My Crochet Creations (fall/winter attire)

Here are some of the crocheted tops/sweaters that I have been making in the last few weeks. This is about half of them as I have made a couple in several of the patterns and didn't feel the need to post both that are the same style. Some of the patterns I totally made up and some were published patterns. I can't wait to start wearing some of the sweaters though. I have worn a few of the cotton tops already, but the acrylic sweaters are way too hot for the unseasonable weather we have been having. I chose to make a lot of cropped tops simply because they whip up faster, they take less yarn and they seem like they might still be in style (maybe?!?!? I am not one to be in-style).

This one is based on a pattern, but the whole middle part with the buttons was made up (by me) simply to fit my style. I wore this one to our Ladies' Night Out and actually a couple of my friends didn't believe that I had made it.

This was also a pattern and I pretty much did it as the pattern called for it. It is using a "V" stitch that you can only see up-close. It is also cotton.

This one I dub the "chocolate covered cherry" sweater much like one of the newly-done bathrooms in our house. It has a funky edging that makes it look very cozy. It is acrylic and quite warm.

This one is based on the pattern for the first sweater on the blog, but I made granny squares into it and didn't use the shells to edge it at all. Basically you could say that I made it up. The tie in the middle is kind of interesting and it could probably go with a green shirt underneath too.

This is called a "Circle Jacket" and is a British pattern that I converted to American crochet stitches. It is very unique since it is a large circle that somehow falls into place like a jacket over a shirt (it has buttons). It is very long in back and I think it is very stylish -- well, maybe it's stylish in England!?!?!

This yarn is a multi-colored acrylic yarn and partially a pattern and somewhat made-up. There are more colors in there than the picture portrays.

This is the first true shrug that I tried to make and I call it my "peppermint bon bon shrug". It's hard to pose in the picture since it simply goes over your arms and than the rest is on your back and along your neck. If you know what shrugs look like, you can probably picture it on. It's acrylic as well but probably won't be too hot since it only covers a portion of your body.


Well, there you have it! I don't want to bore you with the 6-7 others that I have also made. You get the picture. I wanted to model them all for pictures, but I didn't have the patience to try them all on and I would have had to employ Ray as photographer (and he is watching the Gopher football game).

Swimming Lessons

Connell just started swimming lessons this morning through Community Education. We know that most people out there are probably criticizing us for waiting until he turned 4 to start them, but we felt that it was the right time. I (Clare) have never had a swimming lesson in my life and yet I feel pretty comfortable in the water (I passed the swimming unit in 9th grade phy ed by treading water for 20 minutes, swimming the length of the pool using different strokes, diving in, etc.) Don't get me wrong -- I am no Michael Phelps, but without a single lesson I have gotten through life just fine. However, Ray is a proficient swimmer (from lots of lessons as a child) and feels like swimming lessons are a must in today's age and so he is taking Connell to lessons now. There are 4 boys who are all 4 yrs old in Connell's class (so it is a 4 to 1 ratio of teacher to students). Ray said that Connell was pretty impatient as he had to wait for the teacher to finish working with the other 3 boys and even once Connell was so fidgety that he fell off the platform and into the water (needing the teacher to save him). Given all his allergies and prior reactions to chemicals, we felt like he really needs to wear goggles to protect his eyes from the chlorine. We are watching his skin to see if he has any allergic reactions as well. Will keep you posted....

(the photo was taken with Ray's phone -- hence the quality)

Child Study

I took Connell to the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota today to be part of a study. Apparently we are still in their database from the last one he was involved in back in March of 2005 and so since he fit the age group for this new study, they called us to participate. Ray took the day off to stay with Liam.

The study was related to memory and cognition and processing information. They are testing all ages (up through old adults) and the lady conducting the study said that at age 4, Connell is one of the youngest participants. They spent about 60-70 minutes with him doing about 5-6 different activities mostly on a computer. He had to remember items from screen to screen, classify things and also had to put things into order. When he saw only 2 or 3 items, it wasn't too challenging for him. When it started to get into 5 or more items, it was very difficult to not only remember what they all were, but also to group them into fruits or animals and from smallest to largest. Wow! My head was spinning watching everything. You could tell that he was figuring out ways to make each activity easier as they progressed. He had a ball doing it, was sad when it was over and we left with a $20. Target gift card and a box of sidewalk chalk to make our time worthwhile. On the way back from the U, we had the chance to ride over the brand new bridge that opened last week (for those of you out of our area, it is the one that replaced the bridge that collapsed tragically into the Mississippi River back on August 1st, 2007).

