2012 Projects

While I didn’t reach my 2012 Knitting & Crochet goal, I had plans to make so much more this year, I did spend a lot of my time chasing after my 3 kids, whom for the most part of the year were aged 5 and younger. Maybe now that Quentin’s 2, and getting to be more independent as the days fly by, I’ll have my hands free to knit, crochet & read more. (And bake more too?)

From top to bottom going left to right: 3 Scrubbies, Bella Ruffle Bag, Baby Shell, 18 More Scrubbies, Rapunzel Scarf, Placemat, Drop Stitch Scarf, Hitchhiker, Girl Cap, Chucko Hat, Another Girl Cap, Rawr Hat, Seaweed Cowl, Big Easy, and Scoodie. 8 knitted projects & 7 crochet. 15 projects total. (Mind you those scrubbies were as if I had made a ton of projects, if you ask me!) In 2010 I made 37 knit & crochet projects and in 2011, I made 21. It seems to be on the decline. I need to rectify that in 2013. New Years Resolution! Crochet & Knit more!

2012 Meme

MEME

The first sentence (or two in my case!) of each first post of the month for 2012:
January: While I didn't reach my 2011 knitting & crochet goals (to surpass what I knit & crochet in 2010), I realized that in 2010, for 11/12 of the year, I had only 2 children, and was on modified activity (practical bed rest) for half the year, with Quentin's high risk pregnancy.
February: I started a knitting project, that is quite cute. (Side note: I never finished it, oops!) 
March:Congrats to the 2 winners of the Colouring Wallets!
April: - Lovin' this Kimbra song, Settle Down.
May: Last week I attended a vernissage at Sean & Mack’s daycare.
June: Two weeks ago, I finished up my hitchhiker scarf.
July: Happy Canada Day dear readers!
August: I’ve finally been making great progress on my Cardigan.
September: HELLO HOTTIE! I'd like to look at this all day long!
October: Love this Eggstra Space Egg holder.
November: Hey everyone!
December: On Friday, my baby turned 2.

I love doing this Meme each year. Here's a link to my 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, and 2006 ones!

My Year in Review

My year in review: In January I rushed Sean to the Montreal Children’s Hospital when he broke out in Hives from head to toe and said it hurt to breathe after he ate 3 peaches. In February I took the 3 kids to Florida for a week to visit my grandmother. We also took an emergency trip to a Clinic while in Florida as Sean had another reaction (to what, we still don’t know). In March, Sean was taken for allergy testing at the Montreal Children’s Hospital and discovered he is indeed allergic to Peaches and Nectarines. In April, I took a workshop with Catherine McKenzie and Shawn Klomparens (to of my fave authors) and lost my first 20 lbs of 2012. Quentin also climbed happily into the toilet for my fave picture of the year. In May, I got to meet the beautiful Sarah Mlynowski, Sean did further testing for his allergies to discover he’s allergic to cherries & apricots in addition to the peaches & nectarines and we planted our garden. I also got the best mother’s day present ever. In June, Sean graduated from daycare (but stayed until mid-August)(here are his handsome daycare grad photos), Quentin started his first day of daycare, I turned 31 and Mack turned 4. I also reached my weight loss goal!  In July we took Sean to his first Alouette’s game, and I started golfing weekly for the first time in years. In August Sean started his first day of Kindergarten, and finished his last day of daycare.  In September, Jamie & I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary. We also went to ComicCon Montreal. In October I celebrated my 7th blogaversary. In November Quentin got a big boy bed just before he turned 2.  In December, Sean turned 6, we got some goldfish and have been reflecting on the past year.  I can't believe 2012 flew by in a flash. It's been an interesting year, and I can't wait to see what 2013 has in store for us.

Bella Ruffle Bag

Two weeks ago, I started this little purse, a Bella Ruffle Bag. My step-mother-in-law had seen me “like” one on Facebook that my friend made. So, I decided to make one for her for Christmas/her birthday (which are 2 days apart) and give it to her with a few other things that I got for her.

