Works in Progress Wednesday

This is what I am currently working on:

I thought two at time would be faster-- it isn't

 A pair of socks for my sister.

This is taking longer than I expected

A scarf for my sister- the Pattern is Hitchhiker and is available on Ravelry http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/hitchhiker.

The Granny Stripe blanket from Attic 24http://attic24.typepad.com/

It is impossible to be sad working on this blanket

A Christmas dishcloth that will most likely be finished next Christmas.

Festive

I am a very slow crocheter and knitter, but the only way to get faster is keep crocheting and knitting (that's my story and I'm sticking to it).

Kim

Christmas is coming!

Happy Advent!

I have not abandoned the blog. That being said I have been running full tilt since October, right up until I got a virus that put me in bed for two weeks. I have also hosted a birthday party for my five year old Bumper (Where did the time go?)

Currently we are getting ready for Christmas. Two weeks ago I put in 15 volunteer hours at the Bumper's school. The Cafeteria lady and I baked, wrapped, and put angel stickers on  500 sugar cookies to be given out at the Christmas play. It was intense and did not leave much time for anything else.We have three candles on the Advent Wreath.

The infamous sugar cookie

This weekend we pulled down the decorations and managed to put up the outside lights, and the mantle garland, but the tree is still bare and the Nativity still in the box. I have 2 hat and scarf sets to knits, mittens and a blanket to crochet (which the Bumper informed me must be finished by Christmas). We also have yet to send out our Christmas cards, or do the baking. We still need to make Chocolate Chip Cookies, Oatmeal Cookies, Butter Tarts, and a birthday cake for baby Jesus(the Bumper's idea).

In the middle of all this business, one thought anchors me : On Christmas Eve we will go to Midnight Mass and let the gratttitide, love, and joy we have be reflectin on over Advent come pouring forth in song, and praise as we proclaim and celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ! This the core, the most important part. Everything else is gravy.

Peace of Christ this Holiday
Kim

Mea Culpa, Socks, and Catch Up

Isn't He Cute?

It has been ages since I have had time to blog. Vegan MoFo was a let down for me this year. Real Life got in the way of my plans, but is how it is sometimes.  Let's just say I ate a lot of veggies burgers and PBJ sandwiches, hardly blog worthy. We are into Autumn now, but the days are still wonderfully warm ( 75F). The Bumper and I have been making the most of the warmth by being out side as much as possible. We stay on the playground  after school until at least 5:00pm.

Shh! I'm Hiding!

It's a Long Way Down!

Up and Up I Go!

 Last weekend we went to a local farmers market which had a corn maze and other activities for kids. The Bumper enjoyed herself thoroughly. She hid in the hay, jumped off  bales, climbed a rock wall, and even finished an obstacle course. It made me tired just to watch her. At the end of the day I had a thoroughly dirty, tired and happy little girl.

Sock Showcase!

I finished my first pair of socks! (Please Insert Happy Dance). I was so excited I did not know what to do with myself, I actually want colder weather just so I can wear them! Naturally I did what any sensible person would do and cast on the second pair right away. This pair will be for my sister and I am hoping to get them finished in time for her birthday in January. It is a pretty long window, but I am a pretty slow knitter.

My Pumpkin Salute!

The weather here has not yet gotten cold enough for me start baking and slow cooking in earnest,  but I did indulge in making some vegan pumpkin muffins for Nana's birthday. Nana turned 69 on October 11 and the Bumper wanted to throw her an impromptu party. We also made a bunt cake complete with frosting and candles (the Bumper helped blow them out),we pinned a ribbon on Nana and the Bumper sang her two versions of Happy Birthday.

Whew! We have been busy! Tonight I am off to a revival meeting at my friend's church. It should be an interesting experience.

Peace,
Kim

It Is Amost Here

It is coming and I am excited!
Almost as excited as when I finished turning the heel on sock#2

Stay tuned
Kim

Tuesday's Are For Making

1. A dishcloth- knit out of Lily Sugar and Cream Cotton Colors

2. A cheerful blanket  using Stylecraft yarn and a pattern from Attic 24 

3. The infamous second sock, unfortunately I don't remember the name of the yarn only that I bought it at Hancock Fabrics
4. A page in a coloring book- when I get a spare moment I thought I'd give it a try
5. The novel 500 words worth- I am pleased, though hoping to up the creative output soon.

