For my Michelle

Cut and Paste this list into your blog. Bold=things you've done, italics=things you intend to do, plain=things you will never get around to.

Afghan- I really want to learn to crochet solely so i can make a beautiful crocheted Afghan
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire- sounds tedious, no thanks
Shawl
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down- maybe
Hat
Knitting with silk- well, it was a wool/silk blend, does that count?
Moebius band knitting- i have never heard of this, perhaps i should look into it?
Participating in a KAL
Sweater- several little baby sweaters, i plan on doing one for myself someday (soon, hopefully)
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn- i am not a patient enough person to unravel a sweater
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with bananafiber yarn- never heard of this, maybe :D
Domino knitting (=modular knitting)- have to look into this too!
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with Bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/Doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles- ha, i knit everything on circular needles!
Baby items
Knitting with your own handspun yarn- i don't think i'll get into spinning, personally
Slippers
Graffitti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)- *scratches head*
Continental Knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
Teaching a child to knit
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Knitting to make money
Buttonholes
Knitting with Alpaca- have some in my stash waiting for me!
Fair Isle Knitting
Norwegian knitting- not sure what this is!
Dying with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding- i wouldn't say no :D
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cosies...)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items)on two circulars
Olympic knitting- is this what it sounds like? If so, i am not sure i am good enough for the Olympics ;)
Knitting with someone else's handspun yarn- some in my stash waiting for me!
Knitting with dpns
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Knitting two socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars simultaneously- more likely, though i would magic loop
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured Knitting
Kitchener Bind Off
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and Purling Backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with selfpatterning/selfstriping/variegating yarn
Stuffed Toys
Knitting with Cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with Linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mits/armwarmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug.
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/Bolero/Poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair- no, thanks, although Kolbe sheds enough
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

Birthday presents!

Michelle bought some playsilks for Liam for his birthday and sent some Koolaid to dye them with. Here we are in the kitchen dyeing them this afternoon. She sent six, two for each of the kids. Issy and Isaac dyed Liam's for him while he played with refrigerator magnets.

This was supposed to be my "artsy" shot. Liam wasn't cooperating.

So this was my artsy shot instead. The playsilks didn't try to escape the picture.

Brenda and Dana bought Liam a sleigh for his birthday, which everyone was excited about. Issy and Isaac pulled him around the living room. They will be pleased when it is even more fun to pull him around the snow in it.

I have been tagged!

My friend Karen tagged me so here it is:

The rules of the game are simple - if you get tagged, you have to list 8 facts about yourself that people might otherwise not know. So here it goes!

1) The first real job i had was at a little jewelry shop called Afterthoughts. I worked about 15 hours a week and got to pierce ears. Yes, they let a 17-year-old pierce ears. My training? Using the piercing gun a couple of times on a little foam piece. And then i got to practice on a willing co-worker. There was this very eccentric lady that came in often to get her ears pierced. At some juncture, she had had her ears pierced so many times by us that we had to start turning her away because there just wasn't room left.

2) I dislike sleeping in a closed sleeping bag. I hate it when my legs aren't free to move, even if i don't need them to. Honestly, just looking at those mummy sleeping bags makes me a little queasy.

3) I would really like to be a homebirth midwife someday. Now is definitely not the time for it with the kids so little. Just being a doula has demonstrated to me how much time and effort goes into being on-call and i know that i can't deprive my kids of me right now. And i know that i need to grow and have more life experience. But when the kids are grown, that is my dream.

4) I met my hubby for the first time when we were 15, at the fall Homecoming dance our freshman year. I asked one of my friend's boyfriends to find a guy for me to dance with. So he introduced me to this tall guy with braces that he was in choir with. He stepped on my toes a couple of times and didn't talk to me much during our dance. Little did i know that a few years later we would become dear friends, and then more than friends, and then- husband and wife.

