It has been cold in the Midwest, no surprises there.  Here we are freezing our tuchuses off at the park. I was wearing my glasses with my gaiter and they're frosting up! We went home to Iowa in January for Christmas.  My sister's family was sick and their Covid tests didn't come back in time for them to come.  They ended up being negative but we all decided to err on the side of caution while we waited for results.  Marek is the only one not vaccinated yet because he is still too young.

It was an incomplete Christmas but it was good to see my parents and my brother's family.  Last year we briefly gathered together outside at a park to see each other and exchange gifts.  Prior to that, we hadn't been physically together since the summer.  I'm thankful that now we have home tests and can quickly use them when in doubt.  The vaccine for kids 5 and under can't come soon enough.

I love this picture of my dad with my boy!  They don't get to see each other very often but they are buddies when they do.  Dad always has office supplies and stamps and notebooks and other fun things for little boys.

Late January my two best friends crossed the border to stay for a Ladies Aide weekend!  I don't think we'd seen each other for almost 2 years!  We all Covid tested before we got together and crafted with reckless abandon!  Here we are in Joann Fabrics.  M stayed home with Dave and I'd saved N95's for us to use while we shopped.  We even went to Ikea and it had been over a year since I'd been there with my sister.

Melissa and Serenity introduced me to UV resin!  Where has this been all my life?  I'd used resin for various photo projects.  You mix the two components and it stinks and takes forever to dry, etc.  This stuff you put in a mold, stick it under a UV light and it cures in minutes!  Whaaaaat?!?  I'm hooked!  I was teasing them that it looked like they'd set up a meth lab in our basement! M and I need to head south of the border soon to stay with them. 

My border jokes come from my Grandpa. He'd come down to Iowa for a Sunday meal and when he'd leave, he'd always say he had to go, "before they close the gate." I miss him and wish my son could have known him.

Dave converted The Boy's crib into a toddler bed so he is now installed in his Big Boy Room which used to be the play room. He was really upset that first night and cried and cried which surprised both of us.  I suppose it was a change and he wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to do or where he was supposed to be.  It is all normal again now.

I hung up a curtain rod and made some Daniel Tiger curtains for the window in that room.  That embroidery picture was stitched by my maternal grandma and hung in my room when I was Marek's age.  It is a bedtime prayer that we say together every night and in the car on the way to daycare/school.

Did someone say school?!  My boy is going to pre-school now!  I just can't believe how the time flies.  We had him screened for early start pre-school and he will get his different therapies while he is there.

He rides the bus to and from.  I am such an anxious person and I hope he doesn't inherit that from me because I wouldn't wish it on anyone.  He was excited to board the bus and when the helper was buckling him in, I took the opportunity to slink away.  I was afraid he'd get upset once he realized I was gone.  I was tearful but didn't cry.  It was harder on me than him I think.  His teacher is so good and texted us pictures of him busy and happy in the classroom within the hour.  He can't get on that bus fast enough now!

I'm so pleased to report our Covid numbers are waaaaaaaay down so our mask mandate has been lifted.  I still wanted him to wear them in school but I can't get him to keep it on.  I made some Daniel Tiger and Sesame Street masks out of fabric scraps and still he won't leave them on.  We'll see how it goes.  That is one of my new favorite toys:  My Dymo label maker!  I got some cassettes of iron on labels for all his school stuff.  Anything that doesn't move is going to get a label!

This boy is 4!  Every year we reminisce, "At this time 4 years ago we were getting an epidural, pushing, going to the OR, etc." reliving his birth.  Where has the time gone?  We spent the evening with Dave's parents for a low key celebration.  We had a pizza party and I baked a funfetti cake decorated to look like the trucks have excavated the number 4.  He loved it and the trucks.

I'd been collecting gifts over the last few months to wrap and give him and I knit him a red Mr. Rogers/Daniel Tiger sweater.  

Mr. Rogers of course always changed into a zip up sweater on his show and on Daniel Tiger, they have a segment of a kid going out into the community to do some activity.  The kid is always wearing a red zip up sweater with a trolley patch on it.

