Birthdays Galore

Well my baby is now 5 years old. Its still hard to believe. She had a great birthday with lots of Spiderman all over the place. It rained for about 2 hours before her party at the park so I had to call everyone all tell them even though it was raining we were still having it at the park. With all the luck in the world as soon as the party started the rained stopped and the sun came out. The older girls had fun drying all the park equipment with towels and all the kids ran around like crazy having fun.

This picture below is Victoria opening a talking Spiderman card that she got from her aunt that calls says happy birthday superhero with all this clapping and cheering. Can you tell that she really liked that and that we have heard it many many times since that day hehe.



Here is a photo of Victoria's reaction when she opened up her 3 Spiderman DVD movie set that we gave her for her birthday. She has since watched the 3rd Spiderman movie which she hadnt seen yet and deemed it just as great as the other ones.


I too had my birthday. Its was this past Tuesday the 24th. I am now 32 years old. I keep getting harassed that I am now old but I dont care about getting older. It doesnt bother me. My husband is another story. He will be 32 next month and is dreading it hehe. I got lots of cool gifts for my birthday but I thought I would just show knitting related gifts right now seeing how this is a knitting blog.
This first photo is of my bear that I have been waiting to pay off for ages. He wasnt really a birthday present but we paid him off last weekend close to my birthday so he kind of feels like one. Isnt he cute? The lady that made him turned out to be at the yarn shop when I went to pick him up which was really cool because I had never met her before. She was telling me that this bear is now special because the alpaca that yarn came from has since passed away and she wont be able to spin anymore yarn from his wool which she use to use all the time. So not only is he made from handspun alpaca but special handspun alpaca. I just love his little belly button, dont you?


My mummy sent me these two knitting books for my birthday. I have learnt all sorts of new felting techniques that I had never even seen before from looking at the felting book. It gives me so many interesting ideas for the future. The other book has all these little sayings and thoughts about knitting and a knitters lifestyle which I can totally relate to most of them so its a good giggle.


The felting book came in this special bag tied up with ribbon. I was very excited and surprised to learn that my mum had knitted the bag to put the book in and even took the flower pattern from the book that is inside it. I have a feeling this is the first knitting my mum has done in a long time. I dont know if she knows how much more it means to me to have the book in something that she knitted. She is the one who taught me how to knit and probably the reason for my being obsessed with crafting and creating my whole life.


This last picture is the dragon pyjama bag that I have been working on. When I took this photo I thought that he was all done only to realize that I have forgotten to add his little fork tongue. After a trip to the craft shop with my friend who ordered the pyjama bag we decided after they were all out of red felt that his tongue is going to be made from red ribbon. So all I have to do is cut out the fork tongue shape and make sure its stitched on very tightly. I have a feeling it will be played with alot. I will have to take a second shot with his little tongue. I finally got the wings done for this dragon after attempting it about 3,000 times. They still didnt come out the design I wanted but I have decided that this is as good as its going to get right now. Do you think they look like wings?

After getting my bear last weekend I was feeling inspired to knit some more toys. There is a free pattern by Fuzzy Mitten for a lamb that I have been wanting to try for ages so I am knee deep in lamb parts at the moment. He is actually all knitted up and I am up to the freaking out part of sewing him together. Fuzzy Mitten have these fabulous patterns for clothes to fit the knitted toys so I think I will have to get one because this little guy needs a jacket. I bought one of her patterns a long time ago and still havent knitted it up yet. Its a bear with a cardigan. I think I am going to have to attempt him after having so much fun with this pattern. I just found out that Victoria's new teacher collects teddy bears like me so I think she will have to get one. I have found the perfect yarn for knitting up toys. Its Lion Brand Vanna's Choice yarn. They colours are all so beautiful. That is what the lamb is being made with. I could see myself going crazy with that yarn and making all sorts of things. Its really cheap too. The lady that designs the patterns for Fuzzy Mitten is a really nice lady because she doesnt care if you sell the toys you make from her patterns and just requests that you mention her as the designer when you label the toy. I think thats just great.

I am getting closer to setting up my Etsy shop. My husband asked me tonight how much I need to set it up so I have been sitting down and figuring out what I want to get started. Another big thing I have to do is decide on the shop name, tag line and the look I want so I can order my banner, avatar and business cards. I think I have to get a notebook this weekend especially devoted to my shop to write all this stuff in and plan it all out. Its kind of exciting and scary to even think about. Its like a big step into the pond.

