Finding My Groove

Posted on September 22, 2014 by Carol — 1 Comment ↓

Well, it has been a month of adjustments around here. The kids are adjusting to school again. I am adjusting to having all three kids in school all day. And I am also adjusting to a new part-time job. I wasn’t really intending on going back to work so soon after school was back in session, but a nearby library was looking for someone for weekday afternoons. I interviewed and got the job.

I’m working a lot more more hours than what I had been working at “my” library, and it is much busier. The time goes by quickly, but the vibe is very different — definitely not as personal. It’s just taking some getting used to. Since I work afternoons and don’t get home until after 5, I’ve been trying to get everything I need to do done in the mornings — cleaning, appointments, phone calls, dinner prep. My husband telecommutes, so for now it all works. He is able to get the kids off the bus and get dinner going.

I’ve been ridiculously emotional lately — I think all these changes are causing it. It is strange to not have any little ones at home during day, and I think that is the hardest adjustment for me. I definitely miss it. Luckily, they all love school so the fact that everyone can’t wait to go makes it easier. But there’s also the realization that baby and toddler days are officially gone. And while I know our family is complete, and I really don’t want any more kids, there is a little part of me that is very sad about this.

Stupid things set me off, like driving by our local Friendly’s and seeing that it had closed. I immediately got all teary, remembering how we used to go there all the time when Jake and Noah were little. When we first moved up here, dinner at Friendly’s and walking through the mall was our standard Friday night out.

Change is hard, even for grown-ups, I guess. Everything just feels different. I can’t explain it and I probably sound like a fruitcake. But like the kids, I will adjust. It only takes time.

In the meantime, I’ve set aside my Stitchcation Afghan and I’ve been working on an infinity scarf. Believe it or not, the yarn is by Red Heart! It is so soft, and the colors are just beautiful. I think RH gets an undeserved bad name. Their yarns (even the SuperSaver) have really improved since I first started knitting and crocheting 10 years ago.

Outside, it is definitely starting to look like fall. My burning bushes are turning red. Leaves are falling. The days are shorter, and the evenings are cooler.

A couple weeks ago, Drew had the brilliant idea to take some extra bricks we had lying around and build a firepit. So on weekend evenings, we’ve been enjoying an outdoor fire (complete, of course, with roasted marshmallows). Saturday night we decided to do sparklers for no good reason other than that they are fun!

My parents also visited this weekend. Dad helped Drew paint the back of the house (it’s a huge project, let me tell you), and Mom cleaned up my front garden because she actually enjoys doing that 😉 It looks a thousand times better! I would have gotten around to it (probably), but I am very appreciative that she just did it for me. After my last bout with poison ivy, I’m still kind afraid to touch anything green without wearing a hazmat suit.

So all in all, things are good! My weepies, I’m sure, will subside. I am fortunate to have (so quickly) found part-time work that works with our schedule (because really, the kids are only home for about an hour and a half before I get there — it’s not THAT bad). And really things are just moving right along.

How are things with you?

A Birthday, Rain, Cats, and Lavender

Posted on August 13, 2014 by Carol — 1 Comment ↓

Hello friends! It’s a wet, humid day here in the Hudson Valley. I don’t mind the rain, but I could certainly do without the mugginess. Is it awful that I’m already starting to look forward to autumn? It hasn’t even been all that hot this summer, and I do remember how I froze all last winter, but… I’m kind of ready for sweaters and fires and general coziness. That’s just me, I guess!

So, first things first… a very happy birthday to my mom today! We called her first thing in the morning and the kids all sang to her. Hope you’re having a great day, Mom!

I’m trying so hard to remember to post more often. Really, I am! It’s not that I don’t think about my blog it’s just that I’ve found myself choosing other things in my spare time. Usually watching a show or working on my Stitchcation blanket, which is oh-so-slowly coming along. The squares that use the FPDC and FPTC stitches take me so long because I have to hook them up ever so carefully or else my stitch counts end up way off. But after tonight I should be half-way there. I seriously doubt it will be finished in time for the end of the challenge (Labor Day), but oh well! It will definitely be finished for my birthday in October.

