Chef Messy

i show you dese mittens

Because, these days, a plain old blog photo isn't good enough, Jonah would like to help demonstrate a not-so-recent (actually from Christmas last year, and I just swiped them back so I could post them to Ravelry) project.  Dialogue here is accurate and unembellished.

"You gots mittens?  You gonna take a picture dese mittens?"

"I show you dese mittens.  I puttem on."

"See?  Look at that one!"  (He says exactly this about pretty much everything.)

"Dese are nice mittens.  Dey are cute mittens."

(And, yes, his hands are that grubby.  We've been painting.)

"I show you so you take dis picture."

Thank you, Jonah.  You are incredibly helpful, as always.

For the knitting crowd:

Pattern: Fingerless Flower Gloves by Kristin Nicholas

Yarn: Cascade 220

Needles: Size 7 dpns

Made for my mom.

Ravelry!

And a photo of what they look like on a grownup...

 

lil' alpaca

I'm a little late showing you this, but qué será.  Figured I better do it before all of the Christmas decorations came down (which, who are we kidding, probably won't happen until February).

We have a family tradition of passing out a significant ornament to each family member on Christmas Eve.  Ideally, it's supposed to represent something that happened or something that we did that year.  Since Ryan went to Bolivia for his first time this year, I really, really, really wanted to find him a llama ornament (because, obviously, Bolivia is all about llamas, isn't it?).

Sadly, the only llama I found that was even halfway cute was selling on Etsy for $30, which was totalling about $10 per square inch.  Too much.

So, I decided (two days before Christmas, of course), that I would make my own!  Well, an alpaca, anyway.  Same-ish thing.

Meet Ryan's little Christmas alpaca...

I really don't know how to crochet, but since ami patterns only involve single crochet and have lots of room for error, I figured I could handle this one.  He's kindof a cute little dude, isn't he?  A little crazy-haired maybe, but I guess that's how alpacas (alpaci?) are.

Well, hello, there, crazy hair...

Details for the yarn crowd:

Pattern: Alpaca Amigurumi from Planet June (easy peasy with good, clear instructions - a good one for a beginner like me).

Yarn: Cascade Sport (because I wanted a smaller alpaca than what would come from the recommended worsted weight), plus random scraps for the mat (which was knit in garter stitch).

Needle: Um...Size D?  I think?

Ravelry!

you would think i'd be making girl things already

So, yes, we are having a girl, and I am SO excited!  A little nervous, too, and not just because I have NO idea what to do with a girl.  The ultrasound showed that there are some potential issues with the baby--a kidney-related thing that I don't entirely understand the medical details of.  At this point, it's just something to watch and will likely resolve on its own.  Worst case scenario is that the baby will have to come early and will need surgery pretty much as soon as it's born, so it's nothing life-threatening or horrible.  Still, you know me.  I worry.

But, anyway, mostly I am just really, really thrilled to have a girl mixed in with these boys.  It will be fun to see how the big brothers react to having a girl around.  Matthew is beyond excited.  He was slightly disappointed when Jonah didn't turn out to be a sister, so he is just over the moon right now.  Jonah is, of course, oblivious to what's going on.  It will be funny to see how he deals with all of this.  Jonah really, really loves babies.  He's a little bit of a mother hen to our friends' little ones.  Until I hold them.  And then he vehemently hates them.

I'm sure I'm in for some wild times.

So, you'd think I'd be going nuts with the girl projects already instead of working on stuff like this, but the truth is that I have no girl supplies!  Yet!  Ryan is fearing the shopping craziness that could be coming on shortly, but I promised to keep myself in check.  At least a little.  Seriously, though, isn't it cheaper to make things for girls anyway?  I mean, it's not like dresses take tons of yardage, right?

I'm going to stick with that theory.

So, anyway, boy project...

First of all, details for the yarn crowd:

Pattern: Big Digger by Lucinda Guy

Yarn: Rowan Cashsoft DK (beautiful yarn!)

Needles: US 5

Raveled here.

Started in: Oh dear...

And here's where the embarrassing story comes in.

