Imperfect

The imperfections

found in all things handmade

are the makers mark,

the joyous details,

the things I run my fingers across and linger on

with wonder and admiration

Me? A Knitter?

When I mentioned I knitted a hat as a gift last month, some of you were surprised to know that I knit. Well, I do, but I don't really knit. My knitting career is not prolific, nor are my projects always successful. No, I imagine my life as a knitter started much the same as every one else's—too many scarfs to admit, a bunch of hats, a few pairs of mittens, the famous Clapotis—but that's as far as my knitting went. I was too intimidated to attempt an actual piece of clothing.

That's where amigurumi came in, which I have done lots of in crochet. Little did I know that it would be a crash course in every increase and decrease a knitter would ever need to know. For this reason, I would recommend knitted amigurumi to anybody who wants to learn a variety of knitting techniques in one project.

I started with this little lizard last year.

I recently made this eggplant, from Amigurumi Knits. (The smaller girl begged for this, though she wouldn't put a real eggplant near her mouth if I bribed her with a puppy.)

Then my older girl came to me requesting a Lochness Monster (note to self: hide the amigurumi book when not in use) and it sent chills up my spine. I had nothing to fear, though. With YouTube at my side, I soon learned I could conquer most any pattern.

Lochness Monster pattern from Amigurumi Knits 

Well, with all this knitting "success," I got a little cocky. After falling in love with this sweater, I decided it was time for me to go for it. I was going to knit my first piece of real clothing, and dammit, it was going to be for me. (I know what you're thinking. You're probably right. Read on.)

And isn't it lovely? It really was a pleasure to knit. Not scary at all. I knew every stitch I needed to know, and she came along quickly.

But, you see, when you don't pay any respect to the gods of gauge, the sweater you are knitting for yourself ends up fitting your 7-year-old-daughter just perfectly.

Me? A knitter? The jury is still out.

Monster Mash, Home Style

There was a Halloween party yesterday that the girls had confirmed they did not want to go to until, of course, five minutes before it was to begin. By then, I just couldn't fit it in. Other plans had been made, much to their dismay ("Why can't we just go right now?").

To ease their seemingly excruciating suffering, I promised them we'd make our very own party at home. This was going to need all the elements of a spooky bash if they were to be convinced. Lucky for me, the girls are only five and seven and I can still get away with alot. So I streamed some Halloween music, turned off the lights and broke out the glow sticks, made some face paint, served a special treat, got out the costumes and poof! we had our very own "Monster Mash."

We started with some leftover anniversary cake

...then moved on to the homemade face paint. We mixed cold cream and cornstarch until we had the right consistency (there are many variations of this recipe online so we just mixed until it seemed right).

Next came the drops of food coloring (Be sure to make your colors dark)

Our clown/makeup artist attempted to transform a sweet face into a scary one

...then did a few touch ups to her own makeup for good measure

There are so many social obligations—birthday parties, games, seasonal events, and school functions, that sometimes it gets overwhelming. We try to keep a balance between life at home and our social lives but we just can't do it all, so at times we pick and choose. I must concede that this is probably going to become more of a challenge as the girls grow older. For now, I'll get away with what I can and keep my "babies" close to home. And use smoke and mirrors—or glow sticks and face paint—when desperation calls for it.

I have to warn you that the face paint is greasy. The girls put it on using cotton swabs and it went on in globs (as you can see above). Later, we applied it with a paint brush and it went on much smoother.