I’m so excited! I’ve wanted two things for a long time…

1. to knit a slouchy hat for myself
2. to knit something for myself from my Tweedy Batts

When cleaning out the wool room last month, I collected odds and ends of browns I’d dyed years ago when testing out colors. I decided to do something productive with them so I separated, carded, and spun them into 3 different tweed yarns, plus a blue. Making it up as I went, I started knitting yesterday morning and came up with this-

and it’s GORGEOUS, GORGEOUS, GORGEOUS!!! I’m so excited. So now, I want to make Tweedy Hat kits for my etsy shop.

Of course, since I was using old test scraps, I’m going to have to go back the drawing board in terms of trying to dye up more. But I’ve got the blue, the tweed, and the dark brown used on the skinny stripes. And I know and still have at least one of the dyes that I used on the brown wool, and a good guess at the others. So it’ll take some work, but it should be doable. However it won’t be exact so I’m left to hope I can make it work.

In other news, I’m working on posting a new color on etsy, which will bring me to 7. It’s a gray/yellow combination that is really pretty. I’ve knit Liv a mitt with it and have the yarn spun up to knit the other one.

I still don’t know how I’m going to tweed the blue, which is the clean blue stripe in my slouchy hat.

And finally, I sold my first batt! Nate designed a nifty card for me to slip in the back of the package (that truly did not photograph well) and I shipped it off on Friday!

I’m finally doing this.

You may recall that we returned Abby’s horrible lovebird and bought a baby parakeet several months ago. His name is Meiko. In the last 6 months, he’s grown quite a bit and has livened up significantly, which is good.. I was worried for awhile, ’cause I’m not remotely exaggerating when I say that for months, he might as well have been a stuffed bird that pooped. He didn’t move, or tweet, or eat when anyone was watching….. I think he was extremely young when we got him. Of course, he DID finger train in 1 try, and that was the point of getting a baby bird, so it’s all good.

He’s a sweet little thing but as his temperament is developing, he’s getting a little feisty, which makes me laugh because he’s SO not scary. We’re really enjoying him. His cage is in Abby’s room, but he spends much of the day on his playground which is out in the main living area with me (minus over half of those obnoxious toys).

So, Nate’s still looking for more clients. Max is keeping me busy. I’m working on my Tweedy Batts and have an etsy shop up, but there are only 4 colors on it right now. I have 3 more that I plan to post really soon. Check me out if you want.

Here’s a preview of 2 colors I’ll post soon…

the third is an amazing blue that I’m really excited about.

Liv gave Clark what for the other day for eating all of his chocolate bar while she was at school, after promising he’d share it with her. So this morning, when I gave him the last 2 squares of a chocolate bar Nate bought a couple days ago, he said, “I’m going to save one for Liv.”
I said, “You don’t have to do that. Just eat it.”
To which he replied, “But mom, I crossed my heart!”
Oh! I could just smooch him to death, he’s so sweet.

It’s amazing more men don’t spin, considering how fascinated men and boys are with the mechanics of it.

This spinning wheel has been Clark’s favorite race car track. He’s spent cumulative hours pedaling while holding a matchbox car on the wheel as it spins. Now Max is taking an interest in moving one part and watching how it makes other parts move.

Action shots…

As diversified as we were 2 1/2 years ago in Nate’s business, he’s lost clients (most have gone out of business) one by one at a pretty steady pace, and attempts to replace them have not been fruitful. This week, his last big client gave 60 days notice.

Nate is a brilliant graphic designer with extensive experience in advertising, magazine editing and publication, incorporating database systems, business efficiency solutions, etc.

If you know of anyone looking for his services, please let us know. Thx.

I finally got pictures of Max! He made it extremely difficult, ’cause he wouldn’t sit still for nothing, but out of nearly 60 pictures, I got a few. (Digital photography is the best).

So here’s the baby, 16 months old now…

Those elbow dimples make me weak in the knees.

Clark has preschool today, but the girls are home as it’s the end of semester and the teachers are grading.

Nate and I watched It Might Get Loud last night, which is a Rockumentary (love that word) on Jimmy Page, The Edge, and Jack White. It was so cool. And as I’m listening to these guitar legends talk about songwriting, I could totally relate to some things they were saying. It was a bit surreal.

I’m SO glad they snap in!

He’s so cute. We’ve been making funny faces at each other today.

Today, I had a playdate for Clark, made bread, recorded a song, washed pans, and now I’m dyeing wool for my mother-in-law’s bathroom rug. (I know, wool and bathroom don’t typically go together, but it should work in this instance).

Here are PICTURES!

I’m realizing that there aren’t a whole lot of pictures of Max. This is because when I have the opportunity to take pictures, he’s down for a nap. Yes, those two things are related.

Poor Max. I’ll try to get some photos of him soon.

I’m having a hard time balancing housework and songwriting. Songwriting is rewarding and fun. Housework is not fun, and only lasts for an hour or so ’til the savages run through and destroy it again.

Hmmmm. Tough decision.

But if I ignore it too long, I get grumpy with the mess and heaven knows no one ELSE is going to do it. So I guess it’s time to switch back over to “housework” mode. Dangit. I don’t want to.

And while I’m procrastinating, I’ll tell you that I have a number of new songs I’m starting to work on, having just finished 2. My short term goal is to get a group of songs done and ready to be submitted for copyright. I think 6-8 will be enough. I had 8 in my first group.

Cool stuff! I admit to having been out of the loop. Clark, Max and I went toy shopping yesterday with a couple gift cards to Target and Toys R Us. It was a very fun morning. Clark amazes me with how pleasant and reasonable he can be.

At Target, we happened upon a 10 piece Playmobil Fire Truck set that had no price, and when I took it to a scanner, it came up at $3.66. I wasn’t familiar with Playmobil, but I knew that couldn’t be right so I asked two “Target Team Members” and it was confirmed. $3.66. Being the coolest fire truck in the store (and really cheap) we bought it. He played with it all afternoon, evening, and is now up first thing this morning and playing with it again.

Here is another new toy, the MagnaDoodle. He’s getting so good at writing his name!

So that was a lot of fun yesterday.

After the whole house taking turns being sick for the past 2+ months, I’m SO ready for the new year. I think we’re mostly healthy now. Nate and I have residual sinus yuck, but that’s it.