At it Again!

I love when I make something that is super cheep and REALLY,REALLY cute.  Now I just wish Silas needed another hat.  The pattern for this is surprisingly easy, and I knit it up in just a few hours. The yarn is just the cheap Michael's acrylic, so only cost me $4.00.  You can't beat that!  And Silas... well, I can't even begin to express how cute he is.

Find the pattern here and here. 

Sleeping Sick Baby

My house is a death house right now.  All three of my boys, Jared included, have been SICK, SICK, SICK! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I won't get the plague too, because it doesn't look like any fun. (Although maybe it would be a further excuse to knit more!) My little Si-guy has refused to sleep on his own, so I have either had to lie down with him, or let him cuddle with me on the couch until he falls asleep and then unwrap myself from him.  I can't get up, or he'll wake up, but I can knit next to him. 

Yesterday the need to vacuum finally outweighed my desire to knit, so I sneakily got up from Silas's side and started pushing the old hoover around.  Silas woke, so I passed him a balloon to pacify him for a moment, and in seconds this was his state.  

Oh, he's so stinking cute!  I love him. It's no fun being sick, especially when you can't describe what hurts. Thank heavens for breastfeeding, because he hasn't eaten anything to eat for three days, but he will still nurse, so I know he's okay!

Embracing my Inner Grandma

I know my endless knitting projects may not impress as much as I think they do, but the boys have been sick and so we've spent a lot of time sitting around, and so I've spent a lot of time knitting and crocheting. It's been quite lovely... except for the whole, being sick thing.

Anyway, like it or not, here's what I've been working on:


Let's start with this one.  A terrible picture, but a hat that actually fits a big person, instead of a little one!  And cables to boot.  The designer calls it Unoriginal, but I've never knit anything quite like it.  It's super cute (and if anyone has a birthday coming up....)

And then I moved back into the little person realm with this piggie bonnet.  Wish I had a newborn to try it on. I made the pattern up myself, including the pigs ears, which I spent far too long on. 

Then I made two of these, trying to make them the right size for a four year old. This one's called the Divine Hat, and it is just about that.

Oh, and then I made this one. It turned out way smaller than I planned, but it's pretty cute regardless.  I added three dangling pom-poms to the top, and it's even better now. 

Then there was this one, which I think necessitates a big brown and pink flower.

And I just finished this.  I'm not terribly fond of the colours, but it was a quick, easy knit, so I might just do it again smaller, with different yarn. As is expected, my favourite are the braids. I like earflaps and braids.  Here's a link to the pattern.

 And then, my absolute favourite so far.  I knit this one out of a ball of cheap variegated acrylic yarn that did not look good crocheted.  It turned out so ridiculously darling that I may have to go out and buy some more yarn and made a whole slough of them!   The pattern, Capucine, is really easy to follow, even for a beginner knitter, and I knit it up in one evening.  You can't beat that! In the tassels I added some of the extra dark purple from the Divine hat, and I think it makes it all the more wonderful. Maybe not the most practical of baby hats, but I love it none the less.

So there you have it.  I'll admit, I'm a total grandma, but I love it! And like I said, any birthdays coming up...

RENTED!

Today I miss facebook, because I have happy news that I would love to share, but have no way to do so without my symbolic housetop shouting.  So, you in blogland get to hear it:

WE RENTED THE HOUSE!!!

What does that mean?  Well, it means that on April 1 I won't be developing ulcers as I watch my bank account overdraft.  It also means that we can survive a little longer while Jared looks for the right job.  It also means that someone gets to enjoy our beautiful house!  I'm happy for them, and for us.  It's pretty much a win-win situation.

And it looks like we'll be living in the basement for another month...

He speaks!

For those of you dying for an update on the brilliance of our boy, Silas, let me quickly list for you his words, in order of appearance:

Uh-oh
Eli (Eeeeeee-eye)
Bumpa (Bum-baa)
Daddy (Dadeeeeee)
Bye-bye
Uh-huh

And, his ever present Uhh? which communicates so much for words he has yet to master.  I love this kid!

Here's a video of a few of his words, just as proof, but he's not much of a performer, so it's all you get. 

Broadening our Horizons

So, we've been Raw so long now, I can't even count the days.  We have fallen into a simple routine, and have a few recipes that we really love, and use regularly.  We are still feeling incredibly good, so we are carrying on.  However, like with everything in life, some days it feels hard to be so committed.  It's not necessarily the "Raw" food, but just food in general.  For the past two months I have prepared, from scratch, the vast majority of everything we have eaten.  But for a few splurges at the health food store, everything has to be made by hand, and often has to be planned a few days in advance. The lingering few boxes of macaroni in the cupboard have, some evenings, been very tempting (although, with no ketchup in the house I'm not sure if even that would be worth it).

