Christmas daze

Greetings, friends!  How was your Christmas?  Two of four of us woke up sick with colds on Christmas morning and have been in various states of ick ever since.  Between the fevers and coughing and the winter storm, we ended up changing our travel plans for this holiday.  Alas.  At least we are all together, and it doesn't mean we aren't having any fun.



Check out these crazy elf hats (finished Christmas night and raveled here).



I'm a bit addicted to knitting them at the moment, I'm afraid.  As soon as the girls tried these on, I cast on for another...and have 3 more in the works.  It's entirely possible that I've gotten carried away, but I don't care.  They are too funny!

Wishing you a warm, relaxing holiday time with your loved ones.

Christmas tree bokeh

Today was one of the most ridiculous days, start to finish.  So many things didn't go according to plan, so many sassy mouths and surly attitudes (and from not kids!)...it makes me want to look forward to the end of this "season of loving togetherness and giving" so people will calm down about twelve notches.

And then, I paused at the end of this long, crazy day.  I remembered how many of the bloggers I enjoy have paused to take a bokeh snap of their Christmas trees, so in that moment I decided to do the same.



So beautiful.  I felt the stress melt away.
Amateur photography as a metaphor?
Stop fussing about all those details.  Let the focus shift and blur.
All those worries and strains and rudeness issues other people are having don't have to be my problem. This season can be as it is intended to be, if only we just pause and remember.

Hitchhiker scarf

It was nearly a month of dedicated garter-stitching, but I did it.  I knit the ever-popular-on-ravelry Hitchhiker scarf as a Christmas gift for my daughter's beloved 2nd grade teacher.

With handmade gifts, I long ago learned that you have to enjoy the process and the result yourself, because you can never be sure how the recipient will respond.  The person might not like it.  She might not know how much effort and planning it takes, and even if she did, she might wish you'd just gone with a gift certificate instead.  It's not that I expect this to be the case, but really, you never know, so you have to be happy with it...and I am!

The pattern was super-simple and very satisfying.  I do not typically enjoy knitting scarves (too monotonous!), but this pattern was very approachable, even for me.  Each tooth requires 8 rows of knitting, so I could feel the progress and I always knew where the next stopping point was.  I'm sure the Noro yarn helped, because I do love watching those color changes.  This is called the Hitchhiker scarf because the original pattern and yarn yields 42 points.  I only reached 40 before capitulating to mild tendonitis and moderate readiness to move on.  It is over 6 feet long, so I doubt that's a problem!




Again, I'm not sure if she will like it or wear it, but I hope she does.
Meanwhile, I'm very tempted to knit another one.
There is a perfect red variegated yarn in my stash...

Peanut-butter-and-Nutella "pop-hearts"

Finding myself without bread or tortillas or pita and having 2 hungry kiddos in the house, I quickly whizzed some flour, salt, butter and ice water in the food processor and made plain pie crust.  Quick as a flash, I rolled it out, cut it with my largest heart-shaped cookie cutter and spread each heart with peanut butter and Nutella (one girl is a self-proclaimed jelly hater).  I placed another heart on top and crimped the edges with a fork.  10 minutes at 400F and voila!  Homemade "Pop-hearts"!



I thought these were absolutely darling and irresistible...therefore, the girls wouldn't touch them.
Thank goodness there was string cheese in the fridge, right?

Carrying on

I still feel striken by Friday's events.  My heart just aches, and every new detail released makes me feel sick.
But.
It doesn't feel right to wallow.  It isn't my grief to share, so I'm going to move on in this space.  I'm going to post about baking and kids and crafting, because those are the simple daily pleasures that perhaps might help us all feel a bit better from time to time.

Yesterday

Yesterday, my children went to school and played with friends and laughed and sang and squabbled and cuddled and slept.  The same day was a day of unspeakable horror for families in Connecticut.  As a mother, I feel devastated beyond words. As a citizen, I feel anger and frustration and a sense of futility in the face of "freedom" that allows tragedies like these to occur.

