Baby knits, cheerleading, wildlife, oh my!

 Yet another zip up the back baby sweater is almost complete. I need to add the sleeves and put the zipper in (I always save those for last since I have to be in "the mood" to complete the task). This little sweaters are nice to have on hand to hand out as gifts. I generally have one of these with me any where I go as they are super easy to pick up and work on and put back down at a moments notice. It is generally mindless knitting/purling unless you add stripes or a cable design down the front.

 I can see these cute little hats becoming an addictive knit. I made this one with Cascade 128. I think if I would have worked on this from start to finish in one sitting, it would have only taken a couple hours. This will look so cute on a little baby and I know it will be well received. The mother-to-be is planning a woodland critters nursery and the baby shower will reflect this theme. I like to put together a whole pile of home-made knits together to fill a gift bag. I am hoping to have everything tie into the woodland theme. On the needles now is the baby Tree of Life afghan from Lion Brand Yarn.

 We attended our first out of state cheer competition over the weekend.  This one took place in Akron, Ohio. It was a national competition, so everyone was pretty nervous.  This one has to be one of my favorites (as far as being a spectator/parent). The mats were elevated and they had a VIP area for the parents to enter when your team was up. I was able to stand about 10 feet from the girls as they were performing and I do believe I got some great pictures. At the end of the day, this team took home 3rd place. It wasn't their best day, however there were a lot of unfortunate events that led up to competition time.

 Sunday morning I was awoken by the men in the house telling me there is a flock of turkeys out back.  These guys randomly started showing up on our property about 2 months ago. They are definitely pretty neat creatures to watch, so we have been putting corn out for them. I think we counted about 20 of them wandering around. The two male turkeys (I know there is a technical term for these guys but I don't remember it) were not letting any of the hens eat any of the corn. The male turkey on the left up there was all puffed out strutting his stuff the entire time. The little guy (on the right) puffed up about halfway through them being on our property. I really thought they might battle it out, but nothing happened

Last night while making a bunch of cookies for my birthday treat for work, I thought I would get my camera out and start playing around with the ISO settings. Both of those pictures above are on the same pan of cookies. I believe the darker one on top has an ISO setting of 800 (and the raw cookies look golden/brown and already cooked) and the bottom one has an ISO setting of 1600 (and the raw cookies most certainly look raw). There are positives to both of the pictures and I am determined to learn more.I should probably look into a class or seeing if a local photographer can show me the ropes.

Learning and Growing

I have had my camera for 4-5 years now. I have never really sat down and tried the different settings. I was just super-duper excited to have a camera that took amazing pictures.  So, one of the resolutions that I have decided to set for myself this year is to try to learn my way around my camera. So I am participating in the photo a day challenge, and I am determined to take a picture every single day. Sometimes the pictures are not all that great because they are taken at the end of the night after everyone has gone to bed and I am lounging on the couch in my comfy clothes. Unfortunately, I have already missed a day! I guess it takes some getting use to!

I am also going to attempt to participate every week with Ginny in her Yarn Alongs! I look forward to checking out her page every Wednesday to see what projects others are working on (maybe getting a new idea or two for new projects) and what books they are reading! I always enjoy learning about new books.

This week I completed two projects...well kind of, they just need buttons.  The first one is Baby Sophisticate (that's the bottom picture up there). This is a pattern I return to time and time again.  It still needs to be blocked (that is a project for later this week) before I even look for buttons because that is how I keep myself doing what needs to be done in the order it should be done in.  The second baby sweater I finished is the Lillie Baby Cardigan.  Again, this sweater still need buttons and blocked!  My sister-in-law is expecting (her 3rd child, 1st girl) and I just love love love when a baby is dressed in white! So, I believe both of these will be gifted to her.

The book I was reading, 10:04 by Ben Learner was not really my style. I just could not get into the book. I borrowed the book 2 weeks ago from the local library and I plan on returning it today after only reading 34 pages.  I am desperately on the hunt for some new, good books to read. I enjoy a good series as I tend to get attached to the characters, but I think I may have read most of them.

Yarn Along

I am debating whether or not I should send an application in to our school district to become an assistant soccer coach for next year's fall season.  I do not feel confident enough to become the head coach just yet.  I am not sure if I can put as much time and effort as is required into the position. I do not want to short change the players of the team or my own children. The oldest has 2 years of high school soccer left, I am not sure if I am willing to miss any of those games in order to coach my own team.

Thinking back to the years I played, my high school coach had a lot of influence on our young minds. He will always be a positive memory when thinking back.  I have never become a professional player, however I am interested in reading about Mia Hamm's experience.

That knitted thing up there is (ANOTHER) baby sweater.  My go-to pattern for baby sweaters is the "Back or front zippered jacket" by Designs by Jeannine. I'm not even sure it is still in print. My family has been using this pattern for years! We make back zippered ones for baby showers...the gifts are always well received.

(*not sure how to copy and link up the Yarn along button...I'll work on that*)

Catching up

Blue Jays....eating the corn we put out for the wild turkeys.

The girls experimenting with the camera.

My dear sweet nephew patiently waiting for some cake and ice cream.

The past week has been a blur. The youngest received a cotton candy maker from her Grandma (gotta love those grandparents who buy the crazy gifts).  I was dreading using it for fear of the ridiculous mess that would ensue. In all honesty, it is fun.....and not quite as messy as I had feared. The cotton candy maker that we have is a personal size. We use one piece of hard candy (isn't that awesome? No powered stuff!!!) per serving and it tastes yummy!  Then Christmas came and went. That sign up there, I thought it was fitting for either one of the girls as they are constantly dancing...in the car, around the house, at cheer practice, you name it, they are moving.

The dog has stayed pretty much in that spot. It is her own little spot, and she likes it there. Her Christmas present was a stocking full of dog toys. She gathered all of her toys up, laid them on her dog bed, and then laid down with them so that she was surrounded by her toys. I'm sure she is ready for things to go back to normal and for the house to be quiet again.

The youngest celebrated her 11th birthday this year by having a party! We don't have parties (for friends) every year, so when there it one, it is special. Recently a little art gallery opened in our town and they host birthday parties.  For a fee per child, the director of the gallery will walk the kids through painting a picture. They all paint the same picture, but somehow they are all different!  Isn't that picture of all of the different paintings awesome! I love how individualized the pictures are.

I'm ready for things to slow back down. It is the beginning of cheer season, which means we will be traveling almost every weekend to a competition. So, no slow down in sight.   Have a great day!