And with the yarn came power. She sat down and did knit with the yarn and with needles. The needles were double pointed and they were in number, 4. She knit with the yarn and with the needle and when her time of knitting was brought to an end, she brought forth her first hand knit sock. And it was good.
I took a break from knitting to finish up a crocheted baby hat. This is for the same friend that I made the duck bootees for. Here it is, being modeled by Pumpkin the Doll who is about the size of a 8 or 9 month old baby.
Pumpkin wasn’t cooperating and wouldn’t lean forward so you can get the whole affect. It’s an aviator cap with a bill that is flipped up and tacked into place. Oh wait, here’s the book the pattern is in. Now you can see it better.
That baby on the cover totally sold the book for me! I made the same hat for Bip a couple of years ago. It’s a really fast and easy project, took me two nights to finish it, not including the time waiting for a second ball of yarn to arrive in the mail. I started the second hat with leftovers from the first hat and ran out halfway through.  I just found out that one of my cousin’s is going to have a baby boy, so I think another one of these hats in order.
Look what my Mother’s Day yielded for me:
A new laptop and a beautiful vase made by Boo and Pumpkin Girl! The laptop is ready for Wifi, though sadly, we don’t have a wireless router for the other computer. So right now, it’s still only for playing the pre-installed games.
Boo and Pumpkin made this vase at our homeschool group. Our fearless leader Tami, casually suggested that the other moms take our toddlers to the park while she worked on the week’s project with the older children. They came back brimming with secrets and when the day arrived, they were so pleased to present me with their homemade gift. I think I like it better than the laptop! Now if only Philip will keep it filled with flowers.
Later in the day, I met up with my friend Shanti at our local yarn store. We had lunch, knit some and then she gave me a lesson on how to use my new drop spindle. It was much easier to learn in person and look! I made yarn!
How cool is that?
Yesterday was just One of Those Days. The kind where I should have stayed in bed. It started with 2 yo Bip waking with the sun and pouncing on me hopefully. As I opened my eyes, I realized I had a headache. I’m not sure if these waking headaches that I get are true migraines, but they are wicked. The only cure seems to be 2 doses of Exedrin (taken the appropriate amount of hours apart) and sleep. Lots of sleep.
If I was smart, I would close my eyes and go back to sleep. But I never do. Instead, I force myself awake and try to go about my day. By mid-morning my head is pounding, I can barely keep my eyes open and I’m glaring at any child who so much as dares to breathe in my personal space. It’s not pretty.
Thankfully, Philip has a 5 minute commute and can come home for lunch. That’s about as close to a substitute teacher as I can get – and I’m extremely grateful. I was already laid out on the couch before Philip arrived home. I vaguely remember hearing him come in, then the next thing I knew it was an hour later and he was saying goodbye.
Later I napped with Bip and woke up after 2 hours feeling groggy and still headachy. It wasn’t until after dinner that the pain finally subsided and I thought I could get up and venture to the mailbox for a little bit of fresh air.
I’m so glad I did because I had a package and inside was this:
Pumpkin Girl and I have been inspired by the whole Martha Years series, a prequel to the Little House On the Prairie books. Martha Morse learns to spin yarn with a drop spindle and we figured if she could do it, so could we.
So me and my newly pain-free head sat down to figure out how to spin. Um, right. I usually do pretty well with reading instructions and learning something new, but this old-fashioned drop spindle thing has got me flummoxed. We’ve got some lovely girly-girl roving waiting for us to spin (it’s the last picture), so hopefully I’ll make some headway soon. I’m not sure this whole spinning our own yarn thing is really a good idea though- my list of knitting projects is getting longer, not to mention the decades long backlog of scrapbooking, teaching Pumpkin to knit and sew, and some ladder back chairs that need new Shaker tape seats. Sigh. So many crafts, so little time.
Here’s the baby booties I was knitting that caused people to start planning baby showers for me.
Aren’t they the cutest things you’ve ever seen? Go on, admit it. This set is going to the grandson of a good friend from Korea. Let me just tell you that I’m not old enough to have friends with grandchildren. My friend Tammy (not to be confused with the Tami that lives down the street from me) just happened to start having children early in her marriage and she just married off her oldest daughter last June. Now her daughter is having a baby. Her daughter Lindsay was my chauffeur for a week when we all lived in Korea and Philip was off playing war games and I had failed to pass the written driving test for my military license. It was Philip’s fault, of course, because he gave me the wrong book to study. (In all fairness, this was the book that was given to him).
