neglecting the blog

But thoroughly living the life!

I am so eagerly busy these days…knitting, reading, being with the family and completing online coursework…there just hasn’t been enough time to blog as well.

And I simply have to find a way to remind myself to take photos. I keep forgetting the camera.

Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate it. Happy Thursday anyway to those who don’t. 

Off to knit and cook and just enjoy being with those I love the most.

blessings,
Mary

 

Dare to Dry

I’ve long been an eager advocate of clotheslines and clothesline usage. 

Today I learned about this organization: http://www.laundrylist.org/

 

And:

Laundry hung outside in winter will freeze, but it will also dry. That’s thanks to sublimation, the process in which a solid converts to vapor without going through the intermediate liquid phase.

I didn’t know that. So cool and such the reason for a science experiment.

More info from Laundry List: 

Some states have passed “right to dry” laws. In Florida, no one can ban clotheslines. Colorado law protects retractable, but not permanent, clotheslines. In 2008, Hawaii’s governor vetoed a ‘right to dry’ bill.

The nonprofit organization Project Laundry List fights to make air-drying laundry acceptable and desirable as a simple, effective way to save energy.

Clothes dryers account for about 6% of your home electricity use, according to the US Department of Energy.

You can keep about 1,000 pounds of CO2 a year out of the atmosphere if you air-dried half your laundry loads.

My favorite things…

I decided to write my own this time around. Feel free to copy and paste and do your own…but make sure to share it with me so I can read yours too!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My Favorite Things…

My favorite things about November: fall leaves, herbal tea, warm sweaters

My favorite things about December: Whingari’s birthday, holiday anticipation, cooking/baking, more time curled up inside, reading & knitting

My favorite things about January: the calm after the holidays, time to slow down and learn new things, snow

My favorite things about February: watching Theo making valentine’s day cards for everyone, knowing that spring is coming soon

My favorite things about March: SPRING!, those mild days when you can go out without a coat, planning the gardening

My favorite things about April: daffodils and tulips and (if we’re lucky) new little leaf buds on the trees, the sounds of bird twittering busily

My favorite things about May: sunshine, sunshine, sunshine, gardening, end of the school year

My favorite things about June: my birthday celebrating the summer solstice, lazy days

My favorite things about July: Theo’s birthday, plenty of outside playtime for the children

My favorite things about August: Nic’s birthday, Chris’ birthday, feeling the end of summer approaching but enjoying that it is not over yet

My favorite things about September: the beginning of fall (my favorite season), pumpkins ripening, vast tomato harvests

My favorite things about October: pumpkin patches, non-scary halloween decorations, pumpkin decorating, being in-love with baking again

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m sure there are MANY more things I could list, but that is my way of showing gratitude for today.

blessings,
Mary

got yarn…

Went shopping yesterday (for groceries) but found my way into a Michael’s somehow

Picked up yarn for two other specific projects and two additional skeins because I liked them. They will, no doubt, become part of the wardrobe for Whinnie’s birthday doll.

Working on various projects, some on the needles (I think we should agree to use the word kneedles when referring to knitting needles, btw, just for brevity and clarity) and some on the computer.

Just cast on for a wrap…details and photos will have to wait until after the holidays. Much secrecy and ’secret knitting in plain sight’ happening around here these days.

Mary

photos along the way

A big dog needs a big bed…like our large sofa.

What a face..he always looks like that…kinda drunk, kinda grumpy…but he’s really the dearest dog. Though we have considered renaming him Lurch.

First attempt at sock knitting! It came out pretty good, completely wearable, and nearly perfect. I made it to be an anklet (in the interest of time) for Chris’ long, skinny foot. The heel had one or two complications that I understand and can prevent next time. 

And my second rolled brim hat. The first I knitted for myself. And I mused that it was unfair that something I made for myself is so easy to get perfect while nothing else is. Well, I gotta say, in this case it’s totally about the pattern. I knit this one for a holiday present and it also turned out darn-near perfect. This is such an easy pattern. I recommend it highly: http://knitting-and.com/knitting/patterns/hats/rolled-brim.html
That page has the instructions for knitting this one up from infant through adult male.

