Quixotic Pixels

Goldilocks had to try three of everything she came across before she decided which one was just right. I’ve had to try a lot more than that to figure out what I really wanted in a sweater.

I was bewitched for a long time by frilly feminine sweaters, many of which looked nice but weren’t all that comfortable to wear. I knit some sweaters just because they were popular or because I wanted to try a certain technique, and they didn’t quite satisfy me when it came time to wear them.

Eventually I realized I wanted a rugged, warm cardigan that would stand up to horseing around in the outdoors with my kids–or yes, even on my own.

Rosedale fits the bill perfectly! My version is knit with Noro Kureyon in colorway #90. I love it.

Tags: cardigan, Knitting, sweater

I try to monitor my language, but sometimes I slip up. Like yesterday, after helping Claire untangle her seatbelt, I cracked my head on the car door and let loose a rude expletive. Nothing escapes her notice, especially when mommy shouts it at the top of her lungs so it can be heard throughout the neighborhood.

Later on, when bickering with her brother over who had to clean up the living room, Claire said the bad word. She thought shock and awe was a good strategy for gaining her way.

Sam then faced a moral dilemma. How should he inform Mom and Dad of his sister’s transgression without uttering the objectionable word himself? Well, that wasn’t much of a problem. He illustrated the event.

His father and I are glad his spelling still needs some work.

It all started innocently enough. We watched a popular children’s movie called Ice Age, in which a silly sloth attempts to soothe a pair of angered rhinos by offering them pinecones. He couldn’t convince them that the pinecones were good eating, but his antics made my daughter laugh and laugh, and instilled in her a lasting infatuation with pinecones.

She collects them on walks through the neighborhood and now has a huge treasure box full of them. Our mantle is decked with especially fine specimens, and every once in awhile, I’ll find more tucked in the pockets of her jacket. While fun to look at, acorns and chestnuts don’t measure up to pinecones. Claire proudly proclaims herself the truest pinecone-ist in the world. Since I never heard the word until she coined it, I’ll believe her!

I thought it was high time she had a special t-shirt decorated with her favorite thing, so I used freezer paper to stencil some pinecones onto it. It was difficult cutting out the stencil’s tiny openings, but an X-acto knife and a good dose of patience helped me achieve good results.

Incidentally, why is it so difficult to find plain t-shirts? Most stores only carry t-shirts with something already printed on them. I had to search high and low for this green shirt, and was disappointed that it didn’t come in the right size.

Tags: freezer paper, pinecone, stencil, t-shirt