So Philip was gone and I was unable to legally drive and of course, this was vacation bible school week, so I was supposed to be driving back and forth to the chapel everyday. Lindsay was very sweet to drive me where I needed to go and didn’t even giggle when I failed the test.
Of course, I got 100% when I retook it.
ANYway – Lindsay is married and expecting a baby, so duck feet booties are in order.
(The pattern for these can be found in 50 Baby Bootees to Knit. I did them in Rowan Cotton Glace in some shade of yellow.)
If you’re not a knitter/crocheter feel free to skip this post. I’ll come up with something more interesting tomorrow. For the knitters out there – I finally got my invitation to Ravelery! Woohoo! I’m having way too much fun adding stuff and poking around the place. How come nobody told me about this earlier?
I wasn’t supposed to be buying anymore yarn, let alone more patterns. But since I was left alone in a yarn shop for about 45 minutes, well, it couldn’t be helped. Actually, I did go with the intention of buying yarn for Bip’s next sweater. It started out to be Boo’s first sweater, back in our Korea days. I chose a pattern and purchased the stated yarn online. It arrived and I started knitting. I showed Boo my progress and he announced that he didn’t like the yarn because it was too scratchy and he wasn’t too thrilled with the look of the actual sweater either. Fortunately (for him) I hadn’t gotten very far.
So 4 1/2 years and two children later, I am adept enough at knitting to be able to switch from the listed yarn to one more suitable and a fast enough knitter (though still pretty slow, I think) to knit sweaters for children. I’m attempting the same sweater, this time for Bip, but with a softer yarn.
Here’s what I’m making. It’s a Debbie Bliss pattern from her How To Knit book. I’m using her cashmerino yarn. Yum!
This was all I was going to buy! It took me long enough to pick out, what with the store not having enough of some colors, then me picking out substitutes in the wrong weight and piles of yarn falling on my head. And somehow these beautiful sock yarns found their way into my hands. I’m not sure how since the sock yarns were in a completely different room. But they are so pretty, I just had to have them.
Don’t they look like ice cream? Double yum!
So I was paying for my yarn when Shanti showed up, claiming an accident between a car (not hers) and a grocery truck on the 14th St Bridge. We went to lunch and returned and really, my credit card should not have needed to leave my wallet again.
We were telling our story of the Lunch That Never Was to the enthralled politely listening customers and staff of the yarn store, when a sweater caught my eye. Not just any sweater, but a child’s sweater without buttons. This is significant because Pumpkin Girl refuses to wear buttons. Not as a closure, not as an embellishment. Just won’t wear them. She’ll tolerate a lightweight summer sweater to guard against the air conditioning in church, but that’s it. And when I say “tolerate”, I do mean barely. So finding this sweater on display just sent my plans into a tail spin. Forget the 2 huge knitting projects I’m already working on, the dishcloth I owe a friend and Bip’s sweater that I just bought yarn for. No – I must make this sweater. Here it is:
Pattern book in hand (another Debbie Bliss, this time The Cashmere Collection), I went in pursuit of more yarn. I picked this one, baby cashmerino in primrose.
Pumpkin Girl has given me her approval on both the pattern and the yarn color. The best part was when, at church that evening, I put my arm around her and noticed how cold she was. I whispered to her, “Your arm is cold.” She nodded. Then I said, “I should make you a sweater, ” and she giggled.
It’s important to treat your children well. They’ll be choosing your nursing home some day.
My lace shawl (which I won’t show quite yet) is taking longer than I’d hoped. I’ve knitted (knit?) 1 skein and now have 4 to go. I had to take a break and do something else or I’m likely to put it away and never finish it. So I went poking around the house and wouldn’t you know it – I do indeed have a yarn stash. And I was trying so hard not to buy yarn until I was ready to start a project. Hmph. At least it’s a small stash and fits mostly into one Rubbermaid bin.
I found an easy crochet pattern and whipped up this little bag in a couple of days.
I used all cotton yarn, the same stuff I used for Bip’s hat, but because it’s crocheted, it feels much stronger.  The pattern couldn’t be easier and it’s worked from the bottom up, so the ball of yarn can sit in the bag as it grows.
When I finished the bag, I still wasn’t ready to go back to the shawl. So I started another big 4 skein project – Clapotis.  It’s a sort of shawl-scarf thing. Like most of my knitting projects, I started this one mulitple times before I got it right. I think I restarted this one 5 times. Argh. But it’s coming along nicely now.
I’m using Lorna’s Laces Shephard Worsted in Watercolor, instead of Lion and Lamb like the pattern calls for. This project is for me to keep and L&L is a bit too expensive to spend on myself. Now I’ve got two big projects going – I predict they’ll take me 10 months of alternating between the two to finish.