My girls are 7 and 4.  I don't know how much to tell them or even if I should tell them.  I know it is better to present them with facts and let them ask questions, to try to address their fears one by one and reassure them that we will do whatever we can to keep them safe.

I awoke this morning once again filled with heartbreak and incomprehension and deepest compassion for the children and families affected by this tragedy.  My heart and thoughts and prayers go out to them.  Never before has a traditional holiday wish for peace or comfort carried more weight.

Homemade hot cocoa elf-ing

Our wee one's school finishes for the season this Friday, so we needed to get busy on little gifts for her classmates.  I was inspired by this post on Angry Chicken to make homemade hot cocoa mix in jars.  This is easily something our 4-year-old can do for friends with a minimum of adult help.

 

Amy's recipe was similar to Martha Stewart's: just sugar and cocoa powder.  She filled each jar about half-way and then topped it with mini-chocolate chips and mini-marshmallows.  We followed that pattern, but we used a different recipe.  I wanted something richer, and we found it here.  First, I double-checked with class moms to be sure no one had a dairy intolerance (otherwise, the sugar and cocoa recipe would be just fine).  Since it isn't an original recipe, I feel it's okay to repost.

Rich and fabulous homemade hot cocoa mix

3 cups non-fat dry milk powder
2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips
1/4 tsp salt

Whisk all ingredients together in a large bowl.  Pulse the blend in a food processor until the white chocolate chips are reduced to a powder.  Store mix in an air-tight container for up to 3 months.
To make hot chocolate drink, stir 1/3 cup of mix into 1 cup of hot milk or water.



If you are interested in encouraging independence in your wee one, most stages of this project can be done easily without adult intervention:

• pour the measured cups into a large bowl
• stir the mix together
• pulse the food processor or simply press the "on" or "off" buttons
• use a small scoop (like a 1/4 cup measure) to scoop the finished mix into clean glass jars
• sprinkle the mini-chips and mini-mallows on top to fill
• place the lids on top
• screw the lids in place 

For our feathered friends

Last week, Stephanie spied pinecones swinging on strings in the trees around Ellie's school.  The Kindergarten class had been making bird feeders.  Not sure how a pinecone could be a bird feeder, Stephanie declared that would be our next project.  Lucky us ran into a neighbor that same morning who had leftover pinecones from her Thanksgiving centrepiece, so we had four to start.



If you've never made a pinecone bird feeder, the process is very simple.  Tie a length of string or yarn or ribbon in a loop and wedge one side of that loop into the top of the pinecone.  Using a smooth knife or spreading tool (like a small spatula), spread peanut butter all over the pinecone.  Smoothing up from the bottom helps wedge the peanut butter in the nooks and crannies.  Then, roll the peanut-butter-covered in bird seed.



Hang it from a branch and tah-dah!  Watch your feathered friends enjoy their gift.



I couldn't get a close picture, but the birds loved Stephanie's feeder.  She hung it in a bush just outside our kitchen window, so I enjoyed watching the sparrows come all afternoon and even a lady cardinal joined in.  We strongly suspect the deer were interested in it too, because it was halfway down the driveway the next morning, smooshed flat on one side.

Photo gift tags

Scrambling to make the international shipping deadline, I wrapped these gifts today and realized the girls hadn't yet made gift tags for them.  On a whim, I selected special (several years old) photos of the recipients and printed them out as a contact sheet.  I cut wide borders around each and simply taped them onto the package.





Now, it's very simple to see whose is whose, and the photo memories are so sweet.
How is your elf-ing coming along?

Banana mini-muffins

At my younger daughter's school, the kids take turns providing snacks.  Today was our day.  We baked banana mini-muffins from a banana bread recipe I've been tweaking over the years, and they went like hot cakes!  I sent 2 dozen for 8 kids and none were left over.  One mom texted me later that her son said today's snack was "the best best best snack ever!"

So you know these are fully kid-endorsed (though I admit the mini-size is a key selling point to the 5-and-under set).

Banana bread or muffins or mini-muffins

1 cup all-purpose (plain) flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 - 3/4 cup sugar (natural cane sugar if you have it)

1/4 cup coconut oil

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3 bananas)

1/3 cup natural plain yogurt

1 tsp vanilla extract

cooking spray (I use coconut oil spray)

Preheat oven to 350F/160C.

