So I Observed Lent...

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I didn't blog about this earlier partly because I was so busy, though mostly because it was an extremely personal decision and I wanted to see it to the end before broadcasting it to the world.  However on February 22, 2012 I gave up almost all refined sugar for Lent.  Almost meaning I allowed natural sugars (fruit, honey), ate bread with sugar if it was pre-made (if I made it, it was sugar free), I also allow yogurt and organic cane juice.  I also allowed Sunday's to be a day a celebration and if I was offered sugar I didn't refuse... incidentally only 2 Sunday's were opportunities to imbibe in sugar.

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What I learned is:

1) I have amazing self-control when I place God in control of my appetite
2) Creativity in the kitchen.  Stevia, true stevia not Truvia, is wonderful and actually too sweet for me but great for making pudding.
3) I have a fabulous husband who made me a chocolate sauce from honey, cocoa powder & water.
4) The first week is the hardest.
5) I feel a deep sense of self-worth, an appreciation of what I accomplished and of my closer relationship with the Lord.

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Honestly, I wasn't sure how I was going to do.  Giving up on things hasn't always been my best attribute. Yet for almost 40 days I have abstained from sugar.

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Do I plan to go back, yes and no.  Everyone preaches moderation and now on the other end of the fast I know I can bring that into the picture.  Before I was so accustomed and addicted to the idea of sweet treats that I consumed too much without thinking.  Yet now I weigh my food choices more intelligently.  I think before I eat and eat not out of want but of need.  Also, I've lost 12 pounds and this is the only change I made, this tells me how important I keep on top of the sweets.

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Tomorrow I'm going to break my fast...not sure with what but I will make it and keep my portion small.   I am excited but fretful too, for now I'll only allow a sweet treat once a week.

What about you?  Any sacrifices you've made give back double?  Something you'd like to give up?  Let's chat!

My Thought Today...

Well my replacement phone came today so now begins the long process of adding back in contacts and downloading apps again.  Still I'm happy that it was replaced and I'm already starting to dream of next year when I qualify for an upgrade and can get the phone I really want...and iPhone :)  Of course that means I'll need to start a fund for purchasing it.  Taking donations now ;)

I just don't have it in me to try and post any pictures but I thought I might share a little knitterly advice/wisdom.  I am participating in luvinthemommyhood's Carefree Cowl KAL...which I love and have finished a cowl already and have another 'neck wear' accessory on the needles.  However, as I was reading through the forum on ravelry I noticed that some knitters are monogamous in their project relationship.  To be honest this has always baffled me, but that is mostly because I'm definitely a polygamous knitter and have many projects going at one time.  To be honest this applies to sewing too.

Yet as I contemplate my knitting preferences I remember how I was taught to knit like this.  That knitting isn't so much the finished product but the process.  The choosing a pattern, the picking out of yarn, the casting on the following directions, the changing directions...all of it.  Now I understand that all kinds of people knit, that how I knit isn't perfect for everyone.  Maybe you're a product knitter, that finishing is the reason you knit.  That's okay, I won't discourage you from that but maybe I can explain why I choose to knit many things at once, and perhaps I'll persuade you to rethink your knitting ways ;)

First, I try to always have a super simple project on the needles.  This is my go-to project when I need to knit but can't think, can't follow a pattern, but need to be doing something with my hands.  This project is usually a hat, or maybe some plain vanilla socks.  For some it is a scarf, or the simple back and forth knit & purl stockinette stitch for a baby sweater.  The point is, it is simple, portable and fast.  This is the project you grab when you're headed out the door to urgent care as you know you're gonna have to wait forever but you're nerves will be shot if you don't do something calming.  You need to have a project that can handle getting put down frequently so it can't have counting in it.

Next, I have a tangy project.  This is something easy enough for a knit night where there will be food and chatting, but complicated enough to keep me interested and not bored to tears.  There probably will be a stitch pattern, but something easily memorized.  This is the project you want to finish before casting on a new one.  This is your PRODUCT knit, the one you want to finish to show off.

Lastly, I like to have a complicated project going.  Something with a new technique I want to learn or maybe it's just a really pretty cabled sweater but you know it's gonna take a while.  This is the project that stretches you as a knitter.  This is what takes you from novice to expert.  This is the one you only knit on by yourself.  Currently my complicated pattern has been sitting for 19 months waiting to be finished...why you ask?  Because it's hard, I have to fix some mistakes and stretch my knowledge and lately I haven't had enough alone time to do it.  It will get done one day and once I finish it I will cast on for another hard project.  This is the project you knit, because you love to knit and not because you love the project.