Whew! The Jesse Tree Swap is completed and all the packages have been taken to the post office. I was going to share a little bit of the behind the scenes goings on, but let’s just get to the good stuff.
Everyone did such a wonderful job with their ornaments. I can’t say enough about each one of them. I had so much fun opening the packages as they arrived and marveling over the different interpretations of each symbol.
I also want to say a big THANK YOU to Mary Chris who drove up from Virginia to help me pack and mail the boxes. She’s also hand delivering 4 of them. If not for her, I think I’d still be trying to unload my car at the post office.
And so without further ado, I present, in no particular order, the Jesse Tree Craft Swap Ornaments of 2007:
Bethlehem Prophecy
God’s Forgotten Scroll is Found
Ruth and Boaz (Sheaf of Wheat)
In the Beginning
Sacrifice of the Son (Lamb)
(due to a miscommunication, 2 sets of sheep were made. The other one is similar)
Noah’s Ark and Rainbow
Angels Proclaim the Miraculous Birth
Joseph in Egypt (each colorful coat is different)
(if you’re seeing a pumpkin hat, click on the picture and you’ll see the correct one )
Prophecy: Good Shepherd
The Fall of Adam and Eve (the apple is a truer shade of red and looks less like a tomato in person)
Return to Jerusalem: Preparation for Messiah (Brick Wall)
Exile and Persecution (Fiery Furnace)
David and Goliath (Slingshot)
Mary, Mother of All Living (each ornament has a different picture of Mary)
Prophecy: A Shoot From the Stump of Jesse
Prophecy: The New Creation (Lion and Lamb together)
(image copyright Stampin’ Up! 2007)
The Blessing to Abraham (Tent and Camel)
Jonah
The Promised Land: Canaan (Cluster of Grapes)
Passover (Door with Blood )
More information about the Jesse Tree can be found here: The Jesse Tree
Details on how to organize your own Jesse Tree Swap are here: Jesse Tree Craft Swap
Part 2 of 3
When I read an article in Faith and Family magazine about organizing a Jesse Tree craft swap, I knew I wanted to do one. I thought about it briefly, then dove right in. I asked the crafty-in-a-good way ladies on the 4 Real Learning forum and the members of my local Catholic homeschool group to participate. I crossed my fingers and prayed that I’d get the required 28 sign-ups.
The basic idea is that 28 people agree to make 28 of the same ornament before a given deadline. The ornaments are then collected and distributed and returned so that each participant has a full set of 28 different ornaments.
Most people make their own set of Jesse Tree ornaments. There are many advantages to doing your own – you get to decide exactly how each will look, you can have consistency in your ornaments by making them all similar in style, you don’t have to worry about deadlines and postage or someone dropping out of the swap.
On the other hand, being involved in a swap also has its advantages. Primarily, it is easier and faster to make 28 of the same ornament. It’s cheaper too, especially when you are dealing with supplies that come in packages, spools or sheets. You only have to come up with one design, and once you’ve worked it out, you can set up an assembly line to work quickly. Plus being involved in a group with a deadline helps you to actually complete your ornament. Many of the participants in my swap mentioned trying many times to create a Jesse Tree for their family, but petered out before Advent was over.
If you are interested in setting up a Jesse Tree swap, here is where you can find the documents I used: Jesse Tree Craft Swap. You will need to modify them for your own needs. If all your participants are local, your job will be easier as you can meet in your parish activity room to swap ornaments together. If the ornaments will be mailed to you, here are some additional instructions you’ll want to provide:
Keep good records. I thought I was doing a pretty decent job, but I found out too late that two different people made the same ornament. We worked out a solution, but I feel terrible. I could have avoided the whole mistake had I sent everyone a list of what each person was making and had them all double check.
Have a waiting list of swap angels. Those are the people who are willing to step up at a moment’s notice when someone drops out. Every swap has someone who needs to drop out, sometimes at the very last moment. Swap angels come in and rescue the whole thing!
Well, there you have it, the basics of organizing a Jesse Tree Swap. It seems overwhelming, but with enough time (I started sign-ups in mid-October) you can easily pull it off. I wrote this post because I know that someone will probably ask me for help in organizing a swap in the future. My next Jesse Tree post will show you the behind-the-scenes nitty-gritty of the swap, plus pictures of the finished ornaments.
Find more information about the Jesse Tree here:Â The Jesse Tree
See the completed ornaments here: Jesse Tree Ornaments
Copyright The Mac and Cheese Chronicles 2020. All rights reserved. Images and content may not be used without express permission.
