quiet summer

It's been a quiet summer here on this blog, but not in my real life! When my boys were smaller, I thought they took up a lot of my time. But there were always naps, and much earlier bedtimes, and overall more time to keep up with everything Fuzzy Mitten. However, this summer has been non-stop swimming lessons, day-camp, playgrounds, beach vacations, family visits, picnics, and so much more! It's been wonderful, but so, so busy.

Kyr, his usual silly self

And I think it's not going to slow down any time soon! My older boy, Lev, is starting kindergarten this week. He's been in part-time pre-school for a while now, so he's somewhat used to the routines etc. But with a new school, mostly different kids, and learning a second language (French), I expect we'll all be adjusting for a while yet. He's terribly excited, though, which is making the rest of us excited too!

Lev, mastering the monkey-bars

I haven't forgotten about you, though! As I've found a few hours here and there, I've been working on a few new patterns for you. My Space-bot toy is now being test-knitted, so it should be ready within a few weeks. There will also be another pattern coming out mid-September, and I'll share more about that when I can. I'm also trying to update my Owl Tuque pattern with more sizes, but I'm not sure when that will be ready. And I have two more designs scheduled for November and January (hopefully).

I will try to post here a little more often, about the new adventures we have at the "big kids" school, what I'm knitting, and other plans for the future (maybe some travelling!) My monthly featured patterns will continue through the next few months, and I really want to add some more free patterns or tutorials here to accompany them. If you're interested in more of my day-to-day adventures, you can try following me in a number of places: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram are all places I visit regularly. My Ravelry group is also a good place to check out if you want to see what other people are knitting, or to find advice and inspiration.

dressing-up

winter vacation

These are from a couple weeks ago. A winter vacation to somewhere tropical is something I never thought I would do. But last year, my husband worked very hard at his new job, and that is what he wanted to do with his first vacation. Now we're back home, at the grey cold end of winter, and I think we all wish we could have stayed a little longer.

kyr at 2

Happy second birthday to Kyr! You are an interesting and complex little boy, and I'm not sure I quite know you yet. I love how you chatter, and are so friendly with other people. You adore your big brother, but you also know how to stand up for yourself. Daddy is by far your favourite person, but I'm the one you ask for in the middle of the night (I'm not sure who is luckier). Right now your favourite toys are puzzles, anything on the ipad, and your Pinkie-Pie doll. Your favourite show is Blue's Clues. You are starting to learn numbers and letters, but colours get you very confused. You love almost all kinds of fruit, but you dislike meat, except a bit of fish sometimes. You could play in the sand and water for hours, but I'm pretty sure you could do without snow. I love how you cuddle, and laugh so hard when we're silly together, and how happy you are to see me.

when I'm not knitting

headed out west

Tomorrow morning we head out west to spend the summer with my family. A little town in the mountains of South-Eastern British Columbia, where my parents, grandma, and three of my siblings live. We're looking forward to sunny days playing outside, long hikes in the mountains, swimming in the lake, and visits with family. My husband and I are also taking a little side trip to Portland, Oregon. He has to go for work, and I get a few days on my own. I'm really looking forward to exploring yarn shops, books stores, and whatever else takes my fancy.

I'm not sure how much I'll be able to post here, but I'll try to share a photo now and then, so you can see how much fun we're having!

I also thought I would host a little give-away, to share the fun with you. I'll pick up some little souvenirs while we're in BC, so the give-away will be a surprise. If you'd like to join in, just leave a comment here. An email address helps a lot too (in my last give-away, 2 winners never got their prize because I couldn't get in contact with them). I'll choose the winner (or winners) at the end of July.

I hope you all have a beautiful summer full of adventures, and maybe just a little knitting!

still alive

Hello there, loyal readers! A quick post for you, to show that I'm still alive. However, I've been struggling with a recurring illness which has made it difficult to do more than keep an eye on the kids while they watch cartoons all day. As well, Mr. Mitten has started a new job which is keeping him very busy. Let's all hope I get better soon, so I can keep in touch a little better!

Here's a little bit of knitting I've managed lately. A very modified version of this pattern. I knit the 6-12 month size, realized it wasn't going to fit as it was, but didn't have the heart to pull it all out (mostly because this was attempt number 6 at knitting a hat for the baby). I kept adding bits until it finally worked. I hope it fits for a while, so all that knitting was worth it!

four years

Four years ago...

 

wedding day

 

honeymoon in Nova Scotia

Three years ago...

vacation to Prince Edward Island (that's a baby bump under my jacket!)