I used super wash worsted yarn from knit picks and got that patch on ebay.  I'd been looking for one forever but they were always out of stock and seemingly no longer produced.  I was very happy with the one I found but it cost $15 and $5 to ship!  I think I spent more on that stupid patch than I did on the yarn!  Oh well, money was no object because I've been wanting to make this for so long!  I can always cut the patch off and use it again.

I had never knit a sweater with a zipper before.  This pattern was great (and free!) and I watched a couple videos to help me attach and customize the zipper.  It never occurred to me that you could use a zipper longer than your finished garment and trim it to size so this was quite a learning project for me.  I chose to use the sewing machine even though I didn't have a perfect selvedge edge to hide the stitching.  The thread matched almost perfectly and it felt more secure with 2 rows of machine stitches versus hand stitching.  I have a pattern for an adult sized Mr. Rogers sweater complete with cables and a collar that zips up and now I have the courage to tackle it for Dave...some day.

This photo was taken in early February and all this snow is gone.  The red sweater pictures were taken 2 days ago and we have brown grass everywhere.  There have been a few lovely warm days which makes us very impatient with today's cold and wind.  Spring is around the corner.  I've been running my Aerogarden for over a month now getting ready to start seedlings and will try to share pictures of those and other projects soon instead of waiting 5 months between posts.

Covid is looking better but now the world is actually at war.  I can't believe what I'm seeing on the news.  Our neighbor is Ukrainian and whose parents and family are still over there.  My sister's neighbors are Ukrainian with lots of family there still.  Thankfully their parents were here visiting when war broke out but her dad wants to go back and help fight.  He is 60 years old but says he can fix tanks and machinery and what not.  Seeing people flee with their children and pets is breaking my heart.  I remember learning in London about the Blitz and how hundreds of thousands of pets were put down during the first week because they didn't want them to suffer and feared they couldn't feed them knowing what was to come.  And just like WWII London, they're sheltering in subway tunnels.  How is history repeating itself like this?  Having a young son makes this hit so much closer to home.  I can't imagine what those poor mothers are going through,

Listening to Putin and his propaganda (including that idiot who called him a genius) reminds us how close we danced to authoritarian government. This should be a cautionary tale for every American because we take our freedoms and democracy for granted. Those Ukrainians have only had it 30 some years and they are fighting desperately to keep it. We need to be savvy consumers of news and information. We need to pay attention and we need to VOTE.  I can't help but think of all the Covidiots who have cried oppression and tyranny at having to wear a mask and get a vaccine.  They should feel quite sheepish now because we are seeing real oppression and tyranny unfold.  What they experienced was in fact inconvenience.

Once again we are reminded to be happy with what we have and share with those in need. Help your neighbors and hold your loved ones close. God bless Ukraine. We will be planting lots of sunflowers soon.

Crown Prince Harald's Sweater

My family is Norwegian.  I love Norsk, Nordmenn, and Norge.  I know Norway was occupied during WWII but I need to brush up on my history.  I was dinking around on Ravelry doing a search for Norsk, or Norwegian or whatever and came across this sweater.  That little boy is current King Harald of Norway when he was 4 years old.  We know the sweater existed because he'd been photographed in it.  His mother, the Crown Princess, had probably had it made for him.  The night he along with his mother and sisters fled Norway they were woken in the night and told to dress warmly because they "were going on a ski trip".  The story goes he was dressed in this famous sweater to travel.

What's even more amazing is that little sweater survived the war along with his passport, traveled back to Norway and is now housed in a museum.  What a neat story!  Then I learned there is a reproduction pattern of the sweater and say no more, I have a little boy around the same age who needs a red and white Prince's sweater.

This was knit out of Mayflower fingering weight wool yarn from Hobbii.com that a coworker turned me on to.  They are a fabulous Danish company and I've ordered from them a handful of times during the pandemic.

He will probably never wear this again but I wanted so badly to knit and get it on him and it looks so striking.  There are larger sizes included in the pattern so maybe I'll knit another one, we'll see.  I always thought I'd do the one red one at this age for posterity, and then if I did another one, I'd do navy blue or something but I really don't mind the red.

It was a perfect fit too.  I was nervous as I was finishing because it was going to be close.  It loosened up a bit when I blocked it which is what I was hoping it would do.  I found those dress pants at Saver's and they were perfect for the photo.  It's just a shame we didn't have any snow on the ground!

