Potty training

Possible nausea alert! If you are easily nauseated, or do NOT want to know about potty training,

I SUGGEST YOU STOP READING

I mean it. you won't like it.

Still reading? good. Moving on.


How many of you have kids in/about to be in/have been/about to have been in potty training age?

I have one and one on the way to be. So for the past four or five days my life has consisted in high speed races to the bathroom, either following a toddler that has suddenly shot up from playing with her blocks to yell "mommy, poo-pooo" or carrying said toddler when she is a bit too far from the bathroom to make it.

We didn't always make it on time (as a couple of BH dresses and some of mommy's t-shirts can tell you), but we kept trying. I did not use those "training diapers" , following advice from her teacher I rather put some "big girl panties" on her. She chose them, and when she has to put on a fresh pair of undies, she goes to her closet and picks the ones she wants to wear. That little, simple fact has done wonders! She's finally going on her own to her little potty, because she doesn't want to wet her "pretty flower undies", and she managed it in THREE SHORT DAYS! I'm so proud of her, cause she did a great effort! and you should have seen her proud little face when her daddy came home last night and she told him "Daddy, I did potty by myself!" She simply beamed and I wished I had my camera to capture that sweet little face...

humph... poo and sweet don't really sound like they go together? hahaha! they DO!

Oh, and LH? she might catch on sooner than expected, because when she saw us run to the bathroom, she ran after us and stared at everything we did. She even wanted to sit on the toilet seat after her sister had! LOL! Those girls! how I love those girls!!!!

A giveaway... not mine, but

from the lovely Kerri at Lovely Little Handmades... check it out! I'ts a little set of japanese charms!!!!!! go there, leave a comment, maybe become a follower! yaaay!

But remember, those charms are mine!!! I'm already planning upon them!

Non craft related, but makes me VERY proud!

hehehe! so proud that I HAD to brag:

I'm trying to lose all the weight I put on since about a year before I married... If you scroll all the way down to the ticker at the bottom you'll see how I am doing.

Well, today was a day of non-weight related victories for me.

My gym buddy told me she could not make it today. So I figured, what the heck, I'll stay in bed (we meet there at 6:00 am) given that the reason I CAN get up in the morning is because I know she'll be waiting there for me and I would feel bad if I stood her up. Well, i did NOT set the alarm for 5:20 am... I am a sleepyhead, so I DID set it up for 7:00 am.

And still, I was wide awake at 5:30. I turned in my bed, no sleep. Ok, so maybe i'll get up and go for a walk.

I walked all the way to the gym. (GASP!) Not only that, I went to the yoga room and did (by myself) a series of asanas I had not made in YEARS, the Sun salute. And the weeks of weight training paid up! : I could do a proper Chaturanga, no dropping unceremoniously to the floor and then scurrying up to the next pose. Nope. A nice, slow, proper Chaturanga. I finished the whole secuense, with a lot of sweat, I admit it, like no selfrespecting, responsible, (oh, about that word!!! I'll tell you something about it later!) serious yogi would sweat. But still, I finished it all!!!!!!!!

And THEN, motivated by that small acomplishments, I got greedy and got in the treadmill to do something I suck at: running.

I mean, I CAN sprint, for about 15 seconds... and since I've taken to excercising again, I can run for like about a minute and a half, at 4.5 mph, and then I have to rest at a slower pace.

Today I set the machine for a training routine for a 5k. I did NOT know the thing would change the pace by itself! so I found myself at one moment running at 6.5 mph for TWO MINUTES STRAIGHT!!!!! I slowed it down just a bit, and continued running at 4.5 for another five minutes and switched back and forth, for a total of 15 minutes! It was unbelivable! I was so shocked I could do that!!!!

And THEN!!!! (oh yeah, there's more) at home I dug out a skirt that I had not worn in 3 years and IT FIT!!!! YEEEEEAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!

I'm queen of the world!!!!! WOOOHHHOOOO!!!!!!



hehehe!

And about the responsible... I had such a dumb moment yesterday! One of the waiters offered to help me clean up a cup exhibition, our colection of coffee and tea cups. And (shame) I told him to be extra careful because some of the cups were IRRESPONSIBLE.

(smacks her forehead with her open hand!) Irreplaceable, sorry!

I think he hasn't stopped laughing yet!

how do you like it?

I tried my hand at making my own background for my blog... I just love all things victorian!!!! how do YOU like it?

Look here! they're finished!

This are the pink wristlets for my niece. They were super quick, very fun to knit, and also my first dpns knit items! I want to make more! for me, in every color available. Speaking of colors, the balls in the photo are the leftovers from...

Ta-dah! THE HAT! it's also done!!! it's still way too big, but at least they can wear it like a slouchy hat... Julia (Little Helper, LH for short) was not feeling like posing for the photos, so her big sister (BH) gracefully obliged. We had not given one step out into the street (natural light, best for the photos) when two women passing by ooh-ed and aah-ed over the hat! you have not seen this kind of pride in runway models! lol! YAAAY!

Wanna see more scarves?

I finally uploaded some photos of the scarves and things I've been knitting lately... there are some projects missing because they have yet to have all the weaving and blocking...

First, my helper in this "photo session", my little Julia. She had so much fun! she waited until I had finished adjusting or folding the items till I had them just like I wanted them and had grabbed my camera... and then she quickly grabbed it and pulled just as I was snapping the photo! (you should see the ones that didn't make the cut! lol! well, maybe not)


This is the napoliant scarf I was working on for myself, left waiting as I hurried to finish other, more pressing projects. I had a bunch of yarn left and I really love how it looks (it has silver speckles all through it and it looks adorable) so I copied a hat that my mother gave my daughters and made one for myself... cutesy little bow and all! Little girl's fashion is just darling!

