catching up in ten

It's been a little busy at the Clothesline lately. I thought I'd take a few minutes and ten pictures to share the last couple of weeks with you.

1. Birthday time! Even before breakfast the girls wanted Dad to open his gifts.

2. We enjoyed a delicious gluten free chocolate cake (mix by 'Cause You're Special) with the best ever chocolate cream cheese frosting.

3. We put up and decorated our Christmas tree. The girls enjoyed putting the ornaments on the tree...so far, the cat has not knocked anything off the tree.

4. Ahhhh, the Thanksgiving turkey...all 24 delicious, juicy pounds. Hooray for the invention of the cooking bags! They work great every single time.

5. Perfecting the pas de chat in the last class of the semester.

6. Practicing an arabesque during free dance time.

7. Another pumpkin roll in time for a visit from my mom. It's not a proper holiday season without a slice or two of this dessert. Yes, it's gluten free...and delicious!

8. Busy crocheting by the tree making a gift for a very special boy.

9. Our first snow of the season. A light snow, maybe an inch or so...but on the day of the Christmas parade. It was frigid but wonderful.

10. Because of the snow I was able to finish up that birthday gift...a crocheted Pikachu. Free, wonderfully written pattern found here.

So, now we're all caught up. Time to finish the laundry, get some homeschooling done, measure-cut-sew Christmas gifts, and enjoy this time in my warm house with my healthy family while dinner simmers in the crock pot. Happy Tuesday. xoANG

tiny sweater

A couple of weeks ago a friend of mine had a baby. A sweet little boy. I tried my hand at crocheting a sweater and a tiny hat for him. I used Rima's free, and oh so easy to follow, pattern for the sweater. Pretend that you don't see the unfinished sleeve there...and I didn't add buttons like Rima did on hers. For the hat I used this free pattern. Both patterns can be found on Ravelry. I used Lily's Sugar 'n Cream 100% cotton yarn...a favorite of mine. It's so soft and only gets softer after each wash.

So now that it's so stinkin' cold at night I need to keep the yarn projects flowing. I've got some ideas to keep me busy when the sun goes down. Maybe I'll get some things marked off my list.

simple equations

two sneaky, giggling sisters + one cleverly tied jump rope + six swiped clothespins = laundry day for the dolls

more snow on the ground + thirty minutes before dinner is ready + the quest for the perfect shot = fun for the whole family (yes, even the cat)

one artistic girl + the family pet for inspiration + a few art supplies = a super idea for training cats

( poster reads:: Cat School...learn to be good and more! Do's and Dont's- Do: sit sill - Don't: lick your toes in class - Do: listen to the teacher - Don't: bite other cats)

one free pattern + yummy cotton yarn + three tassels = my new third-time's-a-charm hat

Some days it all just adds up! Happy Tuesday! xoANG

inside::outside

inside::keeping warm by learning a new skill on my new ukulele since the girls took over my old one...using my massive roll of contact paper left over from my classroom days to make these awesome exercise routines more accessible (and hopefully usable)...finishing up my Craft Hope project...making myself a new hat that unfortunately doesn't fit, so although it's cute, it'll be frogged and I'll make a different one.

inside::keeping warm and active by working on their drawing and storytelling skills. Noses are a challenge when drawing and are usually avoided...but not now...many attempts have been made.

outside::keeping warm by snuggling inside the snow cave that was made by Dad.

outside::keeping warm by climbing up and sliding down the snow cave turned snow mountain.

Are you keeping warm? I sure hope so. Now we're settling in for the evening and gearing up for the Super Bowl. Which team is the favorite in the Clothesline house? Well, I think the hot wings win out over the guacamole every time!
Just a reminder...life gets busy and fun and comfortable even in the midst of winter storms...please remember Haiti. xo ANG

a supreme day

Today is Tim's birthday!

A supremely special day here in the Clothesline household.

