bellevett

today is the day.

last year at this time, i was holding a sweet and precious hours old newborn baby crosby.

i still havent forgotten that holding that floppy little body for the first time and flowing with emotions that i had never felt before.

i will never forget holding the tiny bundled baby and hoping i would never have to do anything ever again beside hold that tiny baby in my arms.

crosby has never ceased to amaze us with his greatness.

i mean really, i cant tell you enough that crosby has truly been one of the sweetest and most joyful beings i have ever been around.  he is the type of child that makes you think that you should spend your life making babies because obviously this one turned out in true perfection.

he has brought us so much joy.  and in fact, when he is around, he brings so much gentle happiness that its hard to leave him.... which might explain why we rarely, if ever, do.

he has made me watch in wonder.

he has shown me how to truly live in the moment.

he has taught me to slow down.  because time doesnt.

he has taught me how precious and wonderful the world really is.

he has shown me how to notice so many positive things in this world where i once was able to notice so many negatives.

he has shown me how miraculous life really is.

 

we had a small celebration this past weekend.

i made a small cake for the birthday boy.  which was mainly a small tiny cake with a lot of fresh whipped lightly sweetened cream.  and some sprinkles in the shape of a c. 

he was given a few small and large gifts.

we celebrated.

so today, on valentines day, such a surprisingly fitting birthday for such a loving and cuddly child, we will probably go to get a very small milk steamer (his first taste) at a local coffee shop.  we might go to the bookstore afterwards and read every book he picks up.  and we might just play with all of his new toys and have a nice salmon (his favorite) dinner.  whatever we do, we will be thanking our lucky stars for such a perfect year with a perfect boy.

 

 

 

 

 

weekending x 2

 

 

 

so the past few weekends have been just the sort of weekends i have needed most.

both were made up of relaxation and productivity.

truth be told, i have been a bit preoccupied with a project here in my little land.  and that project is a new quilt for my boy for his first birthday.  which is coming up next week. on valentines day.  also known as my baby boys first birthday.  so, i deemed it fit to begin sewing him a quilt 2 weeks before, cause that's just what i do.  so, the knitting has been put down and all other interests have been put on hold until this quilt is finished.

except.........

we did find our way out doors 2 weekends ago when the weather got to a point where it should have been considered a sin to stay indoors.  it was still a bit cold, but the sun.  oh the sun.  it was quite nice.  seeing as though this winter has been unseasonably weird and totally unpredictable, seeing sun after months of overcast and rain and 50 degrees with no snowflake to be found, the sun was a welcomed player.

i dug up my beets and one lone carrot, just to see how it was doing.  i planted some arugula and some french breakfast radishes, just for kicks.  who knows, we may not get below 40 degrees at all this winter.  i am proceeding forward with my plans.  after all, the farmers almanac does seem to back up the claim that we will most likely not have any substantial winter here in the valley. 

i pulled up some spinach and re-mulched the kale. 

i turned all of our cover crops on our other two beds.

crosby took the whole garden bed terminology to heart and took up residence laying and rolling in the bed like it was his personal space. 

sourdough bread was made.  and....... meeeh. it needs some work i tell you.  i wont give up yet..

last night i made a giant salad and i used some pickled beets that i canned last summer.  they were by far one of the tastiest things i have canned ever.  and i now remember why i always plant so many beets.  also, the miniature beet eater in the family had some fresh beets last night roasted in the oven with salt, pepper and olive oil.  yes. they were Tasty.  capital t.

the truth is, i have begun my new pinboard on pinterest for my future farm. and i am seriously craving some fresh foods right now.

but, before i get into all that, i have a few days left to finish a quilt that i spent all last night seem ripping out the border after i saw a mistake that i just couldn't ignore.  so, the farm talk will have to wait for a few more days. 

happy tuesday.

some knits. and gifts.

