Gratitude * Sunday

by Cynthia

Johnny Jump Ups

Today I’m again joining Taryn over at Wooly Moss Roots for Gratitude Sunday.

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There were several moments from this week that I am very grateful for. This week finds me grateful for:

.: Twice this week, while Gabriel slept so it was just us two girls, Ariella and I work on some crafting projects while listening to the audio version of Old Mother West Wind by Thornton W. Burgess. I love all the stories by Burgess and it was so nice and relaxing to listen to the audio version of that book with my little girl. At first I was not too sure if she enjoyed it or not but then the next day she started talking about the Merry Little Breezes and asked if we could hear it some more. Here is the link to recording. It is free and open to the public. :.

.: Gabriel loving his new hat I just made him. That little guy makes me feel so good because he just loves it when I knit him something. He wants to wear it everywhere and does not like it if I try to take it off! :.

.: This next one might sound a bit peculiar but I am actually grateful for (now that is has passed) the awful migraine I came down with earlier in the week. Migraines are always a sign from my body that I am off balance. I know I have been working a little too hard lately and not really getting the rest I should but I have been continuing to push forward. Well, that migraine was my body reminding me to slow down some and rest and care for myself too. It stopped me dead in my tracks and forced me to lie down for several hours. It was them that I realized I have been expecting too much out of myself and I really do need to not push myself quite so hard. Since that day this week I have been purposely slowing down some and making sure I take at least an hour a day just for me to do something relaxing and calming to my spirit. :.

.: Black tea in the morning and green tea in the afternoon. I don’t know how I turned into such a tea drinker when I am surrounded by coffee drinkers but I love it and I love starting my day with it and sipping it in the afternoon. :.

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Thank you to Taryn for hosting Gratitude Sunday. Please be sure to stop by and visit everyone’s post. And thank you all for stopping by and reading this post today.

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Remember this post? Well finally, weeks later than anticipated, I finished knitting little Gabriel’s hat from yarn that I had previously spun. I had dyed the roving for this yarn awhile back thinking the cheerful colors would be cute for the toddler in my life.

Yes, that same toddler that is exhausting both himself and his mama these days. He is such a sweet little guy– when he actually sleeps! And these days he has not been getting much of it. His sleep cycle is so thrown off and I am desperately trying to figure out how to get it back on track. Some days he naps, others he doesn’t. Sometimes he goes to sleep at bedtime (8pm). Other nights it takes him hours to fall asleep. I am so frantically trying to figure out what’s going on (is he not running around outside enough? Could it be yet another food allergy?). I worry about the baked potato I recently let him eat. Potatoes always give him tummy trouble. Could that be to blame?

But back to the little hat I knitted for him. I used super soft merino roving when I spun this yarn and I just loved knitting with it. It felt so good sliding across my bamboo needles! I just sort of did my own thing when it comes to a pattern. I wanted it to be a little big so it will fit him for at least another year. I made the rim be just a simple roll so we could roll it up or down as it suits him.

I love how it turned out but what I think I loved the most was how excited he was to see it finished. He insisted on wearing it out and about the second I sewed the pompom on. Oh, and that pompom? It absolutely fascinates him! He watched me make it and was so interested in what I was doing. I hope I sewed it on well enough as he is really intrigued by it. There might be more yarn pompoms in our crafting future….

Trying to take his picture in the hat was probably very comical for anyone that might have seen me. I was trying to keep up with him as he never holds still! I’m sure it looked pretty funny to see me chasing after him all over the yard with my camera in hand.

Now that his hat is finished and wearable Ariella has instructed me that it is time for me to start her pink hat. Updates will follow!

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Another Fiber Story

by Cynthia

I know I just recently shared a post about a yarn I spun from start to finish but here I am wanting to share another one. I hope you don’t mind! I’m enjoying journaling about these yarns almost as much as I am spinning them!

This particular yarn is spun with 100% BFL which I absolutely love to dye and spin with. It is so lovely to spin since it has those nice long fibers and it has a natural luster that make dyeing it so wonderful. It especially looks good in indigo in my opinion!

Long before I actually started spinning this yarn I had a vision in my head of what I wanted to attempt. I started by first naturally dyeing 4 ounces of BFL combed top.The slightly orange colored fiber was dyed using onion skins and the blue was dipped in my indigo vat.

To begin the spinning process of this yarn I first carded the two shades of BFL fibers together. I wanted them to blend but I also wanted a bit of the original colors to show through here and there. After carding all 4 ounces (two ounces of each color) into rolags and filling up my spinning basket I spun the fiber into a single ply yarn. The yarn is about a fingering weight.

I am really excited with the results I achieved. I just love the look of this yarn and keep admiring the way the colors came together. I will be putting this one in my Etsy shop as I am accumulating way too much yarn for my own personal use! But I am so very tempted to keep it all to myself!

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Gratitude * Sunday

by Cynthia

naturally dyed polwarth fiber on my wheel

 

Today I’m again joining Taryn over at Wooly Moss Roots for Gratitude Sunday.

Last week slipped by me so fast and I missed posting last Sunday. I’m barely making it in for today but really wanted to participate so here I am. I have been making a point to be more grateful each day as I have previously mentioned my family has been through some rough times this past month. I have even taken to jotting down each day what I’m grateful for before I go to bed. It does help in reminding you to see the good- even when life feels pretty bad. And there are moments of good when I stop to notice them.

This week I am most grateful for:

* the rhythm of my spinning wheel. I have been at my wheel whenever I can grab a spare moment and something about the rhythm of the wheel spinning, the steady swooshing sound it makes, and the feel of the fiber sliding through my fingers has been very soothing to my nerves.

* homeshcooling: (upon request) we recently studied (and studied) caterpillars and butterflies. (I thought it was an odd thing to study in winter but whatever, it made Ariella happy) Both Gabriel and Ariella loved it so much. They are still talking about it weeks later and even pretend to be caterpillars and butterflies in their play. (And have been eating large amounts of salad greens consequently because that is what caterpillars eat you know.) Ariella has now moved on to wanting to study the human body and we will be starting that next week.

* Seeing the sun for two days on Friday and Saturday. It was so good to see and feel the sun after all the rain we had. We spent as much time outside in it as we could.

* how verbal Gabriel has become. Sometimes it amazes me that he is only two years old. He actually carries on conversations with us now!

* noticing the Robins have returned and are in the yard and garden searching for worms. Unless my memory is failing me this seems earlier than last year.

* realizing that Spring is not too far away!

* making gluten free chocolate chip pancakes for dinner last night and realizing how far I have come in the last two years since my son’s diagnosis and Ariella needing a gluten free/casein free diet. It once seemed like it was going to be impossible ever cooking for all of us. It dawned on me last night how much we have adapted to this new diet and lifestyle to were it seems normal for us now. I never imagined that day would come two years ago.

Thank you to Taryn for hosting Gratitude Sunday. Please be sure to stop by and visit everyone’s post. And thank you all for stopping by and reading this post today.

 

 

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