Back in June, a friend and I both bought lavender plants at the Country Living Fair. Mine was absolutely flourishing! I was so happy! And then… I overwatered it. Let me tell you, I have learned that lavender does not like a lot of water. It went from healthy to ill beyond repair sooner than I could make it right. I was bummed because it smelled so wonderful. I confessed to my friend what I had done and we laughed over it. (Hers, incidentally, looks great!) How sweet is this: as a thank-you for taking care of her cats while she was away, she gave me a huge, healthy, new lavender plant! It is just gorgeous. I promised to be more careful with this one!

Let’s see, what else is new… Oh, I’m so disgusted with FedEx SmartPost. Back in July I took advantage of a sale on a summer sticker bundle that ErinCondren.com was having. It was some summer-themed repositionable sticker sheets, markers, the new coil clips, and a lotion sample all in a pouch. I had a bunch of referral credits, so I decided to treat myself. I also picked up the original sticker sheets. Here’s where I made my mistake: I decided to save $2 by not using FedEx Ground. Oh, friends, I have learned my lesson. The package was shipped out on 7/29. The last tracking update was from somewhere in Maryland on 8/1. My EDD was last Friday, which came and went. After dealing with “FedEx SmartPost Trace Research” team, they could not locate my package anywhere. It’s just lost. Vanished into this air. I know the issue will get settled, but it’s so frustrating that a company whose business is delivering packages loses them.

Well, I guess that’s about all… Tomorrow is Jake’s birthday. How can he be 12 years old already? I remember when he was a colicky baby I read this saying somewhere (I’m sure you’ve all heard it too): “The days are long, but the years are short.” How true that is!

Let’s Catch Up!

Posted on August 4, 2014 by Carol — 2 Comments ↓

Good afternoon, everyone! Another month has slinked away, hasn’t it? Hard to believe August is here. I have not forgotten about my little corner of the Internet, but believe me, the last month has been filled with activity (and a little stress… I’ll get to that). I have had time to do quite a bit of reflection, and I really want to get back into posting her regularly, so hold me to it, okay?

All right, first let’s just get to what the stressful situation was. As some may remember, I have a thyroid nodule. Four years ago, my journey with thyroid disease began. Things have been stable. I take my levothyroixine, I feel great, and I get an annual sonogram to check on my thyroid nodule(s) (one came and went!). Last December one of my lymph nodes was enlarged, so my doctor had me repeat the test in June. In June, it was still inflamed and the radiologist recommended an MRI.

Well, I kind of freaked out a little bit. It could be nothing — it could be just regular inflammation associated with my Hashimoto’s, it could be because I had a sore throat, or… obviously it could be something a lot more scary. My insurance wouldn’t agree to an MRI, and after a month of my doctor’s office going back and forth, the insurance agreed to a CT scan. I had no idea what to expect, I had to go to a facility I’d never been to before, Drew was going to be out of town… but somehow I kept it all together. I had my appoinment last Thursday and I have to say it was not at all scary. The tech and the nurse were great. The IV contrast was kind of freaky (as soon as it goes into your veins you feel as hot as if you were standing in the desert — so weird!). The entire appointment took last than an hour (including waiting).

In Saturday’s mail came my results from the imaging center. Thankfully, Drew was back from Kansas by that point. Shaking, I opened the envelope and was so relieved as I read line after line of “Unremarkable.” Never have I been so thrilled to be “unremarkable!” The last line said it all:

What a huge relief, and a heavy weight off my shoulders. A scare like that really makes you put things into perspective, though, trust me. I spent so much time thinking about what’s really important in my life… things I could let go of, as well as things I want to hold on to. I didn’t feel comfortable talking about it to many people, and certainly not blogging about it until I knew the outcome. So that happened. And it’s over!

Aside from that, July was a busy month with camps for the kids. Drew spent a week in Kansas City for work. And I kept on plugging away at my Stitchcation Afghan. I’m a little jealous of the ladies who are done. I am just about half-way there, but I’m just taking my time and enjoying it. (Though honestly there are a couple stitches that I will be happy to never do again.)

