Crossing the Finish Line...Ravelympics Style

After hearing about the Ravelympics on Ravelry, a forum for knitters and crocheters I decided I wanted to join in on the fun. Each knitter or crocheter joins a team and enters a project in a ravelympic event. It is suggested that you choose something that i challenging to you or has a new stitch you have never tried. I have had the yarn and pattern for the Kid's Top Down Raglan Sweater for a few months now and decided it was the perfect chance to get it done. It isn't often I start a large project like this and actually finish it in a timely manner so I am so excited that today I crossed the finished line!! There were a few times that I ran into issues like not understanding the first part of the pattern and having to frog it three times before getting it right. And then getting really far only to realize that I had forgotten the stripes and having to frog 16 rows to add them in. But after that things went very smoothly. It ended up a little snug around the neck and I may redo it later but for right now it is DONE! I did notice after I was through 2 skeins of the Knit Pick's Shine in Sailor that was going to run out so when I went to www.knitpicks.com to purchase more and saw that they were sold out I started to freak out a little bit. Thank heavens for Raveler's who "stash" their yarn. I was able to find someone on there with it in there stash that was willing to sell me 2 of her skeins so I could finish before closing ceremonies. YAY for generous Raveler's. So without further ado.....

40 in 40 update

Day #3



On day 3 we cleaned out The Fish's dresser and filled up an entire garbage bag with his clothes that no longer fit. I also gave away a hook on highchair that he hasn't needed for about a year to a family friend. It was great to go through his drawers so his siblings no longer bring down clothes that don't fit when I ask them to bring something down for him to wear. And luckily I always stock on when I find clearance so I was able to fill his drawers back up with stuff that fits.

Day #4



Day four the plan was just to do Lippy Lou's dresser but I was on a roll and did Lynner's dresser also. We were able to fill a garbage bag with donations and a second smaller bag with clothes that were too well loved to give away.

Day #5



Today I tackled Ky Guy's dresser and the poor thing was left with less than 3 drawers full by the time we were done. He has grown out of so many things that he was down to the bare minimum. So when I saw that Fred Meyer was having 70% off their clearance prices this week I took him shopping today to put some clothes in those drawers that he can actually wear. It was kinda sad bringing stuff back into the house when I am trying to decraptify but he so badly needed clothes that fit. Not to mention I saved about 3X what I actually spent. I got some killer deals....like $75 shoes for $20. Gotta love clearance.

And the Winner is.....

By random number generator....

TyLeen said...
"Ok, now that I have seen the sight, I love the mod flower hair bow. So cute! It was really had to narrow it down because I love them all! I love hair bows!"

Congrats TyLeen, I have given Darling your information and she should be contacting you soon!

Bag #2 of 40 and Other Randomness

Day 2

Today we cleaned out The Fish's toy box because it hasn't been cleaned out since he was born and with his 3rd birthday rapidly approaching I figured he didn't need teethers anymore.

I also recovered the chair in my office/sewing area because the kids spilled on it and then The Fish decided to draw on it with a ball point pen. I think I should have done this from the beginning because I love the new look so much. If you like the chair and the look I got mine at IKEA for around $20.

I have been working on this adorable sweater for the Ravelympics (check out www.Ravelry.com if you are a knitter/crocheter, it's a great site)

Thankfully I was also able to get a lot of housework done today. I can't wait to put my munchkins in bed and just relax tonight though, I am beat!

Semi-Monthly Menu

So today I am preparing for my twice monthly grocery shopping trip and thought I would share what we will be having for the last 10 days of this month. Gotta love the short month when it comes to the grocery bill. You will notice that a lot of meals on this menu will be the same as on the last menu because I tend to double up and freeze stuff to save time and money.

Meatloaf with Mashed Potatoes and Peas

Pork Fried Rice

Tri-tip with Asparagus and Baked Potatoes

Mexican Chicken Soup

Left Overs

Pork Tenderloin with Risotto and Steamed Veggies

Italian Bean Soup

Homemade Pizza

Spaghetti

Sloppy Joes

Sorry it is short and concise this period I just know that sometimes I love seeing what others are eating so I can have new ideas for my next menu. I promise that the next one will be changed up a bit! I am off to put my list in Grocery IQ!

40 Bags in 40 Days My Journey to Decraptify My House

Gillian over at Mrs. Wright Gone Wrong blogged about the 40 Bags in 40 Days challenge and even though I don't normally give anything up for the Lent I figured this was a great way to prepare my house for The Big Move of 2010. So today I begin the journey to de-clutter my house before we move to our new house in a location that has yet to be determined by the military. We should find out where we are going soon after this challenge ends, so it will be a great way to keep my mind off the wait as well.

Each day I will blog about my bag and take a picture, mostly to make sure that I actually fill one and get rid of it. Today I cleaned out the cabinet the TV in the family room sits on and I had to move to the end table in there to completely fill the bag. Not only is a bag full but the cabinet is also straightened up and dusted. So my guess is not only will this help me de-clutter but clean along the way.

Bag #1

As you can tell this was a small bag, the challenge states that you can use a bag in any size and I figured I will use all different size in this journey. Like this weekend when I hit the girls bedroom the bags may just be BLACK and LARGE! So are you up for the challenge????

Shamrock Wreath

So after seeing the Heart Wreath Tutorial on The Idea Room's Blog and finding smaller hearts at my local craft store I just knew what I had to do. So over 550 green circles later I have an adorable Shamrock Wreath that will put any neighbor's door to shame. So lets get started with the tutorial.

First I purchased four 8" styrofoam heart forms from my local craft store. They can be found online HERE, these are 9" but will work just the same.

Next I had to trim the hearts to make them fit together. I used a serrated knife to cut them and it worked great.