Two Wee Little Monkeys Having A Good Time

I finally finished this little monkey I have been working on for about a week. Its the same old monkey pattern I have done a ton of time but I wondered what it would look like if I used the thinner baby yarn that I had in my stash. I was inspired by a cute baby outfit I saw in these colours and went from there. Im not sure what I will do with the little guy but he sure is cute. I think I might save him for my Etsy store that I want to have up and running in the next two months. I have to keep in mind that I will need stock for it hehe.


It turns out this little guy loves hanging out amongst the flowers. He thinks their beautiful.


I caught a butt shot of him while he was enjoying the sun and checking out our garden.


The other monkey who has been having fun is Victoria. We went on a class trip last week to a place called Midway. It has lots of rides especially for kids her size. She just loved it there and wants to take her dad and Megan there this summer.

This is her riding the train.


This is her peddling around the peddle car course. She loved this because she got really good and really fast at it.


I was amazed at how quickly she picked up how to steer these paddle boats. She thought these were great. Please note that Victoria has become hooked on dresses and just had to wear this new one on this day. Who would have thought that a Spiderman and Ninja loving girl could also love dresses hehe. There are many facets to this girl hehe.


We also went to Church In The Park last weekend where they had a big blow up obstacle course. I will have to put some shots of that in my next post because the girls did the course together. It was the most amazing thing you ever saw. Victoria didnt give up halfway through like she did last year and Megan helped her little sister through the whole course without them having an argument. I wouldnt have believed it if I hadnt seen it for myself. There is hope for them yet.

This week I have been finishing off planning Victoria's birthday party. My baby girl will be 5 years old this Saturday. I cant believe it. I can remember Megan being 5 years old so clearly that I can hardly believe I have another 5 year old. Victoria finished Preschool last week and we visit her Kindergarten classroom this week. It should be interesting. We are having Victoria's party at the local park. This is risky because we have had alot of on and off rain this past couple of weeks. I have been crossing my fingers for no rain that day. Victoria just loves the park so she was so excited she could have her party there. I ordered the Spiderman cake she wants today and we picked out Spiderman party decorations on the weekend. Red and blue everywhere.

Megan is on her final week of school this week. She is down to half days but those days involve tests. She did a physical fitness test today to see if she was eligible to try out for the Grade 9 soccer team next year and she passed. She was very excited. She will only be in Grade 8 next year so that is why they had to do the test to make sure they could keep up with the older girls. She also found out that the same soccer league Victoria is doing opened up for her age so she will be playing soccer this summer. She is very very excited about that. Now Joe and I will have to figure out how to watch both girls play at the same time hehe.

Since I finally finished the little monkey I started on an order that I have for a pyjama bag that just got bumped up in priority. It is being knitted in cotton rather than fluffy yarn this time. I wasnt sure how it would look because I had always made them in fluffy yarn but this looks pretty good and cotton feels so soft. It is knitting up faster than the other yarn because its smooth. I started it on the weekend and the body and head are knitted up. This one is suppose to be a dragon. Mind you I have never done this pattern in anything other than a bunny so I am winging it. I hope it looks like the vision I have for it. I guess we will have to wait and see.

Bunnies All About And They Want Your Pyjamas

I managed to finished all the stuff that I wanted to give to the lady at MOPS today. She was very surprised to get her gift and just loved it all. She must have said to me 4 or 5 times how much she loved it all. She and a few other people kept insisting that I should sell my stuff. I told her that I was planning on opening an online shop and have been talking about it for about 2 years now. They all said I should do craft fairs but I dont like doing those sorts of things. You spend alot of time making things and may not even sell that much at the fair. You also have to spend all that time sitting at your booth and hauling all your products around. I much prefer to sell online and to do custom orders for people I know or online. I learned this from experience.

