And a Fruit Cup...

Ginny is always sad when we drop off the older kids at school. This morning, as we were leaving the school, she said tearfully, "I want my Alli, Chardy, Aaron...and a fruit cup."

I bet they would be glad to know they rank right up there with fruit cups!

Purple Lips

Ahh, that Catholic guilt...even 6 yr olds must be susceptible to it.

Before I begin the story, let me note that when I woke up Aaron this morning, I noticed that his lips were purple. Seemed a bit strange to me, but he acted fine, so I didn't give it much more thought. (But, it was weird.)

Anyway, back to the story. So, I was making lunches this morning and could have sworn there was a brand new box of fruit roll-ups in the cupboard that I had just bought last night. But I couldn't find it anywhere. I asked the kids, "Didn't we just have a brand new box of fruit roll ups?" They all gave me the "Mom, its 7:30am and I'm sleepy" look and shrugged.

But, a few minutes later, Aaron sidles up to me and whispers, "Mom, I got hungry in the middle of the night. And, I ate the fruit roll ups." I asked (trying not to giggle), "All of them? In the middle of the night?" And, he whispered "yep".

I couldn't be angry, because I was too busy, first of all, being happy that he admitted what he did (and that I hadn't imagined the existence of the fruit roll-ups). But, second, the image of him stumbling in his sleep to the kitchen and stuffing his face full of EIGHT fruit roll-ups one after the other in the middle of the night was just too funny. And, he even remembered to throw away all the wrappers and recycle the box afterwards!

It also explained the purple lips.

My Little Leprechauns

My little leprechauns have been very busy this week! They have been crafting (out of all imaginable materials) a very elaborate Leprechaun Hotel in celebration of St. Patrick's Day! What they have made is truly a little miniature work of art. See for yourself.

The Golden Shamrock Hotel:

The "Rooftop Room" (check out the little chest of drawers made of matchboxes):

The Complete Leprechaun Complex:

The Rainbow Room:

The Leprechaun Hotel (Aaron's Addition - notice the little ladder at the bottom):

Interior shot of The Golden Shamrock:

Sailboat for the Pool:

The Waterpark:

Playground:

A Bedroom:

To show gratitude for all their hard work, this big Leprechaun left a pot o' gold chocolate coins for my little Leprechauns to find after school today.

"Sensible" Portions

So, as I was finishing off a bag of chips late last night, I happened to glance at the label and just had to laugh.




Notice the "Sensible Portions" advertising... and then consider the fact that they packaged this "sensible" portion into a ONE POUND bag of chips! I don't know if you can tell from the picture (I put a pencil in for scale), but this bag is huge!

Despite all that, having polished off the 1 lb. bag (not by myself, mind you), I can attest to the fact that these chips are very tasty and I would highly recommend them if you like to munch.

Feather

After asking my kids for advice on what to name this scarf (and discarding suggestions like Tree Top, although that is pictorially fairly accurate), we came up with "Feather". The lace pattern looks like bunches of feathers and the yarn is definitely feather soft. Enjoy!



FEATHER

(Adapted from J. Leinhauser's 101 Ripple Stitches #72)

Materials Needed:

Size 6 needles
1 skein Karabella Yarns Boise (163 yds/50 g.) Color 69. (Mini Mochi would also be nice for this)
Tapestry needle

Abbreviations:
Sl1: Slip 1 as if to knit
K2tog: Knit 2 together
K3tog: Knit 3 together
PSSO: Pass slip stich over
YO: Yarn over

Gauge:
36 sts in pattern = 4"
Row gauge not important.

Finished dimensions: 4" x 39"

Using long-tail method (or other loose cast-on) CO 36 sts.

Seed Stitch Foundation
Work 4 rows of seed stitch as follows:
Row 1: *K1, P1*. Repeat ** across.
Row 2: *P1, K1*. Repeat across.
Row 3-4: Repeat Row 1 and 2.

Scarf Body
Row 1: K1, P1, K1, K1, Sl1, K2tog, PSSO, K9, YO, K1, YO, P2, YO, K1, YO, K9, K3tog, K1, P1, K1, P1 (Note: Be careful to fully wrap the YO before the P2 sts.)

Row 2: P1, K1, P15, K2, P14, K1, P1, K1

Row 3: K1, P1, K1, K1, Sl1, K2tog, PSSO, K8, YO, K1, YO, K1, P2, K1, YO, K1, YO, K8, K3tog, K1, P1, K1, P1

Rows 4, 6, 8, & 10: Repeat Row 2.

Row 5: K1, P1, K1, K1, Sl1, K2tog, PSSO, K7, YO, K1, YO, K2, P2, K2, YO, K1, YO, K7, K3tog, K1, P1, K1, P1

Row 7: K1, P1, K1, K1, Sl1, K2tog, PSSO, K6, YO, K1, YO, K3, P2, K3, YO, K1, YO, K6, K3tog, K1, P1, K1, P1

Row 9: K1, P1, K1, K1, Sl1, K2tog, PSSO, K5, YO, K1, YO, K4, P2, K4, YO, K1, YO, K5, K3tog, K1, P1, K1, P1

Repeat these 10 rows for pattern until desired length is reached. In the pictured scarf, I had 21 pattern repeats.

End with 4 rows of seed stitch, following Foundation pattern above.
BO loosely.

Block lightly to display lace pattern to best effect.

Alternate symmetric pattern: If you prefer a symmetric scarf, work scarf from beginning through 11 pattern repeats ending with Row 9. Place sts on holder. Work second scarf section from beginning through 11 pattern repeats ending with Row 9. Graft together in pattern following Row 10.

Victoria

For Christmas, Tim gave me and my parents a surprise trip to Victoria, BC over Valentine's weekend. Now you would expect that we would spend the weekend sightseeing. And we did - here's proof:





But, we also went shopping... We got the kids lots of souvenirs and Tim some organic Guatemalan coffee. But, for me? Yep, you guessed it:



Lots and lots of yarn! There were two fantastic shops in Victoria, but my favorite is the Beehive Wool Shop. It was full of the most wonderful hand-dyed and hand-painted yarns... I could have hung out there all weekend (as it was, I went twice!).

Anyway, it was a fantastic trip - so nice to hang out with my parents. And, Tim even remembered Valentine's Day. When I left to drive up to Seattle to catch the ferry, he slipped me a Butterfinger bar for the road (which I assumed was the only Valentine's gift I would get). But, when we checked into the hotel in BC, there was a huge bouquet of my favorite flowers waiting for us in the room.



And, somehow we even managed to get them through customs, so we continue to enjoy them at home.

I have to say, I must have one of the best husbands in the world.

Frivol-ous

My first major attempt at an intricate cabled hat. After slowly working on it many a late night, it is finally finished - cable grafting and all. Despite my pleas, the little munchkins kept interrupting me during that important grafting section (which had to be done in daylight hours, trust me). I have to admit I got a teensy bit short with them after the 3rd or 4th time. So, after much whispering amongst them, the totally cute kids put up a sign on the doorway to my knitting room that said “No Entry - Please be quiet. Angry mommy knitting. No disturbance.” Well, after that I didn’t get much done, because we were all laughing too hard…but I did finish it eventually. So, without further ado, here is Frivol (for you non-knitter types, that's actually the name of the pattern...)



I'm now working on writing a pattern for mittens to match the hat. I've test-knit the left one, but am not thrilled with it. The top just isn't right yet.



So, I'll continue to modify it as I knit the right one. (Of course, that does mean I will end up with mis-matched mittens, but who really looks all that closely, right?)