Counting down

We're counting down . . . our family has been been so busy with feeding Rosemary, planning and planting a garden, dance classes and rehearsals, soccer practices and tryouts that getting around to sitting down to write and post on my blog continuously got pushed aside to "tomorrow".  Today turned out to be "tomorrow" finally and I'm forcing myself to get back into the habit and being here more often, because there is just too many great things happening that I want to share!



In between all the family happenings, I have fitted a little knitting in here and there.  This diaper cover pattern, "Vanilla" has been sitting in my ravelry favorites for some time now as has this new bootie pattern I wanted to try from Bernat.





And since then, I must say there are 3 other knitting projects still sitting on my needles, the list keeps getting longer.  This sweater which has been a little more challenging for me than I would ever have thought and another attempt at a kicking bag.  The last one didn't get finished and got frogged several years ago.





And that's not all!!  Oh, no no.  There is also some quilts being worked up in my head of mine that will hopefully find their way out and on to my sewing machine . . . soon.



The knitted baby blanket, my favorite, was finished a while ago and I decided to save it for our newest baby and has been patiently waiting with the rest of us until his arrival.  I feel so lucky to have been able to find the exact yarn and colorway "sand" that had been discontinued.  But thanks to ravelry and its yarn search option, I was able to find generous knitters who had some Blue Sky's Alpaca in Sand in their stash!

So much still left to do!

this moment ::

Inspired by Soulemama's {This Moment}

{this moment} - a friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from my week. I want to pause and savor this moment.

Christmas Day News ::

This was perhaps the most wonderful Christmas we have ever shared together. For a few short days, everyone was well, and we really enjoyed being together, all-together as a family. Saying that, we got a bit of news on Christmas Day. News that everyone close to us has been waiting months to hear.

Some of our family and friends already know, but for those who don’t we are expecting our next baby in May. We found out we were pregnant with Rosemary on Christmas Day three years ago, so this is a special “baby knowing” day for me. This will mark our 5th child. We’ve only found out the gender with one other child, Elise – our 3rd child. A few weeks ago, Daniel and I went in for an 18 week Level 2 ultrasound. Upon getting the word that our child was healthy and apparently happy in the womb, they gladly made a special note for us all, yes even me, of the gender for us to open on Christmas Day. So early on Christmas morning, 6:30am to be exact, I opened this letter that Santa so promptly placed in my stocking the night before. With my heart racing as I opened the sealed envelope, it revealed our fate that there would be a new baby boy coming in May. A boy! We’ve had 3 girls in a row so to have a 2nd boy as the youngest thrilled us all to no end. A boy! We are so, so , very excited!! What a wonderful day it was indeed!!!

this week I’m grateful for ::

:: my son beginning to study music, will be taking violin lessons this Fall





:: Lena practicing using her doll sling before new baby comes





:: water play outside; splashing down the slide into the pool; and reminiscing how as I child I did the very same thing with our swingset slide and pool!



:: tummy growth



:: cooking with fresh herbs cut from my garden {how I love walking outside late in the afternoon to snip fresh herbs!}



:: sewing space once again evolving back into a clean and neat dining room {and new sewing space still evolving elsewhere}

I would love to hear what you are grateful for this week!!!

This week I'm loving ::

Shopping for birth supplies ::

This time of year, you mostly hear talk of buying back to school supplies, but for our family, one of our evenings out this week was spent gathering a long list of birth supplies. It seemed oh so familiar and I enjoyed every minute of it!

I so love that there are some unusual items on the list like 3-4 oz ground cloves, box of sea salt, garden hose, bendable straws . . . that aren’t so . . . well personal. It makes the shopping trip fun and creative, and I was so grateful it was all led by my husband who is making sure our nest is built in plenty of time for this baby’s arrival. I have a long list of to-do’s but this much needed outing allowed us to check one more to-do off the list . . .





Mini-cable knitting ::



A new personally autographed book ::

Oh how I've waited for months for this to arrive!! And to my surprise it arrived on Saturday before the publishing date. I have been pouring over the pages ever since. It's full of so many ideas on repurposing, I hardly know where to begin . . .