I decided a couple of months ago that I am definitely going to start my online shop this summer. For my birthday this month I am asking for money to put towards making my Etsy store the way I want it and getting the supplies I need to start it up. It doesnt cost very much doing it the Etsy way. It is what you make it I think. You can go all out or do little. Id like to be somewhere in the middle. I have been mulling over this in my mind over the past couple of weeks on what sort of name I should have. I have thought about using the regular name that I have used locally which is Nicole's Knits. I have also thought about using Jonicania which is a word that I made up using all our names combined which would make it completely unique. I like the store names that are catchy and give you an idea of what sort of products you have but I cant think of anything cute and catchy for knitting that I havent already heard. If anyone has any ideas I would love to hear them. I just feel like the universe is telling me that the time is becoming right to do this. Several people over the last month or so have been telling me I should sell my stuff and with Victoria starting Kindergarten in September I will have more time I could devote to such a thing. Its a scary but exciting idea. I just feel like I should just try because I am going to drive myself crazy wondering if I could have made a real go of it and just never had to guts to put myself and my products out there. Well I guess thats my little rant about that hehe.

I dont know why I took so many photos of these bunnies. I guess I just got carried away hehe.


You've gotta have the bunny butt shot.


The cream one which looks just like Victoria's one.


His belly opening for all those cozy pjs. You can see his little pink nose in this shot too.


The reverse colours of the cream bunny. Victoria liked this one probably because it is pink.


The pink guys belly opening and his little cream nose.


This is the blanket that felt like it took forever to make. I usually like to take my photos in the day to get natural lighting in but I forgot and ended up taking these at night right before wrapping everything up.


A close up of the block pattern. The colours are looking very neon in these pictures. In real life they are alot more toned down, that darn flash. That will teach me not to take photos at the last minute.

Our Trip To The Zoo

Victoria and I went off on our trip to the zoo yesterday. We had such a great day. She must have had a good time because she would love to go back this weekend. I dont think thats going to happen but we will have to go back again this summer. She is dying for Joe and Megan to be there so she can show them around. In the pictures it may have looked sunny and warm but its very deceiving. There was a very chilly breeze blowing that day and we were pretty cold when you werent in the sun but at least it wasnt raining.

Victoria's biggest thing she wanted to see was the Polar Bears. She kept telling them to go for a swim but they didnt. Today I saw photos that the teacher took and the polar bears were swimming. Apparently we missed it hehe.


Another important thing Victoria wanted to do was ride the train. You get to see extra animals when you ride the train so that was lots of fun. Her favourite part was going through the tunnel which she says was scary but not too scary hehe.


I had to get a picture with her standing with this sign. When we got home and looked at the photos she was very excited to see she is taller than the owl.


Victoria and a giant frog. She was very impressed with his size.


Checking out the Rhinos. Again apparently they were more active when other people saw them. They were pooped out by the time we got to them.


I had to get this shot of these turtles because of Megan's love of turtles. She now wants this picture up on her wall. Victoria says these turtles are playing follow the leader but one guy is going the wrong way. She is so silly


We watched a program last week about orphaned orangutans so I had to get a photo of this little guy. So cute.


We took a whole lot more photos of course so I just picked a few to show. It was definitely a good day. I did feel a little rushed because we only had about 3 hours to see everything before we got back on the bus and I wanted to make sure we saw all the animals. There are these huge great playgrounds there that Victoria was dying to play on but I couldnt let her play on them otherwise I never would have got her off and been able to see everything. We will have to go when we have more time and can pace ourselves.

Knitting wise the very colourful baby blanket is just about finished and one of the bunny pyjama bags is waiting to go to its new home. I am halfway done with the other bunny pyjama bag which is in reverse colours. Its still looking hopeful that I will have everything finished by Wednesday next week. Keep your fingers crossed. I am going to try and get a shot of the finished bunny bag tomorrow to post.

Tomorrow morning we are going to Victoria's last story hour. This will be kind of sad because we have been going to story hour for about 3 years now. When it starts up again Victoria will be at Kindergarten all day so she wont be able to go. We will be able to go if a Friday comes up where they dont have school but this will pretty much be her last one. It will be very weird when story hour starts up again and we wont be there. Perhaps I will have to go and listen to the stories by myself hehe.

Megan is off on another camping trip for Girl Scouts this weekend. She is very excited. It sounds like they will be doing lots of fun things. It seems like her troop is getting smaller and smaller. The girls are getting older and just dont turn up to every meeting and event like they use to. Its kind of sad. I dont know if I could see a time when Megan isnt doing Girl Scouts because she loves doing all the stuff they get to do. Victoria has decided that she wants to join Girl Scouts when she is able to join when the new year starts. That will be so cute.

