Finding the Normal

While we all are trying to find our new normal in this time of uncertainty, I am looking for the little bits of old normal to bring strength and courage to our household. This afternoon we were given the official stay home mandate. As we’re coming up on 2 weeks of the kids being permanently home it was a stressful thing to hear. To say that life has been difficult and that we’ve all been on edge is laughable. I know there are some families out there who would describe their last two weeks at home as the definition of a shit show. It hasn’t been easy. But here is where we look for the little tidbits of pleasantry to help bring peace and a sense of balance to life.

When I woke up yesterday I heard the birds chirping their good mornings, and the sunrise was a blaze of raspberry red. It was a good reminder that spring is coming, along with all the freshness it brings. Despite what is going on in the big world, there are all the little things patiently waiting to be discovered again. The smell of fresh brewed coffee, or a warm cup of tea; The green shoots of grass poking out of the soft earth and the new buds on the trees; Seeing the house sparrows flit around our yard and the robins perched on our fence. I remembered that I am looking forward to smelling the blossoms of the crabapple tree living next door to us.

My other favorite bits of joy include fresh bed sheets, the smell of clean laundry, the smell of warm bread, a clean mirror, a quick set of body weight movements (squats, sit-ups, and pushups), sitting in the sunshine, reading to a kiddo, and popcorn. Funny little oddities that can bring a moment of joy to cherish.

We got our seeds out yesterday and made our planting timetable. We’re going to try and do the square-foot gardening method this year, as opposed to following the row planting directions on the seed packets – cross your fingers for us! Today we got to the planter beds to sow the early start seeds and enjoyed the smell of fresh tilled earth. It was fun to play in the dirt and look for worms. It brought a sense of control to an otherwise out of control time.

So while you’re busy trying to wrap your head around all the big that is happening in the world, don’t forget to enjoy the little things. Because without the little things to bring focus, the big things only seem insurmountable. It’s the little things that get us through. One of my favorite sayings is the question “how do you walk one thousand miles?” and the answer of “one step at a time” – Find the little things my friends, and enjoy them for the small packets of joy that they are.

Stir Crazy

Are you going stir crazy yet? We’re doing our best to not eat our young. Both of us are working from home, I’m also homeschooling the kids, and trying to keep my sanity by knitting and crocheting. The biggest thing that has helped us thus far is keeping a schedule with the kids. Us, too really. The need to keep a scheduled was dramatically emphasized today, our first saturday, when we told the kids they could do whatever they wanted and that there wouldn’t be any school today. That went down like a wagon on a hill.

We’ve made a few adjustments from our old normal schedule to allow the kids to sleep in a little longer (7 am wake up instead of 6:30), and a little more leisurely breakfast. But dinner, bedtime, and making sure we still get some education time in is still a standard.

Currently our schedule for the kids looks like this:

7:00 Wake up, make beds, and make sure rooms are clean

8:00 Breakfast and breakfast clean up. Once they’re done with breakfast clean up they can play or read until school starts.

8:45 -9:00 We start “school” between 8:45 and 9:00. One kid will start on their writing prompt. I googled writing prompts for kids and picked my favorites. I also have the kids email their teachers once it’s their turn for “screen time.” For each writing prompt they need to write an appropriate amount of lines – 1st grade is 3 – 5 lines, 3rd grade is 5+ lines, and 5th grade is two paragraphs. They also need to make a drawing to go with the writing prompt.

While kid 1 is doing the writing prompt I’m giving another kid individualized math help. The third kid is either playing math games or typing games online. This is also the time that they can use to email their teacher. After 20-30 minutes we rotate.
 
10:00 Once each kid is done with their rotation they can read four about 30 minutes. This needs to be a just right book so that they can read while I finish helping the kiddo I’m working with.
 
10:30 I send them outside to play. They need a break. I need a break. We all need some sunshine. It’s a good time all around. Sometimes this will be riding their bikes around the park, or playing in the yard. Around 11 I start making lunch.
 

11:30 – 12:30 lunch and lunch cleanup. Once cleanup is done they have another 30 minutes or so to play

1:00 We start “school” again. The afternoons are for science, art, baking, etc. Since these things take a little bit longer than 20-30 minutes this gives us enough time to complete a whole project.