Prepare loaf pan with cooking spray or line muffin tray and spray with cooking spray (not required but the muffin will stick a bit to the paper without the spray).

Whisk together flours, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.

In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to beat together oil and sugar until fully combined.  

Beat in eggs one at a time.  

Add banana, yogurt and vanilla; beat until blended.

Add flour mixture, blending at low speed until just combined.

Spoon batter into pan or muffin cups.

Bake at 350F/160C: about 1 hour for bread, 30 minutes for regular muffins and 12-15 minutes for mini-muffins.

Cool bread in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes.

Remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack.
Watch them disappear!

*makes one loaf, one dozen muffins or about 4 dozen mini-muffins

"Free kittens" (are not)

Yesterday, we spent a small fortune paying the local vet an exorbitant fee to spay our two adopted "free kittens" (now cats).  I could not believe the price tag.  But then I see this...





...and I know these cats are not free, but priceless.

Grand intentions

Sometime last month, I started pondering the upcoming Christmas gifting season.  I looked over my yarn stash and came up with some truly grand plans for homemade gifting, involving more hand-knits than I could possibly finish in 3 months and certainly not in the one month I had (unless I gave up sleep, which alas I am unwilling to do).

High on delusion, I cast on for the Hitchhiker scarf, to be gifted to my daughter's beloved teacher.



I carried it with me everywhere...



...for about a week.  Then, reality set in.

The pace has slowed considerably (I average one point per day...and there will be 42 total) and I now accept this will likely be the only hand-knitted gift completed before this holiday, but I do love it.
I hope her teacher will too.

Any handmades in your holiday plans?

Tea Advent calendar

Last year, I received my first "grown-up" Advent calendar from the wonderful Aussie Mum: a bag of tea for each day of December leading up to Christmas.  Such a simple idea but it felt so special, I had to return the favour this year and pay it forward as well.

Before Thanksgiving, I posted out four tea Advent calendars to girlfriends Down Under and two more stateside.  I love that my tea-drinking girlfriends will have a cuppa from me each day, a small daily reminder that I'm thinking of them.

With so many calendars in progress, I could vary the daily flavours quite a bit so I bought eight varieties of tea.  I wrote out the numbers 1-24 on white card stock and my girls helped me colour them in.  I stapled the numbers to each tea bag on the border and posted them out in a padded envelope.  For the one calendar that didn't need posting, my daughter helped me to redecorate one of the empty tea boxes, which made perfect packaging.

Tea Advent Calendar idea originated from Domesticali.  Thanks, Ali!

Friday fun time

Thank you for your kind words following my last post.  I'm hitting my groove again, but blogging isn't reflecting that yet.  Like any habit that has fallen to the wayside, it has been difficult to find/make time to restart...and then my friend Cynthia shared this parent rap on facebook, and I knew you had to see it too.



Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

A truth about culture shock

If you Google an image of culture shock, most of what pops up will be a variation on the theme of a W shaped curve.  The description is this: You are high at home, hit rock bottom in the new culture, reach a new high in the new culture, hit rock bottom after returning home and then readjustment is high again.

More realistic curves have far more ups and downs and several plateaus.  There are names for phases like "surface adjustment", "mental isolation" and "return anxiety".  Until you have experienced living in a culture different from your home, it's hard to understand what all this means, especially how it would be possible to suffer shock once you are "home" again...but that's where I am living these days, and I can attest that it is very real and fairly challenging for someone disinclined to wallowing.

If I had to plot myself on one of those charts right now with honesty, I would be in a low "mental isolation" phase.  The good news about being at the bottom of the curve is the only way to go from there is up.  I've been through all this before.  I know what it looks like, what it feels like and how it will change from month to month, year to year.  If I get on with it, it will get better, bit by bit...but I can also attest that the process is difficult, possibly never moreso than when one is at "home" because it is easier for people around you (or you yourself!) to comprehend your difficulty when the culture that challenges you isn't the same as that of your birth.

