Mondday Musings

New for this segment next week I will cover how well I met my expectations.

This weekend... Friday night was school movie night, Jim took the girls to watch. Mouse stayed home with me and did homework. He is a brilliant boy but has poor time management skills and is often in some imaginary realm when he should be buckling down and getting the work done. That in combination with advanced topics and the expectations of a self-directed school program lead to many nights of me asking if his homework is done. If one of us sits next to him and re-collects his attention when he drifts off he can get the work done quite quickly, and sometimes we do that, but we want him to learn himself too and notice when he needs to refocus. This makes the lesson less of Geometry and more about self regulation and knowledge.
Saturday was kind of a Jonas day for me, I was woken suddenly and believed it to be in anger. I couldn't shake the idea that those around me were upset with me and mostly for for things I couldn't reasonably be expected to have done. This is on me. I am frustrated with my body and healing - yes it is coming along but it has been so long and so much has been left undone because of it. I ended the day having made everyone around me upset.
Sunday we were all easy with each other, I have a cold and dosed off and on throughout the day, Jim and the kids played many board games and it was nice hearing them play.

Right Now... The bread is cooling. The sauerkraut or rather what hopefully will be sauerkraut is macerating on the counter. My parents bought me some fermentation lids for Christmas. The kids are doing homework, Bunny while signing. I have a cup of honey lemon tea for my cold and I don't intend to leave the house again. Jim is taking the girls to violin. Soon, I will be re-taking all of these duties but not just yet.

Plans... I want to work on my socks and my spilt back tank top. I would like to cut out fabric for a new skirt. I need to darn a pair of Bunny's socks. I want to encourage more music practicing. I need to read another book for my COE - This week Handspinning Art & Techniques by Allen Fannin. I have been refreshing my German on Duolingo and want to continue on with that. I need to get some organization brough back into my business which I mostly have not done much with, in specific to take inventory and make new listings to launch a shop update.I also want to have Nate help with filming a tutorial while he is home. There is also some clean up work I need to do for our 4h club. I am slowly cleaning the house and plan to also slowly de-clutter everything. I want to set a small amount of time aside every week to write a novel that is rolling around in my head. I don't know if it will go beyond getting it out of my head but I want that.

Prayerful Intentions... I pray for understanding and healing. I pray for friends who are struggling with family members terrible health.

Crafting on - dress, socks, and control

 I am working on two projects related to this card. The first is I want to improve the consistency of my spinning for the purposes of earning my COE, and I want to keep a record of my spinning. I read that other spinners keep track by using cards or tags and keep small samples of their yarns both as singles and after the ply. If you can think of anything else I could add let me know. The second project here is a joint effort sweater for my children's godfather. I will do the spinning and another friend will be knitting him a cabled sweater. We got to talking about spinning and knitting and what kind of yarn is best for Aran style sweaters and now I a spinning samples. Then she will knit samples and we will decide which to work with. The samples will be:
2-ply, oiled, spun z plyed s
3-ply, oiled, spun z plyed s
2-ply, oiled, spun s plyed z
3-ply, oiled, spun s plyed z
and her favorite of above un-oiled.   I am researching old methods of spinning, hence the oiled wool, I have spun the first sample and am undecided about my opinion of the oiling of the fleece before carding.

This photo is a twofer as well, in the foreground is my knitting - socks as a Christmas present. The pattern is Grand Central for the NY collection by the Knitting Expat. I hate the colorway and am thinking of overdyeing it, however, someone said she liked it. So there is that.

The fabric is for the dress I am making for my interpretation work down at Garfield Farm Museum. I am hoping to get it done by May 21st, but am toying with the idea of hand stitching it, mostly. I have it cut and basted, which I did by machine. I think I will try to hand stitch it but do the gathers by machine.

This is the pattern packet front.


Joining in with the Crafting On today, I am looking forward to seeing what everyone is working on.

Monday Musings - May Eighth

Now...
The house is quiet, the washing machine is going. Jim is working in his office, Beaver is waiting for a ride to his field trip. The others are at school. I made bread yesterday and crunched on it in the car while I dropped the girls off. I finally have a cup of coffee, in my mug for my mother-in-law. The mug reminds me of something that I might be served in at the Green Dragon Inn. "it comes in PINTS?"  I am sitting here trying to organize my day.

