Charlotte's Little Summer Dress

Here's a cotton dress that I recently knit for Charlotte. I'm so glad she loves it. It took me quite a while to knit because I found the endless amounts of stockinette stitch using cotton yarn a bit mind numbing. Cotton yarn doesn't stretch like wool so I find it harder to knit with. I'm glad I finally finished it though since it turned out so cute. I'm glad Charlotte has the skin tone to pull off peach. This yarn was given to me by my aunt's friend, Debbie. A friend of hers passed away and never finished a summer sweater she had been knitting using this yarn. I was able to salvage the yarn from the half-finished sweater and turn it into a sweet little dress for Charlotte. I hope Debbie's friend would be pleased with how I used her yarn.

The yarn is Reynolds "Saucy" mercerized cotton. It's a worsted weight yarn and I used color 133.

The pattern is Little Summer Dress from Ravelry. I had to alter the pattern a bit to fit Charlotte since the largest size listed was 4-5. Luckily the width was fine and it just needed to be lengthened.

I love the yolk/neckline of this dress. It was pretty simple to knit but the effect is very pretty. I had to graft the underarms and I was dreading using the kitchener stitch again. Luckily I found a great youtube video and followed it very carefully. I was so excited that I finally grafted successfully! I used some bits of leftover cotton yarn to stitch lazy daisies and leaves along the bottom and neckline.

Cherry Season

A few weeks ago Whole Foods had a one day sale on their organic cherries. Though they were $2.99/lb., I was able to buy a case (18lbs) for $48. It was a great price for any cherries but an even better deal for organic cherries.

I stock the freezer with produce when it's in season so these will be the only cherries we'll have until next summer.

I sat down in front of the TV, covered the coffee table with a towel and pitted 18 pounds of cherries. I bagged the pitted cherries in quart sized freezer bags and put them in the freezer. We'll enjoy them in smoothies, muffins, oatmeal, and straight out of the freezer after they thaw for a few minutes.

Next year I'm hoping to go cherry picking locally. Each year I seem to miss the very small window of time when they're in season locally.

In a few weeks it'll be time to stock the freezer with blueberries.... then peaches....then apples... then pumpkin.... then......

Honey Sweetened Lemonade

I recently made some lemonade and experimented with using honey as the sweetener instead of sugar. It was wonderful. I used a light colored/flavored honey so it wouldn't overpower the lemon flavor. It's the perfect summer drink to enjoy on those days when you start to sweat just reading the weather report for the day.

Honey Sweetened Lemonade

1 cup fresh lemon juice
3/4-1 cup light honey (I liked the tartness of 3/4 c. but Jon and the kids liked it better with 1 c.)
2 quarts of water

Mix together the honey and lemon juice in a small sauce pan or in a microwaveable bowl. Warm slightly until the juice and honey mix together easily. Pour juice and honey mixture into a large pitcher and fill with about 2 quarts of water. Stir until well combined. Refrigerate until cold or add to glasses filled with ice.

...And Off Jumps Jack!

In through the front door,
Once around back,
Peek through the window,
And off jumps Jack!

This is a little rhyme to help teach children the steps used in knitting.

While we were in Nags Head, I taught Charlotte how to knit. I've been looking forward to teaching her but worried that she might be too young. Boy did she ever surprise me. She was knitting on her own within about 10 minutes.

She kept repeating the rhyme while she did each step. She even learned how to keep her tension steady after me showing her only once.

It can be helpful to use your toes and to stick your tongue out while knitting.

It was a great moment to sit with her and knit together. She has her own purple needles and she's slowly turning the red wool blend into a doll blanket.

Another knitter joins the ranks! Does this mean I'm soon going to have to start sharing my yarn stash? Oops.... maybe I didn't think this through.

Surf, Sand, and Fun

Earlier this month we took a trip to Nags Head, NC with Jon's parents, sister and her husband. We stayed for almost a week in a house right on the beach.

Aunt Sue was always ready to hold a hand to keep the kids from washing out to sea.

Grandpa was waving to use from the deck of the house. It was a duplex with the side on the left being ours.

Jon and Dave having fun when we went out to eat.

Charlotte and Evan loved running in and from the waves. I love this action shot of Charlotte.

Grammy and Grandpa's beach umbrellas are so beautiful. I love rainbows colors.

I spent a good bit of time sitting in a beach chair reading a book while watching the kids and Jon dig in the sand. I have to admit that I'm not a huge fan of sand and actually getting into the ocean. I loved listening to and watching the waves though.

Charlotte and Grandpa enjoying the shade

Snack time!

Uncle Dave is always up for a good game. He and Charlotte played countless games that week.

I love this picture. This is the kind of image that I try to hold in my mind when they're fussing with each other.

This is the smile you get now when you tell Evan "Smile for the camera!". I love that boy.

One of the many sand creations by Jon that week. I'm not quite sure what it is.

We went to Roanoke Aquarium while we were at the beach. Evan was very tired that day.... well, a lot of the days. It was a very busy week for a 4 year old without his naps.

A blurry picture of us inside a shark's mouth

Evan loved these tanks.

I'm not sure what he's showing me in this picture but I love his sleepy little eyes in this picture.

Jon and I took the kids to the Wright Brothers National Memorial. It was a nice little museum and a nice break from the crowds of the other attractions.

Note to self: Do not wear a skirt on a windy day.... you'll end up flashing whoever might be walking behind you. Yikes.

From his stance, it looks like Jon has conquered this monument.

Oh no! Where are Jon's legs?

One of my favorite things that we did during that week was mini golf. We didn't keep score and we were loose with the rules which made it fun and relaxed. We went to the Lost Treasure golf course (complete with a huge pirate ship). You had to ride a little train to get to get to the start of the course.

Charlotte got style points for her stance during this shot.

Before.....

After!!

There were unexpected obstacles on the course resembling 4 year old little boys.

Jon adjusted his dad's hat and Grandpa walked around for a minute looking like a hip-hop artist. What should Grandpa's rap name be?

The big pirate ship...

Even though we weren't on the side of the course that included the pirate ship, Jon snuck the kids on for a quick look.

"Kids, there is a swimming pool across the road for us to swim in. You don't have to swim in the bucket."

During another of Jon's "digs", he discovered supports from an old dock or walkway.

I guess I didn't take any pictures from our many swims in the pool. I loved cooling off at the pool and the kids loved practicing their swimming skills.

Soon I'll show you what new skill I taught Charlotte while we were at the beach.