I noticed lately that I haven't been writing: not blogging, not emailing, not journaling...not much of anything where I would be inclined to record and share my thoughts.  I like to keep the negative self to myself, but then I also realized that I am not alone in this.  Culture shock, or in my case reverse culture shock, is a real challenge, and sometimes it is reassuring to find in Blogland that you are not alone.

*I know the pics are a bit random, but I thought they were interesting in relation to different cultural experiences.  One is from Holland; the other is from Qatar.

Art project testimonial

Yesterday afternoon, we hosted an artsy playdate with two new friends.  Before they came over, I flipped through the Autumn Crafts ebook from Artful Parent, and the tie-dye leaf project grabbed my eye.  Simply drip liquid watercolors* or food colouring onto coffee filters cut into basic leaf shapes, and watch the colors spread and mingle.  So easy and oh-so-fun!

 

 Some comments direct from the kiddos:

"This is soooo cool."
"Ooooo, did you see that?"
"Isn't mine the most magicalest leaf in the whole world?"



When my little one initially soaked each leaf with color, I tried to shift her to painting with her watercolor set, but that was far less satisfactory.  The colors were not nearly so intense, and they didn't spread as well.  The drip method was much more exciting.  Even the paper towels we put beneath each coffee filter look amazing.  We have no idea what we want to do with them, but we don't really want to throw them away.  Collage fodder, perhaps?

As for the leaves, we ran them through the sewing machine and made a garland for the girls' room.



My 4 year old is obsessed.  She loves this, loves with a capital M as in "Must Do This Right Now."  We were back at it right after dropping off Big Sister at school.



The possibilities for this are pretty limitless, but don't overlook the easiest one of simply dripping color onto a plain old coffee filter.  The water makes the curves of the filter flatten out, so you'll have big circles in the end.  The special paper makes the liquid spread so well, and the kids love that effect far more than they care about the shapes.  Enjoy!

*I had seen posts about similar projects on Jean's blog in the past, so I knew I wanted to own liquid watercolors and droppers.  I ordered them from Discount School Supply, using the link through her site to support Artful Parent.  Thanks for the inspiration, Jean!

Rainbow Neighborly

I finally finished it!



I really do not know why it took me so long to complete this vest for Ellie.  I was off to a fantastic start and then stalled out somehow.  A few rows here and there until I finally acknowledged that holidays are around the corner, cold is here now and I really needed to get this off the needles and onto the kiddo.  It turned out beautifully, if I do say so myself.  The main colour is a cashmere merino blend, so it feels dreamy too.  But what does the kiddo think?

"Oh, Mama!  I love it.  I just do!"

Not that you'd know it from her photo shoot...





Ravelry tells me this is actually my 7th Neighborly vest.  Perhaps it's time I work on a new pattern.  I have been a bit knitting-ADD this week, scanning Ravelry for ideas in my spare moments.  I'm very intrigued by these mitts I spied today.  I've never tried knitting mittens before, but they look very approachable.

Have you completed any satisfying projects recently?
Are you planning handmades for the holidays?
I admit I feel a bit overwhelmed in advance.  I sat down today and wrote out a list for gifting, and then I had the urge to hide under my bed until January (ok, not really but...).  I do feel so tremendously blessed to have good friends with whom I can share, but doing so all at the same time...whew!

Vote!

It has been a long year of campaigning, and I bet I am not the only person who is beyond tired of the ugliness on both sides.  In the US, we are all entitled to our opinions.  Many of us seem to have forgotten how blessed and lucky is that simple truth.  This video of kids from Democracy Prep School in Harlem is fantastic and gets right to the point.  November 6 is upon us.  It's time to select who will lead the United States in the next 4 years.  Whatever your views, please exercise your freedom and right to VOTE!

All clear

Well, it has been four days (and counting) of endless cold drizzle, but I think we can safely say that Hurricane Sandy passed us by completely.  Whew!

We aren't letting the drizzle stop us from getting out and enjoying ourselves.  I'm working on ingraining our family with the Scandinavian saying, "There is no bad weather, just bad clothing."  If properly geared up, cold drizzle is no problem at all!  On Sunday, we put our mantra to work and went for a long walk in the woods.





