Yarn Along

I am VERY happy to report that my February Lady Sweater is finished!! I sewed the buttons on, on Tuesday and it's done! I am so happy that both Ree & I will have Momma made sweaters for Easter. Better pictures of both sweaters next week. I'll make sure my husband gets some good pictures of both of us!

It's been quiet around here for the past few days & this probably will be my last post until after Easter. With cleaning & list making & watching my sister's kids today while she & her husband go close on their new house (yay! less then 10 minutes from me!) & final Easter dinner preparations & shopping for Easter dinner & entering into the last few days of Holy Week I can't see much time for the computer. Regularly scheduled blogging starts again next week!

I hope everyone has a blessed, holy Easter!

Yarn Along

 

Happy Spring! I'm ignoring the snow that is still outside from yesterday's storm and instead focusing on the brilliant sunshine that is streaming through my windows! Oh and the yellow of Ree's Easter Sweater!

I finished it over the weekend and I am so pleased (for the most part) with how it came out. Saturday morning I sat down and told Ree that I wasn't getting up until it was finished. She then proceeded to dance around me waiting. She picked out a butterfly button to use instead of the ties that the pattern calls for. As soon as the last end was woven in she put it on and declared it "absolutely beautiful." I wanted to get some pictures of her in it but she didn't want any of that. 

I really liked the pattern. Very easy to follow and it's so pretty with the lace detail. I didn't care for the two ties to hold it together that it called for, so instead I knit a short i-chord and made a button loop. The only thing I would change would be the yarn. It's Bernat baby & I think for now on I will stick with making just baby things with it. It makes the sweater very heavy & doesn't hold shape that great for a moving 3 year old. But she loves, it looks great on her, and I really do think she'll need a sweater this year for Easter! March is turning out a lot colder then I had been hoping for!

End of Winter Daybook

**Noticing God's glory

There have been some really pretty sunrises & sunsets lately. 

**Listening to

Quiet right now. Ree got tons of new stickers, markers & paper yesterday. She has it all spread out in the living room & is creating. She's so busy she's not even chattering!

**Reading these books with Ree

Still all the Saint Patrick's Day books. But those will go back this week. I have a pile of spring books to start this week.

**Thinking & thinking

Still Easter. And Holy Week. And getting outside and starting this year's garden!

**Creating by hand

Ree's Easter sweater is FINISHED!! Pictures on Wednesday. I just have to hem & do the button holes on her Easter dress. And I'm half done with the second sleeve on my Easter sweater. 

**Encouraging learning

Art & nature right now. With the gift of all the art supplies yesterday we have art covered for awhile! And we've been working on Amy's {Art Together} series. We tried starting observing nature last week by taking a walk around the yard. It was way too cold & windy to stay out for long though!

**keeping house

Spring cleaning of the second floor was finished last week! Now it's onto working on the first floor. We're supposed to get winter weather tomorrow. A good day to wash curtains I think.

**crafting in the kitchen

This weekend Ree & I made green shamrock sugar cookies; chocolate cake with green frosting, and Irish Soda bread. Tonight is leftovers. Tomorrow in honor of St. Joseph's day I'll make either meatballs & spaghetti or American chop suey. I haven't decided which yet.

**loving the moments

Watching Ree play with her little friends. It's so cute to listen to their conversations!

**living the liturgy

A busy day tomorrow. The Feast of St. Joseph & the installation of Pope Francis. I have things planned for both of them. We'll be busy tomorrow! I also need to start putting together the things I would like to do with Ree next week for Holy Week.

**planning for the week ahead

We've got spring coming on Wednesday but a winter storm tomorrow. We'll still read our spring time books & hope spring really arrives soon! We'll do some more spring cleaning. I just found 2 free admission tickets to the local children's museum that expire the end of the month. Hopefully we'll get there Thursday or Friday. 

Weekending

A busy Saint Patrick's Day weekend is in progress!

Saturday was baking cookies & a cake. Shopping for canned goods to donate to church's annual big Lenten food drive. Finishing an Easter sweater (yay!) Going to Church last night instead of this morning. 

Today is a slow morning. Enjoying the sunrise & the shadows it brings. I've planned out crafts & activities for St. Joseph's Day & Holy Week. I'll be baking some Irish soda bread in a bit. Later on is a parade (Ree's first!); dressing all in green; visiting at my sister-in-laws. 

