Monthly Archives: July 2012

A Little Hike at McKay Lake

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David had to go to work yesterday, so Davey and I decided to go on a little hike.   We made a 1.5 mile circle around this beautiful lake.

It was getting a little hot, but it was a nice morning for a walk.  We tried to stay well hydrated.

Davey asked me to take several pictures of pretty flowers.

Davey wanted us to pack a “picnic”, and – this was new – he wanted us to have a book reading break while we stopped for our picnic.  So that was fun.

Davey always likes picking up rocks and throwing them.  He made up some Olympic Competition game with these rocks.  Something about having to carry them a certain distance, but he ended up throwing them (I don’t think he could resist at all).

One of the highlights of the walk was when we met Tasha the Black Lab.  She loved loved swimming out and retrieving.  She went out a long ways!

Davey watched her for awhile.  I’m always amazed how kids can squat like this.

Davey loved being able to throw the toy out for her to retrieve.

She waited.

Davey would try a mighty throw.

Fun hike and we want to take David next time!

Saturday Stuff

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Saturday morning.  Actually, it’s Saturday afternoon now.  I was starting a post this morning, but then Davey and I decided to go for a little hike.  It was great, and I took some pictures.  I want to blog about it tomorrow.

But for today, it’s miscellany.

I finished a sock last night.  It’s just a plain sock pattern that I like from Susan B. Anderson. I really should have it about memorized at this point.  It’s top down with a heel flap and a kitchener toe.  I am knitting the sock with the Zauberball Crazy yarn.  I am really enjoying it.  I love watching the gradual color changes emerge.

The yellows are not quite this yellow.  They are a little more orangy.  I must have not had the light right or something.

Now I am not going to start on the second sock.  Instead, I need these needles to knit the pug from Knit Your Own Dog.  I’ve been looking forward to starting it.  I like starting things.  This morning, before we left, I needed a bag to carry our picnic stuff. So I have this light backpack which had a knitting project in it.  I had to switch the project to another bag.  I told Davey that I have too many projects.  He wisely said, “Mommy.  You should just do one project at a time.”  He should have mentioned that a couple of years ago.

And I have a recipe I want to share.   A friend posted this on facebook the other day, and I immediately wanted to try it.  It is (almost was – it’s about gone) a Strawberry Yogurt Cake.  It turned out really good.  Davey was disappointed that there was not much icing.  (It’s just a glaze.)  David was a little freaked out by the parts of the cake where the strawberries were.  He didn’t like what he referred to as the “housing” surrounding the strawberries.  I live with particular Davids.  David agreed though that it was a great recipe.  I think he might prefer that I make “Yogurt Cake” next time rather than Strawberry Yogurt Cake.  The strawberries are really good in it though!

And finally, I wanted to blog about Koko puff.  We’ve been taking her out for walks again for the last couple of nights.  Last night, when I showed her the leash, we saw a glimmer of the old Koko.  She got all excited and kept biting at the leash like she did for years when we were getting ready for a walk.  Poor thing.  She loved it.  We just worried about her back legs which barely work, but we basically just walked about 4 houses down and then turned around.  She did lots of “smells”, as Davey calls it, and we walked very very very slowly.  So we’ll definitely keep doing that.  Davey loves to “walk” her.

Here’s the top of their heads as they look at something together.

Podster Gloves, Davey’s Pizza and Super Boy

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I finished the Podster gloves today that I began many months ago.  The second mitten top was easier on my brain.  Mostly because I had the first one to refer back to.

 

I really liked knitting with this Shibui yarn.  It is a soft wool, and it’s very easy to knit with.

 

So above we have mitten top in position “off”.  Even the thumb has flaps for ease of texting!  Cool huh.

“Flap on”.

 

And of course I liked it best when Davey joined us in the photographs.

 

Davey finished up the summer reading program today.  He enjoyed turning in his record of the books we’d read.  One of the rewards was for a mini pizza kit from Papa Murphy’s.  He was very excited about this.  He could not wait to get home and make it.

 

Davey ate a little more than half of it.  He was having his lunch on the coffee table, and he left his plate sitting there while he went off to play.  He’d had all he wanted at this point.  Lucky for Koko!  Next thing I know Koko has tumped the plate over and had herself a pizza feast.  I am always just happy to see the old girl show some enthusiasm.  She enthusiastically finished off that pizza.  Everyone was happy!

And finally – Super Davey!

Quiet Sunday Afternoon

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Davey and I are going to head to the Farmer’s Market in a little while.  There is a Sunday one right by our house.  I went this morning and got an assortment of vegetables.  I also met a lady who makes bags with fabric that is made from organic hemp and cotton.  Then she paints them with pictures of mainly Colorado flowers.  They are really pretty, but we are going to buy a “blank” bag and some paint and paint it ourselves.  I’d like to have a knitting bag with Davey’s artwork painted on it.  I’ll have to post pictures.  Davey is willing to accompany me because I mentioned that there is a booth where they are selling cupcakes.  David put in an order for one as well.

