{Five}

Oh wait, not him...

Yes, this one. This sweet boy of mine is officially FIVE. Honestly I have no idea what to do with that number...seven, five and two...what ever happened to my babies?? But these numbers are awfully exciting and I really can't wait to see what they hold for my "babies". Bobby's birthday marks the end of our busy birthday season, although with such a large family, it never really ends. (That link runs over to a handy who's who on my sister's blog...while you're there check out her Home Tour series she's working on!)

{Ahem, that would be a "B" for Bobby, not an "8", I assure you...}

Explorer gear is my new favorite little boy gift idea! There is so much COOL FACTOR to be found! Ponchos, reflective heat "blankets", compass, lanterns, mini first aid kit, snacks, binoculars...the options are nearly limitless, and this time of year, very easy to come by! We wrapped it all up in a sturdy backpack with his very own stash of AA's and headlamp. I'm hoping to help him make a few field journals to tuck into the pocket and he'll be ready!

{this moment}

Joining Soulemama today...in her words... 

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Saturday...

Watching the snow, sharing a blanket, snuggled in jammies. 

A Happy Hat {Crafting On}

Linking up with Nicole over at Frontier Dreams today, go look at all of the crafty goodness!

 This hat happened because sometimes when you're sick you just need a new hat...in all of your favorite colors, in a very particular order. It really does help, if you haven't tried it, you should the next time you're sick! ;)

In the background there you can see a glimpse of how my weekend was spent....more to come on that once it's finished!

(I have no idea why this picture will only load sideways...but I trust you can still enjoy it...) This is perhaps, my most favorite knitting project ever. It's just a made-up hat pattern, striped in the order he chose, in a way that kept it fun for me...because a feel-better hat should make everyone happy.

And one more because, as Jenny pointed out, she was wearing her hat that I made her too. Her's is on ravelry Here, made from This book. :)

I haven't forgotten I swear!

No, I haven't forgotten this little blog...just still working out computer/camera/life issues right now. While my sister was home last weekend she got new portraits of my older two Doodles...I thought I would share a couple really quickly! And you should peek at her adorable blog while you're at it!

Birdie Friends

We hung it up yesterday...they have checked 4 times to see if it still has enough food... I think the trick will be keeping them away from it long enough for the birdies to find it... ;)

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Monday he dressed himself for the first time! (Love the rainbow leg warmers!!)

Knitting Update part 3

In an effort to get slightly caught up before the swarm of Christmas gifts I will be sharing over the next weeks, I wanted to put up a few more knits that have been off of the needles for a while! First is Miss Jenny again, (really, I do knit for Anthony too, it's just harder to get pictures of him wearing it!!) in a modified version of the adorable Pebble Vest.

I used Lamb's Pride worsted in "Tormented Teal" and it was really nice to work with, after allot of wear it needs a shave/sweater stone to clean up some pilling but I don't mind that, and she LOVES the color! For notes on how I changed the pattern to make it fit my size 6 wearing girl, HERE is the Ravelry link. (BTW the fantastic skirt is made from the Oliver & S Lazy Days Skirt pattern!)

Then to prove that I really do knit for Bobby, here is his winter hat. ;) I made it out of Malabrigo worsted held double. The green is "Olive" and the blue/green multi is "Nostalgia". The pattern is the lovely "Thorpe" (rav link), and although it was kind of a pain to get started up at the top, it turned out just fine and over all was very fun to make. It's big on him now, so we should get a few years out of it, which is always nice! For my notes, it's HERE on Ravelry.

I hope you are all enjoying this Advent season, I can't believe that Christmas is a week away! I will be spending the weekend with my coffee and a huge sewing list, but I think I can still get everything done in time...ah the things we tell ourselves! ;) Happy last minute sewing/crafting/wrapping/decorating etc!!

~Tilly

{this moment}

In the words of Soulemama...

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo -capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Wishing you a lovely weekend!

I finally finished Anthony's sweater... It still needs buttons, which will be sewn on as soon is it finishes blocking!! (In the background is Jenny's purple sweater from last year, I think I was able to stretch the sleeves a bit while washing so it might fit a bit better now!)

