A Swap Just For Mama

Not very often do I get a chance to have a surprise from a complete stranger arrive in my mailbox full of amazing goodies just for me. So when I heard about the blog swap that Sweet Potato Claire was hosting I thought it would be so much fun to send a gift to a very deserving Mama somewhere here in Canada and to have a little something come back to me as well.

I couldn't have been more blessed by the package that I received today. As I opened it a wonderful aroma of lemon grass wafted out and inside the little polka dot pouch were three silver tins of healing salves and lotions. A lemongrass body butter, green tea healing hand salve and a lip balm. Each one made with organic oils and essential oils. Oh my how I needed the healing hand salve for my winter hands!

That wasn't all though. There was one more little package and inside were a wooly and warm pair of fingerless gloves. You know I have knitted similar gloves for my daughter, cousins and even my mom but I have never made any for myself so they are going to be well loved and used :)

Thank you so much Kim!! I am going to use every last drop of cream you gave me. You have truly blessed me with your thoughtful gift.

Being that no one knows who they are going to get their goodies from I think it is safe to share on here what I made for the lucky Mama that I got.

I have been a busy little girl sewing her a flirty apron...

and one of my favorite burlap market bags with a little coin pouch. I sure hope she likes it :)

Heard of any handmade swaps lately? I would love to know about them.

Hugs,
Rosina

Yarn Along ~ Playing around

A post of my current read and what is cast on my needles ~ Inspired by Ginny over at {Small Things}

I was hoping that I was going to have at least one completed Lepidoptera sock to share with you but when we went camping just after last weeks yarn along I forgot to bring my pattern! Oh I was so disappointed :(

Not for long though. I still had a ball of yarn and a bunch of needles so I just sort of played around trying out how to knit cables. I'm not sure if I was doing it correct but I definitely got the cabled effect that I had been hoping for and all was not lost as I sucked up the amazing scenery and lounged at our oceanside campground while the kids played in the water :)

For my book this week I had finished Eating Dirt which was sooo good and I spent the week perusing magazines and especially enjoying my new copy of the Living Crafts magazine. Hopefully next week I'll have something much more interesting to share with you *grin*.

Happy knitting!

Rosina

Yarn Along ~ Cowl Love

A post of my current read and what is cast on my needles ~ Inspired by Ginny over at {Small Things}

I'm a little late getting my yarn along posted this week but I couldn't pass up sharing how the cowl I was working on for my daughter turned out :)

This was seriously the easiest project to complete. It took me two evenings while watching tv to knit it up and I probably could have done it in one but I wanted to stretch it out a wee bit. If you can knit and yarn over then you've got this pattern licked with your eyes closed *grin*.

My daughter just loves it :)

The soft acrylic yarn I chose is perfect for snuggling her nose into without any itchies and it matches her winter coat perfectly. You can find that pattern and all the yarn details on my ravelry page here. I did not block it like the pattern indicates so it kept its wavy appearance and also definitely kept it tighter for fitting her small neck. I think I'm going to have to make one in turquoise for myself!

I forgot to snap a photo of the book we are reading right now so I just have links to share but we have just finished up the Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan for our homeschool book club and we all loved it. There is so much action and if your kids are into Egyptology they will thoroughly enjoy this book. This is the first book in the Kane Chronicles so we are looking forward to getting a copy of the second book from the library to find out what happens next :)

Hope you had fun knitting up a storm this week and I hope to get over to see just what you've got on your needles!

Hugs,
Rosina

Yarn Along ~ Cowl Licious

A post of my current read and what is cast on my needles ~ Inspired by Ginny over at {Small Things}

Here we are again for the weekly yarn along and I'm not sure what happened to my week! I know we weren't overly busy unless you count playing in the snow and flying kites as hustle bustle *grin*. Hubby was home for a couple of days though and that is always a joy since he is away for so much of the year working so that must have been it! I was in a cocoon of happiness with us all getting to be together *grin*.

I finished off the last little baby sock that I was knitting and I now have two completed pairs. There is still yarn left so I know I'll go back in a bit and knit up a couple more but I needed a break from those teeny tiny size 0 needles and something that was easy and needed minimal focus LOL.

