Girls Day IN

The girls and I are real homebodies. We hardly ever leave the house and just enjoy spending time at home. Even though this 'fixer-upper' house still needs a lot more work done to it before it can really be a home, we still enjoy being here.



Since we are home all the time I try to have various family things to do throughout the day so that it doesn't get too dull around here. Plus, some days K is so content playing that if it wasn't for these activities I would hardly see her!



On our hand working day this week K requested that we all do sewing. Before I could even reply she ran to the craft cabinet and got out her embroidery hoop and floss and set them up on the living room coffee table. She then grabbed some stringing beads and a sewing block for C, so that she could be included, too (I melted at her sweet gesture). I grabbed my wool felt squares I needed to embroider and we all worked happily on our individual projects while K and I sang:

The thread follows the needle,
The thread follows the needle,
In and out the needle goes
While Mama mends the children's clothes



It truly felt like a fairytale moment (of course later it was ended by a quarrel over some pink thread). If only every day could be like this! I wonder if my girls will want to continue with sewing and knitting when they are older.They just seem to enjoy it so much right now and it makes me so happy to see!



Wishing you all the best!
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If you would like to know a bit more about our family rhythm please check out this week's installment of 'Discovering Waldorf' on The Magic Onions.

Girls Day IN

WIP Wednesday: Every Single Scrap...

In an effort to keep up with being frugal and more environmentally conscious I am trying to use up every single scrap left over from our flannel quilt. After making the matching coasters I thought I could use a new cover for my rocking chair pillow, too. I have been wanting to try out log cabin style quilting for awhile now and the other night just decided to wing it. I looked at a few pictures and blogs and went from there. It only took a couple of hours to sew it up. It has quite a few mistakes - one being that I broke the cardinal rule of quilting: always iron first. So when I went over my pillow front to quilt it, the pieces moved a bit on me. Lesson learned.



K saw the pillow cover the next morning and wouldn't let me rip it out to start over, so we added the buttons on the back together and are just leaving it mistakes and all. It does help me feel like my living room is coming together a bit more now. I want to make new covers for the pillows on the couch, too, but in some other kind of fabric. I don't want to make everything too 'matchy-matchy'. Any suggestions on fabrics, colors and/or quilting styles for those two pillows? I think I need to add embroidery to at least one of them.

I am happy to say I only have a few tiny scraps left of the flannel... now to decide what to do with them...maybe a doll house rug or blanket...



I finished up my first gift for my close friend's baby due in April (on C's birthday, no less!) I am only posting a sneak peek so she doesn't see it all, but I can say that it is something knit in her favorite colors.



Lastly, here is the second baby gift in progress. Baby things are so much fun to make!



Happy creating!

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Thank you for all of your wonderful responses and inspiration on my last post. This is such a great challenge!

WIP Wednesday: Every Single Scrap...

One Small Change - January

You may have noticed a new button over on the top right hand side of my blog over the past month. It's for a wonderful challenge hosted by Hip Mountain Mama entitled 'One Small Change'. The challenge is to make one small earth friendly change each month from January until Earth day in April, and then post about it on your blog. Even though the change may seem small, it all adds up, especially when you think about the hundreds of other people making similar changes with you.
I am finally getting around to posting our change for the month of January. I am a bit late with this post, seeing as how we are supposed to post our changes at the beginning of the month but oh well, better late than never, right?


Our family cloth (which is actually recycled in a sense because they used to be the girl's diaper wipes)

I feel like we are a relatively earth conscious family to begin with (we recycle, re-use everything possible, use cloth bags, cloth diapers, family cloth, etc) so it took me a bit to decide what our first change would be. I would love to do something major like install solar panels, or get rain barrels to collect our water but those options are just not realistic for our budget at this time. That made me think about our budget and how the cost of living in Portland has been kicking our butts...


Homemade cleaning solution - vinegar, water and essential oils

Then the light bulb went off in my head, literally. Our first change would be to replace every single light bulb inside and outside of our home with energy saving bulbs. We had been meaning to since we moved in anyways but just hadn't gotten around to it. Not only are they better for the environment but they also save us money (every single penny counts right now for us). It's a win-win situation! I do really love how frugality and environmental consciousness generally go hand in hand.


Our rag bag (an old re-used burlap rice bag) filled with rags made from old towels, worn out knitted washcloths, stained shirts.. you name it, it's there!

So I went around and changed every single bulb and felt pretty darn good about it. The bulbs work great, but I wouldn't expect anything less. I know I am not single-handedly saving the world with my bulbs but I do know I am making a difference and teaching my girls in the process.
I do feel the need to mention a slight down-fall with this change, I ran into the only negative issue (that I know of, at least) with these bulbs... I dropped one and it shattered all over my kitchen floor. I froze not knowing what to do. Luckily Kevin was home and he took the girls. I reached for the broom then something told me not to so I put it back down. I then ran to the computer and quickly looked up how to clean up mercury and followed the instructions (which specifically said do NOT sweep or vacuum!). Everything is all cleaned up and fine now, and I am quite happy with our change, but I do admit that bulb breaking gave me a bit of a scare!


