Showing posts with label pirates. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pirates. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

A Nice Day

Today has actually been a pretty nice day. Andrew behaved at preschool. He was good all day actually, except for a little craziness when we got home from preschool. I got some cute pictures of Andrew and Nicholas sitting together after I put Andrew's shoes on. Looking at them together makes realize how much Nicholas has grown. It's pretty amazing.
From A Nice Day

We went to the Children's Museum again and had a chance to really play in the new Bob exhibit.
From A Nice Day

From A Nice Day

We played in My World and the nature exhibit too.
From A Nice Day

From A Nice Day

(Yes, we get a lot of use out of our membership)
Then we ate dinner, watched an episode of Backyardigans and Andrew took a bath and calmly went to bed. Nick on the other hand has been to bed three times already tonight, but you can't win them all.

I thought I would post a "finished" picture of my pirate mittens, even though I still have a few ends to weave in.
From A Nice Day

They look finished anyway. They are from this pattern. I omitted the year, but otherwise followed the pattern. They were knit with wool-ease on size 4 Brittney Birch dpns. They fit my long skinny hands, but probably will be too small for a guy. They knit up pretty quick since I started them Tuesday evening last week and other than stalling with the end weaving were finished Monday. This really is quick since I really only knit at night after both kids are asleep lately and that doesn't give me much time.

This is the soaker I started last night.
From A Nice Day

I am done with the ribbing and working some short rows on the back now. The colors decided to stack when I started the stockinette stitch. The distance around the soaker must be about one color repeat. It doesn't look bad to me though and the short rows will change things up a little.

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Space

We are members at the Minnesota Children's Museum for the second year (thanks to my parents), and no matter how many times we go Andrew is excited to be there. And, being a three-year-old boy he also loves Bob the Builder. So, when I found out the museum was going to have a Bob the Builder exhibit I figured Andrew would love to go. The exhibit opened yesterday, and they offered a members only event to check out the exhibit and say hi to "Bob" last night. The info I read said they were going to limit the numbers so I expected it to be a smallish amount of people there - mostly to see the new exhibit. Instead, the place was packed. There was barely space to move, much less play, in the Bob exhibit and plenty of people in the other areas too. We did get a picture of Andrew with "Bob".
From Bob at mcm

Nicholas was able to visit the Habitot exhibit for the first time. He was very interested in the water-filled mat/pond. He was even able to sit by himself long enough for me to get a picture.
From Bob at mcm

Sorry about the quality of the photos - we only had our cell phones with us.

The space I have been working on this weekend is my basement. Our basement isn't a pleasant place to be. It is an old (1909), partial basement with limestone walls and who know what stored in the crawl spaces (we see that there is stuff left from the previous people that lived here, we just haven't been brave enough to dig it out) and no heating but the pipes running to the radiators. Because it isn't a great place to hang out, we try not to spend any more time down there than necessary. That means that stuff that is stored down there isn't always put away as well as it should be. There is also stuff there that we need to get rid of so we have more room to walk. I decided that with Christmas things being put away and out-grown baby clothes that need to be stored again this was as good a time as any to do some clean up. In the time I have been able to spend cleaning I have one corner organized and found some things we could use for Nicholas, as well as a book Tim can use for his writing class. Unfortunately, I still have a way to go. One thing that needs to go is three (big) boxes of Barbie stuff from my childhood. I have tried to give it away to a few friends that have girls, but no one has wanted it. I would love to give it to someone I know rather than drop it off for Goodwill to sell. There are Barbies (some in better shape than others), lots of clothes (many made by my mom), a car or two, a couple horses, an ice cream shop (I think), and probably more. My parents kept the stuff hoping the grand kids would be able to use them, but since I had a boy (at the time) and my sister probably won't have kids for a long time, they decided they needed the space. I took it before I knew Nicholas was a boy and have decided I need the space more than keeping it on the chance we decided to have another and it turns out to be a girl. So, if anyone is interested in the lot or digging through to see if they find something they want let me know. Or if you know of a place that could use them I would be happy to donate them.

Mitten update: Both of the mitten bodies are knit as well as one thumb. I only put seven stitches on waste yarn for one (for some reason or another) so I had to do a little fixing, but it turned out ok. They are still a little smaller than I was hoping. I will have to see what happens when I wash them. Pictures of finished mittens tomorrow.

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Mittens - Pirates and Bunnies

Andrew had his first swimming lesson at the YMCA today. He had a blast. He maybe could have stayed by the wall a little more when he was supposed to, but he was just so enthusiastic. Nicholas had a good time too. It seems that he is very interested in the water and all the people moving around in it. At the end we went upstairs so I could feed Nicholas, and after eating for a minute he noticed that we were overlooking the pool. After that he just watched the sunlight on the water until I decided we would just go. After the lesson I asked Andrew if he used up some of his energy and he said no, and then ate a huge lunch when we got home and didn't have any complaints about going upstairs for a nap.
From Mittens - Pir...

I thought I would share a picture and some info about the angel I cross stitched. I bought the kit a couple years ago thinking I would make it for my Grandma. I got a little ways into it and realized that the light blue-grey fabric and pastel thread made it really hard to see what I was doing in the dim living room where I usually work on things like that in the evening. It also disqualified it as a project I could work on in the car (the other place I tend to work on projects). So it rode around in my knitting bag for a long time before I decided to pull it back out and finish it, now that we have had a new light fixture in our living room for almost a year and I have a floor lamp by my spot on the couch. I am glad I finished it. I have to admit that I was happier with it before adding the french knots, but that could be because I'm not very good at making them. Most of the french knots were also done with shiny gold thread and I like things a little simpler. Now I just need to put it in a frame and find a time to drive to Mankato and give it to my Grandma so it can join the angel I made a few years back.
From Mittens - Pir...

I accomplished a lot on my pirate mittens and decided to join the knit-a-long. This is where I was yesterday afternoon.
From Mittens - Pir...

And this is where I am today.
From Mittens - Pir...

I haven't knit the thumb on the first mitten yet either, so it isn't quite done.

The week after Christmas, Tim found something for me on Craig's list. Two listings for vintage angora yarn.
From Mittens - Pir...

Each box should be enough to make a pair of mittens. The red is definitely for me, but I'm not sure about the pink. Andrew was really excited about bunny yarn, but then I would want to dye the yarn if I was going to make him mittens. Or, I could make them for a gift and figure that Andrew wants pretty much everything I make so it won't be a big deal. I might make mine first and gauge his enthusiasm. I suppose I could find a different color on eBay. And for those that don't know me and think I am overlooking the simple solution of making the pink for myself, I don't like pink - and Andrew has decided he doesn't like red (in general, not specifically this red yarn).
 

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