I'm enjoying celebrating these minor holidays. Ree gets so excited! My mom always made a big deal out of the small holiday's that pop up throughout the year & I'm glad to carry on the tradition with Ree!

I hope everyone's weekend was fun & you do a little something with green in it today!

{Art Together} Looking Closely

I was very excited when Amy announced a few weeks ago she was going to begin a new series, {Art Together}. 

Ree loves to craft, & draw, & color. Recently she's been asking me to draw with her. I kept saying no because "I don't know how to draw." As I got thinking about it, I probably shouldn't use that phrase with her. I don't want HER to think that she can't do it, or down the road if there is something that she wants to do but doesn't think she's "good enough" at that, she shouldn't do it.

And then Amy posted about her plans & it was like she was in my head telling me that even if I think I can't draw, I CAN still do "art". And what better way to teach Ree how to do it then by doing it with her. We are a week behind Amy's prompts.  

I’ve come to think that the true value in drawing isn’t the image itself, it’s that a drawing practice teaches you to really look at something....the sketch on the paper is only a small part of what you’re doing. The first part of drawing is looking—looking closely.

The above photo is from the Looking Closely prompt. The idea was to sit with a living thing & look at it & draw what you see. We began by talking about the color; what the flower was; Ree noticed that it was in a glass & that it wasn't open all the way yet. Then we got drawing.

Ree decided to draw it in pieces. She drew many petals (and some very good circles too!) Then she drew the stem. The lower picture is her take of the flower "put together". She wanted to put a little color on it but then decided she was done. I tried to draw what I saw. My favorite part was the coloring in! 

For right now we are doing our drawings on printer paper. I plan to put them all together in a binder. At the bottom of each paper I put the date we worked on them & what the prompt was.

I am looking forward to this spring, getting outside with a pencil, paper & a clipboard to sketch what we see. Not only will this help me draw with Ree, but I'm hoping it will help us both look closer at the world around us!

I'm really excited to get to the prompt from this past week, scribbling. Now THAT I'm not afraid to do!

Yarn Along

I finished the Puerperium sweater just in time to wrap up for the baby shower. The soon to be Mommy seemed to really like it! I am so pleased with how it came out! My February Lady Sweater is really coming along too. I finished that sleeve up there. So now it's just the 2nd sleeve & putting on the buttons. I put it aside for a bit as I REALLY need to finish Ree's sweater to take Easter pictures.

I had meant to get this post up this morning but Ree was up very early. Then she wanted to draw. We needed to get to story time and do errands as well. THEN the day was so beautiful (a little windy but it was SUNNY and warmish) so we spent quite a bit of time outside. It was wonderful. All that fresh air made Ree ready for a nap. While she was napping I cut out & sewed about 3/4 of her Easter dress! 

I was just getting ready to sit down to write up my Yarn Along post when I turned the news on and saw that there was white smoke from the Vatican. I was very surprised by my reaction. I was filled with excitement and joy at the news that we had a new Pope. I know these past few weeks have brought out pain in some, and made some people lash out at the Church. I have no problem saying that there are problems in the Church and I have come to terms with my own feelings on some of it's teachings. But when it comes down to it I do love the Church & my faith and put hope in the future. The traditions and beauty that encompasses the faith lift me up. To me Pope Francis seems like a gentle, humble man and I pray for him that he can heal some of the wounds and guide us towards the teachings of Jesus. 

I won't always wax philosophical but I started the blog to share the joys in my life and what makes me happy. I have to say this new Pope fills me with joy for the future! The Holy Spirit has filled me with a feeling of renewal not just for the Church but for my own spiritual life! And today this is making me very happy! (Along with the progress I've made on the Easter sweaters & Ree's Easter dress!)

Daybook

**Noticing God's glory

I hate the time change. But I really am looking forward to longer days. Ree & I will be able to get outside after rest time, before dinner time. I really can't wait until we can eat outside!

**listening to

Ree's chatter. There are times when I crave quiet but I really do love that she wants to share everything about her little life with me.

**Reading these books with Ree

The Night before Saint Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day Alphabet

The story of the Leprechaun 

**thinking & thinking

Easter! We host Easter dinner so I REALLY need to start planning!

**creating by hand

Easter sweaters! Ree's hasn't had any progress since last week. Mine almost has one complete sleeve. I am confident they will be finished in time! I had problems lining up the pattern for Ree's Easter dress on the fabric. My mom helped me so now I am all set to cut it out and get sewing.

