Prairie Mama

With E, I craved crab legs, no joke.  With S, I couldn’t get enough BBQ Chicken and cornbread, with A…um, I don’t think I really craved anything, just salty stuff.  With this baby, I have been craving needing fried rice.  It is bad.  I attempted to make some today and it was SO salty and just not good.  I was sad…to the point of tears.  I packed up the kids (during A’s nap time, this is how desperate I was) and headed to Panda Express.  I got there and told the girl I needed a large side order of fried rice.  She was very puzzled when I told her that was all, oh and 2 orders of spring rolls.

By far the weirdest pregnancy craving I’ve had…but luckily not the most expensive.  Of course, my father-in-law kept me happy with crab legs

I had an ultrasound yesterday to see how pregnant I am.  Well, I was right, I’m a little over 6 weeks, which puts me due the end of September.  I could very easily have this baby on my Grandma’s birthday, my Great-Grandma’s birthday (I would love that, she was my favorite and E is named after her), my nieces birthday or my nephews birthday.  But, we’ll see in September!

I’ve been a lot sick, not throwing up, but SO nauseated  everyday, it is terrible.  So, when I finally get feeling better, it’s time to go to bed.  I haven’t been knitting much.  I have 2 fingers and a thumb left on my second Minnesota Mitten, then I will be able to do the flaps.  I am hoping to get those done before tomorrow night so I can get help on the flaps at Knit Night.  But, we’ll see.  It all depends on what these sweet babies let me do!

Hopefully I’ll have pictures for you soon!

So, I heard about this on another blog I read and have had so much fun checking out (and entering) all the giveaways!!! So, I decided I better do something myself!!!

So, here is what you can win. I will give you the option of either a ring sling of my own design, or if you if a sling isn’t your thing, I will make a beautiful dress for your little girl. I can make these in sizes newborn to 6 T. You let me know what size and any colors you don’t like, and I’ll make your little one a great summer dress!

Here is an example of what the sling will look like. It will be different fabric, you can choose if you want dark or light colors.

Here is an example of the dress. It is based on a pillow case dress, but I have found lots of great fabric that I like even better than pillowcases!!! With the adjustable straps, it will fit for a long time, first as a dress, then as a shirt! You can’t go wrong with this one!

This contest is open to US and Canada residents only, sorry, I can’t afford the shipping!

So, what do you have to do? Leave me a comment between now and Friday Saturday, February 2nd at 9 pm Mountain Time. I will choose a winner on Friday and will contact you by Saturday at the latest. Pretty easy huh?

Oh, and go check out all the other great giveaways!!!!

As many of you know, I am a Mormon, or a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Last night, our Prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley, died peacefully at his home.  He was 97 years old.  He has been the President of our Church since I was a senior in High School.

He  was an amazing man and a true man of God.  He will be surely missed.  For more information on him and his life, visit here.

First, thank you all for your excitement and congratulations on this new baby!  We are thrilled and it is always nice to have others be thrilled with you!

Wow, I finished a sock today. I can’t believe the sense of accomplishment I feel! Only one sock, yes. But, it really motivates me to get the second one done. I have only made 2 1/2 pairs of socks before, but I’ve never gotten SSS (second Sock Syndrome) because I get SO EXCITED!

Now, maybe part of my excitement is that I’ve been working on these socks for well over a year now. I have had to rip them out a few times and they always get put on the back burner. My dear sweet husband loves the University of Kansas. That is where he got his undergrad degree and where we met. We are both die hard Jayhawk fans. So, I wanted to make him some KU socks, crimson and blue. I couldn’t find any crimson and blue self striping or verigated sock yarn though. I was a wee bit discouraged until I found some Jawoll sock yarn in crimson and blue. I bought 2 of each and wound them together to make a nice tweedy sock. I think you’ll like the end result, I know I do

Now you can see why I’m so excited to get the second one done! J’s birthday is February 24, so I am hoping (and will be knitting as fast as I can) to get these done for his birthday. He’ll be pretty stoked!

Sometimes I knit something, think it’s for me, and it tells me otherwise. I had this happen this week. A while ago, I made myself a Calorimetry. I really loved it. I made it with the first yarn I’d ever bought. I bought the yarn, made myself a hat, didn’t like it and frogged it. The yarn has sat in my stash for about 4 years now. It is Rowan Plaid and I loved it. So, I made myself this wonderful headband.

A couple days after I got it finished, my friend Bea, came over and I showed it to her. Now, you have to know Bea, she is so cool. A really funky, fun girl. She gave herself a buzz this summer and still has super short hair. She and her family are moving to Manhattan this summer while her husband does his Post-Doc. at Columbia. She is going to fit right in in New York.

So, when she tried this on, I thought, WOW, that looks AMAZING on her. I am going to have to make her one. For about two weeks I wore my Calorimetry. I even took a photo of me in it.

