33/52

When we were out walking in the nature sanctuary the other day, my friend Erika took some beautiful portraits of these three people of mine.
She graciously let me share them here.
The Youngest - Avocado Face
The Elder - All Legs
The Younger - Happy Guy
Joining Jodi (on time this week!) for 52 portraits.

Small Fry

I was clicking links this morning and ran across Small Fry the lifestyle blog for kids.
There's some pretty adorable stuff there.
My favorite thing was Meet a Small Fry, which is a series of interviews with kids.
I did a little interview with The Younger this morning -

What is your name? [redacted]
How old are you? 7
Who is your mom? Jessica Bandelin
What does your mom do? Sit around and do crossword puzzles
Who is your dad? Brian Bandelin
What does your dad do? Sit around and play video games
What do you want to do when you grow up? Be a dad and be a dad
What is your favorite food? Pizza
What food do you not like? Spinach
What is your favorite color? Green
What is your favorite animal? Tarantula
Where do you want to live when you grow up? A mansion
Who do you want to marry? I don't know
What does dad say? No guns
What does mom say? No guns
What do mom and dad do after you go to bed? Watch tv
What is your favorite song? die young
What is your favorite movie? I don't know
Where is your favorite place to eat? Jimmy's
What is your favorite book? I don't know
What would you do with a million dollars? Be a millionaire and do everything in the world!
What do you dream about? Clowns that are like na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-nah!
What are you scared of? Black widows
Why is the sky blue? I don't know
How would the world be different if animals could talk? I could talk to them and they could talk to me
If you could be invisible for a day, what would you do? Sneakily pull pranks on people (giggle) like coconut bombs!
What are 5 words that describe you? Nice, Happy, Funny, Fun...

This was super fun.
I can see this being an annual list of questions, it'll be fun to see how (if) the answers change.

Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary

We just returned from a magical visit to the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary, which is a nature reserve about 3 miles from my house.

What's almost unforgivable is that this beautiful place is so close and this was our first visit here! 

 

There were lots and lots of wildflowers, birds, bugs, a sweet little creek, perfect for an intrepid toddler to play in and a sandstone bluff full of exciting ridges and balconies and butt slides. 

If The Youngest hadn't needed a nap we could have stayed and played there all day.

I haven't made the time to get out into nature this summer as much as previous years, and I plan to make the most of the few weeks we have left before school starts again.

This was a good start.

32/52

Joining Jodi, late again.

The Youngest - Slimy pasta sauce face

The Younger - Cooking is his happy place

The Elder - She's started a doll hospital in the sewing area. Every day she brings another stuffed friend down to fix it up.

KCCO and Yarn Along

With Nicole, and Ginny respectively.
I have been doing a lot of knitting this past week, though you wouldn't necessarily know it if you looked at the red sweater.
It's currently in a state of having to be ripped back a few rows.
This is the second time I have done a bonehead thing on my Grettir.
I'm in the waist decrease section and after the first decrease I increased and then didn't realize it for 7 rows or so.
Then after I got that straightened out, I halved the number of rows between decreases and didn't realize it for 12 rows, and so now I have to rip back and try again.
It's nice that I am messing up now, though, since when I get into the patterned yoke it will be much more annoying to pull out multiple colors, so hopefully I have gotten it all out of my system.

While I was at the Fair this weekend I got some nice progress made on that little impromptu sweater for The Youngest.
I may have to refine the shoulder decreases, and I will probably pick up for ribbing on the bottom when I have the rest of it finished, but it's coming along.
I will probably spend most of my knitting time working on Grettir, but I think I can set a deadline of early fall for myself.

I haven't been able to do much non-Aran-related reading lately, but I did read a chapter of Zealot the other day. It's quite interesting.

What's new on your work table?

The Irish Fair

I spent three hours on Saturday and three hours on Sunday at the Irish Fair talking about the history of Aran sweaters.
It was lots of fun, and I got to chat with many interested and interesting people
My dad got this one with me mid-gesticulation.

The big sweater is an Aran original, and the small red one I made for a class I was teaching about baby knits and later The Youngest wore it.

There aren't many fashion statements that have endured (in a non-steam-punk way) since the 1800s, but the Aran Jumper is one. 

I think this is mostly due to the (probably made-up) folklore associated with the patterns.

Even if the rope cable isn't meant to indicate that a sailor would have good luck on their voyage, or the diamonds didn't bode for a hearty catch of fish, the stitches have been passed down for more an a couple of generations since then, and they have come to take on those meanings.

It all comes down to some ingenious marketing, and the sweater-making industry has served Ireland, and the Aran Islands in particular, quite well.

During my prep for this presentation I started a swatch to show some different stitches and I realized that if I continued knitting it, it would fit The Youngest as a sweater. 

So, while I chatted about the knitting I was able to finish up the front and make a good start on the back.

Anything on your needles lately?

Snack Tips

We had fresh broccoli yesterday for dinner, and I was reminded of one of my favorite treats when I was little.
First, skin the broccoli stem, then slice it up and put it in a jar of water in the fridge.
Tastiness ensues. Give it a try!
Also, the other night we had corn beef sandwiches for dinner.
I made a compound "butter" with about 3 tablespoons of Better Than Cream Cheese, a handful each of lettuce and basil from the garden, about a tablespoon each of minced onion and orange pepper.
A little salt and pepper and call it done.
It was delicious! Also, the sandwich was really easy to eat for the kids, they didn't have to worry about their veggies falling out as they ate.
What's on your menu this week?