It took me a day over 2 weeks to make it (December 13-December 28) because there was some issues in the pattern, and I had to ask for help from a friend in my weekly knitting/crochet group as she had made a bunch of these bags. I ended up “fudging” a bit of the pattern, but in the end, it came out cute, and I hope my step-mother-in-law likes it. (It’s the least I can do, my in-laws got me a Kitchen Aid Mixer for Christmas this year!)

I used .53 of a skein of Cascade 220 in a light blue and the ruffles on the bag were 1.76 skeins of Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Sapphire Blue. I used an H hook (5.0mm) for most of the bag + ruffles a G hook (4.0mm) for the handle at the top.

The pattern is badly written. I got through it because of my friend in my knitting/crochet group had made a bunch and figured it out before me, so I was able to ask a lot of questions. Also, there’s a row in there that shouldn’t be. I don’t think I’ll make another one of these again, but if I should, I know what to do to make it better.

SIX

Sean the day he was born, December 28th, 2006.
He was born at 4:44 am, 5 lbs 5 oz.

On his first birthday, in 2007.

His 2nd birthday, in 2008.

His 3rd birthday in 2009.

His 4th birthday in 2010.

On his 5th birthday in 2011.

Last week at his Kindergarten Holiday PJ Party. I volunteered at the party and got to go to his school in my pjs too. It was a lot of fun. SIX! I can’t believe he’s 6 already. I hope he has a fantastic birthday and all his dreams come true.

TWO

Time escaped from me this past month. I have been meaning to post this, and then realized that someone else’s birthday was coming up (tomorrow) and I thought now would be a good time to recap Quentin’s 2nd birthday, as I do with my boys.

Quentin was born a month early, surprising us at the end of November 2010.

Here’s Quentin on his 1st birthday.

On his 2nd birthday.

My silly Quentin. He’s so funny. He knows he’s funny. He brightens our life even though he tornadoes any room he passes through. But he’s so cute, you can’t get mad at him. Ahhh, the age of 2. Hopefully we’ll pass quickly pass through the terrible two’s quickly. This picture is one of my new favourites. 

Spiral Scrubbies

  

This year, for teacher holiday gifts, I decided to make some spiral scrubbies. I had made some at the beginning of the year, and they were fun to make, so I figured I’d make a ton more. I borrowed the “lollypop” idea from my friend Rosa, and then decided that I would package them up in a vase with some dishwashing soap and package it all pretty.

Don’t these lollypops look cute? I made 2 of each colorway, and had 9 colorways that I used for these. They’re Bernat Cotton yarn. I picked up dowels at the dollar store in a pack of 30 and also got a package of 30 clear plastic bags that would fit perfectly over the scrubbies. I think they look absolutely adorable.

 

I used a 5.0mm (H) hook, and each scrubbie weighs approximately 16g. It took me about 2 weeks to make them all (once I finished the first one, it was a breeze to make them all after a while I didn’t even mark where I was in the pattern anymore, and now know the pattern off by heart. (Super easy!). I actually now have 8 more that are crochet, just need to be seamed together. I wanted to make a few for my own kitchen, in my fave colors of the cotton yarns.

I really hope that the teachers that received these gifts really liked them. I had 6 teacher gifts to make (1 Kindergarten teacher, 4 daycare teachers & 1 daycare coordinator gift). However, I realized that one of the teachers might still live at home at her parents house, and may not have a kitchen of her own, so I went with another gift idea for her. (Some handmade soap (not made by me unfortunately)).

I’m really happy with the way these all turned out. There is a fantastic youtube video on how to put them all together from beginning to end. If you’re interested in my making some of these, the video is worth a look.

Scoodie

  

Recently I made myself a Scoodie (Non Ravelry Link), which is a hat with a scarf attached, for the morning walks to the bus stop. The mornings are really cold and with the snow & winds, they can be brutal. I wanted something that was nice & chunky and that would keep me warm. So far, my new scoodie has been doing the trick. I started it on November 28th & finished it on December 6th. I used a 6.5 mm (K) hook with Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick & Quick yarn. I used 4 skeins.

I really like the way it turned out. I altered it a bit, by adding a crochet border on the hat part in the front. I liked the look and needed to extend the length a bit to cover more of my face for the brutal cold Montreal winter mornings. I also altered where the hood was made, instead of it being centered, I put it to one of the sides, for the way I like to wrap scarves around myself. This might sound weird to you, but this makes total sense to me.

