I knit something this week. A baby sweater and hat for a friend of a friend.
1st day of school and knitting too!
Posted in Elliana, Knitting, Random Thoughts on 08/30/2010 10:45 am by Dawn
Elliana started 1st grade 2 weeks ago. I just got around to taking off the pictures. Here are the best few. I can't believe how much she has grown up!
I knit something this week. A baby sweater and hat for a friend of a friend.
I knit something this week. A baby sweater and hat for a friend of a friend.
Saving my sanity and maybe dinner too!
Posted in Random Thoughts on 08/29/2010 06:31 pm by Dawn
I've been stuck in a rut lately with cooking food. I want meals that are easy, healthy and my kids will eat, with out costing me a ton of money.
It seems like lately I've been cycling through the same old meals. Its always grilled chicken, pork or fish with steamed veggies and a large salad. Its healthy but boring. I tend to stick to the things I am good at, I am not one of those people who can open a cook-book and make a meal plan, so when I heard that there was a system out there that did the thinking for me, I couldn't wait to give it a shot.
My friend Karen told me about E-Mealz.
So, whats so special about them? First of all there are several meal plans to choose from, regular, low carb, weight watchers, gluten free, and vegetarian. Something for almost everyone! And you can pick the grocery store you want as well for more savings using 'club cards' and coupons.. You get a new meal plan weekly, with each plan including a list with prices even. Its broken down by grocery store department to make shopping faster and easier.
I signed up on Thursday. Friday morning I printed out my lists and headed out to the store. The regular plan estimated my weekly meals would cost aprox 78.00 and I have to say it was pretty close. I went to King Soopers, and got everything on my list for 2 weeks worth of dinner meals. 14 separate meals, and I spent 115.00. Not bad!
Because we buy meat at Costco my total didn't include meat. I need to sit down and price it out to make sure, but I'm pretty sure its still fairly cheap doing it this way. I have a set budget per month for food and I didn't exceed that amount.
I couldn't believe how much food was in my pantry and fridge for 2 weeks. I feel like we got so much!
The real test of course is will the kids eat it? The menu had things on there we've never made. Luckily I don't have terribly picky kids and we don't have any allergies ( other than Jamie who is allergic to shellfish, so for the *shrimp* meals I will sub chicken)
First meal, regular plan. = Shepard's pie made with ground turkey, grape salad, and dinner rolls. The grape salad I was iffy on. In my opinion it was more of dessert dish for special occasions and not a dinner side dish and way too sweet, but everyone else liked it. The shepards pie called for instant mashed potatoes, but I don't buy those so I made home made. It was good, the kids really liked everything and gobbled it right up!
Second meal = hot polish sausage with onion and tomato relish served over cheesy grits, green beans and french bread. Grits! The whole time I was preparing dinner I kept saying to myself "the kids are never going to eat this" but you know? They did! And they liked it!! Wow. color me surprised!
Tonight calls for country fried steak, mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli and dinner rolls. Which I will be cooking in a few minutes. Because I have PCOS and insulin resistance I need to stick to lower carb foods or they wreck havoc on my body, moods, and blood sugar. I decided to give the "regular" meals a chance, but tonight switched my plan over to the low carb. There is too much bread, pasta and potatoes for me. Don't get me wrong, the food has been great! But lower carb is healthier for me, so we'll be using that list come next payday when I shop again :)
I'm excited about having a plan to follow that is easy to use, organized and tasty! At only $1.25 a week for the plan+ menus, its affordable and so far saving my sanity! Click the picture above to check them out, you can see a sample menu for each plan and if you use the coupon DAVE you can save $2.50 off the subscription plan. :)
It seems like lately I've been cycling through the same old meals. Its always grilled chicken, pork or fish with steamed veggies and a large salad. Its healthy but boring. I tend to stick to the things I am good at, I am not one of those people who can open a cook-book and make a meal plan, so when I heard that there was a system out there that did the thinking for me, I couldn't wait to give it a shot.
My friend Karen told me about E-Mealz.