Action shots to come ;)

A quilt for my boy

About 1,000,000 months ago I started this quilt for Anthony. I don't exactly remember when...it might have been for his first Christmas, or maybe his second. Either way I started it and didn't finish it. (It needed to age for an appropriate amount of time in my WIP basket...)

Now that's he's sleeping in his own bed it's actually rather small. A little more than a yard square; which is a great snuggle size or baby quilt, but I do need to get moving on his actual toddler bed quilt. All of that being said, I LOVE this quilt. I doubt any other quilt will ever top it. It turned out exactly like I had hoped, sweet and snuggly, but still very sturdy and rustic...just like my boy! It's a very simple pattern, the khaki squares are from an old pair of Joe's corduroy pants, I alternated the "nap" so that the cord. rows go up and down in one block, then side to side in the next etc.

I did simple freehand quilting on it with embroidery floss. Big stitches, sort of straight rows, I didn't want anything fussy or to precise...it just didn't suit the project. I had it spread out and held together with basting pins (like bent safety pins) and I would work on one side and he would sit and watch on the other, then we swapped. ;) The quilt is full of memories like that...I pieced it in my grandmother's Loom Room (her studio for quilting, stained glass and weaving...bliss!) where I pieced my first quilt with my sisters; pants I got Joe for our first Christmas, and lots of time working on it with him "helping" me.

I finally sewed on the binding right before his birthday in May and he has been using it ever since. I wish I'd gotten pictures right away, because it has been through the wash at least a dozen times already and is getting a pleasantly "used" look to it. He drags it around everywhere and I know he's not ready to really start his day until he puts it down in the morning. So yes, I love it, but not as much as him! :)

Grrrrr

WIP Wednesday:: Better late than never!

How cute is that foot?? My third ever sock, from this pattern. I'm really loving it... hopefully I'll have the pair finished by the end of the week!

Birthday Gifts:: A boy and his hat...

Anthony l-o-v-e-s this hat. He put it one when he opened it, and hasn't taken it off since...to the extent that he slept in it all night!
I made up the pattern for this one too, an improvement on the last hat (fit wise at least), and I think I have the pattern worked out now! I'll be sure to let you know when I get it posted! The yarn is Jelli Beenz, I normally wouldn't have gone for the acrylic yarn, but I got this yarn a few years ago when I was still scared of wool. It is pretty soft though, and he loves it, so it's all good. I'm considering making him socks with the rest of it, since I got 3 skeins and this only used most of one.
My doodle bugs reading new birthday books this morning. Aren't they just the cutest things? Oh, and in case you couldn't tell, my camera is MIA, so these are from my iphone...I need to get a better camera app!

Birthday Gifts:: Part 1

My little boy is two today! So hard to believe that it has been two years already... Over the next few days (I hope!) I'll be sharing the little gifts I made for him. I also have several little dresses for my Jenny-loo in the works, so there should be finished objects all over this blog within the next week! Okay, so onto the first hat...

I love, Love, LOVE this hat. It's a bit wonky in a few of it's design features but since I made up the pattern (!!!) I was expecting to need a bit of tweaking. He chose the yarns and I am so glad I went for the stripes. I'm not a huge fan of knitting stripes, but they are one of my very favorite things so I knew it would be completely worth it. The pattern makes a simple beanie that fits a head between 20" and 21"; now that I've worked out the kinks I'm hoping to make up a pattern for it, so keep your eye out for that!

He was busy watching me make this, so he got it as soon as it was finished. :)

This is while we were at my sister-in-law's the other day...I think he was making eggs. ;)

Thanks for looking; more to come in the next few days...

Love,

Tilly

WIP Wednesday:: A special hat

This is my current WIP (work in progress), a hat for my Bobby's birthday next week. He is out growing his current favorite, and since he about wont go outside without his hat on, I thought I'd make another before we had a problem. :) The colors are showing up allot lighter in this shot than they actually are, but you get the idea. What looks to be a light spruce green is actually quite dark, and the navy and plum fall into the same boat. I'll get better pictures once it's finished! I'm making the pattern up since I had some difficulty finding a plain, simple beanie pattern on ravelry that used worsted yarn and was free. I'm hoping to turn it into a pdf. file when it's done so that it's available should anyone else want to try it. Other things you should see finished for his birthday include a teddy bear, and his quilt. :)

A Recent Good Day (an out of order post with no words because today isn't quite one of these days!)