Hexis again!

I am back to knitting little hexis

although I am going about it VERY slowly.  My students are amazed that these are so small and they are also amazed at how they are knit.  I can see them wanting to keep going and learn new things!!

I have been reading the Narnia series to my kids a chapter a night, every night.  We are now on the third book and they look forward to it.  I look forward to it also - a time to snuggle and enjoy them.

Please click on the links on the sidebar to see the other fabulous things crafters are up to.

Sewing Hexi Puffs

Are you sick of pictures of this project yet??  I feel like I need to work on something else for awhile, but if I do, I'm afraid this will never get done!

 Last progress picture

 Where I'm at now - that's 106 puffs all sewn together.  Somehow I thought it would be bigger than this by now :o)

 Don't they look so sweet together?!  I am also totally loving the weight of this thing.

 Some of the "special" ones - still trying to keep those somewhat near the middle.

The book I am reading.  It was recommended by one of my daughters.  Not quite sure what I think of it yet, she loved it so I will keep reading to see if I like it better as I get more into it.

Sharing over at Tami's, Ginny's, Kristine's, and Sara's.  Come take a look for more great Works In Progress!

Sewing Hexis Together

Slowly, but surely I think this blanket will grow.

 Last picture of progress

Progress as of right now.  I started working vertically because I want all the "special" hexis - the ones with embroidery - to be in the middle of the blanket.  I will keep adding vertically until it measures approximate 4 1/2 feet, then I will fill in and add another vertical line of hexis on the other side.  Then the plan is to keep adding to the ends until it measures about 6 feet in length.  Then it will be long enough to cover both my husband and I from neck to toes.  It is slow going sewing these together with the mattress stitch, but I really like the result.

Sharing at:  Tami's, Sara's,  Kristine's, and Ginny's.  Take a look for some other fabulous fiber crafts!

Hexis and Homemade Candles with Kids

5 puffs this week.  I used the Candy Skein yarn that I purchased last week and love it!!  It's soft and doesn't split and those stripes are the best!

 Sometimes the kids come up with such fun things to do.  One of my kids had made candles on a field trip last year and wanted to make some again at home.

 We started by melting the just plain old white wax and added wax dye.  Blue was the color of the day.

 It was very hard to cut that wax in smaller pieces.  It took my big knife and that meat tenderizer (I used it like a hammer on the handle of the knife) to break off pieces.

 Cut strings for the wicks - they are too long, but the kids didn't seem to mind!

 Then we set up an assembly of sorts - several stops with a can of melted wax and a can of water.

 The kids then walked around the table stopping at each station to dip their wick first in wax and then in the water.  The had so much fun talking and walking!!

 Some of them made big ones and formed them into shapes...

 others just let the wax do whatever it wanted.

 The 7 year old meticulously made different forms.

 The 10 year old trying to get a skinny one to stand up.

 Still trying.  It never did stand up, but she didn't mind.

The candles of our labors :o)  Not perfect, but perfectly fun!  They want to make more as soon as we use these up.

I love these times with the kids where we can just stop all the crazy business and take a breath.  Do something fun together that they have initiated.  These are the times, I hope, that they will look back on and think how fun it was to grow up in our home with all their siblings.

Sharing at:  Carole's, Nicole's, and 5 Minutes for Mom, and Mindful Mothering.

Tuesday Tallies and New Yarn!!

11 puffs this week!!  Back on a roll - it is crazy how addictive it is to knit these little things!!

 I also had the chance to sew a few more together, but haven't taken a photo yet.

 New yarn in my mailbox is ALWAYS a happy occasion.  And these mini skeins are just so cute!!

 The names are just as cute as the mini skeins:  Berry Slushie, Grape Taffy,

 Raspberry & Cream and Purple Marshmallow,

 Grape Fizz and Plum.  The pink puffs at the top are made out of this Grape Fizz.

 This yarn comes from Tami and is part of her Candy Skein shop.

OOPS!!  These other skeins just jumped right into the package with the mini skeins!!  They are so pretty and the picture does not do them justice!!  These yarns have already been made into cakes and are just waiting for me to knit some little puffs with them :o)

Sharing at Carole's and Nicole's.

Sewing Hexis Together

I can't believe I waited so long to sew these things together!!  It really is not that hard - these are only sewn on two sides, but as I add more above and  below, I'll catch in the sides that are left open.  This row of 18 only took about 30 minutes!  Ok.... talk to me in a bit when I have sewn 200 and still have more to go :o)

 This is the book I am reading right now.  Almost finished (boy am I a slow reader - not really, but I don't get much of a chance to spend time reading so it appears that I am slow!).  I love Robin Cook and our library just got this in a few weeks ago and I have taken a small break from the homesteading books.

I'm sharing with Tami, Ginny, Sara, and Nicole and Tuesdays Gone.

Finding Time for Me

Summer vacation is coming to a close - the kids all start school on Thursday.  This comes, as always, with a bunch of mixed feelings.  I am a little sad to have them going back, we have great times over the summer together.  I love hanging out with my kids and watching the siblings (and cousins!) reconnect.  The school year is so chaotic with each child going their own ways for school and activities.  I am also looking forward to more "me" time.  With everyone home for the summer, I have not had a chance for any breathing space.  My exercise routine went out the window as did the time to accomplish much of anything else.  I wouldn't want it to be any other way.

 I was able to keep knitting (a real sanity saver!)  These are hexis for the last two weeks.  Not so many of them this time!

 I also kept up with my garden.  This is just some of the bounty.