So, whats so special about them? First of all there are several meal plans to choose from, regular, low carb, weight watchers, gluten free, and vegetarian. Something for almost everyone! And you can pick the grocery store you want as well for more savings using 'club cards' and coupons.. You get a new meal plan weekly, with each plan including a list with prices even. Its broken down by grocery store department to make shopping faster and easier.
I signed up on Thursday. Friday morning I printed out my lists and headed out to the store. The regular plan estimated my weekly meals would cost aprox 78.00 and I have to say it was pretty close. I went to King Soopers, and got everything on my list for 2 weeks worth of dinner meals. 14 separate meals, and I spent 115.00. Not bad!
Because we buy meat at Costco my total didn't include meat. I need to sit down and price it out to make sure, but I'm pretty sure its still fairly cheap doing it this way. I have a set budget per month for food and I didn't exceed that amount.
I couldn't believe how much food was in my pantry and fridge for 2 weeks. I feel like we got so much!
The real test of course is will the kids eat it? The menu had things on there we've never made. Luckily I don't have terribly picky kids and we don't have any allergies ( other than Jamie who is allergic to shellfish, so for the *shrimp* meals I will sub chicken)
First meal, regular plan. = Shepard's pie made with ground turkey, grape salad, and dinner rolls. The grape salad I was iffy on. In my opinion it was more of dessert dish for special occasions and not a dinner side dish and way too sweet, but everyone else liked it. The shepards pie called for instant mashed potatoes, but I don't buy those so I made home made. It was good, the kids really liked everything and gobbled it right up!
Second meal = hot polish sausage with onion and tomato relish served over cheesy grits, green beans and french bread. Grits! The whole time I was preparing dinner I kept saying to myself "the kids are never going to eat this" but you know? They did! And they liked it!! Wow. color me surprised!
Tonight calls for country fried steak, mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli and dinner rolls. Which I will be cooking in a few minutes. Because I have PCOS and insulin resistance I need to stick to lower carb foods or they wreck havoc on my body, moods, and blood sugar. I decided to give the "regular" meals a chance, but tonight switched my plan over to the low carb. There is too much bread, pasta and potatoes for me. Don't get me wrong, the food has been great! But lower carb is healthier for me, so we'll be using that list come next payday when I shop again :)
I'm excited about having a plan to follow that is easy to use, organized and tasty! At only $1.25 a week for the plan+ menus, its affordable and so far saving my sanity! Click the picture above to check them out, you can see a sample menu for each plan and if you use the coupon DAVE you can save $2.50 off the subscription plan. :)
20 questions because I can’t think of what to blog about today.
Posted in Random Thoughts on 08/28/2010 04:15 pm by Dawn
20 Questions
1. Explain what ended your last relationship? I woke up one day and realized that if I ever wanted myself and my two children to have a chance of a happy, abuse-free life we needed to leave. It was one of the hardest things I ever did.
2. When was the last time you shaved? hmmm, a few days ago probably. The hair on my head grows at warp speed, the hair on my body not so much.
3. What were you doing this morning at 8 a.m. sleeping in. I stayed up way too late last night watching True Blood.
4. What were you doing 15 minutes ago? Nursing Dashel and trying in vain to get him to go down for a nap.
5. Some things you are excited about? new school year starting, time to knit, spending quality time with my family, our new house and making it into a home, Halloween is coming- that is always fun.
6. What is your favorite flavor of JELL-O? Not a big jello fan.
7. Your prom night, what do you remember about it? I never went to prom.
8. Do you have any famous ancestors? Maybe! Depends on who you talk to in the family ;)
9. Last thing received in the mail? I only get bills or junk mail. Someone should send me something ;)
10. How many different beverages have you had today? water and unsweet iced green tea.
11. Do you ever leave messages on people’s answering machine? I hate to leave messages, I'd rather text.
12. Do you draw your name in the sand when you go to the beach? I live in a land locked state. No beaches here to visit.
13. Any plans for Friday night? My calendar says not yet!
14. Do you like what the ocean does to your hair? see 12.
15. Have you ever received one of those big tins of 3 different popcorns? Yes. But I can't say they are a favorite of mine. I do like to keep the tins and reuse those though.