 

I’m also debating adding on pockets to the end of the scarf, for my hands. The only thing I’m debating is which direction to put the pockets. Top loading or side loading… what do you think? I can add on pickets in either direction, so I just need to figure out what is most comfortable for me to place my hands.

Monday Morning Link Love

- Love this free chunky cable knit hat pattern.
- Matte about you looks like a fun product!
- How to organize all your saved ripped out magazine pages.
- Love this bead ornament tutorial!
- Love this DIY Snowman Kit.
- I love these cute printable Christmas tags - nothing like last minute!
- No bake Santa Cookies.
- It's not in English, but I love this tree painting idea.
- It's not too late to make your own Elf!
- Every girl needs a red dress.
- This is a funny ugly sweater.
- Love this birthday lunch box idea. Too bad Sean's birthday is during winter break. Mack's falls a few days before school ends, and Quentin's is in November, I'll have to try it next year when Mack starts Kindergarten!
- This is fun!
- I need to make some cookie bowls!
- Love these 27 food tips!
- These are cute bottle brush trees.
- Wish I had a daughter to print these paper doll printables for.
- Mmmmmmm, fudge.
- Too bad this pizza casserole looks sooo fattening.
- Love this string art.
- This piano pop up card is very neat.
- I ♥ these craft nail transfers.
- I think my boys would love these cheesy oven chips.
- This toothbrush rag rug looks like fun to make.
- I have a thing for owls. (And penguins). Loving this tattoo.
- These dinner plates are awesome!
- Fisher Price has some cute printables.
- Love these alphabet ice cube trays.
- I'd love jewelry like this.
- This is an awesome chip & dip bowl.
- I ♥ this bag. In black.
- Reading Gone Girl for book club and really grabbed by the story so far.
- Cannot wait for the 2nd part of Season 2 of Suits to start back up in January. Just caught up on Season 1 and the first half of Season 2, and it's so good.
- I finally got around to starting to fill out a School Year Chronicle for each of my boys. What a great memory keeper. It's great for daycare through grade 8. (I'm going to see if I can find pages for grades 9-11 so there's one for every year of high school until they graduate). Do you keep records for your kids? I also have this baby book for each of my boys.
- MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Goldfish

Yesterday Sean & I went to the fish store to buy some Goldfish for the boys. The each got one and we picked up some fish food too. My grandmother left them each some Chanukah Gelt (coins) for the holidays, so they used that for the fish. Sean named his George (I think, that’s what he settled on), Mack’s is named Finding Nemo, (not just Nemo, in full, Finding Nemo) and Quentin’s is Elmo. We have a large tank at home, so we’ll be using these goldfish to mature the water in the tank.

When we were in the fish pet store yesterday, Sean asked me what do we feed the fish. I told him we will have to buy fish food as we didn’t have any at home and then said to me, "fish food? Like lox?" I almost died! It was too funny. That one is going into his baby book with the other funny stuff that comes out of his mouth!

School Pictures 2012

  

I finally received Mackenzie & Quentin’s school photos from this past fall. A few of them are super cute. I had to do some photoshoping after receiving the photos (but that’s a whole other story) but once I fixed them up (mainly exposure, and food on my son’s face – she couldn’t take a few minutes to clean up the photo in photoshop?), I’m super excited to get these printed for friends & family (and must update some frames in the house on the walls!) Quentin is so cute, he just needs to learn how to smile for the camera!

   

The middle picture of Mack, is so “him”. My little mister with attitude! But a shy/sensitive attitude. It’s so cute. Looks like he had fun with the props too!

 

The 2 above are just stunning! I wish I would have been able to sneak Sean in that day to get a photo of all 3 of them together. I’ll have to take the boys soon to Walmart to get a shot of all 3 of them together. I don’t own any backdrops, and our work-in-progress home isn’t the greatest scenery for a nice photoshoot.

Wishing all my readers a happy holidays!

Rawr!