I’m about to finish my convertible mittens.  Maybe today.  I think argyle may also be in my near future. I have a good friend who likes argyle socks.  I’ve never taken on argyle – or really any intarsia – so I am going to give it a try soon.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Davey had a pirate theme last week at Little Gym.  He went to a camp and then a class and then to a parent survival night, so he participated in several pirate-themed activities.  He loved it and wanted to continue the pirate party at home.  Yesterday he wanted us to have a pirate pizza party and a treasure hunt.  He and David drew a treasure map and went on a treasure hunt.  Davey and I made pirate hats.  We found an easy template here: Pirate Hat. I printed it and cut it out, and then Davey wanted to color it.  He made a black one for himself, a pink one for me, and a blue one for David.

We were quite the pirate family!

Easily Distracted and a Love Refill

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I’m a little easily distracted.  I was moving right along on convertible mitten number two.  Then at the store the other day, I saw some ruffle yarn.  I’ve been fascinated by how this yarn is knit up, and I’ve been wanting to try it.  The yarn was on sale and I couldn’t resist.

So here is what it looks like coming off the skein (You have to straighten it out a little to get it to look like this.  You just straighten as you go.  It’s not a big deal.)

 

I’d wondered how I was going to get it to look like this (I still have to play with some of the ruffles and get them stretched out a little more.):

 

It turned out to be pretty easy.  I cast on 6 stitches and then you just grab the upper ridges of the yarn.

 

It’s really fun to knit with.  I don’t feel too guilty by my distraction because I am already almost done.  I’m not sure that pink ruffles are my thing, but I am thinking I can find a happy home for this scarf!

And then a little Davey story.  We were talking yesterday and somehow we started talking about love.  Davey said that after you say “I love you” so many times, that you run out of love and you need a refill.

I was about to disagree and talk about endless love and all that, but then he explained further.  “Mommy, you refill with lots of hugs and kisses”.

I liked that.

 

A Pug to be and a glove to be

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I’m back to working on some convertible mittens that I started earlier in the year.  I’ve finished one, and now I’m finally getting to the second one.  Trying to figure out how that flap works was quite taxing on my brain the first time around.  Unfortunately, I’ve waited so long to get to the second glove, that I think it will likely be very taxing on my brain once again.  That’s ok.  Good for my brain and all.

 

I’m also going to knit a pug next.  I have a friend (and actually distant cousin by marriage) who made this request.  He had the book, in which he’d seen the pattern, sent to me.  It’s called Knit Your Own Dog.  There are some really cool patterns in this book.  I’m going to take on the pug first, and then there just happens to be a Siberian Husky pattern, so I’m hoping to knit one in memory of Timber woo!  I’ve read about the pug pattern on ravelry, and it looks a little tricky so we’ll see how it goes.  I think I can do it; I just hope the end result is recognizable as a pug!

I’ve got the yarn all ready!

 

While I was taking a couple of pictures this morning for the blog, Davey decided he wanted to water. He enjoys watering very much especially since we just bought a new hose.  We’d had an old one that was left behind by the previous owners.  It kinked up something awful.  Instead of buying a new one though, I just kept complaining about it.  So finally we got a new hose.  And a sprayer!  Small pleasures.  Davey is certainly enjoying it.  Even though we actually had quite a downpour last night, Davey wanted to water this morning.  He gave the “concrete” a little bath.

 

And finally, my niece was kind enough to take and send a picture of the penguin wearing his red scarf.  Thanks Mikayla!

 

Happy Tuesday!

A Pony and a Penguin

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I have a niece who just loves horses.  I have another niece (they are sisters) who just loves penguins.  So not too long ago, I found the cutest pattern on Ravelry, and I knew right away that I had to make it for Jadyn.  It’s called Patty the Pillow Pony.  This was a really fun pattern to knit.  I loved the cabling and loved the striping.  The striping was done randomly.  I just changed colors when I felt the urge.

I did not get the best photos because I was knitting the last leg for this pony on the way to Oklahoma.  Once I got there, I just hurriedly took some pictures in the hotel room.

I used an acrylic for the gray and then I had several skeins of Cascade 220 leftover from another project that I used for the stripes.  I used buttons for the eyes and some smaller safety “eyes” for the nose.

This is a really well written pattern and it was a lot of fun to knit.  I had a couple of questions along the way, and the designer immediately emailed me back to help me out.  (I just needed some yarn and “eye” advice.  The pattern was clearly written.)

He’s really very huggable, and as you might imagine, Davey wanted him for his very own.

So then I wanted to make Mikayla something penguin related.  I found this Penguin Pillow Kit on Knit picks.   I ordered the kit and downloaded the pattern.  It was my first time to purchase a kit from Knitpicks.  It worked out great.  This designer also wrote great instructions.  It’s a very easy knit.   The trickiest part are the feet, but they are not difficult – just fun.

