Sure, she looks sweet . . .

but looks can be deceiving. She’s likely plotting an evil scheme to drive me insane.

Knitting up a storm

I’d been in kind of a knitting funk during the past few months. I just couldn’t find any joy in knitting. And since it’s supposed to be a fun hobby, not a chore, my projects had been languishing. I had given up all thoughts of knitting Christmas gifts for anyone.

But then I decided to knit a cowl for Aunt A as a thank you gift. Unfortunately, I didn’t take a picture of the cowl, but it was out of this gorgeous handspun that I received as a gift a few years ago. It was just so lovely to work with, and the cowl turned out beautifully.

And that was enough to end my knitting funk. As I’ve finished projects, I’ve been piling them up on a desk in my room.

It’s such a satisfying pile. It includes . . .

A bulky button hat in super chunky alpaca

Mis-matched socks for Ella that are too small (I’m convinced her feet grew as I was knitting)

A hat in Jarrod Flood’s Turn a Square pattern, yarn is Andy’s Merino, Colorway Mardi Gras

Another Turn a Square hat in Cascade 220 and Noro Cash Garden

Yet another Turn a Square hat in Cascade 220 and Noro Silk Garden

A cowl in Malabrigo Rasta, colorway Zarzamor (the picture doesn’t do the colors justice)

Another cowl, this one with a twist, in Malabrigo Rasta, colorway idon’tremember

Another cowl in Cascade Baby Alpaca, which made me itch and sneeze

And, finally, socks that I started in August. Yarn is Shi Bui. I used two skeins, which apparently were dyed just a tad differently, because the striping patterns don’t match.

I’m waiting on a delivery of more Malabrigo Rasta from a store in Atlanta. All the yarn shops here ran out and couldn’t get any more in stock. The store in Atlanta isn’t even sure they’ll be able to get me any. I hope so. It’s lovely stuff to work from .

And, yes, I have recipients in mind for all of these items.

Campbell's Christmas Greetings

He sang this in the car for 45 minutes the other day.

Christmas pictures

Last Monday I crammed the kids into jeans and matching white shirts, brushed their hair, bribed them with the promise of hot chocolate with marshmallows, and hustled them outside for our annual attempt at Christmas card pictures.

I took approximately 70 pictures in about seven minutes. Thank goodness for my new camera. Out of the 70, I got three contenders for the card. And the only reason I was able to use the one I did is that Liz from Peace, Love & Guacamole has Photoshop and isn’t afraid to use it.

Here are some of the outtakes.

Can you please look at the camera?

Ella, please stop choking your sister.

Elizabeth, sit down please!

Lily! Get off me!

Stop squinting!

But the sun is in our eyes.

Lily, can you please just give me one normal smile?

Aha! We have our winner, except for the speed limit sign next to Lily’s head.

Thank goodness for friends with Photoshop.

Worm Winners–Round Two

Well, try to give a woman a can of worms . . .

Wendi declined her prize of a can of worms because she also hosted Oxfam giveaways over at her site and at Mouthy Housewives.

Fortunately, I still had my knitting bag filled with names. So I enlisted my husband’s help in drawing another winner.

Congratulations to Cheryl!

E-mail me at hokgardner (at) gmail (dot) com to make arrangements for your worms.

Thanks again to every one who entered.

Worm Winners

Last week I announced a giveaway of two cans of worms from Oxfam. Thank you to everyone who entered.

Because I don’t know how to use one of those random number generators that other bloggers use for their giveaways, I went old-school and wrote everyone’s name on scraps of paper.

Next, I emptied out one of my many knitting bags and put all the papers in it. (Every time I come home with a new knitting bag, B asks just how many knitting bags I need, anyway. My answer is always, “One for every project. D’uh!”)

Then I enlisted some cute little helpers to draw the names. And our winners are . . .

Becky from Tales of Princess Mikkimoto

and

Wendi of WendiAarons.com.

Congratulations ladies. E-mail me directly at hokgardner (at) gmail (dot) com to work out donation arrangements.

Running Blues

After so many months of training for the NYC Marathon, I’ve hit a running slump. I took a week off after the race, as planned, but since then, my running has been terrible.

