Yarn Along

{Yarning Along with Ginny}

I've made some sock progress, but really I haven't been knitting for the last several days. My creative time has mostly been going toward sewing lately, as I'm trying to finish up our little girl's fall/winter wardrobe. A few more long sleeve dresses and pairs of leggings will do it, then it's on to the knits she'll need this winter.


I'm almost finished with the striped cardigan I started over the summer (1 1/2 sleeves and a button band to go) and she already has 3 other cardigans for the fall/winter. I might add one more, but only if she seems to be outgrowing what she has. I purposely knit a little large so that they will go all winter. I'm happy to roll up sleeves for a little while!


I'm planning to knit her some leg warmers for under the dresses she loves so much. We have wood floors in much of the house so socks are really not a great option for her (I'm envisioning head wounds and knocked out teeth) and I think leg warmers might be just the thing for this period of time when socks are a no go- and they'll help me use up my odds and ends of worsted and DK weight from the last several finished projects.


I also need to knit her a few hats for this season and her first little pair of thumb-less mittens. Ezra has requested that he and Ellie have some matching mittens this year, so probably not pink mittens, but I have some cute rainbow-y yarn that is muted enough to work for a boy and a girl. I think I'm most excited about the mitten knitting for my littles.

Any suggestions for other winter knits for toddlers?

I'm in a  book slump right now, so nothing interesting to report here. I started up Ender's Game again, but since I'm re-reading it for about the 10th time it just doesn't have that urgency to get it finished. It's more like a slow "savor and enjoy" read. The boys and I finished listening to Trumpet of the Swan and started listening to Farmer Boy yesterday. We've already had a lot of interesting conversations- "what does tardy mean? What's Oxen? Why didn't they just get in their car?"

Tackle

Mondays can be strange around here. We get going on our morning around the house and get going on school right after breakfast so that our afternoons are free for whatever needs attention.


Yesterday it was truly free time. The laundry was caught up and so were the dishes, there were no pressing school things begging for attention, and there were no studio things to do. I declared the afternoon to be creative time, and as soon as the baby went down for her nap the boys and I headed downstairs to make things.

They did some art and lots of lego time.

I went to the sewing machine and

:: Finished a white diaper cover from a knit fabric- my first time working with a knit. {LOVE this tutorial.}

:: Cut out and almost finished a little tunic dress.

:: Cut the pieces for another pair of leggings and another diaper cover. 

{There is an awesome leggings tutorial| too if you need one.}

I'm hoping to finish up the tunic dress today and try it on Ellie. As long as it fits her correctly I'll cut out 3 more dresses in the same way and sew 3 more. She's really wanting to wear dresses a lot of the time now, and the thing I like about these the most is that they will start out as dresses but then become a top as she grows. At some point I'll cut the sleeves to be short sleeves so they aren't an odd length and that will make it work until the arm scythe isn't big enough anymore.

Still on the sewing list:

1. Three more dresses for Ellie.

2. Two more pairs of leggings.

3. At least two more diaper covers.

4. Pajamas for Ender and Ezra (1 pair each).

And then back to our regularly scheduled knitting and spinning for awhile.

Schooling So Far

:: If you came to school at our house, you would have to contend with the often sighted Table Top Toddler. This is the only table she can climb on (our dining table is bar stool height) but we spend so much of our time in the family room/school room that she is on that table often, no matter how vigilant we are about pushing chairs in and making sure markers/scissors/staplers/glue sticks/temptations are put up.


:: It reminds me of another Table Top Toddler we had around these parts not too long ago. How is he in FIRST GRADE this year???


:: Have I mentioned yet that this school year is rocking so far? I'm really happy with our materials, our schedule, and how we're working through things. I felt like we really hit a good place of learning in fun ways but also covering basics in the second semester of last year, and have continued at a happy rate this year. We're reading a lot, making lots of art, and getting out for field trips while still covering math and other basics.


:: Our schedule changed a lot this year, and all for the better. I'm teaching in the studio less so that we have more time to learn together. We cover math and language arts first thing in the morning and then we read and make and play until I head into the studio to teach. We're reading from Story of the World and a giant stack of science books, and whatever books come home with us from the library.


:: Read Alouds are a hard thing to find time for around here with Ellie always on the go, but they are REALLY important to me- important enough that I'm admitting that I'm not doing a great job of fitting it in and conceding that audio books are the way to go for now. So far this year we've enjoyed Tales from the Odyssey by Mary Pope Osborne and we're almost to the end of Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White. Next up is Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder. We especially enjoyed the voice work on Tales from the Odyssey- nothing like a British accent from a Shakespearean actor to really bring a story to life!