Caving, But On My Terms, Part 2

All done!

Caving, But On My Terms

As we were gathering our school supplies a couple of weeks ago the kids both asked if I would just buy them a backpack this year instead of making one.

After a look at the options at Target (cheaply made, ugly, plastic-that-probably-was-full-of lead) I said no, but I would make them new ones this year if they really didn't want to use the ones they already had, and they could choose the design.

The Elder had her heart set on a Hello Kitty messenger bag, (like this one, if I remember correctly) so I said that I would make one for her.

As she was getting ready for Pre-K 3 years ago, I made her first backpack as a reaction against the pervasive character and princess stuff out there. I have officially caved in, but I'm going to try to make it unique anyway.

So, I printed out a picture of Hello Kitty, traced it onto wonder under and assembled the pieces for the messenger bag.

There is still a lot to be done as far as construction, but I've made a good start, and I hope that this project will both fill her need for a character and my need for home-made.

Are you all stronger than I am? or do you cave in to your children's demands too?

Yarn Along

Yarn Along time again!

I've been doing a lot of knitting this week but it all seems to be not for this project.

There was the scarf that I started last week, that was a sample for a class that I'll be teaching soon at the Yarnery, so it's hanging up there.

I didn't even take a photo.

I did some customer work on a stocking, which turned out much smaller than the original, and I haven't decided to leave it as is, or rip it out and begin again.

And then there are the fronts of Aeneas here, which I finished, but ripped out and re-knitted so it looks pretty much the same as last week.

I did start on a sleeve, so when that and its friend are finished I can start seaming.

Hopefully I'll have this finished up by the middle of September.

I pulled To Kill a Mockingbird from the bookshelf this week, and I just picked up where I left off the last time.

What I need is some dedicated reading time with that book. It's such a joy to read, but I am feeling a little disjointed lately, and I haven't had the time to devote to really sinking in and reading it.

What's on your list this week for books and yarn?

Early Morning Project

I love the fit of this brown t-shirt, and it matches a favorite dress of mine.

Unfortunately the front is full of paint stains.

Should I have thought about how well I like this shirt before I painted my kitchen while wearing it? Yes.

In any case, the shirt has paint on it, and I don't like to wear it out in public.

This morning I was trying it on and I thought I'd try painting on it with bleach.

It couldn't make the shirt worse, and it had the potential to make it a little better.

So I grabbed a paintbrush from the kids' art box, poured a little bleach into a jar, slid some junk mail between the layers of the shirt and began.

I did a little sketch in a notebook and then painted on the shirt freehand.

The worst stain was on the bottom and it was a tannish yellow color so the bleach covered it up perfectly.

The bleach wasn't entirely predictable, sometimes it bled and others it didn't.

I need to get one of those bleach pens that I have heard tell of and try this again.

I am washing it now, so I'm still not quite sure that my experiment will work out, but it was a fun thing to do and it took 20 minutes.

Yet another problem that I lived with for 3 years that took 20 minutes to fix.

Darn my procrastination.

What's on your list of things to do today?

Update - It worked!

Yarn Along

Hello out there!

It's time for Yarning Along with Ginny, and I have been super busy knit-wise this week.

I wasn't completely happy with the fronts of Aeneas, so I ripped them both out, re-charted and re-knitted them.

The fall season of classes is coming up at the Yarnery, and I have an intarsia scarf class planned for September, so I started the blue scarf there, but I needed my size 9 needles, so I had to finish up the front of the Mystic Pullover.

I had about an hour to myself today, so I pulled out my copy of So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish.

Such a great book! I have been a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy since I was a little girl and I watched the series on PBS, and this book is my favorite of the trilogy.

What's on your knitting and reading lists this week?

The Monkees

I don't know why this is in my head today, but I thought I'd share it with you all.

This is by far my favorite Monkees song.

The 4 maracas just put this song over the edge from awesome to completely amazing, in my opinion.

Mama! Come Look!

It's so rare right now that they enjoy anything together.

Thank you, little caterpillar.

A Visit to the Irish Fair

We live a short walk from Harriet Island, which is a large open park next to the Mississippi River in Saint Paul.

This weekend is the annual Irish Fair and the kids and I ventured there to take in a little music and dancing while we ate our picnic dinner.

I have a feeling we'll go back tomorrow again, since admission is free, and hopefully I won't forget my wallet (oops).

The spirits of my Celtic forebears must have been with us, though, because two strangers handed us their left-over tickets as they were leaving so we ended up with free drinks!

What are you up to this weekend?

I So Want to Try This!

Beautiful Evening for a Bike Ride

"Can we have a Mama-Daughter bike?"

Usually this statement is followed by "and a trip to the playground?"

Yes to both!

The weather has been a challenge this summer.

It's been hot and rainy and hotter and hottest.

This week it seems to have run out of things to say and we had a beautiful 75 degree day.

The Elder is even wearing a sweater! albeit a short-sleeved one.

After our romp at the playground we toodled around the neighborhood and it was truly a perfect way to spend the evening.

I wonder how often these folks head to the bluff at sunset for yoga.

It was beautiful to watch. So peaceful.

Yarn Along

Yarn Along time again!
It seems appropriate to me that I am reading Giant, since my knitting project is also seeming quite giant right now.

The past few sweaters that I have made for myself have all been seamless, and I forget what it's like having pieces everywhere.

It is nice to have little portable pieces, I have been working on the collar during visits to the dentist this week and last and have made some nice progress there.

Not a lot new to report on the book or the knitting, just working my way through the middle chapters on both.

What are you knitting and reading today?

Perfect Afternoon

I wish we could spend every afternoon like this.

Their Waxen Thighs

The honey bags steal from the humble bees,

And for night-tapers crop their waxen thighs

And light them at the fiery glow-worms' eyes.

Titania - A Midsummer Night's Dream

Yarn Along

Hey friends, it's Yarn Along time!

I have been working away at Aeneas.

The back is about 3/4 finished, I had to rip back about 7 inches today because I realized I had been decreasing incorrectly. A little irritating, but not an insurmountable problem. Did I mention how much I like knitting on size 10 needles?

The other day the Elder and I caught Ramona and Beezus on TV. I was such a fan of the Ramona books when I was little that I was reluctant to see the movie, but it was sweet.

The Elder loved it so we decided to start reading some Ramona books together.

Over the years I have lost my copies of the books, so I popped into the bookstore next to my work and picked up a few. I hadn't ever read Beezus and Ramona so we're discovering that together.

I'm also still reading Giant, but only in paragraphs here and there.

What are you knitting and reading lately?

182-212 of 365

I love spending time with the people I have met while maintaining my little corner of the internet, both virtually and in person, and I thought I would let you all know that as I publish my 700th post.

Thanks for your visits and comments!