A Trip Down Memory Lane...

Since I posted about Halloween yesterday, I dug up the photos from the last two years and thought you might enjoy seeing the costumes again and how the boys have grown. Stay tuned until next month to see my newest designs...

(note...the sewing in '06 was minimal -- making the felt zigzag and sewing it on in addition to Snoopy's ears and collar to sew on -- with a 4 month old and a busy just-turned-2-year-old, I had very little time on my hands; in '07, I had no sewing patterns and was very ambitious -- I sewed the sailor top totally off the top of my head and it was challenging! -- Connell's gloves were also sewn in addition to Liam's pants, Liam's feet, Liam's hat and the rest I put together with misc. items and creativity!)

A Week has Passed...

A week has gone by without any posts. I guess I was too busy enjoying the nice weather last week to be indoors and blogging. We spent 2-4 hours outside every day last week playing at parks and with friends. The temp has been in the mid to high 70s and will continue throughout this week. I started my CAPPStone program last Tuesday and ECFE was on Wednesday and so the "school year" is starting to pick up a little bit. Next week Bible Study will also start.

In addition to continuing to crochet sweaters/tops for myself for the winter (I have probably finished about 10 in the last few weeks), I have also really made a dent in the boys' Halloween costumes. Although I will keep the actual identity of the costumes a secret until closer to the holiday, I have been busy scurrying around Dollar Stores and thrift stores buying things to create costumes once again. This will be the third year that I am making costumes from scratch (and making the boys a "set" -- in '06 I made Charlie Brown and Snoopy costumes and in '07 I made Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck costumes). Connell has been talking about being what he will be since he got the idea last Halloween and so he is a willing participant. Liam doesn't really have the words to object to his, so I am still safe again this year.

Ray is traveling for 3 days this week and I have my Ladies' Night Out at the Osaka Seafood and Steakhouse this week so the sandbox grandma is coming over to visit/babysit.

Trampoline Fun...

I finally pushed Ray to buy the boys a small trampoline since I see a long winter ahead of us. At least if they can jump in their playroom perhaps they can wear off some energy this winter. Of course they have a hard time taking turns and keeping the amount of time equitable, but they try. We let them jump off it into a bean bag too. Since they were doing all of the above on the couch anyway, I figured that a trampoline would be a better choice to help save the couch for a few more years.

(Of course Liam prefers jumping without his clothes on so they don't hold him down!)

Stuck!

Liam got stuck in the couch today. This is the first time that one of the kids has gotten stuck this way although they have often put their feet through. Although it must have felt like hours to Liam, Ray and I tried for about 5 minutes to pull him out one way or the other. Finally, Ray went to the garage to get some tools to take off part of the footrest and I was able to jimmy him out by taking off his pants and really squeezing him through. You can see that he wasn't very happy about being stuck.

Nothing Too Exciting Around Here!

I haven't blogged in a few days simply because there hasn't been too much excitement around here. Ray was in California for 2 days and we went to ECFE classes and preschool and played a lot with the neighbor kids. I guess Liam added a little excitement to our day yesterday morning as he was cutting paper with scissors and decided to try and cut his tongue. It worked and he was bothered by the cut on his tongue much of the rest of the day. I tried to take a photo of it, but it didn't turn out that well. You can see the cut a little bit in the center of the white part, but he had just rubbed all the blood on his top lip before I snapped the photo!

An Afternoon with Grandma and Tom

The sandbox grandma and Tom came over this afternoon to visit. We went with them to Major's for supper. Although the boys seem to be quietly coloring in these photos, most of the time they were climbing on and under the booth and causing trouble!

Baseball Game

Connell went to his first Twins baseball game today. He made it 5 innings (and even was squirmy during that short time). Ray and Connell went with a bunch of the Wacek family including Grandma Boyce and Neysa. The Twins ended up blowing the game which Ray and Connell were watching from the couch since they made it all the way back home before the end. It was also Connell's first ride on the light rail (since he has been old enough to realize that he has been on it -- he was on it when he had just turned 16 months and since we have come to know that his memory began just shortly after he turned two, we pretty much consider the end of the summer of '06 as the first time that he truly has been experiencing things).

Off to School...

It's Connell's first day of preschool today --- actually the parent/child day so Ray will attend with him. To keep with last year's tradition, we took a photo with him in the same place with the same backpack. (last year's photo was in the shorts and this year's in jeans if you couldn't tell!)

All Dressed Up and No Where To Go!

Liam thinks that he is going to preschool too, but he is staying home with me (crazy hair and all). Next year will be his year!