You would think that with all the things I have faved in my ravelry queue it would be easy to pick something new but it was quite the opposite. I hummed and hawed, checked to see if I had needles that would work, sighed over my meager yarn stash and then fell in love again with this cowl. I had saved it planning to make it for my 8 year old daughter and then promptly forgot all about it *grin*.

It’s a one size fits all pattern but I’m using a larger 5.50mm bamboo circular needle and with the chunkier yarn I’m confident that this will fit her quite well. Plus I don’t plan on blocking it as I love the textured ripple of it as it is and it also helps to keep it on the smaller size :)

The chunky marble yarn by James C. Brett is gorgeous to the touch. It’s soft and squishy, 100% machine washable and I know my daughter is going to enjoy having it around her neck. Not at all itchy!

As for my book this week I actually haven't done a stitch of reading unless you count my lazy perusing of January's edition of the British Country Living magazine reading :) I just LOVE this magazine and all of the beautiful photos and articles.

I'm looking forward to seeing what you all are knitting this week!

Hugs,
Rosina

Yarn Along ~ Baby Socks

A post of my current read and what is cast on my needles ~ Inspired by Ginny over at {Small Things}

It seems like ages since I've joined in with Ginny's yarn along but then I haven't been doing to much knitting lately *grin*.

My sister is pregnant though and due to have a little boy around the end of April so I thought that I better get my knitting needles out again and get cracking on a few special baby gifts for her. I couldn't resist making another pair of the little Bambino socks that I made last year. In fact the adorable little pink and purple pair that I made the first time around were meant for her but now that we know it's going to be a boy I guess they just aren't going to do! So I picked up this lovely multi colored cotton sock yarn by Super Soxx and I'm halfway to having one pair finished :)

I know I raved about these socks the last time around but I've got to say it again that this pattern rocks. The toe and heel are worked in super easy 'short rows' and they just form the toe and heel cup so that there are no bulky seams when you finish off or anything.

For my book I'm reading The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua and it is HILARIOUS! I'm only a few chapters in so far but the mother is Chinese, born in America, but wants to raise her two daughters the Chinese way vs. the western way and the stories of music lesson practice and the battle of wills with her youngest daughter Lulu have me in fits of giggles as I read it because in some ways I see myself when my first son was born as I was very determined to raise the brightest, smartest and most achieving little boy possible. Over the years my parenting goals have changed tremendously but I can't help but find humor in the things that used to drive myself bonkers LOL. I'm really looking forwards to reading more of it :)

Hugs,
Rosina

Yarn Along ~ Lichen Kerchief

A post of my current read and what is cast on my needles ~ Inspired by Ginny over at {Small Things}

I've been pretty busy at my sewing machine the last couple of weeks so I'm so happy I finally have some more knitting to show you all after missing last week's yarn along :)

This pretty mauve cotton/linen blend yarn by Linsey has been in my stash but I hadn't used yet because it's more coarse and stiff than what I would usually knit with but I just love the color and while I was having a peak at what all my ravelry friends had hearted in the last little while I came across the Lichen Kerchief pattern that is perfect for my little girl :) You've got to LOVE ravelry!

I apologize for the dark photo of my knitting but I've been spending the last couple evenings knitting by the fire keeping nice and warm :) I just love to listen to it snap and crackle and its warmth is so welcome now that we have been freezing off and on outside at night. The kerchief has a neat little pattern of v-shapes interspersed throughout it using a simple twisted stitch and I think I'll probably get it finished up tonight and get the buttons on it sometime in the next couple of days so she can start using it. I'm in between books this week so no photo to share but I have a couple good ones, The China Study & Hunger Games, requested through the library so I hope they arrive soon :)

I can't wait to see how this kerchief fits and what you all have been knitting this week!

