the unexpected domestic

Coming Up This Week.

I have several things that I need to get accomplished this week before Friday! Why Friday? Because on Saturday I have a maker’s market that I’m going to have a booth set up at and I need to spend Friday getting ready for that!

Yesterday I wrote a list of what I need to do and I feel like I’m already making good progress so that’s fun.  I keep thinking of how much more productive I am now that I’ve had kids and it’s just so crazy! I was so lazy before kids. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still lazy. I just don’t have as much free time to spend doing nothing like I used to!

So for this week a few of the things I want to get done:

1. Make 5 child size bun beanies. I have about ten adult beanies ready to go and I think if I can get five more child size along with the two I made Saturday then I’ll be set.
2. Finish knitted blanket. I’ve been working on a knitted blanket for almost a month now and I love it! If I wasn’t working on other stuff for the market Saturday I probably would have made a couple of them by now.
3. Clear out cups and plates. Ok so this is something I did two years ago and my cabinets are in desperate need of decluttering. Especially the cabinet with all of our cups! We have had an explosion of cups with Christmas glasses still out, baby bottles, and toddler sippy cups being added. It’s stressful to just unload the dishwasher and try to find a spot for the cups to go!
4. Hang up clean clothes. I have been doing a good job at staying on top of a regular routine with washing, drying, and putting up baby clothes and towels. Buuuut adult clothes have been in a basket for a week now. And I’ve just been pulling shirts and pants out as I’ve needed them. Please don’t judge.

Making lists of what I need to do around my house is a really helpful way for me to stay on task and actually get things accomplished. I may not get everything completed on my list but having a list keeps me from jumping from random task to random task! Listing out my projects also keeps me from thinking I can do 10 things when in reality I can only do 3.

Pine Belt Holiday Expo & Christmas Market

This past weekend I participated in a Christmas market downtown Hattiesburg at the train depot. I had the BEST time. Goodness it was a lot of work but it was so fun to see other people walking around and getting to chat with different folks. Not to mention that we were at the train depot and the trains kept coming by so that was super exciting! 

I made hats and headbands with a little bit of fair isle added on. I've been experimenting with a couple of different styles and I really love the look of these hats with a huge pom pom on the top! For the hats I've done earlier in the fall, I was still kind of learning how to make the poms and lately I've been making some giant loose ones and they're just fantastic! I had a small bowl that I kept some extra poms corralled in and most everybody that passed by couldn't help themselves from giving them a little squeeze. 

I also love those headbands, the solid colors with the white accents look like little snowflakes. I just can't decide what color I like the best! I wore a red hat most of the day and I've made a charcoal black hat, too, that's super pretty. 

Now that the market is over, I'm taking a little break to rest. But now I have some Christmas presents I want to make so I'll be starting on those this week. I expected to be done with crafting for a little while after the market, but I feel the opposite. I'm ready to do even more and I really can't wait to get started.

home alone goals 2/24

Well y'all, it's that time again.  Time for my two weeks without the hubby being home.  It's always hard for us to part and I don't really know how long two weeks feels to other people, but it feels long and short all at the same time.  I look back at the last two weeks and realize that a lot actually happened and wonder how it all fit into those two weeks when they seem like they went by so quickly.  So maybe that's how days work, the days are long but the weeks seem short.  

I don't know why I feel this way, but every time he leaves, I make mental plans for things that I want to accomplish before Kevin gets back home.  Maybe it is because there is more of a time restraint and that way there is more of a deadline for me to aim for.  Who knows!  Anyway here are my home alone goals for this hitch:

- Clean out pink room.

- Redo open cabinet decorations.

- Bathroom closet and shelves.

- Meal Prep.

- Etsy shop opening.

- A lot of knitting and exercising!!!

I'll try to check back in as I do these things, what do y'all think? :)

an evening together :]

so...I have a bad habit of watching tv.  I hate that I watch so much of it.  It is truly a brain rotter.  I could just sit there and just mindlessly watch it for a whole day.  And then I feel horrible afterwards.  I began knitting again in the process of seeking a better way to spend my time. Then I discovered podcasts, which began my love affair, but I can discus that some other time.

