So this quasi step-mother thing…

Kinda hard!

I mean, one minute, you’re this free-wheelin’ single girl, and the next? You’re living with three boys (one larger than the other two), packing lunches in transformers lunch bags, walking kids to school and doing laundry for four! You find yourself saying things like, “Did you flush the toilet and wash your hands? WITH SOAP?!?!” and, “I’ll give you to the count of three to get back in that bed! 1… 2… 2 and a haaaalf…”

{{sigh}}

Some days, like this morning, really kinda suck. I was cranky, Elias was cranky, and even though Emile was in a good mood, he seemed to want to take 5x longer to do everything than he normally does. So I got stressed and short-tempered. “Emile! Eat your waffle! We have to get to school!” “Elias! I don’t care if the other kids get sent to school with candy! I’m not packing junk food in your lunch bag!” Add to that that it’s 40 degrees and raining today? Best. Time. Ever.

Then though, there are other times. Times when everyone is having fun. Times when the kids say stuff out of the blue that make your heart turn to goo. Times when someone makes a funny face that makes everyone laugh. Times when you remember you’re kinda lucky to be you; that you lucked out in getting to join this little goofball clan of yours. Good times

Adam has turned the boys into little crafty bakers. Over the weekend, we made Monster Cupcakes*. You just take some regular, ordinary cupcakes, add a little bit of green food coloring and some fun candy and PRESTO! MONSTERS!

Mine is the purple one. I maybe got a little too into it.

Counter-clockwise from my cupcake is Elias’, then Emile’s, then Adam’s. Promptly after this picture was taken, all the boys devoured their cupcakes and were done with the whole thing. Me? I decorated 4 more. Because I’m crafty like that. If you ever need a candy-decorated cupcake, I’m apparently your girl.

In other food-craft news, last night, we made Apple Teeth*. What *are* apple teeth, you ask? Why, a cunning combination apple slices, peanut butter and mini marshmallows!!

AHHHHH!

They’re mighty tasty too! However, in making them, I made a horrifying discovery! While I am not what one might call a calorie-counter**, I learned that 4 mini-marshmallows = 100 calories. 4. FOUR. *MINI*. MARSHMALLOWS. That means ONE of those tooth creations = about 200 calories!*** I ate TWO! Yikes :-\ It’s not a big deal really, except that if I’m going to consume 400 calories in the span of 10 minutes, I can think of far tastier treats that anything involving stupid mini marshmallows.

A.N.Y.W.A.Y.

Knitting – I’m moving merrily (HA!) along on Christmas Stocking #1. It’s not going nearly as fast as other people had said it would, but I think I can attribute that to two things:

1 – I haven’t actually been working on it much. The thing won’t knit itself, now will it?
2 – I’m new to fair isle and stuuuuupid slow at it. HOWEVER! Not doing too badly for a girl who’s never done it before!

SEE?

Look! A Little Snowman with little Snowman Arms!

Of course, I’m knitting way too tight in some places and my floats are too loose in others, but I think it’s starting to balance out a bit. Take a look at the inside:

I take it as a good sign that you can make out the snowman pattern from the back!

We’ll see. Right now, since I’m knitting so tightly, it’s hard to push the stitches around the wee 16″ circular needle. If I can just figure out how to knit a little looser, I think this thing will start zipping along. Any tips or tricks to this Fair Isle thing? DO Share! In the meantime, I’ll keep plugging away at it.

xoxo

* crafty eats courtesy of Scholastic Parent and Child Magazine.

** I’ve been using the best iPhone app ever to track what I eat so I can see how I’m doing nutritionally. The only problem is, it tracks the calories too, which, on some days, is kind of horrifying to see! Adam told me to delete the app when I refused a glass of wine because I was already waaaaaay over the recommended caloric intake for the day (damned tasteless marshmallows). I’m inclined to agree. I don’t need to be obsessing over these things. Still though, BEST. APP. EVER!

***Apparently, I like to unnecessarily freak out the people who read this blog. The best. app. ever. confused me. I scanned my marshmallows and it brought up different listings and I inadvertently selected Jet-Puffed Marshmallows, not Jet-puffed MINI Marshmallows. SO! AS IT TURNS OUT, 4 *REGULAR* sized Marshmallows = 100 calories. The BIG ones. Not the mini ones You’d have to eat about 72 mini marshmallows to get that many calories. My bad. AGAIN. Sorry. :-\ Freakout over

Because apparently, that’s what it’s become.