This is the "mossy" scarf. I was about halfway through it when my mom commented that it looked like moss: the colors, the fuzziness, and since I was knitting some moss stitch rows alternating with the stockinnette stitch, I thought the name was quite apropiate.

And last but not least, the multidirectional scarf. I've ranted time and again how impossible is it to get nice yarn here, and when I saw the Noro scarves in Ravelry I almost bit someone. But then I saw this nice variegated yarn and I knew it was destined to be knit. By me. Into a Multidirectional beautiful scarf. And then... my friend decided to fall in love with it (ok, maybe I'm exagerating, but you should have seen all the admiring and touching and fondling and almost-get-a-room moment she had with this scarf) so I promised myself I would make it a present for her on her birthday... it is comming closer and I am getting separation anxiety, specially since I've not been able to find the exact colorway again!

Uhm.... is that what I think it is?

Yes, it is exactly what it looks. And I took the photo halfway frogging it because I did not think of ti before. }:(

I started making a hat for my daughters, specifically the "Upside-down daisy" from Susan B. Anderson's gorgeous book, "Itty-bitty hats"... and it felt a little off since the start... then, when I had knitted SIX INCHES, I tried it on...

It was huge. Even for me.

I took the needle out, flattened the garment. Yup, it could easily be a sweater. A baggy sweater.

What had gone wrong?

I counted the stitches. I had casted on a full TEN STITCHES MORE than the pattern calls for...

ARRRRGHHH!!!

I am not that good a knitter, so instead of breaking my head trying to turn it into a cute little sweater, a pullover perhaps... I frogged it. Frogged right into my yarn-ball-making-thingie (I know, I know, I'm getting too technical here). It was simply easier to do so, and otherwise I KNOW it would just sit on that needle, per seculae seculorum, hoping vainly to be finished. The grandkids of my grandkids would find it one day and wonder at it's intended fate.

Frog it, girl! it's sort of like a bandaid. If you pull quick it (almost) doesn't hurt.

AAAARRGHHH!!!!!!!!

On other (happier) subjects:

1.- I did finish the wristwarmers from "101 designer One skein wonders" and they truly are wonderful! yaaay! I am blocking them so for now, no photos yet.

2.- Started making simple summer dresses for the girls, too. :D I love dressing them in similar garments, and these dresses are not similar but identical! oh well,they are easy to make: cut a rectangle, one seam to close it, add two simple straps. Voila, you are done! the fabric is pre-smocked. Lazy dresses. Lazy mommy.

Oh well!

The Conservatory Overcoat GIVEAWAY!!!!

The Conservatory Overcoat GIVEAWAY!!!!

Can you believe the beauty of those photos? oh and that overcoat! Mommy REALLY REALLY WANTS!!!!!!

Inspiration

Sometimes I stumble on blogs like these and am humbled. Please, take a stroll over there and check them out!

How about Orange: this designer has such talent!!!! Wait, it gets better: you can get your hands on a bag tutorial right from her website (and no, I am not posting a link. Go find it yourself!)

Melanie-pearl: check out her beautifull jewlery. And the glass work. And the leather work. This gal is Just.Too.Cool.

Knitting on impulse: St. Brigid. That's all I'm saying. Check it out. I was ready to weep.

Can you say Ewok?

Wanna see more cool treehouses? check out TreeHuggers!

I don't really feel like blogging today, but I found this image and it made me smile. How many of you have a childhood memory of a furry little bear-like ewok? This house took me right back there!

And another smile-maker:



Hester and all you wonderful people living in Australia... I hope you are all ok.

Blocking equals terrified

I am a bit ashamed, but I must confess this: I am blocked. Actually, the correct word is "terrified". I started a project with a very optimistic "I can do this!" and now...

I'm scared sick. Stiff. I-wanna-throw-up scared. What if I am not that good? What if I cannot do it? I find ways to keep busy whenever I have a chance to work on it. And I know it is all out of cowardice.

Shame, shame on me!

Do you know I cook for a living?

if you wanna see more cool images like this, take a look here

You couldn't tell from this blog, could you?

Not a reference to cooking. Zero. Zip. Nada. And I do like cooking (imagine if I didn't!).

The thing is, sometimes I just HATE cooking. When customers only order the "safe" dish, as in the one they know and don't venture in ordering anything else from the menu. Do they know there's something else besides eggs sunny side up? and we don't only make ham and cheese sandwiches? sometimes it makes me want to scream.

I do have some friends that are my guinea pigs. They actually come in and ask me "what do I want to eat?" Now THAT is way beyond refreshing! they help me test and come up with new dishes and sometimes they keep ordering them!

And even so, the things I come up with for them are nothing too fancy or weird. Scrambled eggs with salami, champignons, rosemary, basil, cooked a bit tender and then placed on two thick slices of buttered bread and covered with cheese and then broiled until the cheese has melted and the eggs are done but not too done, still creamy, all that served with some very simple, very crisp baby spinach leaves... sigh!

Nah. People want just eggs, sunny side up. WELL DONE. (ew! I hate them well done, they get so rubbery and ew!) There's nothing wrong with them, I have them sometimes too, just DO.NOT.ORDER.THAT.EVERY.SINGLE.TIME.

And the next time someone asks me for instant coffee I will howl. Consider yourselves warned.

I got me a new spider er.. toy!

I have a new toy! And it is called "the spider" lol! I had to put some yarn through it or you would not recognize it for what it is: a masterpiece of a mexicanada. A mexican ball winder.

I love my spider! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!

By the way, the light here at the bar is all wrong, the color is berrylicious, from Vanna's Choice Baby, and it is yummy and mouth watering and makes me want to go get a berry popsicle. This hideous tungsten lamps show it all wrong.

And yes, that is the Yarn Harlot on my laptop's screen!