knitting outside the scarf

 for many years now, I have dreamed of knitting something other than a scarf...I have even gone so far as to purchase large quantities of wool with the intention of turning them into articles of clothing (for myself), but that is one dream that has never actually come to fruition. The thing is, knitting patterns elude me. I start reading them and my eyes glaze over and my head becomes all fuzzy, much the same as when my sweet husband is trying to explain our very confusing solar power set-up to me. I like to work things out as I go along, a habit which sometimes gets me into trouble, like when I'm halfway through a recipe and realise I'm missing a key ingredient.

so, I decided to have a little go at knitting something for daisy. There were two main reasons for this: one being the cuteness factor of a baby girl in a hand knitted cardigan and the second being that she desperately needed something that wasn't pink. What is it with the pink? I guess with three older brothers, people weren't really going to buy her something blue now, were they. Anyway, she now has a little red woollen cardigan, which was already too small for her before it came off the needles. Can you see that chubby tummy hanging out? It's an uncomplicated cardi (small steps here) but a cardi nonetheless, all knit in one piece and stitched up the sides. I loosely used this pattern, although somehow it turned out much smaller. It might have something to do with my tight knitting and my inability to count rows. Maybe.
So, even though this miniature cardi looks very cute and she does her best to look comfortable in it, there is another one on the go, this time in brown. Because, you know, pink looks good with brown.

kids as far as the eye can see

you would be forgiven for thinking I have fallen off the blogging wagon here...no words in three months. The reason is plain to see. I have kids, four of them. I'd like to be able to add a nice family portrait in which everyone is smiling and looking peachy, but I thought I'd keep it real. Getting four children in one spot at the same time, getting them all to look at the camera and then asking them to smile is virtually impossible. As is getting out the door in the morning with everything we need, getting through dinner without at least one drink being knocked over or one or three children deciding they don't like what's on their plates, and basically getting through the day without some kind of minor (or major) mishap occurring to each of them. Fair enough, daisy's not really in on the action just yet, but having her here has certainly added to the circus that is our life.

having four kids is awesome, we love it. We never intended to have this many, but we just couldn't resist it. They're so cute. And funny. We have permanent live entertainment. There's just no "off" button, and no volume switch either. And sometimes the performers forget which part they are playing and everything goes a little pear shaped. Mostly though, it's good times in this little shack of ours. Noisy, messy and tiring, but so much fun.