Brrrrrrr

We are deep in the deep freeze here in Wisconsin! Last night our thermometer on the back deck got down to -17.9°F (-27.7°C) and now, at mid-day we have warmed up to a balmy -6.3°F (-21.3°C). The good news is: no one has puked yet today (yesterday was Bean's turn); the bad news: the washer isn't fixed yet, the dirty diapers and basket of puked on items are threatening to take over the whole house (and I'm not even including the regular laundry that has piled up since Sunday), and there is no stinkin' way I am dragging the kids out to the laundromat in this weather. I guess that means I get to go this evening after supper.

Although Bug and Bean would love to go outside and play in the snow (yeah, we've had a ton of that this year too!), we are finding ways to stay entertained. Bug's (invisible) girlfriend Lainie had triplets and gave them to him. So he is parenting the babies, while I am desperately hoping this doesn't portend things to come!

Bean is in her ballet gear, practicing her moves (both ballet moves and prima ballerina/diva moves):
Beeb has been working the pretzels and working the cute in Mama-made knitting:

So basically, we've got a single father of triplets, a diva-in-training, and a pretzel addict. Good times.

We have also been watching Disney movies and playing with toys. After lunch we'll pull out at least a part of our pile of books and snuggle and read. Not a bad way to spend a frigid day!

Timing is EVERYTHING!

Well, if you live in a rental with a washer and dryer, it's pretty much a guarantee that you will discover a washer that doesn't spin at about 6:00 Friday evening. Of course, it goes without saying that you discover this with load of diapers (do you have any idea how much water those puppies will hold? I could barely lift the basket to take them to the laundromat over the weekend!). I called the management office first thing Monday to let them know and the maintenance guy was over quickly. He took a look at it and told us that it would be a straightforward fix, but that he didn't have the part he needed on hand. He had used the last one on a repair last week and had new parts on order already. So no big deal, probably a couple of days.

You can just hear the universe snickering right now, can't you?

Well, this morning Bug woke up with a stomach bug. He would get the owie tummy and I would chase him into the bathroom when he felt like he might need to puke. After doing this three or four times with no pukies, he was apparently feeling secure, so he stayed on the sofa with us and ended up making Mt. St. Helens look like a mere snort in 1980. Sofa cover, pillows, all his clothes, all my clothes (we're talking down to the underpants, people), all his blankets. And no functioning washing machine. Once we were all cleaned up again, I was considering a family field trip to the laundromat, but Mt. St. Buggins erupted two more times (both safely in the toilet, thankyouverymuch), so I really don't dare take him out of the house. Guess the sofa is going to be nekkid for a while...

First FOs of 2009

So, for several months now, when I tuck Bug into bed, I have to tell him "Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed octopuses bite." Then I have to spell octopuses. I can't even remember how it got started, but I do know that for almost as long as we have been doing it, he has been begging for me to knit an octopus. I had been considering a Socktopus, but just wasn't getting around to it. I just wasn't feeling the love for a somewhat involved project. I really wanted something get-in-get-out-get-on-with-it. Anyway, I had been wanting to try some Amigurumi, but hadn't dipped my toes in. I can crochet, but it tends to involve a fairly colorful array of four-letter words. I decided that this might be a good time to try. Introducing Bug's Bed Octopus:



And little sisters being little sisters, her tuck-in included "Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed hippopotamuses bite." So an amigurumi hippo for her:



And finally, as I was on a roll and didn't want anyone feeling left out (though there are currently no turtles in his bedtime ritual), I made a Turkel for Beeb:



Although knitting is still, by far, my drug of choice, I am happy to report that I am now crocheting with somewhat fewer curse words. There may be more amigurumi in my future. Wouldn't Kitty Daddy just be completely taken by these?

Catching Up IV: Other 2008 FOs

And here we go with a final round up of 2008 finished objects. For the most part, these are parts of a set and I had planned to blog the whole set when it was finished (and may still do so), but as we have stepped across the annual FO divide, I will at least show off the parts of the sets that are finished. First off, I have finished two out of three BYOB bags I had planned. The third has been cast on...





