life of seven

The Dress

Here's one of those "sweater-sized" projects I mentioned last week. Here is the link to mine on ravelry, here is the link to the (free!) pattern on ravelry. The instant I saw the pattern, of course, I thought, I must make this while I still have a little girl to make it for. Clemmie loves dresses, and dressing up, and being fancy, so I was certain she would love this dress. Well, when I got about halfway through knitting it, and showed it to her, she was less than thrilled, and no amount of reverse psychology seemed to take effect on her. ("Maybe we should give this dress to Emmylou." "Yes, okay, let's give it to Emmylou!"). Bribery didn't help much either. ("How about if we get fancy shoes to wear only with your Easter dress?" "I don't want to wear that dress.") Guilt trips worked a little bit. ("Don't you like the dress Mommy made you?" "No, I don't like it." "Oh, that makes Mommy so sad!" "Okay, just joking, I like it." "Want to try it on, then?" "No."). I'm ashamed to say that all these tactics were tried multiple times. Probably shouldn't admit that, but my guess is that most mamas who knit have experienced this a time or two...

Finally, after the dress was washed and blocked, and I could see that the dress was a little too big for this Easter, even though I wanted it to brush the floor, like in the pattern photos, I gave up on the idea of it being a 2017 Easter dress. However, she was much more receptive to the dress once buttons and ribbon were added, and the lace design showed up so nicely. She's actually somewhat happy in these photos, and has tried it on a couple additional times, and grown more receptive to the long, fancy dress idea. However, after she went outside a couple of times and climbed on the swing and walked around a bit, I could see that it truly was going to be too long to wear for a bit, and in fact, the hem began to get dirty. So I've stowed it away for now. I hope she will get to have quite a few occasions to wear it in the future. One fun thing I thought of was to change the buttons and the ribbon color to match the season. Hopefully with a little more height, and a little more maturity on Clemmie's part, the dress will see some use. No matter what, I'm keeping it. One day, years, and years, and YEARS down the road, I may have a little granddaughter who may like it more than Clemmie does.

Impulsive

We were looking at old photos on Facebook last night, and my heart broke a little, realizing how many memories were on there, even though I don't feel that I put all that many photos up. And I realized I had hardly taken a picture since my last post, back in December. And what of all the memories about life I have written about on here? That does it, I thought, and first thing this morning pulled up Life of Seven and decided to post. I'm a person of extremes, I believe, always have been. It works for and against me, and I have tried to become more balanced over the years. But the times it works in my favor is when I decide something is a good idea and go with it. For instance, reading. Last year I read so little beside audio books. The beginning of this year, my sister printed out a checklist for friends who would want to do her invented "52 book challenge." To make a long story short, I scoffed at the idea initially. There was no way I could possibly read that much this year. But I got to thinking about it while I heard my kids talk about how fun it would be to try to reach that reading goal and realized how silly it is that I don't read more. I used to read all the time. I used to read voraciously, in every spare moment of the day. I used to go to the Denver Public Library and leave with a brown paper grocery bag filled to the brim with books (granted, a huge percentage of them were Babysitter's club books and the like) and read non stop for about three days before I finally slowed down, but got dangerously near to the end of my library stack before the three weeks before the next library visit were up.

"Where is that girl?" I thought when faced with Stephanie's 52 book challenge. Years ago, I would have scoffed at the 52 book challenge list because that would have taken me closer to a month than a year. But once I decided I wanted to find that "girl who reads" again, I started picking up books in my free time, like I used to. No lingering over the decision or easing in to it. No, reading is a great thing, and I'm going to do it, I determined. So here I am at the end of February and I find myself ahead of schedule, ahead of the schedule that I thought was impossible just a few weeks before (So far this year, I've read or listened to 12 books, in case you were wondering). 