I am supremely blessed to have a wonderful, funny, supportive, intelligent, patient husband. The girls are supremely blessed to have an energetic, fun, caring, attentive daddy. Here's a little something I made for him. The lighting wasn't so great so the color is off. The scarf is charcoal gray. It is supremely warm and soft (Patons Classic Wool). I used this pattern, which is free, and I've got some matching, manly fingerless gloves on the hook right now. Hopefully they'll be done before Thanksgiving.
And because making a cute card together is so important, here is the supremely cute card that the girls and I made for him. Together we put the toppings on the pizza. Then I gave them each a white triangle of card stock for their individual messages. They asked that I write their message, then they got to draw and color. I then glued the layers together and viola! A supremely cute card for a supreme dad!

Enjoy your weekend! xo ANG

sweet!

I finally received and barely managed to get a picture of my prize apple. Remember I won it when Rebekah was having a giveaway? Well, it was devoured in a jiffy...every single chocolaty, caramel-y bite. Sweet!

As halloween grew closer I tried to get the girls to commit to a costume idea. There was a lot of wishy-washiness going on and I wanted to make sure that I would have enough sewing/crafting time to create the costume of their choice. Their decision?...a ballerina and a princess. They plundered the dress-up box and were thrilled with their choices. My only duty was to get the hair to be just right! Sweet!

Fall festivals and pumpkin patches are always fun. Pumpkins were painted, friends were played with, new slides were enjoyed, and the day was sunny and warm. Sweet!

After a few weeks of thinking that the leaves would just turn brown and fall from the trees there are finally some beautiful colors to enjoy. I don't like the weather getting cooler...if you know me then you know I prefer the heat...but seeing everything so beautiful this time of year makes it all worth it. And besides, it was in the 70's yesterday! Sweet!

I am making progress in my knitting. My brain doesn't hurt nearly as much now. The only thing that I don't like is that I'm a bit of a perfectionist and when I make a mistake I can't just pull out a few stitches to fix it...I have to pull out the whole thing. So far it's just been some practice swatches...no real projects. Crocheting, on the other hand, still comes easier to me and when I make a mistake in that, well, I just pull out the stitches to the mistake then keep on truckin'. Sweet! In all of my weirdness about farms and chickens and goats I have discovered the most wonderful of books...Backyard Homestead. It is a wealth of information and inspiration. A starting point, the beginning of real thoughts and plans and dreams. Sweet! That about sums up what we've been doing. I can't believe it's Friday again. The weeks are just flying by so fast. Thanksgiving will be here soon, and before we know it Christmas will arrive. I haven't made a dent in my list yet, but there's still time, right? Besides, we get to turn the clocks back tomorrow night and get an extra hour of sleep...sweet!

summer stuff

While fiddling around on my blog today I came across this post that was never actually posted. Weird. Anyway, I thought it was still worth sharing for the sake of summer...because it is fleeting. So our big project was the yard. We spent the better half of summer clearing out and sprucing up the back yard so that we could make room for this playground. It is great fun. Swinging. Sliding. Climbing. Make-believing. The stuff of summer.

Then there are these gifts that I made and never shared with you. There are a lot of birthdays in July in my family so as things progressed in my year of handmade gifts I made a trio of Japanese Knot Bags and crocheted cotton washcloths. The bags, of course, are reversible. One side shows the prints...all from my stash, and the reverse is a lovely cream muslin. I do love these little bags. One day I'll make one for myself. Maybe.

One more very summery and wonderful thing. The world's best bubble! Are you kidding me? Amazing, no? While at my sister's house, the coolest aunt ever, she let my girls blow bubbles in the house! Yes, there was a glass topped coffee table, carpeting, leather furniture. No, she was totally cool with it. It made me cringe and want to hurl but she said it was okay so I just looked away. Then, when the big wands came out, they moved to the deck. It is the bubble against which all other bubble will always be compared. Seriously.

