Our Yellow House

In Bloom

The Gala Project

Every year our school holds a big fancy pants fundraiser. And every year each class works on a project to be auctioned off for big bucks. This year our class of 3-6 year olds made a quilted wall hanging.

The head teacher and I started off by having each child make a quilt square. We used the technique of sharpie markers and rubbing alcohol. Have you tried this yet? I saw it on a number of crafty websites and thought it was super cool and definately worthy of a try. My girls gave it a go on t-shirts and had a blast. For school, though, I cut out 6"x6" squares. We rubberbanded the fabric to a plastic cup and the children drew concentric circles ("like Kandinsky") in four colors before dropping on the rubbing alcohol. I love how each one is so different.

I paired it with a few batiks and put it all together with one layer of cotton batting in between. I had fun handquilting the centers of each circle and once around on the burgundy strip. I also added a sleeve on the back for hanging purposes.

I think if I were to do this project again, I would make it bigger so it really said "pow!"  I am happy with the results and it made a bit of money for our lovely school.

felt jacket

I am dropping in to share a project that I just added to Ravelry.

I am in love with the girl but not the jacket. It looks great on her, don't get me wrong. However, it is funky in a funky way. Oh well. It will probably find new life next winter as a pair of mittens.

All of the important information is here on Ravelry.

I also want to mention that although I am not in this space quite as often as I would like, you can find me on Instagram (as ouryellowhouse) and Pinterest (as ouryellowhouse1).

i put a heart on it

 

The headless knitter strikes again!

I just finished this skirt last night and am super happy with the results.

Nothing fancy. It is a tube without any shaping and an elastic waist. But I put a heart on it!

Raveled here.

the call of the outdoors

The dirt called to me today. Come out and play! I turned the compost pile, collected garbage, and began dreaming about this year's garden. I spent some quality time with my pitchfork working on a new bed in the wasteland (the empty lot between our house and our neighbors'). We are going to plant a wall of snap peas connecting the two gardens. The four children will be in heaven when the peas are plump.

Beginning a new garden bed here in this city lot requires a fair amount of rummaging through to find glass, broken bricks, metal bits, plastic of all shapes and sizes, and knotweed roots. Today this work was welcomed. I was digging in the dirt and listening to an involved game of Witch Family, we are reading the book now, along with Day-O being sung on repeat. The girls were also soaking in the sun and would sometimes come join me in the picking before flying off on another adventure.

With St. Patrick's Day rapidly approaching we needed to get a few supplies. I look forward to next weekend and getting my hands dirty once again! This time of year is so exciting. It all still looks so dull outside but the possiblities are endless and I know that in a few short months it will be brimming with green and we'll be eating the profits. 

 

I simply must share

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FO: Purple Tea Leaves

Frannie and I had a photo shoot today to help document the newest addition to my wardrobe. 247 photos later...well we got lots of mama making silly faces. Here I share with you the least silly but the ones that show off the stitches the best.

 

 

At Christmas, my dad gifted to me a big box of Malabrigo yarn, a lot of this purple and a few other randoms. At first glance I wasn't so sure I could pull off this much purple. I thought about returning it for something a bit subtler, but a box of Malabrigo can't go untouched for long. A few weeks ago I dove in!

 

 

The pattern is Tea Leaves. I don't have many notes. Details on Ravelry. I am happy with the result and know this sweater will be worn so very often. And the color, well I think with my spunky new hair cut, I won't have any trouble pulling it off!

 

 

In The Mail

I made an exciting step towards getting my Montessori certification...

I mailed the first part of my application!

Winter Break - The Stillness

This week we have been enjoying a small break from the bustle of school days. The girls have actually been away with grandparents since Sunday and the energy at our yellow house shifted. For the past few days I have found myself sitting in silence. I found my own pace and it was indeed a lot slower than usual. I wasn't fixing snacks, answering questions or finding socks. Rather I had time to knit in the daylight, eat jelly beans for lunch, stay up way too late, go on dates with Matt and other friends, stare into space, go for walks, go thrifting, wash baseboards and doors, reorganize the girls' bookshelves, and just sit. As a mother, and a teacher, quiet and stillness, are not taken for granted. However, it is so important for us to find and take advantage of these when we can. So let us now raise a glass to grandparents! While I breathed in the quiet, an equally important thing was happening, a bond with another generation was growing stronger. During those moments when I wished the girls were home, I reminded myself that they were enjoying the attention that only grandparents (and aunts and uncles) can give. The girls came home today and we all rejoiced in being back together after the quality time we had apart. They immediately spread out a drawing project on the livingroom floor and we all couldn't wipe the smiles away.

 

We have a few more days together at home before heading back to school refreshed and ready to complete this winter and welcome a new spring.

p.s. We went to see Hugo today. So good (I think I liked it best!).

 

Hello?

Hello. I feel a little intimidated to come back after being gone for so long. What to say? It's just that I was overcome with the hibernation bug the minute the temperature went below 50 degrees. Now that the sun seems to be coming back I thought I might try to emerge as well.

 

 

This is what my winter evenings have looked like. Television and knitting. Not particularly blog worthy.

So I am not going to go on any more this evening. Let's start slow and see where it takes us.