...betcha can't guess the color combination to complete the set! ;o) These are great grocery/market bags and hold a ton of stuff! I really like the Cotton-Ease yarn too. With most cotton yarns, my hands tend to cramp up, but this has enough give that it is enjoyable to knit with. Still, I tend to work on these in small doses, as I am not a huge fan of seed stitch. I love how it looks, but, like ribbing, it tires my hands a bit.

Next, I started hats and mittens for all the kids. I have finished all the mittens, but not the hats. Cute little Beeb mitts. No thumbs. Talk about instant gratification! They took me an afternoon!



Next up, Bug's mittens. You may recall our excursion to have Bug and Bean choose their own yarn, so imagine my surprise when I showed these to Bug and his first question was "Why aren't they green?" Just when I think he has reached his pinnacle of leaving me speechless...



And Bean's...



If I can find some coordinating superwash solids, I'm thinking each of the bigger kids may need a fish hat. Beeb already has a hat in progess.

Finally, a project that started with a bang and ended with a whimper and as a result didn't get blogged. If my Ravelry entry is to be believed, I started this in April 2007, knitted it as if possessed, felted the purse part, and then let it languish a bit. I'm not sure how long it sat before I got bit by the bug again and lined it with some fabric I had stashed. I didn't get all concerned with matchy-matchiness as the whole thing was a bit obnoxious colorwise anyway (leftovers from Bug and Bean's felted clog slippers). And it sat, all finished except for a strap. I started a doubleknit strap with diamonds and knit mile after mile of it. I'd knit a little, lose patience and let it sit and repeat, with it never quite long enough. I finally was so disgusted with it I ripped out the double-knit version and went with striped i-cord, felted it, and eventually sewed it on, finishing it finally in early November.

Catching Up III: The rest of Honkah

The rest of Honkah got caught up in the post-Christmas blur. We didn't have our traditional Christmas dinner (Swedish meatballs and lefse) on either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, but used it for one of the days of Honkah instead. I already can't remember whether it was the 6th or 7th day. I know we did something for the other day to, but it also escapes me. However, the last day of Honkah was definitely too special to forget. Dale-Harriet invited us over for an evening of dreidel and latkes and general Honkah merriment. We even left with some of our own dreidels and a little "real" menorah that uses birthday candles! After demonstrating how to play dreidel to Daddy, we put them in with the holiday things for next year so we're ready next year!

See? This is while I need to blog in real time instead of playing catch-up. We did some very cool stuff for Hanukkah, but it all escapes my kid-addled brain...

Catching Up II: Stealth Projects

While there wasn't a lot of Christmas knitting and crafting, there were a few projects. First up, crafting with the kids. For the grandparents, we made tote bags with freezer paper stencils. The kids make the drawings on freezer paper and I did the cutting and painting. The bags are:

Sammy dancing in a mushroom (Beeb is on top) by Bean for our local adopted grandma:

Cat sleeping by Bug for Kitty Daddy's mom:

Bug in an easy chair with mom in the wind by Bug for Kitty Daddy's dad:

Kitty Daddy and Bean by Bean for Kitty Mommy's parents:

My bit of Christmas knitting was for my wee nieceling. She got a pair of Peace Fleece longies and a matching gnome baby with some of the leftover yarn:





Oh, and if you're interested, here are pictures of my baby brother being a dork with veggies. One of us was clearly switched at birth, as I am never goofy or odd. *snort*

Catching Up I: Holiday Yarniness

Since we have been completely gobsmacked by the Holidaze, I am once again dreadfully behind in blogging. Last time this happened, I did several short catch-up posts rather than slogging through it all. So here we go. In no particular order.