Two years ago...

 Lev at 1 month

 bought a house

Lev at 10 months

And the past year...

 

Lev at 22 months (baby #2 under my sweater)

Kyr at 1 month

My sweet husband and I got married four years ago, and our lives have been so busy and full since then! These are just the highlights. There have been so many happy and fun days, plus some sad and some difficult, some that never seemed to end and some that I wished wouldn't end. I'm sure this is a good preview of all the years we have to come.

In case you didn't know, Fuzzy Mitten is a partnership. It was Konstantin who gave me the time and encouragement to start this business, and ever since he has been helping in any way he can. I would never be able to do half of what I have, if it wasn't for him. So thank you for that, as well as for everything else. Love you, sweetie!

no photos

I don't have any photos for you today, because, between one thing and another, I didn't take any in the past week. Both boys have colds, so I haven't been sleeping much (I'm sure other mums can sympathize).
I haven't done much knitting either, because I realized the pullover I'm making for Lev probably won't fit him by the time it's finished. This is partly because I don't have much time to knit it, but also because he's grown over an inch since I started it (and he's started eating like crazy again...) At least I have another boy who will appreciate it in a year or so. But now I'm stuck trying to decide between what I want to knit, and what I might actually be able to finish this winter!
I should have been taking photos of our front garden makeover that's been on-going for the past couple months. I haven't taken any progress photos because the mess of clay and rocks that kept getting churned up for one thing or another was just too ugly to bother photographing. But this weekend my hard-working hubby finally got the top-soil spread out, and I can almost imagine the new lawns and flower beds.
If I go to bed now, and if Kyr is kind and sleeps better, perhaps I will find a few lovely or cute things to share with you tomorrow, or next week...

images from my week

(I'm hoping to make this a weekly feature, with at least one photo each week)

 

Kyr napping during a walk in the woods

 

Playing in the fountain at Jean-Drapeau

Little squeak

Pookies on Knit Picks

I'm a little late posting about this here, but if you haven't heard, the Pookies pattern is now available through Knit Picks. Overall, it's the same as the version I released on Ravelry, with just some added instructions for knitters who may not be familiar with my patterns. Most of the extra tips etc. can be found here through my hints and tutorials.

Working with the Knit Picks Independent Designer Program was a great experience, and I would love to work on more patterns with them! However, at the moment my life is full of feeding a chubby baby, keeping up with a busy toddler, tending a growing garden, planning a long vacation to my family in BC, and many other things. Sadly, knitting has fallen far down on my list of priorities. However, we should be back here more regularly at the end of the summer, when I hope to share all these fun experiences with you. And, who know, maybe even a cute toy or two!

normal lives

I'm sorry for the lack of information regarding the new Alpaca pattern. We had some water in our basement while we were away, which meant pulling apart a chunk of wall and flooring - right in the middle of my work space. We still haven't been able to get everything back together, so I'm unable to take the photos for the pattern. Plus, Mr. Mitten's regular day job has been requiring an awful lot of his energy. In summary, we have pretty normal lives, where annoying things get in the way of us being productive!

However, we hope to fix the basement this weekend (fingers crossed)! We're also trying to figure out a way for me to have more time for Fuzzy Mitten work. The last few months I only get 10-15 minutes at a time, while Lev is not demanding my attention. Adding up to about 4 hours a week, that's not really enough to keep Fuzzy Mitten going long-term. It's awful, feeling torn between my desire to be the good Mama that Lev deserves, but also wanting to continue doing work I love. Hopefully we can come up with a plan that lets me do the work I need and want to do, and also lets Lev and his Dada have some guy-time together.

mother-in-law

My mother-in-law is visiting for the next 10 days, so I'm not sure how much time I'll have to spend writing here. It's certainly going to be an interesting visit, since I can't really talk to her (she speaks only Russian, me only English). However, I just might have time to finish my gift crafting, since all she wants to do is play with Lev (can't blame her, he's at a very fun stage). I'm going to try really hard to get some photos to share, since we haven't been doing that enough the last few months.

I thought I would share again these little gift tags I made last year, since the timing seems about right. Just click here, to get the largest size to download. Then print them on heavy paper, cut out (with fancy scissors if you have them), and punch a little hole. Piece of cake!

P.S. If you're not in North America, and your printer takes a different paper size, your printer should adjust the image margins to fit (you might have to check your printer settings to make sure it does this).

short delay

There will be a short delay in the release of the new Chipmunk and Pug patterns, since some family stuff has come up that's prevented us from working on them. My parents are here visiting, all the way from BC, because I have two new nephews! My sister gave birth to twins early this morning, so the next few days will be spent visiting, and then helping them get settled at home. So, I'm sure you can understand the delay in the new patterns!

back to work daddy

Gratuitous photo of puppy eyes.