5) I still feel like a teenager. For some reason (perhaps because most of my closest friends are people i went to high school with) i still think of myself as not being very far out of high school. I think to myself, "well, that was when i was 18, not that long ago" and then i remember i have been out of high school for over 7 years, i have gotten married and had three babies in that time. Oh, and the time when it really hits closest to home that i am not a teenager anymore is when i hang out with kids in high school. Then i feel realllly old.

6) I got my belly button pierced when i was 18. A few months before my 18th birthday, i decided i was going to get it pierced and told my Mom as such. I don't think she believed me, so i would tell her every so often and she said that was fine as long as i paid for it. So a couple weeks after i turned 18, i hauled my skinny little tush down to the piercers and did it. I felt so rebellious. It is by far, the most daring thing i have ever done. By far. I took it out a year later. Now it has a large stretch mark coming from the top of it.

7) I would still like to get a tattoo, i am just trying to decide on what. If i am committing to something forever, i want it to be something i am going to like forever. I think that this might be part of my quarter-life crisis.

8) I was extremely neurotic as a child. I watched a movie when i was about six about cloning and then the clone turned out evil and was following the person. So for several years i was afraid that i had an evil clone following me. When i would walk into a dark room, i would turn around quickly to see if anyone was behind me. We went on a camping trip when i was in the 5th grade and i was terrified that the thing that was holding our stuff on the top of the car was going to fall off. It did, actually and i felt vindicated. When we would leave our campsite during the day, i was afraid that people were going to come take our things. So, yes, extremely neurotic. Luckily, it has mostly worn off. Either that, or i control it better now :D

Tagged:
Mishysquishy
Dana
Supermom

I miss my Mama

Six years ago today my Mama was born into eternal life. She had been diagnosed with cancer a year earlier, and we had found out in July of 2001 that the cancer was terminal. She died surrounded by all her closest family, praying her into the next life. She was a gentle woman, a quietly devout Catholic, would do anything for her family and loved her grandbabies so very much. She loved Chiefs football and had a striped shirt for every day of the week, and then some :)

I was not quite 20 when she died and i mourn the loss of an adult relationship with her. I was just getting to know her as a woman, as a person. I got engaged the day before we found out that the cancer would take her and she got to see me in my wedding dress a few days before she died. I know she was there with me, in the Communion of Saints when i walked down the aisle to my husband 9 months later. When my daughter was born 9 months after the wedding, i finally understood her. As i looked at my Issy (named after my mother, Isabelle) i finally understood that fierce protective love that a Mama has for her babies. I talk about her often with the kids. They know that Grandma Issy is in heaven, watching over them. I know she would absolutely love them. I am so blessed to have been born to such a special person.

S'more Picky Pants are done!

Yup, i finished them last night, although i am just about halfway through the icord. I have decided to call them the s'mores pants, since that is totally what the colors remind me of. Liam was being less than enthusiastic about being my model (just like last time) which is weird since he usually likes having his picture taken. I think he might have wanted my camera though. I bribed him by letting him play with the lotion container. Whatever works, right?

Up the mountain

Yesterday we went up to Targhee Ski Area, which is about 10 miles from our house. We had a lovely picnic lunch and then rode up the mountain on the ski lift. It is so beautiful up there. You can see everything on both sides of the mountain. It was quite windy though, so the children were less than appreciative and we didn't stay up there very long. Issy kept trying to lean forward in the ski lift and it was making Joe nervous. He said he has seen her fall off the benches at the dining room table, so he wanted to be extra careful :D

That is Grand Teton in the background of both of the pictures.

Past the trees is Teton Valley, Idaho, where we live. It is such a beautiful place!

Knitting ADD, this is where it gets you

I am having knitting issues. This is my list of projects that are currently being worked on, or not being worked on as the case might be. Let me explain....