I can't even remember when I started this project, but I'm pretty sure that it was back in 2006.  I remember buying the yarn in a cute little shop in Alexandria, Virginia, and trying to keep Matthew, who was about two at the time, from climbing up their walls.  Whereas Jonah is the teeny little superguy, Matthew was gigantic and grew out of the sweater right about the time I had it almost finished.  So, it has been sitting in a plastic bag in the closet, lacking only having the sleeves stitched in, for about five years. (OK, knitters, please tell me I'm not the only one who HATES stitching sleeves in.  I seriously can't keep them from going in all wonky!)

But now it's done.  And it can be for Jonah instead.  If he ever grows into it, that is.  (Funny semi-related anecdote--we regularly meet with a children's nutritionist because Jonah is still so tiny.  Her most recent prescription is to feed him a bowl of ice cream every day, of the fattiest variety possible.  Ben and Jerry's Cinnamon Buns is his "medication" of choice, and it seems to be working.  He is putting on a little more weight than usual, though still not completely catching up.  Do you know how happy it would make me to have a prescription for daily ice cream?  Lucky kid...)

Also, maybe it's time to cut that child's hair.  Hmm...

Well, at least it's too big instead of too small.  I think it should be just about right for this winter.  It's a great little knit.  Love that Lucinda Guy.  She designs the cutest things!

farming. or, why our family is flaky. ahem, i mean flexible and spontaneous and awesome.

This is my dad.  I can't figure out why he always makes this face when I point a camera in his direction, but I think I must have a hundred photos of this face.  Nobody will ever know what he really looks like.

My dad is finally down to the last two days of harvest, assuming it doesn't snow tonight, nothing breaks down tomorrow, and everyone shows up to drive their assigned tractor.  As is usually the case in harvest, only one of these things is even slightly guaranteed.  In other words, they could still be going Monday.  Or next Thursday.  Or the second week in November.

You just never know on the farm.

My sister and I recently discovered that there are certain people in the world who really hate our family tendency to fly by the seats of our pants.  Because, if you invite us on a trip next month, we will probably respond, "Um, I have no idea what will be going on that week.  Why don't I call you a couple of days before?"  If we are, in fact, going to take a trip, or make a plan, or go anywhere, or do anything, we will probably decide to do it five minutes ahead of time.  I am sure every member of my family could infinitely frustrate any person on the planet who likes schedules.

But that's the thing about farming.  You learn to be flexible.  And maybe a little spontaneous.  You just learn that you can't control the weather or the machines or all of the people that make everything run.  So, you roll with it.

So, even though my mom is sick of everyone leaving and coming home at 0-dark-thirty, and also sick of making lunches and late-night dinners, and having to deal with piles and piles of mud-caked harvest laundry, she is rolling with it.  That's true if it all ends tomorrow or halfway through November.

Hopefully, though, it will be tomorrow!

But, really, in spite of all of the work, it's kindof a fun time of year.  Harvest is sort of a party.  All of the workers, plus a dozen extra temps, are basically in the same place at once.  It's the only time of year this happens.  Dad's happy because he's dirty.  Everyone's (usually) happy that the things we all stressed out about since they were planted in the Spring are finally out of the ground and off to places where they will hopefully bring in money.  Harvest is good.

And the beets are big.  And that is exactly what we are after.

Some of the beets are really, really big!!

Dad is testing out some new machinery this year that he and his partner have been sortof inventing.  I'm definitely not going to explain all of the nuts and bolts of this behemoth, but it is amazing.  It involves telescopic boom and all sorts of other things I only marginally understand, and it is very cool.

Also, it's really, really big.  And it holds a whole lot o' beets.

I may as well be talking astrophysics here, I'm sure, but I think he'll be happy that I'm posting these, anyway.

My dad's dad retired years ago.  I think it's been about two decades.  He's eighty-five, I think, and he still comes out every single day to check on things.

Someone's got to supervise this operation, I suppose...

Speaking of supervising, I spent some time helping Matthew test out his new bow today.

Seriously, I think I'm going to have to get one of my own.  You should definitely see how I can rock a 12-pound compound bow.  Meant for a seven-year-old.  Whatever.

Oh, and hey! Check out my hat! (Ravelry!) I knitted it!  Pirate skulls, for Halloween!  This is as costumey as I'm gonna get this year.

We may or may not have been shooting at the new beet cart.  In any case, neither one of us aim that great, so the beet cart is safe, for now.  Meanwhile, other unauthorized activities were taking place inside the truck...