 

PBS just aired a series called Atlantic Crossing this summer and it is all about Harald's mother, the Crown Princess, and her efforts to get herself and the kids out of Norway while her husband Olav V and his father King Haakon VII stayed behind for a time before ruling in exile from England.  She eventually made it to the US and had a special relationship with FDR and helped obtain aid for Norway.  I was thrilled to see the actor playing Harald wore a sweater like this in the scenes where they fled the country!

I cheated a little because of time.  You're supposed to knit fabric covered buttons out of dimes but I needed to get this sewn together, blocked, dried and on the boy this weekend for a picture because it would be my last chance for a while.  I was very happy with the metal buttons.  I don't have any Norwegian buttons in my stash.  That's something we shall have to remedy.

It was quite sunny today too and I wanted an overcast sky for the pictures.  I tried to keep him in the shade of the house or fence as much as I could for the light, but here he is in his play house and I think it is one of my favorite shots!  He's holding some greenery, totally impromptu!  At his age, he will not cooperate for pictures.  All you can do is run around after him snapping away with the camera and hope you get lucky with a few shots.  I was very pleased with today's pictures and ordered our Christmas cards!  Dave thought we should tweet a picture to the Norwegian Royal Family.  We might have to do that!  Happy Late Thanksgiving!

Picking up where I left off...

We are all well and healthy but worn out.  Dave is full time in person at the school and I'm working full time in the hospital.  Our numbers are ghastly in Minnesota right now and we just had Thanksgiving so I worry what things will look like in a week or two.  Get your vaccines people.  I really try not to think about it when I'm not there.

My last post months ago, I posted a picture of the yoke of this sweater.  It has been a brutally busy summer and fall with work and appointments and deadlines and life.

This pattern is called Hyphen and was some very rewarding yet mindless knitting which is a lovely distraction during a pandemic.  It was knit with some superwash Rowan worsted wool and has held up very well as a play/house cardigan.  After all that radio silence it is now sweater weather again.

I made this play mat out of a fabric panel from Superbuzzy for The Boy's cars.  He really likes matchbox cars but enjoys driving them on a parking ramp toy we found at Saver's.  I do love this panel though.

I fished this toy out of a box of trinkets I still had from the move.  I was a 4H youth exchange to Norway in high school with a classmate and her grandpa gave us these replica toys of the aircraft we flew on.  Long gone are the days of SAS.  Marek loves flying his airplane.

I'd hoarded up a bunch of Daniel Tiger fabric I found on clearance at Joann's.  The play room is in transition to be Marek's big boy room and will need curtains and bedding for a big boy bed.  I made this blanket for a toddler bed.  I had another Daniel Tiger print I'm using for the curtains and honestly wasn't really fond of this one because it just has too much red in it for my taste.  His stuffed toy Tigey is in the print as a pop of royal blue color so I decided to bring it out by backing it with more blue.  I can live with this blanket balanced with the blue.

I had enough left over for one magic pillowcase and found another royal blue small dot print to use as a cuff to tone down all that red.  The red accent is another small dot print that looked sharp next to the other fabrics.

In spring before the garden comes in, there is an open space in front of my sewing room window and this fool scares the bejeebers out of me at night when he takes the dog out.  Every.  Time.

I added lavender to my kitchen pot herb garden and it was lovely!  I couldn't believe it worked!

I clipped the blossoms as they came in to dry a few stalks at a time.  Next year I want to figure out how to plant ROWS of the stuff and cut handfuls at a time.  I love lavender!

I don't have to remind you that we had a hot summer and a drought this year.  I have never seen our pond so low.  It looked more like a big mud puddle.

We still had our frogs and water fowl but it wasn't our sun dappled million dollar pond view this summer.

During the one week the pandemic was under control this summer, we drove up north to see my brother's family.  Here we are next to Lake Superior.  It was in the 90's and disgusting all afternoon and it was downright chilly next to the lake.  I couldn't believe it.  We learned the hard way that you always have to pack warm clothes when you're up there.

The Boy loves to play with water.  If he doesn't have his trunks on, he's still going in the water!  I felt so bad for him that would still couldn't go to the toddler paddling pool or the swimming pool because of the pandemic. 

