Me and Oona

I love this picture of me and Oona. She really likes being held upside down and when she's fussy, sometimes that's the only way to cheer her up.

Wynken, Blynken, and Nod

From Owlishly's Sleepy Sarah pattern.

For a friend's first birthday. I'm really happy with how they turned out. If I was inclined to sell what I make, which I'm not particularly mostly because I have way to many things I want to make to focus on making things to sell, I would make these.

The Story of an Elephant

A super cute elephant, who I couldn't part with.



He started as a gift for a friend for his birthday. Sorry friend... :(



I'm not sure where he'll end up, but for now he is staying with me.



Someday I'll learn the mystery of picture taking and light and backgrounds, etc.

Pattern from Lucinda Guy's Crochet Designs for Kids. She introduced the pattern as quick and easy which was why I attempted it. Ha! Lucinda Guy's quick and easy is not my quick and easy. But I love him.

my lap at nap-time

Knitting, baby and cat. Days are so much better when Oona naps and how bad is it really to sit and knit with a baby asleep in your lap...

I just got Oona down for a nap and she semi-woke up and then all of the way woke up. I really really really hope this isn't one of those days where she thinks a five minute nap is enough.

the why's have it

You know how development happens overnight sometimes? I've been wondering 'why' Gemma hadn't started the 'why, why, why' part of toddlerhood yet. Most of her friends are already in that phase and have been for awhile. Well, the why's have started with a vengeance this morning. It's gone from almost no why's yesterday to everything why today. Each baby/toddler/kid develops at it's own pace, right? That's something I have to remind myself of constantly. I tend to be so proud of the things she's ahead on and worry endlessly about the things she's either on track or behind on. Now, that is just nuts. I need to give that up.

In other news, I finished one hat yesterday. It turned out pretty good, though hopefully blocking will help. I guess I don't have to worry about Christmas knitting too much, then... I cast on for hat number two and will start it today. I'm doing the raglan decreases for Gemma's cardigan. I'm going to make some irish crochet roses like these. I hope they're not too big... I'll get to pictures one of these days.

And I'm on day two (again) of no sugar. I failed last attempt. So now I'm on a six week challenge and am thinking of doing a small prize at the end. Wish me luck. The challenge will go right through the holiday season. But maybe my waistband will be a little looser...

Sitting and knitting

It is a good thing I have a lot of Christmas knitting to do. Separation anxiety is full steam ahead chez nous. Oona seems to cry the least if I sit in a corner of a couch, knit, and stay put. The second I move, even if to just go to the bathroom the fussing, whining, tears and screams start. I really love being a Mom, but sometimes I want to walk down the hall unimpeded by cries and little hands and feet that insist on being attached. Time to get the velcro out...

Speaking of Christmas knitting... I never used to do any but now my to do list is hopefully possible. I finished the shawl for my MIL except for blocking it. I'm half way done with hat one out of three. I have 6 little amigurumi dolls to make and one big one. And a sweater for Gemma. Plus, I have fabric to make bathrobes for Eric, Jack and Pat. It's over a month away, right? I can do it? Hopefully? See, it really is a good thing that Oona is insisting on me sitting on the couch and knitting. :)

baby quotes

Oona
"Poop" (poop)
"Poop" (spoon)
"Ow-ee" (is she hurt, is she not? not sure?)

Gemma
"Stupid man! What's his problem?" (Hmmmmm, did I say that???)

Gemma: "Mama, you need a coat on."
Me: "That's okay, I'm wearing a warm sweater."
Gemma: "Mama, you need a coat on."
Me: "That's okay, I'm wearing a warm sweater.
Gemma: "Mama, you need a coat on."
Me: "That's okay, I'm wearing a warm sweater."
Gemma: "Mama, what is Gemma telling you?" (What I say to her when she doesn't seem to be listening to me, except, you know, I don't refer to myself as Gemma.)
Me: "lol. Gemma is telling me that I need a coat but I'm telling her it's okay because I'm wearing a sweater and because I'm the Mama."

eric's birthday cat

I had a lot of fun making this cat for Eric for his birthday. His birthday was a month ago so this is a bit of a belated post. The pattern came from this book. I changed the colors to ones that remind me of Eric. And some bling as an impromptu addition made this Hep Cat into a religious bohemian scholar, complete with purple pants. The only thing I would change would be to find blue cat eyes instead of the green, which is what they had at Joann's. Originally he had a black nose but I thought that looked bull-dog-ish, so I added the pink. Have you ever seen a white cat with a black nose?



I feverishly finished it in one week. Phew! Hand cramps!



Gemma was really excited about Daddy's cat and almost spoiled the surprise.

bye-bye cake

I just threw away half of a birthday cake. Wow. That was very hard to do, and to see it's sugary deliciousness sitting at the bottom of the garbage can. Sigh... I was very proud of myself, though. Throwing that cake away was an important step to going sugar free for at least the next while. My tightening waist band agrees with me. In the past month, with three birthdays, I got to toxic sugar levels. All I wanted to eat was sugar for breakfast, sugar for snack, sugar for lunch, for snack, for dinner, for snack. It's no wonder my waist band isn't so happy with me. So here I go, cold turkey, no sweets. I know I'll feel more human in two weeks. I forget how much sugar bothers me and affects my mood, etc. Then I go toxic and I remember. Then I have to repeat the hard work of going off sugar and I start marvelling at my new found levels of patience. Today, of course, patience levels are still very low. But past experience tells me I'll feel better soon...

The birthday cake was one thing. Add Halloween candy and baked goods gifted to us by a friend who got the baking bug and my powers of resistance are being sorely tested. Oona keeps eating half of a piece of candy, saying all done, and handing the rest to me. So far, I have won out and have thrown those away. They're kind of slobbery anyway...

So here I go. One minute at a time but very much looking forward to feeling better in a couple weeks.