Dad makes sure the driving lessons begin early.  Nine months is about the average.  That way, they can totally maneuver a tractor by age twelve.

I totally remember how fun it was to drive a tractor at age twelve.  And yet, I'm not entirely sure I approve.

So, yeah, good day at the farm.  Happy harvest.

And that lab coat?  Yeah, still not finished with that...

chunky cabled sweater, and other things jonah is too busy for

Today I had this idea.  "I'll go take a photo of Jonah in his new sweater, playing in the leaves.  It will be SO cute!"  And then I spent the next twenty minutes chasing him all over the yard, yelling like a lunatic.  "Jonah!  Peekaboo!  Play peekaboo with Mommy!!!  JONAH!!!  JOOONNNAAAAHHHH!!!!"  And Matthew, always oh-so-helpful, would yell, "Jonah!  Hey Jonah!  Look at Mommy!" from across the yard.  And Jonah would scoot off as quickly as he could, trying to A) catch Matthew and B) get away from me.

Oh, well.  It was a nice idea.  You know that saying "The cobblers' children have no shoes?"  Yeah, well, that goes for photographers, too.

Anyway.  The whole point of this post is that I finished a knitting project!  I know, shocking, right?

This is the "Chunky Cabled Sweater" from Zoë Mellor's book, Adorable Knits for Tots.  (Ravelry!)  It's a little big on him, but I figured I ought to get a photo before he grew out of it!

This is quick, fun knitting.  I'm not completely in love with how the sleeves came together, but other than that it should be a nice, chunky sweater for winter, which is going to arrive in Idaho probably, like, tomorrow.  I knit this out of Plymouth Encore Worsted, because supposedly it washes well, and Jonah is a mess.  He's already smeared orange cupcake frosting across one sleeve, which I can't figure out because he didn't even get a cupcake!  Also, I wonder how long it is going to take me to pick all of the crunched up leaves out of the cables.  Oh, well!  Warm!  Warm is the important thing here, right?

punk bunny

I think it has been four or five years since I picked up Elisabeth Doherty's Amigurumi book, and it's just been sitting on my shelf since then.  Looking cute.  With it's cute Amigurumi patterns.  Doing nothing but being cute.

Because I had NO idea how to crochet.

Except now I do!  Yay!

 

And while I will say that I definitely don't like crocheting as much as I like knitting, I still think it turned out pretty dang good for a first project!

He thinks he's tough, but he still has a fluffy tail, so he's not fooling anybody, is he.

 

Jonah likes him, one way or another.  Jonah has been sneaking him out of my bag and hugging him since before he had legs.  Too bad that this one is going in the Christmas stash!

 

Except maybe I'll just let him keep it now, because he likes it so much.  Ugh!  See?  This is why I don't do homemade Christmas gifts.  Either I want to give things away immediately, or I just want to keep them for me.  Jonah will get this one way or another, but he loves it NOW!  No resolve, here.

Merry Christmas.  In October.

One note for yarn people on this pattern.  The book goes on and on about how the cheapo synthetic yarn is the best thing for amigurumi.  And here is where I will be a yarn snob, because I tried making a (as-yet unfinished) monkey out of the cheap stuff, and it was squeaky, and there was no bounce to it, and I didn't like the color options, and it just wasn't awesome.  So, I made this one out of Cascade 220, a yarn which is completely PERFECT for amigurumi, in my opinion.  It feels nicer, and the gauge is better, and I have umpteen-million colors of leftovers of Cascade 220 anyway, so I didn't have to buy any, which makes me happy.  I am officially convinced that the only good reason for using cheapo plastic yarn is if you know a baby is going to totally mess it up.  Which, now that I think about it, Jonah will probably do...  Hmmm....

Don't care.  Wool is still better.  The end.

wild stripes, finally

Hi.

Remember, like, a whole year ago, when I finished knitting this?

So, finally, like a whole entire year later, I have finally finished assembling it!

 

Hallelujah!

Because, oh my gosh. It. Seriously. Took. Forever.

The knitting?  Yeah, not so bad.  Lots of color changes, but mostly just your basic stitch.

But the finishing?  The piping assemblage, and the handstitching of the back to the front, and the making sure everything is straight, and the hand-quilting where one fabric is stretchy and the other is not... Ugh.  It took SO long!

It's a great pattern, and I love the way it turned out, but the PITA factor is very, very high on this one.