3:00 I try to keep “school” hours pretty normal. Once we’re done with our afternoon project the kids are thrown outside again. They can come back in whenever they are ready, and are free to do what they want.

I hope you are finding your groove in this time of adjustment. I know it’s been extremely difficult for some of you, and I wish you nothing but the best. Hang in there. You can do this!




February Knitting

I was given some more (!) yarn from a friend who had signed up for a knitting club, but decided she didn’t like some of the patterns. Yay for me! One of these patterns was for a stuffed bunny. I had never made a stuffed animal before, but was willing to give it a shot, especially since my youngest’s teacher just had her baby.

Using Mary Maxim Baby Blankie yarn, you have enough yarn to make two of these adorable stuffed bunnies. The kit came with enough stuffing for the first bunny. Luckily I had enough stuffing from making letter pillows for my kiddos to stuff a second bunny. I wasn’t planning on making a second bunny, but when the kids remembered a good friend’s baby was turning one, they insisted we make the second one for her.

This was a really fun knit and I look forward to making another couple. I hope these bunnies are loved as much as I loved making them!

I’m still working on my Celtic cabled scarf. Because I’m making this scarf from my stash, I’m hoping that I have enough yarn leftover to make a matching hat, or even better, hat and gloves! We shall see. Here is my progress:

January Knitting

I have been knitting for years. My mother-in-law taught me and I’ve been going strong ever since. I love the different things I can do, and between knitting and crocheting I am pretty confident I could make anything I put my mind to. In the last two years I was given two large stashes from a friend, and my great-grandmother. I made a promise this year that I would go through my now gigantic stash before I would buy any more yarn. It’s worked…mostly. I did buy some yarn to make my sister a scarf, but it was only two skeins. With three kiddos I have a lot of “down” time while I sit at various practices, so I was able to do quite a bit of yarning in January.

Here are the things I made in January to get through my stash:

Crocheted blankets for identical twin girls

The first project I made in January were blankets for a friend’s identical twin girls. I crocheted these blankets using the Purl Soho Crochet Four Points Baby Blanket pattern. However, instead of making 4 corners I only made two per blanket and sewed them together along the diagonal. I used the remaining yarn from one blanket to sew together the other blanket. This helped with the idea that although they were different, they were still a part of each other.

A poncho – color change every two rows knit in stockinette.

The next project I made was a poncho for my nephew. This is stockinette stitch, with a color change every two rows. Instead of making two rectangles and sewing them together, I made one really long rectangle, and then sewed end to the side to make the wrap. The reason I didn’t make two pieces to sew together was because I didn’t think I had enough red to finish the project. It still worked for what I wanted, but I think next time I will make the two pieces like you’re “suppose to.”

Cables in action
Completed cabled cowl

My next project I used up some yarn I had given my oldest as a project to work on while she recovered from having her tonsils removed. Needless to say she got about 20 rows into her scarf before finding something else to work on. I tore out what she had done (with her permission, of course), and got started on my first real cable project. The yarn is one skein of Caron Cake Bumbleberry

I had done cables once before but it was one big cable, and I wasn’t very impressed with it. I knew I needed to practice cables to do a Celtic cabled scarf I’d been eyeing some yarn for, so this was my chance. I was inspired by Hana Paimen’s Cable Braids Headband since there wasn’t an edge, which is what I haven’t liked in other cabled patterns.

Sunset Hat with scrap yarn pompom

When I bought the Caron Cake yarn for the cowl, I found a bunch of Caron X Pantone kits on clearance, and decided hats would be fun to make for all the kids. After making this first one, I will not be making hats for all the kids, but I will probably make a multi-skein something or the other in the months to come. But this one did go to my niece, and it matches her personality really well. This pattern is called Sunset Hat by Emily Dormier. I added the pompom from the leftover yarn I had from making the hat. It was a fun pattern to follow and I will make the hat again, just with different yarn.

Waldo’s Fisherman Rib Cowl

We get more than a few super chilly days here in CO and my oldest was concerned that the gentleman holding the door open for the kids coming into the school needed a scarf, or something to keep him warm. This was a very fast project – it took two days from start to finish. I used unlabeled yarn but followed the Seaman’s Cowl pattern published in the Seaman’s Church Institute’s Christmas at Sea Program.

I got one more project cast on in January, but am still working on finishing it. Here is a sneak peak at what’s on my needles: