Bounced Out

I think I'm still recovering from last weekend. It wasn't too crazy but still feeling like we crammed a lot of things into a little bit of time. I mean, how hard is it to go out to dinner, hunt for eggs, attend a birthday party, go out to dinner, dye eggs, open Easter baskets, go to church, go out to brunch, and then cook a big Easter dinner?

I must be getting soft.

We were lucky enough to have Papa (Todd's father) come visit for the weekend and celebrate Easter with us so that added to the overall excitement level.


Continuing tradition, we went to the Bunny Bounce at the zoo which, due to the gorgeous weather, was crazier than it has ever been since we started going four years ago. I think this was the first year it didn't rain or threaten to rain and the weather certainly seemed to be trying to make up for past ickiness.


The kiddos had a blast and G managed to fill her basket to overflowing


while M was a bit more methodical in his egg gathering.


There was some additional silliness


And even a sneak peek at the soon to be opened dinosaur exhibit.


Given the boy's obsession fascination with dinosaurs, I suspect we might be back at the zoo in the very near future.

Coming Full Circle

One year ago today as we were driving from the Buffalo airport to my father-in-law's house in Rochester I received a phone call telling me I had breast cancer. It was shocking.

Today, happily, I am cancer-free (as far as the medical professionals can tell- nothing is ever a sure thing- but I prefer to see the glass as half full). A status that is, in it's own way, shocking. After months of treatment and surgery and everything else associated with a cancer diagnosis, I am now "normal" again, thrown back into the routine of life as if nothing of note happened in the last year. I am grateful for normal. I strive to be nothing but medically boring from this point forward... but it is odd in a way.

One month you are, as they say, battling cancer - in the "fight of your life." And then... just battling the everyday rat race.

Maybe my feeling of oddness is due to my approach to cancer. I tried to see it, not as a battle, but as something I had to do, had to get through, had to check off on the To Do List. I tried very hard (too hard my family might tell you) to keep my life as close to normal as possible despite the chemo and everything else. And so the whole thing feels a bit surreal. Did I really have cancer? Was it only 4 months ago I had surgery?

As I shepherd the kids to their activities, as I go to dance rehearsal or my knitting group, as I do all the mundane little things that make my life, well, mine, cancer is hardly even a thought in my head. Which is, as I said above, a Very Good Thing... I'd hate to have to deal with the alternative and I am thankful every day that I do not.

I am also grateful and thankful beyond what is possible to express with my own meager words for all the love and support that was given to me and my family over the past year. I may not always have responded to all the emails, cards, notes, gifts and whatnot but know that I read them over and over, I appreciated every word and kind gesture.

I had no idea my net was so vast. It is humbling to consider.

I would like to send out a very special thank you to my parents. In addition to all the other support they lent, my mom spent five weeks with us in May & June when I had surgery helping me recuperate and wrangling the kiddos. I know I wasn't an easy patient and I am so thankful you were here. And Daddy, thank you for loaning her to me for so long- I know it was hard for you to be without her for so long (I'm guessing the only other time my parents have been separated for so long was when my father served our country in Vietnam).

I know many of you wanted more blog posts over the past year and I wanted more too but it just wasn't in the cards. At first, treatment seemed boring: had chemo, kinda tired, doing ok- and I didn't want to bore you with it. Then, when things got, um, more interesting I was tired and frankly the details, while medically interesting, really would fall under the TMI category. So I didn't blog.

But here I am. One year later. And I wanted to say something. Mark the day as it were.

So, yes. I am doing very well indeed. I feel healthy and happy. Thank you for helping me get here.

In fact, I feel so good that at the end of the month, in a mere 24 days, I will be participating in the Susan G. Komen 3 Day for the Cure with two of my wonderful friends from MOPS, Wendy and Alisa. That's right, I will be walking 60 miles over three days in order to help raise money to find a cure so that someday, blog posts like this will be a thing of the past. You were all so very supportive over the past year but I am going to push it and ask you, please, to once again support me by donating today. My goal is to raise $3000 and I am 28% of the way there.

My 3 Day Walk Donation Page

Thank you again to everyone- I truly could not have gotten through the past year without you!

Making Strides...

Unfortunately, I don't mean that I am making strides towards having a definitive treatment plan, you know, the kind with starts dates and that kind of semi-important stuff, although maybe (pretty please with whipped cream on top) more information along that line of things tomorrow.

No, actually I am talking about the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer event. I guess events, plural, would be more accurate. Making Strides is a series of walks held across the country by the American Cancer Society to raise money and awareness for breast cancer.

My "baby" sister, Betsy, decided to participate in the walk in Raleigh this coming weekend (October 3rd) as her way to feel she was "doing something." I think it has been really difficult for her, being clear on the other coast and not really feeling like she can help. I know I would would feel much the same way if our places were reversed.

I've heard from many of you back in NC and I know Betsy would love to have some walking partners so I'd like to encourage any of you that have flexible plans for the weekend to consider coming out and walking with her (sorry for the last minute notice- I'm a bad sister and didn't get this written until now... twenty lashes with a wet noodle for me!). There is no registration fee to participate though you are encouraged to make a donation and/or raise funds.

If you cannot participate yourself but would like to make a donation Betsy (and the American Cancer Society) would love that as well.

Here is a link to her personal Making Strides page where you can glean a bit more information about the event, sign up to participate, or make a donation:

Betsy's Making Strides Page

For those of you out here in the suddenly rainy PNW with me, there is a walk this weekend in Bellevue which I am considering participating in myself though I won't be making a final decision for a couple days (see above referenced lack of information from medical team making my life difficult to plan *ahem*). And for you Californians, there are several upcoming events during October depending on where you live.

Anyway, just something to consider as we head into Breast Cancer Awareness Month (holy cow! is it really almost October? good grief.)

My New WIP: Preventing Malaria

As you know, I try my best to keep this blog fairly light. I rarely tackle anything remotely hard-hitting preferring instead to attempt pithy comments and amusing banter. However, something has come to my attention recently and so, here, in my first post after a long absence I am going to do something serious, something I actually HATE doing. I am going to ask you for money. Not much money, but money nonetheless. Believe me, I know this is a tough time to open your wallet but I hope the you will read on and you will help. I know it's a long post, please indulge me :)

My husband, Todd, and I are trying to raise $500 in the next week to help our parish priest and native Kenyan provide 100 families in rural Kenya with anti-malarial mosquito nets for their children. Right now, when times are tough economically you can still help, even a small donation of just $5 - roughly your daily triple, non-fat, caramel machiatto - can buy a mosquito net that will keep children safe from malaria carrying mosquitoes.

Much has been made throughout the blogosphere of the generosity of the knitting and crafting community. I am hoping many of you choose to donate $5 for a net (and hopefully more), but please donate what you can, any amount puts us closer to giving a family a life saving tool. It’s important to note that 100% of the money we raise will go directly to buying the nets. No overhead, no wasted donations. Just money to save the lives of poor children in rural, western Kenya from malaria.

Why Are We Doing This? A Little Background

Todd and I belong to St. John’s Parish here in Seattle where a year ago Fr. Crispin Okoth, a village priest from Kenya, became our parish pastor. Fr. Crispin has been a wonderful addition to our lives. Listening to him preach and share stories of his life in Africa has been touching and a powerful reminder of how privileged we are to live in the United States. He is a joyful man, an even humbler priest and a selfless humanitarian. The last is not surprising given that Fr. Crispin hails from the rural, poor village of Bar-Kowino in Western Kenya outside the town of Bondo.

Father Crispin at St. John's School

Bar-Kowino has a little more then 4,000 residents, not a single paved road, and only a simple medical clinic in the nearby town of Bondo without a full time doctor. According to Fr. Crispin, the average “house” is a hut where all the kids of the “house” sleep together on the floor on mats.

This is a poor community that can use all the help it can get and where a little help goes a long way.

The Kenyan Goes Home - to help his Mother and Village

Fr. Crispin’s mother is ill and so he tries to go home as much as he can which, given the cost and distance, is only once or twice a year. When he has the chance to go home, Fr. Crispin likes to not only help his mom, but also do what he can do help his village. Fr. Crispin is well aware that very rural areas are often over-looked by the Kenyan government and international charities due to the logistics of getting to remote locations. So he takes it upon himself to cut through the red-tape to bring whatever assistance he can to his village.

One of the things that is near and dear to his heart is the fight against malaria. Priests are often surrogate care-givers in rural, poor areas of the developing world. And, as such, Fr. Crispin has done his fair share of acting as a medical proxy. Unfortunately that has meant holding way too many children in his arms as they suffered and died from malaria. All told, more then 50,000 (!) children die form malaria in Kenya every year. For comparison, there is a global swine flu epidemic that has dominated news cycles and public attention yet has killed less then a 1,000 world wide. How is it that we yet overlook the tragedy of malaria, horribly deadly but easily preventable? No one should die from malaria.

When the subject of malaria came up in a recent homily, Katie & I were both struck by the horror of so many children needlessly dying. One of the most effective ways to prevent malaria is to have children sleep under medically treated mosquito nets. And even better they are cheap solution- only $5 each! It truly only takes $5 to keep mosquitos form infecting and possibly killing a household of children because, as Fr. Crispin told us when we asked, all the children can sleep together under one large net on their sleeping mats. Both of us had heard of large charitable efforts like the one run by the NBA to help provide malarial nets, why did that not have a greater impact? The answer is two-fold. First is simply the scope of the need for the nets, Africa is, after all, an enormous, highly populous continent. The second reason is logistics. It is simply easier to distribute nets in more urban areas. The further from a population center you are, the less likely your are to have a net. Sadly, you are also far more likely to have less access to health care as well, not a good combination.

After several dinner table discussions, Todd and I agreed that we would try to help Fr. Crispin help his community back home by providing him with money to buy nets for his village. We set a (we hope) reasonable goal of raising $500, enough money to purchase 100 nets. And now we need your help. Your donations will have an immediate impact. Fr. Crispin leaves for Kenya on July 26th and will be distributing the nets to the neediest families as soon as he arrives. We need the donations by the 22nd so Fr. Crispin can order the nets in Nairobi for pickup when he arrives. Again, all the money donated will be used to purchase the nets. So please, help us help the children of Bar-kowino.

Remember, $500 = 100 families protected. $5.00 is not very much money and here is a situation where you can truly get a lot of bang for your buck.

And, if the knowledge that you are saving lives is not enough reward for you, I am sweetening the pot. If you donate, I will put your name into the hat for a yarn giveaway. Not a knitter? Don't worry, non-knitters who win will be gifted a handmade item. Here are the details:

1. Head over to the little Chipin widget on the right hand side of my blog.
2. Donate! (THANK YOU!!!!!)
   
3. Email me (dancingsheepnw [at] gmail.com, pm me on Ravelry (dancingsheep) or comment and tell me you donated (I'm not sure how much tracking Chipin let's us do so this will let me know who's donated). When you donate, your name goes in the proverbial hat.
   
4. After the donations close I will hold a drawing and give away the following:

For Knitters, 4 prizes:

• 2 skeins ShibuiKnits Sock in Pagoda plus a notions pouch made by me
  
• 2 skeins Blue Sky Alpacas Organic Cotton in Sand plus a notions pouch made by me
• 3 skeins Malabrigo Worsted in Emerald plus a notions pouch made by me
• 1 skein Malabrigo Lace in Cuarzo plus a One Skein project bag made by me

For Non-Knitters (3 prizes):

• a handknit hat and baked goods (TBD based on the winner's preferences)
  
• a pair of fingerless gloves and baked goods
  
• a cosmetic bag made by me and baked goods
  

I hope you all can help us with this new project.

Thank you for your help and consideration,

Katie & Todd

Lighthouses and Pink Cadillacs

What's been on my sewing table recently?

Napkins & Placemats.



I made my mom a set of mix & match napkins and placemats for Mother's Day. I found some fun fabric from Robert Kaufman with lighthouses and another with sailboats on it.



I thought they would be perfect for my parents to use down at the beach condo. I added a coordinating fabric for the backs of the napkins and used tan flannel to back the placemats. I was really pleased with the final product and my mom seemed to really like them. I am a little annoyed with myself for forgetting to take a picture of the lighthouse placement though... oh well.

What else am I making? Bags. Lots of bags. (this is probably self-evident but just in case you've been under a rock for the last few weeks...) Here's one I finished up last night:




I used some stashed Amy Butler Midwest Modern fabric for this bag and while I am not normally a big fan of yellow but I find this quite pretty. (which makes sense since I did purchase the fabric after all) I put this bag up on Etsy this afternoon so hopefully someone else will find it pretty, too.

I have also been lucky of have to have gotten a few commissions from several friends to make some new bags as well. Three of these are still in the planning/cutting stage (to be sewn this weekend) but I have one that is finished. Sort of.



This is a cosmetic pouch I created for a friend of mine who reps Mary Kay and it is only "sort of" finished because I need to make another four. Apparently the bags that MK makes available to its reps are really small and not terribly useful so we came up with this instead.



My friend will be using them in gift baskets and as a gift with purchase- I hope they work well for her. I am happier than I expected with results- I really like the clean lines and the contrast of the hot pink and black and white polka dots. The buttons definitely were needed, it looked a little naked before they were added. Yup. Makes me happy.

But what really makes me happy is the opportunity to work in this way. To have someone say to me, I trust you, here's an idea or some fabric, have at it. I really appreciate being able to exercise my creative muscles. So thanks you guys for giving me the opportunity!

