Hello!

So, I haven't posted for a while. I know. Two reasons: we've been keeping busy (which is good) and I haven't been taking pictures (which is unfortunate, but goes hand-in-hand with keeping busy). Two things I have taken pictures of recently though, are the things that have been taking up all my free time (a.k.a., when Evan's sleeping).

This is Evan's quilt that I just finished. It's supposed to be twin size, but I think it's probably full--it's huge! This is my first quilt, and I am quite pleased with the outcome. I used Heather Ross' Mendocino, Lizzy House's Red Letter Day, Kona Cotton backing, and Warm & Natural batting. The Kona Cotton is a pretty heavy weight, and with the size of the quilt, it is heavy! I figured out how to use the free-motion foot on my sewing machine and quilted it myself, which was physically exhausting. I don't think i'll be making a quilt this big again any time soon--but I'm so glad I did. Also, since Mike insists on having the AC on full blast and is always hot--and i'm always cold--it has made a good addition to our couch and i've already gotten some use out of it.

This is my February Lady Sweater (not my name, just the name of the pattern) which I knit on size 8 needles with 5 (i think?) hanks of Cascade 220 wool. I had a hard time getting a good picture, and I haven't gotten a picture of me actually wearing it, but thats all that was really hard about the sweater--i loved knitting it. I've even gotten a chance to wear it (in July! Crazy!) and I couldn't have been more pleased. I knit every day, but I've mostly been knitting small things like socks and scarves, etc., so I don't talk about them much. I'm just so pleased with both of these projects that I thought I would take my chance to be publicly proud of myself for a little bit.

Thank you for indulging me.

As for my lack of photos of Evan--good news! I'm taking him to get pictures taken on Thursday. He never slows down for me to take pictures, so hopefully Sears can do the job for me. Wish us luck!

However, I was just looking at some older pictures of Evan, and thought I would share some of him from last year at this time.

Little guy. And here are the only two pictures I've taken in the last month.

Evan loves to get into my closet and tear everything out--usually he comes out with shoes. I was impressed that he was able to get these on and walk around in them!

Long Overdue

I have neglecting my blog, so to cut down on bulk lets post in bullet form, shall we? Ok.

We bought a pair of clippers this weekend and gave Evan his first at-home haircut. It went about as well as expected. Mike fed him cookies and kept him entertained while I cut. I was only able to get the back, (squirmy-wormy) but that's all he really needed and it turned out quite well. No more rat's nest hair!

Mike also vacuumed him.

On Sunday it snowed. Quite a bit. I took an unavoidable trip to the commissary in the snow and tried to avoid other crazy people--it went pretty well.

On Monday, a bird flew out of our basement. Into the living room. I screamed and hid with Evan in the bedroom. Mike calmly shooed it out the window. It was a giant bird, I swear... terrifying...It's still a mystery how that came about, as we couldn't find any obvious points of entry and we're still coming up with theories.

Evan yanked the "g" key off of the keyboard and I'm having a hard time typing.

Evan also has recently started to refer to his binky as "num-num", which I think is adorable. He also has been shaking his finger and saying "no no no" which is also adorable but kind of sad. And he likes to dump Cody's water dish on the floor. Sometimes he does those last two at the same time.

Doesn't he look naughty? He's cute though, so it's ok.

Also, I finally finished a case for my knitting needles, which I started two (or three?) weeks ago and didn't pick up again until yesterday.

It turned out perfectly, and now my needles are no longer a jumbled mess in the bottom of my knitting bag. I wish I had thought this up a long time ago.

For a knitting update--I started my boot socks on two circular needles and have been working on them intermittently. I had to start over a few times, and casting on made me physically ill--knitting with two circular needles was at first for me just knitting a tangled mess of pain and frustration--but now they are coming along quite nicely. And it turns out it's not so hard once you get the hang of it...

Believe it or not there's a budding pair of socks in there.

Once I summon up a serious amount of knitting energy I'm planning on making this:
The cardigan, in case you were unsure. It's name is Mr. Greenjeans, and one of these days I will be wearing it.

Yes, I Do Believe My Son is the Cutest.

Sometimes I cannot even handle how adorable my son is. I know that all parents think that their child is the cutest kid in the world, and now I am going to take my turn and pronounce mine the cutest. There. I've said it. But don't you agree? If you think he looks like he's up to no good, it's because he is. He noticed that I had the camera out, and this was the only picture I was able to snap before he grabbed it. The smirk is one we know well--it usually means the bathroom door is open and he's about to unravel the toilet paper roll, or somone has left the remote control within reach. Or left anything within reach, for that matter. What a cutie.


While I'm on the subject of life with a toddler, let me tell you what I found under the bed the other day. (Go ahead and let your imagination run wild for a moment...) I was in the process of making the bed in the morning when I discovered two things. One: Mike had changed the sheets the night before, (which was very helpful of him) but had managed to put the top sheet on sideways, which was funny. Two: Something smelled terrible near my side of the bed, which was not funny. I will spare you a description of the smell, but I must say that it is a highly unpleasant experience to have to search for the source of a gross smell by following it. Anyway, what I found was a sippy cup that had apparently once contained milk. And leaked onto the floor. And no longer contained anything that resembled milk. yuck. On the bright side, we just recently bought a handheld carpet cleaner, which works beautifully. Somehow I have the feeling I will be using it increasingly more often!



What a big boy. By the way, I finished Evan's robe and am quite pleased with it. He seems to like it as well. It should come in handy on chilly mornings.

Mike's sister Maggie is here right now for her first visit to the East Coast, and we have been having a fantastic time. It's so fun to tour around the area with someone who has never been here--we end up seeing so many things that we've never seen before! She's here until Wednesday, so I'm sure we have more adventures coming our way.

On a final note, does anyone read this? Leave us some comments-- the Team Smith blog is feeling very lonely...

Craftiness

I thought I would share with you my most recent piece of craftiness--my new favorite purse. First of all, let me introduce you to my sewing buddies (all-the-time buddies, really) Anne (middle), and Sarah (right).

We spent ALL DAY yesterday sewing--Anne made a yoga bag, and Sarah made a small tote. I made a fabulous purse/diaper bag, which is already full of diapers and other assorted mommy detritus, and I am very proud of myself.

Here it is! I found the pattern online at J Caroline Creative (click on the link for the pattern) and tweaked it a bit to be exactly the bag that I wanted. I love it.

Here's a close-up:

I love that it has plenty of pockets, is big enough to hold all my junk, and is exactly the way that I wanted it. I made it just for me!


So thats my most recent accomplishment. I also recently just finished my first quilting project (which I started in July, and didn't work on again until last month, oops) which ended up being a big (big!) floor pillow. Evan loves to lounge on it, and I think it's kind of pretty.

I don't know how I feel about quilting. I had a really hard time keeping all the pieces square and the right size, but it was really rewarding seeing how the all came together in the end. We'll see.

Next up I'm making a toasty warm robe for Evan...I'll keep you posted.

Speaking of Evan, we have no idea what he should be for halloween. Any suggestions? Here's a picture for inspiration.

Kinda cute, huh? I think he'd make a good dinosaur--he likes to roar a lot.

RAAWR!