My impulsiveness relates to my blog post today as well, and even blogging in general. One day a few years ago, I decided to start a blog, because I wanted to write more, and have more motivation to take more pictures of my kids. Which actually doesn't sound very virtuous, now that I think of it, hah! "Hey kids, I probably wouldn't bother to take pictures of you on my own, but now that I have a blog, lets get some quick pictures of you riding your bikes." "Look, Clemmie's walking! Better let the blog know." Shallow reasons or not, there's no denying that I've missed recording details and pictures from life when I haven't posted regularly. Well, why wait around? I decided. Let's rev up the engines again and have a go. So that's what I'm doing today.

 And now let me take a second and tell you about those photos: First of all, Clemmie was in a great mood and smiling for the camera. The problem is, when you ask her to smile, she squinches up her face and closes her eyes. So out of the different pictures I took, only a few of them showed her eyes open. But she's actually not pouting. I feel like the luckiest mom in the world when I look at those pictures of my four beautiful girls.

And the final ones, why yes, that is Cate on her 17th birthday. The strawberry cake was pink and lovely and tasted...well, it was okay. Beautiful food doesn't necessarily always taste good.

And about Cate: I'm going to just copy and paste what I wrote on Facebook the morning of her birthday, because my day is getting away from me and there are children who are supposed to be doing school work right now but are actually playing while my back is turned. 

So, here is what I wrote about Cate, and I still mean it with all my heart: "I love this girl SO MUCH! Happy 17th birthday, Cate! Your first moments on this earth feel like they happened just yesterday, and at the same time, a million years ago. Over the last 17 years, while I've taught you to do things like talk and read and ride a bike and share with your siblings and how you should tell the truth and love God, at the same time, you were teaching me just as much, if not more, about life. About how precious relationships are. About the fierce love a mother feels for her child. About turning to God when you feel hopelessly inadequate. About putting time and effort and work into something, and reaping the glorious rewards for years (and years) to come. The privilege of being your mother has made me a better person than I could have ever been without you. Happy birthday, my darling. Every day that goes by, you become more lovely and sweet and good and interesting and fun than you were the day before. God blessed my life so much when he gave me you!"

 

Merriment Bonnet and Cardigan for my Clementine Merriweather

Here ya go, folks: Merriment cardigan and bonnet. You can probably tell from the delight I had taking the pictures that this project was a winner. I used Drops merino, which was a great price, and definitely seems like it will hold up well to a two year old's antics.

One thing that bugs me is the way the yoke pattern ended up lining up. I'm sure had I not mentioned it to you, you would have never noticed it, but now you can't unsee it, can you. Had I foreseen this issue I would have messed around with the pattern to make it line up better, but I just assumed that all would be well if I followed the pattern charts. No big deal for a little girl's sweater, really, but if you are knitting the size 3/4 in this pattern I suggest you double check what the chart looks like and maybe change the number of stitches so that the pattern lines up a lot better.

The bonnet, as you can see, is too cute for words. So, no words. Other than to say, I ran out of gray yarn and so I got creative in using the other colors for the back of the bonnet and the ties. I think it worked well, and again, had I not mentioned it to you, I bet you would have thought that's how it was supposed to go. I can see myself making more of these bonnets, in different sizes. I think they would make wonderful baby gifts. It knit up so quick, and there are so many great color combinations you could do.

I did not steek this sweater; no, I simply knit the small areas of stranded knitting back and forth. It was no big deal, really, since only the few rows for the yoke are stranded. Of course, had I added in the dots I would have needed to steek it. I saved myself a lot of time not knitting the dots. It turned this into a super quick project that way. But, again, I can see myself knitting other versions of this, and perhaps I will try steeking them and adding all those little dots. I can imagine lots of different color combinations for this pattern, and indeed, a quick check on revelry will reveal many, many different color iterations of this design. One of my favorite things to do is to group different colors together, just for fun. Especially when it comes to balls of yarn. For this reason, I am pretty sure I will want to knit another one of these, just because choosing the colors would be such a delight.

Well, I think that's all there is to be said about this pattern, for now. I'm definitely looking forward to dressing my little girl in this once it is not August, and the temperature still determinedly insisting on reaching 90 degrees each day...

A Visit From the Fairy Godmother

When I look at these photos, I think, It's too bad Clementine Merriweather doesn't have many dimples...then I chuckle to myself at how hilarious I am. She's got dimples upon dimples upon dimples. 

As you can probably tell, this little girl turned two yesterday. My littlest baby, still a baby in my eyes, really isn't much of a baby anymore. I really wanted to commemorate the occasion, with Pinterest-filled thoughts of a Cinderella party dancing in my head. Or, perhaps we could visit Lakeside (one of the oldest amusement parks in the country- I had many a birthday party here, my dad went as a boy, and we have lots and lots of memories at this place that twenty years ago was scary and run-down but has suffered through it to have graduated to the esteemed status of vintage and cool). When my party planning efforts failed and my husband informed me that this would be one of the busiest work weeks of his life, I thought I could scale back. I had the idea of visiting my aunt, who shares the same birthday as Clementine, sometime during that day, but discovered she would be out of town. Suddenly it was the night before the birthday and my sister asked me if I had a party or something like that, or even anything at all, planned.

"No."

"What about the epic Cinderella party we talked about???"

"Sure, Steph, sounds great. We'll be Cinderella in rags and you be the Fairy Godmother who shows up and makes a party appear!"

"Well, do you want me to come over?"

"Yeah, I guess. I don't know what we will do, but I can at least promise you a birthday dessert. I mean, I'm not even promising a birthday cake, but at the very least there will be stale Oreos."

Yesterday, on Clemmie's birthday, I had to leave early to take Gideon and Evie to piano lessons, so I just got a chance to say good morning to my birthday girl. When I got home, after being with her for a half hour, she fell asleep and took one of those long afternoon naps. 

Around three in the afternoon, I admit that I had a meltdown. I sat down in the hall and cried. I felt like a terrible mother.

My mom and three daughters surrounded me and comforted me. 

"Mom, it's fine. Clemmie is only two. She'll never remember this birthday."

"Let us go the store and grab a cake mix and we will make her a birthday cake."

"Invite Aunt Amy and our cousins and see if they can come over for just dessert. Afterward, we can watch the Olympics."

"You're being so silly! You knit your daughter a sweater for her birthday- I didn't give you girls handmade presents growing up!"

I realized I was perhaps being just a little bit silly. We ended up throwing together a cake mix, cleaning up the house, wrapping a couple presents, inviting my sister's family, and it did kind of feel like Cinderella in her rags, making do with what we had.

And, somehow, the magic happened. Almost like the fairy godmother really did visit. 

Grace dressed Clementine in her party dress.

We found a glittering number two decoration leftover from another birthday and watched Clementine run around outside with it and I quickly grabbed my camera and took some pictures. Had you happened upon those pictures on Pinterest I'm sure you would have thought I was one of those moms who staged a photo shoot weeks, or at least days, ahead of time. No, these pictures were thrown together in a matter of minutes. Click, click, click, click, hey, I really like that!

Clemmie's aunts and cousins arrived. Gifts were set on the table and Clementine let out the longest squeal. She knew from her sibling's birthday parties what a present was, I guess. She was so excited.

We sang happy birthday and played a few songs on the piano and she laughed and danced.

She opened her first gift, and she let out the loudest shriek of delight. My mom had gotten her a baby doll. You may know that I used to make all natural Waldorf dolls and sell them on Etsy. I'm sort of (sort of) a purist when it comes to natural toys. I mean I'm not too extreme, but I have never bought my kids plastic dolls with batteries that cry and wrinkle up their faces and make sucking sounds when you put a pacifier in their mouths. Well, this is exactly the sort of doll my parents bought Clementine. I mean, if you are used to all natural dolls stuffed with organic wool, the doll may have even looked a bit scary. But when she opened it up, you would think that Clementine was a mother who had just laid eyes on her own newborn child for the first time. For the rest of the night Clementine held that baby and put the pacifier in and out of the doll's mouth, over and over and over. She showed us the doll, but she didn't lay it in our laps to hold. She wouldn't set it down.

Later on, my aunt, the one I wanted to visit, but couldn't, gave us a call and we did FaceTime. We got to give each other great renditions of the birthday song. Clementine and her great aunt were each delighted by the phone call.