If we water the garden, his clothes start to come off and he is playing in the hose.  He is such a boy because he would get absolutely filthy every day.  That's what little boys do!

We had another good year for tomatoes despite our really slow start.  I bought an Aerogarden this spring so I'm looking forward to getting a jump start next year.  I want to do some winter gardening too and I'll keep you posted on that.

Marek liked being involved in the garden.  We had the backyard fenced in this spring which has been so nice for both The Boy and Lopi.  Both can roam freely and we can actually work without worrying about them.  He enjoyed picking vegetables but was constantly picking green tomatoes!

We frequented our farmers' markets as usual.  At the big one downtown, Dave would drop me off and pick me up while they circled the block.  I got some lovely popcorn this year, maple syrup, fresh flowers, veggies, etc.  I look forward to when we can all go together and make a day of it.

I'm always thankful at fair season because it means the heat will soon be over!  We went to the Washington County fair this year but stayed the hell away from the State Fair.  Here we made a new friend in one of the livestock barns!  

 I did our end of the season canning again.  Our cucumbers were such a let down this year so I didn't make pickles but we still have a bunch from last year.  I did lots of tomato sauce and marinara.

 

 

I got a bunch of apples for $1.99/pound at Aldi and made several pints of apple sauce.  This year there were plenty of jars but a shortage of lids.  I couldn't believe it!  I had several boxes of lids left over from last year and had enough but I was very frugal with them.

I'd been saving pretty jars from jams and mustards and what not to re-use for freezer jam and I'm so glad I did because they already had their own lids.  I was able to spare/stretch my lid supply this way.

Halloween ushered in the official end of the summer and he went as a palace guard!  He's wearing a set of pajamas I bought somewhere in London years ago for my nephew and my sister returned them to me once he outgrew them.  I thought they'd be perfect for a costume because they're a little big and could be worn over his clothes.

I knit that hat based on this pattern using novelty yarn I had in the stash and I don't know why I'd even bought it.  I stuffed the top with tissue paper and sewed some gold braid onto a strip of black felt for the chin strap.  We only trick-or-treated at our neighbors and at Dave's parents' house but Marek had fun.  He is at the age where you can hardly keep the costume on him and he was DONE after about 3 houses.  He enjoyed the candy but couldn't handle any length of time.  He'll be ready next year!

Yarn Chicken

Tomorrow is Syttende Mai which means The Seventeenth of May in Norwegian and is their Independence Day.  My mom gave me a Norwegian flag for my birthday and I hung it up today and just love having it out.  Marek has a Norge shirt I found at Saver's and will be wearing it to daycare tomorrow.

How time has flown!  It seems like Easter was yesterday!  We were able to travel home to Iowa to stay with my parents once we were all vaccinated.  The boy is three and that speaks volumes.  I love him to bits but boy does he make it difficult sometimes.  The Trying Three's.  When he wants to do something, he wants to do it now and when he doesn't want to do something...well, you get the idea.  We went to the Easter egg hunt in my home town which is a sweet tradition they do there.  At the time we were still very early in the vaccination process and we were in Iowa which means there wasn't a mask to be seen.  Even though the event was outside, I was still so nervous being in a group that large without masks even though I knew I was fully vaccinated.  He wanted to get down and run and we were holding him back waiting for the hunt to start, and when it finally did, he refused to pick up a single egg and instead wanted to see the Easter Bunny.  Aaaarrggh!

Today we finally had some decent weather to put the garden in.  I planted a bunch of pathetic seedlings and some robust store bought seedlings.  I planted seeds over a month ago but it has been so cool that they took forever to sprout even in the house.  We were so far ahead by this time last year.  While working, I had to show him how dandelions work.

He approached it the same way he does bubbles.  I don't know why kids find it hard to blow but it always ends up touching his mouth.  I do think it is a funny picture and might end up on our Christmas card!

He is three and likes to help and be involved and I try to introduce him to cooking and food prep where appropriate.  He is my little kitchen boy and is going to be a good from scratch cook some day.  Here we are sorting dry northern beans for baked beans.  I usually eyeball them and throw them right into the pot but he loves to stir them around with his hands.

