This is what happens when you are forced to do nothing.....

On Tuesday last week, I woke up to a severe pain in my hip. I couldn't walk, I couldn't sit, I had to ask Eli to put on my socks...... I drew the line at asking him to help me get my undies on ..... THAT was half hilarious, half tear inducing. I had to throw them on the ground and try to scoop them up with my disabled leg and then carefully, reach down to my limit for pain to pull them on. Going to the bathroom was also interesting, but I'll spare you the details... I'm sure the underwear picture that is now indelibly stuck in your mind is enough information for one day..... ...  I spent the first day limping slowly around my house, laughing (in between the dark spots that formed when I moved too quickly in any one direction) at the fact that from the back, I looked like a 90 year old woman in severe need of a hip replacement, but from the front.... SURPRISE..... a 37 year old woman appeared and in pretty good shape, if I do say so myself...... The second day... the urge to knit struck and as, I really couldn't do anything else...... I managed to knit 3/4 of a sweater in 3 days..... the last 1/4 of the sweater took another 4 days (I had to fix my house after 5 days of not being able to do anything)..... and yesterday, I was done.....

The pattern is True North by Amy Swenson with several modifications to make it bit shorter and to close with a zipper, rather than a longer belted cardigan as it was intended...... I had originally intended to sew in a fleece liner, but I'm apparently not very good at sewing, so it remains unlined. I love it! It's going to be my casual spring/fall jacket..... The sleeves are too long for me and I think I'm going to cut off the cuff, but I want to wash it and wear it a bit before I decide.

Nice, eh?

Introducing... the next Beiber?

Eli has been working on his own song. He wrote the music and lyrics a couple of weeks ago and his piano teacher filmed it yesterday. It's about our dogs (although you can't really hear him singing, you get the idea)....

Maybe not the next Beiber though.... it sounds a bit more like a jingle....


Introducing, an original composition by Eli: "Kikx and Jade"

New Pattern

I finally sat down and wrote out a pattern for the combined hat/mitten/scarf set that I made for Elizabeth for Christmas and then for Chey.

The prototype was for Elizabeth.... it looked like this. The hood buttoned under the chin, which works great for older kids, but little kids have a hard time with buttons......




I then made a few changes.... a larger hood and a cowl-type attachment to make the hood so it could be pulled over the head....... which resulted in this:



And the pattern is now available either:

Through Ravelry: Winter All-in-One


or Here :


No more lost mittens! Yay!

I've been on a Bender.....

and I can feel it.... my head is woozy, my hands hurt and I don't really remember what happened. Somehow, in the last two weeks, I've managed to complete seven projects (actually nine, I did make two each of the toys). They haven't been large projects, mind you.... but even for me, seven seems like a lot.....

I knit these mitts for Dale to line his work mittens. He loves them, they keep his hands nice and warm even on the coldest days.....

I knit myself another pair of gloves to replace the cashmere pair I knit last year. They wore out, poor things..... Pattern is Meisi, by Julia Mueller knit in Indigo Moon Superwash Merino.

I then decided that I wanted to spin some top that I purchased before Christmas. Another JulieSpins creation in a blend of Merino, cashmere and nylon... so soft and squishy..... I made a 3-ply chunky yarn and knit this awesome circular cowl that can be worn several ways.

Next, I knit this super cool sweater... It's called Endless and it totally makes me happy. You can wear it a bunch of different ways, it is comfy, cute and fashionable. 

I also knit this cute skirt for my friend's daughter's birthday on Sunday (she turned 2... Happy Birthday Aubrey!). I must make one for Chey... it is a sweet, swingy skirt with an adjustable waistband.... perfect!

and finally, I  crocheted these critters inspired by the hot iPhone game "Angry Birds" for the kids... They love the game and Eli even had the plush birds on his Christmas wish list... I'm envisioning the real life version that's going to take place in the basement.... I hope I don't regret making these... ;) Two of each (I do have two kids... which can suck in these circumstances... why is it not OK to pick a favourite and just make stuff that that one?? Just kidding, just kidding..... mostly)

Believe it or not.. I still had time to go skating several times, volunteer in each child's class twice... and my house hasn't fallen apart..... small projects rock?