The Gamble Life

Merry Christmas!

When I first had Gus I was lucky enough to find a group of new moms all looking for friends too.     The group came together in a couple of different ways and has changed a little over the years when people joined us or moved away (or moved back, like me!), but the experience of those first few years of motherhood with this specific group of women and kids is going to remain one of the most important experiences of friendship in my life.

We don't get together multiple times every week anymore, we don't even all get along together anymore!  But we do make that effort to mark big occasions (like the second and third children most of us have had) and I think we all realize that whatever happens those years were so special and valuable. 

Our kids too seem to always know they are with good friends when we get together.  This week we held our annual Christmas Playgroup party and it was so relaxed and fun.  We've done a whole bunch of different crafts with the kids at these parties, from full-on decorated gingerbread houses, to gingerbread cookies, to little stockings, and this year I bought 6" grapevine wreaths, snips of greenery from our Christmas tree and our rosemary bush (smelled heavenly), and all the little garlands, random decorations and ribbons, and glitter glue I could find and let the kids go to town.

Some of the finished wreaths:

I think Vivian here is a Christina Hendricks lookalike in this picture!

 

I love how working with the exact same supplies the kids all made totally different wreaths!  Gus' wreath seems to me to be a pretty good reflection of his personality!  Look at that face, he knows it's wacky.

After they'd finished with wreaths the festive decorating spirit had awoken and all on their own they decorated my friend's playscape:

I hope you too have great friends in your life.  If you still have some ribbon or other decorations laying around how about tossing them to your kids and see what they do with them?  The playscape ended up surprisingly beautiful.

 

oh, I almost forgot, we do a gift exchange/name draw thing and my friend Kathryn made me so happy!

What could it be?

A butter dish!  The butter sits down in the bowl instead of sliding all over the plate.  I am so thrilled. 

Happy Easter!

I finished Gus' angler fish for his Easter basket.  What do you think, will he like it?  Does it make think springtime?

Hey, if you've knit one too, post a comment with a link to a picture!  I want to see the other angler fish out there.  Ravelry'd here.  Pattern is from the excellent and very cool Amigurumi Knits. 

Easter

The beginning of Abe's easter bunny...I'm not knitting Gus a matching one.  He already has a plush easter bunny plus the one I made for him last year.  And he'll appreciate something else more; I'm just not sure what.  I have lots of toy patterns...snakes, elephants, oh, I just remembered that he wanted me to knit him an angler fish!  I should try to do that.  Turns out knitting toys can be really fun.  Parts are definitely fiddly (like stuffing little legs) and you do have to knit tightly to keep the stuffing in, so it can make your hands tired, but things come out so cute and the projects are small and therefore fast.  Colors can be as traditional or as wild as you want (I'm thinking maybe orange ear liners for this bunny...thoughts?).

I know this bunny is going to get grungy pretty quickly if Abe likes him.  And I didn't even pick a washable yarn.  This yarn is lovely though--a discontinued wool and silk blend.  Yum.

Round-up: Gifts

I have finally managed to deliver all of the Christmas and other gifts for 2009 (the year of late gifts)!  (Well, actually, there is one exception but I'm not going to worry about that.)

Gus' knitting bag:

Gus' teachers' Christmas gifts:

 

The pattern for this little box bag, which is so adorable and very simple to sew, came from Stacy Sews.  I have plans to make a couple for myself, they are the perfect size for sock, hat, or lace knitting. 

A few carry-and-draw kits.  I found this Eric Carle fabric and completely fell in love even though I had no idea what I would use it for at the time.

And four very special girls received these Princess & the Pea sets (from the book Itty Bitty Toys).  They took me almost all of December to knit, but I think they came out really nice.  I used up every bit of worsted weight leftover yarn I had and bought (and used up) a bunch more.  In the process I decided I really like Cascade 220--it's a nice, basic yarn and comes in a ton of colors.

 

How cute is the pea?  I was going to knit one, but then I found these Japanese erasers and couldn't resist.

Happy New Year!

Ooh, I've been gone for so long.  We took a long break to Texas, which was very nice.  The boys especially loved all the time with their grandparents.  Chris and I saw FOUR movies.  Four.  In theaters.  At night.  It was very exciting.  I am quite sure that is more movies than we saw in theaters the entire rest of last year.  You can't beat free babysitting, that's for sure.

I decided to do the 365 photo project, taking one picture every day.  I'm going to post them here and over at 365project.

