2011: A Year In Review

I love to take this time of year to look back and evaluate the past year as well as make new goals for the coming year. Here is a list, in no particular order, of some of the events that have happened in 2011: (I might share some of my goals later, we'll see.)

-Miss Fifi has learned lots of words. She now says: Hi, Mom, ruff (sometimes it's "oof"), moo (all animals, according to her, say ruff or moo), Da, "ot" (hot), out, and "ut-ut" (uh-oh).

-Rory worked really hard in school. He received and associate's degree in Pre Electrical Engineering. Now he is looking forward to attending the University of Utah to finish his bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering.

-Miss Fifi has also learned a lot of signs. She knows: all done, milk, I love you (it looks like something else...), change (for diaper change), book, and please (she rubs her belly for that. So funny.) She also started folding her arms for prayers and pointing at her mouth when she's hungry, I didn't teach her that one but I'll take it.

-In true Jones form: We're moving again. (Oh, the stress to be had.)

-Miss Fifi turned one.

-Rory quit his job so we can move.

-I learned to enjoy homemaking more. I always knew that I wanted to stay home when I had kids, but I didn't know it would be as rewarding. I know it isn't for everyone, but it's for me.

-I knit a bunch with my spare time. Here are photos of some more things I knit and crochet. (I did the red blanket, headband with the crochet red flower, diaper cover, and the crochet booties. Isn't Piper adorable!?)

Another thing I like to do is look back at our finances from the past year. This year was... well... Let's say: this year was modest. (That's a nice spin.) Between me staying home to be with Miss Fifi and Rory working part time to go to school, we had to make some sacrifices. And, I wouldn't have changed a thing. I consider us very blessed that we were in the financial position we were in when this year began. One thing that I am proud of is that at one point during the year we had a fully funded emergency fund! It lasted about a month before we had an emergency and had to dip into it, but still, I feel like we did a pretty good job this year.

Call it luck, call it blessings, call us the recipients of wonderfully charitable acts; all in all, I'd say we had a pretty good year. This year had it's stresses and un-fun days. But looking back I'm so grateful for how 2011 turned out. I'm also looking forward to bigger and better things that 2012 may have to offer.

I wish everyone a happy new year!

Miss Fifi's Blanket

I forgot to share photos of the blanket I made for Miss Fifi. I finished it long before her birthday, but I spaced sharing them with you.

I got the pattern here, but I modified it to make it bigger. It measures 56 x 36 inches, which is the perfect size for her crib.

I also had some left over yarn so I made a couple of other things for her.

The pattern for the leggings here. They are really simple, but the turned out pretty cute.

For the hat, I got the pattern for the Celtic Cables I used for the sides, here. Then I made up the rest.

Not too bad for improvising, right?

Miss Fifi loves this hat. She will bring the hat to me so that I can put it on her about 5 times a day. I'm so glad she likes it.

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What I'm Listening To:

Group: The Lower Lights

Album: Come Let Us Adore Him

We got a surprise at our door last night. A friend dropped this by for Christmas. What a great way to start the Christmas season? It is calming and sweet. I highly recommend it. The instrumental version of O Little Town Of Bethlehem is probably my favorite of the album. Check it out.

Pouf 2.0

I made another pouf. I love how it turned out. The yarn I used is so much softer than the yarn I used for the first. I love it.

I made this one for my friend. She picked the colors and I love how they look together. Good call, Shelly. Very bright and happy, just like her.

I also made it slightly smaller so that it is a little more firm and holds it's shape a little more.

One of my improvements is that I made it without a seam going up the middle. I think it looks a lot nicer this way.

I'll probably be making a couple more of these in the future, so stay tuned.

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What I'm listening to:

Artist: Robbie Connolly

Robbie is the guitarist for the sweet local band; Fictionist. His wife is an artist and blogger. (via Hue and Hum) I've been following her blog for a few months now. She posted a couple links to videos of his solo work. It is quite bluesy and cool. My favorite song is probably "I'd rather be alone." I recommend that you check it out.

Pin It

I Knit a Pouf: Updated

So I've been coveting these things on the Interwebs as of late. But at the steep price of $250, it just wasn't going to happen. So I found a pattern to knit one, (Thanks Interwebs!) made a few modifications and Voila!