Hugs,
Rosina

Yarn Along ~ Bambino

A post of my current read and what is cast on my needles ~ Inspired by Ginny over at {Small Things}

I am so in love with this little baby sock pattern :)

I had to temporarily put down the baby sweater I was knitting as I'm missing the necessary circular needle for the next step so in the meantime I decided to use up the leftover yarn from the shawl I finished last week and make a pair of these adorable socks.

There's just something about sock knitting that is so darn addictive! For me it's when I get to the heel, working the rows and watching as the cup of the heel emerges. From that point on I just can't put down my needles as I can't wait to see how it all comes together *grin*. This particular sock had something new to me. The heel and toe were both constructed from the same identical 'short row' stitch pattern and then as the toe flipped up it was finished off with the coolest zig zag stitch of slipped knits and purls to create the finished seam across the toes in the above photo. There is absolutely no bulk inside the sock to bother delicate little baby tootsies *grin*.

The only tricky part I found was getting used to the little size 0 DPN's. Those suckers are tiny!! They flexed quite a bit as I knit and I was a little worried that I would snap them but it all worked out great and I've just about finished up the second sock so that I can go back to my little baby sweater for next week :) I'm still reading Deeply Rooted to. I just haven't had enough time to read this week and I'm dying to find out how it ends!

Can't wait to see what you all are knitting up this week :)

Hugs,
Rosina

Knitting Lace ~ Yarn Along

A post of my current read and what is cast on my needles ~ Inspired by Ginny over at {Small Things}

Let the fall knitting begin!
I'm so excited to join in with Ginny's yarn along again. With all of the chores that needed attention around here in the spring, sadly I had to put away my knitting needles but I've dusted them off and have cast on a little girl's shawl for my daughter :)

I've been dying to try knitting some lace and the Little House Shawl pattern looks like it's going to be just the right size to see if it is going to be difficult. I have to say though that so far this is EASY!! The hardest part was casting on the 395 stitches without loosing count *grin*.

Our homeschool year is in full swing and I think I've finally found a rhythm that works for me and all three of my children as my youngest has joined us for kindergarten this year and I just love his exuberance each morning as he begs to get started :) I'm using Oak Meadow with him and we have been enjoying reading the Waldorf Alphabet by Famke Zonneveld and starting our own alphabet book together. Oh how I love starting kindergarten all over again :)

Can't wait to catch up with all of you again and see what's on your needles this week!

Hugs,
Rosina

Yarn Along

A post of my current read and what is cast on my needles ~ Inspired by Ginny over at {Small Things}

Oh my goodness, I adore the ruffled bottom of this sweater!!

I'm making good progress and have knit about 8 1/2 inches from the ruffle up. The pattern actually says to only knit 7 inches of the ribbed stitch but from what I've read on other ravelry member's pages who have knit this before is that it runs a little on the small side and I want to make sure it fits.

I'm already knitting the largest size possible so I don't think making it a little bit longer will hurt :) I stretched out the stitches around her waist and it looks like once I block it when I'm done it will just fit perfectly. Definitely no time to dilly dally on this one or she'll outgrow it before I finish *grin*.

A few more inches and then the pattern changes to divide for the sleeves and shaping the neck and I've read ahead on the pattern and it looks a little greek to me! Cross your fingers that I'll be able to continue knitting along smoothly without to much difficulty :)

On the book front I have to admit I really haven't done much reading at all. We've read a few more chapters in the Little House in the Big Woods but there hasn't been much reading time for mama. I've been so slow with my reading that I actually had to return my copy of the Happiness Project back to the library as it was requested by someone else and I couldn't renew it :( It will be a couple of weeks now before I can get it back. Hopefully when it's my turn again I'll be a little speedier!

Happy knitting :)

Hugs,
Rosina

Yarn Along

A post of my current read and what is cast on my needles ~ Inspired by Ginny over at {Small Things}

I took the plunge and cast on my very first sweater :)
I'll admit I'm a little scared now that I have 288 stitches on my circular needle and the few rows that I've finished are like a drop in the bucket! *grin*.

