O Christmas Tree

On Saturday we trekked out in the snow to get a Christmas tree. And let me tell you, it was an interesting experience. Not like going out to the Christmas tree farm on north Tyler Rd. A few points to consider:

Doing anything with three children under the age of five is tiring.

Trees look a lot smaller outside. I know this. But yet, every year, this point is driven home when we get our tree in our house. I blame my lack of spatial skills.

In relation to the aforementioned point: Somewhat large trees look smaller in a forest full of trees that are 70 feet tall.

I am a much bigger wimp than my children. Or perhaps, they are impervious to the cold.

I really need to do my tree scouting during the summer. The part of the forest we went into is really really lovely, but the trees are all very vertical. Meaning, they get 30 feet tall before they fill out any. That is okay with me... the tree we got isn't your conventional Scotch pine, but it is really lovely. It showcases all the lovely ornaments :)

These were pictures of us watching Daddy. We were hiking down a road, and all the trees were on the hillsides next to us. Joe got to climb up the hills, scout things out, cut down the tree and bring it down.
Issy and Isaac making their very best attempt at climbing up to Daddy. They didn't make it very far.
My hero.

All decorated! Note the little cutie trying to get the tree skirt.
Playing "Ring around the Rosary" (says Issy)

Dyeing yarn...

I got a bee in my bonnet this afternoon and decided i was going to dye some yarn. A little Wilton's Cake dye, some Kool-aid, and viola! pretty yarn. The first three are "process" pictures. The last one is just a little bit of random dye here and there. Fun!

Three Irish Girls yarn and a sock

Michelle and i joined a co-op for Three Irish Girls hand-painted yarn. Here it is in the Elsbeth, Nolan and Reilly colorways with a coordinating trim for each. Michelle, i was going to only put up a picture of mine so it would be a surprise, but i decided i couldn't tease you like that :)

I have been holding onto this sock yarn for several months now, i got it on discount at Knitpicks because they discontinued this line. But i thought it would make a really lovely pair of winter socks. I am used the RPM pattern from Knitty.com I really love the way that it turned out. It is hard to see, but it has a spiral that goes down the ankle part and across the top of the foot. The pattern was really simple, but fun.

Snow....

Very pretty to look at.

Not good to drive in.

I might never drive in a car again when it is snowing.

Giving thanks!

Making stuffing. It is so yummy!
Sitting down to dinner. Lots of food, only five people.
Making sweet potatoes with Daddy.
Time out for some kitchen dancing.

We spent most of the day in the kitchen and made a lot of delicious food. It was a lot of fun, although we missed our families. With Joe working so much the last couple of months, it was great to just hang out and have a ton of family time.

Little Isaac slippers and Koigu Soaker

A close-up
Pre and post felting
My handsome little model.
LTK original soaker with Koigu Kersti yarn. I love this yarn! I haven't lanolized it yet, so i don't know how well it works, but it is delciously beautiful!
I have finally gotten to a happy place with my short rows :)
The reluctant model being restrained (i mean, cuddled) by Daddy. The soaker is huge. I got gauge spot on but it is ginormous! It is just really really tall, per the pattern. Next time, i think i'll do some modifications to make it a little smaller.

Finished Mitten/Gloves and First Felted Object

So i decided yesterday that i was going to try my hand at felting. So i knit this moc and then felted it last night. It was a really quick knit and it is really cute. I need to knit the other one for Isaac tonight. I used some Lion Wool that i kool-aid dyed last spring.

The finished mitten/gloves. I love them! Now i just need to figure out how to convert the pattern into the round because seaming just about drove me crazy!

Another Easy Peasy

I am just cranking them out! This one is long overdue for the little boy of two old and dear friends. He was born in July and knitting him something has been quite an odyessy. I started and frogged LTK Stripey Slippers twice and finished one pair but wasn't quite satisfied. But this makes me happy :)

This weekend

My little man in his WSU shirt that Anna sent him! Go Shockers!

Playing in the snow together yesterday. It was really wet and melty by the time we got out after naptime.

The earflap hat that i made for Joe. So handsome!
So i went on Saturday to get my hair cut and colored at a real live actual salon. Note for all of you out there at that might be looking to dye your hair pink: very hard to get the pink color out of hair. We tried to bleach it but it just made it a lighter pink. So we dyed it a brunette all over and the part that was pink is now a nice auburny color. Lesson learned.

Truly, the child makes my head spin. See that laundry basket on the floor? It was up against the way, upright. He put it on its side, got on it and climbed onto the bed. Then climbed over the head board onto the windowsill.

Then today, he got a laundry basket from the laundry room, moved it to the cut out by the stairway (the one i moved the couch away from so he couldn't climb onto the stairs, ha!) and climbed onto the stairs and up. He is always upping the ante. Good thing we live close to the mountains... this guy is a born climber!

Issy and Isaac enjoying Aunt Michelle's birthday present.

Gorgeous sunrise. The picture doesn't do it justice, it was breathtaking.

Finished LTK Raglan for Liam.

Yes, i posted about this in August. And i just finished it a week or two ago, but i had to redo the collar twice since then. This sweater was not good to me... did the collar three times, one of the sleeve cast-ons i did twice and i cast on the bottom of the sweater twice. Exasperating.

He was not being cooperative, but i think he looks cute anyways :)

Cashmere Hat and the Climber

Ahhhhh, the climber in action. Onto the table.

The delicious cashmere hat. I suppose i am going to have to be a hat kinda girl since they are more about function here. But this one is pretty and functional.

Halloween

Two just cause they are so cute! Issy was Tinkerbell, Isaac was a Care Bear and Liam was Tigger. We went downtown and they had trick-or-treating at the businesses. The kids had a lot of fun.

Halloween shirts that Aunt Dana gave them

The boys had climbed on a laundry basket and were watching the house next door being built. It was even cuter before they realized i was there ;)

Ornery little Jayhawk. His new obsession is climbing anything and everything he possibly can. He figured out how to climb on our benches, which were blocking the cabinets, so he can get to the stuff on the cabinets or can climb on the table when they are over there. He also figured out how to climb on something so he could get on the couch and climb over the back onto the stairway. So i moved the couches around this morning. I think i might have bit off a little more than i can chew with this little one.