I present to you my knit Pouf:

If you'll notice, I sewed an orange covering for the cushion before stuffing it. (An added feature) I'm having second thoughts on the color scheme I chose, but it works for our place and it's "fall-time" as Rory would say.

I love it. It's really comfortable to sit on or to rest your feet. It stands about 15 inches high and 22 inches in diameter.

Yes, in an attempt to get more light, I DID haul my living room furniture outside.

I have some sweet ideas for how I want to make more of these, but I can't have more than one pouf. (Now that would just be crazy. Ha ha) Thus I've come to a proposition. *If anyone would like me to make one for them, email me. I'd love to make one for you. You can choose the color scheme to fit your home. I would like to change the stitch pattern and make a minor yarn upgrade. Trust me, this would be an amazing deal. So, email me for more info: bridgett.c.jones {at} gmail.com.

*I've got a couple volunteers. Thanks for the response!

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What I'm listening to:

Artist: The Dead Weather

Album: Horehound

This is a little harder than what I usually listen to, but I have a theory that Jack White has the Midas Touch. It is pretty cool. Check it out if you'd like.

Things

Please note: Some of the contents of this blog post sways into complaining, on the verge of pity-party territory. I apologize.

I would like to be a better blogger, but I feel like things are so up in the air right now that I don't have much to blog about. Here is an update... Well, it's not even an update because there is much yet to be decided. So, here is my non-update:

Rory is finishing his Associate's degree in Pre-Electrical Engineering in December. After that, he has to transfer to a different school to finish his Bachelor's since UVU doesn't offer a EE Bachelor's degree. So, we'll probably be moving in a few months. Where to? We still don't know. We've thought about BYU. It would be nice because we wouldn't have to move, but between the classes he'd have to repeat (since they don't accept some credits from UVU) and religion classes it would tack on possibly an extra year to his degree. No thanks. We've narrowed it down to a couple of state schools. USU and U of U. Logan or Salt Lake City. Right now we are leaning towards U of U. That could change tomorrow. I don't know.

We are also coming to the realization that as Rory finishes his degree, we just might have to go into debt. The thought of debt makes me cringe.

The thought of moving farther away from family doesn't bother me. I think it will be good for us to not rely on family for babysitting and entertainment when we are bored and don't want to make dinner. Anyone else know how that is? Moving a little farther away will be an adventure. It's just not knowing where we need to look that I'm having the hardest time with. I'm a planner. I need time to work things out in my head and... well, plan. Not knowing where we'll be in five months scares me.

Part of me just wants to get the next couple years over with. I don't like thinking that way because A) That would mean I'm one of those people who live thinking; 'life will start as soon as...' (they graduate, they buy a house, they lose the extra 5 lbs. etc.) As cheesy as the old cliche is, it's true; "Happiness is a journey, not a destination." (If you know who first said or wrote it please, help a sister out.) And B) Could you imagine Miss Fifi skipping from 10 months old to almost 3 years. She's already growing way faster than I believe is fair. Skipping two years of her life is unimaginable.

Speaking of Miss Fifi; isn't she cute?

Because I am unable to solidify moving plans and such, I've focused my efforts on planning Miss Fifi's birthday party and knitting her a blanket. Her party will be awesome, trust me on that one. Would you like a sneak-peak of her blanket? Shhh... I need to trust that you won't tell her about it.

That's all you're getting for now. I didn't go with any of the patterns I listed in my previous post. (Found HERE.) I found this one soon after I published my last post and really liked it. I'll probably do the Escher one some day, but I decided that it wasn't baby enough for Miss Fifi.

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What I'm Listening to:

Artist: Snow Patrol
Album: Eyes Open

It's just some good stuff I haven't heard in a while. You Could Be Happy is probably my favorite song on the album. Unfortunately, I never really paid attention to Snow Patrol until this album was released. It was their fourth album, did you know that? I didn't realize that. They are about to release their sixth album, actually. Crazy. I had no idea. I'm not sure if there is a release date for that, but they've got an EP due September 4th.

Rory and I were just talking and we realized that we both bought this album and Death Cab for Cutie's Plans at the same time before we met. (Are we soul-mates or what? haha)

Ice Cream Knitting

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I love ice cream. I could eat it every day. In fact, I pretty much did while I was pregnant. I even decided to knit a blanket with a color scheme inspired by my favorite ice cream: Orange Swirl. I'm finally finished with it. It is pretty cool, if I do say so myself. Do you want to see it? Okay, here it is:

The pattern is found HERE.

