Recent Knitting

July 17, 2011 at 9:16 pm (Homemaking)

I have made a few projects this spring/summer.  First I made Rachel a tank top – just in time for it to be too warm for her to wear it!  Fall will be here before we know it, and she can get some good use out of it then.

I also made a purse – the goal was to learn how to cable knit.  Not nearly as hard as I was expecting, but certainly a project that needs a bit attention than I like to give to my knitting.

Now I am working on Christmas stockings for the family.  They are patterned after these.  I have 3 done.  Only 4 more to go!

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Knitted Gifts

January 5, 2010 at 7:49 pm (Family, Homemaking)

For Christmas this year, we put our new knitting abilities to work on some washcloths.

I made the little girl cousins and my girls flower-shaped washcloths.

Rachel made Grandma Tyrrell a washcloth that had a nice moss stitch around the edges.

And Ruthie made Gramma Hilda a garter stitch washcloth.

Oh, I also made my newest nephew, Aaron, a washcloth with a duck on it.  Unfortunately, those pictures are not yet loaded to the computer.

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Baby Doll Top

November 24, 2009 at 8:52 am (Homemaking, The Girls)

I finished my first attempt at working with gauge in a knitting project.  I made Ellie a baby doll top.  She seems to be my guinea pig when it comes to knitting.  She got my first scarf, and I chose to make the top for her, as well, because I figured that if I really messed it up, it could go to a smaller or larger sister.

But… it worked!  Glad math is one of my strong suits, though, because I had to totally refigure the pattern.  First, I chose a different yarn than was used in the pattern, and then it seems I knit on the tighter side.  Even after going up needle sizes, I had to simply change how many stitches I needed in order to make it the right size using my particular tightness and yarn.  May seem like a lot of extra work, but I was following the direction of the woman who owns the nearby knitting store.  Any tips from you knitters out there??

In any case, here it is…  the finished product (an a beautiful little model!):


(I’m aware of the blurriness of the photos.  Our camera’s auto zoom has quit on us.  We have been holding out until Black Friday, hoping a nice camera will go on mega-sale.)

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Our Garden

July 29, 2009 at 10:49 am (Homemaking)

Just wanted to show you our garden!

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The box on the left has some sunflowers, cantaloupe, summer and winter squash, and herbs.  The box on the right has our tomatoes (climbing the back string), summer squash (climbing the string going up to the shed – we had to be creative with those beasts! They are now almost the whole way up.), cucumbers, and green peppers.

We are enjoying plenty of squash and some zucchini, and some cukes are almost ready to be picked.  The girls have enjoyed snipping lettuce and herbs to add to salads.  Now we need to figure out how to preserve some of this bounty!

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Leg Warmers

June 12, 2009 at 12:43 pm (Homemaking, The Girls, Uncategorized)

I did it!  I made two pairs of leg warmers!

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I made Rachel’s – the pink ones – by knitting “panels” (I don’t know technical terms) and then sewing a seam to make “tubes.”  (Don’t tell Rachel that her picture was smaller than Ruthie’s.  I fought with the computer, and it just will not put in a bigger picture.  Ruthie is beside me – that is all that is keeping me calm!)

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I knitted Ruthie’s “in the round.”  I could not get the hang of starting on all three needles, so I started on a long needle.  I then split the stitches onto the three smaller needles after several rows and went from there.  Both pairs turned out equally nice, but I think I will do Ellie’s “in the round.”

COMING SOON!  Pictures of Rachel’s and Ruthie’s knitting creations!  They are really getting the hang of it.

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Rosy Rhubarb

June 10, 2009 at 2:07 pm (Homemaking)

One of the things I love about our new yard is its size.  We have plenty of room for a garden.  We started small this year, with just a few squash, cucumber, tomatoes, herbs, carrots, and onions.  But we also have some rhubarb plants.  I am so excited about these!

Not wanting to pay the money to buy rhubarb plants from a greenhouse, I prayed that God would provide some plants for us in His own way. Within that week, we went to visit some family friends of Jake’s.  Not long after we arrived, they were telling us about their garden, and they simply offered us some rhubarb plants – right out of the blue!  No asking.  They offered, not even knowing our desires.  Thank you, God!  (And thank you, Becky and Bill!).

These babies have been through a lot this year – moved to our yard, and then moved again to a sunnier location – so I don’t know quite how much they will give me this year.  I did just pull enough stalks to make some rhubarb muffins, and I noticed new stalks growing.  I hope I get some more to make some yummy recipes, like rhubarb crisp.  Yum!

