The Right Direction

Before I became a mother, I was kind of like a bit of dandelion fluff, going wherever my life would take me (how's that for cliche?). I didn't really care what I was doing, and I certainly didn't have a purpose for my life. I just cared about the now, not the future. I was in every sense an irresponsible, selfish brat. Now I'm just a brat.

When Robbie and I found out we were expecting (rather unexpectedly, I might add), there were many thoughts that ran through my mind. From absolute fear to then excitement to extreme love, my emotions ran the gamut. I loved every wiggle and kick and stretch and hiccough that the baby made, and we anxiously anticipated the birth of our new family member. We hit the jackpot, I must say.

At this time, four years ago, I was pacing up and down the hallways of the delivery ward, nervous as all get out, and so ready to DO THIS. Roughly nine hours later, a squirmy, screaming, human freaking being came out of ME and was very much here and real. It was amazing!

We watched her grow over the four years into what she is now, a really, really awesome little person who cares very much for others and demands kisses and hugs and snuggles up when we're watching TV and makes jokes that we don't get, but are hilarious nonetheless. This past year, she's done everything from chopped off all her hair:



to gone to Disneyland:



to splashed in the Atlantic:



to learning to tie her shoes and spell her name! While the physical differences are not great, she sure has grown up.

And I've been growing right alongside her. I am far more confident in my ability to raise a good person. I am so sure that empowerment is the answer to success, and unconditional love is the key to happiness. I have a direction now, and it's a good one.

Just as I can compare Elodie today to Elodie four years ago, I can compare me today to me before Elodie and realize that I am a far better person, not because I'm older, but because Elodie is.

Many, many, many happy returns to the person who changed my whole life and steered me in the right direction.

Cupcake Queen

You may be reading this post, looking at the time stamp, and wondering to yourself, What is Kayla doing up at this time of night. The honest answer? Freaking the frack out.

It is 12:03 a.m. It is Elodie's birthday party tomorrow, and tomorrow we are expecting no less than 30 people to descend on our house around 2:00. That's less than 14 hours away, for those of you who are doing the math. Today, I had to repaint my house. I am WAY behind on laying the kitchen floor, which I was going to be using today to do until I had a little accident (or rather the paint store had a little accident) and tinted my bucket of touch-up paint a darker grey than the colour I had painted the walls with. Suddenly, I had HUGE dark patches on my lovely walls, where I was just supposed to be touching up. So then I had to repaint THE WHOLE HOUSE. By whole house, I don't mean, oh, I touched up a room. Nope. Kitchen, livingroom, hallway. Did I mention we have vaulted ceilings? FUN TIMES.

And I was supposed to be completing the laminate floor in the kitchen today, but instead, was painting the whole house, so I started laying the floor at 9:00 p.m. Three hours ago. I have three feet done. OMG.

Did I mention there's a birthday party tomorrow? In my house. HERE. So I am awake, despite being exhausted, despite my bed calling to me...I can hear it now. I haven't knit anything in a week, so my stress level is nearly through the roof, and now...I'm baking cupcakes.

Elodie requested ladybugs. I was originally going to make wee fondant ladybugs sitting amid a cupcake of grass with wee flowers. Well, that got fracking tossed. Now I'm doing lady bugs, the easy, cheap, fast way.



It's a good thing her Mommy is creative.

2010 On The Go!

Well, despite having not blogged for a month, I really have gotten things done. The holidays came and went with hardly a stitch given, save from a pair of socks for my best friend and a sweater for my mom. I decided it was just too much to knit for everybody, and honestly, not everybody appreciates the time and effort of it, so I left my needles pretty cool. As usual, the holidays were very busy, though, with way too much food and drink.

New Year's was a quiet affair with Robbie and I mostly just reading and chatting and having a glass of wine as 2009 went and 2010 entered. And since then, I've been doing not much more than work and sleep. However, I have managed to knit one thing.



This is Wisp. The picture's not great (I just took it, and it's 11:00 at night, so, you know...), but when the sun comes up tomorrow (tomorrow...I'll love you, tomorrow...) I'll get a better picture. It came off my needles about a week or so ago, and I just bothered to block it and weave in all the ends. It's pretty, though, and the Zauberball makes the project, which is a pretty straight-forward (and boring) knit. To add some textural design to the scarf, I changed up the pattern slightly in alternate panels, with a YO, K1 for one panel and a K1, YO for the next. I actually liked the K1, YO better than the called-for YO, K1. It just seemed cleaner to me.