Penguins & Playtime

I hope everyone had a fantastic time over the long weekend. We managed to get out and enjoy the sunny weather.

We headed over to Woodland Park Zoo to check out their new Humbolt penguin exhibit. It is really fantastic. The new exhibit represents a coastal fishing village in Chile or Peru and includes tide pools and nesting areas for the birds.

It's no longer just penguins swimming around either, there are all sorts of interactive parts to it:

Here's Gwennie the penguin warming the eggs in her nest.

And the whole thing was built to be green, using geothermal heating & cooling and filtering its own water for reuse.

Did you know there is a little playground at WPZ? I didn't. I must have walked past it a hundred times! Todd and the little ones introduced it to me on Monday. Very cute, all the activities are based on animal homes or habits.

Gwen enjoyed pretending to be a spider.

Both kids channeled their inner turtle for Aunt B.

And much time was devoted to running in, out, through, and over this burrow.

Typically Todd takes Gwen to the zoo while Matt naps on the weekends so it was nice to all get out together.

Bottom of the Barrel

I've got nothing today.

Well, that's not exactly true. I've got stuff.

Like this:

Star-Crossed Slouchy Beret (for me)
Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Vaa

Or this:

Deja vu! The second one was for a friend of mine. Still Malabrigo but the colorway is Taureg. This one is blocked, mine isn't. A nice knit. Obviously, or I wouldn't have made it twice no matter how Kristen might have "begged."

But really, the muse? She has left me and I just can't get motivated to try to say anything even remotely clever or amusing.

(note: if you don't feel that I am normally even remotely clever or amusing, please do not burst my bubble... I like my little fantasy world)

I want to share. I have lots of things percolating in the brain but sitting down to type? No appeal. I blame my laptop. It gave up the ghost a week ago and I haven't been the same since. Which is odd. I despised my laptop. It made me crazy (slow and cranky it was!). But. It was mine. And now I am forced to squat on my husband's old MacBook.

sigh

Not the same. I miss you cranky, slow, infuriating HP!

Anyhow. More soon. I made a hat for Gwen which is quite cute- I just have to get her to take a picture in sans that awful Fake Smile she has going right now.

Bleh. No good pictures unless I ambush her and that is hard to do if you want her to model something. She might be three but she's no dummy. "What? Oh, I know it's 65 degrees Sweet Pea, but I think you should wear this new hat Mommy made you anyway..." Uh huh. Like that's gonna fly.

And, Thank you! to everyone who has said nice things about my little enterprise. Everyone has been supportive and I've even managed sell a few things. I'm working on a few things and hope to have some fun new things to share next week. (I wonder if I could work "things" into this paragraph again? Oh look! I just did.)

And (last item I promise) in case I get all wrapped up in life and forget to post before Sunday: Happy Mother's Day to all my mommy friends and most especially,

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

I have no idea how you did it and every day I grow more in more in awe of you (and Daddy, too) for the way you raised the three of us- thank you, thank you, thank you! Love you!

My Daughter, the Tulip Killer

Over the years there have been times when I've asked my mom a question about my childhood and she's turned to me and said, "It was a good thing you were cute." This statement puzzled me. Huh? What did being cute have to do with anything? I just didn't get it.

Well, Mom, I get it. I understand. It only took the acquisition of two adorable but mischievous (intentionally or otherwise) children before I heard your words playing in my head, "Aaaaaaaarrrgh. It's a good thing you're cute..."

Any mother will tell you that no matter how much you love your children, sometimes they behave in a way that Just. Makes. You. Crazy. And then, indeed, it is a very good thing they are cute.

Case in point:


Gwen loves flowers. To Death.
sigh

I've been anxiously awaiting the arrival of my tulips since they were planted last fall. I love tulips and eagerly looked forward to the day when I could step outside, cut a few blooms and bring the colorful vibrancy inside with me. It is not to be. At least in the backyard where Gwennie has shown herself to be even more eager than I am to enjoy the flowers. Poor things were plucked from the ground before they could bloom.

Thank goodness for the fence that prevents her from ravaging the flowers in the front yard.

Successful Hunting

Egg hunting that is. Saturday we took the little ones to the Bunny Bounce at Woodland Park Zoo.

Gwen moved up from the Toddler area to the "Big Kid" area so I was a bit worried she might have trouble holding her own.

I need not have worried.

Everyone had a good time and we topped off the egg hunting with a turn on the carousel.

I haven't said much about it here but I have been doing a lot of sewing. Here is my favorite creation to date:

Simplicity Pattern 2674

Gwen's Easter dress. Cute blue (her Favorite color) "Baby Bunny" fabric is from Lakehouse Dry Goods.

