Knitting and other projects

I have actually done a large amount of knitting...since before Christmas, and some projects have lingered afterwards. I am finally getting into knitting what I started learning to knit for in the first place...SOCKS! Although before Christmas, I made several gifts, but neglected to take pictures of any except one...yikes. There were 2 scarves, a ruffled cowl, and a hat. One of the scarves is pictured below. They were all pretty much very quick knits-1 or 2 skeins on large needles. 

I also practiced knitting my first pair of socks for myself, but have no picture to show. They turned out very well, and so I went on to making a pair for Leah. They are sized exactly so she doesn't have much room to grow, so next pair will have a little more wiggle room. I am using the book "Socks from the Toe Up" which I've read is the easiest way to knit socks-get the toe out of the way first. Anyways, there are many variations, and everyone in my family wants a pair, so I ordered lots of sock weight yarn from my favorite yarn store, Knit Picks.

Naturally, now I need a place to store my ever-growing stash of yarn. I though some fabric bins were in order. I found a great tutorial from Like Mother Like Daughter's blog, measured for size where I wanted the bins to fit, found some leftover matching material from my ottoman slipcover, and they were a breeze to stitch up. The hardest part was making the pattern (which really wasn't that hard).

 I did learn a few things for future reference. When making large bins (mine are 11x 11 x 7) I need to use a stiff interfacing. The first one I made did not-only the batting as per the instructions, and it flopped completely down. So I machine quilted the sides vertically, which added SOME stiffness, but really it needed more as you can see. Still too floppy for me.

 In the second one I sewed some super stiff interfacing to the lining before sewing together and it improved the stiffness quite a bit. 

 Either way, they hold my yarn quite well, and coordinate with my living room! I may make some in smaller sizes, which I expect will stand up a little better on their own. 

Flying

Recently, a family friend who has a private plane took us up for a ride. It was a fabulous hour flight! I have always loved flying-especially in little planes-you really appreciate the sensation of flying. Of course, it is important to be with a pilot whom you trust, and Terry is a most reliable and conscientious pilot! Bay and Leah had never been up in a small plane before, so they were understandably a little tenuous. Eric, however, had done this before, so he was prepared.

A little recap...

Bay: "Mr. A, what happens if something goes wrong?"

 Mr. A: "Bay, in my many years of flying, nothing has ever gone wrong. But, that is a good question. If something does go wrong, you just pull that little handle and the door will open for you to get out."

Bay: "Why would I want to open the door? Wouldn't I just fall to my death from up in the air?"

 Mr. A: "Okay, Eric, Let's go dive bomb that beach over there."

Meanwhile, we banked a big turn and felt a few G forces. I turned around and saw Leah with arms and legs outspread, holding on for dear life! She did not expect anything like that! She recovered well.

 A couple of views of our house, creek and the family compound as we like to call it! You can see our shared garden, my parents tear drop driveway , house and big barn in the field as well.  Ours is the brown house.

 Our gracious and accomplished pilot!

Christmas Post

I know this is a little out of order, however I am just now getting Christmas pictures organized. We had a fabulous Christmas break...the kids really enjoyed their time off from schoolwork, Dennis relaxed as much as he could (actually a couple of days he stayed in his pj's most of the day!), and I got LOTS of knitting done!

Leah makes little signs for herself and others all of the time-this one she made for herself to wear each morning. It says "Do not have sereal (cereal), Leah" For some reason she has decided she doesn't like cereal for breakfast, and so to make sure she doesn't forget her tastes have changed, she made a reminder to wear. Funny.

At first, the crew was a little tentative about changing up the morning routine to go to church on Christmas morning, but it worked out just fine and I think it really was a blessing to put the focus even more on Christ by going to worship him on Christmas Day. Usually we have our own time of worship as a family on Christmas morning anyways, but taking the bigger break to go worship with our church body was refreshing! The kids came out Christmas morning to a few presents under the tree. 

I must comment on Bay's gift-the Build-a-Bear car. He and Leah are passionate about their Build-a-Bear animals. Bay has asked for this car for 2 years now. I found it on ebay for a fraction of the price in the store, and felt much better about getting it. He and Leah were so excited to have Pups and Spots (their dogs) get to ride around in the car. They also both asked for pajamas for their animals, and so I used scrap fabric to make the coordinating pj's...I guess I'd better get a picture of those up here too, eventually! This was the most exciting present for both of them. Fun to be able to get them what they want and make half of it at the same time!

Everyone got Christmas pajama pants of course....

Having Uncle Andy around the whole break was a special treat-he got lots of time in with everyone-working on a go-kart with Eric, playing nerf with the boys, target shooting at Dennis' brother's house, lots of help working on painting one of his boats.

Granni & Gramps (Gramps has on his knit hat from me)

Granni hoping her farmer's almanac is predicting snow here this winter!

Out with the Old...

...in With the New!

It's a new year, and so time for a new mailbox of course!

 Dennis really tried hard to relax over the Christmas break, and he did a wonderful job of doing just that. However, he couldn't let the time off go by without  a little project in the wood shop. I think it's fabulous, and certainly was time to replace the other one which is old as our house! The old one is going to be re-purposed into a nice bird house!