 These are all the things I am currently working on. Let me set one thing straight, though, I do not have vasts amounts of time to do these things. I do them on a catch as catch can basis. I can knit, crochet, sew or color in about 10 -15min increments, usually before bed. I carve out an hour a week for the writing, which is the only thing I do in a solid block in the morning. This also explains why it takes me a long time to finish a project. I enjoy doing these things, so I make time for them. Some days a little more or less gets done. If I am making time for exercise, then less gets done.
So what are you making?

Kim

Catching Summer As She Hurries By

Marigolds are loving the rain!

They say time flies when you are having fun, well it also flies when you have an active four year old. This summer has been all about ice-pops, sprinklers and parties. We are enjoying ourselves tremendously, but it has left very little time for blogging. The Bumper is in summer camp every morning, swimming three times a week and digging in the dirt with Nana. We have also been making the birthday party rounds. So far every weekend in July the Bumper has gone to a party and there is no end in sight. Superheroes are the theme among the pre-school set, but Bumper has wanted to wear princess dresses. When one of her friends challenged her about her choice, she promptly replied "Princesses are superheroes!" I am not going to argue with that.

Because one thing at a time makes too much sense.

I have been busy writing on my novel and I am super excited, the writing is going well and I am starting to like my characters. I am still working on my second sock; I started a dishcloth, and a blanket. 

This Sunflower says perfectly how we feel about the heat!

The weather here has been hot and muggy. We have had lots and lots of rain, great for the grass; not so much for the mower. Remembering how cold it was this past winter, however, I am not complaining!  For the most part the past few weeks have been too hot to play in the day, but since daylight still lingers past seven in the evening, there is plenty of time to go outside once things cool down. Bumper loves stalking fire flies in the long tall grass at the back of our yard. I like watching her, it never fails to put a smile on my face. This is also prime reading weather, and while I have been indulging in a marvelous mystery series revolving around knitting, Bumper has been patiently listening to her read along books and coaxing extra bedtime stories out of me!  Bumper has told me she can't wait for winter to comeback so she can play in the snow and eat maple sugar candy (syrup snow). As for me I am enjoying these rapid fire days as best I can, even if it is when I flop into bed sweaty and exhausted.

Hope, wherever you are, your summer is going well.
Kim

Hats, Socks and Down by the Riverside

Finished just in time!

A long way to go

Even though Summer has yet to start officially, we are in full holiday swing over here. The Bumper has had camp the past couple of weeks, which has allowed me to keep working on the novel and to finish up the baby hat I was making for a friends daughter in law, good thing too because the baby shower is this weekend and I just barely managed to pop it in a bag and send it with with my friend. It seems I have started something with the sock, once my sister saw the finished product; she asked for a pair of her own! I think I'll finish my pair first, but luckily for her I had a while back picked out the yarn I wanted to use if she ever asked me.

Into the woods

Down by the river

Around the bend

A couple of days ago Nana graciously offered to watch the Bumper and I went for a walk. I love walking and I love that I live where I can safely(for the most part) do so. As I went on this particular walk I made sure I stopped and looked at the beauty around me. The way I took some of my picture it looks like I live way out in the country. That is not so. I live in the city, not the city center, but not far from urbanized areas. I followed the trails that led through the woods and down by the river, and I thought about how the city I live in was once a major port, not as big as Baltimore, but having seen its fair share share of river traffic. On the day I took my walk the river stank. It was hot and humid, the river just sort of sat there stagnant and smelly. At one point I peered over the edge of the bridge to see if I could spot any fish. I did not see a single one. All of this made me sad, as pretty as the view was, I wanted it to be more than pretty; I wanted it to be alive.

Over the bridge

Environmentalism, and conservation are not buzz words to me, they are a part of how I live my life. My mother taught me the we should take care of the earth because it is one of God's gifts to us. I want the Bumper to grow up in a world with clean air and drinkable water. I want the woods to have wild animals in them; I want there to be forests period. When I walk I pick up trash that I see and put it in a trash can or recycle bin, I am teaching the Bumper to do the same. It may not make a difference in the grand scheme of things, but maybe it will.