16. Do you re-use towels after you shower? Heck, yeah. If I washed towels after every use, I’d have to do even more laundry than I already do, and there really aren’t enough hours in the day.
17. Describe your keychain(s)? It holds keys. Half of them I am not even sure what they are for.
18. Where do you keep your change? In my flying pig bank that my in laws gave me one year.
19. When was the last time you spoke in front of a large group of people? I don't. ever.
20. What kind of winter coat do you own? I hate coats. I try to avoid wearing them for as long as I can. But last winter I did score an awesome blue vintage coat at the thrift store. But I won't wear a coat unless it is getting close to single digits in temp.
1. Explain what ended your last relationship? I woke up one day and realized that if I ever wanted myself and my two children to have a chance of a happy, abuse-free life we needed to leave. It was one of the hardest things I ever did.
2. When was the last time you shaved? hmmm, a few days ago probably. The hair on my head grows at warp speed, the hair on my body not so much.
3. What were you doing this morning at 8 a.m. sleeping in. I stayed up way too late last night watching True Blood.
4. What were you doing 15 minutes ago? Nursing Dashel and trying in vain to get him to go down for a nap.
5. Some things you are excited about? new school year starting, time to knit, spending quality time with my family, our new house and making it into a home, Halloween is coming- that is always fun.
6. What is your favorite flavor of JELL-O? Not a big jello fan.
7. Your prom night, what do you remember about it? I never went to prom.
8. Do you have any famous ancestors? Maybe! Depends on who you talk to in the family ;)
9. Last thing received in the mail? I only get bills or junk mail. Someone should send me something ;)
10. How many different beverages have you had today? water and unsweet iced green tea.
11. Do you ever leave messages on people’s answering machine? I hate to leave messages, I'd rather text.
12. Do you draw your name in the sand when you go to the beach? I live in a land locked state. No beaches here to visit.
13. Any plans for Friday night? My calendar says not yet!
14. Do you like what the ocean does to your hair? see 12.
15. Have you ever received one of those big tins of 3 different popcorns? Yes. But I can't say they are a favorite of mine. I do like to keep the tins and reuse those though.
16. Do you re-use towels after you shower? Heck, yeah. If I washed towels after every use, I’d have to do even more laundry than I already do, and there really aren’t enough hours in the day.
17. Describe your keychain(s)? It holds keys. Half of them I am not even sure what they are for.
18. Where do you keep your change? In my flying pig bank that my in laws gave me one year.
19. When was the last time you spoke in front of a large group of people? I don't. ever.
20. What kind of winter coat do you own? I hate coats. I try to avoid wearing them for as long as I can. But last winter I did score an awesome blue vintage coat at the thrift store. But I won't wear a coat unless it is getting close to single digits in temp.
blazing hot poker sticks
Posted in Random Thoughts on 08/20/2010 12:56 pm by Dawn
My shift key gets stuck and only sometimes works, just so you know, i do know things should be capitalized!
I recently got poked by a poking stick on facebook by someone who reminded me that I haven't updated my blog since June. JUNE people!!!! ( hi Jeni! ) SO here is a condensed update.
- spent most of the summer bumming around the house. Daniel reactivated everyones World of Warcraft accounts and the kids spent a lot of time fighting over whos turn it was to play. Olivia and Jamie I mean, Ellie and Dash of course don't care.
- went camping for the 4th of July. Took lots of pictures, but have not even bothered to remove them from the camera yet.
- Dashel turned 2. He enjoyed his birthday party. Pics are on the camera.
- Olivia turned 16! I am the mother of a SIXTEEN year old! Pics of that are on the camera too.
- Strangely enough did not do much knitting this summer. Its been hot and bleh and knitting hasn't been a top priority. I need to get back into the swing of things since Christmas will be here sooner than we know.