There may have been some post-Christmas stash enhancement. Kitty Daddy and the kidlets gave me a gift certificate to my local LYS (as opposed to my favorite LYS, more on that in a bit). Since I seem to be going through the toes and heels on all my socks at once, I opted for some sock yarn acquisition. The first is Colinette Jitterbug (just like the No More Stinkin' Winter socks) in Raspberry:



I have already started THE viral knit from Last Saturday Knitting (Charade), except toe-up instead of top-down and a different toe and heel. Yeah, so that's basically just taking the texture from the pattern. Pattern, Schmattern. Heh.

I also got two other skeins of sock yarn, On Your Toes one turquoisey and one pinkish.





Okay, the difference between the local LYS and the favorite LYS...the local one is just a mile or so from our house and they do have some mighty fine yarns, but I finally figured out one reason that I just don't like them as much as the Sow's Ear (other than Late Night, that is). The owner must have almost diametrically opposite tastes in color from me. I go in there and look at the pretty yarns and touch them and ogle them, but I have always had trouble when it comes time to pick something out. I finally figured it out this time. Another discovery is that they buy stash yarn and sell it on the cheap, so I may have to keep my eye on that inventory...

It goes without saying that the favorite one is the Sow's Ear. The best thing about the Ear is, by far, the people, both knitters and staff, but I also have a much easier time finding things that simply must follow me home. At Late Night last Friday, I used a little Christmas cash to buy "It Itches" by Franklin (LOVE IT!!!) and these:





It is possible I may be developing a wee bit of a Peace Fleece problem. But really, I can stop any time...just one more skein, 'kay? Or two...or maybe a sweater's worth. No really, any time. I can stop any time...

More Honkah

Well, more Honkah, combined with Christmas. All about the equal opportunity. *snicker*

Our "theme" for the fourth night of Hanukkah combined with Christmas eve was family. We made a supper of assorted munchy type snacks and watched a couple of movies (The Santa Clause, The Clone Wars, and another I have forgotten as I was hiding out wrapping presents...if it weren't for the last moment, nothing would ever get done, right?). It was a nice evening snuggled up in the living room in various combinations of people, blankets, and movies over the course of the evening.

Santa arrive sometime overnight and left presents and ate the milk and cookies, so it made for an exciting morning. We had a sausage and egg casserole for brunch, which is a KittyDaddy tradition that we added this year. We were planning on the big traditional Christmas dinner for supper, but everyone was tired and lazy, so we will save our meatballs, lefse, and all for an evening we are all feeling better!

For the fifth night, our "theme" is celebration. I think at bedtime we will have a brief discussion of how different people celebrate the same thing differently. In some ways, Solstice, Christmas, and Hanukkah have more commonalities than differences. At the darkest time of the year, we are all celebrating light: The return of the light, the light of salvation, the miracle of light. It can be a dark and dismal time of year and we can all use a little light and hope! Our family wishes you and yours all the peace of the season, regardless of what you celebrate!

Third Night of Honkah

Tonight we lit the third candle and celebrated with a bag of chocolate coins (Hannukah gelt). I'm not sure how close we were to the tradition, but we used it to talk a moment about gifts and appreciating how fortunate we are to be able to share things with each other. We also talked briefly about the importance of sharing with those less fortunate that us.

Second Day of Honkah

Last evening we lit two Hanukkah candles and spent a little time exploring Hanukkah music. I really should have save the Erran Baron Cohen album for today's post, but that would have implied some sort of planning rather than my more typical fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants. We did find a satellite radio station that is playing all Hanukkah music (and other Judaica) for the eight days of the celebration, so we listened during dinner and have it on again this morning.

We have been reading Pearl's Eight Days of Chanukah by Jane Breskin Zalben, which has a story (and activity...no, we aren't that organized) for each night. It has two Hanukkah songs with piano scores (for night four, so NO, we aren't even close to that organized!), so I played them on the piano and we tried singing "Ma'oz Tzur (Rock of Ages)" and "I Have a Little Dreidel." The dreidel song was much more successful and Bug and Bean each took a turn singing it solo and playing their own accompaniment (random notes) on the piano.