Troldeskov is doing well. I've had a lot of interest, which is great, and I'll be releasing the pattern for sale on Ravelry in just a few days. All my test knitters are finished, and for the most part, the pattern feedback was really positive. I do have a few things to adjust, such as some errors I made in the charting (sorry, folks. Check out the errata on Ravelry) and maybe a bit more clarity for my overseas friends who may knit the shawl. Overall, though, I'm extremely thrilled with the response that I've been getting on my first real design, and my husband has been encouraging me to design some more. I'm thinking a shawl based on Vulcans...hmmm...

Finally, I leave you with a bit of my day today. Elodie was transformed by the super powers of broccoli into Super Elodie, with the super power of cleaning up all her toys and eating all her lunch (and ice cream for desert!).


(so happy with how clean and shiny my Counter top looks in that last one. ;)

Happy Birthday to you.

Guess whose birthday it is tomorrow?

That's right! Elodie is turning three! I don't know how time has possibly flown this quickly. Elodie entered the world in a daze of lights and noise, and she's entirely consumed our world ever since. It seems that just yesterday, we looked met our gummy little walnut of a baby, and now she's grown up into a real, live person! Parenthood was the last thing on our minds at that time, and now it's all we think about.

Is she eating right, is she learning her manners, will she function well in school, is she getting enough Vitamin D? How are we going to instill responsibility in her, and how will do we possibly let her go to school one day, and will the kids be mean? What do we do when she gets hurt or cries, how do we make everything perfect and safe?

It seems like I've never been questioned so much in my life (why, why, why?), and there are days when I think back to the days of sleeping in, staying out late, spending all my money, and I miss it. But then I think, well, sleep is for suckers, staying out late is for conformists, and I didn't have all that money to begin with. Life is much better now.



Elodie runs now, which is such an amazing change. I know that it doesn't seem like a big deal, since she's been running for since she was 16 months old, but I mean, she outstrips me. She's FAST. It's amazing that our helpless baby has such motor control that she can draw a face -- albiet a wonky, gibbled face, but I digress. She can comb her hair, is learning to tie knots, and can button her own clothes. She picks out her outfits, has distinct color preferences (pink generally will out), and I think if she could surround herself with a million cats, she would.

She understood what Christmas was this year. She learned about Santa and that he was going to bring her gifts. She got excited about the tree, the lights, the food, the family. She still begs to wear her Christmas dress. She loved decorating, wrapping presents, singing Jingle Bells, her stocking, the snow globes -- everything.

Of course Robbie and I were pooped after Christmas, but she just asked if we could do it again.

She also has become a pet owner. This is Star, her new pet mouse. She loves her, and she feeds her and helps clean the cage and gives her fresh water. She likes holding her, and she's so very gentle (most of the time). Although she's interested as to why Mommy and Daddy refuse to let her show the kitty her new mouse, she at least accepts that the kitty and Star would not play well together.

Of course, there are the procession pictures:

Newborn:

First:

Second:

Third:

I can't express in something as simple as words how grateful I am that she is my daughter, that I am her mother, and that we are learning and growing together each day. Thank you, Elodie, for being such a brilliant, beautiful daughter. I love you.

Can I just say...

How tired I am of Passport Canada? I have made THREE trips down there, and THREE times, I've paid for parking, found a babysitter, driven into Calgary, etc, and THREE times, I've been told to fix something on my application. Now, I have to order a new birth certificate for my daughter. OMG. Apparently, because Robbie and I were in a heathen union when she was born, they need a birth certificate with both our names on it. The registration number won't cut it. Are you JOKING me?

Anyway, it looks like I'll be coughing up the additional $75 for an urgent passport. Le sigh. The flight is booked for November 13th, and we'll be back on November 23rd. I'm excited to see my family, and I can't wait to show my daughter around my favourite haunts. A Risted hotdog will be a must-have. I want to show her Koldinghus where Robbie proposed (not that she'll understand that aspect). We'll travel and see family she's never met, and my cousin's wife is due any day now, so there may even be a new baby to cuddle! I can't believe how much I want to go there, the place I love to call my second home.

Anyway, I promised you all content, and content you shall receive!! It's not knitting, but it's something.

In September, Robbie and I spent a weekend and repainted our daughter's room. Here are the before and after photos of the process.

Before:








The work-in-progress:






Vital.






Finished (finally):














She is one happy little girl.

100th post, Elodie the Yarn Wrangler, a Spider and Socks.

I'm sorry I haven't been blogging as much as I'd like to, but it's been a busy few weeks.

I have been crafting a lot more now that I don't have quite so much work to do. I've spun up eight ounces over the last few weeks, and they're really nice. I'm also working on the MS4 (done clue one!), a sock and I've been spinning for some people.