Over the weekend...
 Jim came home from his business trip on Friday and we spent the evening with old friends. Our hostess made these yummy plantain chips and now I want more. We get together roughly every two weeks to play pathfinder and we had a good time. Most of the weekend was taken up with cuddling, we cuddled Jim because he was home, we cuddled Bunny because she wasn't feeling well (better now) and we cuddled Badger because she didn't want to be left out and her sister was getting all the cuddles. Mouse had homework, he is struggling with the workload required by placing him in classes at his readiness level - three grade ahead in Math - it is not the work itself, just the change from low to no homework to work every night. He has been reading a ton, but not recording it for his teachers, this weekend was a lot of digging out books at his reading level and convincing him to pick one, write it down and start reading it. Once he picked, he sat down and read hundred pages - he is starting the Dragonriders of Pern series - with out problem and enjoyed the book. I re-arranged part of one bookshelf with books I think he will be interested in.

Plans...
Tonight is the girl's violin concert! I have some video work to do for the video I an putting out this week and some for the next one. I am making a new dress for my interpretation work at Garfield Farm Museum. I am working on increasing consistency and record keeping in my spinning for my COE work and trying new techinques. This week oiling wool. I would really like to finish my sweater this week, but it would take a miracle. I would like to get to the gym.

Spare Time...
work on sweater and watch videos, thankfully I can do both at once!

Prayerful intentions...
I will be praying for my dad, who was much healthier before he retired. I will be praying for my friend's dad, who is in hospital while they figure out what is wrong with him. I will be praying for another friend's step-dad, who's grief is destroying him as a man.

~Julia

An old project and a new one

In the interest of getting some WIPs done I pulled out my green baby blanket. I really did not like the yarn with the pattern lacy panel that looked like leaves, it made the not terribly soft but very pretty yarn kind of rough and scratchy. I decided to work on it for a week and decide then. I made it a night. I really didn't like it - not the pattern or the yarn - but the combo. When I found that I had made a mistake before it languished in my work basket, that would require me to frog back in lace... I frogged all the way back. I will not be restarting. So I am looking for a new project to just the yarn for. 

Armed with that sucess...urhm...failure. I dug once more into the pile. Out came a square for my wedding quilt. We had people sign squares instead of a guest book. For some (crazy) unknown reason I decided to embroider all the names and to had stitch the entire thing. I have been married for more than 11 years. I have slightly more than 2 rows done. So I have been stealing bits of time to work on it.

Some day I will steal some time and refinish that table!

Last night the girls and I worked together to make pickled veggies. Badger Loves pickled cauliflower. Like jumping up and down excited that she was going to get to learn hot to make it. I haven't made any homemade in a long time so I hope she likes mine - Jacques Pepin's. We had a blast making them. Both girls want to learn to cook, although Badger is more likely to want to ten minutes into doing it than her sis.

We got three quarts done last night! So the new project is working on teaching the kids to cook. Badger already knows how to make waffles. And popcorn on the stove - although she has never done it she can talk through how. And now pickled veggies. Butterfly did a great job pealing the carrots and needed only a little help chopping it.

Hope you are having fun!
~Julia

Surgery around here

What does a mom do when her children are upset? When a stuffie is in need of rescue and emergency surgery? Why this of course...

The patient, belongs to Butterfly, it's name is Flewbie. She needs a eye transplant as the colored on eye is no longer allowing her to see properly.

Her family observes the entire procedure to make certain Dr. Mom does her job correctly.

The surgery prep table with all tools and the replacement eye at the ready. Butterfly's favorite color is pink, so naturally, Flewbie has selected a pink replacement eye. The little pocket knife belonged to my Grandma and came to me after her death in an old Altoids tin with some pins, needles, and stitch markers.

Flewbie in the recovery room with her family standing by. Butterfly was very pleased that the surgery was a success and Flewbie was back to her cuddling duties by evening-time.


Hope you take the time to really enjoy all the little and big things you get to do as a parent!
~Julia

Come have lunch with me

In the interest of feeling better, losing a bit of weight, and generally eating better I have decided the make lunch a bit more important of a meal.  I normally grab something, either from my own kitchen or out while doing errands - though I must admit I sometimes invent errands to do the two Chicago style dogs for $3 special down the street...shh!  I am then hungry and crabby later. I have been seeing these yummy looking recipes over at Farmish Momma and I wanted to try them, but thinking about the hard time my children would give me kept me hesitating. While at the grocery store this week I thought, I could just make some for me... Brilliant! So lunch is on! 

