Sheepshearing Festival

On Saturday, the boys and I went to Walthams Sheepshearing Festival. The whole family was supposed to go, but Little Girl got a tummy bug. So, the boys and I had some Mommy/Son time.

We saw alpaca, (aren't they cute?)

And llamas,

And horses,

Little boy was particularly enamored by the horses, and spent a lot of time hanging on the fence just staring at them. We went back at least three times.

There were only a few fiber vendors, and I resisted the urge to buy anything. I'm not technically on a yarn diet, but I know I don't really need any yarn right now. I did buy some pretty smelling soap and some local honey (did you know local honey can help with seasonal allergies? We're hoping it will help Big boy.) The weather was beautiful, the boys enjoyed themselves, and we had a great time!

Little girl, however, is very sad that she missed the sheep. So, we've decided to go the NH Sheep and Wool Festival next month. It's a nice day trip and there are a lot more animals. But, the yarn resisting may be downright impossible. I'll try to go with a few one skein projects in mind.....

Happy Knitting!

Little Boy is 4!

Yesterday, Little Boy turned 4 years old. His favorite thing to do these days is wear his Batman Halloween Costume, and pretend to be Bruce Wayne/Batman. He's watched the old Adam West series with his Dad, and just loves to fight the bad guys. So, I made him a Batman cake. I think it turned out pretty nice.

I'm so proud of my big 4 year old. He has this wonderful imagination that shows in his play. He's very into how things work and putting things together. He wakes up with a bundle of energy - little boy hits the ground running and doesn't stop until nap and bedtime. And, he's incredibly sweet. We feel so blessed to have a boy so full of life and personality!

I haven't posted knitting pictures in a while, but I am knitting away every day. I'm finished with the lace bottom of the Lelah tank top, and have to figure out how I'm going to do the top. I have some ideas, but have to write the shaping down for myself. I've also started a pair of socks to give my brother for Christmas. That's been my out-and-about project.

And of course, I'm still working on Gail. I can't tell you how much I'm enjoying knitting up this shawl. The yarn is such gorgeous colors, and making each stitch just makes me happy. The purl sides are getting longer and longer though. I finished the 8th repeat last night. I'm thinking I need to do 11 or 12 repeats, but I'm sure if I'll have enough yarn. I promise to post pictures soon.

Tomorrow, we're going to the Sheepshearing Festival at Gore Place. We haven't been, but it's only about 20 minutes from our house and it looks like there will be lots of enjoyable things for the kids to do and see. I'm looking forward to another fun, family day.

Happy knitting!

Yarn Contest

Lost City Knits is giving away a skein of laceweight or cobweb weight yarn to one lucky winner in the color scheme "On a Clear Day."

On a clear day, I would love to sit in the sunshine, amongst some flowers, and enjoy some quiet reading and knitting time. Which really means, someone else will be somewhere else with my children. I love them, but they're not exactly quiet. :)

We've had a really great few days around here though. My parents visited us for the weekend, and we visited the Boott Cotton Mills in Lowell. The kids handled the musuem really well, and we even got to ride in a trolley! Yesterday, we went to the beach and played in the sand. I even dug up some clams! (I returned them to the sea, because I'm not really sure what the rules/regulations are for clamming in these parts. Or in any parts, really.)

I've been working on the Lelah top, and hope to be finished with the bottom section tonight. I should post pictures of something, but the kids are calling me outside.

Happy knitting!

Princess Cruise

Hey - if you're in the Boston area and have a little princess, you can win a Princess Luncheon Cruise on the Spirit of Boston for Saturday, April 24th. Check out easypeasyblog.com for details!

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again

Ways to go from this:

To this:

1. Join a KAL for Lelah with the beginning lace knitters group on Ravelry, despite having other plans for April knitting. Decide to join along because I'm basically absent from this group, but I don't want to be. And because my new year's resolution was to knit more for myself, and Lelah is in my queue. And I'm knitting it in Cotton TLC, so it's pretty darn inexpensive.

2. Measure and calculate according to the directions.

3. Cast on 220 stitches, knit the first round and discover you have one extra stitch. Drop the extra stitch, and midway through the second round realize it wasn't an extra stitch, you just skipped a stitch in the pattern.

4. Frog and cast on 220 stitches again. Repeat step 3. Tell yourself you're an idiot, and pay extra careful attention to step 5.

5. Cast on 220 stitches, and VERY carefully, checking often, knit the first round.

6. Congratulate yourself on completing the first round, and keep on knitting.

7. Realize your first ball of yarn is almost gone, and yet you don't have much knitted. Worry a little bit, because you bought 4 balls of yarn, and you thought that was about one whole extra ball.

8. Go back to the pattern and your measurements. Begin to realize you made a big erro in your mathematical reasoning, and realize your shirt is about 10" too big around the hem.

9. Congratulate yourself for being a math genius, and then tell yourself you're pretty stupid for not catching this problem way earlier. Like, before you cast on the second or third time.

10. Frog again, and wind up yarn. Place project in bottom of current project bag until it learns to behave itself.

Impromptu Knitting Class

On Monday, I took Little Girl and Big Boy to karate. Big Boy has been going since September, and Little Girl is just starting. The classes are offered at our local Boys' and Girls' Club, and is INCREDIBLY priced. Big Boy really enjoys it, and it has done wonders for his self-confidence.

None of that has anything to do with this post, except to explain where I was.

Anyway, I was sitting on the gym floor during Little Girl's class, knitting away on a hat, when a little 9 year old girl ran across the floor, and slid to a halt right in front of me. "Wow!" she said, "Knitting! That's cool! How do you do that?" And so, I taught her how to knit. She's got the knit stitch down, but has a rough time with the purls. Next week, I'll try to bring her some yarn and needles she can keep.

The bigger question - how to convince the Boys' and Girls' Club they need a knitting instructor on staff?

Daddy Crafts

This year, my husband took charge of dyeing Easter eggs. Instead of hardboiling a dozen eggs, he poked a small hole in each end of the eggs, broke up the yolk, and then the kids used a straw to blow the egg out. I was a little nervous about the mess, but DH did a phenomenal job of keeping order.

We dyed the eggs with a regular Easter Egg dyeing kit from the grocery store, and after they were dried, we suspended them from the chandelier. Don't they look great?