This time of year a whirl of activity descends on our household and we seem to jump from celebration to celebration. Enjoy the chaos!

My little boy turned three, and he was feted, and feted, and feted again, culminating in the spectacular party this weekend at our house. Kids, sugar, guitars, the fire brigade running through my house with every vacuum house I could muster up = Complete and blissful chaos only little kids can create! The hose seemed so still when everybody left! Oh yeah, and then there is this Hanukkah thing that we now celebrate as he is old enough to sortof get "it". The early arrival of Hanukkah this year means that there is a two week period in which he gets toys almost everyday. I fear he will go into withdraw waiting for Christmas. Enjoy this beautiful, busy season, and try not to get too caught up in what you HAVE to do, so you can enjoy what you are doing right now!

Halloween

I never knew Halloween could be som fun: Pumpkin carving, pumpkin seeds, pumpkin farm with nursery school, and trick or treating. We did it all, and the three year got it! What a difference a year makes!

These knits deserve better

The beginning of fall has been spent playing fire-fighters, learning to make a decent loaf, cooking, and knitting.

The knits deserve better pictures, but it was humid, hot, and rainy this morning, so this is the best I could do for now.

They are Frost Diamonds and Tea-leaves cardi . There is a 3rd thing I've completed.

It is a self design. I'm very proud of it. I knit it at the beach, and don't have a finished picture yet.

Have a Rockin' Halloween everybody!!!

Well, I've come to it. I have told my boss that I have done what I can for the paper. I am no longer working on a paper. I will soon no longer be able to hid behind working on that paper, like the paper was the one thing keeping me from being a frivolous house-wife. I am now totally the frivolous house-wife. I am trying to embrace it, to relish this time because it is a gift, and who knows how long it will last, but I am a little sad to loose a part of my identity. When people ask me what I do, I won't be able to say "I'm a scientist." Even this weekend when asked that very question I explained about just finishing up working on a paper in an attempt to pump up my importance or something. It's going to be hard to break that habit of letting people know that I'm at home now, but I used to do something that made me unique and special, and in a way that was easily conveyed by my job description.

It's important to break that habit, of referring to my scientist-self. My identity is not just about what I did, even when I was actively doing it. It was a part. In reality a small part of my interests and experiences. Now I have been given the opportunity to explore interests I didn't have time for, and even more important the time to experience fully being mom. Not everybody gets this chance these days, and I should consider myself very, very fortunate to get to spend so much time with my boy, playing and getting to now him, and in a way in which I can be absorbed by him in those moments.

Nursery school time, will be time to put the house in order, and time to think and be creative. It has been put forth that in order to be creative, one need exactly this, time alone, time with one-self and one's thoughts. Time to digest what we experience and put it into some form of expression (or not). And whether that expression in making bread or sewing or even writing this silly blog doesn't so much matter. It is time that I haven't had, time I have been craving, and time I probably won't have in the not so far off future, so I'd better take good advantage.

.

Summer, so far...

Sewing

"We the Guys"

Slide

Lush

"Crunch Buckets!"

Storms

*Crawldaddies Rock!

Wheaton Park

His favorite Zoo attraction

Lion

Farm

* note to myself because I want to remember this story 20 years from now: We went to see the "Crawldaddies" give a cajun inspired free concert at Strathmore. They gave out beads to the little dancing kids. The boy got his hands on some, and at the end of the evening when we left to go, he was absolutely adamant that he return them to the guys. So he walked up the the stage and placed them at the feet of the lead singer while they are still performing. They train them too well at the Montessori school!

The arrival of the iPad has created a backlog in the blog. Three days without power and a second minor outage last week can also be blamed. Summer isn't helping either, because most days we are busy being out and about, taking some pictures, but not taking the time for the actual computer where I still do my picture downloading and processing.

For the record, we have been to the pool, and an outdoor concert, and to the Farm (supposedly to "pick" peaches, but really we just rode the green tractor, and bought already picked peaches at the store). We've gone to the parks and rode the train, and bought ice cream from the ice cream truck. The boy got his first haircut, and man did he do a good job. He was actually excited about going (thanks creators of "Oswald"). We've rode the metro to visit D.C., and rode the metro for no other reason than to ride the train. I've finished two knitting projects and started two new ones. I sewed a bag and a mini bag, and am trying to find more time for more sewing. I've decided I need a crafty budget, so that my obsessions with making things don't completely bankrupt us. We got an iPad and I think it's quickly becoming mine, and I like it.