The penguin pillow had a 12 inch by 12 inch pillow square that I inserted.  The pony was stuffed.

The penguin is actually supposed to have a long red scarf on.  Again, I was knitting this as we crossed Kansas, and after we arrived in Oklahoma.  I kept working on it even after I gave the penguin to Mikayla, so while I finished the scarf, I forgot to take a picture of it on the penguin.

Both very fun patterns.  I think the recipients liked them as well!

A Galette and a Splash Party

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So the Galette first.  A friend told me about a food blog that his friend has.  It’s called Ezra Pound Cake.  Love the name!  Here’s a great poem by Ezra Pound:

In a Station of the Metro
The apparition of these faces in the crowd;
Petals on a wet, black bough.
— Ezra Pound

This is a fun food blog!  The blog entry on her page the day that I first visited was about a recipe for a Galette.  I’d never heard of a Galette.  So I wanted to make one.  It is kind of like a pizza.  I used puff pastry (which I’d only used once before), herbed goat cheese (which I’d never bought before) and zucchini, tomatoes and vidalia onions.  Oh and parmesan and olive oil.   It was delicious.  Here’s my attempt at a food shot.

Here’s the recipe and a better food shot:  Tomato, Zucchini and Vidalia Onion Galette.  It’s also a great way to use the abundance of zucchini that people seem to have in the summer!

Davey has wanted to have a splash party for his friends from across the street.  He’s been talking about it for weeks.  He’d added cupcakes as a requirement because his class had made cupcakes as part of a splash day at prek camp.  Before our “party”, Davey and I went to the store.  He asked that I buy baby carrots and that I cook them for the adults at the party (The adults were David, me and the girls’ mom).  I decided we’d stick with the cupcakes.  We made some mighty cupcakes with major sprinklage.

The girls came over and they had a big time!

A Nice Evening (Rocket Launching)

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When we were in Oklahoma, we spent a couple of nights in Tulsa.  Davey got to spend some time with his aunts and uncle and cousins.  It was great.  We spent one evening outside playing with a rocket launcher (of the nerf variety) which Davey received as a gift. (Thanks Uncle Kev!)

This was a great hit, and I took some fun pictures.

We started in the hotel hallway.

Holly was the “goal”.

Jadyn, Davey and Mikayla had great fun aiming the rockets in order to make a “goal”. I love the expressions in this shot.

We realized that the noise we were making in the hallway might not be appreciated, so we headed outside.

It was a perfect time to go out.  I love this time of day right before the sun sets.

Michael and Karen

Rocket Launch!

We all took turns launching them.

They ran and ran chasing the rockets.

Finally, it was starting to get dark and we had to head in.

Great evening.

Knitting Knitting and a Baby Shower

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While we were in Oklahoma, we had a baby shower for my brother and sister-in-law, and my cousin and her husband (my cousin-in-law?) They are due on the same day! It was a great time.  I’d knitted several gifts for the shower.

I found a pattern on knitpicks for a cute little cabled cardigan.  It was very fun to knit.  It’s pretty darn small though.  It is not going to fit anyone for long, but I just loved it anyway.  I made it for my beautiful cousin.  (I babysat her when she was an infant.  Crazy!)

I also found some pictures of the Maile cardigan that I had made for Holly.  I couldn’t find the pictures the other day, but I just knew I’d taken some.  I had.

Like I’d mentioned, the Maile Cardigan is a great pattern. I used Kertzer On Your Toes Bamboo.  This yarn is just wonderful to knit with.  I made a shawl with it last summer, and I bought enough that I can still knit something else.  There’s actually a little dress that I’m hoping to make with it.  It’s another pattern from the Sock Yarn One Skein Wonder Book.

Anyway, this will look so much sweeter on a baby (or 1 year old perhaps given my sizing).

Some knitters mentioned that they found it difficult to add the sleeves to the body and then begin knitting in the round.  The stitches are crowded at first and it’s hard to maneuver around “the corners” (this would make sense if you had it in front of you!).  However, I used really long circular needles, and I just kept scooting the stitches around.  I didn’t find it to be that big of a deal.  I think the construction is well worth it.  I definitely want to make this again sometime.

Here’s Mommy to be with the sweater.  The color looks so different in this light!

I have to share too the entrelac baby blanket that my sister made for Holly.  It turned out so pretty!

Totally unrelated, but I wanted to write this conversation down.  Davey was helping me water this morning.  I told him that when we lived in Arkansas we didn’t have to water so much because we got so much more rain.  He likes to talk about us feeding the plants, and what they need to “eat and drink” to live.  (sun and water).  He was watering with the hose and he said, “Well I know they sell garden hoses in Arkansas, but I sure don’t know why they need to!.  I always enjoy his observations.

Here he is when he was helping me take pictures of the baby socks and hat I’d made.