It is square (5 feet by 5 feet). I love it. The color changes were a little annoying at first, but I switched the colorwork method I was using to one that looks better. (I mentioned this method in THIS post.) This method ended up being easier in the end, too. I'm super happy with how it turned out.

Now, I want to come up with a new blanket. This one will be for Miss Fifi's 1st birthday. (She is ten months old, already. Can you believe it?) I have a few ideas but I need help deciding. I could do something like the Baby Chalice Blanket, the Gingham Baby Blanket, a simple Basket-weave pattern, or double knit blanket inspired by the artwork of M C Escher. (I double knit an argyle pattern in THIS post, so you can get an idea of what double knitting can look like.) The last idea would be complicated, but it would be super thick and warm. Tell me what you think, please. I need help.

I also need color suggestions. If I went with either of the first three ideas, I'd only want one color. If I went with the Escher-inspired idea, I would need two colors. As my sister put it: "You know that her favorite color will be pink, at one time or another." I don't know if I want to do a pink blanket, though. Help me please.

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What I'm listening to:

Cold War Kids. They are a super cool band. Robbers & Cowards is the only album we own, unfortunately. Hang Me Up to Dry is probably my favorite song on the album. I may or may not sing it while I do my laundry...

They are pretty cool. Check them out.

If You Want to Destroy My... Blanket?

...pull this thread as I walk away.

Here are a couple of blankets that I knitted. I'm happy with how they turned out. They both took a while, but it was worth it.

This blanket I made for my nephew. He was born 5 weeks early but luckily I had this done already. I was able to give it to my brother and sister-in-law at the hospital.

I got the pattern here. They call it the Wave Blanket, but they are also called feather and Fan Blankets. It is technically lace, since there are the strategic holes in the fabric. But, it was pretty simple. The most difficult part was keeping count of my stitches. I kind of got sick of the pattern since it was very repetitive. But I think it turned out considering this was my first knit blanket.

This second blanket I made for... well I'm not sure who. He or She has not been born yet. I'll say I made it for my sister-in-law and brother-in-law. Because they are not finding out the gender of their baby I had to find a cute gender neutral pattern.

It's called the Hip Hop Blanket. It was in my Stitch and B**** book that Rory gave me. I think I mentioned it before. I changed it up a bit. The original pattern had five scattered bunnies on it, but I thought I'd like the look of just one. Besides, it made the back a little more clean. I also used different yarn. I used an acrylic yarn from Hobby Lobby. I usually don't like to use acrylic, but this yarn was the softest acrylic yarn I've ever felt, so I thought I'd give it a try. I also learned a new colorwork trick with this blanket. I learned how to catch the color that I'm not using behind so that I don't create big loops of yarn behind the fabric. If that doesn't make sense, don't worry about it. It's just geeky-knit talk, anyway.

Right now I'm working on my third blanket. This one I'm making for myself. At first I was going really fast on it, but since it has been so hot lately, I haven't really wanted to sit with a big blanket on my lap to knit. Also, I'm still not sure how big I want to make it and how I want to finish off the edge. It's still in my current projects basket. But just know: It will be an awesome blanket. A blanket that will put all other blankets to shame. So stay tuned...

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What I'm listening to: No, I'm not listening to Weezer.

I'm actually listening to the title track of Thao and The Get Down Stay Down's album Know Better Learn Faster. It's a pretty sweet song.

I first heard of Thao Nguyen (the band's front-woman) in 2008 or 2009 when she came through SLC with The Hotel Cafe Tour. She was pretty awesome. It was a great show sans Lenka. She's not my taste.

Give a Baby a Hat; She'll Wear it a Day, Teach a Baby to Knit... You'll be an Instant Millionaire

I've been knitting a lot of hats lately. I want get to where I can just think up an idea for a hat and design my own pattern to do it. I'm a long way from where I want to be, but I feel like I'm improving.

I've had a number of friends who've had babies the last couple months. So, to practice my hat knitting skills, I have knit hats as gifts for them. I figured that it might be a good gift because I didn't think to have many hats for Miss Fifi before she was born. (Since she was born in October, she desperately needed them for winter) I wanted to come up with a design that would fit a newborn well. A lot of patterns (as well as hats you can buy) are really too large for a newborn. They often look like they might drown. We don't want that, do we? In fact, my favorite "newborn" hat design fits a seven-month-old Miss Fifi. But, I want to make hats that fit perfectly for the pretty-much-always-bundled-up-even-in-summer stage. I will have to play around with this design some more.