Ok, lessee. What’s been going on since APRIL?

• Adam and I moved in together. 6 months later, neither of us have moved out, so I guess all is well in that department.
• I got ANOTHER new job. I switched radio stations and am now doing weekends at 92.3 NOW in NYC. WOOT! #1 radio market in the country, baby!

I thought that would be a longer list, but as it turns out, that’s all I’ve been up to. Considering I’m working 7-days a week (for the most part), I guess that’s all I have time for. That would, I suppose, explain why my knitting rut has turned into simply NO. KNITTING.

PERIOD.

The only thing I’ve managed to knit in 6 months is this:

The hat, not the baby.

Being my quasi-nephew, I had big knitty plans for little Hayes. First, he was going to get a lovely blanket made out of some lovely Brooks Farms’ superwash wool I bought at Rhinebeck last year. THEN, because it turned out that the pattern I wanted to use was stuck in storage, I decided to make him a sweater instead! HOWEVER, the sweater wasn’t done by the time he was born and, being that it is the TINIEST SWEATER EVER, he outgrew it long before I had a chance to complete it SO! A Bananahead Beanie was all he got. :-\ At this rate, the next niece/nephew is gonna get a bootie. As in ONE. BOOTIE. Sad.

(Note to all my friends and loved ones who just had babies (and there are many) – In my mind, you were all going to get a pile of knitted goodness, but I can’t seem to get my ass to knit anything! I’m working on it though, and some small nuggets of knitty love may still make it to you. If you haven’t YET had your baby, you might fare better, since I have time and all. But then again, that’s what I thought about the current set, and look what happened! Just know I still love you all, even if I never knit anything, ok? xoxo)

Hayes didn’t seem to mind though. He rocked the hat.

In the meantime, the weather is getting colder and inspiration is slowly coming back (maybe? I hope?). Elias found Adam’s old knitted stocking that (I think?) Nanny made and has since requested that WE have knitted stockings too! Never one to want to disappoint small children who make knitted requests, I purchased these:

Stocking Knits from Annie’s Woolens!

I bought four kits (Snowman, Evergreen, Moose and Holly) but my goal is to have at least TWO done for Christmas (for the boys). If I get all four done, even better. I’m a little wary though, because I haaaate knitting under deadline AND I’ve never done Fair Isle before. :-O Plus, there are only 48 days until CHRISTMAS*! THE PRESSURE!

As for the Fair Isle though, so far, so good. I’m knitting with both yarns in my right hand. I tried one in each, but having never knitted continental, I had a lot of trouble. Then, by magic, I just sort of fell into a rhythm with the two in my right, so right it is!

The Snowman Stocking

I’ve only done two 2-color rows so far though, so we’ll have to see how it goes.

Originally, I had intended my first fair isle project to be the Endpaper Mitts. My mom bought me 2 sets of addi turbos in both 0s and 1s (I think) and I bought some really nice yarn to make them. ONLY NOW I CAN’T FIND ANY OF IT! LOST! That’s over $40 worth of needles, people! That I had gotten as a gift! BOO HISS! It must have gotten lost in the move I hate moving.

Anyway, that is all from here. I’m excited about these stockings, so hopefully that means I can pull myself up out of my rut, get back in the habit and be able to call myself a real knitter again! LOL.

Much love and hopefully, I will blog again (real) soon!

PS – I won’t be at Rhinebeck this year That’s two festivals in a ROW I’ve missed! Maybe Maryland? Fingers crossed that the stars align…

*PPS – Right, ok, so, HAI! I am an idiot! Iin my panic, I may have possibly forgotten to count the ENTIRE MONTH OF NOVEMBER. Please relax, friends. I didn’t meant to alarm anyone. There are actually *79* days left until Christmas. Carry on. (Thanks Amy!)

Ch-ch-ch-check it ouuuuuut! TWO IN ONE WEEK!

I figured that I really need to try and keep this thing going. It’s sad to look at my archive list and see it jump from JULY 2008 to FEBRUARY 2009! While nothing is going on right. this. second! We still have some catching up to do!!