Cute huh? But, it wasn’t mine. Everytime I put it on, I thought, “This is not mine, it’s Bea’s”. So, on Tuesday (it was about -10 degrees) after I dropped off S at school, I went over to Bea’s work. I commented on how cold it was outside and told her I had something for her. I handed her the calorimetry and she squealed with delight! (she is NOT a squealer, she was really excited!). She told me that she’d been trying to figure out how to get one of these from me and that she’d been obsessing over it ever since she tried it on. See, it spoke to me, I listened and now it is in the possession of someone who really loves it.

Well, now my head was bare and cold. So, A and I went to my lys and got some yarn. Not just any yarn, but Misti Alpaca Chunky . I had a specific hat in mind and knew that this was going to be perfect. I cast on for this on Tuesday and was done on Wednesday afternoon (all that darn parenting getting in the way of my knitting). I then enlisted the help of my camera loving 3 year old, and had him take a photo of my great new hat. He took the top one, J took the bottom one. Don’t you love that yarn? The color is PERFECT!

So, I’m thinking that either, A. Tina is the only person that reads my blog, B. No one got to the end of my last post, or C.  You all didn’t get it.

So, just in case….I’m Pregnant!!!!!!!!!!!!  We are expecting a little bundle of joy the end of September.  I have a lot of knitting to do…I hope I can get it all done!

Also, for the sewers out there…I am in desperate need of patterns for skirts for this summer.  I think it is the only way I will get through my 3rd trimester in the hot, hot summer months.  So, I will take any and all suggestions

Ok, I have this problem. Spring and summer come and I don’t want to knit anymore. All I want to do is sew. Except…fall comes and I am scrambling to finish projects for my family to wear for winter! So, this year, I am not going to let that happen. I have some very specific goals and some very specific deadlines also. There are a lot of things I need knit (and finish). Here is my list:

1. Jer’s KU Socks. I am almost done with the first one. I’d really like to finish it before his birthday in February.

2. S’s Wallaby. I am on the sleeves. I’m doing two at once with magic loop, so they are taking a bit longer than I’d like. But, when they’re done, I’ll be cruising! Good thing I’m making a size 6 for my 3 year old boy!

3. My Mittens. I have started the Minnesota Mittens but am finding that there is so much more I need to do that they get put on the back burner.

4. Swing Thing for A. I have all the yarn I need and this will be a perfect jacket for her next fall.

5. Sheepy Sack, baby sling coverup, newborn longies, newborn soaker, baby sweater, booties and hat…gotta get these done by the end of September/beginning of October

Ok, I’ve found some pictures of the house. I’ll have to get in there and take better pictures (when we have the inspection next week). But, until then, these will have to do.

Living Room

Dining Room (right behind living room)

Kitchen

Upstairs Bathroom

Downstairs Bathroom

I had one of the family room, but it is tiny, so you can’t even see it. I will get pictures of the backyard, bedrooms, laundry room and family room soon, promise!

We are buying a house. It is a very cute house. It’s our first house. We are SO excited! We are under contract, so assuming everything goes swimmingly (which it should!), we will close on February 20 and take possession on the 23rd. It is a great birthday present for J and I as our birthdays are the 24th and 11th (respectively). I don’t have any great photos of the house, so you will just have to believe me. It is a 4 bedroom 2 bathroom home, 2080 square feet on a .22 acre lot. There are a lot of trees on the far end of the lot and S calls it his forest. There are new hardwood floors, tile, carpet and paint throughout. This is something that we will be able to be in for a long time. Oh, and it is around the corner from J’s office. He can (and will) walk to work daily! We are thrilled.

I have no pictures of knitting to offer you. However, I finished my Minnesota mittens, only to realize that I don’t like the first one and so I frogged it and am starting over. Hopefully I will finish them before this tremendous amount of snow we have melts. I am also still plugging away on the sleeves for S’s wallaby. I just don’t like knitting the sleeves. I don’t know why not…but they are bugging me. I am working on J’s socks, and hope to finish them for his birthday (shhhh…don’t tell him!). I am also making some longies for A, they are super cute.

Speaking of super cute…how about some pictures of my kidlets. I know, it’s not knitting and it’s not yarn, but they are super fun to look at!

I love the New Year. It is a time for me to reflect on what I’ve done (and didn’t do), and what I want to accomplish this next year. This year I learned to sew, improved my knitting skills, moved to a new town, made some fantastic new friends, and hopefully, have become a better person.

Next year, I want to continue that journey. I will start sewing again very soon to sell items at our local Gardner’s Market. I am also planning on finishing J’s socks (yeah, I’ve been working on them for over a year now), finishing S’s Wallaby and making Swing Thing for Miss A.

This year we are also hoping to buy a house and have a baby. Preferably in that order. I’ll let you know how both of those ventures work out for us!

Thanks to all of you (maybe all 4?) that read and comment on my blog. I hope to improve this space also. I would love to have a blog that inspires others, but I’ll settle for something that others at least want to read

Goodbye 2007, it’s been a good year. Hello 2008, I can’t wait to see what you have in store for me!

Here are a few of my crafting highlights of 2007.

January

It was really hard keeping this to one picture a month. As you can see, in February, I couldn’t do it. I had to sing the praises of my amazing husband one last time!

Happy New Year to all of you from all of us!