Then I lined up the other hearts to make sure they were cut at the same angle and cut the one below it using the above as a guide.

Next, after trying several times to glue them together with E6000 I had an epiphany and decided that painters tape would work much better and I was right! So tape them together and you are ready for the next step.

I used the bottom of a pint glass as my guide for drawing the circles. I used smaller circles than in he heart wreath because I wanted the inside of the hearts to show.

Fold each circle in half.

And then in half again, and pin them as show in the Heart Wreath Tutorial.

Wishful thinking....was that this bucket full of 250 circles would be enough to complete the wreath. I ended up having to draw, cut and pin over 550. I stopped counting when I got this high.

And here it is, the fruit of my labor! I added a stem just for cuteness factor. I drew it out on felt, cut two pieces, sewed them together, turned them rightside out, stuffed it and pinned it to the back of the wreath.

So the GOOD NEWS is that I will be auctioning off this very wreath to one of my blog readers to raise funds for my Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk. Each walker is required to raise $2300 in order to participate and I thought this would be a fun way to raise some funds. Be on the look out for auction information soon!

I also shared this on Creations by Kara, you should check it out, there are lots of fun projects on there.

Knit Puppets for The Fish

Recently we discovered The Fish's love of puppets. I was telling the Speech Therapist about this new found love and she was very excited. She told me about how puppets can help with language development and what a great tool they would be in his learning process. With this knowledge I set out to find some knitting patterns I could use to make him some puppets for Valentine's Day. I found the Froggy Bath Puppet and the Silly Snake Bath Puppet. Although they are intended for use in the bath tub I figured we could use them out of the bath. I also adapted the pattern to make a third one for the little cutie. I also have a few new designs swimming in my head that I may just publish in the near future.

Introducing Froggy

Introducing Wormy

Introducing Slithers

I can't wait to see how he likes them. They each took about an hour to knit up and turned about perfect. Lippy Lou was my gracious hand model, she thinks they will be fun to play with too!

My First Giveaway!!!!!! ****Closed*****

Comes to from my friend Jessica at

She has offered to give away a set of 4 of her perfect Small Hairbows pictured below.

Jessica's bows are handmade with great attention to detail. Each bow is cut and made to order and perfect in every way. Her bows are made to accessorize your daughter's beautiful face, not distract from it like some other bows you find out there.

Here is Lippy Lou sporting one of these adorable bows!

So here's how you enter.

1. Please visit Jim Dear and Darling Designs on Etsy and come back here and post a comment with your favorite item in her store.

2. Follow my blog and Jessica's publicly by clicking the "follow" button on the right (you will have to sneak over to her blog too by clicking her name).

3. Follow both Jessica and I on twitter @momof4munchkins and @jessicaboehle

4. Send out a tweet about this giveaway and come back here and comment with a link!

5. Blog about this giveaway and post a link back here in the comments.

6. Purchase an item from Jim Dear and Darling Designs and come back here and let me know you have done so!

Please leave one comment per entry. The giveaway will close on February 20th at midnight EST. Good Luck to All!!

Mini Ironing Board and Sweet Knit Headband

So yes I know these two things have nothing to do with each other but I finished them and I wanted to show them off. My BFF found this awesome tutorial on how to turn a fold tray table into a mini ironing board perfect for pressing seams while sewing. I decided to take her advice about putting holes in the tray table before beginning and asked my hubby to do that for me, so he did. He has been asking for "manly" jobs around the house so he actually jumped at the chance to use a power tool. My BFF also read through the comments and saw where someone said using Insul-Brite would help too and since I had some laying around I went ahead and did that too. It was a quick and easy project and will be perfect for all the sewing I am wanting to do!

I also stumbled across the opportunity to test knit this adorable Spring Baby Headband on Ravelry. The author of the pattern is Ravelry member aammyy, the flower that she suggested is by Susan B. Anderson and can be found here. The pattern can be found on her blog Knitwity. This headband is up for sale in my Etsy Store, NipCancerGirls. 100% of the proceeds will be donated to my Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk.

Valentine's Day Wreath

I was so excited when I saw this adorable tutorial at The Idea Room that I just had to make one for myself. I called 5 different Joann stores within a 25 mile radius, none of which carried the heart shaped form, but finally found one at a very small local craft store. I was giddy with excitement! So here is my rendition of the wreath, I am so loving it hanging on my front door!

Notes: I used approximately 260 circles I cut out of felt. I used a pint glass to draw the circles on with a sharpie and just cut around the inside edge to remove the ink.

I am also joining in on the fun with Kara at Creations by Kara for Look What I Made! Day, check it out and link up your own projects!

Here Piggy, Piggy

Mr. Piggy is finally finished. I actually finished him up Sunday night but didn't have the right light to take good pics so I had to wait til Monday to do those and today I am here to show him off. I think he turned out absolutely adorable. Soon and VERY soon he will be ready for auction, just trying to figure out the best way to do so in order to raise the most amount of money for the Breast Cancer 3 Day. If you have any ideas please leave them in the comments. Til then, here are some pictures of the cute little guy.



I just couldn't resist his adorable little curly-q tail!



I found this pattern in Susan B. Anderson's Itty-Bitty Toys book, her work is just amazing!

Not Me! Monday

I did not repeatedly tickle my husband in the middle of the night to get him to stop snoring and when that didn't work I most certainly did NOT kick him a few times to get him to stop only to have him start up again a few minutes later. Which means I most certainly did not sleep way past the time I normally get up on Monday mornings only to get up and start work later than usual.

I also did not buy new fabric this weekend with no project in mind just because I am in LOVE with the new Riley Blake Wheels line. Nope not me I NEVER buy fabric when I don't have a project in mind.

So what did you NOT do this week? Hop on over to MckMama's Blog and link yourself up and share what you would never do as well as read what everyone else has not been up to.