In Between Storms

Look who is back in time for Christmas... none other than DH - yes - the very same DH who kissed me goodbye at the airport in October and swore he would be back in 2 weeks. Excuse me, but I think maybe the 2 of us have a different way of keeping track of time because in my book - end of October to mid- December is more than 2 weeks!

Fortunately, his trip was in between storms! And, as it was - he was supposed to be on a 3 o'clock flight, but actually came in at midnight. I was just happy that it was DH traveling by himself instead of me with my son - delays with a little one in tow can be unbearable! Well, because it is hours to get to the airport and the weather was sort-ov up in the air anyway, I had thought ahead to pack an overnight bag so Little Boy and I were all set.

While waiting we did NOT go shopping. My son - well, he HATES shopping. Have I ever mentioned that before? I think so! And this time of year, well the stores are just zoo-ey and then he sees stuff he wants because of course right now they just have toys everywhere -even if your intent was to look at - say - measuring cups - there is sure to be a toy of some sort right in the same aisle and chances are that particular desired toy is complete j-u-n-k anyway. So, what to do during a 9 hour wait?

Well, we drove another hour and 1/2... I have friends up there and we had a very nice 1 1/2 hour visit. Then - off to the indoor ride place. There, we happily spent some time - a nice warm indoor distraction that did not involve hysterics in a store... the drive was worth it! We got something to eat. We browsed the bookstore (although he doesn't like shopping - he does like the bookstore!). I got a book on computers (I am determined to ACE PowerPoint this winter) and he got a child's magazine. Then we headed back to the hotel before the weather got bad, had "naps" and had to get up around 11 to go to the airport.

The next day before heading home we stopped off at the stores and I ran in while DH sat in the truck with Little Boy - who had no interest what-so-ever in going in so was perfectly happy with that arrangement. I was happy too - gave me a chance to get a few stocking stuffers and that all important "Santa" wrapping paper! Plus got our favorite bread/fresh fruit at the big grocery store. Also had a chance to run into a shop that made a bear for my son - will have to post a photo of that later because it is on my other computer!

No sooner do we get home - next storm started right in. Did I care? Nope, not one BIT - you see... DH has a MUCH bigger snow shovel than that little snow shovel I bought at the hardware store. Before I let him go away next time - tractor lessons are a must - I will not be shoveling snow by hand again when we have a perfectly good tractor sitting up in the shed. I am not sure that you can in the photo, but Little Boy is ALL smiles!!! Happy days!

Amazing Knit Soap Bag

I decided to knit some soap bags for Christmas presents to go along with a nice bar of soap. My yarn was Debbie Bliss cotton dk 84m/50g ball - it is a nice thick weight cotton (28 rows of 20 stitches on size 4mm/US6 needles will be 10cmX10cm square). Phew - ok got that written down so now it is safe to throw away the empty label.

Anyway, I used size 8 needles and the Chinese Wave pattern... so far I've made 2 bags and now I am out of yarn. But, the bags I made are W-A-Y big because even though they look pretty darn near perfect compared to the soap - the knit bag s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-s! Oh well, maybe it will shrink? And if not, I am happy with my 1st trys and as soon as I get more yarn - will try again - and even better, by making them smaller I should be able to get 3-4 out of each ball instead of 2.

The Chinese Wave pattern:

Cast on an odd number of stitches (for the 1st one I did 45 and then the 2nd I did 25).

Row 1: Knit

Row 2: K1, Slip 1 - repeat ending with a knit stitch

Row 3: Knit

Row 4: K2 then the rest of the row Slip 1, K1 all the way across until ending with a Knit stitch. I am almost positive I had to K2 at the end to get it to end with a knit.

That's it - keep working until it is as big as you want. The 2nd one I did was a perfect 7" square and while it is the correct width for the soap, I should have made it 5" long instead of 7" - next time! If you have smaller soap, make it smaller!

Bind off and leave 4X the length of yarn - thread that with your yarn needle, fold the piece over and sew 1 side and bottom together. I threaded a single crochet chain through the top for a drawstring closure. Viola!

Now, I have to tell you - my original intent was 2 Christmas presents, but my Little Boy latched on to one of these in a BIG way. He really, really wanted one - to which I replied that maybe he would get one for Christmas (I NEEDED to get that soap/bag in the mail today for it to reach its destination), but what Momma can resist this logic?.... "You know Momma, you don't have to wait for Christmas to give someone you really love a present". Um yeah, ok. I think my sister will understand! Besides - the one I gave to him - I kept losing track of what row I was on so the knitting is a bit funky and he doesn't know it. The joys of giving gifts to young children - they just don't see any flaws in your work!!! Ummm - the perfect one is going to my Mother in law! Even though it is the bigger of the 2 bags - it IS the one with perfect looking knitting!

And the AMAZING part of this knit soap bag? Little Boy declared that it was AMAZING - I started AND finished it in the same day! Too funny - he is used to me working on quilts that take much longer than just a day! Amazing indeed!

Edited on 13/Dec/2012:  This post seems to get a lot of traffic and I have people e-mail to ask if they can make this bag to sell at craft fairs.  I don't have a problem with that - craft away!  If you make one, it would be nice if you linked back to me (we all love readers!), but you don't have to.  Anyone can come up with their own patterns if you know knitting stitch patterns.  I would recommend a knitting stitch book.  My library has one and I borrow it all the time.  If you want your own book, if you would order it from my Amazon link, I would appreciate it!  I have copied a book from Amazon below that has very happy reviewers!

Just a cold week

It has been a cold week - the warmest day being when it was snowing. We have gone out to play a fair bit, but still, when it is that cold outside (supposed to get down to -16C tonight - that would be 3F)... well, it is good to have some indoor activities. Besides the fact that everything is very icy with a light dusting of snow on top - very slippery.

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We've made cupcakes AND cookies, painted, made all kinds of block buildings and did more crafts. We made our weekly trip to the library - they have a beautiful tree set up right next to the reading sofa... I read and read and read to my son until my voice is hoarse. He likes several stories a day, plus some sort of reference book AND now he has added chapter books to the mix - right now we are reading a Magic School Bus book about the solar system. The other thing I convinced him of - Santa won't leave any toys at all if he sees how FULL the toy box/play area already is - so we spent some time sorting toys and taking toys out that are no longer played with. Almost all his toys fit in one play area and I want to keep it that way!

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Me, well in little bits and pieces I've been working on a summer top and a summer dress - I am up to the zippers so next trip to the store - zippers are on the list. Yeah, OK, so maybe I am dreaming of warm summer days!!! LOL. More on these projects another post.

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Well, I did make that fleece neck warmer and hope to make a few more for gifts - will get more fleece when I get the zippers. And, I went to my Thursday quilting group with dresden blades in hand to cut. I cut some and another lady helped me out. But, it is slow progress and cutting with scissors really aggrevates my carpal tunnel - so I've come up with the bright idea of cutting the straight edges with my rotary cutter and having DH cut the rounded edges for me when he comes back. But really, all in all - very slow progress with any sewing projects this week.

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Cooking wise - well other than baking - not much activity in the kitchen either. I've stuck with pre-schooler approved food such as speghetti, meatballs, chicken noodle soup, ham steaks, rice, baked beans, mashed potatoes, boiled carrots, mixed veggies, pudding, apple sauce - well, you get the idea. I just haven't felt like cooking 2 seperate meals - 1 for him, 1 for me, this week.

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Like I said, just a cold week. I think my energy is frozen somewhere in all that ice outside!