But then, with a little effort we sit down to something like this, and it is just fine!

There is so much good about what you see there: tacos with sprouted quinoa tabbouleh and pineapple-broccoli salad. Delish!  And for a drink we had some fresh (and when I say fresh, I mean I opened the coconut myself) coconut water.  I would love to pontificate on the wonders of coconut water, but you should just look it up yourself.  It's incredible!

Those of you with scrutinizing eyes may notice the white creamy stuff on the tacos, and wonder what's becoming of the Wiebes.  Well, it is almost exactly what it looks like - it is freshly home-made yogurt! Oh, my domesticity just went up a few notches, didn't it?

I won't bore you with the details of the failed attempts at yogurt making, or tell you exactly what temperature I had to heat my farm-fresh raw milk to to make the yogurt.  No, I will just let you be impressed by my homemaking skills. Really, I'm well on my way to be dropped in the middle of this ad:

 They forgot to put "Make homemade yogurt and lettuce tacos with fake meat" in there. Strange.

Anyway, the yogurt is delicious, and almost worth "cheating" a little.  We are trying to discover exactly where we want to be on the whole Raw Food spectrum.  I have yet to miss real meat, but I do crave breads every now and then.  I feel really good about the raw milk, even though true raw foodists are vegan, but I have yet to have cheese, even though that's raw too.  And the yogurt is an easy way to whip up a snack for the boys.  We're just figuring it out as we go, deciding what works for our family, in order for us to be as healthy as we can be.  It's an adventure, that's for sure. 

And for those of you who have asked for more on our raw food, stay tuned for the "day in the life..." post.  It's coming!

Eli's Chunk Hat

Every time my needles or hooks come out Eli asks when I will knit him a hat.  Poor boy, I make him try on all the hats I make, mostly for girls, and he never gets to keep any of them.  So, tonight I made him a hat of his own.  My favourite part is just the tiny bit of a point at the top.  Eli is getting to be too big for a full on gnome hat, but I sneaked in just a hint of cuteness into this otherwise very "boy" hat! The reason that Eli looks like he's just gotten in a school yard fight is because it's really late, but I really wanted to try the hat on him, so when he whimpered in bed a few minutes ago, instead of quickly getting him back to sleep I made him wake up and model it for me.  Even in his exhaustion he said, "I love it Mommy, especially that it's brown." I love him!

This pattern is ridiculously simple, but I find it nice to follow one, even so.  It could be made even simpler by just switching to a smaller hook and dcing the last few rows even.  But, I added a modified version of Rheatheylia's crocheted ribbing to tighten up the bottom.With a beautiful chunky yarn, this can be completed in just an hour or so. 

Eli's Chunk Hat

SIZE

Child

MATERIALS

Lang Yarns Maxi Tosca (55% Wool, 45% Acrylic; 100 yards per 50g ball) in colour 3989

Crochet Hook US J/6 mm

Tapestry needle

GAUGE

12 sts = 4"; 7 rounds = 4" in dc rounds. 

Use any size hook to obtain the gauge.

PATTERN NOTES
dc = double crochet

sc = single crochet

fpdc = front post double crochet

bpdc = back post double crochet

DIRECTIONS

Round 1: Using an adjustable ring, draw up 2 ch; 8 dc into loop; join with a slip st in first dc - 8 sts

Round 2: Ch 2, 2 dc in same st as joining, 2 dc in each dc in round; slip st in first dc - 16 sts
Round 3: Ch 2, dc in same st as joining, 2 dc in next dc, [dc in next dc, 2 dc in next dc] around; join - 24 sts
Round 4: Ch 2, dc in same st as joining, dc in next dc, 2 dc in next dc [dc in next 2 dc, 2 dc in next dc] around; join - 32 sts
Round 5: Ch 2, dc in same st as joining, dc in next 2 dc, 2 dc in next dc  [dc in next 3 dc, 2 dc in next dc] around; join - 40 sts

Round 6: Ch 2, dc in same st as joining, dc in next 3 dc, 2 dc in next dc  [dc in next 4 dc, 2 dc in next dc] around; join - 48 sts

Round 7: Ch 2, dc in same st as joining, dc in next 4 dc, 2 dc in next dc  [dc in next 5 dc, 2 dc in next dc] around; join - 56 sts

Round 8-11 - Ch 2, dc in same st as joining, dc around; join - 56 sts

Switch to Size 5.0 mm

Round 12- Ch 1, sc in same st as joining, sc around; join - 56 sts

Round 13 - Ch 2, dc in same st as joing, dc around; join - 56 sts

Round 14-15 - Ch 2, fpdc in first dc, bpdc in next dc, repeat around; join. Fasten off  - 56 sts

Weave in all ends.

Check my project out on Ravelry, or the pattern page here.