My motivation to get up in the wee dark hours to run has vanished. Most mornings I lie in bed for five minutes, arguing with myself about whether I’m getting up.  The fact that Elizabeth has stopped sleeping through the night hasn’t helped me, either. When I’m up with her twice in the night, the idea of waking up on purpose at 5:00 isn’t appealing.

On the mornings that I do make it out the door to run, I generally feel terrible. It’s like I’m starting from scratch, which is discouraging. Four weeks ago, I covered 26.2 miles. Three weeks before that, I ran a great 18 miles. And now I stagger through four miles.

During my scheduled week off I considered running a half marathon that’s scheduled for this weekend. Once I started back, I had to get rid of that plan. So I decided I’d run the 3M Half in early February. But now I’m thinking that might not happen either.

When I grumbled to B about all of this, he helpfully pointed out that I’m 40, not 29 like the last time I ran a marathon. Sigh.

In the meantime, I’ll keep slogging along, hoping that at some point my body will remember what it’s supposed to be doing.

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Today is the last day to enter my Can of Worms Giveaway. Winners will be announced tomorrow.

Sunday Morning Mess

 

Elizabeth decided to make her own breakfast this morning.

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Don’t forget to enter my giveaway. So far only 11 people have entered, so your odds of winning a can of worms are really, really good.

A giveaway!

I’m always a little slow to catch on to trends, but I say it’s because I like to wait and see what the cool kids are doing. This year a lot of the cool kids, specifically Wendi, Marinka and Ann, are holding holiday giveaways, and I’m going to copy them.

I’m going to donate cans of worms through Oxfam. Two lucky winners can each have a can of worms donated in their name or the name of a family member of friend.

I can’t think of anything request for comments like Wendi, Marinka and Ann, so just leave a comment telling me you’d like to enter. Winners will be drawn next Thursday, December 9.

Campbell, age 4

I am totally loving Campbell right now. Four is such a good age with him. He’s fairly independent – he can get dressed and go potty all on his own – but he still loves to snuggle and hold my hand. His enthusiasm about pretty much everything in life is infectious.

I wish he could stay four forever. Apparently he heard me say that, which sparked this conversation:

C: Why do you want me to stay four?

H: Because you are a great four-year-old and lots of fun.

C: But on my next birthday, I HAVE to turn five.

H: Yes. Yes you do.

C: I’ll be a great five-year-old. I promise.

H: And this is exactly why I want you to stay four.

C: Look! The chicken truck!

The other day in the car, he asked if I had won my “big race” in New York. When I told him no, he informed me that I needed to go back and try again and win this time. I said that I needed more practice, and he decided that I was allowed to practice a lot more but that I did need to back and win next time. I told him I’d get right on it.

One day, when he was being particularly cute, I told him he was going to have lots of girlfriends. His reply? “That’s good. Because I like girls. But I only have one girlfriend, and her name is L. She’s my favorite girl.” Fortunately, L is the daughter of one of my best friends, and she’d make a great in-law.

My mother-in-law took the big three on their annual shopping trip for Christmas outfits, and Campbell came back with a spiffy number that included a sweater vest and a tie, of all things. According to my mother-in-law and the girls, he really did pick it out on his own. Campbell wore the tie through the store, over his Thomas the Tank Engine shirt, until his grandmother took it off to pay for it.

When he got home, Campbell had to put the tie right back on. Then he asked if could go to L’s house to show it to her, because he knew she’d like it. I can’t believe he’s four and already worried about dressing to impress.

Last night, the kids were doing artwork at the kitchen table. Campbell brought in this picture.

I asked him to tell me about it.

C: It’s you and me and Elizabeth.

H: Do we all have belly buttons?

C: Yes. Yours is the biggest.

H: Thanks for that. What’s between our legs?

C: It’s everyone’s penises.

H: But Elizabeth and I are girls, and we don’t have penises.

C: Oh. Yours aren’t penises. Yours are tails that are taped on to you, like cat tails.

I was particularly impressed with how quick he was to change the story. He’s a smart little dude.

If only he could stay four forever.