We have baked bread together quite a few times and he likes to stir the dough and knead it.  I put him in charge of adding flour to the pastry cloth and he likes to sprinkle it.  His desire to be independent comes through though and we've had some tantrums when I try to correct or take over.  He will try to elbow you away or sometimes he'll shush you when you're saying something he doesn't want to hear.  His tactics are so funny sometimes.

Here is the chair with his flour footprints after we were done!

We've been working on Paint With Water, or "scrub books" as my grandpa Maynerd used to call them.

I've been frantically knitting while we still have cool weather.  This pattern is called Livaï and includes sizing from toddler to adult 3X.  

This sweater was knit with Cloudborn Merino superwash fingering yarn.  This was one of the many closeout quarantine yarn purchases I made from Webs over the past year.

To get these pictures, I had to lie in wait or chase him around the yard with my camera.  He is obsessed with this screen door from the existing crude screened in area outside our downstairs walk out.  Every time he went through it, I held my breath just sure he'd snag the knitting.  He has since broken the screen and now just walks through it.  Aaaaargh!

He was in dire need of a haircut as you can see in these photos.

Here is a picture showing his beautiful blue eyes.  I was hoping to have this done for Easter, not that we were going to wear it anywhere.  I was sidetracked by a promise I'd made last spring...

Dave's sister and her husband are so awesome and help us out all the time with repairs or advice or babysitting, etc.  I think they must have fixed our hot water heater and I asked if there was anything I could do to repay them with my special skills of sewing or knitting.  They took me up on it!  Their son coaches high school baseball and had this hamper frame on wheels with no liner.  It would rarely be taken out of the rack, he just needed something to line it so it could be wheeled from the locker room to the laundry area.  They brought me a photo, measurements and canvas.  I worked out a plan and started it but then everything shut down including last year's baseball season and this went on the back burner while I sewed scores and scores of surgical caps.

My sister in law politely asked me if I could finish that hamper liner because they are having baseball this year which is a good thing.  I basically had it assembled but I finished the initial seams as French seams to control fraying and did the final hem at the top to fit the required measurements.  One thing I'd been dragging my feet about how it would be secured to the frame.  I settled on grommets and the whole thing could be lashed with cording.  I used an awl and a series of knitting needles to make the holes for the 36 needed grommets.  I have to say I was really pleased with how it turned out!

My other knitting compulsion was to knit this vest out of some Baby Llama I had in my stash.  I got this years ago on sale at some yarn shop Dave drove me to when I first moved up here.  I wanted to find a project to use it up and it was going to be close.  When it came time to finish the sleeves, I measured what I had left and had exactly 14 yards for each side!

I just love how it turned out!  This pattern is Poseidon and was a pleasure to knit.  I would make this again in a larger size as he grows.

Here we are running through that screen door again.  He goes out, runs around the garden and through the patio.

This was cleverly constructed and so well proportioned.  He will have a little room to grow in this piece.

This one has since been finished but it needs to be blocked and buttons sewn on.  This was knit with some beautiful subtle mottled gray washable worsted Rowan.  I bought 2 balls in Fargo years ago and wanted to use it for a long sleeve house sweater for the boy.  This one was a photo finish because I didn't have enough for the cast off row and instead had to just pull each stitch through the next making for a tight cast off row.

I don't know why I felt the need to get those few particular balls of yarn out of the stash because THIS is my yarn closet!  It is floor to ceiling packed with yarn I brought with me when I moved from Iowa and more I've purchased living here.  There is foreign souvenir stash and domestic acquisitions.  It was just a drop in the bucket, but it is still satisfying knowing it got used up.

Happy early Syttende Mai!  And go get your vaccine!  I don't understand people who are refusing to get it.  This vaccine is nothing short of a miracle and if you don't get it, you are squandering it.  Our mask mandate has been lifted but I was out shopping on Friday and saw only 3 people not wearing masks in all the stores I visited.  I'm glad people are being responsible and thinking of others.  I mask up and still won't take Marek out in public because he is not vaccinated and there are variants out there and India is on fire.  We all need to do our part especially now that we are so close to the finish line.  Continue to stay safe and enjoy our long awaited spring!