Well there you have it.  My reason for the method of my madness.  I hope you love it as much as I do and that maybe I've inspired you to be a fearless knitter because I know I am and I want everyone to enjoy the craft I love so much as much as I do :)

{{hugs}}
Buffy

Honestly I think this applies to more than just knitting projects or even crafting in general.  I hope that you find some encouragement between the lines and if you want to share I'd love to read what you have to say!

Knitterly Wisdom on Mistakes

Hand knitting is an art and sometimes it gets screwed up.  The wonderful thing about mistakes in knitting as opposed to charcoal, oil painting or even sculpting is that when you do screw up it is easier to fix.  All you have to do is rip back your knitting to the part before the mistake or even all the way to the beginning.  I'd like to see someone put back marble from a sculpture when the artist took too much off of the nose ;)

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Now mistakes aren't fun but they are normal and to be fair learning tools.  When one makes a mistake one should learn from it, hopefully, to avoid making it again.  A mistake is exactly what I made with my sweater.  Perhaps mistake isn't the right word...to be honest I ran out of yarn.  Yarn that I had in my stash, bought over 2 years ago from an online company, my chances of getting more are slim to none and I really don't feel like I should try.  So last night when I looked down at my second sleeve and noticed that I had about 10 yards left but about 50 yards worth of knitting to go I realized my problem.

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I thought about my options: make the sleeves 3/4 length, adjust the sleeve cap, or rip out completely and start again.  I went with the ripping out.  3/4 length just wasn't gonna cut it for the sleeve style as the sleeves were highly patterned and it wouldn't look good.  I really don't want to mess with the math for the sleeve sycthe so that left me with option 3, starting over.  As I spent the next 15 minutes ripping out an entire sleeve (over 20 inches in length) and about 3/4 of a second sleeve I thought back to when I cast on the sleeves.

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I remembered the conversation I had with myself then...that I was afraid of this moment, of not having enough yarn. I knew that the sleeves would use more than the average sleeve in yarn because it had a bobble texture section and a cable section...two things that eat up yarn like garter stitch.  I wasn't completely sure I'd even like the sleeves with all that texture but I opted to go with the pattern anyway and hope for the best.  There lies in my mistake.  Not the hoping but the going against my preference.  I remember hearing some well known knitwear designer (though not well known enough as I can't remember who) say that the biggest mistake knitters make is following the patterns exactly.  I can't agree more.

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The part of hand knitting that appeals to most people is that ability to make things fit to you but if you fail to recognize your preferences in sleeve styles, or know your measurements and knit exactly as the pattern states you miss this opportunity for a truly unique garment.  So as I frogged (rip-it. rip-it, rip-it) my sleeves I made a mental note to myself that the next time I questioned myself if I would like something on a pattern I'm gonna go with my gut.  I'm going to learn from my mistake and work on something made just for me and not always what the designer had in mind...well at least for the next couple of projects.

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In the meantime I'm going to cast on for a teddy bear sweater for a Christmas gift just because I really need a little knitter instant gratification and because the sweater and I need a few days apart to repair our friendship but mostly because it's the advice I gave a friend when she was at the breaking point in a sweater she was almost finished with.  Yes, a mini break is just what we need cause this photo makes my heart hurt right now...

My sleeves...all ripped out

{{hugs}}
Buffy

Have you made a mistake lately that you're still cringing over?  Have a bad run of project luck where nothing turns out right?  I'm off to make a pumpkin spice latte so let's visit about our creative blunders and how we turn the corner on creativity.

I'm Alive!!!

Wow!  Really, the last time I posted was my birthday?  That was forever ago...okay so really only 11 days but still so much has happened in that time and I just can't believe how fast the summer is going.  I have a lot of planning left to do but in a few short days we'll be in full School prep mode... not to mention next week I want to start schooling with Lincoln.

Husband and I have decided to fully embrace the unschooling philosophy for homeschooling Lincoln this year.  Basically what we've decided is to forgo text books in favor of real life learning, the stuff that Lincoln is really going to need to know.   It may seem a cop out for us but really it isn't because truly there is no time limit on learning in this setting...all day is class time.  When Lincoln asks a question I'll help direct him to find the answer himself instead of just giving him the answer.  I imagine we'll have quite a few field trips and library trips as well.  We'll have more long term projects too.  I'm excited and hopefully Lincoln will prosper more this way as well.

However, it isn't all about schooling it's about clothes as well!  I'm really hoping to get some serious time with Greta in the next few weeks to make some lovely pants for my boys...with double thick knees ;)  Also I've got my KAL sweater to finish.  Just last night I finished the back...I even took pics with the new-to-me camera but still need to upload them...need find the right cable.  So hopefully I can get back into the swing of blogging this week and have some fun pics for you all!

Hope you're all enjoying the summer!