**encouraging learning

This weekend we went and found some really cute alphabet cards. Ree can learn the letters & it's a "go fish" game too. I'm also sitting putting together a fairy/garden rabbit trail using Elizabeth's post about fairy's. This will go along with this year's vegetable garden.

**keeping house

Spring cleaning has begun. So far I've cleaned out Ree's summer clothes. Worked some more on the never ending task of organizing her toys; and scrubbed the inside of the microwave.

**crafting in the kitchen

St. Patrick's day. Ree wants to make shamrock cookies; I think I'll make a green cake for this weekend's St. Patrick's dinner.

**loving the moments

When Ree begs to go to the craft store "just to look around Momma".

**living the liturgy

Celebrating the Feast of St. Patrick all week long pretty much. Praying for a new Pope. I probably should plan a little something for the Feast of St. Joseph next week too.

**planning for the week ahead

Hoping to get one of our sweaters finished. Getting some of Ree's Easter dress sewn. And putting a bigger dent in the spring cleaning.

Weekending

One of the highlights of my weekend was waking up to gorgeous sunlight coming in the windows Saturday morning. After almost a week of no sun I was thrilled & went around the house taking pictures!

I then settled into my chair with my morning coffee, prayer book & knitting before Ree woke up. After that it's been go, go, go all weekend!

We went to a local bookstore that had a big story time for Read Across America. Her little friend whom we haven't seen in a few weeks was there as well so she was thrilled. After story time the little one's played with the legos and train set while us Momma's caught up. 

It was lunch time when we left & the sun was still shinning & even though it was windy, the wind had the whisper that spring is coming. We didn't want to be in the house for the afternoon so once Ree's daddy got home from work we went out for the afternoon. We hit Lakeshore Learning (LOVE that store) and all the craft store's around. A very nice way to spend an afternoon!

Afterwards we grabbed a gift card & went out for a family supper. We haven't ate out in a LONG time so it was a great night. 

Today was our usual Sunday routine; in just a little bit I'll be leaving to attend a baby shower. Ree & her daddy have plans to stay home and do some adventurous stuff. I can't wait to find out what it was when I get home! After that onto our weekly dinner at my sister-in-laws. 

It has felt nice to get out & do some fun things this weekend. It feels like we've been cooped up in the house way too long this winter. While I do love our slow days in the house, I'm ready for a little bit of a change!

Winter's Long Good-bye

Winter heard that spring is only 12 days away. I think it thought that we here in New England would miss it. So we've had snow for 2 days so far. And it's STILL snowing. Granted it's not sticking to the roads & only a little bit on the grass, but still. Enough is enough! 

For the past two days Ree & I have tried to enjoy the being inside while it snows out. We've knit (look at that progress on my February Lady Sweater!!) played legos; read books; watched all 4 Tinkerbell movies (spread out over 4 days though!); baked cookies; played buttons; made fairy houses; and dreamed about the days when we'll be able to get outside and have fun! It has been SO windy that we haven't gone out in the snow. We did try but as soon as she stepped out the door, the wind took Ree's breath away & she ended up crying that she needed to go in because the wind hurt her.

I moved the daffodils to the window near the sink & the cheeryness of them against the falling snow outside is reminding me that very, very soon I'll be able to open the windows to the fresh air of spring!

Now it's back to my chair & my knitting & my tea. I'm going to go enjoy the rest of winter's good-bye!

Needle & Thread

Now that I've gotten most of the craft room cleaned & (semi) organized, Ree & I have been spending quite a bit of time up there. It's nice to have a spot to do our crafts & leave them out if we aren't finished with them but want to do other things (like cook dinner).

I have a baby shower to attend this coming weekend & pinned this cute owl taggie tutorial on Pinterest quite some time ago. Along with the sweater I'm knitting &  a few pairs of baby booties I made awhile ago, this little cutie will be given to the soon to be baby girl. 

I had a heck of a time making this. I don't think it SHOULD have been as hard as it was but I did have quite a bit of "help" from my little helper. As soon as it was done it was worth it! I love it. I was so tempted to keep it "just in case" I need it someday for another little one. But I figure I'll just have to make another one. I know the expectant Momma will appreciate it. She sews too so will understand the time it took to make it! 

Also pictured is the fabric, buttons & pattern for Ree's Easter dress. We went to the big box store yesterday so she could pick out fabric. Oh my goodness. Give Ree fabric, tell her to pick some out & you will be there for a LONG time while she decides. I finally had to narrow it down for her. Out of all the one's that she "loved so much!" I picked 2 and had her choose. I think she chose well! Although she was very disappointed when the lady cut the fabric but it wasn't her dress! Thank goodness for a snow storm today (hopefully the last!) Maybe I'll at least get it cut out!