I put the sweater and bonnet on Clementine, despite her protests, and realized what great knitting project it ended up being.

Clemmie blew out her two candles after charming us with her antics around the cake, sneaking a finger in and tasting the frosting before we cut the cake.

The party ended with Olympics watching and Clemmie walking around from person to person, showing off her baby doll or pushing it in the stroller, or placing it in the high chair to feed it. After the long afternoon nap, Clemmie stayed up cheerfully until eleven, and finally we put her to bed. She didn't quite make it until the stroke of midnight, when the spell would have been broken. Instead, the party was over before the magic ended. 

Clementine's Pacifier

Wow, I just realized my last blog post title was "Another Week". How exciting, that's going to attract a lot of readers, I'm sure. Haha. And this title? Clementine's Pacifier? No more intriguing than the last one, I'm afraid, but sometimes that's life. That's me, always looking for excitement in the ordinary.

Before I get to writing about Clementine's Pacifier, (I know, you are surely on pins and needles about that, but you are just going to have to wait) I wanted to make note of something else. This week, like last week, was beginning to feel like just "Another Week" when I realized it was the one year anniversary of something really important. Exactly one year ago, Ben returned from his last international business trip away from the family. He has been with us nearly every day for an entire year, even taking us to Denmark with him last year for three months. From before Jude was born, Ben has needed to travel nearly every month, many trips lasting two weeks or longer, while I've been stateside running things at home. I'm sure I've complained about Ben's traveling schedule enough in real life that I don't really need to spend any more time complaining about it on here to you. Suffice it to say that we are very, very thankful that crazy schedule is done with. It took us a few months to get used to living with each other again, I admit. In some ways it was kind of like the first year we were married- "who is this person in my life and why is he/she trying to tell me what to do?" Anyway, it sure is nice now to wake up in the middle of the night without panicking for a split second, wondering who the stranger is in my bed. I'm not joking.

Also news this week: Clementine has bid farewell to her pacifier. Most of my kids took a pacifier, actually all of them besides Cate, Grace, and Jude. Those three sucked various fingers or thumbs instead. I should have probably written a post on here celebrating when Jude stopped sucking his thumb, because that was a much bigger achievement. And, I am not 100% sure he has stopped completely. As of a couple of months ago, I occasionally noticed it in his mouth when I went to wake him up in the mornings, and could see that it was wet and wrinkled. I suppose only a mother could find something like that endearing, but I did, and do. Jude, who is my cuddliest, snuggliest, snuggler, was just the sweetest little thumb sucker. He loved taking something soft and fuzzy, like worn, frayed strands of his night-night; or a soft cozy toy; or, in a pinch, his own eyelashes, and softly touch them while sucking his thumb. He called whatever it was his "tickle", and really, anything would do. A velvety leaf brushed up to his cheek, a scrap of velvet fabric, his precious night-night that became so frayed that only a strand or two of the threads remained, but were held lovingly up to his cheek while he contentedly sucked his thumb. Ah, Jude.

But I was writing about Clementine. I decided she was much too attached to what we call her "paci". She calls it "Boppy." Anyway, it was getting to the point where she wanted it in her mouth all day long. When it wasn't in her mouth she asked for it. When it was in her mouth, she still talked about it. She talked to it. She made up songs about it. I'd get her up in the morning and her arms would be filled with night-nights (she loves those, too) and three pacifiers, unwilling to part with any of them. She'd invent silly sayings about her Boppy and repeat them all day long, like, "Hi, Boppy!" or "Uh-oh, Boppy!" and "Boppy, Mama? Boppy, Dada? Boppy, Cate? Boppy, Evie?" and, the funniest of all, when we were driving in the car, she said suddenly, as if it had just occurred her, and as if she hadn't been talking about it of the the last ten minutes of the drive, "I know! Boppy!"

Anyway, we were all getting a little tired of the Boppy saga. Making sure she always had one was getting annoying. And, my other kids said good-bye to the paci by 18 months of age. I don't know why I delayed it with Clementine. Maybe it was the same thing as Jude's thumb. Her attachment was just so adorable. Anyway, the other night, I told Clemmie we were going to say bye-bye to Boppy. "No more Boppy."