I picked the Cowboy Butterfly Astronaut vest because I just couldn't resist the adorable ruffled bottom and sleeves and I'm using a beautifully soft acrylic this time called Marble Chunky by James C. Brett. My daughter plays hard and I wanted to have something that I could toss into the washing machine fairly regularly if need be and this should wash up beautifully without to much fuss :)

The photo is of the ruffled hem and then in a couple more rows it switches to the main color which L picked out and it's a really deep marbled purple. It's going to look quite striking against the soft pink ruffle.

I'm still reading The Happiness Project but have put it aside temporarily as I reread the Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder with my daughter. Oh how I love this book and am enjoying it tremendously :)

Looking forward to seeing what you're knitting this week!

Hugs,
Rosina

Yarn Along

A post of my current read and what is cast on my needles ~ Inspired by Ginny over at {Small Things}

Oh my goodness, I love this guy!!

I promised I'd share more about my little mouse gobbling snake I made for my little guy and here he is :) I was searching for the perfect gift for the perfect little boy project when I found the Sleepy Snake and Mischievous Mouse pattern. I was smitten with it immediately *grin*. The photo was enough to make me want one and I new he was going to love it to :)

This pattern is super easy!

Everything except for the head is knit in the round on DPN's and is just a simple knit 2, purl 2, ribbed pattern and once you get to the head it switches to straight needles. You do have to drop a few stitches on a spare needle while you work the top of the jaw but you pick them back up again to work the bottom and then they carry right on through to the inside of the snakes head and body.

Through some very creative adding of extra stitches you make a smaller version of the head and another ribbed length of the body that slips right inside the main snakes body. This creates the stomach and a hollow space in the head that allows you to stuff it with a bit of cotton batting for a super cute fluffy head! You've got to love his toupée to *grin*. The hair piece is an additional little knit piece that you make and then I just whip stitched it onto the snakes head, adding his sleepy eyes while I was at it :)

Once he's finished you can feed your snakey mice and his body lumps up all the way down the length just like in the above photo just like it would in real life when a snake eats. There is a pattern included to knit up mice but I decided to wet felt some little colorful mice and they were perfect :)

So much fun is being had eating and spitting out mice *grin*. This is going to keep him entertained for a good long while!

Oh and I'm still reading the The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin *grin*. Not getting very far on the book reading this week :)

Hugs,
Rosina

Happy 5th Birthday

Yesterday my baby turned five... born in a snowstorm in 2006 and got his wish of having his fifth birthday in a snowstorm *grin*. All he really wanted was for it to snow on his birthday :)

I wish you could have seen the big ear to ear smile on his face when he pulled out 'snakey' from its wrapping paper :)

It was an instant hit as he started stuffing little felted mice into the snake's mouth and working them down the knitted body including munching sound effects...

followed by regurgitating noises as they all started to pop back out! It went totally crazy after that as the whoopie cushion was pulled and the snake had some bad indigestion resulting in very loud gas. LOL.

Boys... heehee.

He also got a wooden play castle with a few wooden knights and horses, a king and queen...

and it opens up wide so that it creates a great little play place inside with a dungeon and more :)

We wrapped up our little birthday party with a Thomas the train cake. His favorite :) Now if only I could bottle him up and he would stay 5 forever *grin*. I'm running out of babies!

Hugs,
Rosina

Yarn Along

A post of my current read and what is cast on my needles ~ Inspired by Ginny over at {Small Things}

Well I still haven't decided on what big project I want to do next so in the meantime I'm having fun playing around and making spring chicks *grin*.

I found the pattern on ravelry (linked above) and used a double strand of wonderfully fuzzy Mohair by Marks & Kattens which is very forgiving if you make any booboos as the fuzz really hides all *grin*. I love how it turned out and my youngest two couldn't stop petting it! They are convinced that I need to make many more of them so that I can tuck them into their Easter baskets :)

Looking forward to seeing what you have been knitting this week!