Oh! I also got about 6 inches of hair cut off on Friday! With everyone out of the house for one reason or another, I took the opportunity to head to the salon and get a long over-due hair cut. I love it!

Ever since I attended the Country Living Fair in June I’ve been thinking a lot about style. There were some women there who had the cutest outfits and one of the things I decided among all this summer soul-searching is that it is high time for me to break out of the jeans-and-tee-shirt “uniform.” In high school in college I always loved clothes, makeup, and doing my hair. That really hasn’t changed but with little ones I didn’t have much time to put forth a great effort. But with all three a little bit older, and certainly come September when they’ll all be in school, I can eek out a little more time everyday to put myself together.

Are you still with me, or have I bored you away? LOL! Anyway. That’s the story from here! What have you all been up to this summer? Are your kids going back to school yet? Fill me in on what’s new with you!

Hello Kitty Hat

Posted on March 5, 2013 by Carol — 3 Comments ↓

Since Christmastime, my three-year-old has been asking me to make her a Hello Kitty hat. And for whatever reason I’ve put it off. I’m not sure why, because hats are quick and easy to whip up. Last week I finally had the time to hook one up for her, and she could not have been happier!

For the hat itself, I used my favorite hat pattern, which at the moment happens to be the one I used to make Repeat Crafter Me’s owl hat. I find it a little small, and I always need to crochet more rows than the pattern calls for, but it is an excellent base pattern. Laura didn’t want earflaps, and I ended up adding a picot border just to make the hat a little bit longer.

For the nose, I followed the directions on Crochet in Color’s Hello Kitty Hat pattern. I also used her basic ear instructions, but I started with a magic circle, ch2, and then 7 hdc. I didn’t connect the end and beginning, I just made a ch1 and followed the rest of her instructions. When I used her method, I was left with a gap I couldn’t seem to tighten up. Using the magic circle helped with that.

For the eyes, I started with a magic circle (can you tell how much I love that nifty little trick?) and then a ch1, and 10 sc. Then I just sewed it all up.

I think the nose could go a little lower, but she’s so happy with it, I am not about to start taking it apart and redoing work needlessly. Too many other projects in the queue!

What are you working on at the moment?

Linking up with:
Whatever You Want Wednesday

Take a Look Tuesday

Sleepy Saturday

Posted on January 19, 2013 by Carol — 1 Comment ↓

There’s nothing like a solid three hours of sleep to get you refreshed and ready for the day, right? Sigh, of course I’m being sarcastic. Laura had a later bedtime than usual last night, which naturally resulted in a very poor night’s sleep. I’ve always laughed at people who suggest letting kids stay up later in order to get them to sleep in later. Sure, at Jake’s age this works. But not for the wee little ones. At any rate, after two hours of going in an out of her room, consoling, pleading to go back to sleep, I gave in at about 3:45 a.m. and took her downstairs.

I’d hoped that some TV might relax her back to sleep but nope… it wasn’t until I was vacuuming (yay for white noise!) after lunchtime that she started snoozing on the couch. So yes. I’m tired.

I got lots done this week, though, and it flew by. One of the projects on my list was sketching out my stash-buster blanket idea. Quite a while ago, I was inspired by this gorgeous quilt from Pippa Patchwork that I originally saw on Pinterest:

Source: moderndayquilts.tumblr.com via Carol on Pinterest

As I am hardly a quilter, I thought this would be a great solution to my growing stash of odds and ends from various crochet projects. I thought of doing a granny square blanket or a stripey blanket, but this design really “wow’ed” me. Simple enough to work on while watching TV, but I think it has a nice, modern feel.

I whipped out the graph paper to figure out how many squares I’ll need.

And I played around with various colors, picking out 10 that I loved best for the largest squares.

This project is hugely different for me because I don’t think I’ve ever combined so many different colors all at once. I suppose all those years of following Lucy from Attic24 are finally having an effect on me!