While cleaning the craft room I went through the drawers of fabric I have. I have plenty of projects to keep me busy with my sewing machine. I have a feeling once I've finished knitting the 2 Easter sweaters I'll be doing more sewing then knitting for awhile. My fabric & machine is calling to me!

Yarn Along

An almost complete Easter sweater for Ree this week!! All it needs is the second arm and the border. And I need to figure out why that bottom piece keeps flipping up. I think I sewed the hem too tight. It will have to be fixed as it's driving me crazy!

Progress on the Easter sweater had to be halted because I began a puerperium sweater this weekend. This coming Sunday I have a baby shower to attend and I decided the new little one needed a hand knit sweater. It's working up quickly and I am sure I will have it done in time! I am going to make it short sleeved. It's for a baby who is due in May & who lives in Florida. With it being newborn size I know she won't wear it long but every baby needs a hand knit sweater!

Daybook

 

I find myself:

**Noticing God's glory

Spring is coming! I brought home a bunch of yellow daffodils from the store yesterday. The snow is melting. There are little plants growing at the nursery.

**listening to

At the moment, Ree is watching Octonauts. She's learning so much about the sea & sea creatures from this show. I even find it interesting & educational!

**clothing myself in

Jeans, blouse & one of my favorite sweaters.

**Reading these books with Ree

We have a whole bunch of books on Maple syrup from the library.

**thinking & thinking

of schedules; of spring cleaning; of the spring/summer garden. And I am ignoring the weather reports that are saying we could get snow on Wednesday.

 

**carefully cultivating rhythm

Last week we had a good balance of outside things & being at home. I noticed a big change in Ree's attitude because of it. I've also seriously cut back the amount of tv time. For both of us. We're working on the flow of our at home days & our errand/visiting days. But what we've started is working positively for all of us.

**creating by hand

Ree's Easter sweater only needs a sleeve & the border and it's finished! But I put that down this week. I've got a baby shower to go to this coming weekend so I've been working on a baby sweater & baby taggie. 

**encouraging learning

Books, books & books! All the sudden Ree loves to "play" library. It's so cute to watch her be the story time lady, reading to all her dolls & animals; then coming up with a craft to do with them, then "helping" them check the books out!

**keeping house

I've got a loose housekeeping schedule in place. I've assigned each day of the week a room to clean. I decided to start this week & am already behind in my kitchen cleaning! But it's a loose plan. I've also made a big spring cleaning list that I'm hoping to begin this week.

**crafting in the kitchen

This week is our parish mission so all suppers until Thursday will be quick. 

**loving the moments

When Ree wants to call my mom on the phone. I love listening & watching her as she talks. Her mannerisms are hilarious. I'm thinking I must do some of the same things when I'm on the phone!

**giving thanks

For flowers. I really need the color back in nature!

**living the liturgy

Joining the Church in prayer for our cardinals. That a worthy new Pope will be chosen soon. Planning St. Patrick's Day crafts with a little girl who loves "Shamrock Day". Our Parish Mission begins tonight, preached by the retired Pastor of my home parish. I'm very excited!

**planning for the week ahead

I really want to get a start on spring cleaning; lots of knitting; and I am excited to see what the next installment is for Amy's new blog series, Art Together. 

Weekending

The weekend started out by going through all the seed catalogs and making lists for this year's garden! 

Ree & I went to a Read Across America event at our local mall yesterday morning. There were local "celebrity" readers, craft stations, a free book table and the Cat in the Hat. There were also so many people. Ree got very overwhelmed with everyone & wanted to go home about a half hour after we got there.

The rest of the day was relaxing, knitting, watching a movie, and napping. We ordered pizza for supper & Ree and I made chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

Today will be Church, making dinner to bring visiting tonight, maybe stopping at local nursery, then relaxing at my sister-in-laws. I'm sure there will be some knitting in there too!

Joining Amanda and all the other Weekenders! 

March

March is most certainly coming in like a lamb here in Southern New England!

I took this picture just after 7 this morning. The first time in a VERY long time that we've seen the sun! I haven't been outside yet, but just looking out the window I can "see" that something has changed and spring is not too far away. That & the birds singing sound like spring is certainly coming! 

I hope everyone has a great weekend!