- Finally got around to meeting a few neighbors. Ellie discovered some new friends. For the first time in a very long time I have young children knocking on my door at the earliest hour they can think of asking if my kids can come out and play. Thats neat. Ellies new friend lives directly behind us, I catch the two of them hopping the fence often. The mom is sweet and nice and we have a ton of things in common. Like we both have 4 kids, have been married and divorced and remarried, we both kind of obsess over things like organics, natural products and home birth! Her youngest was born at home too. Its nice to talk to someone and not be judged or looked at like a freak when you say things like " home birth, water birth, and midwives" :)
- Olivia chopped off all of her hair into a very short pixie cut. Its also bright purple. I love it. I think the cut really suits her and she looks so different. Every where we go I hear young children say "mommy did you see that girls hair???" LOL!
- School started this week. Ellie is in all day every day classes. 1st grade. We once again got a teacher we've had before. Jamies 1st grade teacher. I couldn't be happier. I know this teacher, how she teaches, interacts with the kids, and how loving and sweet she is towards each one. I know Ellie will flourish in her class and love her too!
- Dashels vocabulary is blooming. This kid is talking in complete conversations with us. Its really neat, and you can see the wheels turning in his head when you ask him questions. He thinks about what he wants to say and then says it perfectly. I love talking to him because he makes me laugh so much!
- Speaking of Dashel, nap time is over which means Moms computer time is over. Maybe next time I will have some pics uploaded :)
I recently got poked by a poking stick on facebook by someone who reminded me that I haven't updated my blog since June. JUNE people!!!! ( hi Jeni! ) SO here is a condensed update.
- spent most of the summer bumming around the house. Daniel reactivated everyones World of Warcraft accounts and the kids spent a lot of time fighting over whos turn it was to play. Olivia and Jamie I mean, Ellie and Dash of course don't care.
- went camping for the 4th of July. Took lots of pictures, but have not even bothered to remove them from the camera yet.
- Dashel turned 2. He enjoyed his birthday party. Pics are on the camera.
- Olivia turned 16! I am the mother of a SIXTEEN year old! Pics of that are on the camera too.
- Strangely enough did not do much knitting this summer. Its been hot and bleh and knitting hasn't been a top priority. I need to get back into the swing of things since Christmas will be here sooner than we know.
- Finally got around to meeting a few neighbors. Ellie discovered some new friends. For the first time in a very long time I have young children knocking on my door at the earliest hour they can think of asking if my kids can come out and play. Thats neat. Ellies new friend lives directly behind us, I catch the two of them hopping the fence often. The mom is sweet and nice and we have a ton of things in common. Like we both have 4 kids, have been married and divorced and remarried, we both kind of obsess over things like organics, natural products and home birth! Her youngest was born at home too. Its nice to talk to someone and not be judged or looked at like a freak when you say things like " home birth, water birth, and midwives" :)
- Olivia chopped off all of her hair into a very short pixie cut. Its also bright purple. I love it. I think the cut really suits her and she looks so different. Every where we go I hear young children say "mommy did you see that girls hair???" LOL!
- School started this week. Ellie is in all day every day classes. 1st grade. We once again got a teacher we've had before. Jamies 1st grade teacher. I couldn't be happier. I know this teacher, how she teaches, interacts with the kids, and how loving and sweet she is towards each one. I know Ellie will flourish in her class and love her too!
- Dashels vocabulary is blooming. This kid is talking in complete conversations with us. Its really neat, and you can see the wheels turning in his head when you ask him questions. He thinks about what he wants to say and then says it perfectly. I love talking to him because he makes me laugh so much!
- Speaking of Dashel, nap time is over which means Moms computer time is over. Maybe next time I will have some pics uploaded :)
Earwarmer Hat v2
Posted in Knitting on 06/22/2010 11:29 am by Dawn
I made Daniel a hat for his birthday. He picked out some yarn from my stash (that I had planned on making Dashel some pants with) but because I love my husband ever so much I let him have that yarn.
Here is hat number 1-
According to my photo log I took the picture in Oct of 2007. So its been a while. Recently Daniel wore the hat to change the oil in the car. He was under the car and somehow got motor oil on it. When I gasped in horror he said "what? it was crappy yarn anyway, right?"