Anyway, here are a few of my attempts. Let me know what you think.

Attempt One:

Attempt Two:

I like the style of this one. You know- the folded over top. (Does that even make sense?)

Attempt Three:

This one is my favorite, so far. I love the cables. It looks so classy, but it is rather large.

Here it is on Miss Fifi. She's seven months old, hardly newborn size.

The white flower she is wearing was made by a friend in my ward. Here is her Facebook fan page. It's currently my favorite flower for Miss Fifi.

Fun with Miss Fifi's Cousins

I had a new nephew born a few weeks ago. He was born five weeks early, so he had to stay in the NICU for a couple weeks because he wasn't digesting food properly for the first little while. He got to come home two weeks ago, oxygen in tow. He is a cute little boy, if I do say so myself. He made Miss Fifi look like she was enormous. I've said it before and I'll say it again; It is amazing how much babies change in the first few months.

Isn't he cute?

The new older brother, laughing at Tigger.

The new baby came home when my sister and her girls happened to be here for a visit. It was the first time my nieces met Miss Fifi. They were so excited to meet her. My six-year-old niece LOVED holding her. I thought she would get bored after a few minutes, but she would sit and hold her for like an hour. I kept asking; "Do you want me to take her so you can go play?" And each time she would say no. Miss Fifi has such sweet cousins.

It is always busy when my sister comes to town. We eat lots of food, do lots of shopping, lots of visiting, and the kids play all day.

We went to visit my grandma. (She is awesome.)

We laughed.

Miss Fifi was mauled by her cousins.

(Don't worry, she loves them even though she may not always photograph well with them.)

I knit a couple of headbands for my nieces.

Everyone drooled over new fancy gadgets. (Some literally.)

We even had an Easter Egg Hunt.

Why am I holding a basket, you ask? I was just helping Miss Fifi, I promise.

Miss Fifi mostly just liked to chew on the basket.

The kids got lots of loot. Pssst... There was even money involved. The paper kind.

Here is a photo of Miss Fifi with her Dad. Isn't he pretty?

It was a really fun week. Hopefully, soon I'll be able to post photos of Easter day.

Another photo of Miss Fifi for good measure.

Rory just got done with his last final (Dang it, I've been done with this semester for like a month now and I wasn't even in classes), so we'll be spending some family time now. Got to go.

I've been knitting

This was a Christmas present I made for Rory. We thought it would be fun last year to do homemade gifts. It really was fun. I think it will be a tradition we will keep. It was a very challenging project, but once I got the technique and pattern down, it was really fun.

The scarf, I found, in a knitting book called Son of Stitch n' B****. No kidding. It uses a technique called double knitting. That is where you knit with two different colors at the same time. It makes it extra thick and warm. The two colors also makes it reversible. See?

The hat, I came up with myself, inspired by the argyle in the scarf. It too is reversible.

This was definitely the most complicated thing I've ever knit. I told Rory numerous times that he better wear it a lot. So if you ever see him not wearing this hat and scarf and it is under 60 degrees, remind him of his Christmas present that his wonderful wife spent hours on. Okay, we'll make that 40 degrees...

"It's like you're unraveling a big cable-knit sweater that someone keeps knitting and knitting and knitting and knitting and knitting and knitting..."

I've taken up knitting again. I first learned when I was in Jr. High. I just hadn't had time for it after that. Since my baby was born and I am no longer working, I rediscovered my old hobby. When I was younger, I wasn't really proud of the fact that I knit because it has the reputation of being something that only old ladies do. But you should know it is actually cool; all the hipster kids are doing it. You'll just have to trust me on that.

I hope to share with you some of the projects I've done in the future. It will give me more incentive to finish projects. For now I will share one hat I made for my baby, (she will now be referred to as: Miss Fifi). This hat is called the Butterfly Beret.

I made this smaller than the pattern said so that Miss Fifi could wear it, but as you can see, it is still too big. She will have to grow into it. That is fine by me. In the mean time, Miss Fifi will just look like a little mushroom.

I also made one for myself. I love it. It was a really fun knit, and a lot easier than it looks.

Also, I finished mine a little differently than the pattern as well.

If anyone would like the pattern, let me know and I can post a link.