands and tea by by side. On Thanksgiving I had to search high and low for my favorite bra because I realized it had been most of a week since I wore it.

what is noteworthy this week is that my most favorite teapot crashed to the floor and smashed to a million pieces. I cried a little.... I have grown accustomed to not being emotionally connected to things in my home, I cling lightly. I was attached to this teapot for a lot of reasons.... We bought it on one of our summer vacations to Montana. I believe it was the year I was pregnant with Kahlan....We were driving to see friends and I begged and begged Joe to pull over so I could experience Clays in Calico for myself... He stopped, and he purchased me the teapot and a pitcher completely spontaneously- something he rarely does. I was happy. I felt so special.... The teapot has been used through each day ever since, and has the nicest pour of any teapot I own...

Despite the beautiful things that came from my hands this week, today....a Saturday.... I really have to get down to business and get caught up on things. My standards of cleanliness are pretty low these days- but do still exist to some extent... so today the bucket and mop will emerge and hopefully we will have clean clothes in our drawers..
Happy Weekend Friends.

le knits

In October I started to anticipate Christmas decorating (weird) and all I could envision were peppermints... beautiful peppermint swirls of red and white. I started this project out thinking it would be a tree skirt, but as I near closer to completion and the heavy garter fabric sits in my lap- I am convinced it shall be a lap mint. I am working with Brown Sheep Lambs pride worsted and really enjoying the monotony of the project... in fact it is so plain and mindless I started training myself to read and knit....simultaneously. (that's skills)

I am pretty sure this sweater was just waiting for Piper to come along. I initially knit it for Lilah then did not weave ends or add a button and she grew out of it before she ever got to wear it....

she has the most beautiful halo of hair on her head, and is so squishy sweet....It was so nice to see that little dainty sweater on her.

Perrin chose this yarn himself two weeks ago when blue was his favorite color.... he informed me today while putting on his socks this morning that blue is no longer his favorite, it is now green.... but he made a point to reassure me that he still loves his socks because they have green on them too... He takes after his mommy that way.

family

Auntie Bobbie and Lilah
My sissy
Nana and bebe's
Aunt Jeannie and Grandma
Uncle Moon and Lilah on the tractor
Heather, Moon, Lilah (and Tyson)
Christopher
My BFF Liz
Cody and his puppy Juno

a walk through history

While visiting we took a trip to a historical Cemetary in Midway Ga

I was so taken by all of the thick mosses, winding trees, thick ferns, and green all around me... It is interesting how surroundings which were once so familiar can become foreign when you haven't seen them in years... even the feeling of moisture in the air felt strange.

Joe and I almost got married in this church...

The history recorded on each grave was so interesting... It had me thinking a lot about my own family history, and how our generation will be remembered someday.

This pink moss was growing on the Cemetary wall, and I caught it out of the corner of my eye... it was about the size of a quarter... hearts seem to follow me wherever I go.

Georgia on my mind

I am home from Georgia, rested up and settled back into the normal flow of life here.

It has been about 9 years since I had made the trip back home. Once we started really having babies in full swing it was almost impossible for me to make the trip. Though 7 days felt like an eternity to be away from Joe and the little ones- it really flew by once I was there.
Lilah did well on our flights, and it helped that we sat next to some really lovely people on the way.


What struck me the most during my time there were the smells... they brought back so many memories... I drove past the place where I first met Joe, I drove through our old neighborhood... the place under the streetlight where Joe scooped me up in his arms, and kissed me with complete abandon... the church where we were married... I drove past the place we used to park to look at the stars...I remembered when our hopes were all ahead of us, and our children were just a dream.... and it made me happy as I looked back how far we have come together- and how the beautiful life we could not have even imagined has unfolded before us.

fairy petals

Occasionally a handknit comes along that is from beginning to end complete joy. This project began when I received the fiber (Nurturing Threads fairy petals Superfine Merino) and I began to spin... and I spun.... and I spun... The colors were a pure pleasure, and when the singles came together into a 2 ply it was magical. then I hung the yarn to dry, and as soon as it dried I cast on for this little dress...

It is the "Little Sister Dress" by Tora Froseth Design, the pattern is free on Ravelry. It is very well written, and easy to knit and the finished product is warm and squishy...
I think I am in love..

I will be flying home to visit my family for a week tommorow... so stay tuned for lots of family love, a bit of nostalgia, and some southern hospitality

recent handspun

Purple Junk Yarn
Spooky Junk
Core spun mohair locks

Winter wonderland beaded junk yarn
core spun wool

capturing the sun

I can't say I am a fan of the whole time change business, I like the longer days. We have had some beautiful sunny fall days recently, and made a few trips out to the lake.

Joe collected rose hips for a medicinal tea blend I recently learned about, wading through the stickers to pick me a handful of berries is love, true true love.

my favorite jeans, that are now falling off (I lost some weight) though I think they are worth buying a belt for.

love.

there's new yarn, new knits, and packing going on here... more soon.

Medulla oblongata

so yes.... I was dressed as a brainiac...

The inspiration for this hat came from a similar hat that was knit on Ravelry...

wondering how I made it?

I made a straightforward, simple hat from the hat recipe pattern in Knitting Rules, and knit a lot- I mean a LOT of icord....I placed hat on the foam head and centered it the way I would be wearing it. I drew a line down the center of the hat with washable fabric marker separating the hat into even parts..
I then started to pin the icord in place trying to make the sides as symmetrical as I could... turns out really only the front was symmetrical, the rest were just squiggles. I wasn't going for anatomically correct, just a hat that looked like a brain.
once the brains were all tacked in place I began the very very slow process of tacking them down by lifting up a little bit, removing pins, then whip stitching them in place.
I began trying to keep the backside neat and perfect up to competition standards, but about halfway through realized that at that rate it would never be finished, so messiness be damned I just started messily tacking the brains in place... After I took the photos for this post I realized I was wearing the hat backwards- DRAT!

and VOILA... there you have a brain hat.

I really thought that the childrens decoration of my foam head added to this projects charm, it makes me laugh out loud every time I see it.

also noteworthy is my friend Mary's costume... Mary knitterhands.... and what is that around her neck?!.....

my "spooky junk" handspun...