Inspiration found.

For some reason, I keep gravitating toward cute little knit dresses. This one literally found me. I never pick up this knitting magazine. I subscribe to one knitting magazine, and usually don't even pick up others. But in the grocery the other day, I just happened to glance over, picked this one up and found this:

Most of the rest of the patterns do not interest me in the least (there is one other I might eventually make), but for some reason I want to cast on immediately for this little dress. I have this cotton in my stash:
But I fear it's not quite enough. It's a millend of Cherry Tree Hill North Country Cotton. I have 13 oz, and it's about 600 yards. The pattern calls for 2 hanks of Schaefer Laurel, which are 400 yards each. Hmm, prolly won't work. :/ Gotta go yarn-hunting again!

As an aside, I showed the pattern to my non-knitting sister, who said that wearing knitted things in the summer is weird. Even after I said it was a cotton yarn. ?

Toddler Energy

There's not much else to say to introduce this. She's a maniac and she's dancing like she's never danced before.

Join Me & CONTEST!!

I'm pretty new to blogging, so I don't know how many people will actually join me in doing this Random Act of Kindness (it's Random Acts of Kindness week, dontcha know?) But I had to try to do something. Rally the troops, as it were.

We learned late last week that one of my son's preschool classmates was just diagnosed with leukemia. I immediately decided to make her a soft, cotton hat and have it almost finished--a roll-brim hat in Cotton-Ease with a little flower sewn to the side. Think you could join me in making one, too? If you have the time and inclination, please leave me a way to contact you in the comments and I'll send you the address to send it to. It should be very soft and machine washable and dryable and about 19-20" around. Like many 3-year-old girls, she loves to show her girliness, so all things pink and purple and frilly are a-OK and highly suggested. She also loves horses and fairies, and she has an older sister who is in 1st grade. If you'd prefer to knit a puppet or a toy or heck, even some socks, those would be most appreciated, as well.

Thanks, knitters. Peace to you on Valentine's Day.

UPDATE! Let's ramp this up! Grateful thanks to those who have responded to my call. I so appreciate it. Direct your friends here because there's gonna be a CONTEST! With a PRIZE! The knitter of the cutest, most girliest handknit item sent in the next three weeks will receive one skein of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in Purple Club. Have at it.

How Sweet It Is

Valentine's Day would not be complete without some old-fashioned, homemade sugar cookies with tinted icing and assorted sprinkles. This activity actually occupied both of my children for one entire hour. I, of course, spent twice that long making the dough, baking the cookies and cleaning up the whole mess afterward. But I do it again in a heartbeat--they loved decorating the cookies.

A nod toward better days

It will take all my strength, but I will not go on and on about how my family has been very sick for the past two weeks. I am trying to focus on more optimistic, fun things and looking at upcoming projects one way to do that. This spring I'd like to make this:

Isn't it adorable? It's from The Yarn Girls' Guide to Knits for Older Kids. The only problem is that I will, of course, have to substitute yarn, but want to find something of good quality because it may last for a few years. Also, the pattern starts at size 4 and M is wearing a 2T right now, so I'll possibly have to make some alterations in that department. But very excited for this project.

Right now I've been working on a Tomten for her, and it has been slow-going because the first iteration was much too long and I was running out of yarn, so I had to re-do it. However, it should be done in a week so so, barring any other double ear infections and the like that seem destined to hit us before the weather warms up....oh, in about four months. sigh.

It. Is. So. Cold.

Yesterday and today it has been stunningly cold. Actually, I just heard our local guy on NPR tonight during the national broadcast, talking about how ridiculously cold it is outside. Our local schools, which never close (and I mean never) were closed yesterday. The high was -4 degrees. When I woke up at 6:30 a.m., the temperature was -16. That is not windchill and it is not Celsius. I live where one should be expected to experience cold with their chin up. But I am not handling it very well. There are monster icicles on our roof, threatening whomever comes to call. What would you do, if you were the UPS delivery driver, and saw this over your head?