Lots of bloggable moments, but I'm to busy living them, so the pictures and elaboration will have to wait.

Dudes are here cutting down our neighbors trees that got damaged in The Storm. We are losing three trees total, possible a fourth when all is said and done, and I'm kind of bummed. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad nobody's house was damaged when a 50 ft. oak got tangled up in the wind and came crashing done right between three houses, taking large parts of two other trees with it, but I'm very sad to lose the trees. They provided our house with shade keeping our backyard bearable on the hottest summer day, and also helped stabilize the hill between our yard and our neighbors. I will miss you trees.

72 hrs.after the storm we got our power back at 1:30 in the morning, proving that PEPCO dudes don't sleep when there's power out. Thanks dudes whoever you are. I was just about to get really frustrated.

I guess things are almost back to normal. Now I have to go clean out our fridge.

Pictures of Feet

I've noticed that my 2 year old son has a strange fascination with taking pictures of his feet. Every time I go to download pictures off the camera I find some pics of little precocious feet.

I wonder where he picked this up from?

FO: On-Hold socks Ravelry Page It took me several months, but these socks are how I like them, nice and tight, and long.

Since quitting my job (well, more accurately letting my career wind down and not taking steps to feed it, so to speak) I'm finding that I'm perfectly content spending my mornings puttering in the kitchen and slowly taking back the house. In other words, I spend my mornings cooking and cleaning and I am perfectly happy with that. In fact, I'm really enjoying it. So much so that the paper in languishing a bit, because I keep thinking of things a want to cook (and eat). I feel a little guilty about this. Am I not suppose to want more, and be more? But the more I am away, the more I think that maybe I don't. At least not now. I want a manageable lifestyle. One where we have time to enjoy things a little bit more. It makes me a little bit sad in away, but I really want to enjoy this phase of my life, (the phase with the kid(s)), instead of fumbling through it in utter exhaustion, because I'm not going to get a second chance at it. I just hope that me not working takes a little stress off my husband and lets him enjoy it a little too.

Everytime I do Front Post or Back Post stitch in the Short N' Sweet sweater thing (which there are a lot of), I am reminded of the "swing the Picket Fence" scene in Hoosiers. Strange, but it makes me smile. I like Hoosiers.

Summer of Hooks 2010

I haven't written here for two weeks, and I have a whole lotta stuff with which to feed the blog.

The funny thing about not working, is that I'm as busy as ever. I honestly don't know how we keep things going when I was working. I just find things to do, and I think I will for perpetuity.

Things are growing in the garden, the pool has reopened for the summer, and I've been crocheting. The house, by the way, is still a mess. Although I did clean out my closet and reorganize my stash. I have a lot of craft store yarns....

I've decided this post will mostly be about the crocheting/knitting side of my life. I've taken to the crocheting thing, because its hot and for the most part I am not feeling the wool, and I feel learning something.

As you will recall this all started with some dishrags I made on our trip to Hilton Head. When I got home I restarted my DC blanket. The original one was way to large at 250 stitches (it was about king sized), and I started it when I was pregnant and the man was on a business trip to London. This one has a more manageable 150. And I like the way the stripes grow randomly. It is made with Red Heart Super Saver in various colors I had in my stash (see cheap craft store yarn and stash above). It is goinging, but all DC all the time gets boring.

First I want a definitive volume on crochet technique, so of course, I went to Debbie Strollers "the Happy Hooker." And in I quite friendly way it introduce me to basic techniques.

Then I picked up Eddie Eckman's "Crochet Motif" book , which is absolutely addictive, and great for scraps of yarn. I've basically made myself I bunch of Christmas tree ornaments! So my tree which has been bare ( I believe in slowly collecting ornaments, and making them), will look fuller next season, so that nobody can come over to see it.