Oh, I nearly forgot to share what I am reading right now! I just picked up a copy of The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. I'm barely into the first chapter but I'm really looking forward to reading about how she made her happy life even happier. Right now she's talking about getting more sleep so that she can have more energy to take on her project and that is definitely something I could use. I know I don't get near enough rest and if I take anything from her book it may be to just get to bed a couple of hours earlier each night so that I can wake up and really feel like I'm ready to tackle my day with a happy heart :)

Hugs,

Rosina

Yarn Along

A post of my current read and what is cast on my needles ~ Inspired by Ginny over at {Small Things}

I finished the gloves... and on time to! *grin*

I spent the last night before his birthday knitting like crazy to finish them and he just loves them :) They are so nice and thick with the wool and they fit fairly well to. They're a little bit big but he's growing so quickly that they'll be perfect soon enough :)

So now I'm currently without a knitting project :(

I can't decide what to make next! Someone was knitting up a great snake which would be perfect for my little guy, then there were those adorable little gnomes and then of course there is always the adorable Milo vest that everyone is making *grin*.

Having a few days after finishing the gloves did give me enough time to finish my book, Room by Emma Donoghue. I devoured it in two days! It was such a riveting book of the kidnapping of a young girl at the age of 19 and the son she gave birth to while living in captivity in an 11x11 room. Dark but oh so good!

I apologize to everyone that left comments last week and I haven't had a chance to get back to you :( We just had an insanely crazy week and I've been thinking of each of you and am going to do my darndest to make it to all of you this time!! Plus I need to scope out all your projects and books so I can figure out what to knit next *grin*.

Hugs,
Rosina

Yarn Along

A post of my current read and what is cast on my needles ~ Inspired by Ginny over at {Small Things}

I am so very proud of myself this week *grin*.
I have finally finished one of the socks for the pair I'm making for my daughter! I absolutely encourage you to try this sock pattern if you have never tried making a sock before, never used double pointed needles or are a beginner like me. I am still amazed that I could create this without anyone showing me how :)

I ended up adding 23 additional rows of stockinette stitch to the body of the foot before shaping the toe for a total of 55 rows and it worked out to make the foot eight inches in length which fits her just perfectly. For the next pair I will definitely make them a little longer so she has more room to grow but I wasn't sure how much length the toe would add exactly and I didn't want them to turn out to be too big.

To finish off the toe the pattern asks you to 'graft' the toe which I had no idea what that meant so I googled it and found that others were using a 'Stockinette Stitch' to close the toes of their socks by weaving the tail of the yarn through the stitches for a seamless look with no bulk which is great for kids.

I found a great little youtube video which I've added below to show you how to do the stitch if you have never seen it before. After I got the hang of slipping stitches and doing the 4 stitch sequence correctly it was quite easy and I'm fairly happy with my first try. It looks a little funny in places and it may be because the yarn that I'm using is not entirely uniform in its thickness so once in a while you get an odd pattern but I'm hoping that now that I've done it once the next toe will finish up much more smoothly!

Hopefully next week I'll have to socked feet to share with you as I'm just about to the heel on the second sock :) On the book front I'm still reading Waldorf Education ~ A Family Guide and enjoying it very much.

I can't wait to see what you all have been up to this week!

Hugs,
Rosina

Yarn Along

I know that Ginny isn't hosting a yarn along this week but I just couldn't wait to share with you how my first sock is coming along :)

I did it! I can hardly believe that it is actually taking shape but I'm really knitting a sock *grin*.

I was a little worried when the instructions got to the part about forming the heel but I just followed them step by step, slipping stitches and knitting and purling and it started to take shape. It's absolutely amazing what just a few knitting stitches can create!

Now if only I could stop but I have a feeling that I may be knitting into the early morning hours tonight just to see how my little sock is going to turn out *grin*.

Hugs,
Rosina

Looking for more crafty ideas or inspiration? Pop over to Natural Suburbia's Creative Friday and see what others are up to :)

Yarn Along

A post of my current read and what is cast on my needles ~ Inspired by Ginny over at {Small Things}

I've been eyeing up the gorgeous socks that everyone has been making these last weeks on the yarn along posts and I finally just had to give it a try :)

I came across the ravelry pattern 'Most Basic Kids Socks', picked up this fun rainbow colored finger weight sock wool by Marks & Kattens and set to work trying to figure out just how to use a set of double pointed needles *grin*. Those are some tricky sticks! LOL

The first 13 rows were a basic knit, purl rib stitch and now I'm working on the 52 rows of straight knit which is going nice a quick but I'm finding it hard to steal little moments during the day to work on them so I think they will be my special project when we go and visit the inlaws. I always try to take something to occupy my time while we visit and this will be great! I just hope that I don't run into any problems with the pattern being a knitting newbie *grin*.