Her face crumbled up and she looked like I said I was taking away her best friend. Which, I guess I kind of was, in a sense, but no child should have a pacifier as a best friend. It just is not a worthy companion to put all your time and thoughts and conversation into. When your best friend is a pacifier that you sing songs about, it is time for Mama to intervene.

She recovered remarkably quickly after I told her Boppy would be no more. I think she went to bed without crying that night, though she may have fussed for a couple of minutes. By the way, I have always had a pretty easy time ridding kids of the pacifier. Usually after one nap or one night sleep without it, they pretty much forget about it. I'm always more worried about what the protesting will be than what it actually ends up being.

So, the next morning I got up Clementine, marveling at how well she survived the night without Boppy. But normally, first thing in the morning it's all she wants to talk about, so I was curious how that would go. I got her out of her crib and she gave me a huge smile. "Boppy gone." 

"Yes, Clemmie, Boppy gone."

"Boppy gone, Mama."

"Yes. Bye-bye, Boppy."

"Boppy gone?"

"Yes, Boppy is gone."

Such go conversations with an almost two year old. I figured her father deserved to take part in such enlightening conversations as much as I did, so I suggested, "Go tell Daddy!!"

Running to the foot of the stairs excitedly: "Dada! Dada! Boppy gone!"

"Yes Clemmie. Boppy is gone."

"Ohhhh...." like she had just heard this piece of information of the first time. "Boppy gone."

"Exactly."

"Boppy gone, Dada. Boppy gone. Boppy gone."

Thinking I could distract her, I said, "Go wake up Cate and Grace!"

She ran to the bedroom, and shouted "Cate! Grace! Boppy gone!"

"Boppy is gone???"

"Yes, Boppy gone."

So, while I guess she is no longer addicted to her pacifier, we still talk about it a lot. An awful lot. We talk about her paci and it's gone-ness All. Day. Long.

I love this age. So. Much.

 

Projects

This trailer was used to pick up a pretty awesome craigslist purchase, which I will show you when we have it all set up in our backyard. Yes, another yard project. I got Ben to help me out with this one. Actually, it was his idea. It's going to be so awesome. I said that already. I can't wait to show you.

Let me point out Jude's arm to you. He got his cast off and graduated to a brace, and it was the sweetest thing. The doctor asked him if he wanted a brace on his arm, and told him he could be done with the cast. Jude seemed a little concerned, and I didn't understand why, but I told him a brace was pretty much the same thing as the splint he'd had before. His eyes brightened and he said, "Oh, okay!"

Later he told me, "Mom, I thought he was talking about a bracelet. And I really didn't want to wear a bracelet." Instead, the brace reminds him of Batman or Black Panther, which is never a bad thing for a six year old boy (whereas a bracelet truly is).

Oh dear, this darling little Clementine. She is the cutest thing, and is at the funniest age. Ben and the kids and I just watch her all day long and laugh. It's so hard to put an almost two year old into words. One thing she is very excited about right now is babies, either real life ones, where she is always concerned when they do not have their blankets covering them, or their pacifiers in their mouths. She is very helpful in that regard. She is less than helpful, though, when she discovers them napping. She does not understand how precious that nap time is to the babies and their mothers. I try to explain that to her, but she just can't resist squeezing the still little feet, or kissing the cheeks, or checking the eyelids and see if they really are closed. Well, they aren't anymore, Clementine.

She also loves baby dolls. Her favorite activity is finding a doll and saying, "Baby! Baby!" and wrapping it in a blanket, or better yet, asking me to, over and over and over and over again. She also likes to pretend to read books to them, which is so very sweet, or point out the world to them, like we do for her. How can a child not yet two already know how to pretend? I'll never understand that.