Then one evening after Kevin and I had eaten supper, we were just sitting on the couch together in the quiet.  He was looking on his cell phone at cars and trucks, I was knitting.  I had read somewhere that week about a couple who had sort of a date night where they picked out like a playlist and they just kind of hung out together.  So for something that was different from watching tv, which is what we would normally do, I suggested doing something similar.  

So he created a Pandora radio station for us to listen to and I kept on with my knitting.  We occasionally talked with each other but not constantly.  It was really nice to just sit and not have the constant mind-numbing noise of the tv going.  Then I got to thinking and somehow came to the realization that Kevin probably does this more than I do.  When I asked him, he told me that, yes, when he is at work he often sits in his room listening to music and looking at the Internet.  

After I found that out, I felt kind of silly for thinking of how great an idea I had for us to do that!  But he said he liked that we were doing it so that made me feel better.  I can't wait for him to be home again so we can have another evening together.

christmas week festivities

Ok y'all! We are in the last week until Christmas!  Actually there are only a few days left.  I have a confession:  Last week when I went grocery shopping before Kevin came home, I kind of lost it at Wal Mart and bought like ten bags of chocolate.  Ok, no, I didn't buy that much, but I did buy two bags of dark chocolate chips and three bags of semi-sweet and two bags of mini m&m's and it just kept going from there.  I think one reason people love the holidays so much is that there is so many treats that are made!

I love making lists and with only a couple more days until Christmas I want to make sure I have everything done!  I have several things that I want to bake and other things that involve crafting!  Below are my two lists for the things I have planned to do:

Treats & Sweets
Fudge (double batch)
Puppy Chow
Crazy Crackers
Christmas Cupcakes
Haystacks
Mini M&M's (for snacks)
Peppermint Mocha Hot Chocolate

Crafting & Creating
Edible Gifts
Mississippi Pillow
Wrapping Christmas Presents
Gift Tags
Knitting

Ok, so maybe some of the last ones weren't ones necessarily for Christmas, but they are things I want to do this week!  As you can tell, I use a lot of my links from Pinterest.  Honestly, when I go to search for something, I no longer use Google, I just go straight to Pinterest!  Ha, I know I can't be the only one.

Also we have moved our church service from Wednesday to tonight.  I am so looking forward to a night so close to Christmas to worship with my church family the birth of Jesus Christ!  If any of y'all aren't doing anything, please come and be with us!  It sure would be a blessing for us to have y'all there!

knitting lessons learned part 2

First off, I would like to say that I am by no means an expert in knitting, just a girl who likes to knit. And also, everything that I've figured out is from trying different methods and techniques and studying what other people do, then figuring out how to make it all work for me. I think it's fun when I figure out something that I really seem to get and then I pretty much try to stick with that. I recently finished a knitting project that was not a scarf and I was so pleased with how it turned out. I learned a lot from completing this project and thought I would share some of what I learned, maybe it can help someone else too!

1 - For most of the time, I was using the wrong needles. I don't really know why they were wrong, they just did not work with the yarn very well. After pulling the knitting out for about the tenth time, I picked up different needles to use and almost I could tell an immediate difference. I think that after I knit some (a lot) more and with different yarn and needles I will be able to tell how to pick the right needles for whatever project I'm doing.

2 - Always carry your knitting with you! It started with deciding to take it with me to the eye doctor so I could knit while I waited. Basically, I wanted something else to do besides play on my iPhone so I brought my knitting along with me. Ever since, I have taken it along with me anywhere I go. I never know when I'll have the time and often I don't, but at least I have it with me in case I ever do need something to do! Like, the other day, the line at the drivethru at the bank was kind of long so it helped to pass the time.

3 - It's okay to have multiple projects going on at the same time. Y'all. I always thought that people who had multiple stitching projects going on at the same time were crazy and I just didn't understand it. Now I do. It's awesome! Although it is pretty much what I am doing all the time lately, knitting is not my only hobby. Somehow, I have discovered the joy of having multiple projects going on at once and it is awesome. I keep one project by my bed so I can knit before bed but then I also have this project that I carry around with me too! I never imagined that I would like it as much as I have.