Lots more going on, but it's pretty much all along the same lines:  knitting, sewing, kids.  However, I am starting to think about what kind of job I would like/work I would like to do.  I am aiming to be employed again by the end of the year.  My last job was wonderful, I worked independently, receiving appointments from the courts to represent children or parents in parental-rights-termination suits.  It sounds depressing, and it certainly had it's difficult moments, but on the whole it was really wonderful, positive work that made me feel good about using my training and skills to help my clients.  I'm not tied to that work, or even to family law.  There are so many different kinds of law out there, lots I've probably never even heard of and I really want to open myself up for whatever might come along and hopefully I'll find another great job that I love doing and in which I will do some good.

I just uploaded 385 pictures so I doubt I'll get around to going through them in time to post them in anything even resembling a timely manner, but know that the boys loved Christmas morning, loved playing with the family dogs, that everyone generally had a really good time with tons of laughter.  Chris and I made a list of all the wonderful things that happened over our vacation and it was long and great and we are so very lucky.

More Gift Knitting

Pretty much nothing is going on around here except sort of frantic knitting and sewing, laundry getting ready for packing, "creative" dinners trying to use up the food, and reading U Is For Undertow (which is really good)...it's hectic and fun!

For a dear friend, Damson.  Ravelry link here.  This is a very easy knit, with interesting shaping.  The garter stitch makes it nice and squishy too.

Hmm, this one turned out to be for me!  I wear it a ton, wrapped around my neck like a scarf.  The yarn is a new one from Berroco called Lustra and it's half wool half tencel with a beautiful sheen that doesn't show up in this picture at all.  This pattern is free, and very nicely written, available here.  Ravelry link here.

I couldn't model these because they are too small for me...but should fit another dear friend perfectly.  They are very 80s in color I think, but that is certainly "on trend" as those Project Runway judges like to say...anyway, if she doesn't like them she can save them for her daughters who may in a few years.  Pattern here.  My Ravelry page here.

There's lots more that isn't quite photo-ready, plus a bunch of sewing.  I'm having fun.  Small projects are always rewarding because you get to finish so quickly, and I like looking forward to my friends getting the presents.  And I just love making presents in general, no packaging, no icky materials (I try to use all natural fibers), and one of a kind!

Supposed to be Winter Beauty...

but instead it's just me writing to you because out of the blue Typepad is telling me I've run out of upload room for this month.  I don't know--I've sent them an email because this has never happened to me before and I don't think I posted more pictures than usual.  It's only the 11th after all.  Anyway, if I get it fixed I have a lot of great pictures of Duke Gardens in the cold.  I have the best picture ever (to a knitter anyway) of Gus knitting--he's really taken off.  He can knit and purl now and likes to knit while I read to him at night.

I'm searching for a hat pattern knit flat; I remember one I used to have so I have to go dig it out, so he can knit himself a hat.

I'm busy packing for our trip to Austin, very busy trying to finish making Christmas presents, and busy trying not to eat too much chocolate!

I hope everyone is having a great time gearing up for the holidays.  Hilariously Vistaprint sent me some other families cards today.  They look like a very nice family.  I briefly considered sending them out as a joke, but the postage would be way too much.  Oh well.  They promise me my actual cards by next Wednesday.

Gift Knitting

First up, a teeny tiny little sweater for baby Annie!  I just mailed this even though she was born way back in September.  I hope she and her mama like it. Ravelry project page here.

This blanket was really dull to knit, but I think it is so sweet.  Abe sure seems to like it, anyway.  Gus' teacher and his wife are having a baby girl in December and this blanket is for her.  Ravelry project page here.  This is the blanket being blocked to show the lace pattern better.

I knit it out of cotton, which is nice for a baby blanket, but not so great for lace as it won't hold the blocking the way wool would.

My friend John is currently stationed in Afghanistan and his wife (and my friend) Ruth tells me it is crazy cold there so I knit him this hopefully very warm hat.  I'm modeling it here and let me tell you, it is interesting taking a picture of the back of your head.  And also, what the hell are all those gray hairs doing on my head!  Damn.  This is a really great pattern called Habitat, by a very cool designer named Jared Diamond aka Brooklyn Tweed.  Check out his blog for some amazing photography of knitting (a notoriously difficult subject).  Ravelry page here.

Last but not least, a stealth picture because this gift hasn't been delivered yet and the recipient may be a reader, I'm not sure.  Actually, I have several more gifts but they are all in progress, so pictures later.