So I am slowly (oh, so very slowly) plugging away at my first single-crochet purple square. I need to keep up the momentum 🙂

Well, I think it’s time to get up and bake a dish of brownies for dessert tonight and make my house smell even better than it already does. I’ve got two crock pots going: one simmering a pot of chicken stock, and the other cooking up a delicious pot roast for dinner tonight. Drew and Jake have been at the Eskimo Run for Cub Scouts all day and I know when they get home they’ll be cold and hungry.

Enjoy the rest of your Saturday!

{Ta-Da!} An Owl Hat

Posted on November 19, 2012 by Carol — 1 Comment ↓

Good afternoon, friends! I hope you’re all getting geared up for Thanksgiving. I know I am! But first I wanted to just share with you a little ta-da! If you like my Facebook page or follow me on Instagram you might have noticed a photo of a last-minute project I’d started. Well, this is it! A cute little owl hat for my niece!

Today is her 3rd birthday and we saw her over the weekend. (She had a John Deere themed party and my sister-in-law did an amazing job — the decorations were so cute and the food was delicious!) I wanted a made-to-match hat for the outfit I picked out for her, and while the colors aren’t exactly spot-on, I think they’re pretty close.

I used a free pattern found on Repeat Crafter Me to make the hat, and the instructions were wonderful. The toddler/pre-schooler pattern is just a teensy bit small, so if you are making one of these, I’d recommend trying the hat on as you go (if possible). But it’s a super quick, super fun project!

{Tutorial} Country Christmas Crochet Garland

Posted on November 6, 2012 by Carol — 24 Comments ↓

It’s Election Day! I’ll be voting this evening, as my polling location is adjacent to the library and I’m working there for a couple hours tonight. Every year we have an election day raffle to help support our little library, so the hours are extended to correspond with voting hours. This year I decided to whip up this sweet country Christmas garland for the raffle. It’s such a fun project (not to mention instant gratification), that I just had to share it with you!

For the garland, you’ll need:

about 50″ of jute twine
homespun fabric
worsted weight yarn (I used acrylic)
“H” hook
darning needle, scissors

There are a few patterns out there for these granny-style crochet Christmas trees. I tinkered around to come up with a shape I liked, but by all means use your favorite!

Crochet Christmas Tree Motif

Abbreviations:

Ch = chain
SC = single crochet
DC = double crochet
Sl St = slip stitch

Start with a magic circle.

Round 1: Ch 3 (the Ch 3 always counts as the first DC stitch), 3 DC, ch 2, 4 DC, ch 2, 4 DC, ch 2. Slip stitch to the top of the beginning ch 3 st. (Three clusters of 4 DC and three ch 2 spaces.)

Round 2: Sl st over to the first ch 2 space of the previous round. Ch 3. 3 DC, ch 2, 4 DC in this space. *Ch 2, 4 DC, ch 2, 4 DC in next ch 2 space. Repeat from * in the last ch 2 space. Ch 2. Sl st to the top of the beginning ch 3 stitch. (Six clusters of 4 DC and six ch 2 spaces.)

Round 3: Sl st over to the first ch 2 space. Ch 3, 3 DC, ch 3, 4 DC in the space. *Skip three DC of the previous row. SC in the next (fourth) DC (this will be the DC immediately before the ch 2 space). 4 DC in the next space. Skip three DC of the previous row. SC in the next DC. 4 DC, ch 3, 4 DC in the next space. Repeat from * along the second side of the tree. Ch 1. 4 DC in the next ch 2 space. Ch 1. Sl st to the top of beginning ch 3.

Tree Trunk: Turn work. Sl st into first DC. Ch 3. DC in the next 3 DC stitches. Turn so that the front of the tree is facing you. Ch 2 (counts as the first SC). SC in the next three DC stitches of the previous row and top loop of starting ch. Finish off and weave the yarn end into the back of the tree.

If you don’t want to use a magic circle, you can certainly start with a Ch5, and connect the beginning and end with a slip stitch and then work out of the center of that loop you create. I just think the magic circle makes neater work.

After you accumulate your little stack of trees, it’s time to assemble the garland. You’ll need 9 trees (you could also use 11 if you want them closer — that’s up to you). You’ll need 9 (or 11) 7ish-inches x 1/2 inch pieces of homespun fabric. And you’ll need your jute.