Here are some more pictures from Greece:

Santorini. Those windmills are amazing!

Santorini. The Caldera.

Santorini must have been the prettiest island, since I seem to have the most pictures from there

KNITTING!

I’ll admit, not much knitting was done in Greece. On the beach there was too much sand and sunscreen for my taste and on the boat, well…for a girl who spent the first day at sea hurling her digested lunch over the side of the ship, knitting wasn’t really a recommended activity. It kinda had that reading-in-the-car effect. Times 10.

That little scrap of knitting in the picture grew up to be the right front of my Central Park Hoodie. You remember CPH, no? Oh, yeah, maybe not since I started it back in September of *2007*!! Yeah, I don’t blame you for forgetting. What can I say? I’m an easily distracted knitter with a currently low knitting mojo. Last year the main distraction was Christmas and baby knitting. This year, so far, it’s been a little bit of Christmas and a lot of holy-fuck-it’s-cold! knitting.

Malabrigo Hat

Malabrigo Mittens

These were both made with 2 hanks of Malabrigo Worsted in Applewood. There is also a Clapotis scarf to match, but I apparently never took a picture of it. It came out a little short for my taste (14 straight sections), but functionally, it does the job. Plus, I’m really impressed that I got the whole set out of just 2 hanks! WOOT! The hat is a combination of the kittyville hat and my bananahead baby beanie. The mittens I made up on the fly. They mostly came out alright, but if I ever knit another pair, I would make a few changes, for sure.

Between those three and another clapotis scarf for a friend (24 straight sections. PERFECT!), CPH has seen little action. However, she has not been forgotten. All the pieces have been knit and are ready to be sewn up (except for the right front, which WAS finished until I realized I’d f’ed it up and now I have to reknit the armhole. no biggie). I am optimistic that it will be done for next fall

More random pics! These are from a wedding Adam and I went to in East Hampton:

Yes we belong in the Hamptons. Why do you ask?

Adam and Gianmaria. Don’t ask. I have no idea.

These are from when Adam, the boys and I went to the Big Apple Circus:

I swear they had a better time than they seem to have had from this picture.*

Adam IN the circus!

Adam got picked to be IN the circus. They selected a member of the audience to compete in a dance contest with “grandma” and Adam was chosen! HE ROCKED IT!! LOL. He had to do the Robot (pictured), Lord of the Dance, and Disco! He was kick-ass! The audience loved him!! For his grand efforts, he was the proud winner of a box of popcorn (which Elias stole and housed immediately.) Hee!

Lastly, in the name of Valentine’s Day, I leave you with this:

Butterfly Sex.

Have a good one!

ps – Happy Anniversary to my Momma! She and my dad would have been married 44 years today. (or 45? 43? Whichever. I think it’s 44.)

*Well, Emile *appeared* to enjoy it. He was smiling and on the edge of his seat for a good portion of it, especially when the train came out and all of the doggies jumped out of it. However, if you ask Emile if he liked the circus, he will say, “NNNO! It’s too FUNNY!”

Once upon a time, there was a PrettyPretty Princess named Vibegrrl.

One sunny day in June, Princess Vibegrrl got the best present ever – a prettypretty bag named Malibu.

so pretty!

Vibegrrl loved her prettypretty Malibu more than anything. Sadly, two weeks after Vibegrrl and her bag were united, tragedy struck! The bag broke!!

oh no!

Vibegrrl was so very brokenhearted. She and her lovely bag had just begun their journey! They’d barely had any time together! Sure, the bag was usuable, but still, Vibey was sad.

so sad!

As discouraged as she was, Vibegrrl knew that all hope was not lost! You see, Malibu was a magical bag!!! Malibu has a secret identity! On the outside, she looks like a regular hot bag! But really, she was designed to be a KNITTING BAG! Therefore, she is protected by the kindness of the knitters who made her!

Vibegrrl quickly crafted an email to the bag’s creators, telling them how much she loved her bag and how sad she was. Within HOURS, just as she had hoped she would, she got the following reply:

Hi Vibegrrl,

Best,
Dawn
Namaste Inc.

Seriously, how many companies out there are like that?

YAY!