Sewing Space

On Saturday night, my husband and I got some rare time out together without the kids. We were almost giddy with the thought of some time together. We had some dinner, went to IKEA , and a movie. Paul really wanted to go to IKEA although I could have skipped it, but I'm glad I didn't. We found this desk and I thought it would be a perfect sewing table. I wasn't really in the mood to part with the money for it, but then we found a display model in the "as-is" sale section for over half off. Well, we loaded it up in Paul's Outback and brought it home. The cabinets on the sides are big enough to house my sewing machine when I'm not sewing. It looks so much better than the old computer desk I had been using for sewing.

I dug out the dress that I started last April and I vowed to finish it before Easter even though I know Tess has grown too big for it. Isn't that sad? I'm struggling with sewing clothes. I'm a quilter and I have almost zero experience sewing anything other than a quilt.

Recently, I found myself at quilt shop in Golden and I bought some pre-cut half- yards to make these tote bags that Jenn inspired me to sew.  I thought that these totes would make great library book bags and possibly great handmade gifts for children's birthday parties.

I just love little stacks of beautiful fabric. I've been buying more fabric than yarn lately. I'm over-inspired as usual.

A boy & his chickens

Here's Luke with one of his 15 baby chickens. I have to say that I was extremely unenthusiastic about him getting chickens. My sister and her husband (who live across the street) keep chickens and Luke
got very excited about owning his own. I have to admit that I told him a big NO on getting chickens. Did I mention that he wanted to keep them in my garden? Well, good old Uncle Markie told me that he could keep his chickens at his house. Really? Well okay, then.

Luke went and bought 6 baby chicks and somehow, he and his uncle bought 9 more. He tends to them several times a day.

Today, he's building a bigger coop to house all of his rapidly growing baby chicks.  He's learning a lot. Why did I ever say no?

I'm happy that he's taken on the discipline of caring for all of these birds. It involves a lot of time and commitment and I'm proud of him.When these chickens start laying, I think he's going to charge me for eggs though.

St. Patrick's Day Knitting

We had a busy and fun St. Patrick's Day this past weekend. I got up early to get our Irish stew (with Guinness) in the crock pot. I took Sammy and Tess to the Denver St. Patrick's Day Parade. Unfortunately, I scheduled Luke to take a babysitting course on St. Patrick's Day. So, Paul stayed behind with the twins to take Luke to his class. Along with our friends Ella and Evie, we enjoyed some of the parade. We couldn't stay for the whole parade as it's overwhelming for the little ones after a while. I was just happy to hear some bagpipes, see some Irish dancing and see lots of plaid everywhere!

Anyway, I decided to knit the girls and Sammy fun green hats to wear on St. Paddy's. It turns out that it was way too hot for these hats, but at least they posed for a picture. I used Plymouth Holiday Lights Yarn. It's very hard to see in these pictures (taken with my phone), but it sparkles. Little Tess is wearing a hat knit by Luke. Sam was a little disappointed that I couldn't knit him a hat with a leprechaun or pot of gold on it in time for St. Paddy's, but hey, he didn't get a pinch for not wearing green!

Little Green Girl

It's still Winter

Yesterday, we had one of those fabulous teaser days. The kind of day that is just simply Spring, but I've lived here long enough to know that a day like yesterday is often followed by snow. This morning, it was snowing gently. It's the kind of reminder that Winter isn't done with us yet and we have to be patient. So, I let our little Snow Princess outside, captured her cuteness and she melted the cold away.

Yarn Along- Dragons and green yarn

~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs.

Here's Sammy's Dragon hat that I was working on last week. I worked really hard over the weekend to get this hat completed. I endured a knitting injury as well. I was using Knit Picks nickle-plated 3.25mm circulars and anyone who knits with Knit Picks knows that they are sharp. I punctured my index finger last Friday night while working through the last few rows of the Fair Isle section. Ouch! I can't believe the needle broke the skin. Anyhow, I persevered, but I wish I had knit it a tad longer and used bigger needles. This isn't going to fit Sam for very long. I haven't blocked it yet. So, maybe there's hope.
As to this week, I'm working on crazy St. Patrick's Day hats. Weather permitting, I'm hoping to take some of the kids to the St. Patrick's Day parade in Denver this year. We love St. Patrick here and I've already have plans for beef stew with Guinness, Irish soda bread, and cupcakes made with Bailey's Irish Cream. So, I've found a way to incorporate knitting into the day as well.

So, here is one crazy hat made with sparkly yarn. I'm on the decreases and they're a little tricky. I have a big bag of assorted green yarns and  two more St. Patrick hats to knit for two more special girls. I don't think I will knit spiral stripes though. I've been doing too much color work these days.

As for reading, I'm reading a lot of the same things as last week, but I'm also perusing this knitting book. I'm thinking I may have to buy my own copy since there are at least four things I'd like to knit in here.

That's all for today. Click on over to Ginny's for more book and yarn adventures.