So let me begin my story with my day today. It's been a good day. I got some work done this morning, managed to eat lunch and take a bath. I had a nap when Elodie napped, and I worked on my sock while she watched Dora. I thought, hey, it's nice out. Let's take the yarn and the sock to the park, I'll knit while she plays, and before we go home, I'll get some pictures for the blog. Great idea, right?



4 oz hand-dyed Merino that Robbie picked up in Vancouver while on a transportation summit.
375 yds
Heavy fingering




4 ozs BFL, hand painted by Annie.
440 yds
Fingering

Elodie had great fun with the yarn shoot.













I even managed to get some good pictures of the sock I'm working on. It's my own design (!!!), that I will be publishing to the blog once it's done. Perhaps on Ravelry, too. I don't know.



I've been feeling the big cables lately, since they remind me so much of fall.



And then the Spider.

I was just packing our stuff up when I feel something hit my face. It felt like it was tugging to one side, so I turn my head in that direction, and ... you know on Charlotte's Web how the baby spiders release their silk parachutes and go flying off into the wilderness? This spider had a parachute. So said parachute hit me in the face, and when I turn around, here's Mr. Big Spider (a weird, white crab-looking one) all splayed out and blowing in the breeze behind me. So I freak out and quickly snap the little line that's attaching him to me.

I'm all shaky and ick, but disaster has been diverted (so I thought), so I'm starting to calm down. Then I hear this:

"Aw, hi, Charlotte!" Which is Elodie's name for spiders. All spiders. Even big, white crab-looking ones.

"Elodie, is there a Charlotte on my back?" (Doing some heavy mouth breathing)

"Yup!"

"Elodie, can you take the Charlotte off my back?" (Doing very very heavy mouth breathing)

"Okay, mommy." Brushes my back. "All gone."

I turn around. "Thank you, Elodie." I see movement. Charlotte is not all gone. Charlotte is climbing down my pant leg.

So after a weird, interpretive dance thing and a few questions ("What you dancing for? You happy, mommy?"), Elodie and I manage to pack up our things and head home.

Quite eventful for my 100th post. Perhaps it was fate.

Work-At-Home Mommy...Again.

Elodie and I have survived our first week with her at home full time. That was something that terrified me and made me so excited at the same time. The first day, I nearly cried when she woke up at 7:15. I generally don't get up until 8:30. Sometimes later.

All week, though, I've been waking up at 7:30 or earlier, and Elodie and I have started to fall into a routine. We wake up, eat some breaky in our PJs, she watches her Toopy & Binoo show while I work (or procrastinate). We play a bit, she has a nap at 11:00, I have a nap at 11:00. When we wake up at about 1:00, we have a bath, we have some lunch and then do our craft or play Playdough.

After playing, we walk to the park and play some more. After that, we generally make our way (walking) to Robbie's work to inform him of our trip to the library, please meet us there after work, and then we go to the library so Mommy can read and Elodie can play.

It's a really good schedule, and she's not so dependent anymore. If anything, she's so independent that it's scary. But I believe I have a new-found love of motherhood. Today, we cuddled on the couch while she watched Monsters, Inc. Okay, I watched it, too. Then a few mornings ago, we hid from the tickle monster under the covers. She's so cute, whispering and giggling.

Each afternoon, when we have our bath, I wash her hair and condition it. She thinks her hair feels so nice afterward and runs her hands through it. While I dry off, she giggles and pretends she's a mermaid in the tub. We read books and lounge. She informed me that she was going to knit me a hat (while furiously clicking some circs together). She sits at her chair on the kitchen table and fishes with circulars.

She watches me knit a shawl. She holds the yarn as I knit. She holds the fibre as I spin.

The baby that she was has vanished. She's a witty, funny, smart, beautiful little girl, and she has amazed me every day this week. I'm so excited for the next months. I'm loving this.

Don't get me wrong, I love my personal time. But I have a loving husband who understands that need, and I get at least a few hours to myself each night. At the beginning of the week, I was dreading being at home and being responsible ALL BY MYSELF for Elodie ALL DAY.

Now? I can't wait for next week to start.




On to the knitting/spinning. I can't show you my knitting right now because I don't have any pictures of it. Actually, I can't really show you my spinning either (I have two sock yarns on the go and two lace weights) because I don't have pictures of those either. I do, however, have pictures of fibre!!!

I took some of the shetland fleece that Terra and I got and brought it up to spinable form. Here are the original locks (pardon the poor lighting. I washed at 1:00 in the morning.



And the combed fibre (I used a dog rake and a fork...).





I'm spinning it for a shawl, Mystery Shawl 4. Super excited! The first clue came out today, but I'm going to start this one later. I've got to finish my sock yarns!!