Evans Family March Madness

It's here--Evans Family March Madness!  This Friday is Rob's birthday, and Saturday is Caitlin's birthday.  There is a Father-Daughter dance on Friday night (this year it's a luau theme), a birthday party at our house on Saturday afternoon, and a large family celebration here on Sunday, complete with turkey dinner!


Last weekend we went to an outlet mall.  I bought a new salt pig!

 I'm also going to paint our downstairs bathroom this week.  It's all good.  I should add that it's a very small room--like 5' by 5'--so I'm confident I can finish this in a couple of days.

Ordering supplies for Caitlin's party was the perfect excuse to finally buy this baker's twine.

In knitting news, I have set the Tomten on the back burner for now.  I had Bobby try it on to check the sleeve length (I was maybe three-quarters done on one sleeve) and we discovered that the decreases as written were making the sleeve way too skinny.  Bobby wasn't exactly jumping up and down for me to finish it immediately, so I pulled out some of my yarn stash and got to work on a springy knit for me.  I have really started to love purple in the last year or so--I don't think I'll be painting any walls purple, but it's great to wear.

My new knit--the New York cardigan.

Next week marks the first of five soup suppers at church.  I am in charge of the committee that oversees those, so the next five weeks will fly by.  For our first supper, I'm going to make the broccoli soup recipe from Apples for Jam.  It's easy, and Bobby even requested it!



On Sunday, we went to the 11:00 service, so I had time to make a Spanish omelet for breakfast.



So there's what I'm up to this week.  Maybe if we're lucky, I can post some before and after bathroom shots later this week.  I am really excited about it.

Quick Makeover

We have a huge brown couch.  It's huge.  It's brown.  We really didn't give as much thought to the couch buying process as we should have.  Mostly we were concerned with whether it would fit in the room.  I think we went with brown because it would hide stains.  I don't really remember.  But there it is.  Brown.  With all these brown throw pillows.  And a few red ones that I bought a few years ago in an effort to jazz things up.

Last Friday I went to Jo-ann's and went to town in the home dec section.  (I had a really great coupon.)  By Saturday afternoon, my favorite corner of the couch looked like this: 

 Much better.

And I've been sitting in my favorite corner of the couch quietly working on a Tomten for my little man.

Valentine Recap

I finished Libby on Saturday night.  Whew.  And she loves it!  It's a little wide across the shoulders, but the sleeves are the perfect length, and it's just beautiful on her.

 The bands around the cuffs are reversed from the band around the bottom of the sweater.  That is because I was about to run out of the dark blue, so I switched it up.  I think it makes it fun.

And here are the legwarmers.  Caitlin wore them to dance on Monday afternoon.

As another Valentine surprise, I ordered chalkboard placemats from Leslie.  The kids just love them!  They have spent every meal so far doodling on them.

 On Monday, I purchased flowers for Caitlin's teacher. The place had such great prices that I picked up some for myself, too.  I chose springy yellow tulips, because even though most of our front yard is still covered in snow, I just know spring is out there somewhere!

So there was our Valentine's day.  This year I went a little overboard, but I think it was the perfect pick-me-up for mid-winter!  I hope your Valentine's day was a sweet one.

Already?

It's almost mid-month already?  Time really flies sometimes!  We are all well (for the most part--the fifth grader was sent home last Thursday with a fever, but she bounced back).  I had a congregational lunch and meeting to prepare for last Sunday, and it went well--and I'm glad to have it behind me! 

And I've been working on some Valentine crafting...

The Libby sweater is almost done!  I still have to sew in the sleeves and find buttons.  Why is it that finding buttons is so difficult?  And I finally started a tomten sweater/jacket for Bobby.  I hope he likes it.  It's all garter stitch, so I'll probably be ready for some cables again once it's finished.

Today I'm going to make some shortbread cookies and pick out some buttons.  Sounds like a good day, don't you think?  Maybe tomorrow I'll pick up some wine to celebrate a full week of school and no snow!

We're back!

We were away.  Where? 

You get one guess...



 The Happiest Place on Earth!

 Seriously, I don't think these kids stopped smiling the whole time.

After putting it off for years (yes, I confess, I kept putting my husband off about taking this trip), Rob just up and booked the whole thing--flights, hotels, parks, even dinner reservations.

 I'm so glad he did.  Did you ever experience something with your kids and you just know that it will be one of those memories they cherish forever?  We just had four days of that!

It was even better than I had imagined it would be.

Works in progress

Time for a little show and tell.  I finally finished my Aran mittens.  I just love the design.  I learned quite a bit about following a chart--namely to color code the various cables.  Life was so much easier after I color-coded the chart!  I started the first mitten...back in September, I think?  And then they went into hibernation.

 My only gripe?  They're HUGE!  Like, super-large man-hands huge!  I'm considering felting them ever-so-slightly (is that even possible?), or just putting them into the closet until inspiration strikes.

On to other hibernating projects: these are legwarmers for Caitlin.  They were supposed to be a birthday present.  Last March.  I have brought these back out, and they're going to be a Valentine's present.

 And here's Libby.  Back and Left Front done.  Working on the Right Front.  Also a Valentine's present.

 Hey, I made a hat--back in October?  It's for Caroline.  I haven't given it to her yet because it's suppose to coordinate with some mittens.

 These mittens.  The first stranded knitting projects I worked on.  In August or September!  They're done--but the ends are not woven in yet.

 See all these ends?  This is a Kristin Nicholas pattern, and that woman is not at all afraid of weaving in loose ends.  It's ridiculous how many loose ends there are on one mitten!  That is why these lovelies are still in the knitting bag.  Maybe by Valentine's Day...

And for two out of three of my kids, that should be more than enough homemade love for Valentine's Day.  I'm feeling guilty about my little man, though.  Especially since he has ASKED me to knit him something!  (Actually, he wants me to teach him to knit so we can make it together--isn't he the cutest thing ever? )  I have wanted to make him a Tomten jacket for a while, but I don't think I could get it done in time.  Maybe I'll take him yarn shopping and let him choose the color.  He can be surprisingly picky at times--and after I've knit the thing up is not the time for picky.

So that's me right now: knitting up yarn that has been lingering.  Next up: girl scout cookie season.  See you all in a week.

First sweater of 2011: Lia

So, it's done.  Here's Lia.

 Five skeins of bulky yarn. 

Size 11 needles.  Knit from the bottom up.

I'm pretty happy.