Kim

Busy

School is out, and I am busy. Busy keeping up with the Bumper, busy knitting my second sock, busy making a hat and booties for a friend's daughter's baby, busy writing two short stories and a novel. I have been so busy that blogging has slipped way down on my priority list. I find that I miss it. So here I am back again.
The Bumper is also busy. She is busy painting, dancing in the rain, playing, running in the mud and just being a kid.
Nana is busy putting in the garden, emptying her office of twenty years, and trying to adjust to being retired.
Busy is good. Busy keeps me from being bored or dwelling on unpleasant thoughts, busy also prevents silly arguments and fruitless battles of will, but busy can have its downside. I have been so busy I have neglected my prayer time, the time I spend reading the Bible and being in the Lord's presence. It occurs to me that I shouldn't be quite so busy that I forget Jesus.  Yet once entered into I find busyness takes on a life of its' own. This summer I want to find balance between busy and still. Between construction and contemplation. No small feat when caring for a little person who wakes up busy and doesn't stop until she goes to sleep.  This weekend will be spent in busyness with friends and family, but I a going to try and slip away and be still for just a little while.

Kim

Meatless Monday and Knitting Victory

I may be repeating myself here on this edition of Meatless Monday, but for out church picnic on Sunday I made an apple crisp. It wasn't just any apple crisp, it was vegan. It was from the Post Punk Kitchen http://www.theppk.com/2007/10/apple-crisp/ and Isa has yet to fail me. Her recipe did not disappoint. I usually cut back the sugar in her desserts because I find that her sweet tooth is a little sweeter than mine. I did not tell anyone that it was vegan, since it did not contain any of the most popular allergens, I just put it on the table and walked away. This may be my pride and vanity speaking, but I was tickled that there was none left over at the end of the picnic. Nana even told me that the man sitting next to her raved about how yummy it was and when she told him it was vegan he asked her to explain so she said no animals were used or abused in the making of this dessert. It is nice when my family supports me!

Now on to other news. I have (dramatic drum roll please): finished the sock! Yep, I can hardly believe myself, but it is done and it looks like a sock and it fits! I am so pleased and I feel such a sense of accomplishment I can hardly contain myself. Just so I can keep up the momentum I have already cast on its mate. This counts as part of Meatless Monday because I used a nylon-polyester blend yarn. I am starting to feel like a real knitter.


Kim
p.s. Now that I have finished a sock both Nana and the Bumper are requesting a pair. What have I gotten myself into?

Sick Day -- er-- Week

This Blog postponed due to illness.
See you when I get better. I have been to sick to even knit, crochet or read ( if you know me in RL you know how serious that is).
I'll be back next week.
Kim

WIP Wenesday

I wanted this to be a wordless Wednesday with nothing but the pictures of my finished craft projects, but as I did not finish any of them that is not going to happen. So what I have instead is a W.I.P. (Works In Progress)Wednesday. A jumble of all the things I current have on the needles/hook or in my notebooks.

First up is a plain knit dishcloth. I started this sometime last year with the idea that I needed to refresh my knitting skill and re-learn the essentials: cast on, cast off, knit and purl. I pick it up when I want to practice a stitch to improve my speed.

Next is a crochet doll blanket that I started when the Bumper was a year old. It was supposed to be a baby blanket for her, but it turns out she grew faster than I could crochet.

Then come the hats; the green is still on the hook, but I have finished two yellow ones.

For a lark I picked up a drop spindle kit at the Ocean City fiber festival, because why not learn how to spin while I am at it?

There is of course the ever present sock.

And because I have a terminal case of start-itis something new. Can you guess what?

Lest anyone think that my start-itis limits itself to the fiber arts rest assured it invades other parts of my life.  I carry around a spiral bound notebook crammed almost to capacity with the beginnings of short stories, poems, and novel ideas.

These are the things I am working on, I hope to finish all of them; in the meantime I am enjoying the creative process.

Kim

Could it be that Spring is just around the corner?

First to Bloom

Mother Nature gave us  a break this week and we have had spring like temperatures the last few days and if you as me not a moment to soon. I am more than ready for spring, ready to be outside, ready for more daylight and walks in the park. I live in a place where the winter's don't typically get very cold for an extended period of time so we don't have the proper clothing to be outside for long. Knowing the Mid Atlantic region, however, I know better than to be lulled into a sense of complacency.

There are Buds on the Tree!