Mr. Mitten goes back to his regular job on Monday, so we won't have him around as full-time daddy any longer (except on weekends). This inevitably changes a few things around here. Being on full-time mommy-duty during the day, I will have a lot less time for knitting, blogging, designing, and hanging around on Ravelry. I guess you all knew this was coming anyway, since so many of you kept commenting that you couldn't figure out how I had time for everything! It was only because Daddy and I would take turns entertaining Baby Mitten during the day, so I could get a bit of work done.

I have a couple projects to work on over the next few months, so I will have something to write about once in a while. I've just started on the updated versions of the patterns in Fuzzy Knits, and hopefully I can get them all done by the fall. If we work hard, we should be able to get the new edition done by October (crosses fingers). I also have another secret project I've been wanting to work on for ages, and I really hope to find time for it over the summer. However, all this means I don't have time for the clothing bundle for the big toys, or the new toy designs I had in mind. I'm really sad about this, since I had some awesome ideas. But I'm trying to be realistic about how much time I have, and some things had to be cut. Baby Mitten is my first and most important priority right now. I'm sure you can understand.

So, I'll sign off for the weekend. I hope you all have a lovely one, and better weather than we have here. The cold and rain are bringing the slugs out in force, and my seedlings might not survive.

happy mother's day!

There's a special holiday coming up this weekend (in Canada anyway, I know it's earlier in other places). I get to celebrate my first Mother's Day this year, although it's much too soon to expect handmade cards drawn with crayons and covered with sparkles, with a special message written in big messy letters. That's what I'm looking forward to, one day.

I was just over reading Alpaca Farm Girl's blog, and she got me thinking about the history of knitting in my family. Although I taught myself to knit in university, there are lots of knitters in my family. As a kid I wore sweaters, vest, tuques, and mittens knit by my mom, grandma, and great-grandma. Somehow I never learned from any of them, and really wish I had, since I would have about 20 more years of experience behind me now!

My mom's parents in front, and my dad's parents just past them.

My grandma (my mom's mom) just turned 84 on May 5. She's an amazing woman, and still healthy and going strong, in spite of a few setbacks recently. A few years ago she started knitting socks again, since she had some extra time, and my grandpa had always preferred them. Back in February or so, my cousin Alisha had the brilliant idea to make this a special sock birthday for my grandma! Let's see if I can remember who all joined in: me, my mom, my two cousins and my Aunty Candy, my Aunty Heather, my Aunty Wendy (who is my aunt by marriage, but loves my grandma like her own mom), my Aunty Beth, and some of my other cousins too. We're a knitting family, aparantly!


Some people made her socks, some (like me) gave her yarn so she could knit socks for herself. I picked up some bare yarn, and dyed it in blues and purples, trying to make something that would remind her of violets. When I was a kid, she told me once how much she likes violets (they grow all over her lawn in the Spring, and look and smell so lovely!). I smile just thinking about her wearing violet-coloured socks! I don't know when we'll next be able to visit my family in B.C., so I probably won't see the finished product for myself. I hope she knows how special she is to all of us, and how much I miss her.

Happy Mother's day to my mom, if she's reading this! I hope every mother out there has a very special day, and gets plenty of cuddles from the ones they love. Now I must go, because my little babe is waking from his nap :)

short and sweet

What a lack of blogging around here lately! At least I have good reasons. Here's a short and sweet version of what I've been up to since my mom came:

- cooking big pots of soup to fill our freezer (helping my mom cook, mostly)
- visiting local thrift stores and finding some very useful and/or cute baby items
- walks outside every time it's above -10 C (and sometimes even when it's colder but sunny)
- long chats about knitting and family history (and sometimes both together)
- squeezing everyone into our tiny living-room for supper one night (5 adults and 2 babies is a lot for our little place)
- a visit to a yarn store where I finally jumped on the Noro sock bandwagon (thanks to my mom's generosity)
- lots of knitting on said Noro socks (so fun and pretty, they're hard to put down)
- 3 nearly sleepless nights of a growth spurt (thank goodness my mom was here to take turns sitting up with him)
- finding out Lev is now over 8 lbs, thanks to the growth spurt (I need to get pictures of the baby jowls he's developing!)
- and now I'm procrastinating about working on some felted slippers for my nephew's 2nd birthday (I made them too big, and have to rip back the 1/2 of one I already knit)

I think there's probably lots more, it's been such a busy week! Anyway, time to stop procrastinating. Have a lovely day, all!

time to get sewing

My brother-in-law is working from home today, so I get a break from babysitting! Although, I've really enjoyed being around other people during the day, and my niece is a very good baby (when she's not teething). I even manage to get a reasonable amount of work done most days. Well, maybe not yesterday - I spent the morning making mincemeat and the afternoon finishing a toy for my niece's first birthday. I have to take some photos of the toy before I give it to her this weekend, because it turned out extra cute!