4 - I like to stick to the same technique for a while - repitition. I said in the first post that I have known how to knit for ten years, but all I have done is a straight knit and sometimes purl only making scarves. I was somewhat intimidated by the knitting patterns and trying new things. I also didn't see any reason to move on when I was pretty content to just knit scarves just to be knitting. I taught myself a brioche stitch and right now that's all I want to do! I don't see a problem with doing things this way since repitition is key to perfecting stitches. Afterall, you have to start somewhere!

5 - People love to talk to you about what you are doing. Knitting is not as common as it once was and sometimes I notice a lot of people just watching me knit. I feel kinda weird talking about it because I just want to sit there and knit in my own little solitude. Often people are interested in at least attempting to learn how to knit even if they don't follow through.

6 - It is a great alternative to watching tv. I have been trying to find some alternatives to just coming home and turning on the tv. This is a great alternative! I will listen to a podcast or two and chill on the couch while knitting. It is a nice way to unwind and stimulate my mind a little more, as well. Doing this has easily become one of my favorite parts of my day.

Now I'm ready to go on another knitting binge! I am definitely looking forward to casting on another project this week with some of that beautiful purple yarn! Ok, ok. I actually have already pulled out my other knitting and am going to have to cast on again. Don't judge, you know you do it too! :]

knitting lessons learned part 1

Y’all!  I finished my first knitting project that was not a scarf!  Ah!  Lol.  Ok, so backstory:  Ten years ago, my friend came home from camp and she had learned how to knit, so of course, we all had to learn to knit!  It was fun!  But that also means I have been straight knitting(with some purling) for like, ten years.  And all I have ever made is scarves because those are the easiest to me!  So, a year ago my cousin, Ginny, asked me if I could knit her one of those knit headbands and naturally I was like, yeah!  I know the perfect yarn too!  And then promptly began.  Then pulled it out.  Then began again. Then pulled it out.  This has repeated for like, a year.  

Then for some reason this year my fingers have found my needles again and all I want to do is knit!  I found this stitch called “brioche knit” and fell in love.  When I went to the eye doctor a few days later I took my knitting and began on the head band for the final time!  I finished it this past Saturday and y’all, I was so dang excited! I even sewed the ends together since I didn’t knit in the round and was so proud of myself! You can see in that last picture where I joined the two ends.  I immediately took a picture sent it to Ginny and asked if she still wanted it (she did).  So yay!  Now to finish something else!   First, look at the colors on that blanket in the first picture!  I didn't realize how pretty there were! haha.  I’ve been working on this very large scarf, lap blanket, shawl, thing that I’m not sure what I want it to be.  I found the yarn in the sale bin at Wal-Mart.  It is some of the softest yarn I’ve ever used and only cost $1.50 and for some reason unknown to my conscious mind I only bought one skein instead of every skein I could find.  When I returned, I found only one other skein.  Sadness!  I have started and restarted this one about twenty times, too.  I switched from straight needles (in the first picture) to circular needles (in the second picture) once I realized that it was easier for a large piece of knitting to be on circular needles.  And that I didn’t have to knit in a circle just because I was using circular needles!  I know that sounds crazy, but you know how sometimes you get caught up in what things are supposed to be used for and forget that you can use them in other ways.  

Anyways, I feel like I have learned a lot a lot by just finishing this project!  And then I watched a knitting video on YouTube and my mind was blown.  Oops.  But that still does not diminish the project I completed!  I feel like I needed those ten years of just knitting straight knit to get to the point where I’m comfortable enough to try more.  So that's how I'm looking at how long it has taken me to get past straight stitch!  I predict I will be stuck on brioche knit for a good little while now.

On a different note, I think it is so cool how it seems like several of my friends or people I simply know of are knitting and/or crocheting.  Last weekend Faith, Autumn, and Kendall came over to my house and although Kendall didn't do any stitching, us three girls did!  We have all begun stitching more frequently it seems even though none of us discussed it with the others.  Even in the blogging world, it seems that there has been an explosion of knitting among bloggers who do not specialize in this craft.

I began this post thinking it would be a quick write up and just post it out there and be done. But the more I thought and typed, the more I realized I had more to say about knitting. So I believe I am gonna split this into two posts.  Thanks for reading!