Creating with Buttons

 Recently I acquired a tub of buttons and a whole bunch of pipe cleaners.  I thought that since Little Ish really likes lacing things so much right now that I would try making these cute button caterpillars with him.  We never ended up making them; as soon as he saw the buttons and pipe cleaners he started right in on his own projects.

He started out by making pipe cleaner and button cars

Getting started...

Stringing on the wheels...

A proud boy with his finished car!

Another one of his cars

After he was done making a large collection of cars he moved on to making pictures with the buttons.  First he made Corduroy from the book by Don Freeman.  The large white button with 2 holes is the one that Corduroy is looking to match on his adventure through the department store.

Corduroy

Then it was time to build a Christmas tree

The tree in progress.

And to close out his fun with buttons he decided to make pipe cleaner and button pocket watches for Lily, Ish, and himself.

Reading the time on his pocket watch

Perhaps one of these days we will make those caterpillars, but I think he had a much better time creating on his own terms.

Incognito

I was playing with some pipe cleaners the other morning as the kids were finishing up breakfast.  I made something that apparently looked enough like glasses that Little Ish wanted me to figure out how to make them into glasses that he could wear.  He was very excited to wear the result.

Terms of Endearment

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Big Ish: Your sister is something else.
Little Ish: She's my little pancake.
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Finished, Almost Finished, and Far from Finished

After a month of knitting away steadily, I have finished the knitting part of the baby blanket for the new baby.  I have yet to weave in ends or block it, but I am quite content with how it turned out. I will update with a photo of it all spread out once I have it completely finished.

After spending a lot of time on long and somewhat intense knitting projects I decided I needed to make something quick to knit so I spent 3 days last week knitting a Little Pumpkin hat from the Itty-Bitty Hatsbook.  I made one for Little Ish when I was pregnant with Liliana and bought enough yarn to make one for her the next year.  I decided against making her one last year as the yarn matches her red hair a little too well.  Instead I made the hat for my nephew Percival.

Now I am onto my next big project--a birthday shrug for Liliana.  I am using the Snugly Shrug pattern.  It shouldn't take me too long to complete, but I want to give myself time in case I flub it up majorly.  The yarn I settled on is Dolce Merino from Universal Yarn.  It is so soft and cuddly.

Other than knitting a lot I am also reading away steadily at a few books.  I am nearing the end of Playful Learning by Mariah Bruehl and can tell that it will serve as a fantastic homeschooling resource over the next several years.  I am about three quarters of the way through Fifteen Minutes Outside by Rebecca Cohen and although I have gleaned a few good ideas from it, I am disappointed with it overall.  I am also reading One Question by Ken Coleman and although it isn't quite what I expected it to be, I am enjoying it.

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