Introducing Ike

This is Ike, my youngest child's' lovey. He came from a clearance sale at a local department store. When I got him I thought he would be a cute toy for all my kids, so we have 3 Ike's. Noley has bonded to this toy doggie to the point that Ike now goes on the potty first, sleeps with him every night and jumps on top of Noley daily while he tells me in a tolerant voice, "Mom! Ike's jumping me again!".


Ike made the long trip to Florida with us and saw all the wonders of Disney World with Noley.
He waited in the car some days and rode in the backpack others. Noley is in love with this puppy to the point that I have started to almost think of the puppy as real. Maybe I need to knit him a sweater to stay warm:)
The best part of this funny little love affair Noley has with his Ike is watching him use his imagination daily. He talks to the puppy, uses him to try to get out of stuff, plays kitchen, cars and many other games. The day he grows out of this puppy will be a sad one for me. Luckily I have a few more years to watch my Noley grow up. He is a sweet funny little guy who likes to make you laugh. Thank you Ike for showing me more of Noley's personality than I would have known you could.

Crafty Time of Year

This time of year is tough for me, the long days of cold weather and darkness start to wear away at my psyche. I got the urge to have a warm blanket for sitting on the couch knitting and watching TV under. This is my first attempt at a quilt since Miss M was a baby about 6 years ago. I think it turned out OK. I have been enjoying it in my cold basement already for a week. I used a soft green fabric for the back, I forgot what kind of fabric it would be called. I would describe it as a corduroy without the lines in it.

I also made these socks for Noley. I used stash yarn for this project and hope to make another pair for KD. He asked for some too. Noley likes these and even wore them once already!

Pattern: Basic socks from Knitter Book of Handy Patterns

Yarn: Smart got on clearance years ago

Needles: US2 &3 DPN

Lately Noley has been saying this phrase a lot, " You don't do that forever, ever, now!" He is getting very independent. I feel bad for him today, he is throwing up, hopefully it will be a one day thing, I have plans for tomorrow.

Disney World in Pictures

I found so many cool little things to take pictures of on this trip, here are some of my favorites.

We had a magical time!












Ike had fun too! Woof!

Technical Difficulty

We got back from Disney World Tuesday but when I got home my main computer is broken. It has crashed in the blue screen won't boot up kind of way. So Pictures will be slow in coming until I figure out how to load them on the laptop that B tends to hog when he's home. We had a great time, the kids rode lots of rides and we saw all 4 parks in 4 days. Note to anyone going to DW soon, don't go to all 4 parks in 4 days. It is exhausting! Oh well it was fun while it lasted. I started a pair of ribbed socks on the trip and last night picked up my silver sweater again. I have 2 sleeves and a collar left, then all I have left is the sewing together. I will blog again I promise sorry there isn't anything more interesting to write about. Blog with you all soon!

A Lump of Coal

I made this bag from the Interweave Knits mag. It's the Dumpling Bag by Sharon Dreyfuss. This is a great quick knit for a gift. I used Lamb's Pride Burly Spun in Charcoal.

I found some shell rings at a local crafts store. I think they look pretty good.

I have made these mittens from Elizabeth Zimmerman's book, Knitting Around. They are the Mitered Mittens. I used a garter stitch bottom edge instead of the i-cord edging. The only problem is one has no blue in it at all so it is a little boring. I have enough Noro Kueryon left over to make another mitten so I think I will . I'll have a 3 mitten set in case one gets lost. Then the only thing left is the thumbs. The pattern calls for an after thought thumb so I need to get up the nerve to cut into these to make that.
On the home front, we are planning to go to Florida soon to visit Walt Disney World. The kids are really excited of course, I am going to be excited once I get on the plane:) I have a bazillion things to plan and pack for that so I better get going.

Noley says, "Cheese!"

Winter Doings

We have recently put up a bird feeder by our breakfast nook window. It took a couple of days for the Red Poles to find it but now we are burning through the bird seed. The kids love being able to see them up close and I love that I can get good pictures of one of my favorite little Minnesota birds. I always know they are Red Poles by their big red dot on the top of their heads.

A few weeks ago I took a weekend trip to visit my Mom and Dad. They don't live in my childhood home anymore, (haven't for years really) but it is still nice to visit them in their cosy old remodeled house. It has a lot of features I love, like the wood burning stove in the kitchen.

They use it for baking, cooking and heating the kitchen. There is a regular modern stove in the kitchen too so they have the choice. My dad has become the house cook in the last few years and he likes how the wood stove cooks.

Noley was loving up Tillie, my mom's Golden Retriever. She is a newer addition to the house and is still a puppy. They had fun together.

I knit up these mitts for my manager since she mentioned that she had trouble finding mittens that fit her. It was a quick knit that I improvised as I went. I think she liked them.

My sweater is coming along although lately I have not knitted on it much. just taking a little break until the knitting mojo comes back. Keep on staying warm out there and Knit on!

Late Post of the Holiday Break

Our Holidays were a mix of work (me), driving to see family, lazy days at home, quiet family time and fun.

I had to work Christmas this year which means we spend our holiday home with our kids then go to see B's family after. Our home celebration is very quiet even with 3 kids. I need to think up some more traditions for us that works into me being gone part of the time.

The kids spent their time off of school playing outside in the snow. I heard that we have gotten a record amount of snow for this time of year here.

Miss M helping Noley.

KD sitting in a nest of snow.

Of course when home and bored with everything there is the requisite fort building out of couch cushions. Miss M took this pic of the boys.

I have been doing some yarn dyeing and knitting. There are lots of new yarns in the shop. I updated it yesterday. I am knitting a sweater out of a Rebecca magazine I think it is the fall 2005 issue. It will be a long jacket like sweater. I really like how it is turning out and it feels like it is going really fast. Bulky yarn will do that to a person.

So I am back on the blogging, sorry it took so long to get this posted. I must have been enjoying my holiday break too much:)