Yarn Along 1/18/17

Halfway through knitting my Pussyhat. I'm making one for myself even though I found out about the project too late to send any hats to DC. I am finding it very magical to be making the exact same thing as thousands of other women and very cathartic to be doing something--no matter how small and "menial"--to protest all the hate and negativity that the political sphere is throwing at us. This pattern is similar to the Kit Kat Hat that was in my Ravelry queue as well :)

I finished Written in My Own Heart's Blood last night and just started Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women. I found this book at a local thrift shop and thought about how it fits nicely into the criteria for the Goodreads book club my friend Maggie started. I hope to recommend it there after I finish it. It's one of my personal goals this year to read more books about history (yes, I am keeping that vague on purpose--history of countries, history of religions, histories of anything, really...).






Join the Yarn Along and share your current knits + reads by visiting Ginny's site.

A Visit from Papa! and Other Small Updates

dealing with some sinus issues and feeling run down but this week has been a very nice break from the monotony of everyday winter life, because from Sunday through yesterday we had our papa with us!!

we had a really nice dinner on monday night with my dad, who brought over cheese & crackers (as is the Freyer way) along with pears & artichokes. the boys loved the artichokes! i was very excited about that, even if you do drench them in butter. mike made chicken wings in his new fryer and i made crispy crowns (which are orion's "favorite thing that is crispy! and also, my favorite thing that is crowns."). maybe not a balanced meal, but really delightful-- i get a lot of joy watching otto eat 5 or more chicken wings ("bone bones!" he calls them).

tuesday papa got to come with us to take orion to preschool and see his classroom. we did some errands and visited the library with the other kids while orion was in class. papa was even kind enough to babysit tuesday night so mike and i could go out to dinner together, which hasn't happened at all since baby luna made her appearance back in september!

i feel like we made some good memories to tide us over until he returns in the spring (and our aunt marti even visited yesterday. she was a good sport who subjected herself to sitting through a long presentation of every drawing orion has completed in the past month, handed to her one by one for inspection, followed by a scooby doo movie because orion was determined to change her into a fan).

i always love when i get to spend time with my family. everything is different now, but i am very glad to have them whenever they can be here.

Luna is 3mo and 25 days old!

luna really really really wants to roll over and is very close. enough so that the grand un-swaddling has begun. i'm not about to let her roll over all wrapped up and unable to get back the right way. when that happened unexpectedly with otto i almost had a heart attack. and so. we are left to the alternative of disjointed sleep as she tries to figure out how to sleep through flailing limbs and i try to learn to comfort her sweetly and effectively without being a crutch to her or freaking out entirely. sleep regressions...i hate you. you always seem to happen unexpectedly right when we've reached a nice sweet spot of thinking we are finally going to be able to sleep like normal people again. i'm trying very hard to get her some naps with substance so that she continues being the sweet baby you see in the above photo ;) 

my head feels like daggers are going through my eyeballs constantly, so i really have no desire to be social or do more than the bare minimum at the moment. i'm disheartened to learn this could last for 4-6 weeks before i feel better. thank goodness i have no fever and therefore don't have to take antibiotics. thank goodness i am not reading the news because i feel like my headache would be five times worse due to all the nasty political nonsense. double thank goodness there is an ice day here today so no school (although i feel really bad about that too because it was going to be pajama party day and orion was really looking forward to it).

amended to add: his teacher called me and they will have pajama day on tuesday...phew! 

yes. recovery is the plan for the rest of the week. recovery from company, recovery from lack of home maintenance (laundry mountains are high), and hopefully some recovery of health if i can sneak in a few extra showers. hot washcloths are the most helpful things for my face at this moment. hot lemon water is good too.

here's a photo of my current knitting project. the pattern is the most simplistic thing ever, but right now that is about all i can handle. i also like how it looks. hopefully i can take a full stock of my yarn situation here soon and make a game plan for next projects. considering knitting some baby hats for the hospital as i have a lot of half-skeins of baby yarn laying around...decided against the lace mess shawl for now as i realized i don't have enough yarn.

until next time, where i hopefully will be in better spirits and running on a little more sleep...:)

New Year, Same Old Project (Yarn Along 1/4/17)

I'm so close!!!

5 more rows and then the final section!! I'm renaming this shawl the Never-ending Age of Brass and Steam...at least I took a photo where you can finally see the full beauty of the yarn color.

I meant to have a new project to show you today actually. I started a pair of fingerless gloves for myself as my hands are always freezing in this house, but I ended up frogging it after 12 or so rows once I realized that playing LEGOs and knitting simultaneously don't mix. Some day I hope to be able to multitask while knitting...at least I wasn't in love with the yarn I had chose :)

Currently reading:

1. Lots of info about Ebook writing...YES, I am going to be writing an Ebook. Can you guess the topic? Hint: It's not about knitting ;)

2. It's All Easy by Gwyneth Paltrow (I don't care what other people think; I adore her. Her recipe for salmon is one of my all time favorites).

3. Captain Underpants...Found two more in the series to add to our collection at the Little Free Library. Reading out loud to the boys...it's a good step up from a picture book, but keeps their attention more than a full-fledged chapter book.




I'm looking forward to seeing what you are knitting and reading to start the New Year! If you aren't already, please join the Yarn Along by visiting Ginny's page.

Orion's Art Collection

Some recent drawings by my favorite artist! I've been wanting to post photos of his art for awhile now (I lack no amount of them. He's a very prolific artist and will make at least three new drawings a day). Enjoy!

He's been asking us what we are scared of lately and drawing pictures of it (I keep saying, "Maybe you can draw things we like" and his answer is, "But these are for Halloween!") Obviously, I said I was scared of clowns. Orion decided to make him a clown that throws bombs. Very terrifying stuff!

Mario and Luigi. I love when he draws detailed eyes.

Outer space, complete with asteroids and a little octo-alien. 

Bowser

This is a haunted gingerbread house. Note the angry ghost and bad guys on the right. Orion is the character with the red hat and when I asked him why he had no clothes on he told me, "That purple stuff is sticky glue for building the house and I not want to get my clothes dirty." Sound logic indeed!!

Link from Zelda

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles AND their pet turtle, Spike. 

Ahoy!

Spiderman! I love the intricate details of his costume.