My lazy helper

Anyone else taking the challenge?

One Small Change - January

The Forest Around Us

There is nothing better in the morning, than waking up to a forest view.

When we lived in Virginia, in the middle of suburbia, all we could dream about was nature - more specifically forests, and trees.



Now that we are here in Oregon we are constantly spoiled with gifts from Mother Nature, and oh how we love it!! When I first wake up in the morning and look out our bedroom window I feel like I am in a log cabin or out camping because of the sights and sounds I wake to. Sweet birds sing us songs, squirrels chatter, the wind rustles the leaves in the trees, the rain plays music on our windowsills... it really is heavenly.



Besides our own back yard, we have so many places to hike and explore. My girls really are becoming true 'children of the forest'. We look forward to taking them camping for the first time sometime this year (my husband has crazy hours at work right now so we don't get to see him enough). Exploring, loving, respecting and understanding nature are such important lessons for us to teach our girls, I hopewe are teaching them well.



Wishing you all a fun, adventurous, nature loving weekend!!

The Forest Around Us

WIP Wednesday: Winter Warmth

The last couple of projects I have been finishing up have been all about warmth...

Warm toes



K hasn't taken off her rainbow socks since they came off the needles. She has requested that I knit her a rainbow poncho to wear them with and that I hurry up on C's matching rainbow socks. Oh to have the free time to finish all she desires!

Warm bodies



Hmmmm.. where did C go?
Finished up our folksy flannel throw. It is so cozy and warm! I used organic cotton batting on the inside and found a flannel sheet to cut up and use as the backing.



I had to use some colorful embroidery floss for my ties.



Wrinkled quilt picture, no chance to iron. I had to wrestle it away from my girls who have been living under it.



I have had the chance to use it a couple of times so far, one of those times was to keep me warm while practicing my latest obsession... which I will post more about next week.

Warm drinks



I had a lot of left over fabric of just one of the prints from the quilt (I had to order a half yard of one from another store because AMH was out of stock so I decided to make some quilted coasters with it.



I used one of the girls' tea cup saucers and traced it eight times on the fabric and four times on the batting to make four two-sided coasters. Fast, simple and easy.



Yes, they are not the prettiest things in the world, it's been so long since I've sewn curves and I really need more practice but they are practical. Flaws and all - we have been enjoying using them.

So here's to the warmth and coziness of flannel and wool on those cold winter days!

Happy creating!
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I apologize for my absence on Monday, I am still playing catch up on a lot of computer work.

WIP Wednesday: Winter Warmth

Old King Winter Came Out to Play...

And said I'm going to make this a very cold day
So he blew to the south - Whoooooooosh


One of my favorite lanterns - a surprise gift from my friend at Green Baboon Designs

The east - Whoooooooosh



And the west - Whoooooooosh



But when he blew to the north - Whoooooooosh



He said That's the best!


Our snow dog

The old north wind is my very best friend



And when we get together we make a
very, very, very, very, very cold day!



Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!
-Sing a Song of Seasons


Garden gnomes

We had a surprise visit from King Winter the other week and spent the entire day outside enjoying every moment. This was C's first real experience with snow, she wasn't sure at first and just kept saying 'cold, cold!' over and over again but then after a couple of snow angels she decided snow was fun and didn't want to go back inside.

We celebrated King Winter's visit by updating our nature table. K believes that the real King Winter looks like the one in Elsa Beskow's book 'Ollie's Ski Trip' so I contacted Mel at Haddy2dogs and had her make us a King Winter to K's specifications. As always Mel's work exceeded our expectations. K is thrilled. She made us the perfect Jack Frost as well.
We added some cute korknisse gnomes and a sweet star embroidered picture from our Seasons Round Exchange partner Knittermama, and called it a day.


My gnomes

King Winter's visit is a rarity where we live but I think we successfully soaked up every last second of it.
Wishing you many magical winter moments!!
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On a side note - Thank you for your responses to my last post. I had to laugh when I checked out Soulemama's blog later that day to discover she posted about making a quilt with the same fabric. How ironic!!

Old King Winter Came Out to Play...

WIP Wednesday: She knits, she SEWS!!

Oh goodness, that was pretty lame, wasn't it?! I don't know why but a sportscaster just took over there for a minute. Perhaps it is from my brain trying to wrap itself around balancing knitting and sewing simultaneously...

I have a couple of small projects I am trying to rapidly finish up. I just got some of the best news from a dear friend of mine and I need to finish these projects up so I can get making things to celebrate. I can't post what ideas are going through my head because she sometimes checks in here *ahem* but I'll make sure to get some WIP pics up.

Back to my current WIPs:



K fell in love with this yarn the last time we stopped into our local yarn shop. She asked me if I would knit her and C some matching rainbow socks. How could I refuse that request? I started on hers and will do C's when I am finished. I found a free pattern on Ravelry for children's socks. I started out knitting what should have been K's size but the pattern runs small so I had to rip it out and start over with the children's size large.



