He told me that he really thought he needed gloves and not the kind I knit, but instead a pair that you buy, because he thinks they will keep his hands drier in the snow.
I began to launch into a persuasive (and somewhat desperate) lecture on all the amazing virtues of wool when he interrupted me,
"Mom, I wouldn't mind if you made them (gee thanks), but I really want them to be black and with Spiderman on them, and webs and maybe with the web shooters down here, by my wrist. I want the Spiderman to be red, but you can just do his face, not his whole body in a spidey-pose, so it won't be that hard for you".
What a relief. Just his face. And webs. And web shooters. Well, I made my bed. Now I have to lie in it (and knit).
I am thrilled that he is allowing me to make my own version of something mass-produced that he has certainly seen on the hands of his friends at school. Indeed, my crafty substituitions will not always fly.
If I boogie on these, they could be that one handknitted thing I wanted to put in his stocking. So here's my plan: I'll double knit them (as in double layer, both knitted simultaneous), and they will hence be super warm, dense and reversible. Black on one side, red on the other. I chose Berrocco Ultra Alpaca Light. Spidey will be needle felted on the backs of the gloves and I'll embroider the webs.
This discussion came just after playing in the first snow of the season. It was such a treat to wake up the day after Thanksgiving to snow.
I'm off to cast-on, but I leave you with tiny window into our post-feasting day. a Thanksgiving hangover shot.
The Paper Christmas Hat and Mr. Robot
We had a chaotic little trip to Hobby Lobby this morning. We were there to find Christmas hat essentials (feathery garland, sparkling baubles, tacky glue). This (as you can imagine) was entirely the big boy's idea. The inspiration was found in The Outrageously BIG Activity, Play and Project Book, but I must say that my little friend had far more spectacular results than those featured in the book.
We are feeling very Christmassy around here and I'm also recently inspired by adorable advent calendar ideas over at Kid's Craft Weekly. I subscribe to their lovely newsletter and I'm inspired by it on a regular basis.
Meet Mr. Robot. You may remember when we were inspired to bring him to life many eons ago. Finally, he is able to sit and relax on the sofa. He was entirely designed and cut by the big boy, who also sewed on many of the buttons. I was just the grunt. When we began making Mr. Robot, the little boy was just a baby and did not require one of his own. Now, it seems a glaring oversight that only one robot lives in our house. Luckily Mr. Robot is BIG and could conceivably be enjoyed by both boys at the same instant...(Yeah, right!).
Labels: paper crafts, sewing
¶ 4:12 PM 4 comments
Thanks to sweet birthday pampering from my husband and my dear dad, I am no longer without a camera. My new camera is the prettiest and best camera I've ever owned and it does all sorts of mysterious things I'm not even beginning to understand yet.
I had an exceptional birthday all around. My husband prepared a giant falafel feast, and a big batch of carrot, orange and ginger soup. Then he set the table with pretty dishes and wine, invited some of my very favorite girlfriends over, packed up the kiddos and....he left!
Seriously. He left and he was gone for hours.
It was so civilized and wonderful to sit around the table with my beautiful friends, laugh, drink wine and all the while there were no jarring interruptions from our (adorable, but) crazy little offspring.
I got more sweet handmade gifts this year than ever before. 
The lavender soft drawstring pouch was made for me by my dear friend Alison. It's knit with Blue Sky Alpaca Silk and it has a gorgeous bar of French soap inside. Divine!
Marcie (who I miss so much), surprised me with this beautifully crocheted scarf with fluffy white edging. It reminds me so much of her. And THEN, as if I deserved more, lovely Heather made me the prettiest Fetching gloves in my favorite cranberry red. So much sweetness. Thank you. Thank you.
Also, my wonderful in laws got me this book as a gift. I'm dying to make the the crepe paper crown for every adult and child I know.
All these gifts have put me in the mood to make some gifts of my own.
I've been knitting the Racing Stripe, Lightning-Bolt sweaters madly and they are nearly finished. Just one sleeve left, and get this: I've run out of yarn! I'm avoiding the inevitable: $2 ball of yarn + $6 shipping.
While I stew over the yarn shortage, I'm working on the perfect designs for lightning bolts and sleeve stripes. My big boy has many opinions on this subject, so I've begun pulling the sweaters out only after bedtime to avoid lengthy debates about precisely where and how the lightning bolts should be placed.
During my long absence from the blog, I got my much anticipated Ravelry invitation and I've been having so much fun browsing around and adding dozens of projects to my queue. If you're on Ravelry, you can find me under the name mollykazoo.
I'm so glad to be back.
Labels: life in general, two racing stripe sweaters
¶ 2:24 PM 5 comments