That hat, btw, is made from a yarn that is a yummy blend of alpaca and wool and acrylic. It is super soft and yet oh, so, warm. (And that is a feature that its recipient will no doubt appreciate, what with his mostly bald head.

As always, off to more knitting, cleaning, cooking, homeschooling and trying to remember to enjoy every day.

Mary

November 16th

It is lovely here today, sunny and in the upper 60s or so. 

We’re off to enjoy the sunshine and warm temperatures in just a few minutes.

I finished my first ever sock over the weekend. It is far from perfect but it does fit Christopher’s foot quite well. It will probably not so much match its mate whenever I get around to knitting it, simply because I know where I erred and (hopefully) won’t next time.

I am about halfway through making another rolled brim hat…this time to give as a holiday gift. And I’ve selected a wrap I intend to make as another gift. And then I need to make a special scarf. 

And I need to finish off Whinnie’s birthday present.

And I need to begin working with the boys on their handmade presents for various family members.

I may seem stressed, but really  I’m just excited. So much to do, though, and so little time.

Off to it,
Mary

learned a brand new word today

And it is not even 9am.

gallimaufry

 \gal-uh-MAW-free\ , noun;
1. A medley; a hodgepodge

I rarely come across a word that I have never seen, heard of or at least could get a hint at from its root, but this one was brand new to me.

And an excellent word it is!

WIP, plural

Working on a big sock and a little sock, both on the knitting needles right now. I hadn’t planned on learning sock knitting right now, but am anyway. It happened because I started knitting with a new yarn, one I’d never tried before. Initially I thought it was going to be a hat. But once I started knitting, the yarn seduced me into understanding that it really, really wanted to become a christmas stocking.

Ok, a stocking. Then I got to the point in the knitting when I realized that I only knew the circular knitting part of that plan. In other words, I was knitting a big, wooly tube. 

So I got different yarn and needles out, got out the little booklet that I got with only sock and slipper patterns and started following one. Yep, a pattern. I am not one to stick with patterns much; just like with my cooking, I tend to start with the basic ingredients called for and then somewhere along the way start getting the *itch* to experiment. Typically with cooking this works out well. With knitting? I’m batting about 50%.

The thing is I don’t have time to learn a new skill right now. One month from today is Whingari’s 3rd birthday and I’m still working on her doll, and said doll’s wardrobe. And then there are loads of holiday presents in the plans, some knitted, others sewn.

And there’s my online coursework. And what else? oh, yeah, life (home keeping, cooking, cleaning, child care, homeschooling, sleeping, spending time with Chris.)

But learn I must because some sneaky wool bent me to its will.

Off to knit,
Mary

ahhh – the freedom

Here I sit typing my first blog post on my new iBook. It’s refurbished and hence I could afford something really fast with a really big hard drive. Yes, I will admit that all of this is a luxury. But I will also say that in the category of luxuries…this is a necessity.

The iBook, complete with iPhoto quickly and effortlessly downloaded photos from the camera.

Nic has been taking ye olde giant dog for walks everyday. If he lets go of the leash Wrangler gallops back to the house and waits for me to open the door. He really is my big baby.

More later on the dog, the iBook and all our comings and goings,
Mary

Riches to Rags

http://mothering.com/green-living/riches-rags

Check out the article linked above. It is one of Mothering Magazine’s ‘web exclustive’ features.

Most of the mama’s I know personally are already do so many things to be frugal/financially responsible. Most of us aren’t so much concerned about massive credit card debt, but we are living the reality of a one-income family.

Here we are past the days of diapering, though putting both Theo and Whinnie in cloth dipes in those days was a great frugal and environment-loving choice. These days my constant struggle is with feeding all of us good, healthy, whole foods and staying within budget.

What are your strategies?

Mary