Month: October 2020

Halloween

mildlygranola12 Comments

Like most things this year, Halloween was weird. Our city allowed trick or treating, but with COVID cases rising and kids who forget to socially distance once excited and/or hopped up on sugar, we decided to skip it this year. Halloween is a big deal in our house, so we found other ways to make it fun.

In the Des Moines area trick or treating is done the night before Halloween and it is called Beggars Night. I am not from Des Moines, so I cannot tell you why this stupid tradition exists. I try not to talk about it as my husband gets really annoyed with me each year when I calmly explain to him how freaking asinine the tradition is (he grew up here). I’m only telling you this so you can understand the timeline of Halloween fun.

Last night I picked up a couple of fun pizza products from Aldi. They had mini margarita pizzas and jack o’lantern pizzas (with a butternut squash sauce and mascarpone cheese, yum!). The kids always love pizza for dinner, and giving them tiny pizza was a hit. The squash pizza was not a hit with them, but John and I both liked it.

We did not let the kids trick or treat in the neighborhood. We did, however, let them dress up from the costume trunk and trick our treat inside our house. The kids would knock on doors and get candy from John and I. We all had a good time. The kids were thrilled when we let them eat candy after trick or treating.

For Halloween today the kids decorated a chocolate cookie haunted house. I put the building together with a bit of help from Audrey, and then I let them decorate it. I didn’t try to make it pretty or have more of a theme or cohesive look (which was difficult for me). I let them have at it, and they had a lot of fun.

Tomorrow we will pack up the decorations and start thinking seriously about winter coming. For tonight I’m going to enjoy some tea and the fun of Halloween.

Thursday

mildlygranola28 Comments

I knit daily. I like other crafts, but the only one I regularly practice is knitting. I decided to change things up a bit. Every Thursday I’m going to work on a non-knitting craft for at least 30 minutes. Today I spent my time sewing.

The first thing I did was mend two shirts. I had been putting off fixing them, but now that my serger is always out it was easy to sit down and fix them. It took about 10 minutes to fix them, which includes the time to rethread one of the needles.

After that I organized my in progress sewing and started working on an apron I started last year. It is a Halloween panel, and should not take long to finish. I was frustrated with the ties last year and put it in a bag and forgot about it. I finished the ties today and ironed the panel. With any luck I’ll finish it before Halloween. I could finish it tonight if I tried, but I would rather work on my Oxbow.

When digging out the apron I remembered that it also came with oven mitts. I am never going to make the mitts, but if one of my Halloween loving friends would like the fabric please let me know and I’ll send it your way.

Do you have trouble getting to other crafts because knitting gets in the way? Am I the only one that obsessed?

WIP Wednesday

mildlygranola10 Comments

I’ve been knitting when I haven’t been organizing or traveling to Saint Louis and back, and I have made progress this week. On my shawl I’m now decreasing for the square. It is mindless knitting, so I’ve been picking it up at the end of the day when my brain has shut off for the evening.

I’m moving along on the Oxbow. I am loving the sweater. The yarn is very smooshy. I love working with Beaverslide Dry Goods. There have been several knots in the yarn, which would be very annoying if spit splicing were not so easy. I should be attaching the sleeves by the end of the week. I don’t have a picture this week because I can’t be bothered to dig it out right now.

Are your projects moving along?

Craft Room Update

mildlygranola23 Comments

We moved into our house in the beginning of August. I spent the first three weeks furiously unpacking. I unpacked the first floor. I unpacked the second floor. I ignored the basement.

Last weekend, in Saint Louis, Kirsten and I spent an evening knitting, drinking margaritas, and binge watching The Home Edit. It was as wonderful as it sounds. When we got home on Sunday, a day earlier than planned as Elliot refused to sleep there and was becoming a bit of a tyrant, I peeked into the craft room when returning the suitcases to the basement. I decided it was time.

The craft room was not in good shape. It was not a usable space. See what I mean?

I spent most of yesterday and half of today organizing the room. I now have a room I can use!

Craft supplies for the kids in the small bookcases, crafts for me on the metal shelves.
Wrigley’s clothes are now in a basket on her kennel (yes, Kathy, that is a Cubs jacket for my dog). I’ve corralled the wrapping paper and put wrapping supplies on the first shelf of the art cart. I’ve tucked kids painting supplies on to the second shelf of the cart so it only gets pulled out when I want to deal with kids painting. To the right of the cart is where I’ll keep my projects that I should be sewing. My machine and serger now live on my desk. I can keep them plugged in and ready to go, which should get me sewing again. In the cabinets above the sewing machines I have fabric and some sewing supplies. The library table will be used for crafts and school work when we feel like doing school in the craft room. I’ve added shawls to the chairs not as a decoration, but because the basement is always cold.

Who knew that binge watching The Home Edit could make a person so productive? I’m hoping to get to the game room next, as I would like to be able to find our games easily.

Have you been inspired to organize because of a show? Can you recommend a show that will inspire me to clean my house with good cheer?