Whatever, though.  Jonah loves it, so it was worth it.  It has come to be fondly referred to as Jonah's Amazing Technicolor Dream Blanket.  Which fits.  It's pretty wild and crazy and colorful.  It's also good for peekaboo.

 

Here's another front view...

 

...and one from the back, too.

 

A few notes on this project, for the crafty folks out there.  The pattern is here and it's free.  Yay for free.  I really, really, really wanted to use the recommended yarn, in the exact colors recommended by the pattern.  Alas, though, KnitPicks no longer carries most of those colors, and I couldn't really figure out a colorway with the ones they had left that I wanted to use.  So, I did my best to match up the original colors with Cascade 220, which you can never really have too much of anyway.  It's probably a bit bigger than the pattern would be made up in DK, but I'm OK with that.

The back is a Michael Miller plaid that I picked up at my local quilt shop.  Let me give you one bit of advice on this pattern.  It is REALLY, REALLY, REALLY helpful to use a plaid or a gingham.  That way you can make sure everything is lined up right on an actual grid.  If you don't use a grid fabric, make sure you draw one on with a chalk pen before you do ANY finishing on this.  It will save you some swearin'.

In other non-knitting news, Jonah is busting out some teeth.  Want to see the funniest thing ever?

 

Have you ever seen a kid that got their side teeth before their middle ones?  I think it is so funny.  The other three aren't far behind, which I am really happy about because we have had some seriously ornery teething days around here lately!  I'm glad to see him returning to his happy little self.

 

But I will also be a little sad when he doesn't look like a funny little jack-o-lantern.

While I wait around at swimming lessons, soccer games, choir practice, karate class...

...I work on stuff like this.

 

It's actually sort of a nice break.

elijah the elephant

My friend Miriam, knitting superwoman extraordinaire, knit this amazing elephant for Jonah. He loves it.

 

 

 

He's been talking to it since he was a newborn, but now that he's finally figured out how to hang on to it and give it a big smooch he's having a lot more fun.

Thanks again, Mim, we love it.

on my desk at 5 a.m.

It's 5 a.m. and we are awake.  By we, I mean me and Jonah.  This is only voluntary for one of us.  Guess which one.  This is the time of day when he wants to lay on the floor and kick and wiggle and "tell me all about goo," as Matthew says.  As long as he can see that I'm in the room and awake, he's happy.  I'd be happier if this party would start later, but it's just as well.  I've got an entire sock to knit before Thursday night, among other things, so may as well get an early start.  A VERY early start, in this case.

 

These will be for my dad.  He never reads my blog.  He just scrolls through to see pictures of the kids.  So, I think I'm safe.  Think he'll like them?

Matthew's California Boyfriend Hat (though we don't yet know whose boyfriend he gets to be)

So, wanna see what I did while everyone else was riding rollercoasters in Disneyland?

 

I know, knitting in California in August.  Sounds crazy, right?  But it beats sitting around bored while everyone else does non-pregnant things.

And Matthew likes it.

Yarn is Cascade 220.  Needles were size 7.  Pattern is Stephanie's Boyfriend Hat (a freebie--yay!).  I used Soulemama's modifications for a smaller head--cast on 90 stitches instead of 100--but didn't start to decrease until about 6" because Matthew has a huge noggin.

 

Now he's all set for waiting for the school bus on cold Idaho mornings.

Rainbow Brite Jaywalkers

Yay, I finished them.  So, there's not a lot that can make you giggle while you're out running around doing your errands like wearing a pair of crazy socks like these.  It's like crazy underwear.  Only less scandalous.  Probably also more likely to be seen, unless you're one of those exciting underwear-flashing types.  We'll stick with socks around here.  Anyhoo...

Now I just need to track down those go-go boots...

Knitting has been good for me lately, so I've been doing a lot of it.  It's almost a shame that it's going to start getting warm around here.

Specs, by the way, for the knitting crowd:  Jaywalkers by Grumperina (free Ravelry download), 2 balls Fortissima Socka, Size 1 dpns.  They're a little big around the ankles on me, but some of us just have chicken legs and are therefore used to baggy ankles.  If I made them any smaller, I wouldn't be able to get them around my heel.  Anyway, good pattern.  Lots of fun to knit and great with the stripey yarn.