Here are some of our favorite rhubarb recipes:

Streusel Rhubarb Bread

Sugared Rhubarb Muffins

Rhubarb Dream Bars

8 Comments

A New Skill

May 6, 2009 at 7:48 am (Homemaking)

Look what I am learning to do!

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I made the scarf that Ellie is wearing – just in time for summer!  So I have completed the typical initiation project for knitting.  Rachel and Ruthie are learning how to knit from Grandma Tyrrell, so I thought that I should also learn so that I can help them at home.  I learned from Gigi (a kid’s book from the library!).  

I am not sure whether or not I really like knitting, but I do like that it is something that I can do while riding in the car or sitting around talking.  One project I look forward to trying is leg warmers for the girls, since their little legs get so cold during ballet in the wintertime.  Any suggestions on patterns?

6 Comments

Do the Next Thing

January 7, 2009 at 8:50 am (Homemaking, Spiritual)

The first few days back to real life after Christmas break are often very hard for me. I think I enjoy the time off from school more than the girls do. My reluctance to come back home to school, cooking, cleaning, etc. reveals my selfishness and desire for ease in life. I started Tuesday by fighting back tears because I simply didn’t want to do all the “hard” work the day would require. Now, my life is not at all hard, but I did feel very overwhelmed by all that I had to get done during the day.

Thank God for my husband! As Jake prayed for me before he left for work, the Holy Spirit reminded me that I have been called to this task of homemaker and homeschooler.  If God has called me, He will enable. I then spent the day with two constant thoughts:

  1. “Do the next thing” – This is one of my favorite sayings. I cannot spend the day thinking about all that I need to do – that is way too overwhelming. I need to come up with a plan as to how to best use my time and then just start going down the list and complete what I can. I need to put school and other necessary tasks first and leave the other things to the end, in case I just can’t get to them.
  2. “God, please guide my steps.” – Is this what you want me to be spending my time on now? I know that this is what I had planned, but is there something else I should be doing to serve you and my family better? Is this something I should lay aside for now?

We got through the day, and it was actually a great day. All that needed to be done got done. Some things got pushed to a later day.  All will get done in due time.

Now, I need to go and “do the next thing.” This time, it is reading and workbooks for school.

3 Comments

Planning for the New Year

January 1, 2009 at 9:12 pm (Favorites, Homemaking)

I am a big planner.  I like to be organized.  I want to know what is going on now and what is going to go on next.  For the past couple of years, I have used a weekly planner to help me keep my tasks and plans in order.  I just got a new one at Target for 2009.  The kind I use looks much plannerlike this one.  Lots of lines to write on for each day of the week.

Here is why I like this over simply a daily list for the day:

- I can plan out my week – ballet, my cleaning schedule, a specific meal I may need to make on a particular night, phone calls I need to make…

- I can forget about next week until next week – Do I have library books due, or do I need to schedule an appointment?  I just flip ahead and write it on the appropriate day and forget about it until then.  Otherwise, I worry that I will forget about it, which just wastes my time.

- I can plan far in advance – Is there a certain craft I want to make with the girls next Christmas season?  I write it somewhere in November, so I will have time to get the materials – but I don’t have to think about it again until then.  In the back of mine, there are also some blank pages, so I use those to write down gift ideas I have for birthdays and Christmas.

This method has been perfect for me.  I know that a PDA would be much cooler, and Outlook or something like that would make me look so technologically savvy.  But I really prefer to have something handy right with me in the kitchen, where I am much of the day.  And with the use of a pencil and eraser, nothing is set in stone.  I love it!

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Wonderful Pie Crust

December 6, 2008 at 9:18 pm (Homemaking)

You have probably read of my pie crust fiascos.  Well, thanks to my friend, Kelly, I have found a pie crust recipe that I will definitely use again!  I used it to make an apple pie and a sweet potato pie for Thanksgiving.  There was enough dough left over for the girls to make two small apple pies.  It was so much fun walking them through the steps to make their own little pies!

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Let me tell you, this crust threw me for a loop.  It was not at all dry, like every other pie crust I have made.  When I finished making the pastry, it felt a bit wet.  I thought, “What did I mess up this time?  This is never going to roll out!”  Oh, but I was wrong!  It was actually very easy to work with with a little flour on the table and the rolling pin.  Give it a try and let me know what you think!

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