So, today I'll finally have time to sew the bags for the next set of kits. It will be nice to sit down in front of the sewing machine after just knitting for so many weeks. Hmmm, I just realized I'll have to cut the fabric on my kitchen table, rather than my sewing room floor as usual. Bending is not much of an option now with the size my belly is getting! I probably won't get time to dye the yarn and take photos for another week or two, though, so the kits will be ready closer to the end of the month.

Oh, and we also got the computer back, so hopefully there will soon be some photos of our trip to share! Thank goodness getting a new hard-drive was only a minor problem, unlike for some people - we've known it was going to die for quite some time, so we did back-ups every other day or so. Yay for no lost data!

Oh, and for those who were confused about the mysterious photos comment, I meant the photos of the owl and baby, the squirrel, and polar bear. The bat will also be in the new book, but I'll wait to share the rest until I get photos of them. I can hardly wait, though, since I'm super pleased with how they turned out!

P.S. I tried writing this in open office, then copying it here. Let's just say it didn't work as planned, and I'm tired of messing with it so there are no links or photos.

feeling grumpy

Our downstairs neighbour likes to practice his bass guitar. I don't usually mind because it's not too loud, and he does it during the day. However, he seems to have left his amp on really loud, with some kind of feedback, and he's not home. I think I'll hide in the bedroom for the rest of the night, with ear plugs, reading a book.

In case you've been wondering what happened to me this week, I started babysitting for my sister now that she's back at work. It's interesting spending so much time with a 1-year old. Needless to say, it didn't leave much time for blogging this week. Hopefully I'll get more used to it, and get more work done while she naps.

Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Québec

Promenade in Ste-Anne from Konstantin Ryabitsev on Vimeo.

We don't actually live in Montréal proper, but in a small suburb on the Western tip of the Island of Montréal called Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue. Even though most of the West Island towns are posh bedroom communities for lawyers, doctors, and company execs, Ste-Anne is a welcome exception, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, because it's a much older settlement than most others -- so there are no super-expensive McMansions lining the waterfront, and secondly because there are two high schools, one CÉGEP, and the Macdonald Campus of McGill university -- all in our small town of 5,000 people.

Even though the majority of West Island is historically mostly English-speaking, Ste-Anne is divided pretty evenly between French and English, especially when McGill is in session. Most townspeople are fluent in both languages, and those who aren't usually know just enough to get by. Even though I speak fairly fluent French, most people will switch to English when talking to me because I do not sound like a native (Québec has a very distinct local accent, while I learned the Parisian pronunciation). The further East you go in Québec, the fewer English speakers you will find, until you get to New Brunswick, which is the only officially bilingual province of Canada. From there on, the direction reverses and you get squarely into English-speaking territory by the time you're in Nova Scotia (with Acadia being a notable exception -- this is where the Cajuns came from).


Heading to ultrasound from Konstantin Ryabitsev on Vimeo.

The best way to get to Montréal from Ste-Anne is by taking the train, which takes about 45 minutes with all the stops. Sadly, the train doesn't run nearly frequent enough and is only convenient for commuting to and from work. The city of Montréal is trying to change that, but for the time being it's more profitable for the railroad company to let the freight trains through instead of the commuter trains. With gas prices around here being about $1.35 per litre lately (that's a whopping $5.40 a gallon), hopefully there will be more and more people taking the train instead of driving, and that might change how much pressure the city is able to put on the railroad company. Perhaps we might even see more than 3 trains a day during the weekend. :)

But, despite all of the above, we're quite happy living here without owning a car. Most stores are within walking distance from our apartment, and for stuff that we can't get in Ste-Anne, we usually plan weekend trips, sometimes involving Communauto -- a local car-sharing co-op that we're part of. Plus, we have lots of local restaurants to choose from and a Farmer's Market on the weekend that lets us stock up on organic locally-grown veggies.


Marche Ste-Anne from Konstantin Ryabitsev on Vimeo.

We quite like it here. :)