Yarnalong: Sock Mitts & 2 Books

Joining Ginny today at Small Things blog:

Knitting: Sock Mitts for my Etsy shop. The wool I'm using is Paton's Classic Wool Worsted in Dark Grey Mix for the grey part, Aran for the cream part and Bright Red for the stripe. I'm using my old stand-by 2 needle mitten pattern and 4.0mm needles for these guys.

(you can see the first mitten in behind that still needs to be sewn up)

Reading: 2 books this week. I'm almost always reading several books at once. I'm working on Jan Karon's In the Company of Others and Kim John Payne's Simplicity Parenting. Jan Karon is one of my favourite authors. I picked this book up in a thrift store a month ago and have been reading it for a few weeks now. I only seem to find 15 minutes a day to read and usually at bedtime. 

I also checked Simplicity Parenting out of the library on Monday. I kept hearing about it, especially on Bliss Beyond Naptime and wanted to see what it was all about. With all the challenges we've been having with The Em-ster I've been searching for new ideas and this book meshes with what my gut is telling me about simplifying life. I strongly believe kids are way too scheduled and need more free time to just play and relax. Kim John Payne points out that a quirk+stress=disorder. This girl is definitely quirky in the best way possible and she is clearly stressed out by her teacher so I wonder if that's why the ADHD tendencies of inattentiveness and hyperactivity?

In other news, many thanks for your suggestions and comments from this post on what the heck to call the above mittens. The prize goes to Kimberley who said call 'em "Sock Mitts" and the name has stuck. Kimberley will be finding a pair of Sock Mitts in her mailbox very soon. I love simplicity! 

Knitting, Growing, Goaling in 2015

I just finished reading Soulemama's post about her intentions for 2015 and it inspired me to do the same.

Every year I vow to do the usual: eat better, floss everyday, exercise more, expand my mind etc., etc., etc., and I feel like I'm over this stuff. Mostly I eat well, floss, exercise and read so I guess I've kept my resolutions. But I don't feel excited or enthusiastic about any of those things right now.
My goal for 2015 is to work from home. It's not a resolution or an intention, it feels so strong it's definitely a goal. I like being home, being available when kids are sick and can't go to school, planning and preparing healthy whole food meals and most of all being in control of our financial situation.

I enjoy knitting for my Etsy shop so much that I feel like it's my calling. Time seems to slow down when I sit down to knit a pair of mittens and what a great feeling that is. The job I work at 2 days a week sucks the life out of me and it is clear to me that I am meant to work from home. I've applied to all sorts of jobs in the past few months without success and the small, quiet voice in my head just keeps saying "home". Alright then. Home it is.
The other night I made myself a little plan with small, manageable steps so wish me luck!
What you'll notice is more regular blog posts as well as mitten patterns for sale in the sidebar and on Ravelry. If I may be so bold, I hope to join some of my fellow bloggers and acquire some well-chosen sponsors to advertise here as well.
Lots of people have been talking about one word they've chosen to describe or guide them through the year. I haven't discerned one in particular yet but some in the running are: knit, grow, expand and peace. Last year's words were "breathe" and "create". Looking back they were so very accurate in describing the theme of my year. Amazing.

Gratitude Sunday: Knitting & Hosting

Joining Taryn at Wooly Moss Roots for Gratitude Sunday:

The Boy exploring at my parents' house over Christmas

Feeling grateful this sunday for:

:: a surprise (to me anyway) lunch with friends today. I had been told that one of my husband's friends would come for lunch then before I knew it 3 other people were on the guest list. One person you can get away with dining in your comfy pants and wiping the bathroom counter off, 4 guests require actual pants and cleaning the spit off the bathroom mirror too. Yeesh.

:: snow yesterday morning. So pretty.

:: both kids going outside without a fuss and coming in rosy-cheeked and calmer.

:: celebrating New Year's Eve with skating outside, hot chocolate and warm pajamas afterwards.

:: a successful sleepover to finally celebrate my daughter's birthday

:: knitting time and 2 pairs of finished mittens in as many days

:: a new year full of new possibilities

:: getting my baby fix when our friends came to visit on New Year's day. I have no desire for more babies of my own but I love holding other people's babies.

:: flexing my creative knitting muscles with a rolled brim blueberry baby hat knit in 2.5 hrs. Last minute gift for the aforementioned baby. In-utero he was known as Blueberry so of course needed a funny hat to commemorate this. Sadly, no pictures but I plan on knitting another one for the shop.

Sleepover hangover

Last night we hosted a sleepover to celebrate the Em-ster's 10th birthday...6 months late. Sigh. At the time of her actual birthday we were so worn out from dealing with a teacher-student match made in hell that we had no energy to entertain and feed a gaggle of girls to mark this momentous birthday.

She had really been struggling at the end of the school year to hold it together at school and we were exhausted from the melt-downs and new behaviour our usually happy-bouncy girl was displaying instead. I am not new to challenging behaviour, having parented The Boy in his Asperger glory for 13 years. But this was new and I was out of my element and struggling too.
It was such a relief for school to end and my girl to finally calm down and be the joy she normally is. To shake things up with a birthday party? We just couldn't do it.
So here I am the morning after, having survived 4 10 year old girls in my house and up till 1:30 am. I am the picture of someone who hasn't taken very good care of herself this week. Have you been there? I bet you have. I shouldn't have stayed up to see midnight on New Year's Eve and I should've gone to bed early the next night. I should've gone for a walk or something this week to get some kind of exercise but I didn't.
However, despite the exhaustion I feel pretty good about how last night went. The Em-ster ran the show without any input from me. I stayed out of things, only appearing to announce that food was ready and smoothing things over when the choice of movie was a not a favourite among all involved. This is how I roll-hands off except when it's needed. Definitely not a helicopter parent for the most part. How are kids supposed to learn anything if you're always jumping in to help/do it for them/make suggestions??
But I digress ;) I'm going to jump on the self-care bandwagon again, read some and go to bed early.
Good night.

A Flaming Christmas Tree, Gnomes and Turkeys

As we wrap up the holiday season here at our house I thought I'd better post some of these photos before they just seem like a strange afterthought.

My mother in law is German (East-Prussian actually) and keeps some of the old traditions alive including candles on the Christmas tree and plates of treats for everybody on Christmas Eve. Now that my kids are older and less likely to fall into the flaming Christmas tree I can finally enjoy it. So pretty.

This year she hung apples and sugar cookies on the tree.

At my parents' house, my mother has always had these little gnomes and elves decorating the corner cupboard. My brother has added a few characters he's found in his travels including the old man and woman you can see in the right-middle-ground above.

Me and the turkey (I'm the one on the left ;))

The Em-ster and I, delirious with hunger.

So, there you have it. 

Tonight once the kids are tucked in bed and the house is quiet I will carefully pack away the Christmas decorations for another year. Decorating the tree and the house is a family tradition with holiday music and hot chocolate and cookies. Undecorating everything is a job I like to do quietly and solo. It's my way of saying good-bye to another Christmas, remembering the food, family and fun from this year and years past. I make sure everything gets carefully packed up and put away. It's closure and meditation all rolled into one.

Happy New Year to you and yours. I hope this year brings you peace, many steps closer to your dreams and time to pause, reflect and simplify.