Well first of all buck-o,I don't USE crappy yarn! And second of all that was a HAND KNIT hat, special gift, just for you! I don't GIVE my knittin to just anyone ya know! argh! SO I had to explain to him exactly how THAT yarn was actually quite expensive, hand dyed, from someone we just can't even afford to order from anymore! SO I was a lil sad and butt-hurt that he ruined the hat. He felt bad, but hey! Now he has a "work on the car in the cold hat" bleh.
Last weekend we went to the Estes Park Wool Market. Where you can get just about anything fiber and wool and knitting related. Daniel was eyeing some yarn at one booth so I caved and said "ok pick out something for a new hat" and I figured i'd make him a new replacement hat for Fathers Day. With STRICT instructions to never ever wear my hand knits under a freaking car again! HAH!
Here is the Ear Warmer hat v2. Which he won't even wear for a while since its summer, but its done and one less thing to make when everyone in this house is cold and bitching about how Mom never knits them anything :P
Here is hat number 1-
According to my photo log I took the picture in Oct of 2007. So its been a while. Recently Daniel wore the hat to change the oil in the car. He was under the car and somehow got motor oil on it. When I gasped in horror he said "what? it was crappy yarn anyway, right?"
Well first of all buck-o,I don't USE crappy yarn! And second of all that was a HAND KNIT hat, special gift, just for you! I don't GIVE my knittin to just anyone ya know! argh! SO I had to explain to him exactly how THAT yarn was actually quite expensive, hand dyed, from someone we just can't even afford to order from anymore! SO I was a lil sad and butt-hurt that he ruined the hat. He felt bad, but hey! Now he has a "work on the car in the cold hat" bleh.
Last weekend we went to the Estes Park Wool Market. Where you can get just about anything fiber and wool and knitting related. Daniel was eyeing some yarn at one booth so I caved and said "ok pick out something for a new hat" and I figured i'd make him a new replacement hat for Fathers Day. With STRICT instructions to never ever wear my hand knits under a freaking car again! HAH!
Here is the Ear Warmer hat v2. Which he won't even wear for a while since its summer, but its done and one less thing to make when everyone in this house is cold and bitching about how Mom never knits them anything :P
Posted in Random Thoughts on 06/19/2010 10:51 pm by Dawn
You ever have one of those days when you feel like you never get to take a moment to breathe and just relax? Yeah. I've had one of those MONTHS! It has been insane around here. The kids are all out of school on summer break, there is just so much crap that has to get done during the week that when the weekend comes and I think "oh great, time to relax" I find that we are running around doing even more crap!
Crap. Crap. Crap. Its my new favorite word. I probably say it a dozen or more times a day. I guess its better than that other word ;) Heres a lil recap... If you can't handle talk of dentists... and extractions... and OMGPAIN... don't click!
Read the rest of this entry »
Crap. Crap. Crap. Its my new favorite word. I probably say it a dozen or more times a day. I guess its better than that other word ;) Heres a lil recap... If you can't handle talk of dentists... and extractions... and OMGPAIN... don't click!
Read the rest of this entry »
Summer is here!
Posted in Dashel, Elliana, Random Thoughts on 06/07/2010 08:11 am by Dawn
Ellie went to a birthday party on Saturday and when I got there to pick her up the Mama of the birthday girl said to me "I think you might need to buy one of these!" I looked out into the back yard and there was my girl going nuts over the slip and slide. The other Mama said that she barely came off the thing to do cake/ice cream and presents. She wanted to slip and slide the entire time. It doesn't really surprise me, since Ellie is crazy about water and wants to be in it or around it all the time.