Of course you know where this is going, right? Naturally, for her second birthday, I plan to knit her a baby doll. Cause that's what I do. Lego Guy  for Jude, baby doll for Clementine. Apparently, I just can't get away from my nature, which is to try to make everything if I possibly can. I'm glad my children like the toys I make for them, actually, they love them, even the ones that don't turn out quite as good as the others. I know the feeling, since growing up my aunts would gift me with quilts or cross stitched items or hand sewn toys, and they were all more special to me than the store bought things, even if they weren't quite perfect. It made them all the more endearing because I knew you couldn't just buy something like it at the store. My children must get the love of handmade items from me, just like I must get the constant desire to make things from my relatives.

Well I will keep you updated on my projects as soon as I have something to show you!

Those Toddler Years

I haven't written about Clementine for quite a while. Oh, this girl. I love the age from one and a half to two and a half. And she's right in the middle of it, at 21 months. One of the cutest things about this age is the way they love to imitate everything they see around them. Clemmie watches Jude and Truman dip their graham crackers in milk about ten times a day (it seems that way to me at least- we consume a lot of graham crackers in this house, for sure). I'm guessing that's where she got her inspiration to always want a glass of water on her high chair tray when she eats. And the subsequent dipping of all food items into said water. Doesn't matter what it is- scrambled eggs, bread, chicken, broccoli...the less interested she is in what she's eating the more likely she to want to dip it in her water. It's grow. Everyone thinks it's gross. I'm the only one who thinks it's also a bit endearing.

She is talking quite well now, or at least, she says many, many things, though her pronunciation isn't too good yet. Favorite phrases are "Bye-bye, Daddy!" "Night-night!" " "I see?" (this is always said when someone is pulling up some picture or other on their iPhone) "Shoes?" (usually accompanied by her looking up at you imploringly with two shoes, perhaps belonging to someone else, perhaps mismatched, and repeated till the person she's talking to attempts to put the shoes on her feet) "I don't know" (when I ask what happened to her missing pacifier), "No..." (not actually a favorite phrase of mine, but she seems to like using it a lot). Her cutest thing is when I say, "Clemmie, guess what?" or "Clemmie, look at Mama." after I say either of those things to her, she replies with the world's cutest, "Eh?"

We love to give her phrases to repeat, the more ridiculous the better, because she copies it with perfect inflection but of course doesn't get the sounds right. "Clemmie, say: 'Trampoline', 'Love you, Cate and Grace!' 'Darth Vader', 'Lego Man', 'Spiderman', 'Captain America', 'Superman', 'Bucky Barnes!' " Actually, she does quite well with that last one. And what can I say- she clearly has lots of brothers.

She also loves to sing and dance. And that's about our favorite thing ever. It doesn't matter what the music is she hears- a rap song, a kids song, a Christian song, a classical piece, though the stronger the rhythm the better, in her mind. It's so cute to watch her bob her head up and down and occasionally copy some of the lyrics.

Well, that's Clementine Merriweather for you in a nutshell. And no, she really doesn't have enough hair to justify the barrette and the ponytail. But Grace wanted to at least try.

 

Intarsia

Look what I'm knitting for Clementine: a fantastic flower frock! All that intarsia...you should see the back! So many ends. It's crazy. It went much quicker than I was thinking it would, though. Something about color work makes the knitting really fly. I have to knit the back still, and I'm just going to do it plain, no intarsia. I thought that would make it go faster, but I'm not so sure about that, actually. No flowers to watch grow, along with the knitting, just lots and lots of green. I'm using some leftover Wollmeise for this dress, by the way. I love the colors. I love how each color goes so well together. I'm looking forward to adding embroidery at the end, like the pattern calls for. Overall, it's a very fun and rewarding project.

I've owned Lucinda Guy's book for forever, and have never knit anything out of it before now, because all that intarsia scared me to death. But I'm discovering it's really not so bad. The main key, I've discovered, is to use 24" pieces of yarn for all that color work, and just let them dangle. Do NOT mess with yarn bobbins, no, no. That will make you scream and throw your knitting across the room. Speaking from experience, I promise. No, let those ends dangle, adding in a new one when you run out, occasionally pulling your hand through the back to easily untangle them. Piece of (extremely messy) cake. And don't bother with intarsia if you are scared of weaving in ends. That's going to be the most time consuming part of this project. But I'll tell you a secret: I don't mind that all that much. I use one of those gold darning needles, grab a pair of scissors, and sit back and let a child read to me, listen to them practice piano, or I watch a movie, and before I know it, it's all done. Totally time consuming yet mindless work.