I look forward to walking through the seasons, noticing the changes together.

Oh the weather outside ain't frightful...yet

Thinking of all our friends and family in the path of Hurricane Sandy and her colossal mess.  We are hanging out on the fringe.  The woodstove is keeping us toasty. Broccoli cheddar soup and chicken pot pie have been prepped.  I baked pumpkin muffins and chocolate quinoa cake for snacking.  Oh yes, and I bought many a bottle of red wine, just in case.

Halloween decoration

With my realization that Christmas is exactly two months away (eep!) came the realization that Halloween is less than a week away.  For the first time in a long time, we are in a country where this fact actually matters, and I needed to spring into action!

After stretching some fake spiderwebs around the front of the house and securing in place a large, non-creepy spider (my girls are small after all), I moved onto crafting.  At the start of the year, I offered to provide decorations for my daughter's second grade classroom.  I had seen cheesecloth ghosts on Pinterest last year, so today I gave it a go.



I was unable to find "liquid starch" as specified in the directions.  No one seemed to carry it.  I did, however, find heavy duty spray starch in the laundry aisle of the grocery story, so I sprayed that liberally and hoped for the best.  Check it out:



These are the coolest!  I can't wait to make more.  As I only have one soda bottle to work with as a support during drying, I shopped around for ideas.  My neighbor sent over a box of swag from her garden shed that I will try out.  Another idea is to place a ball of foil atop a paper towel roll for smaller ghosts.  We'll see how I go.  I hope to have plenty of these for the classroom...and some for our house too!

Catching up (?)

Recently, a mom at school said to me that she felt like she was finally starting to get a handle on September...just as she realized it is nearly the end of October.  Not the right time to point out (as someone else did to me) that Christmas is now exactly two months away!  What?  How does the year hit the speed track every September?  Do I get a free pass since I did an international move this year?  I finally feel the dust settling from the move as the kids settle into their school routines, and now it's holiday time!  Oh dear.  Moving on...

We've been enjoying Indian Summer in Pittsburgh this week.  After borderline wintry weather off and on for a few weeks, this week turned into a warm weather marvel.  Today, the anticipated high is in the 80s!  I'm enjoying the windows and doors being open all day, the dinners outside again, the playing in the yard for hours...because we know it will be gone again rather soon (and may not be back for months!).  Alas, Halloween night is predicted to be rather cold and wet.  Somehow I'm not sure the kids will care.

It's hard to get into the spirit of fall and decorating for Halloween when it feels like summer outside, but that doesn't mean we can't bake up some delicious fall flavors, right?  Two days ago, Stephanie and I wanted a donut treat and no suitable donut treats could be found in our usual spots.  Naturally, we had to bake our own!  I tried out this recipe for baked apple cider donuts.

 

 I have a mini-donut pan, so there was plenty of leftover batter to make a ton of mini-muffins too, which we also iced with the apple cider glaze.  I would offer you some, but we polished off the lot before bedtime that night!

Monday fun time

This weekend, Hubby bought the cats an enclosed litter box to avoid the litter spray everywhere and took their old one away.  They don't like it.  Ask me how I learned this.

This morning, we had a regular car service appointment that should have lasted an hour and a half.  When they finished, the service guy took the car to the detailing people for a good cleaning as part of the service.  Then, he went to lunch, after he accidentally put the keys in his pocket.  That was an all-morning adventure!

Some days are like that, and I'm rolling with it.  Feeling pretty good, actually.  Of course, watching something funny always help give a lift, so here you go...



Or you could watch the Saturday Night Live presidential debate clip here.
Happy Monday, everyone!

A new shirt for Stephanie

Look at this cutie wearing an outfit of mama-mades!



Today, I finally finished pattern n from Happy Handmade Vol 2.



This may be the most darling thing I have ever sewn.  The fabric is a buttery-soft corduroy, so it feels as wonderful as it looks (or at least, we think so).  I really like this pattern.  The top is loose and flowing without being baggy.  The gathers at the neck and below the button band and the ruffle at each sleeve are gorgeous details.  I used a piece of lace to cover the gathers, and I found some sweet love-heart buttons to finish it.