This is the yellow split pea soup she posted in her real food/real budgets series. I made a few changes, my husband was eating too and doesn't like blended soups so I skipped that step, I think it may have been necessary.  I cooked this much longer than she says, and the peas have a disagreeable - to me - texture that likely gets fixed by the blending.  It tastes amazing though, next time I will just cook it longer. I did not have any bacon grease handy so I fried up two slices and added them to the bowl of soup at the time of serving. I also added red pepper flakes because I add that to everything. 

 On the topic of bacon... I made these for Valentine's day.  Pretty but I prefer my bacon non-floral. No one in the family complained however!

For some crafting bits, I switched to cloth pads for that time of the month.  I bought some Glad rags brand and wowsa was that expensive, but rather than have something plastic-y paper-y rubbing against me all that week I have flannel. Much, much better. I did cloth diapers for my kids and thought about this a lot then. I have only had issue with them moving a bit during wear no leaks. So I am trying to make a few that are similar to what I bought but slightly differently shaped, hopefully these changes are comfy. I made a few before and they worked just as well as those I bought.  These are extra pieces of flannel from various kid projects and cotton batting leftover from quilts.  I have discovered a love hate relationship with grommet snaps, I love them when I line everything up, hate them when that is not happening. You might notice that the horse pad has two snaps set into one flap, that is not a design feature!

hope your plans are going according to plan! ~ Julia

Spring, no summer, no spring...

Um the weather seems a bit confused yesterday we are roasting, today I am cuddled into a sweatshirt. Oh well, here is some over grown beauty from my yard. It seems like every time it would be good to go out and get yard work done I either am racing off to something or it starts to rain. I have done the mad dash take the laundry in off the line twice this week. I am starting to wonder if maybe my plans for my garden do not fit either my life or my willingness to actually make it a priority. Butterfly had her Violin concerts, the Boys more Model club meetings, spinning things for me and helping a friend.

 Mom, Dad, and I are going to start selling our craft work - excited and nervous!

Additionally I have been breaking out in hives everyday! I never was allergic to anything growing up but whatever I am reacting to is really driving me nuts, it has been about two weeks now of raised itches hives. Will someone please scratch my skin off, please! 

One leg patched, one leg darned, one Mouse singing Darned old Jeans, the next line in his made up song is, you can tell Momma loves me, darned old jeans.

I have been doing lots of hand stitching, repairing clothing, pretty embroidery, learning to darn.  I LOVE darning.The kids are enjoying it and bringing me a remarkable pile of things to mend and darn. (Are they ripping some of this just so I can sew it back together???)

Hope you are enjoying the simple things ~ Julia

Yarn along - size 35's and fuzzy yarn to the rescue

Linking with Ginny at Small Things for the Yarn Along this morning.

What does a scary crafty mommy due when she made two halter topped Easter dresses (Pictures tomorrow at the Stash Bash) for her daughters but the weather is supposed to be 35 and raining? Search her yarn stash! I found this yarn and a similar but pink one in the stash. Grabbed the biggest needles I own, 35s (that 20mm) and set to work I am working 41 stitches across, then I bound off the middle three, I am working the remaining stitches on both sides to match the back, then I will sew the corners together to make a little shrug. A soft fluffy cloud of orange for Badger and pink for Butterfly.

I am also sewing a kilt for Mouse's Easter outfit. Lots of the men in our church are of Scottish decent and wear their kilts for special occasions. Mouse asked if he could have one. So I am hand-stitching like lighting and praying I get it done in time. I am only using flannel as I could not find a proper plaid and it did seem a bit silly to spend that much on something for a boy who is always outgrowing his pants. He asked me if my sewing machine knew how to make anything other than dresses, so I am happy to be making something for him.

As far as reading, I read two of the books I got last week, Creative Spinning - it had some interesting plying and colorway ideas but was not of great use to me - and the fiction book Glory by Heather Graham.  I like her work - most romance, suspense, and ghost stories - because of the research she does about the area she sets her work in and it history, which she often give a summary of at the end. This one was a romance set during the Civil War. I liked her portrayal of families that loved each other deeply but had members on both sides actively working for their cause, and view into those on the southern side who were both pro-cession and anti-slavery. 

