the chunky hat

I've been enjoying the quick project of the crocheted cloche hat (also here).  I told Bee she could pick out whatever yarn she wanted for hers.  I didn't think too much about it when she chose a chunky yarn.  I followed the same pattern from Aesthetic Nest but ended up with this HUGE hat.  Oh, that sneaky chunky yarn.

I worked it, tested out the size, pulled out rows and rows and reworked it.  Five times.

I finally got it. 

Here are the changes I had to make to this pattern so I could use the chunky yarn. I started with the size 18-24 month hat pattern (for my 5 year old).  

I followed the pattern until row 8.  

For row 8:  1 hdc in each stitch.  (49 stitches)

row 9-11 repeat 8

12:   decrease to (44 stitches) using the directions in the written pattern's row 15.

13: follow directions from written patterns row 16 for stitching the eyelets.

14:  follow directions for shell edging in written pattern. 

For the flower, I used the smallest flower that she has on the pattern.  It's pretty huge, but Bee's ok with that. 

I'm linking up to some of these fine parties.  If any party people can tell me how to make a linky thing that I post with all the buttons on my post, I'd love to know. 

bar keepers friend is my friend too

The new house has a porcelain kitchen sink.   I didn't even really pay attention to it, except that I remember noting that it was deeper than the sinks we've had in the past 5 or 6 places.  It wasn't until after we moved in and I was sort of like, "oh look, the sink is pretty."  I quickly realized that this sink needed different cleaning than any stainless steel sink we've had before.

See all these gray marks?  They are from all the pots and pans and silverware and what not.  I actually prefer to hand wash most of the dishes so lots of dishes get tossed in here. Why, you might be wondering would I want to hand wash the dishes when we have a dishwasher right next to the sink.  It's a mystery.  It's like sneaking a bubble bath for my hands in the middle of the day.

I tried vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and our natural cleaners with no luck.  I called the former homeowners and asked what they used.  We're friends, so it wasn't weird.  They had a cleaning lady (ahhhh....) but she said that she herself had used a bleach cleaner anytime she cleaned it.  I ventured down the chemical aisle and picked up something that made me cringe a little.  I used it and it didn't do anything about the gray streaks.

A quick google search led me to Bar Keepers Friend.  I found it at Target for under $2.  

You just pour it right on the area and give it a little scrub.  It worked like a charm. 

Just make sure that you rinse everything well. They first time I used it, I got really zealous and ended up with it on my forearms.  It didn't all get rinsed off and it burned my skin.  Not crazy bad, but I learned my lesson.

Sparkly clean sink.  You can even use it on stainless steel items if you want.  Bar Keepers Friend had been around since 1882.  The active ingredient is from the rhubarb plant.  It's made in Indianapolis, so I'm considering it local.  I just referenced the website and there is a long list of household uses.  I may try to clean the tile in our bathroom with it this weekend.  Good times at my house!

So, Bar Keepers if my friend too.  If only they could something about this pile of dishes.  At least they are clean. 

This is in no way a paid advertisement from the fine folks at Bar Keepers Friend, but wouldn't it be cool if it was.

interview with Lou

Seriously, this little man has been giving me a run for my money this week.  Hubby has been out of town for a few days and it's just been me and the two little people. Lou gets crabby when daddy has been gone for more than two days or so.  He pulled a doosey* tonight and then blamed it on Bee.  I'll be hiding in my sewing room this weekend.

Lou:  Mama?

Me: yeah.

Lou: Mama?

Me: yes Honey.

Lou: Mama?

Me: what?

Lou:  Mama, when I'm a teenager will I do silly things?

Me:  Probably, teenagers usually do.

Lou:  Will I give you a headache?

Me:  Probably.  You probably will. 
Lou:  Then, when I grow up, I'm going to marry Bee, right?
Bee.  Mooooom.  Tell him again that he can't marry me. 

*spell check does not seem to know doosey.  I assume you know what I'm saying here. The cat and I are heading to bed early, I won't be researching the word any further.

another flop

Sometimes things don't turned out as planned. Lou wanted a hotdog shirt.  No problem.   I raided the scrap bin and whippped up a hotdog shirt.

He took one look and announced that he would not be wearing it because hotdogs were not pink.  He says they're gray.  Apparently I serve old gray hotdogs at our house.

Anybody need a shirt with a pink hotdog on it? Seriously, I'd love to send it to someone not as picky as Lou.  It's a 3/4T.  Seriously, I'll send it.

signs of spring

It was a wonderful sunny weekend. It was our first for the year. We went without jackets, but only because it was so warm compared to recent temperatures. I told the kids it would get cold again so they needed to enjoy it while it lasted. This week is already proving to be cooler and wetter.  We're back in jackets.

It looks like we'll have some tulips or something by the mailbox. This is a fun year for us since we don't really know what will be growing where.

I hung laundry out.  I only enjoy this because I don't have to do it.  The towels were crunchy when I brought them in and had to put them in the dryer anyway.

I'm pretending this is green grass. It's actually wild onion which stays green most all the time.  It's green and I'm thinking it means spring is coming.

The kids played outside.  It was so nice to be out of the house.

They ran and ran and ran and then went to bed early.  That's the sign of a good day.

interview with Bee- her wedding plans

She has it all figured out.  I don't know where she gets this stuff.