My only modification was the placement of the ribbon, not a big deal. I thought the pattern was well written and explained. My only criticism would be the lack of detail for setting in the sleeves... That was the hardest part and had virtually no detail... or it could have been my lack of sleep catching up with me. At any rate, I am pleased with the dress and Gwen loves it so all is good.

Even if she is a total goof ball.

Retrograde

I cannot believe that there are only two and half weeks until Christmas- where has the time gone? I think the late Thanksgiving and the resulting shorter pre-Christmas run up really has my brain flummoxed (love that word- I think we should bring back into regular use, it so precised describes that sort of baffled "what the heck?" feeling I experience so frequently these days).

I think I'm making progress. Gifts have been purchased. Gifts have been made, not all are done but I'm getting there. I am slowly getting the house decorated...

And... my children are slowly un-decorating it for me. My main accomplishment thus far was decorating the tree. Gwen's big accomplishment?

Removing the ornaments.

"But Mama, I liiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-iiiiiiiiiiiiiiike holding them."

well. Who can argue with that kind of logic?

sigh

I'm an Auntie!!

Yesterday my sister in law (hubby's brother's wife) gave birth to a beautiful little boy making me an aunt for the first time (I'm not posting a photo because I don't know how they'd feel about it).

Guess I'd better buckle down and finish up the knitted gifts... I'm working on the trio from the original Mason-Dixon Knitting




Baby Bib o' Love, still needs a button...



Heartbreakingly Cute Baby Kimono. I'm now considerably further along than this, the back & left sleeve are completed and I have about ten more rows to go on the left side.



The Baby Genius Burp Cloth - done. Thank goodness something is done.

If you are wondering about the massive quantities of yellow for a baby boy I'd like to point out that the sex of the little one was a surprise until yesterday. This is actually why I am still knitting at this late date (no, it was just my natural tendency to procrastinate this time). I was all excited to knit cute little boy or girl things- had lists of them in my mind- but then my brother-in-law told us they weren't going to find out what they were having.

Plbbbbbbbbbbt.

All the air left my balloon of baby knitting happiness. I just couldn't get excited to knit unisex baby things. No idea why. It was terribly irrational. But then a week ago I realized that the due date was RAPIDLY approaching and some knitting must be done, so here you have it. Hopefully I'll have it all finished it the next couple days...

PS. I know. Two posts in a week. Try not to faint.

Fully Vested

I finished my gift for Todd just in the nick of time, threw a ribbon around it and handed it over to him minutes before our anniversary ended.

This is the Subtle Stripe Vest by Lara Killian. The yarn is Cascade 220 Superwash in a Green/Blue/Grey with flecks of gold (#867 I think- it is a great color). I used my trusty Addi Turbos in size 5.

This was my largest garment project to date and I am pretty happy with the results. The vest is exactly what I wanted: simple, but with just enough detail to keep it from being boring. If I make this vest again I will pick up more stitches along the armholes and neck than the instructions indicate because I felt the ribbing was not as “dense” as I would have liked in an ideal world.

I also need to add that I liked the yarn more than I thought I would. While I would never call it soft it never bothered my hands and was quite tolerable. I anticipate using it again in the future. I feel like I am the last one on the Cascade 220 bandwagon but better late than never, right?

Ravelry Killed My Blogging Star...

And that's all I'm going to say about that.

Hi everyone! I hope you are all having lovely summers... I haven't been reading any blogs lately so I'm a bit behind- hopefully everything's groovy.

Groovy? Really? Man, I am out of practice.

Anyway, we're doing well here at Chez Sheep. A quick catch up:

The littles are still cute.

Matt turned one!!!

Gwen now thinks everything is a balance beam (even before the Olympics).

And I am still knitting...

gasp

This is my main Ravelympics project, the Clementine Shawlette from Interweave Knits (that's a Ravelry link, if you aren't signed up, MOM, get over there and do it). The yarn is Malabrigo Silky Merino in Camote and it is just delightful.

I'm not as far along as I'd like to be and I'm starting to think I won't finish before the closing ceremonies because I am also working on this:

The Subtle Stripe Vest by Lara Killian. This is going to be a gift for Todd for our anniversary at the end of the month so it has a definite deadline. (And I really hope that he doesn't read my blog... he says he doesn't so if he lied, well... too bad. No surprise for you.) The yarn is Cascade 220 Superwash which I like more than I thought I would. As much as I would have like to use Malabrigo Worsted for this vest Todd would felt it faster than you can say "Handknit."

That's it for now... I don't want to over do it- I might pull something as I work my way back into blogging shape.