Luckily they are a fast knit. I finished up the first sock and am about halfway done with the second. K is so excited about them she has been stealing the finished sock and wearing it under her slippers thinking that I don't notice.


Fabric sitting on my desk (which is a WIP itself) waiting to be sewn

The girls and I are head over heels in love with the Anna Maria Horner Folksy Flannel line. I just knew that I needed the set to make my first full size quilt. Technically, it's not a real quilt, it's just patchwork but I am still taking baby steps in my quest to learn how to quilt. If I do ok on this I can move on to more complicated quilts, or at least that's how I am seeing it right now.



I have sewn all of my 16 squares together, along with some help from my furry friends, and now I am just waiting for pay day to find a backing for it. I have quite a few ideas for the scraps that are left over but we'll see what I end up doing with them, I tend to change my mind constantly. Although, while we are on the subject of ideas, does anyone know of any good online sources for the log cabin style quilting process?


Calorimetry

K has been growing her bangs out since the hair cutting incident last summer and they are just now to the point where they are in her eyes driving her crazy. Her hair is very fine so regular headbands don't work and just pulling her bangs up with a hair tie on the top of her head just looks silly, so we needed another solution. Shelley to the rescue! Shelley posted this gift she made for Christmas and as soon as I saw it, I knew it would be the perfect solution. Not only does it fit snugly and hold her bangs back, it also keeps her head warm for those cold day inside our house and it's a great way to use up leftover yarn.



She has already requested it in every color under the sun. Since they only take about one to two hours to knit I think I can oblige.


C looks thrilled, doesn't she?


Back to work I go. I hope everyone is having a great week!
Happy creating!
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I apologize for forgetting to add the modifications I used for the calorimetry. I followed some notes on Ravelry and did the following:

Using size 6 needles cast on 80 stitches. Follow the pattern like normal. When you get to row 5 repeat it 10 times. Do row 6 as normal and repeat row 7 until two stitches remain on either side, then complete row 8 as normal.

The next one I make will have a few more stitches added on though so that it will fit even longer.
Hope that helps!

WIP Wednesday: She knits, she SEWS!!

Monday is...

Tell me what do you do all day?
Busy, I am, but listen pray!
MONDAY is my milking day
TUESDAY skimming off the cream
WEDNESDAY's when the butter's churned
And packed away each THURSDAY
FRIDAY's when I bake all day
SATURDAY is market day
On SUNDAY off to church I plod
Thanks be to Thee, Almighty God.

- 'Around the Year'



That poem is one of my favorites. It speaks of the weekly rhythm from a simpler time many years ago. It is amazing to me that rhythm was a part of life for everyone back then. Every single chore literally took up most of the day so they needed to schedule days for each and every thing.


Speaking of machines...

In our modern society we have so many conveniences and everything is done by machine so it seems we no longer have the need for this, yet our lives seem more chaotic than ever. Why is this? That is something I ponder quite often. Do we need to give up all of our modern conveniences? I personally don't think we do, unless we prefer to (I do prefer to do quite a bit by hand most of the time). To me one of the answers that comes to me over and over, is that we just simply need rhythm of some kind to keep everything going smoothly.



I have mentioned a few times on here that Monday is our baking day. That is probably the favorite of our weekly rhythm days for K and C, but I admit it is both the best and the worst for me. Don't get me wrong, I love to bake (and more importantly love to eat what we bake), but there are some Mondays when that is the last thing I want to do. When I am having one of those Mondays we will usually bake something really simple, like a loaf of bread in our bread maker. Yes, that is cheating a bit, but this way I am not breaking our rhythm, or the girls' hearts while still keeping my sanity.


Gotta love the 'bed head' here!

Our baking days start in the morning. The girls and I usually bake a loaf of bread right after breakfast so it is ready by lunch time. Bread is actually made about two to three times a week, so not just on baking day. We go through it pretty fast. With all of C's food sensitivities and our strict vegetarian diet it's just easier for us to make our own bread, plus it's healthier and we know exactly what ingredients are in it.



After we make our bread we make something sweet, this way the girls get to enjoy it for dessert after lunch. Cookies and muffins tend to be our 'go to' recipes but we have created quite an assortment of sweet things over the past couple of years. K gets really into every little detail of baking wanting to help with every part while C just wants to eat it all, but I have a feeling C will be a little baker just like K when she gets a bit older. I capture the two of them in the sweetest moments, watching K teach C how to roll out dough, or pour in the vanilla and I just melt.
I just hope they remember this time when they are older...



Yes, we love our baking days, and I am so grateful for them. I hope someday my family and I can have the simple life like they did many years ago. We have a dream of owning a farm and living off the grid (our Frontier Dreams!) but until then at least we can have our own small daily and weekly rhythms to keep us going.



Wishing you all the calmness of a simple life.

Monday is...