A shawl for a midwife ~

For eight years I have been searching for something to make {by hand} for my midwife. When I saw the pattern and yarn for this shawl, I knew this was the perfect project.

It was just what I needed to sit quietly, I call it my "mindful" knitting project. I never worked on this while watching TV or riding in the car. I knit this at times when I could be alone and think about my midwife, the baby, hopes for the birth, to get centered on the near future and the love she has given me, and my family. She is a very dear soul, and I’m so blessed and grateful that she has been with me at each of my births, so blessed indeed.



Can I just say, that next to Koigu, Noro is my next favorite yarn. It made this knitting project so much fun, to see what visually was coming next. This yarn is self striping and the shawl pattern just walked me through how to get these great results! The colors are so magnificent and cheery, I thought this skein really shouted “fall” colors and since our baby will be here this fall, I thought, how appropriate!!

knitting for baby

From the first pair of these booties I knitted over a year ago, to countless pairs I have knitted since and given to new expectant moms, all I really ever wanted was to be able to knit a pair for me. After just finishing up and gifting two other pairs, I quickly knitted up this pair this week for our new baby to come in a few short months.

There are so many other things I want to make, its just these . . . they were high up on my list. I knitted them in Koigu (my favorite fingering weight yarn) and for those who are thinking of giving this pattern a try, may I suggest knitting the i-cord 16" instead of 14". I think it makes for an easier cord to tie.

our holiday weekend ~

We headed to the coast the middle of last week to celebrate the 4th. The morning we headed out for our 5 hour drive we had one child on an antibiotic and nebulizer, and albeit the time we arrived to our destination – 8 hours later - we had two on antibiotics with a trip to the doctor on the way.





With so much against us in the beginning , we managed in a great way!!! We started feeling better, little ones gained new courage in the water, they tried new rides and conquered new heights and speeds! . . .









. . . and I remembed just before packing to leave that I had a new skein of yarn I needed to wind for some knitting on the way home.

Yarn Therapy

Call me crazy, but I do find winding yarn therapeutic. It’s the way I get to know a skein of yarn, especially my very favorite yarn . . . Koigu. I love it, love it, love it! This week I bought two new skeins for a project my husband (aren’t I lucky to have a husband who is asking me to knit!!) has been asking me to do for sometime now and apparently my time is starting to run out, so any spare time I get will now be devoted to these two projects.





Now I'm off to knit!

Needle Gauge – FOUND!

I knew it would work . . . late Friday evening I was rummaging through a basket on my sewing shelf for a pattern and voila, what should appear. I shouldn’t have been so surprised right? Jonmichael and I had fun measuring the circular needles through the holes determining the sizes of the needles – turned out that sweater project couldn’t use any of them . . .



I spent the afternoon yesterday with my feet propped up, doing a little knitting . . . yep, on that sweater project!

the reality of things ~

This afternoon ~

My craft table hasn't been clean since I last posted a picture of my new spaces. This is normal for me, yet . . . it works for me so well and is a reflection of how many projects I can organize in my head (so I call it!) at one time. Now getting around to completing them all, that's a different story, we're still working on that!



I found myself doing a little knitting at the computer while reading through my favorite blogs. That's normal for me too, in fact, it seems I do most of my knitting standing up these days.

flour belly ~

Okay, my bread baking has officially started. If I make something twice in a row, I know it is more likely to become a habit in my kitchen, especially if I start seeing better results with each making. First time go round, I wasn’t too pleased with my efforts, but with the way my family reacted, I knew I had no choice but to make more bread to make them happy! Also, I really did want to become better at it. Last night was my 2nd attempt. I immediately saw that my dough was better, right off the bat, and I didn’t have to add as much flour while kneading as I did the first go round. I saw this bread being made on You Tube, you can find the video here. It was humorous, but it was what I needed, simple, to get me started. Once thing I changed this time, is when I made the dough sponge, I wisked it up a bit to make it frothy, I had read in The Bread Bible that it would make the bread lighter. But all in all, this really is a simple bread recipe.