Take a piece of fabric and form a loop. Stick the bottom of the loop through the topmost hole in your tree (1). Lay the jute over the two fabric ends (2). Pull the ends through that loop (3). Then just tighten up the knot until your tree is securely attached to the jute (4).

Repeat this for every tree you’ve crocheted. Then slide the trees around until you have the spacing you want and voila! You have a quick and easy Christmas garland to hang across your mantle, the front of your entertainment center, across a mirror, wherever!

If you make this project, be sure to post a link in the comments. I’d love to see your creations!

Linking up with:

Flower Pillow “Ta-Da!”

Posted on September 18, 2012 by Carol — 1 Comment ↓

Earlier this summer when Lulu made the transition from her crib to a “big girl” bed, I knew I wanted to make something pretty for it. When my mom was visiting back in June, I started on a blooming flower pillow, using the pattern from Attic24. Only instead of using dozens of colors, I decided to make one enormous white flower.

And enormous it is! It took me forever to finish this, not because the pattern was hard, but I guess I got a little bored with all the white. Nevertheless, I’m happy with the way it came out, and my little girl loves it! The backside is a light green and the side is a dark purple, so everything coordinates with her room.

Of course, now the boys want pillows, too (only not flower pillows…) Good thing I have a couple of extra cushions laying around. I guess I’ll be added their requests to my never-ending “to crochet” list, LOL!

Giraffe Hat and Diaper Cover

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Carol — No Comments ↓

Ah, it’s been a while! Well, last week the weather was too beautiful. Earlier this week, Laura wanted nothing more than to rock with mama and cuddle (growth spurt perhaps – her conversational skills seem to have exploded overnight).

At least I had my Apple iPod Touch to keep me connected! I also have been working on some crochet projects.

Every year the Rhinebeck Science Foundation hosts a gala fundraiser with a silent auction. As much as I want to attend the gala, it’s just not in the cards this year. But some of my friends from our craft group decided to put together a basket of baby items for the silent auction.

I offered to whip up a baby set. Originally I intended to make a cute bear hat, figuring it was gender-neutral and come on — who doesn’t like teddy bears? But while looking through my stash of yarn I changed my mind. I was inspired by some buttery yellow yarn and a bit of brown. A giraffe set! Here’s how it came out:

I combined elements from three different patterns to complete this project:

Hat body (or use your own favorite pattern): EZ Earflaps Hat
Horns: I used the horns from this pattern as a guide, but didn’t follow the instructions exactly:
Ears: from this Baby Giraffe Hat pattern
The diaper cover is a pattern I came up with on my own when I was making all those bunny sets. For the tail I just made 5 DC into a magic circle and crocheted around until it was the length I wanted. I stuffed the tail into the opening, and then DC2tog until it was closed up. Then I reinforced everything by hand-sewing. For the spots I just crocheted circles (again, the magic circle is your friend!) and sewed them on.

It was a pretty quick and satisfying project! I hope that whoever wins the basket loves it!

back to it!

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Carol — 2 Comments ↓

Huzzah, huzzah! The spring infant sets I’ve been working on are complete and ready to ship out as soon as I get paid! I feel like the last couple weeks I’ve focussed on little more than basic housekeeping/mommy duties and cursing at the Homespun yarn I used. But this morning I was back to my usual routine and it felt great.

I did laundry, changed the sheets on all the beds, tidying up… Boring stuff I guess, but stuff that feels great to get done. I also tried to clean a little in Jake’s room. My word, the lair of a 9 year old boy can be a curious place to visit. His shelves are so cluttered with Lego sculptures, sport trophies, Lowe’s Build & Grow projects, and Lord knows what else. I didn’t get very far — it’s a project I’ll just have to save for another day.

Not too much else is new. My parents came down yesterday and we enjoyed a visit with them. We have a couple more family visits coming up, but overall February looks like a pretty tame month (!). January was jam-packed so I wouldn’t mind a slower pace. And maybe a little snow 😉