A Fairy Nice Day

So what is a mom with three girls at home for the week to do? Why make wee fairies of course!

Fairies are a big deal in this house. We read books about fairies, watch movies about fairies, play games about fairies, and on and on. About a year ago we bought the book Felt Wee Folk by Salley Mavor and started making little flower fairies. This book is really wonderful with beautiful pictures and clear step by step instructions.

We have kind of developed our own style - a little less fidgety than those in the book. The book was worth every last penny as the little fairies we have made have produced hours and hours of play time, both creating the fairies and in imaginative play. These dolls are about 2 1/2" high, and are inexpensive to make - a few dollars worth of supplies will make many fairies.

PBSJ Yarn

At long last I've bought my yarn for the PBSJ! I like this yarn well enough as long as I don't look at it side by side with the Jo Sharp DK in Glade that I really wanted to buy. At almost half the price I decided that the Dalegarn Hauk was a suitable alternative. After swatching with the needles called for in the pattern I'm realizing that I need to buy some needles the next size down. Did you ever notice that no matter how many needles you have in a multitude of sizes, you never have the right size for a new project?

Priorities

My friend Corey's recent posts have made me think about what it is that's most important. "The only thing that remains is what you have left behind...did you give it your best?" I hope that as I journey through this life what I leave behind are children who grow into kind, responsible and happy adults with fond memories of their childhoods. At least I'm giving it my best. Oh, and I hope that they knit as well!

Happy Easter

It's been a busy time, decorating for Easter. This is the first year that we have made an egg tree. We used a Marble Swirls egg decorating kit which was a big departure for us as we always use the classic PAAS. You can't tell from the picture but the "swirled" eggs look marbelized and just slightly glittery. They're very pretty, and were easy to do with children.




Emily, Alissa and Caroline have been very busy girls drawing these pretty Easter pictures.

What the?

So I had this great idea to make these very cool Fingerless Mitts for Alissa. I had this ball of Noro Kureyon with what appeared to be lovely shades of olive and purple.

When I began to pull from the center of the skein I found miles and miles of this dull-as-dirt brown. Not exactly the color to get a 10 year old girl excited.

Then suddenly this bright rust appears. Now I've knit with Kureon before, and never had this experience where it appears as though the skein is made up of two completely different color lots. I think that if I knit this up the mitts won't even look like a pair. Maybe I should by another ball and knit 2 pair - hmm...how to proceed here.

This whole tangle reminds me of this crazy glass sculpture we saw while visiting the Corning Museum of Glass over Winter Break.

Happy Feet

Caroline's rainbow sherbet socks are finally done. These were supposed to be my March socks for the sock-a-month KAL, oh well now I can get an early start for my May socks. I'm pleased with how they came out - this is the first time I've knit a picot edge. I used this wonderful tutorial from Booga J. I really prefer how the socks look using straight stockinette, rather than ribbing, but I was concerned they wouldn't stay up using a simple stockinette.

Caroline is pretty pleased with them as well - she picked the yarn out to match with her pink, pink shoes (She is my girly girl). I didn't have to do any convincing to get her to model on the kitchen table - she watches far too much of the Style Channel. Caroline immediately put on her best Zoolanderesque Super Model persona.

I used Elizabeth Zimmerman's basic sock pattern from Knitting Without Tears, using 48 stitches on size 2 dpns. The yarn is Sockotta from the Plymouth Italian Collection 45% cotton, 40% superwash wool, 15% nylon. I'm a little worried that they feel a bit scratchy, hopefully they'll soften up with washing.

As long as I'm talking socks I was wondering about the Magic Loop, or knitting on two circulars. I really like knitting on dpns, but I'm forever misplacing and losing those little needles, so I do find the idea of a circular kind of appealing - any opinions out there?
Update: I've just found this 'magic cast-on for toe up socks' in the new issue of Knitty - looks interesting, a possibility for May.

I've Been A Very Good Girl

Taxes - done. House - Clean. Ran - 4 miles.

I've earned this...

Happy Friday

 

Happy Spring

While busily avoiding my spring cleaning and taxes - I found some new places to visit. The little picture above is from Brown Betty. Molly Chicken has some other great links to Japanese cuteness. Who knew the Japanese made such cute, cute things? I could just shoot myself for not knowing this while my brother and sister in-law were living in Japan. I'm also a fan of Netherlands cute like this little spring daff at De Witte Engel.

Tongue in Cheek is a beautiful blog by an American woman living in France, married to a French man. She has gorgeous pictures, writes insightful posts, and shares her life in France, and her passion for French flea market finds. We also found this link at Tongue in Cheek, and although spring has arrived the girls have been busy making loads of snowflakes.

Some knitting sites My Dog Ate My Mittens and Two Left Needles

Cool places Shelterrific - "where obsessive homebodies hang" found via wee wonderfuls

Just plain weird: Do it yourself animals at eatliver.com (found this one via blackbird)...freaky.