Dough Sponge
1/3 cup flour
1 ½ cups hot tap water
1 packet yeast
1 teaspoon sugar or honey

Wisk and sit 10-15 minutes (or while you tuck the kids into bed like I did)

Mix in:
1 teaspoon salt
1-2 teaspoons oil
3 cups flour gradually

Mix together in bowl until dough is sticky and stingy
Take and knead on floured surface 8-10 minutes

Once you have a nice, smooth, springy mass of dough, oil bowl and place dough in bowl.
Let rise 1-2 hours or until doubled.
Stick finger in, should leave hole when it’s ready.

Cut in ½, knead loosely and shape into elongated shapes.

Bake 20-30 minutes on 350. Let cool 10 minutes.

tonight ~

I found myself in my evening rounds tucking kids into bed, picking up around the house, sitting very minimally, and walking around with this skein of yarn tucked under one arm and hands free ever so often to knit and purl 5 stitches or so and it felt good. It also reminded me of having my hands full once again and still being able to get around and do what needed to be done {confidently!}. I stopped in our room for a moment to look at a picture I have of the oldest two meeting our youngest for the first time, sweet moments, and looking forward to more new family pictures being made, our three getting aquainted with a new sibling, and knitting for someone we don’t quite know yet, but dream about how wonderful life will be when we meet him or her.

a treat {tweet} for my tea ~

Here's a little birthday present that arrived in the mail, one that I've been waiting for just the right time to get, and something special to drink my *tea in.

My herbal tonic tea has a new tweet (treat!). It’s the funny bird pattern tea cup handmade by Linda at Little Flower Designs. Check out her site, looks like she will be having some one of a kinds coming out in May. I can’t wait! For the tea, it’s the pregnancy herbal tonic tea from Blessed Herbs. My midwife has had me drinking this for years now. The tea doesn’t come with directions, but if interested, boil 2 quarts of water. Add ¾ - 1 cup of the loose tea to the pot, take off the heat, cover and let infuse a minimum of 4 hours. Drain into pitcher and dilute to 1 gallon and refridgerate. It gives your baby and body great nutrition.

Hello little birdie!

A baby sweater ~

With each of our 3 children, I found myself sewing frantically in those last few weeks of the pregnancy, making something special for them. For our first I sewed cushions for our wooden rocking chair, using my Grandmother’s Domestic pedal sewing machine. Using no pattern, I simply cut and measured a cushion from cushy foam and cut and sewed material to cover it. With Lena and Elise I sewed drawstring gowns for them to wear after their births using a pattern for the first time. Noticing with each baby, my sewing skills would grow and I began to try making new things. Assuredly, there was always a great need for me to “make” something.

With this baby that I am carrying, I started wanting to make something a little earlier and with having learned newer skills since our last was born I really wanted to knit this new baby a sweater. I had this pattern and yarn picked out months before we found out we were expecting, so that first day – on Christmas Day to be exact, I happily cast on and starting knitting this sweater. I love the softness and the neutral colors {I used a light green even though it is showing up as blue in the picture} in this aran weight yarn. I knitted a size 3-6 months since this baby is due early Sept while it’s still hot, that way it will be waiting to be worn when cooler temperatures hit early Winter.

Today I’m 36 ~

Here I sit, pregnant with our 4th child and I am amazed just thinking about where my life has led me up to this year. 15 years ago, I would have never been able to come close at guessing what my life would be like today. I’m still truly amazed at where God’s path has led me, choices I’ve made, and the blessings that have come. I’m very grateful for my life, all 36 years. WOW ! 36?!

Black Bean Salsa ~

Needing a healthy snack/lunch packed with lots of protein {I’m suppose to get nearly 70grams of protein daily while pregnant}, I made a black bean salsa on Sunday that was so tasty and fun to eat.

1 can of black beans drained and rinsed
1 can of corn drained and rinsed
1-2 roma tomatoes diced
¼ cup red onion diced
¼ cup freshed squeezed lime juice
1 tsp cumin powder.

I served this with Blue Corn chips and it was so fresh tasting and delicious!!!!

This will be my summer staple for sure!!