So since we had to go to the store after the party anyway I wandered over to the toy section and checked out the slip and slides. I remember them from my childhood being the "it" summer toy, but I personally never had one. When I begged my parents for one my dad took a big tarp, tossed it into the yard and hosed it down. "You want a slip and slide, theres yer slip and slide, have fun" heh. There were quite a few to choose from. Not just the single yellow lane that I remember. So we looked them over and then picked one similar to the one Ellie played with at the party. Three lanes and some lil raft things to slide on. We brought it home and Ellie went nuts. She was so happy! :)
Of course shes hardly come off the thing since we got it, and I'm fearing for my water bill this summer. I told Daniel we should shut off our auto sprinklers and just move this thing around the yard a couple times a day. No need to water. Ha!
Here are some pictures of the lil kids playing and even one of a much bigger kid playing ;)
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So since we had to go to the store after the party anyway I wandered over to the toy section and checked out the slip and slides. I remember them from my childhood being the "it" summer toy, but I personally never had one. When I begged my parents for one my dad took a big tarp, tossed it into the yard and hosed it down. "You want a slip and slide, theres yer slip and slide, have fun" heh. There were quite a few to choose from. Not just the single yellow lane that I remember. So we looked them over and then picked one similar to the one Ellie played with at the party. Three lanes and some lil raft things to slide on. We brought it home and Ellie went nuts. She was so happy! :)
Of course shes hardly come off the thing since we got it, and I'm fearing for my water bill this summer. I told Daniel we should shut off our auto sprinklers and just move this thing around the yard a couple times a day. No need to water. Ha!
Here are some pictures of the lil kids playing and even one of a much bigger kid playing ;)
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Too long, busy month!
Posted in Pregnancy and Birthing, Random Thoughts on 05/25/2010 08:06 pm by Dawn
Wow! I forgot I had a blog for a minute there. Wonder if anyone is even out there anymore!? :)
Crazy busy month!
This past weekend I attended the Colorado Midwives Association Spring Conference. That was super fun! I got to meet and listen to Ina May Gaskin talk about birth all weekend. Shes only like my second in line midwife hero you know. My first in line is my own dear sweet Midwife, Karen of course :)
The conference was very informative. I learned alot about the history of midwives, the history of birthing in the United States (twilight sleep anyone?) and just absorbed so much good info. I came home utterly exhausted and worn out, but in a good way.
Last night I helped a couple with the birth of their first baby. An adorable baby boy who just made my heart sing when I saw him. Lovely couple, great birth. My first one at our local hospital. I'd heard good things about Good Sam but had not yet attended a birth there. Looking forward to more one day :)
Now that I don't have any clients due to deliver, don't have anything pressing to attend, and the kids are out of school tomorrow I'm planning to lay around and be lazy for a bit, and then start on my huge pile of "required reading" for some of my studies. Fun times man!
Thats about as much of an update as I can handle now. Later!
Prom and a knit shrug too!
Posted in Knitting, Olivia on 04/29/2010 03:18 pm by Dawn
Olivia was invited to Prom this year by her boyfriend Marcus. Initially I wasn't thrilled with my lil girl going to Prom so soon, but after talking with Daniel we decided to let her go. We required a full "itinerary" of the evenings plans, who was going with them, where they'd be eating, when they arrived at prom, and when they were leaving, and a strict curfew with NO after prom events. She invited her friend A along with them, and I felt moderately better about that. In the end everything was fine. They went to dinner, went straight to the Prom, stayed until it was over and then came right home. She was even home before her curfew.
We spent quite some time looking for a dress for her to wear. I'm not one who is ok with spending hundreds of dollars on a dress she planned to wear once (after all, prom is not her wedding!) so we went to the local thrift store. Sister Carmens is a great place in a neighboring town. They have a thrift store that benefits the food bank next door. All of their clothing items are crazy cheap. We are talking 99c shoes, 25c kids clothing, 10c books etc. So we shop there often. I noticed during one of my treks into the store that they had a crapton of formal gowns for 5.00 a piece. So I took Olivia there one afternoon and she picked out 5 dresses to bring home. We figured for the price of the dresses we couldn't go wrong, and which ever ones she didn't wear to prom, she could save for the other formal dances her school has each year.