Last week I whipped up quickly a Dino Hat, on a request for a photography prop. I made the newborn size. If you remember this hat I made Quentin, it was modeled on the same size ball, before he was born, which is how I knew that the hat would fit a newborn, since it fit my newborn. I forgot to check how much yardage I used (by weighing the hat) but I can get the hat back from the recipient, to weigh. I’ll do that. (I like having accurate information on Ravelry). This hat really didn’t take long to make, but it was in the middle of a crazy week between Quentin’s 2nd birthday party and Sean’s 6th birthday party (he turns 6 in less than 2 weeks, I can’t believe it). I started it on the 6th in the evening and finished it on the 8th, but weaved in the ends on the 9th, so it was officially done on the 9th. I used a 5.0mm crochet hook (H) and both colors are Cascade 220 Superwash yarn, which I had in my stash. It really took nothing in the green & even not so much in the brown. Actually, I could probably work backwards for the weight, I started a new skein (100g) I can see how much brown I have left! Yes, I’ll do that. (Check ravelry later for that info, if you’re curious and want to make a hat of your own). I do plan to make this again, in a larger size, probably for the same photographer. The crochet designer of the pattern’s etsy shop doesn’t exist anymore, so I cannot link her pattern/shop anymore, but it wasn’t a free pattern, if it was on Etsy. I actually altered the spiked and made my own, I didn’t like the way they were written out in the pattern. They were fidgety to work with and I like my method better. I also extended the length of the tail a bit, to make sure it comes all the way down over the baby’s bum. Hopefully it’s long enough! I haven’t gotten any feedback from it being used yet. It’s super cute though… and the pattern I have goes up to adult sizes. I’m not so sure I’d wear a hat like this, but maybe my boys would!

I’ve got some other crochet projects I’ve been working on to show you, and now that things are calming down around here, I have stuff to show you this week. Hopefully no more blog hiatus for a while.

Monday Morning Link Love :: Christmas Edition

- Love this gingerbread dice game!
- Love this candy cane center piece idea.
- Love this pom pom ornament tutorial!
- Love this Christmas wishlist idea.
- Love this tutorial to make lego ornaments! (with parts list!)
- A cute way to decorate holiday cookies.
- Yum, Santa hat cupcakes!
- This Snow Globe necklace is quite neat.
- Love these free printable gift tags!
- Snowball cookies are right in season.
- Interactive gift wrap ideas for kids.
- 25 Christmas Candy recipes.
- Crock pot latte recipes.
- Christmas Bingo!
- Reindeer noses. Preheat your oven to 225 degrees. Spread the round pretzels on a cookie sheet so that they lie flat. Place one kiss in each pretzel.Allow the kisses to melt. Don’t leave the room. This really takes only 3 or 4 minutes. Press one M into each kiss. Push them around a little so that chocolate touches all of the edges of the pretzels.
- Santa's Easy Whoopie Pies!
- Christmas Tree Math Game.
- These reindeer PB&J are adorable. Too bad school is peanut-free.
- For the next time someone asks for money instead of a gift... think teenagers. The disappointment when they unwrap a candy box, only to be surprised when they open the candy box!
- I love this candy cane elf!
- Fun little snowmen!
- Snowflakes!
- A very cool straw wreath!
- No sew ruffle tree skirt.
- Need a tacky christmas party outfit?
- Grinch cookies!
- Love this Kit Kat Holiday House!
- Love this Christmas tree snack!
- A fave from last year, santa hat brownies.
- Printable Christmas coloring sheets.
- Love this knitted ornament cozy.
- Love this cardboard Christmas tree.
- Love this felted tree skirt!

