is it over yet?

January, that is.  This was pretty, but I'm getting a little tired of leafless trees:

And this was nice on Sunday morning:

We've been attempting to brighten up the days with..

Abelskivers (and bacon-duh)

Cupcake playdates--Morann, Julie, Mallory and Phoebe came to visit!

Of course a jam session was part of the playdate.

Bundling up to play outisde

 Shopping

 And shooting lots and lots of hoops.

(Henry shoot.  Mommy shoot. I dunk! I miss. I made it! More hoop!)

We are ready for February, spring, and a Hawks win!

liam cable sweater

You may remember something almost exactly like this, from last winter?  Well here's the thing.  The weather got too warm too fast for Henry to wear it much before he outgrew it (his head outgrew the neck-hole first).  I found a similar pattern on Ravelry--the Liam Cable Sweater!  I was specifically looking for a pattern with raglan sleeves (omits the tedious task of sewing on sleeves, which I can't get to look right), knit top-down.  It was pretty easy and I loved knitting it!  My Ravelry Link here.

Notes:

1. A very effective method for getting a toddler to hold (sort of) still for a picture is the Cookie Method.  The Cookie Method isn't used very often at my house, especially considering how many cookies I make, but it's pretty magical!  Before resorting to sugar I got these shots:

2. I bought these handy-dandy foam puzzle-piece-thingys for blocking.  Easy to store and worked like a dream!  Way cheaper than your standard blocking-boards, too.  Score!

3. I swear I don't sit around and knit all day.  Really.  My only reasons for getting this much knitting done this winter is 1) football, 2) basketball and 3) less sewing.  It also helps to pick easy-ish patterns.  Hooray!

sick days

Uuuugh, will the sick days never end?!  Poor Henry has not been feeling well ever since Christmas morning, between flu, teething, and now--croup.  The only bonus is more Huggle time. 

 

 I love catching him "reading."

 We've also taken quite a few walks to see the neighbors.  Our misty cool days are good for the croupiness!

And this has been going on during naptimes....from my stash of course!

 Praying for feeling better soon.  The only fever I want around is here is HAWK fever!  Super Bowl baby!

jordana paige baby bloomers

OK, after complaining at length yesterday about gray days, I've decided to talk about something cheery today...these baby bloomers I finished knitting back in Nov! I wanted to make something I had with the yarn left over from this project.  And what baby girl bottom wouldn't look happy with these on?

This pattern is called "Bottom of my Heart Baby Bloomers" by Jordana Paige.  More info on my Ravelry page, here.  This pattern was super-easy and I learned how to make a multi-color pattern by stranding!  It's sooo not perfect, but I'm learning to embrace the imperfections in everything I knit.  So liberating!

gray days

We are in full-blown gray day mode here.  January through March....killer.  We had another big storm on Friday night that left branches all over the yard, so we went out into the gray to clean up a bit...

Henry had fun in the wheelbarrow

This what Pacific Northwesterners do when they're dreaming of being on a warm beach, getting buried in the sand...

 

We are bracing ourselves for the coming months of dreariness, but we did see the first sign of spring on this tree!  Hooray, there's hope!

mikan snood : : intermediate knit scarf

I knit this cowl scarf (also known as a "snood" - who knew?!) in November and I like it quite a lot!  It's the "Mikan Snood" pattern - found here.  I usually don't like knitting scarves because I get bored, but this pattern was difficult enough that it didn't bore me, and easy enough that I could do it while "watching" football, etc. 

 I used Manos del Uruguay Wool Clasica in Marigold.  More details on the pattern here on my Ravelry page!

My only criticism is that at first it felt like this thing was going to swallow my head because it's SO LARGE.  But that just makes it super warm and cozy.  Totally recommend this project!

Happy New Year!

Well, hello 2014!  It was a very pretty day for the first day of the year.  Jamie snapped this morning pic from my sewing room window:

 We had a fun brunch at Shannon & Jeffs with sisters, cousins and friends.  Then we came home and had 1) our first fire in the fire pit and 2) our first ceremonial Christmas tree burning.  This is a PSA to make sure you water your tree well.  It was scary how fast this thing went up in flames!

My New Year's Resolution is to be more awesome.  What's yours?