So, how was that for summery goodness? Delightful, right? Now, just so you know, the Clothesline gang will be heading to the shore for a few days. Pray for sun and shells and sweet memories. I'll try to keep you posted while we're gone. I've got my vacation list and I'm checking it twice. Yarn-check. New magazine to read-check. Embroidery hoop and floss-check. What? I get to have fun too, right? I've got clothes, swim suits, beach towels, sunscreen, gluten free snacks, coloring books and crayons, running shoes, flip flops...it's all covered. No worries. Just ready to relax and soak up the last rays of summer because fall is elbowing her way in a little early. xo ANG

handmade gifts galore

I guess it's been quite a while since I've been here. Sorry about that. Home school planning, outdoor playing, and ya know, general wife-mom-crafter stuff has been filling up the days. But, I am here and that's what counts, right? Now, just so you know, this post has lots of pictures because I want to share with you the things I have been working on lately. Okay, do you remember that this is the year of handmade gifts in my little corner of the world? Well, it is and I have really been enjoying it. Making things, it's nice. Creating things, it's nice. Sharing this joy with my girls, it's really nice. So here's where this project begins...the gift bag. I had this perfect brown bag but it had a store logo on it..not good. The girls and I decided to break out the paints, naturally we started with pink. One wide column of pink down the center to cover the logo then some white paint on the sides to frame it...cute. After the paint dried I took our favorite scented marker...chocolate brown...and drew some flowers around the happy birthday part.

Here's to whole kit and caboodle of the handmade loot...four washcloths, one headband, two lip balm cozies. All made of Sugar n Cream yarn...so yummy.

First, let me tell you about the gift tags though. While the girls and I had the paints out we decided to cut up a cereal box and painted the printed side...pink, of course. Then on each tag I wrote the name of the crochet pattern I used. The girls enjoyed the paint and glue...a sticky pink mess, but oh, so fun. Now for the close up of the goodies. First up, the Vanilla Grit Stitch washcloth...my new favorite.

Next the Bark Sedge Stitch washcloth. Such great texture.

The Basket Weave washcloth, a great one. It turned out great, but small so I added a row of double crochet around the outside.

My original favorite, such a unique look and a wonderful feel...the Rub-a-dub Scrub Spa washcloth. Okay, maybe this is still my favorite.

This is a headband. Great for holding your hair out of your face while you wash it with a soothingly soft washcloth. I just did a couple of double crochet rows with single crochet around the outside, some decreases on each end then a nice chain to tie it up with. Hmmm, maybe I should have written that pattern down. I'll make another and write as I go so I can share it with you.

These are the lip balm cozies. Cute, simple, quick. On my Christmas gift list, for sure. They just need a key ring attached.

Oh, and this. This is a narrower headband for me. Cute, no?

All of these will be going in the Crochet-Along Flickr group. Have you crocheted anything to add to the group? I've got to start working on the Christmas gifts soon. I've still got a few birthdays to cover, but after that it's all Christmas gift making. Okay, maybe some just for fun projects too. Happy Monday. xoANG

apron love

Okay. You know that I have a thing for aprons. I do love them. I wear them while I'm cooking and cleaning....cuz I'm messy, not so much to be cute. Although, there is a certain degree of cuteness added when wearing an apron no matter what work is being done. Anyway I found the blog Tie One On through Amy Karol's Angry Chicken blog. You know Amy Karol, right? She wrote Bend-the-Rules Sewing and her new book Bend-the-Rules with Fabric is coming soon. So she loves aprons, too. Because of that she has an apron making contest every few months. This time around the theme is plaid. It doesn't matter how much plaid or what type of apron is created...as long as there is some plaid included. I told you last week that I didn't have any stuff in my stash for this contest but my mom came through with the plaid that I showed you here.


Now, I don't know about you, but when I think of plaid, I think kilts. So here is what I was thinking...with the hopes that it would come out right. Yes, I know, kilts are made of tartan plaid, and my fabric, well, it's far from Tartan. But I can still make an apron that's like a kilt, right?

RIGHT!

Summery colors, no? They remind me of Florida...so I have decided to call this... THE KEY WEST KILT APRON
I absolutely love the way it turned out. I added a little hand sewing and crocheting and it worked out just the way I had planned. Don't you just love it when that happens?! I sure do!

Just a couple more pictures. I know you could probably do without seeing more, but my Mom is dying to see this and show it to my Grandma and since she gave me the plaid fabric I owe her some serious photos!

So there you have it...my finished apron. My KEY WEST KILT APRON!

I know, two posts in one day...crazy! Happy Thursday xo ANG