Cookies, Just Because

Happy Friday.

Yarn Along, a little late

This morning my children were bickering (not an unusual occurrence) and I was a little taken aback by the subject.
"You got to wear the good pair of mittens yesterday!"

They have been alternating between wearing my mittens and a mismatched pair from past class samples.
That's right, the children of the knitting teacher only have one good pair of mittens between them, and they belong to me.
So this afternoon I cast on these mittens for The Younger.
He has a red coat, and I had some red yarn, so it was kismet.

I used Eco + doubled and knit these on size 11s.
I highly recommend making mittens for kids, instant gratification at its best.

Now to choose some yarn for The Elder.
Joining Ginny for Yarn Along, and Nicole for KCCO.
Happy Knitting!

8/52

Hot and cold this week.
The Youngest riding the bronze tortoise at the zoo
The Younger barefoot communing with a sparrow
The Elder and Youngest in the snow fort
Joining Jodi for 52 portraits

Snow Day

This is our 6th weather-related school closing of the year.
That's right, this year.
At least today it's warm enough to go outside.

Snowy Evening

I should be at work teaching a beginning knitting class, but the shop closed early due to a giant super snow storm.
So, instead, I'll be finishing up a project that I started on Saturday.

I dug into my yarn stash and found some lovely aqua wool to weave a piece of fabric, which I then felted a little in the washing machine.

 Next I found a coordinating fabric in the fabric stash

then I did a little measuring and a little cutting and a little sewing and came up with this

It's lined with the floral fabric, you'll just have to believe me, since I didn't get a photo.
Now all that remains is to finish weaving the strap, and I'll be done!
It's a gift, and I'll say more about that later.

I can use some down time because, as I said, it is really coming down out there, and I just spent about 2 hours moving some serious snow out of our parking pad.
The kids made some good use of the giant chunks that I was able to dig up (with some lovely help from my neighbor.)

They had a plan of putting a roof on this, though they lost interest after about an hour, maybe tomorrow.
The best discovery of the day? A pitchfork is a very useful tool for getting up the snowpack.

I think I'm gonna take a break from the Olympics tonight and settle in with a glass of wine and House of Cards Season 2. (I was going to link to it, but there are too many spoilers out there in the Google, and I want to be surprised)
I hope all out there are cozy and warm, and curled up with a fun project!

How I Spent My President's Day Vacation

Our favorite Zoo had a tropical day today.

There was a man playing Calypso music on the steel drums, sand art and a huge sand box inside.

It was such a joy to take off shoes and socks and get in there to build a few dozen sand castles. 

Baby, don't worry 'bout a thing. Every little thing gonna be alright.

The leftovers.

Every kid got a free pail and shovel, and we made good use of them.

Playing in the sand.

Sandy fingers.

Then we made our way around the tropics trail and Minnesota trail.

Astride the bronze tortoise.

Cold!

We had a nutritious lunch.

Hot Dogs for lunch.

We even got some up close time with some of the wildlife.

Creeping up on the sparrow.

Oops. There it goes!

Hooray for the Zoo, and hooray for Abraham Lincoln and George Washington, and hooray for my kids.

7/52

Whew, when I work on the weekends it is hard for me to get my stuff together to post.
So, here I am on a Monday with my weekly portraits.

The Youngest - Swinging
The Younger - Confident and happy
The Elder - Chopping onions for the dinner she made all by herself (shrimp and grits, it was delicious)

Joining Jodi for 52 portraits