Then one the way home form the pool one afternoon. I spied this shop (The Yarn Spot). Which I went to this weekend and bought some three irish girls yarn (Georgia Peach) and some denim yarn to make "short n' sweet" from aforementioned Debbie Stroller book.

I'm also still working on the "On Hold" socks, but I want to finish them so I can start socks with the Ga Peach....

So basically, I'm having a wonderful creative time, and it sure is nice to have very nice yarn shop 5 minutes from my house. Maybe I will make it over for needlework time one day.... (a mom can dream can't she?).

Vacation

I brought three projects with me to the beach: the 2nd green sweater, a blue sock, and a bunch of sugar n' cream cotton and a crochet hook. Who knew crocheting dishcloths is such a great car trip project?

Didn't touch the sweater (too hot to knit alpaca), and I worked on the sock on the trip home.

However, it might be a crochet kind of summer mostly. I crochet to big dish towel, and started the little striped one, as well as completing a 2nd dishrag that was in use. I found it strangely relaxing.

Hilton Head, SC or Beach 2010 pt 1

What a difference a year makes! Last year the boy was terrified of the ocean. This year, he actually asked to go out there. (However, he still admitted to being a little scared sometimes).

Hilton Head is a really nice beach. We had great weather. We played in the sand. We played in the surf. We played in our pool. Nobody got sunburnt. All in all a great vacation.

Back to the Garden

Things are still looking hopeful in our lovely little patio container garden. We've gotten to eat some strawberries, just a couple at a time, as they ripen.We augmented this with a trip to Butler's Orchard for pick your own last weekend. They were good.

The Arugula is growing and I should be able to start harvesting some leaves for salad soon. It's very peppery. I have some basil coming along, and I planted some mint, cilantro and flat leaf parsley in the actual flowerbed, and they haven't died or been eaten ....yet. I also got brave a put the bean plant, two peas, and two squash plants in the actual flower bed, and so far they are okay, although some insects have been nibbling at the peas.

And the tomatoes are great. They are starting to develop fruit. I'm so excited!!! Fresh tomatoes.

I also have three container squash. I replanted one today, and might have killed it. The stem is split. I probably should have replanted it earlier, but the squash in my big grey, ant infested pot looks great. We shall see.....

Sean's mother day project got replanted, and they are still growing. I hope they will flower again. I think they are petunias. Do petunias re-flower?

Overall we are looking nice and green and hopeful as we begin the challenge of summer.

The Sweater

I'd been wanting to make a cardigan, so in January after a lot of thinking and looking for the right pattern, I settled on Calluna . It had cables and interesting texture, things I was looking for, but I have to say it wasn't my dream caridigan. I didn't like the 3/4 sleeves, but that is easy to fix. I liked the half button, lower half skirt thing.

As I knit a began to wonder if this sweater was too mommyish and frumpy, but having seen no other options, I continued on.

I persisted, and now I have a completed sweater. The sweater I knit during blizzard part II, the sweater knit right after being radioactive, the sweater I knit when I left my job. All important memories to associate with a article of clothing I will probably be wearing for years to come.

A couple of things about it: It grew tremendously when I blocked it, particulary in length, and this is a pleasant thing. I kind of anticipated it from others comments on ravelry. I ended up knitting the sleeves at 3/4 like written (because who really wants to knit full lenght seed stitch sleeves when you could be done faster), and they ended up just a bit longer. They sit just above my wrists, and it works.

I don't like how the skirt and opening curl. They need a more substantial edge to hold the shaping and cables. I was warned about this on ravelry as well, but too late to anything about it. It is better know that it is longer and blocked, but still not perfect.

It's tricky to sew round seed stitch sleeves into a non-seed stitch ribbing armhole. They weren't perfectly fit to each other either, but I managed. Two things a found helpful: basting together first, and sewing from the top of the shoulder down, that way if there's any weirdness at least it's not at the top of the shoulder where it would be extremely obvious. I had to sew them on a couple of times, but I think I got them on pretty good. No puffy sleeves!

Anyway it is done and I'm pretty satistfied. On to green sweater # 2!

Post 101!

We had a wedding this weekend, and the boy wore his tie!