Bee has two boys in her class that likes.  She doesn't really know about 'boyfriends,'  so she's decided that she'll marry one of these boys.   She's tossed around these two boys, but has made her decision.  We were leaving a birthday party where the whole class had been:

Bee:  I don't think I can marry B anymore.

me:  oh yeah?  Why?

Bee:  He didn't eat birthday cake.

me:  I know, I saw his mom brought him a differnt snack.

Bee:  He's allergic.  He has to have different treats at school too.

me:  You can't marry him now?

Bee:  I would be sad if he couldn't eat birthday cake on my birthday.  Your husband is supposed to like your cake.

me:  good call sister.

(She's very much over me taking her picture since I got the new camera.  "Seriously, mom!")

So now her focus has been on the other boy, N.  He's a nice boy, good family, fine choice.  She's told him and he seems fine with it.  He told his mom and she seems ok with it too.  They've told their teacher that they will be getting married and she lets them sit at the same table now.

Bee:  Mom, another boy at school wants to marry me now.

me:  who is that?

Bee:  That little short boy that sits at my table.  I asked him what he wants to be when he grows up and he said he's going to be a knight and he can keep me safe.

me:  a knight?

Bee:  Yea... that's what I said.

me:  Have you asked N what he wants to be?

Bee:  He wants to be a Doctor.  I think I'll stay with him.

I was talking to N's mom and mentioned this conversation. She said N wants to go into infectious disease.  Interesting choice for a 5 year old.  

Unrelated note:  Check out how she wrote her wrote her name on her paper the other day.  Hannah.www.com

The tree is done... mostly anyway

I showed a little about the tree I was painting a few weeks ago.  I think I have it mostly done now.  I want to add a few more photos of great grandmas and grandpas, but it may take some searching to gather them.  

Here's where we started.

 Here is the artwork that inspired this painting. 

Brown tree.  I tried to draw some pencil lines, but I mostly winged it. 

Leaves and a second color added to everywhere for a little dimension.   I have zero special painting talent.  I just lack the fear of messing up.  This has proven to be a disadvantage at times in my life.

I found some photo corners that were made from brown ribbon. They were even on clearance.  I wanted to be able to change the photos as needed, so I didn't do anything too permanent with the photos. 

Here you can see the photo corners better.  This picture is of my sisters in Mexico.  I love it.  I think she's at the edge of a volcano?  I don't even have a passport.

Here's my youngest sister.   She's a super cutie 16 year old.   She has a passport too. 

I didn't stay too balanced,  like my siblings are one one side and hubby's on the other; we would have been lopsided.  Our parents are up there of course.  I want to add our grandparents and great grandparents but am still working on gathering those photos.  It's all a kid level so they can see them easily.  I'll put more photos up when we get the great grandparents up, but I'm calling this done for now. 

I am linking up to some of these fine parties. 

green eggs

We usually get brown eggs from our CSA.  Some are whitish, but they usually range through the brown scale of color.  This morning we opened the eggs and found green eggs.  

Perhaps from a green chicken?

Ham anyone?

Mostly it was an excuse to take 30 pictures of eggs to test out different shutter speeds and ISO and other things I still don't really understand on my camera. 

learning curve

Hubby picked out a special gift for me.  Because he's sweet and listens well, he got me a DSLR camera.

Oh boy, it's more camera than I know what to do with.  I'm going to need a class or something.  I'm trying some online tutorials first.

The cat has been my best model so far.  She's patient and very still.

Bee and I have been taking lots of pictures to test things out.  She's asking for my old camera.  She says she'll pass her camera onto Lou.  That's probably not going to happen.

I did have to take a lot of pictures today to figure a few things out.  I have a funny story about this batman costume.  I'll have to share it another time.  Lou wears it all the time.   He still can't fly but he tries.

I was trying some different things with the aperture here with the kisses.  

Then I ate them.  Several of them.

Soon I'll be able to use this gift from almost a year ago. 

wallet flop... or dump

I made up a new lickety split bag which I can't seem to photograph.  I made up a wallet to match.  Look at that.  Here's the inside, one side with credit card slots and the other has two larger pockets for cash and receipts or whatever.

The outside has a zipper for change.

It snaps shut. 

Great wallet huh?   wait for it... wait for it.... one tip upside down and....

there it goes... everything falls out.   No shaking required.  It just falls right out.  Can't have a wallet loosing all my stuff.  Bee has a new wallet. 

run and a wash

Bee and Lou had their first race of the season.  They had so much fun last summer that they said they wanted to do several races they year.  I didn't run in this race because I didn't know what the weather was going to be like.  The kids were free, so if the weather had been snowy, we just wouldn't have gone.  It was rather nice out and I should have run!

Lou's age group ran 100 yards.  

Daddy had to run behind him.

Bee's group (she's in the pink coat towards the left)

 ran 1/4 mile.

I had to run with her.  I ran in a wool sweater.  I was not prepared.   We all have a race next month.  I will wear appropriate running clothes.

They got their medals and were happy. 

We got a car wash on the way home.  Hubby whispered to me, "watch Lou."  He was cracking me up.  He sometimes goes with daddy on a boys trip to wash the car.  He loves it! 

He just watch and smiled and giggled the whole time. 

Bee was a little scared.  She stays with me when the boys wash the car.

She made daddy narrate the whole wash.

Lou might get a job here he decided.