 

a few simple gifts for christmas.

the pear and hat were knitted by me.

pear was knitted from itty bitty toys book, and i added some bells inside so that it would be appealing to such a rattle lover.  the hat was made from this aviatrix pattern. 

a wooden knob puzzle and a book from us.

abc blocks from a family friend.

a few small wooden trains from a cousin.

a wooden xylophone and a tambourine for this music maker lover boy was perhaps his favorite gift.

another favorite? this walker wagon from nova naturals. which he is crawling with.  this boy is such a fast crawler, why would he have any reason to actually walk? 

we intend on keeping holidays small, always, just a few simple gifts and lots of merry making.  this season was perfectly that.

 

among other things....

lots of joy making around here.

lots of crazy around here.

lots of trying to fight the crazy around here.

............................

i finished a sweater for crosby at the beginning of december.

we had our pictures taken that weekend by a very talented photographer, in which crosby wore said sweater.

the pictures are awesome. yes. will show soon.

 

in the meantime, here is the sweater unworn.

and unblocked.

it is the perfect winter pullover.

i raveled it here with details.

.................

i will be back with more soon, but for now, i need to get back to the 2 pounds of peppermint bark.

it needs to be consumed.

 

on december 7th.

yesterday it did this:

i began to believe my dreams were finally coming true of an early december snow.

but, alas, it stopped.

inside i was finishing up this:

now i am officially casting on for a few confidential christmas gifts.

also, i finished letting these dry:

 

they are all packed up in a tin, waiting to be dipped into some white chocolate.  which will happen this weekend. if they last that long.

 

thankful five- day five: handmade

 

 

 

 

 

 

sewing.

dyeing.

and most importantly handknits.

i will be forever grateful.

stress relief in the form of wool.

 

five days of thankfulness links:

day one

day two

day three

day four

 

more little things.

into the woods- and baby needs another warm item, what do you do?

 

pull out last minute knitted gifts and start knitting.

 

finished this sweater a few weeks ago before we went camping and just now blocked it- it has been a well worn item already just like the pebble vest.  this yarn seems to hold up very well- but it has been discontinued unfortunately.  it is knitpicks shamrock.

 

i love this sweater. it is from more last minute knitted gifts and is the perfect gift for someone who is having a new babe- and would be perfect with a hat in the same yarn.

next up for warm weather items for crosby is a tomten.  anyone else get the elizabeth zimmerman bug when it turns cold????

on top of old smoky, all covered in wool.

that explains our weekend.

 

(above: second 6 hour sweater from more last minute gifts, quick scarf for myself, and infinity scarf)

this past weekend, i pulled off an epic surprise for cody.  we had plans to go camping for the weekend with two friends of ours and their baby.  what he didnt know, is that for months now, i had planned on several more people joining us in the mountains for the weekend for a camping birthday bash complete with chocolate cupcakes with salted caramel icing. 

it was a lazy daisy weekend with lots of cast iron dutch oven cooking (new for his birthday) and delicious micro brews. 

it was a weekend of big fires, short hikes turned long by multiple treacherous creek crossings that claimed the life of a pair of sunglasses, and wool..... lots and lots of wool.  especially for the baby. 

and leaf eating in the sun of course.

 

finally i am in a place in my knitting life where most of my warmest clothes were made by me.  of course, as i have camped for years and years, i have loads of "name brand" warm outdoor gear from all the best outdoor stores.  but there is no warmth like wool warmth that was made yourself. 

heck, even the above shirt that crosby is wearing is an old merino wool icebreakers shirt of mine that i downsized to make into a long sleeve merino shirt for him.  it was the perfect next to skin wool layer for him, along with some merino wool nappy pants. 

i actually took no pictures the entire weekend. all of these pictures were thankfully taken by my good friend carah. 

 

 

the above hat is a new little hat that i made with some leftover spud and chloe outer that i had laying around.  it was the shroom hat pattern and it was free free and free.

oh!  and did i tell you i finally put some buttons on the adorable and awesomely warm levenwick??

i promise myself i will photograph those buttons.  vintage.  glass.  multi colored.  need i say more?

