Fresh'n'clean

The back-to-school cleaning bug must have bit me!

Sudden burst of motivation after naptime. MissM is encouraging me to continue with ear drum shattering, high pitched squeals. At least, it could be interpreted as encouragement.

I've been hanging on to a lot of old school things, books, notes, power points, lab manuals, etc. Nearly all of it, GONE. Dusted, cleared, and rearranged her shelves and drawers. Then I started sorting things out for the World's Largest Yardsale.

Reenie plans to be there, knitting away. If you are in the area please stop by and see all of our Ready to Sell items in person!

Now, to pick out the perfect business card before the yard sale...

Friday Night Knits

CMS sent me an email that set my mind spinning.

It is called conceptual knitting, and Loopy Yarns wants you to try it for your favorite football team. Pick two colors (team colors, usually) one for wins, one for losses. Pick a number of rows for each game. Then knit! For NFL that means 16 regular season games, or just 16 weeks to complete your project.

Roughly something like this,
with the Championship game in the center?

This creative brain of mine tries to make it more complicated, of course. What if I did all the major MI teams, in one project? Lions, Spartans, and (eww) Wolverines? How awful/eclectic would that finished project look?

What about a B1G patchwork? Each team gets their own block... how many knitting needles would I need for that? Would I take into account bye weeks? A black stripe "randomly" placed through each block... When would I ever actually sew the blocks together? Is this a fun piece for ReenieKnits to sell? Would someone want it, or only if their favorite team was the right color? (Winning color, of course). Is it a small enough project I could take it to campus, or would I never have time to keep up?

Too many thoughts. I need to focus on the project in hand. Though her White Socks scarf made me think of that Detroit D hat I made a while back...

Perfect Timing

Yesterday was the final exam of my last summer course. And today I received a package!

Three books to borrow from a friend. With no more text book reading for at least two weeks, I'm excited to do a little relaxing/fun read!

Reenie is looking into a local "yard sale" where she can bring her crafts to a booth this September. Hope these books don't slow me down too much, I would love to have another couple sets of washcloths.
Also started a new pattern as requested by a repeat customer. (I've made her a unicorn scarf in the past). Dual cable fingerless mitts. Still looking for a nice sport weight yarn for the completed project, but the stash yarn I used to test the pattern looks pretty good.

The finished project wont be green and white, but rather brown and cream. Can't wait! I love new exciting patterns, and fall is perfect cable knits time :-)

Time to crack open these books while MissM is still sleeping. Make the most of these last weeks of summer everyone!

New month

Well Hello August!

So many exciting things this month. Ripping off the calendar page felt good. MissM starts daycare this coming week, and I'm back to campus at the end of the month. Sad to know summer is coming to a close, but looking forward to a crisp fall breeze. Football season, bonfires, and hoodies. Time with MissM will be even more precious as it is fleeting.

I've begun the planning process of her birthday party, but not yet the crafting. What are your favorite ideas for a littles b-day?

Red Pajamas and Washcloths

Saturday M and I took a trip up to the mall, and our local Barnes&Nobel. Storytime included a visit from Llama Llama! She was a little cranky from bad timing of naps, but she sat nicely while they read three books. She was more interested in the couple of three-ish years olds behind us, but still. :-)

We then got to do a "craft" which was really just coloring. They also had squares of colored paper you could glue to the bottom of your picture as Llama's quilt. The five minute ride back home was enough for her to be OUT, naptime!

Meanwhile, Reenie has more projects going up in the Ready to Sell page.

Set of three washcloths. The color is named "beach blues" or something similar, but I paired it with a solid purple. I finished the last cloth while video chatting with some of my Dec. girls. It was our own Mom's night out, except in!

When I was first learning to knit I could finish a dishcloth in the length of a Nascar race. I think I'm even quicker now. My aunt was one of my first customers back then. She used a dishcloth until it fell apart, and then paid for me to make her more. :-D

Another set, and I still need to tie in the ends. Colors are much more vibrant in person. I'm deciding on what solid to include in this set, or if I should sell it as two. My thoughts stray to sets of 3 and 5, $10 and $15. Still deciding though.

As you can see, I still have yarn so many more wash cloths to come! MissM is up, so more blog updates later!

Aunt x2

Well Reenie has done it again! Become an Aunt!!

Sister-in-law finally went into labor early Friday morning. She was 10 days overdue, and impatiently waiting (I've felt her pain). Baby girl got the memo and evacuated the premises. Baby girl is a little peanut, just like her daddy. Can't wait to see her tomorrow and get all the snuggles.

Niece #1 should be getting a package today. The tracking says "Out for delivery". Inside are some cousin shares, a new gift for Mom, and a Wooden Board for the nursery (Pictures to be posted after they confirm it was received).

M is a book lover too!

In reading news: I finally finished the Scarlet Letter! Man, that is a wordy book. I moved on to Gone Girl, and am making much faster progress. Taking suggestions for what to read next! Please leave a comment! I only made my Goodreads goal 12 this year, as I knew the infant would take up some (all) of my spare time. I'll have to check my classics list, but I think after another fun quick read I'll try to tackle Oliver Twist again.

I shall post again soon. With photos of all the projects I've completed lately. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Name plate finished!

All packaged up and ready to go. The new parents are in the process of moving, so we are waiting to send.

Meanwhile, the Reenie family took a much needed vacation this past weekend. Thursday night I put MissM in the Ergo carrier and walked over to a friends. She fell asleep on the walk, but woke when we got there. Too many voices. She was not a fan. Yet, she slept right through the fireworks.
Loud bangs, okay, adults talking, not okay. Noted.

Friday we packed the car and drove 45 minutes to the zoo. Unfortunately MissM took fifteen to fall asleep, so only a half hour nap. We walked around the zoo for a while, fed a Giraffe, peeked at a baby monkey, tried to pet a llama (s/he was uninterested in us). M fell asleep in the stroller, and then got woken as we were boarding a tram. After lunch (for all of us) we ventured out of the zoo and met up with her Aunt. Played there for a while, ate again, then started getting sleepies. So we packed her up and headed to our hotel. Another broken nap though. Finally got a decent nap after we'd settled in. Tried to take her swimming. Not a huge fan, says the overtired lady.

Saturday was nice and relaxing. We tried the pool again, and it was a decent success! Maybe we still have an Olympic swimmer on our hands. Had lunch out with her Aunt, Grandma and Grandpa came to visit. Napped in her cousin's crib (what, she's not using it?). Then back to another relaxing night at the hotel. Sunday we packed up and came home early. Good to be home, she says.

Mr.Reenie was back to work bright and early this morning, and this Reenie is ready to put the finishing touches on her knit washcloths.
Hope everyone had a fun and safe 4th of July!!