Well, that's my plug for intarsia knitting. Go for it if you want a new challenge and there's a project calling your name. Don't be scared of it for years, like I was. Just prepare yourself for some messy looking knitting before all is said and done. It'll look good in the end. (This isn't my first foray into intarsia knitting, by the way. I'm still working on this, having finished the front and knit half of the back. One day I will finish this loveliness. Maybe it'll be the next thing I knit.)

 

Back again!

Hi folks, don't worry, all is well at the Davenport home. We started up our home schooling after the holidays, and I got in such a good, busy routine that I had trouble fitting in the blogging. I thought about posts I could write, and I missed my daily, or almost daily writing habit that I'd been keeping up, but on the other hand, other things in life were falling into place, which is always a good feeling. And that's kind of the way life goes- it's so hard to keep all the balls you're juggling in the air at once. On the one hand, Jude started piano lessons and daily piano practice has subsequently taken place, but meanwhile my poor little blog got put in a corner for a bit. I think I'm usually pretty okay with that aspect of life, for better or worse. I don't stress the details too much, which can be a great thing, but it depends on what other things fall behind. Like, sometimes it's paying the bills. Oops, there's a pink slip from the electric company...probably could have skipped a day of spelling lessons that week and gotten caught up on bills...

This reminds me of a blog post I thought of, but didn't write. "Go to the ant, you sluggard, consider its ways." (Proverbs 6:6) I used to always kind of think of that scripture as an insult, or a rebuke, which obviously it is for the slothful person, but after pondering it for a bit, I've realized I really like the days that I feel like an ant. Hustling around, getting lots and lots of things done. I love to be busy. I love accomplishing talks. And, as nice as relaxing and lying around the house can be, after a day of it, I am done. I do feel exactly like a sluggard, if a sluggard is what I imagine it to be, which is some Jabba-the-hut type of incarnation. That's how I picture it when I hear the word, hah! After doing nothing my head feels muddled and I get grouchy and start snapping at people. I'm definitely a much happier ant than sluggard.

Anyway, this blog post is supposed to be about that baby doll you see up there. Evie (with some help from me) made the doll for Clementine for Christmas. Do the pictures show you how much she adores it? When Clementine opened the present and saw the doll, she grabbed her, hugged her tight and then began walking around the room, showing her to people. But she wanted to show, only. She got quite upset when other's assumed she wanted them to hold her doll. She grabbed the doll back quickly and walked away to someone else who would admire the doll from afar, rather than try to take it.

This doll design is a little different from baby dolls I've made in the past. Slightly bigger head, and the body and legs weighted down with millet. The doll feels so great in the hands. Just the right amount of weight to make it feel much more real, and the weight means she can sit up on her own and be posed slightly. At a less busy time in my life, I will make dolls again, including more like the one you see here. Because she's just wonderful. I like the simple french knots for the eyes and mouth, and the blush on the cheeks and nose and hands. Clemmie likes her too.

Aaaaah, writing again. Feels great. I hope to talk to you guys again in the coming days!

Knitting a hat

I knit this hat up quick as a wink. One, maybe two nights of knitting, with a row squeezed in here and there throughout the day. It was so fun, too. I love knitting cables, and this hat, Quadri, was full of interesting, non annoying ones. You have to have that non annoying aspect when knitting cables. I knit this in sport weight yarn for Clementine, though in truth it fits Truman and Jude really well. Actually, it even works for me, fitting very snug and therefore warmly, yet still covers my ears. But I'm sure it's a million times cuter on Clementine than it is on me, and that's before I've even added the pom pom! How ridiculous. Babies. I can't make her not look cute, even when she's covered from head to two in chili, after trying to feed herself with a spoon.

I hope to make another hat with this pattern in worsted weight yarn for those in our family with bigger heads, like the pattern calls for. This will do in the meantime.