 

what a good weekend with good memories.  and good people.  and good food.  and good beer.  and most importantly good wool.

 

discoveries

so much knitting was finished this past weekend.

 

so  so much.

and guess what, wouldnt you know that my camera is dead dead dead.

 

moving on

*********************

the discovery basket.

you know that as a former montessori teacher i would have several of these baskets.  i have rotated new items in and out weekly, as i see his interest dwindle with one item or another.

children do in fact know what they need to explore. and for crosby, that item has always been a tape measure. 

this one in particular, which was my grandmothers.  he typically crawls around with that tape measure.  banging it around on the carpet, on the hardwood, against the couch.

right now in the basket is:

a mason jar lid

plastic spoon (i know, plastic, but it is bpa free?)

measuring cups

tape measure

stuffed creature

ball of yarn

wooden spoon

metal spoon

small wooden bowl

he usually sits (on the ground, cody and i were sitting with him on the couch on this fine saturday morning after some serious baby snuggles) and picks out the items one by one, examining, tasting, examining, banging, tasting, repeat. 

lots of items need further exploring in the form of banging onto the hardwood floor, which he crawls over too, with his little hand clutching the item, and slowly army crawls to the edge of the rug.  and then, let the banging commence.

when i see that his interest in this activity is over, i pack it all back up in the basket and tuck it away for tomorrow. 

the only way to tell if the object is any good is if you shake it and there is a bell inside.  then you know you are in business.

un-toys really are the best toys.

 

reading between the lines.

after a long week of a sick baby, i then became very sick with a downright mean cold for an entire week.

 (read: home with a baby who just came off of a week of sickness and had a weeks worth of pinned up energy waiting in the wings, therefore feeling like worst mom in the land for wanting to lay on couch and not move a muscle.)

that means 2 weeks of sickness.

(read: now you know why i havent posted or written a single word to signify my existence.)

while hosting last weeks visitors: aches, chills, and no sleep, i found myself with a 7 1/2 month old who decided to start only taking one nap a day.......

(read: i was looking forward to those two naps to catch a little snuggle and shut eye myself.)

and then i found myself with a baby who decided that now would be the perfect time to start crawling!

(read: snot dripping from nose, but trying to enthusiastically find the video camera or any device that might capture the moment.)

and of course it is the type of crawling that could be described as human dust mop.  it is full on army crawl.

(read: totally stressed about how dirty my house is. and therefore how dirty crosby's whole front side is because of it.)

this week, we will have an 8 month old.  an 8 month old who loves to eat food, dirt, sticks, leaves, dog hair, tiny bits of who knows what from the ground.

(read: i am becoming busier than i ever thought i could be with one little tiny human.)

this past weekend, as i felt happily recovered, i started happily preparing for winter.

(read: our house was built in the early 1900's and is always cold.  very cold.  we thankfully have a woodstove.  but we still dress extremely warm around the house.  like thermals people.)

i started on some baby socks THAT STAY ON to go with these new woolies.

(read: where do people find socks that stay on babies? scratch that. where do people find WARM socks that stay on babies???)

 

here is my best attempt to get a picture of these on the baby in question.

it turns out that baby feet move faster than the camera lens can focus even in the best situations.

i finished these socks in about 2 hours while sitting outside watching cody stack firewood.

(read: a fast knit considering the multiple stops to clean out the mouth of a baby who *might* have found a stray stick outside to chew on)

i immediately casted on another pair with more modifications for fat little baby feet.

  i used alchemy temple yarn.  the best washable yarn around. totally worth the money, since you can get 2  pairs of machine washable merino wool socks out of it.

this week, i am writing up this pattern for you. 

this week, i will host no visitors of the sick kind.

amen and the end.

 

ps.  could i have chosen better colors for the mums i planted outside? i think not.