 Lettuce from the salad planter.

 I love the look and taste of those that look like little trees.

 I have tried to start a pineapple plant from the top of a pineapple - Only time will tell.....

 This is how the celery looks now that was started earlier this summer from the bottom of a bunch of celery from the grocery store.

 A new celery bottom waiting to be planted.  I love celery in salad!

These are plans for more crops to be planted in the next week or so.  This has been such a fun experiment this summer.

After the kids go back to school on Thursday, my plan is to do.......NOTHING.......this will be the first time that I don't have lists of things to get done.  Don't misunderstand, there are many, many things that need to be accomplished, but for Thursday and Friday I am giving myself a "free pass".  A little time to breathe and to hear myself think.

I am sharing for Tuesday Tallies and 5 Minutes for Mom today.

199 Hexi Puffs!!!

The Olympics has been a great time for me to knit puffs!!  I can knit them without looking!

 "The Bowl" contained 102 more puffs before it overflowed and was unable to have any more put into it without them falling out.  WOW!!  I didn't know I had so many.

Added to all the other puffs I had made....199 puffs!!  I keep saying that I will start sewing them together "soon", but soon has not happened yet.  I REALLY better get to sewing them soon so I can tell how many more I need to finish off a blanket.  It's funny, but I am not sick of knitting these and I can already tell that when I no longer need more, I am going to miss them!!

My books are the same as the last few weeks.  All Urban or Backyard Homesteading.  I have learned so much!!  AND my garden is thriving - picked our salad for a family dinner last night with my father-in-law, brother-in-law and nephew.  That felt so good!!

Playing along at:  Tami's WIP Wednesday and Ginny's Yarn Along.

Tuesday Tallies & Kid's Organization

As you can see, this week was a little more busy than usual.. only 6 puffs completed.  My favorite of this bunch is the one in the upper left had corner - I'll have to make sure that's somewhere in the middle when I sew all these together :o)

 My sister-in-law sent me a photo of a chore box.  I thought it was such a great idea that I created one for our kids here!

 When she sent me the photo, I quickly put it on my to do list and it just sat there.  Well...earlier this week I wanted to mop the floor and the amount of kid's stuff that I would have to pick up just to start this job seemed daunting.  I realized that sometimes I get frustrated and demoralized because to complete any task there are several steps of "clearing" that need to happen first.  I guess you can imagine what happened next....the floor did not get mopped, but this box was born.

 Then I created the chores.  I kind of just walked around the house and wrote down things that needed to be done.

 Then I typed them up, cut them apart, and folded them.  There were several more sheets than the ones above and now that I have been able to think about it more I have quite a few other "chores" that I have added.  There are also a couple of "free pass" tags in there as well.

 The basket for picking chores.  I hold it just above eye level so there is no trying to pick a certain job.

 Just love it....

This is our box that first day.  One of my sons had all of his shoes in there!  Books, bags, jackets, and a broken toy (it needed to be won back so it could be thrown away).  The kids worked diligently - all of them had things in there - and pretty soon the box was empty.

It has been a few days now and I have not had to add anything to the box.  There has been an unexpected upside to this, the kids are going around every evening to pick up their things (that's not unexpected) and while they are doing that, when they spot something that belongs to a sibling they are either picking it up for them, or calling that kid to pick it up.  It has fostered a general working together and taking care of each other (this is the unexpected part!)

I'll keep you posted on how this continues to work (or not work).  The kid's "To Do" list from last week is still working fabulously.  They get up and it is almost a race to see who can move the clothes pins from one side of their board to the other.  The big test will be if this plan will be workable once school starts and we don't have as much free time.

Check out Carole's for more Tuesday Tallies and check out 5 minutes for mom for more Tackle it Tuesday projects.  These are great sources of inspiration for me :o)

Hexi Puffs and Kid Chore Challenge

My weekly hexi puff update - 14 this week.  I'm not quite sure how this got done, since I feel we have been busier than ever - we had camps, dentist and orthodontic checkups, orchestra "stuff", and....well the list is endless!!

 I really like these color combinations and am working up the courage to start sewing them together.

 I really like these little ones that look like they have hearts all over them.  I learned a new technique with these - how to knit holding the yarns in both hands - one in the right and one in the left - definitely hard to do!  The tension is still not right, but I am working on it and am so happy to be learning something that I have wanted to know how to do for a long time.

My Tackle It Tuesday Project

Lately, we have been having a few challenges with getting the kids to do their chores.  They "forget" or they "don't have time" or any manner of excuses.  I saw this idea on Pinterest the other day and the lightbulb went one.  Literally, I heard a "ding" in my head!!  I sat down with the kids - all 5 - and we talked about the importance of chores and teamwork within a family.  How we all work together to keep ourselves and our home safe and organized and that we are all in charge of taking care of each other.  It was a great talk - not the kind where I lecture them and they roll their eyes - but one where they were totally engaged and had some great input.  I introduced this idea from Pinterest and they were completely on board.  The lists were created by them and I wrote them on clothes pins.  Then we made door hangers out of the back of some empty cereal boxes and clipped them on.  Every morning they start out with their complete list on the "To Do" side, and as they finish their work (we call it work here - and all of us have work), they move the clip to the "Done" side.  We'll see how it works in the long run, but for now they are all excited to move those clips!!  Hopefully this will decrease the amount of nagging from mom!

Head over to Gingerbread Girl for more Tuesday tallies and over to 5 minutes for mom for more Tackle It Tuesday Projects.