For the lazy/impatient knitter

A little over a year ago, I got the itch to try knitting. I bought a "teach yourself" book and got to it. I really liked it because I could do it while we were watching movies and it was perfect when I was 7, 8, 9+ months pregnant because I could hang out on the couch all day and knit little hats.

I got a pattern book, looked at patterns online, and had great aspirations of making all kinds of beautiful, cozy, hand knit items. But, I am really lazy and really impatient when it comes to things like this. As soon as I can make something with what I know, I give up on learning anything else. So, all I really know is how to knit, purl, decrease, and yarn over. It worked for baby hats and that's all I wanted to make, after all, I was about to have an October baby, she would definitely need a good selection of cozy hats.

Well, now I feel really lame because I've been knitting for over a year and still can't make anything fabulous. Until now. It seems the trend for this cold weather season, is simple cowl scarves. These cowls are either knit as a tube that slips over your head, or with a button closure. They can be so pretty, especially a big beautiful button. But they are so easy! I made this one by just knitting a rectangle, letting it curl up a bit, and securing it with a pretty pin.

I think I will put a button on it because I'm not really a sparkly dragonfly kind of girl (anymore). So, for all of you knitters out there like me, this is YOUR season! Make some of these and love them then give them to people you love. And for those of you who actually know how to knit, please don't mock my attempt at knitting something functional and pretty :)

The best laid plans...

We celebrated Elora's 1st birthday a little over a week ago and we had so much fun. All of my grand plans fell apart, but when you have a little girl who is loved by friends and family and they all gather to celebrate her first year of life in this world, a party can't help but be a great success :)

I was so afraid that we would have a disaster on our hands because Elora hadn't taken a good nap all day. I had planned the party around her nap schedule knowing that if all is well, she would be waking up from her 2nd nap right when the party needed to start. Unfortunately, I fear she could feel the tension of us rushing around to get things ready and she just couldn't sleep. But with all of the excitement at the party, she was a trooper and did amazingly well! The party went great and we had a lot of fun.

I had so many plans of amazing handmade decorations and favors and goodies, but I'm realizing that I am not so good at time management and those plans of craftiness fell apart. I did manage a few things. I made the bunting banner you see above as well as her party attire. I also made some cute little cupcake toppers for my sad cupcakes.

One thing that went perfectly as planned was the big moment I had been preparing her for, for months...blowing out her candle. We'd been practicing but I was afraid that with all those people looking at her she'd freeze up. But she did great. She got it on the first try and everyone cheered. That freaked her out a bit, but not too much as she proceeded to hand me the candle and dig in to her cupcake. She loved it.

All in all, it was a fun time and I just let go of all the things that didn't go as planned. We were so blessed by everyone who came and Elora is loving all of the goodies she received.

The Black Apple Doll

I love this little doll. So cute and so easy to customize.

I made this one for Elora's birthday.

I think she's very sweet. I made her to coordinate with Elora's party, but I forgot to bring her to the party. Oh well, she's still really cute and Elora likes her...well, she really likes the button in her hair. She got a real baby doll for her birthday and she's carrying that around all the time now.

So, check out the pattern and tutorial and make one of these cuties for your Pretty Bitty :)

(photos of said party will be appearing soon...as soon as I can sort through the hundreds that I have!)

A year ago today...

Elora Grace was born at 8:44am.

After 30 hours of labor and about an hour of pushing, I couldn't believe I had actually done it.

When she was born I didn't feel overwhelmed with love like everyone said I would. I felt surprised. Surprised that she really was in there all that time; surprised that I had really given birth; surprised that it was true what they say, when your baby is in your arms you totally forget all the pain (yes, you remember it shortly thereafter, but it's all worth it).

I know it's weird to think that surprise is the emotion that came over me at that moment, but I was really in awe of our Creator. It was hard to imagine a real little person being knit together for 9 months (okay, it was more like 10 months, but who's counting?) in my womb, but there she was. It was hard to imagine my body going through all that it did to bring this little person in to the world, but it was made to do that. It was hard to believe that after so many sleepless nights and hours of laboring, I would actually have the energy to push for an hour, but I did. It was hard to imagine a person going from being in water all their life to breathing air, but she did it perfectly without any help.

I think flowing out of my surprise was praise. There is a phrase in a song that I've been thinking about more lately and I think it sums up what happened at Elora's birth. It says, "every blessing You pour out, I'll turn back to praise." With the blessing of Elora, my heart was immediately turned to God in praise for what He had done. He had blessed us with a healthy baby and a safe delivery, and my heart was in awe of Him.

I can't believe that was a year ago. I can't believe my baby has already turned in to a toddler. I'm pretty sure she's going to master running this week or next. I am still praising the Lord for the blessing and challenge that she is to us. She was given to us by God's great grace towards us. And she remains ours through His grace alone.

Happy Birthday, Baby Girl. We love you, Elora Grace.

A year ago today....

I looked like this...

And I was in pain, lots and lots of pain. But it was the good kind of pain, the kind of pain that has a purpose. I mostly just walked around the house and that's all I remember.

Finally around 6pm things started to get serious...

Change is Good

So, the last few weeks have been a little crazy. We'd been presented with a few opportunities and although they looked good, we had a lot to consider before jumping in. There was a week when all we did after dinner was discuss these things. It was a lot of serious adult conversation, sometimes I just felt like I wanted to stop being responsible and move back in with my parents so they could make the hard decisions for me.

Then I realized that I love being a wife and mom and I can't believe I have the privilege of being a partner to such a godly man and that we get to be responsible for our family. Speaking of Corey, we celebrated our 4th anniversary 4 days ago!! Let's take a break from our regularly scheduled post to look at us 4 years and 4 days ago...

Unfortunately I am the worst ever and haven't gotten my wedding photos yet. So these are from my father in law.

Okay, back to the post...

So, after much discussion we have decided that we're making some changes. First, Corey is taking a new job. This job totally came out of the blue and we are very excited about it. But also feeling a little weird that he won't be doing what he's done for all but 3.5 months of our marriage. It took about 3 weeks to decide about this, but it seems good and he starts November 1st! For now he's working like crazy to get things ready to hand over at his current job.

The second change we'll be making is a move. This new job would have been about 50 minutes from home and we're kind of growing out of our current place. So, like the job, a new place found us, and I love it. One of my favorite features is a 3rd bedroom that will be a sewing room!! Oh, and there's a dishwasher. Oh! And our own laundry room inside. Oh! And...okay, there's a lot of great features and I'm very excited for more space!

I think the hardest part of making these decisions is that we love our current landlords and Corey's boss. Both are great friends and it seems hard to "leave" them but it is for our best I believe. And we aren't leaving them because we will still see them often and especially after our time with them, we'll have a special relationship. So now, we're moving in to another friend's rental and Corey will be working with a friend he's had since high school, I guess we like to keep things personal! :)

We're excited about the changes and what the Lord is doing with our lives!

The Ruffle Skirt

I recently saw some really cute skirts that were just all full of ruffles. Whenever I see really cute (really expensive) boutique type items, I am inspired to make one for a fraction of the cost. So, inspired by a $55 skirt, here is my $6 version

Several people have asked for a tutorial for this, and I'm working on it! I've never made a tutorial before so I'm trying to figure it all out, but I'm really excited because that means I get to make more of these skirts.

Come back so you can make your own for the pretty bitty in your life :)