Fair days

 Doll blanket I made from scraps, entered into the fair, got forth place.

Dress I beaded for the Hand stitchery challenge, I did not place, the other ladies work was lovely and mostly embroidery.  I am thinking I went in the wrong direction for the challenge, Butterfly, however loves it! 

 Above is my husband's old beat up ripped t-shirt.  I turned it into this dress for Butterfly and took forth place in the recycling category.

 Close up of the flower.  I followed instructions I found online, I will link if I remember which one I used.

 My family has camped for the whole fair since well before I was born.  Here is Badger & me having breakfast.  I actually was at the fair when I went into labor for her!

My friend with the steampunk wedding entered her dress and won her category.  I really feel like I learned a lot during the judging and look forward to sewing more.

Understitching and life lessons.

I normally craft as fast as possible and with a deadline, I am very good at it. I have been really enjoying spinning, to the point of not working on other things that have deadlines in order to spin, but when someone asks what the yarn I am making is for I feel a little panicky. FOR? um it is not FOR anything, I made it. 

I was just working on the 1840 dress for Badger, I estimated to have it finished in two days tops. I noticed the instructions were 'out of order' and overly complicated and started to look for why they were building the dress in this manner. I was stunned by the simplicity of the final product and the benefit to the dress all the "wasted extra steps" add. I started to understitch the back and was suddenly filled with the calm that spinning brings to me.

So there it is.  Self realization does not have to look like much, the bottom have of the photo is the inside of the bodice of her dress the top half is my ironing board cover, which is actually pink and clearly in need of cleaning.

I hope you work on something today that brings you piece and calm. ~ Julia  (Joy too!)

Stash bash - at random moments.

Joining Tricia as it is Thursday still. (Hey, I have a little more than an hour here!)

I have one finished project which I showed in yesterday's yarn along and a bunch of in progress things going.

A Toothbrush style rag rug made from stripes of old kid clothes!  

This Rug will be for in between Badger's and Butterfly's beds, they are very excited.  Their room is at the Northeast corner of the house with windows on both and it's wood floor gets very cold for little toes!  I think they have asked at least once a day if it is done yet.  Then they trace their favorite colors with tiny fingers.

Braided length of rags zigzag stitched to a piece of old receiving blanket.  

This is going to end up being a bath mat to catch the splashings of tub monsters. I will need to cut and braid more to make it bigger.  Very low priority for me as the other rug is both quicker and much desired. I think this picture looks a bit like a giant cabbage.

I got more spindle spinning done, I ply-ed about 13 yards yesterday and spun a single (I'll will likely ply it) that is about 22 yards.  This evening in between reading textbooks (I needed a break and did not need more ice cream which is what I wanted) I did another full spindle. I am really enjoying the spindle, but my right arm (really just one muscle) is really angry with me tonight.  I expect this will get less painful rather quickly at this rate!

Stash busting - post one.

So this year I am going to attempt to bust my stashes and use up all the bits and pieces of crafting supplies I have invested in and are taking up space cluttering up the house.  I will fail.  I will buy stuff I don't need and store it.  I am however going to try.  I am also not going to say I am not buying any fabric or yarn all year, but I am going to try to get some stuff used up first. Here are some pictures of my studio/office and not the whole mess I assure you but it gives you the idea!  I am joining Kelly at Creating a Family Home and Tricia at Crunchy Catholic Momma.  Tricia said she would post on Thursdays so I will try to post then as well and link up, and Kelly had the side bar button. 

As far as plans. I want to get my UFOs done.  I have:

One glove for Beaver
a Market Bag
A shawl
a rag rug
a baby blanket &
Knitting kits for gifts.

that I need to get done off the top of my head.  Plus a few more babies of cousins to knit for.

Under the table is filled with clothing I want to upcycle or turn into rag rugs. The bins behind the sift are full of fabric, notions and wool. & yes those are three bolts of fabric.

Baskets and bins of yarn, Bins of fabric and the big black bag is wool.

and a small confession I bought three balls of mohair today that where being sold on consignment from the knitting instructors stash.  For $10.