Are you making any Christmas (or other) gifts?  What are they? 

It's The Christmas Season!

Year two for the advent calendar/banner Gus and I made last year.  The boys have enjoyed two days starting with chocolate, what a surprise.  I've got some other things planned for future days (besides chocolate I mean), like:

-make wishes/predictions for 2010

-go look at Christmas lights in the neighborhood

-go out for a hot chocolate and scone treat

-make paper snowflakes and hang them around the house

-stay up 15 minutes late reading Jan Brett Christmas stories

-make thumbprint Christmas cards (the drawings are done with thumbprints and pen)

What do you put in your advent calendar?

Like most years I'm trying to think of a new family tradition to do around the holidays...anyone have a great idea for me? 

I also think I'm going to host a little Christmas party/gift exchange for Abe's playgroup.  I'm going to sew a cute little crayon and notepad holder for Abe's gift to his buddies.  Cute so the parent doesn't mind carrying it around, contained and small so the little one can manipulate it, complete so nothing else is needed for a little impromptu entertainment at a restaurant or waiting in line or whatever.  I'll post details when I get them finished.

Turning Six

Gus turned six this October, but first, I found these bowls at a thrift store for only 75 cents each!  They are the perfect size and shape for Abe to have soup or yogurt, and they are also becoming my favorite bowls for salsa.  I love them!

I can barely believe that I haven't posted about Gus' amazing birthday party at my mom's house (he also had a birthday party here in Durham that was pretty fun too).  It was pirate themed and as usual she went all out!  This is just the cake!

She sewed Gus a pirate costume which he wore at the party.  We also gave all the kids pirate bandannas, tattoos, good hoop earrings, and the option for mustaches.  They all got dressed up as they came in but kept the costumes on to varying degrees.

Gus loved it though and kept his entire costume on the whole time.  I made a buried treasure scavenger hunt for the goody bags (which were treasure chests filled with pencils, stickers, a parrot cookie, pirate erasers) and this is Captain Gus reading one of the clues.

They had so much fun that I think we should do a hunt at every party, regardless of theme.

Abe enjoying his cake right on the floor.  The cake was a huge hit.  It was so elaborate that I got to ask each child "which part do you want?" and they could say "the ocean" "the sand" or whatever.  It was really fun.

Gus' party in Durham was at the bowling alley and I didn't take any pictures, but the kids had a fantastic time.  I made a cake too, although nothing as impressive as the pirate cake, I still thought I did a pretty good job.  The bowling alley staff was very impressed.  Gus decided where the candles and the little balloon and swirly candies went.

Of course I couldn't just give the bowling alley goody bags away...so I made these little fabric bags and filled them with pencils & stickers and snickers bars!  I thought they came out so cute.  The bags I bought at Michaels, in packs of 5 for $5 and then I used Wonder Under to iron the applique to the bags.  I did not sew around them because it would have taken forever, so eventually they'll most likely peel off, bu the bag will still be good.

Turning six is about a lot more than just parties and cakes and presents.  Gus really does seem (most of the time) so much more grown up than he used to.  One of the things we do at a birthday is add a new responsibility and a new privilege.  This year, Gus and I talked it over and decided his new responsibility is to clean out and put away all the items in his lunch bag every day and to clear his place at the table (including picking all the food he drops everywhere) and put everything in the dishwasher or the sink as appropriate.  So far he is doing a good job.  I still have to remind him most days, and in fact, I have a sneaking suspicion that he forgot to do his lunch box tonight which means that he'll have to hand wash his thermos and glass tomorrow morning since it won't have gone through the dishwasher.  But on the whole he does it all and without complaining, so that is nice.

The new privilege has been really hard to settle on.  First we said it would be going to see a movie occasionally, but honestly, he is not that interested in going to see a movie.  And, it requires that I go and watch it first (unless we get a dvd, then I can just watch it in advance at home) because the kids movies I see don't strike me as appropriate for kids!  We (Chris and I) just watched Up last night and it was not appropriate for a six year old in my opinion.  It was far too sad, too mean, and too violent.  I would love to have his new privilege be going places, like across the street to the field by the water easement, alone when he wants to but I'm anxious about that.  So we tentatively settled on the movies, but we haven't gone to one yet so I'm still trying to think of something better.  If you've got a good idea for me let me know.

Gus is a really great kid--loving, goofy, stubborn, smart, silly, sensitive, frustrating, and adorable.  I am so incredibly lucky to be his mom.