Today the Bumper and her friends finally after what seemed like forever, although was really only about a month, were able to have outside recess and because the Bumper had a good report from her teacher she went on the playground after school as well. It did my heart good to see her racing at breakneck speed to join her friends on the jungle gym and slide. Hearing her laugh and squeal with glee as she shot down the slide and swung ALL BY HERSELF on the swings made the rough patch of the last two days fade into memory like a bad dream. I let her play for over an hour whilst I chatted with some of the other mothers and it felt good for me to have adult conversation. We took a kite out for the first time over the weekend. The Bumper loved it, even if she felt a little disappointed the wind was not quite strong enough to bear the kite aloft for more than a few minutes at a time. Fortunately we live near the beach and Nana has promised this summer to take the Bumper kite flying near the ocean.

Nana and the Bumper Checking the Garden Hose

Now that the ground has started to thaw, Nana and the Bumper have started getting the garden ready for spring planting. In the next few weeks they will be prepping the vegetable garden and the flowerbeds. The bulbs we planted last autumn should be starting to push their way through to the surface and I can hardly wait for our walk way to be lined with daffodils. We did plan tulip bulbs last autumn as well, but have sneaking suspicion the moles have used them for a winter feast. One of the more unpleasant tasks has been ridding the greenhouse of our feline squatters. In fairness we did not want the cats to perish in the harsh storms, but enough is enough! Mint, parsley, and basil can survive many things, but the territorial markings of male cats are not one of them. Since warmer weather is once again upon us the cats must vacate.

They don't look like much now wait a few weeks!

Surprisingly one of the vegetables to survive were the carrots the Bumper planted last summer. They were not quite big enough to eat. This year they are ready and we have been pulling them and crunching on them as often as we can. I am not sure which pleases me more: eating the tasty carrots or the happiness in the Bumper's eyes when she declares: "Look what I grew Mom!" She is learning the pleasure of growing, preparing and eating fresh food. There is no price tag to be put on such a thing.

Third Hat

It is starting to resemble a sock.

I am in the slog of the sock. I am so very near the toe, but not quite there yet. I have almost finished a third baby hat; as soon as I have done up a fourth I will send them off.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Today is St. Patrick's feast day. The Bumper's school celebrated yesterday so there is green glitter everywhere in the house. We don't typically celebrate the holiday very much, yes there is Irish in my ancestry, but it is kind of way back there. The Bumper has requested some green themed foods so I am whipping up an avocado mousse or maybe some green beans sauteed in garlic. I am also mindful of the Christians who are in parts of the world who are being persecuted. The Christianizing of Ireland came at price, and in spite of what the legends say it was not entirely peaceful. I wear green in both celebration and remembrance.

Kim

Snow and Cold and Ice and a little Knitting

The Bumper has been delighted by the weather of the last few days. It snowed and it was a  decent enough amount to play in, and clean enough to scoop some out and pour maple syrup over. I was even able to introduce the Bumper to the joys of sledding. She loved it, and I am thrilled she did. I used to enjoyed the same thing when I was small, watching her I had a silly proud grin plastered all over my face. We made the afore mentioned syrup snow, and the Bumper declared it was her favorite part of being snowed in. The syrup snow is my attempt at maple syrup candy.  Neither the Bumper nor I are patient enough to boil the syrup before hand. The syrup doesn't get hard but it is still fun to make and eat.

 The birds decided a little snow would not keep them from the feeders and we were treated to an array of blackbirds, wrens, starlings, blue-jays, and cardinals. I am not sure who has had more fun bird watching the Bumper and I or the cat. Although I confess when we have grown tired of watching the birds it is quite funny to watch the cat watch the birds. Her tail twitches and she makes weird bleating meow noises.

The Bumper has an appointment with Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore in March. One of the tests they have requested of us is a 24hour urinalysis. Really? On a 4year old? I had been putting off this task, but I need not have worried. She thought it was great fun to go somewhere besides the potty and she wanted to watch me pour the contents into the collection jug. I think I have a budding scientist on my hands.

All this cold weather has meant we have spent a great deal of time indoors, much to the Bumper's dismay; I have made some more sock progress ,it is starting to resemble an actual sock, and another baby hat is almost off the hook.

We are busy keeping warm and enjoying the time off from school, except for the sledding and a swim lesson we have not ventured out. I am eagerly awaiting spring.

Kim