Full of excitement about my latest creation, I was fully prepared for it to be rejected by my discerning little fashionista.  Not so!  She loves it!  Off came the top she was wearing and now she won't take this one off (hooray!).  It even matches the pants I made.



And most importantly, the outfit stands up to actual life, which is really the whole point.

Autumn aglow

This morning, the sun broke past the hill and lit this tree afire.
Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

KCWC Weekend

Despite Meg urging everyone not to fall off the KCWC wagon just because the weekend started, I fell off the KCWC wagon because the weekend started.  Taking an hour just to sew all on my own out much desired of family time after Hubby's week away...not so obvious.  But the beautiful part is that I missed it.  I was surprised.  I have tried and failed at KCWC's past, but I definitely devoted well over 7 hours last week to this challenge.  I have three complete garments, one spare lining and a top in progress to show for it.  I don't think I'll commit to weekend sewing just yet, but I may try to stick with the 1-hour per day a bit longer.  While I'm in the groove, it is so exciting to see finished results that I and the girls love and need.

Besides, the sewing space is already a huge mess anyway.

KCWC Day 5: The cozy corduroy spree continues

I woke up this morning thinking of how I had "completed" the turquoise pants after my girl had gone to bed, but they didn't feel complete.  They could use a lining, so I spent about 30 minutes sewing a flannel pair of pants following the same pattern.  I have had this Anna Maria Horner flannel for a long time.  I had intended it for pyjamas, but that never happened.  While it seems silly to "waste" it as a hidden lining, it seems sillier not to use it, so here it is as pants:



Then, it was time for the seam ripper.  I needed to rip the waistband and the hems of the corduroy trousers to add the lining.



I couldn't do it.  On my very first go with the seam ripper, the metal went through the fabric and made a hole, so I wimped out.  The turquoise pair is cute and fine as it is, so I'll just have to buy more corduroy and make a new pair to line.

My remaining 30-plus minutes were devoted to cutting the pieces for pattern n out of the softest (and quite possibly the cutest!) corduroy I have ever touched.  It is "Get it Together!" pinwale corduroy in "flock of birds", purchased here.  I want to make it into baby blankets, it is so soft.



Before getting started this time, I took time to study the diagrams.  Bias tape from the fabric is required at the neckline, and I was trying to figure out the dimensions.  So satisfying when I decoded it!  The pattern calls for a strip of fabric cut on the bias, 3cm x 50 cm.  Fold and press it so one side is 0.7cm (doubled) and the other is 0.8cm (doubled).  The 0.7cm side will be on the outside of the shirt.  I also see the top of each piece needs no seam allowance (as it will be covered in the bias binding).



You can also see at the bottom of the diagram that the fabric should be 120cm wide.  Mine is 108cm.  That made a big difference in how much total fabric is required.  I fudged it to get bias binding out of my yard, and even then I made a measuring mistake so I may have to cut into a second yard to finish.  Le sigh.  But that's for tomorrow...

Turquoise corduroy with sparkle

Stephanie happily wore her owl pants today, so I knew the pattern was a keeper.  This second pair of pants whipped up much more quickly than the first.  I think the hardest part was figuring out how to copy the pattern with the missing and added seam allowances (and that's not bad at all once you know what you're doing).  Since that part was already tackled, this second pair was a breeze.  It probably took me more than an hour (I didn't have a solid hour chunk today, so I'm not sure how many minutes added up here and there), but not much more than that.  No pockets this time, as requested.



Pattern:  pattern o from Happy Handmade Vol 2
Fabric: turquoise corduroy with silver sparkle from Joann's Fabrics, selected by Stephanie

I would really like to line these, but as that might make them warmer than autumn requires, I will let them rest for now.  I want to move on to tops.  I have two delicious-feeling, light-weight corduroys in adorable patterns that want to become tops.  I have my eye on pattern n from Happy Handmade Vol 2.

 

 Let's hope it works out!