A LTK Raglan in the Round for Liam. I am making matching sweaters for the boys and Issy is getting a complimentary sweater in different colors. I started on it and was working gung-ho for several days. I got to the neck decreases, accidentally decreased wrong in a couple of spots (ssk where i was supposed to k2tog and vice versa). I am trying to decide what to do. Here are my options (1) Ignore it and move on, accepting that part of the charm of hand knit things is that they aren't completely perfect. (2) See if i can fix it without ripping out two rows and putting them back on the needles or (3) Rip out two rows and put it back on the needles. I have enough self-knowledge to know that i will do number one eventually, but i haven't gotten to that point yet.

This little mistake is particularly distressing. I measured Issy. I did a gauge. I used a pattern that you can customize to your gauge/measurements. So why is it ridiculously big? Because either i was super relaxed when i was knitting the pattern or i was very tense knitting my gauge because my gauge was way off. Now, the silliest part is this.... a few rows into it, i was thinking "gosh that looks big" Did i check to see if i was making gauge? No. Note to self: if it seems like the item is knitting up big, check your measurements sooner. I am ripping the whole thing out and starting over. And hopefully knitting with more even tension this time.

Second sock syndrome. Enough said.

Ahhhh, this i actually feel pretty good about. I decided to rip out the Curly Purly Kimono and use a different cast-on because it was curling a lot. It looks much better this way. Now i just need to make the front.

I got this yarn on Thursday and had to knit it right away. It is Lindon merino dyed in the (retired) Grady colorway from Three Irish Girls. It is such a cool yarn. Soft and yet feels very sturdy. I like the colorway, it makes me think of smores. They should be finished in the next couple of days.
And the ADD continues. I got this BFL dyed by Wooly Wonders by Nada in the Chili Peppers and Wild Kingdom colorways. They are going to be soakers for Liam, though i haven't decided what pattern to use yet. This will probably get started before some of the other objects in this post are finished. Because that is the kind of girl i am :D

End of Visit and Sicky Liam

On Tuesday evening we went to Targhee to take some pictures of Gina and Conrad. Isaac was chasing Issy in the top picture because she told him too. She is a tad bossy, i mean, take charge sometimes ;) The bottom picture is of Joe leading Isaac was a stick. Apparently, it is better than holding hands.

Joe leaned against a tree that had copious amounts of sap coming out of it. This made him sad.

Conrad fell asleep in the five minutes it took to walk back up to the car

Liam with his birthday cards from The Olsens and Sullivan-Borboas

This little guy is why there hasn't been much blogging in the last few days. He woke up early Wednesday morning with a fever and ear-pulling. Fever all day, all night and all Thursday. He slept pretty much all day Thursday, mostly in my arms because he didn't like being put down. This was taken that morning, he fell asleep on the couch when i was trying to get the other kids dressed. He is still a little grumpy today, but i think it is mostly the teeth cutting now. I'll admit i liked it when he was all snuggly and sweet with me. He is usually so hard to hold because he tries to climb up me, it was a nice change of pace.

The BIG ONE!

Liam was up bright and early. Here he is at 6:30 trying to look out our bedroom window.

Grammie and the kids made a yummy birthday breakfast for Liam... biscuits and gravy. He isn't too keen on solids, but boy did he ever eat this morning!

Well, Joe has been wanting to get Li's haircut for the last couple of months, but i have been resistant. Since Gina was here, though, it seemed like a good time. So we did his first haircut on his first birthday. He looks like a bigger boy now. Here are before, during, and after shots.

The Party! Grammie and Grandpa got Liam a good new walking toy and Mommy and Daddy got him some books.

The cake. Very little was actually consumed, but he had a great time playing with it. Why eat the cake when you could eat the plate? Mommy and Liam stealing a moment to cuddle.

My baby boy is One!

I can hardly believe that the last year has gone by so quickly. This time last year, i was wondering if Liam was ever going to make his appearance. And at 2:50 in the morning on the 19th, he finally did. And i will never be the same. He has made me a better Mama, a more loving person, he gives me opportunities to work on my patience. He is a joy for everyone he comes in contact with, always a grin. He is such a beautiful little soul and i am so glad he is mine!