Grandma Does It

Leia brought this cute painted turkey home from preschool today.The staff had asked the kids how they thought you made a turkey, then written down exactly what each child said.Since our Thanksgiving dinner this year came from a restaurant (yum!) and was served up by John and Rachel, I'm not sure where Leia came up with her answer.

Except that, in her eyes anyway, Grandma can do anything.

Cookie Heaven

Last week, I made chocolate chip cookies from my super secret recipe (from the back of the semi-sweet morsels package. Ok, so it's not so secret.) I'd been checking out recipes on Pinterest and decided to put a glaze* on the cookies. And to kick it up a notch, I threw some cinnamon in the glaze too.

Best. Cookies. EVER. 

Can't wait to make them again.   

In Her Cups

It's a bit hard to see from this angle, but AJ is sound asleep, her nose firmly planted in Leia's pink teacup. 
Hmmm, maybe I should see what 'tea' Leia is serving . . . .

Cats 'n' Kids

Leanne has been with us almost everyday for the past week or so while her momma fills in during a co-worker's vacation. Hubby and I - and Leanne - are all thrilled with the arrangement. The only one unhappy? Poor Lily. She's terrified of all the little girls, but especially of Leanne, who would love to get her hands on the pretty kitty. Lily used to hide under the furniture when she saw the baby headed her way, but Leanne had no problem getting down to that level and would get waaaay too close. Lily has finally figured out that Leanne can't climb. At least not as far as the top of the couch. Now Lily sits up high, usually right behind my head since that's my spot on the couch, and keeps a sharp eye on the littlest interloper. You can almost hear her thinking 'nanner-nanner, can't get me up here.' Although at the rate Leanne is learning to crawl and walk, it won't be long before she's climbing too. Better keep a sharp eye out, Lily.

Pass 'em Down

Thought this hat,

made from my favorite 2-color spiral crochet pattern, was going to be for Leia, 3.
Um, no. Waaaaay too small. 

But doesn't it look great on Leanne, 9 months?It's nice having a range of ages to craft for. If I didn't, I'd need to be a lot better at figuring sizes.

Start 'em Young

Leia wanted to know what I was doing this afternoon, so I showed her the crochet hook and yarn I was using to make her a hat.Next thing I know, she's practicing her stitches with great concentration.I am one happy Grandma.

Rainy Day

The perfect rainy day - fire in the fireplace.

 New lace on the pillow - and time enough to take some artsy pix 

 of my current favorite thing.
 

Life is very, very good.

Enabling

I taught my first bobbin lace 'class' tonight and my one and only student got it on the first try.

Even better - she loves lacing! She's so hooked, she's already bought a lace pillow from another friend and is arranging to take more formal classes. I love spreading the addiction.

I also finished my latest piece tonight - This pattern was tricky at first, but by the end I really felt I understood what was going on. 
Next up: getting Vickie and Ellen hooked on bobbin lace too . . . . . .

Fenced In

Now that Leanne is mobile (here), hubby has resurrected the low-tech fencing he put together when Leia was younger (here). Now Leanne has the run (crawl?) of the family room, without us having to worry constantly that she'll get into something she shouldn't.
We have tile flooring throughout the house, which can be pretty cold on little knees and elbows - and hard on little noggins when balance systems fail. We'd been using layers of blankets for padding but PopPop had a better idea. He found a carpet remnant that completely covers Leanne's crawling area. Warm, cozy and padded. Perfect for little girls.
And how does Leia feel about the barriers since the girls are usually here at the same time? She's thrilled that she's big enough to go on the other side of the fence. Sometimes, bigger is better.

Shaving Cream Paints

Or, How To Have Fun On A Rainy Day
I spotted this paint idea on Pinterest (not a member yet? You gotta join! So much neat stuff.) and thought it would be great fun for the grand-girls. And as luck would have it, the next time Leia spent the day with us, it rained and she was bored - the perfect combination for bathtub time.We didn't have any food coloring, so poor PopPop went out into the rain to get us some, coming home with Neon colors (who knew??)
I didn't have a muffin tin so we improvised with a disposable pie tin, which worked out great, allowing Leia to mix up some of her own colors. 
Leia had a blast - she stayed in the tub so long, I had to add hot water several times to keep her from tuning into a frozen prune.And when she was done, I just rinsed down the shower walls. Love easy clean-up.
The only thing I would do differently next time?
Remember that it's food coloring and not use my fingers to do the stirring

Baby! Crawling!

I was going to post about the almost done crocheted socks I've been working on for a couple of days.
I try to make myself a pair every time I teach a sock class, so this is it for 2011. 
But really, who cares about socks when there's a new crawler around?


Leanne showed off her moves today.

So.Darn.Cute. And Lily is jealous.
She thought she was going to be today's cute thing.

Not My Usual

 Hubby says this is the ugliest thing he has ever seen.I started out agreeing with him, but Skullky has grown on me.Who wouldn't love that little face??


I was commissioned to make this for a holiday gift and Skullky will be going to his new home tonight. The body is crocheted and the white 'bones' are made from felt that I cut out and sewed on by hand. 
The pattern said this is a 6-hour project, but they lied. I've got at least 30 hours into it, which means I'll make just over a dollar an hour for my labor. But it's been an interesting project* and sometimes that's enough. 
I'm even thinking about making another of these for a gift. 
Or not.

*As with most Japanese patterns, this one was mainly a diagram, with a few, um, 'carefully chosen' words. Like "2-1-5". Which Anne and I eventually figured out meant that every 2 rows you decrease 1 stitch 5 times. Fun, fun, fun.      

Fishing For Perfection

The sewing bug still has me firmly in its grasp. Started searching online for the perfect project bag pattern and came up with this.
It's easy to make - always a good selling point for me - and looks great. I love the shape and the layers and all the pockets (on both sides) for carrying treasures and what-nots.  
The hardest part for me was making the box corners, and the original pattern was no.help.at.all. It said something like 'open your corners and press them down and make them look like this." Riiiiiiiiight. 
Fortunately, Mr. Google came to my rescue and I found this tutorial. Easy-peasy. 

Prototype #1 is done and while it's definitely usable - I'll be taking it with me to Lace Day in Torrance tomorrow and WeFF on Sunday - it's not quite perfect.I'd like the body to be a little bit wider (maybe 2"?), a little bit taller (another 6"?), and the straps definitely need to be lengthened so I can carry it over my shoulder.

Fortunately, I have lots more gifted fabric (thanks, Melinda!) so I can play until I get it jusssssst right.