Riding off into the sunset

In between writing articles, and making dinner, we sometimes try to do some creative things.

In order to bring you this post...I've lined up homemade challah (from the freezer), slow cooker leg of lamb (freezer lamb to first slow cooker this AM), potatoes and sweet potatoes (second slow cooker), spelt bread for weekend sandwiches (bread machine is going) and salads for all of us.  I find if I manage to cook ahead a bit, it leaves me feeling less panicked and less likely to give in to expensive take-out, etc.  We're about to enjoy Victoria Day here --May Long Weekend, and that is three days of uninterrupted kid- feeding around here...they sure do eat!

Doing all this crazy planning ahead has given me 10 minutes here and there to do some spinning.  I found some wool roving (unknown medium wool) leftover from a class I taught a while back.  It was a strange small amount, so I decided to use it up.  Then I will likely make a chain 3-ply, and knit it into mittens.  I foresee a need for all new mittens for next winter; twins are growing fast; must be all that food!

In my pre-twin life, I imagined all the creative things I would do with my future kids.  I failed to understand how much time goes into just keeping everybody afloat, honestly.  However, both my boys really wanted their own hobby horses.  I'd read a great book called Rags as a kid, it's by Stella and Linda Allison.  I knew we could do this project.  Our Professor (Daddy) picked up two broom sticks at the hardware store, and we were off.

We had our photo shoot and maiden ride on our new horses (the gray one is a pony, just so you know that, Mommy!) this morning.  The boys helped stuff the doubled wool socks (cast-offs with big holes from Daddy) with some wool fleece that was ideal for stuffing.  The boys stuffed the broom sticks in.  I used duct tape (after bed time) to make sure the fleece did not pop out, nor the heads come off the broom sticks.

   Each kid picked out the eye colors (note: blue eyes for the blue eyed twin, brown eyes for the brown eyed twin) and mane colors.  They cut the mane for me after school one day.  I did all the ear attachment, eye embroidery, mane tying, harness, rein and rosette assembly, etc.

 I haven't done as many of these creative play projects as I had hoped to do, in the halcyon days when I imagined what twin-rearing would be.  There just isn't time.  Late last night, as I attached reins and stitched everything on firmly, I guessed that this project took me at least 5-6 hours of sewing/handwork, not counting the broom stick acquisition, the know-how, and the time I spent getting "help" from twins.  My main work time was between 9-10 at night, when I felt a bit cross-eyed with fatigue and couldn't see to thread needles.  (Yup, need to get my eyes checked, too.)

The best part of all this was to see the boys' enthusiasm, and every morning, they checked to see how their horses were coming along.  They seem to have no idea that some people just buy these things, and that is great, in my opinion.  Hurray for handmade, eco-friendly toys!  We didn't spend much money on these, aside from my time. I could see how this would be a fun thing to do if perhaps I didn't have to make two of everything, assembly line, and fitting in actual work for pay time, maybe if someone else was in charge of dinner. :)

However, my kids don't yet understand any of that, so they're literally planning their first horse race for the front yard when they come home from school this afternoon.

Let the races and adventures begin!

Additions and deletions

So, I think the whole #slowfashionoctober movement has passed me by, because I'm not on instagram.  I'm a bit retro: when we moved to Canada, we didn't get cell phones here, and I eventually gave up on the US one I had.  I haven't kept up with the smartphone, texting, selfie stuff that I see people doing all around me.

In fact, I found it to be a relief.  We don't get a lot of phone calls and to be honest, I don't miss it, mostly.  Life with twins and two dogs is noisy.  I don't think I always have to be available--and juggling the folks in my household takes all of my attention a lot of the time.  Truthfully, the only time I really thought I should have a phone was back in the spring time, when I had my little surprise trip to the ER and was too sick to use one myself anyhow.

Although I have dropped in on the instagram conversation as a lurker, I realized I wasn't debating things in the way others have.  I haven't been wondering how I could make all my own t-shirts, or spelling out the origins of every piece of fabric or yarn in my stash.  I haven't sworn off anything much, either.  On the other hand, I don't buy a lot new in the first place.

My only recent purchases have been out of necessity.  I bought another pair of All Birds Wool sneakers when I visited the US.  They are all wool and biodegradable materials, and I have fallen in love with how comfortable they are...and since I am not really up for making my own shoes right now, I'll settle for an ethically made pair, ready for next spring, summer and fall, instead. (winter time in Winnipeg = boots from November to April)

Then, I had (gasp) an underwire pop out of one of those essential female undergarments.  I was down to way too few of those anyway, and had to go to The Bay and check out their lingerie sale.  Now, I think I bought all of "last year's models" and saved a lot of money.  Were all those bras and pairs of underwear made in a place with good working conditions?  With a decent minimum wage?  I just don't know...but Rome wasn't built in a day.  I have to take a middle path about this.  There's no way I'll have time to figure out how to make underwear this month.  It's just not in the schedule.

This month, as usual, I've fixed lots of things.  I mended and patched many pairs of little boy pants.  I knit up an extension on this sweater.  Instead of cutting off the old ribbing, I left it in place, picked up stitches right above it, and knit down.  Luckily, I had matching yarn left over, although I have a feeling the kid in question would have been fine with contrasting yarn, if that were on offer!

I debated cutting off the ribbing at the end, but felt it was risky.  This kid is narrow in the hips, so instead, I just basted down the ribbing on the inside, and it forms a double layer band towards the bottom of the sweater.  It looks tidy enough on the inside.

Now, in this action shot, over a hand me down polar fleece, if you undo the sleeve cuffs, you can see there is still room to grow this season, and the sweater has already been in action again...worn out and about.