Monday Morning Link Love

- I don't usually do family Christmas cards, but this idea is adorable!
- These Oreo Cheesecake Cookies look delicious!
- For a road trip, this lap desk looks great for kids.
- BuckleyBoo is a great toy for motor skills, it's a stuffed animal with benefits! Pretty cool.
- LOVE this ice cream cone cupcake pan!
- An apple jacket? Is it practical?
- I love this Cookery Club Kitchen set...!
- I'd love a WPI tool!
- I had these Playon Crayons as a kid, and loved them. My mom actually still has them at her house for my kids to color with, in decent shape still!
- This electric cookie press is... uhm... awesome!
- This car jumper is awesome! Why didn't this exist when my kids were smaller?!
- I've been having fun punching Sean's lunch. I think I love these sandwich punches!
- Started watching Suits & I love it.
- Almost done reading Bared To You & intrigued to read the Sequel.
- I'd love some mommy bling.
- This framed ring holder is a great idea!
- Oooh la la shoes.
- These are funny elf on the shelf ideas!
- You had me at Mint.
- This image is awesome.
- These wings are gorgeous.
- I'd love a mug like this!
- These are quite the sparkle!
- I'm addicted to Tapped Out. Do you play?
- I love this adorable skirt!
- I am a sucker for Gingerbread this time of the year.
- This bra case is genius!
- I really do....!
- I like this recipe for DIY body wash!
- This checkered rainbow cake is crazy!
- I totally heart this dress! Too bad it's sold out.
- Good to know KitchenAid tips & tricks.
- Great seaming tricks (for knitting!)
- Gas stove grate cleaning trick!
- So true!

Just My Luck….

I bought a dealfind voucher for 2x60 minute massages back in July (voucher expires Jan 15, 2013) at a spa about 30 minutes from my home. At the end of the summer I started making calls to book the 1st of the 2 massages. After 2 months of calling & leaving messages with no call back from the Spa (I left detailed messages with my name/number and why I was calling), I finally got through to someone around Halloween and booked an apt for today, as it was her first available date. All month I've been looking forward to this massage. This week, I got really excited for this massage. This morning I woke up thinking, YEY! Massage today! I left on time, got there a few minutes early, only to discover that the spa I bought the deal for no longer exists, the owner went bankrupt recently, and a new owner took over the space Dec 1st. It's still a Spa, with the same phone number, but they will not honour the voucher, and didn't even have a massage therapist there today. I am LIVID. I’ve contacted dealfind, and I am waiting for a response. And I'm probably going to get stuck with dealfind dollars, not a refund. THIS SUCKS! All I wanted was a nice relaxing massage and now I'm even more tense from anger over the entire situation, especially after spending an hour in the car driving there & back.

Quentin’s Second

On Friday, my baby turned 2. TWO! He’s no longer a baby and that saddens me a bit, the fact that the baby stage is over.

Over the weekend we threw a party for him and invited some family and some of his daycare friends came too. It was a lot of fun.

Quentin may not say a lot (his vocabulary consists of 16 words), but he’s got quite the personality and he seems to get what he wants. He has me wrapped around his little finger and he’s my baby, so I don’t mind that one bit.

My baby’s a big boy now

Yesterday I picked up (from a sale from Kijiji) and spent the afternoon disinfecting/cleaning the cutest little bed for Quentin. You see, all my boys, around the age of 2, got a big boy bed. Sean figured out how to climb into his crib, so we figured it was time to put him into a big boy bed just a few days after his 2nd birthday. Mackenzie, we followed the same age (2 weeks after his 2nd), got him a big boy bed. Only fair that Quentin gets a big boy bed too, he turns 2 on Friday. (I swear, wasn’t he just born?)

At first, Quentin wasn’t sure what was going on, when he got home from daycare.

But at bed time, he ran right up and jumped right into bed. (He’s showing you he has doggy (red blanket with a Dalmatian head that he’s had since he was a wee little one), an that he is ready for bed.

He laid down, and went to bed without any issues!

He actually spent the whole night in his new bed, he didn’t fall out (though, it’s not that high off the ground, but there’s no place to put a bed rail on this bed (which took his crib mattress) and he even called out to us this morning, he didn’t get out of his bed. We weren’t sure what he was going to do in the morning, but we were pleasantly surprised. Crossing our fingers & knocking on wood that it stays this way!

The crib has been dismantled and (I’m thinking about re-purposing it since it’s a drop-side crib and broke (stuck so it won’t go down) but drop-sides are now illegal), so I cannot sell it. It’ll either get recycled, or I’ll find a use for the wood. But it was really sad taking apart our crib. I remember it being assembled & put into our first nursery, exactly 6 years ago (Dec 1, 2006, 27 days before Sean was born).

It’s bittersweet.