In the end she picked a lovely black gown that fit her nicely. She was worried about the weather and her arms being cold, and asked me to knit her a sweater or shawl to go over the dress. Since I had like a weeks notice that she wanted me to knit her something a sweater and even a shawl was out of the question. There just is no way I'd have enough time to finish something like that. So I got a lacy knits book from the library and let her browse through, she picked a knit shrug (half sweater) for me to make. We poked through my yarn stash and she didn't like anything I had in there. She wanted "white and sparkly" which I apparently do not own. So a trip to the local craft store produced two skeins of Wool Ease sparkle yarn. And I got to work knitting.
Started the shrug on a Tuesday morning, took it to playgroup and discovered that I was knitting the lace pattern wrong. Frogged the 4 inches I had knit and started over. Got about 6 inches done and Dashel decided my knitting was great fun and walked around the house with it. I spent 2 hours trying to untangle the mess he made and was quite upset. Once I got the yarn untangled, I realized that it was quite pilly and ugly looking now. So I ripped out the part I'd done and started over with the second skein. Worked on it pretty much non stop until Friday when I finally finished. Spent Saturday morning weaving in the ends and sewing it together. Finished with 2 hours till prom to spare.
Here are some pictures of Olivia and the shrug :)
We spent quite some time looking for a dress for her to wear. I'm not one who is ok with spending hundreds of dollars on a dress she planned to wear once (after all, prom is not her wedding!) so we went to the local thrift store. Sister Carmens is a great place in a neighboring town. They have a thrift store that benefits the food bank next door. All of their clothing items are crazy cheap. We are talking 99c shoes, 25c kids clothing, 10c books etc. So we shop there often. I noticed during one of my treks into the store that they had a crapton of formal gowns for 5.00 a piece. So I took Olivia there one afternoon and she picked out 5 dresses to bring home. We figured for the price of the dresses we couldn't go wrong, and which ever ones she didn't wear to prom, she could save for the other formal dances her school has each year.
In the end she picked a lovely black gown that fit her nicely. She was worried about the weather and her arms being cold, and asked me to knit her a sweater or shawl to go over the dress. Since I had like a weeks notice that she wanted me to knit her something a sweater and even a shawl was out of the question. There just is no way I'd have enough time to finish something like that. So I got a lacy knits book from the library and let her browse through, she picked a knit shrug (half sweater) for me to make. We poked through my yarn stash and she didn't like anything I had in there. She wanted "white and sparkly" which I apparently do not own. So a trip to the local craft store produced two skeins of Wool Ease sparkle yarn. And I got to work knitting.
Started the shrug on a Tuesday morning, took it to playgroup and discovered that I was knitting the lace pattern wrong. Frogged the 4 inches I had knit and started over. Got about 6 inches done and Dashel decided my knitting was great fun and walked around the house with it. I spent 2 hours trying to untangle the mess he made and was quite upset. Once I got the yarn untangled, I realized that it was quite pilly and ugly looking now. So I ripped out the part I'd done and started over with the second skein. Worked on it pretty much non stop until Friday when I finally finished. Spent Saturday morning weaving in the ends and sewing it together. Finished with 2 hours till prom to spare.
Here are some pictures of Olivia and the shrug :)
Ellianas Sweater
Posted in Knitting on 04/18/2010 12:27 pm by Dawn
I cast on for this sweater a few days after we moved into the rental, I was so sure I'd have it done during the 3 weeks we lived there waiting to move into our new house. Obviously that didn't happen :) During the time I was working on this sweater I also started and finished 3 new baby gifts, a replacement fish hat for my FIL and various other smaller projects. Anyway its done now. I made it slightly too big for her on purpose, knowing that she won't get much wear out of it this year but will get to wear it lots next year.
Onto the pictures!
Daisy Cardigan- www.mariegracedesigns.com/marie_grace/2007/05/daisy_cardi... Yarn- Debbie Mumm Traditions for Joanns Colorway- Heather Haze Needles- Size 8
Onto the pictures!
Daisy Cardigan- www.mariegracedesigns.com/marie_grace/2007/05/daisy_cardi... Yarn- Debbie Mumm Traditions for Joanns Colorway- Heather Haze Needles- Size 8