Megan just got awards at school for being on the Honour Roll, receiving a pin, a certificate and $25. She also got an award for being 2nd in Accelerated Reading points which is where you read books on the list, take tests about them and get points for how well you do on the test. I didnt even realize she was bothering to do those anymore because its not required and alot of books she likes to read arent always on the list but I guess she was seeing how she was second. I think she got a pin, a certificate and funky backpack for that as well. I guess we are going to have to start thinking about what to get her as her end of year reward. Hmm it will have to be good.

Well I better get going and get organized for bed. I hope your having a great week.

Phew! Its Been A While

I guess I've got some catching up to do. I have been busy knitting away just not blogging like I should.

Here is the blanket that went with the two monkey brothers a couple of weeks ago.


I gave the present to the lady at MOPS but I didnt see her opening it. We have MOPS tomorrow so maybe I will find out then. I am currently working on a gift for another lady at MOPS who is having a girl. She already has 2 girls. I am knitting a blanket out of this yarn that has many many colours. They look like lolly colours, almost like you could eat it. Its taking me alot longer than I would like it too. I am almost halfway so I am seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. I think its because its made using baby yarn which isnt very thick so it takes a while to see some progress. I still need one more ball to be able to finish it off anyway. I am also doing something for her girls as big sister presents like the other lady. I was hoping to give it to her tomorrow but I figured out about a week ago that it was going to take longer than I thought so I will have to give it to her on the last meeting in two weeks. I should have it all done by then. Fingers crossed. For her girls I am making bunny pyjama bags like I made for Victoria. They will be in reverse colours like the monkeys were. I actually needed to take a break from doing the never ending baby blanket so I worked on one of the pyjama bags. It is in the sewing up stage so progress is being made. Im hoping maybe people will see some of my knitted stuff at MOPS and say oh thats so cool can I order one. Its meant to be a nice gift for some very cool ladies but also a little advertising. Does that sound bad? It kind of does, doesnt it.


Victoria's teacher is going to have her baby at any time. She is due on June 1st and Victoria came home from school telling me her last day is suppose to be Tuesday next week. This works out fine because I have an early Thank You Teacher present to give her and I am visiting the class on Thursday. They are having their end of year celebration and I was scheduled to visit that day anyway so it works out well. I am giving Victoria's teacher one of those things that you heat up in the microwave made of material that you fill with rice for your aches and pains. I also filled this one with lavendar as well as rice to give you that nice relaxing feeling. This one is big, it could wrap around your shoulders if you wanted it too. I thought it could be something that she can you after having that baby or relieving her stress after running after all those 4 year olds hehe. I also knitted the baby a hat. Its sized for when the baby is a little older. I think it would fit a 3-6 month old. I knitted it from this cotton yarn I got from unravelling a cardigan I bought at Samaritan House because I just loved the colours and feel of the yarn. It was all stripey with about 4 or 5 colours. I have alot more of it. The flower patch matches perfectly with it because it was part of the cardigan that I unravelled.


Here is a photo of Victoria with her buddy. This kitty has not left her side the minute she got it. The day before Mother's Day we took a trip to a mall we havent been to in a long time. They had a Build A Bear Shop there. Victoria was so excited just to walk in the door. She was squeezing my hand she was so excited. Joe decided to let her get something there because its something she has wanted to do for a long time and it was just to cute how excited she was. This is the kitty that she picked out, stuffed, put the heart into and then gave it a bath and brush. She got to pick out one outfit and then we filled out the birth certificate. She named her kitty, FUN. She hugged and kissed that kitty the rest of the day. Not just little ones either, big hugs and kisses and they havent stopped since so it was very worth it I think.

A Birthday Shout Out

HAPPY
BIRTHDAY
KYLIE!

THE BEST BIG SISTER IN THE WHOLE WORLD! I HOPE YOU HAD A GREAT DAY!

The Big Fat Grey Squirrel

Today I took a bunch of pictures of the big fat grey squirrel who is often in the walnut trees in our backyard. I snuck outside and manage to get a whole bunch of cute shots. There is also a little red squirrel we sometimes see out there but I havent been able to capture him yet. He is a fast one. I just love to take pictures of flowers, wildlife and scenery.