{{hugs}}
Buffy

Breakfast Mayhem - More Messiness!

Let me just say that when you decide to let your kids get messy one week they certainly don't let you down.  Yesterday morning Elsa pulled off a fantastically 2-year-old stunt of independence.  She poured the milk for her cereal herself!  I can hear your gasp now.  Yet I didn't get upset I simply grabbed my phone and started snapping a few pictures...

 

 

 

Do you see the large puddles of milk?

Well Thaddeus, still in his high chair couldn't let his sister out do him in the messiness department and wiped off all of his cereal onto the floor...

Really I think he was hoping that with the milk on the floor if he added the cereal I'd let him down so he could eat off of the floor...he is smart/sneaky like that.  I did get him down but only so he could clean up...yes I had my 15 month old baby cleaning up after himself...and he loved it!

Elsa ran and grabbed a towel and started cleaning up the floor first...

Then the milk on the table started to drip onto the floor so I redirected her cleaning efforts while Vinny started sweeping. 

I don't have a picture of Thaddeus picking up the apricots he threw on the floor since I had to help boost his morale into doing the work (read in clapping and loud words of praise for each apricot slice put into the garbage). 

Once the floor was swept and the table cleaned of milk.  I put a little soap on a wet washcloth for the table and got the mop out for Thaddeus.

Soon this is what the table and floor looked like...

Honestly I don't think it took any longer for the kids to clean up the mess then it would have if I did it all myself.  The reason I say this is if I had done the whole clean up I would have had to battle the kids getting in the way which makes more work.  So teaching them to clean really doesn't take much more of my time, if any, and the kids walk away with a life long skill more valuable than if I had done the work myself.

While I did help with SOME of the cleaning, the majority of it was done by the kids.  Vinny is 4, Elsa 2 and Thaddeus 15 months each with varying degrees of ability.  Thaddeus was more than capable of picking up apricot slices and placing them in a grocery bag and pushing around a mop with a little assistance.  Elsa easily cleaned up all of the milk from the floor and table and Vinny did the sweeping.  All I had to do was give guidance, supply soapy washcloths, and sweep the pile into the dustpan that Vinny held.  Not bad if you ask me.

I hope you're finding my X-Large pictures of real life to be inspiring, honest and encouraging.  All too often we fall prey to the lie that teaching our kids to clean takes longer than it does to clean it ourselves, but the truth is all that is needed is to lower our expectations a bit and go with the flow.  Children love to help out so use that to your advantage!

{{hugs}}
Buffy

Well I was brave and showed you the honest pictures of my kitchen after breakfast, now is your turn to be honest and share with me.  Tell me what you need to overcome to be able to let your children learn how to care for the house?  Is there a topic on cleaning you'd like to discuss?  Or maybe you'd like more hints on teaching life skills to your kids?  Just leave a Friendly Thought and share in what we know and what we'd like to know more of.

Dinner Time Messiness

So today is my first post for the Week of Messiness!  I'm probably a little too excited for my kids to be making messes in the house, but I'll be honest in that it really hasn't been that hard.  Yes, I do have to remind myself that the table and floors won't rot in 5 minutes and I've been keeping my knitting close by for stress relief.

My plans had been to do crafts but I realized that meal times are plenty messy and offer a great 'real life' experience for my kids to learn from.  So last night I grabbed my phone and snapped a few pics to show you a brief (truly brief) look into my household.

What kid doesn't like whip cream, chocolate whip cream at that?!  So I placed a large spoonful of the tasty treat on Thaddeus' tray and let him have fun.  He ate most of it rather quickly, but as it melted he began to finger paint with it which was my ultimate goal :)

Vinny couldn't be outdone either so he decided he needed to wear his BBQ sauce...

Now, I could have gone all Neat Freak Mom and lost it, grabbing paper towels, disinfectant and mumbling about how I'm always cleaning up after the kids.  But I didn't.  I let them play, have fun and laugh and look at Vinny's smile...totally worth it!  Nevertheless I didn't clean them up, much.

Vinny thought the best way to clean himself up was to play with the water in his cup.  Normally I would have been upset and I'm not planning on this becoming the norm but I did like his creativity in his clean up solution.

He'd been writing with markers earlier that day.

Now Thaddeus is 15 months old so I gave him a wet wash cloth and he went to town!  Seriously, he washed his tray completely and he got his face and hands...the fingers needed a little help (which he wasn't too thrilled about) but look at the results...

He was so proud and would scream every time I tried to take over the cleaning...so I stopped trying.

One day down, four more to go!

{{hugs}}
Buffy


Are you intentionally letting your kids make a mess so you can teach them how to clean it up?  Are your kids grown and now you wish you did this?  Let's share thoughts on how we teach our children to clean up after themselves.