I'm still reading the Secret Garden but I also picked up a copy of Don't Make Me Count to Three by Ginger Plowman. I can't wait to have a peak inside of it but that will have to wait until after Christmas is over :)

Hugs,
Rosina

Yarn Along

A post of my current read and what is cast on my needles ~ Inspired by Ginny over at {Small Things}

I thought that I would have a finished little girls hat to share with you this week but I sort of dropped that in the dust to work on a pair of gloves :) My daughter already has a hat so it can wait just a wee bit longer but she could really use a pair of cute little fingerless gloves *grin*.

As I was visiting other yarn along participants I found a link to these gorgeous gloves! Unfortunately I can't remember whose blog it was so if you happen to know which mama made a pair of these for her daughter please let me know as I would love to stop by again :)

I am completely smitten with the 'moss stitch' that makes up the center portion of the glove. I had my mom model it for the photo since I haven't told my daughter I'm making them for her. It's going to be a surprise :) She has been anxioulsy waiting for me to make something pink for her so she is going to LOVE them! I've only got one done so far and it is still waiting to be stitched up but from how tight it was to fit it around my mom's hand I know they will be a comfortable fit for her. I can't wait to cast on the second one tonight :)

Now for the book that I'm reading this week. It is The Christmas Table by Diane Morgan and it is full of yummy recipes. I have marked quite a few already for this holiday season. I'm particularly looking forward to trying the radicchio caesar salad. I love using cabbage and radicchio for salads and I've never thought of using it for caesar. It will look gorgeous on our plates with its bright puple purple color!

Looking forward to seeing what everyone has cast on this week :)

Hugs,
Rosina

Yarn Along

A post of my current read and what is cast on my needles ~ Inspired by Ginny over at {Small Things}

I finished my little pixie hat that I was making last week and thought that I would challenge myself and try a new pattern using circular needles :)

I've had a copy of the cutest little book called Baby Beanies by Amanda Keeys but all of the hats are knit on the round or with 4 needles so I was a little intimidated but I thought that I'd give it a go and try this little beret. I just love the little lace pattern it has :) I'm using a soft merino wool and so far the pink ribbed portion has worked out well but I'm having a bit of trouble joining my green. The first time I didn't join it properly and it didn't knit in the round and the second time when I wrapped the two colors together like it said to in the book it messed up the dashes of green wool showing through the pink for the first purl row so I'm going to have to check out youtube for a little tutorial and see what I'm doing wrong!


What I'm reading this week... the November copy of the British Country Living magazine. Love, love, love this magazine!!! This issue was very fitting for my yarn along post as it a great article on Britain's wool production over the years and another article of thoughts on growing up constantly surrounded by sheep, a wool directory and even an article on one woman's small business of turning fleece to yarn :)

Can't wait to see what everyone else has been up to this week!
Hugs,
Rosina

Pixie Hat

Oh man am I having fun knitting *grin*.
There was a slight change in plans though. Remember that gorgeous fall colored merino wool that I started with? Well apparently I can't read a pattern properly or maybe I was just to excited to get started but I goofed up and was supposed to knit with two strands of wool instead of just one. So long story short, I ripped out half the hat, started over with adding in some mossy green wool and voila I have a new look! The bright orange tones of the first wool are still there but much more muted now. I'm still loving it though and the double strands have given the hat such a thick and yummy weight :)

The main body of the hat is finished complete with a little pixie top which is so cute :) Now I just have to finish the ear flaps. I had never 'picked up' stitches before so that was interesting to say the least but I think I've got it all under control now *grin*.

Hugs,
Rosina