The kid in question is pleased as punch to have his sweater back.

I haven't done as much writing about Slow Fashion this month as I had intended.  However, maybe I have some excuses to fall back on.  Pre-twins, I did write a whole book about this back in 2009.  You know, about making ethical and green choices when it came to choosing knitting yarns and textiles in general...Knit Green.

I also realize that while I may not be snapping so many perfectly staged photos, I am indeed spending those moments trying to mend, recycle, reuse, and maximize what we've got at home when it comes to clothing.  Yesterday, I showed someone the knitting in my purse.  It's the sleeve to one twin's fall sweater (each kid gets one handknit sweater a year, if I can manage it) and one half of a handknit kid's sock.  It's all from my stash--no new yarn purchases.  I'm still trying, one stitch at a time, to make things from scratch in a responsible way.

Today, in other activities: I've made 3 loaves of challah, one loaf of banana chocolate chip bread, pureed the soup (and froze some) that I cooked yesterday, put chicken and potatoes into the slow cooker, got my freezer lamb for the year delivered, dealt with another house upkeep issue, and submitted an article on a deadline to an editor.  You know, nothing much... there's still time to fit in a little more mending and knitting, I hope! (and all before I pick up boys from kindergarten, too...)

Dog days

I want to thank everyone who left a comment or mentioned to me that they still read my blog.  Thank you...I clearly needed to know that this was still worth doing.  As a thanks to the knitter folk who have hung in here with me, I wanted to let you know that have a 20% off pattern sale for the dog days of August going on until the end of the month…this applies only to the patterns available on Ravelry.
The Ravelry coupon code is:
dogdays2014

This is a good deal on some of these downloadable patterns!

  In order to honor one comment, most of the photos of this post feature Sally, my pointer-mix.  She came to us at around 8 months-1 year in 2005, which makes her 10 this year.

Remarkable. 

Sally has always been hard to photograph.  She is a very bright, skittish, high energy and loving dog.  Since my boys were born, the dogs get less time to laze about outside...because if the dogs get to barking at people beyond the fence, neighbors could complain.  So, we call them in quickly most of the time.  (and juggling 2 3 year olds and 2 dogs in August, by myself, has sometimes been tricky.)
Sally likes to sunbathe, and she likes to roll in the grass or snow to clean herself.  She comes in smelling good, either way, and watching her relax and roll is a real pleasure for those who know her.  (She's wary of ever being caught in a submissive pose.)

Most of the time, she is "on guard."  When my boys were infants, she would act as a dog nanny, guarding them.  She'd also rush over to their diapered bottoms and bark when they needed changing.  This wasn't ideal; it sometimes woke the boys up, but mostly it alarmed anyone who was trying to help me with the babies.  Sally did not really trust the nervous, non-dog people who tried to help, and she let them know she was worried about her babies.

Sally had to be taught a new command--"upstairs"--so she would have a way to be off duty and rest on my bed while others were over.  This summer, both boys have been home alone with me a lot, or with one or two other people Sally trusts.  As a result, she's often right near by these days, and I feel like she's back where she belongs, resting on a rug in the living room or patrolling the yard as we play.

Although I am really worn out from being on constant "mom" patrol with few breaks, I did have a couple of surprises.  One is that when there is no one to help, I HAVE to sit around with the boys in the playroom or in the yard.  I have to be the one who takes them to the park or the wading pool.  As a result, I've had more time both outdoors and sitting down--time to "rest" as compared to rushing about behind the scenes to get things done for the household or my work.  I often bring my spindle out to the yard to spin...and it can be surprising to see how much yarn gets made while they play in the sand box.  (nothing sweater-worthy, but better than nothing!)

In other news, we are in the midst of transitioning to "big boy beds."  These are really toddler beds, but the amount of chaos twin boys can cause when loose in their bedroom, alone, is unreal.  We have created a sleep time chart (color coded for boys who don't read!) and they get stickers and prizes when they settle down to sleep quickly and quietly.  That means--no yelling or sitting on or hurting your brother, no taking apart the furniture or destroying your bedding...you get the picture.  Naptimes go smoothly, most of the time.  We're still working on bed time.  As always, sleep is still a challenge here.  I am still up with somebody 1-4 times a night.


Making food in August has been hard.  With no summer camp and only a mother's helper some afternoons, it is difficult to find 20 minutes to make a meal.  I have developed a loving relationship with my slow cookers and Stephanie O'Dea's books...
365 Slow Cooker Suppers and

 Make It Fast, Cook It Slow: The Big Book of Everyday Slow Cooking. 

These two books have enabled me to throw together a lot of dinners in a hurry, and everyone seems to like them.

Last but not least, I succumbed to something I swore I would never do.  I started baking bread as a 12 or 13 year old, and when I went to college, my mom bought a bread machine "to replace me."  I really love the process of baking bread and miss it dearly.  However, it is really hard to manage rising times and a hot oven between the competing needs of two very different preschoolers and two dogs while by myself.  Also, flour is very cheap in Manitoba (on sale, I can get 22.5 lbs of white flour for $6.50 CAD, and whole wheat is not much more), but decent wholegrain bread with no preservatives is expensive by comparison.  So, I got this bread machine on sale, and it has been churning out 2 or 3 loaves a week for us.  I was lucky; my bread baking experience meant I concocted my own whole grain recipe straight away and have been innovating since.  Sometime when I have more time, I will post some of those recipes.

I posted this marathon blog entry on a rainy Sunday morning while the Professor took the boys out to visit with the turtles and fish at the Assiniboine Park Conservatory.  This is the first time I have been alone, without twins, for any length of time, in 16 days.  I shared it with you.