The Muffin Man's Best

Ever since I decided to stay home I had this plan in my mind on the kind of housewife things I wanted to teach the girls, I want them to learn how to knit, I have to post a video of Estrella working on a hat in a loom. I want them to learn how to cook, of course, but I am not a good cook. :(
Anyway, among other things that I teach them I am following these books called "What your Preschooler need to know". It is kind of neat, easy to follow, has tons of activities you do during the day with things you have around the house and teaches important things like following a simple recipe!!!

So yesterday we read about the Muffin Man, you know that nursery rhyme, "Do you know the muffin man, the muffin man,t he muffin man...." We had fun changing the lyrics, we said, "Do you know the muffin girl, who lives on Hawthorn Lane" or "Do you know the cookie girl," etc. So many possibilities.
Afterwards we talked about recipes, we have cooked before together but I am always the one following the recipe, when we read about The Three Bears and Goldie Locks, Estrella made porridge, but I just show her the pictures. Anyway, this time I gave her the page and asked her to tell me what was she supposed to do, she described each picture and the steps.

We read the ingredients, gathered them and she made this lovely muffins which we ate so proudly for dinner. It was easy for her to follow and to make as well. She had fun and Isabella could help a little. She even put them in the oven, with my help. I love when she makes things because she eats lots!!
So, if you are a stay at home mom and are trying to think of things to do with your kid, well, go in your kitchen and cook, start with easy recipes, like porridge. Cooking is a good teaching tool for so many things, like Math, Estrella learn what a 1/4 of a cup is yesterday.
Do you have any other easy recipes we can cook with the girls?

A Boy's Hat

I think I told you that I started making hats because I was trying to make my husband one but I made it too small so it ended up going to one of my daughters, then we added the ribbons, etc.. Anyway, since then, every mistaken hat (meaning that doesn't come out right because I am such a perfectionist) has gone to Chris, except for one that I made especially for him out of Alpahaca wool, super nice, soft, warm, and he lost it, like the second week of having it, and he lost the other ones as well.Hopefully somebody else has enjoyed them!

He found this nice, super soft and warm Superwash Merino Cashmere yarn and told me to make him one last hat, which I postponed forever! But finally this past weekend I made it. Now, here is the thing, my computer crashed like a month ago and I lost several documents, including the one where I had the pattern for hats and dimensions I had used for different sizes, luckily I have the pattern memorized, but not the dimensions, so this hat, this one especial hat, which should have taken me only 1 1/2 hours to make, kept me up Friday night until 2:30 a.m. and I worked on it all Saturday during Estrella's ballet lesson and the whole afternoon.

 Until I was finally happy with it. I undid it 10 times because the shape was not right, it was coming up pointy, or too short, etc, etc, The last time I did it I finally figured out that since I had cast on more than the original pattern I had to make some changes in the shaping of the crown.

So I casted 82 and did 10 rounds of 2 knits and 2 purls. Then I did 6 rounds of knit 5 and purl 5, then 6 rounds of purl the knits and knit the purls, does that make sense? to make the squares. On the 13 round I decrease 6 stitches by knitting 2 together every 5 stitches. Follow the square pattern for 5 more rounds and I decrease 1 every 4 by k2tog. I did four more rounds of the pattern and my next round I just knit all the way to the end and k2tog every 3. Knit three more rounds and k2tog every 2, three rounds and k2tog everyone other one, purl the next round and k2tog every other one. And it was done! even the seam is totally invisible inside and outside! Does this kind of like pattern make sense to you?

He loves it, and it is my favorite one because the shape is just perfect laying on the table or on his head. It even fits me, but it is his! and now winter is over, he he he!!

Spring Flowers Headband

Well, it looks like spring is finally trying to come to Chicago. We got to go on a bike ride last week and enjoyed The Botanic Garden, one of my favorite places!

This weekend I worked on these headbands (among other things) that I have had in my mind for a while, this is just the first two I made for the girls, Isabella wouldn't let me take pictures of her wearing it. So Estrella, since she loves to  be in front of a camera, graciously agreed to model Isabella's headband.

I made this with chunky Jiffy Yarn, super soft and stretchy. I had the idea of making headbands that were girly and stay in place. I also wanted headbands that don't give headaches, I get headaches if I wear a headband or a tiara or whatever you call in English those hairbands, we called them "diademas" in Guatemala. But, going back to what I was saying, this headband is super light, I am wearing it right now and I totally forgot I had it on cause it doesn't put pressure on the sides of my head. I love that!!

It also doesn't slide off. Estrella likes the two flowers I put in, the same kind I made for the Winter Flower Hats, but she thought they were kind of too small. I like the combination of colors, you can really see it int he picture, but the center of the flower is a pink button. I can stretch this one all I want and it will go back to its original shape afterwards. 

This is the one I made for Isabella, Estrella likes this one better because the flower is bigger. It took me only Saturday evening to make both of them.

For this one I use baby yarn, which is thin and soft, it is slightly narrower than the other one and it stretches too much I think! The problem with this kind of yarn is that once it is stretched it doesn't go back to its original shape, like the cream and brown with chunky yarn. 

My next headbands will be a little more flexible, you will see them at the end of the week.

So, what do you think about this new project? do you think little girls will go for it? Big flowers or little flowers in a cluster? I can't wait to hear from you!

Socks from the toe up! Finally!!!!

February wasn't our month!! my girls got three different virus, one after the other in the last four weeks, the cough is still lingering but their spirits are high!! Needles to say, I am death tired. So I didn't have much time to finish much, let alone write anything. I apologize for the absence. I missed you guys. I was also working so hard on a very argh!@?!  sweater (which I will post next time).

But today I want to show you the finally finished socks from the toe up that I started a while ago but kept putting aside to make something else. They are so soft and comfy, a little big for me,  they are for my dear grandma.

 The pattern came from the book Socks from the Toe Up by Wendy D Johnson. If you have never knit socks  and want to venture on making your first pair, this is the book to get. It is easy to follow, has lots of patterns, additional tips for the perfect gusset,  easy and wonderful ways to cast on, which you can use later for any other project, like purses. I followed all the instructions exactly except for the kind of yarn I used which is thinner than what she asked for in her book, so I had to modify some things at the beginning, but not much.

This was my first pair of socks after so many years of not knitting, the way I learned was with five needles and from the top down. I love this version better because your socks look so well finished and perfect at the toe, no seams!! and I used circular needles, the very thin, small ones, I think they are #2.

 So, I was having a hard time taking pictures of myself with the socks. This two pictures were taken by Estrella, she didn't do too bad don't you think? I wanted to show you one mistake I made, if you haven't noticed in the socks, I will tell you, I didn't plan my yarn properly so I ended up with different color socks, kind of. So, note to self, do both socks at the same time. In reality if I've had only this project to knit and I'd have knit them both at the same time, I would have finished them in three weeks max, (since I have little kids you know) maybe less, it is really not that hard. It is just a little tedious because of the size of the needles and the thin yarn.

So, my first pair of socks from the toe up, I love them, I think next time I want to make them longer. I also haven't find any patterns for socks for kids. I got a knitting socks book for Christmas, so I will play with those patterns to make them my girls sizes and then let you know.

Do you think is worthy to knit socks for kids? What do you say, long socks, middle or short ones?