Bear-y Cute!

Ok, so I know I am a super knitting dork over here, but I just can't help myself! I get these crazy ideas in my head and then I just have to see if I can make them a reality. This one, this crazy mama idea is AWESOME! I decided my little bean needed a bear hat. After all, she was a polar bean on the way home from the hospital and her fall coat is brown beary bean perfection! Of course, she needed to have a bear hat to complete the look!

It took me about four days (we're talking mom time) to finish the hat and then another night and day to do the ears and the face.

 

Without ears

 How beary cute is this!!

 The finished product! So cute!!!

Bear Hat

Brown yarn

Cast on 70 stitches on size 4 round needles. 

Knit the first row

Purl the next inch of material

Knit the rest of the hat. 

Once the material is 6 inches long, start decreasing every 6th stitch until you have 8-10 stitches remaining and then bind off.

Face

Tapestry needle

Black Yarn

Buttons - 2

Using a tapestry needle, create the nose with three stitches using black yarn.

From the middle of the nose sew down and across to create the mouth.

Sew two black buttons on for the eyes.

Ears

Brown yarn

size 6 straight needles

tapestry needle

measuring tape

Cast on 10 stitches

knit across rows 1-4

Row 5 knit one, increase one, knit across to second to last stitch and then increase, knit one (now you have 12 stitches)

Row 6 knit across

For rows 7-10 repeat 5 and 6 until you have 16 stitches.

Rows 11-14 knit across

Row 15 (start the decrease) knit one, knit two together, knit across to last 3 stitches, knit two together, knit one

Rows 16-19 repeat row 15 until you have 6 stitches remaining

Bind off all stitches and leave a long end for sewing.

Using a measuring tape, measure down two inches from the center of the top of the hat. This is where you will start sewing the ears onto the hat.

Stress and Drama

We've been going through quite a lot of stuff over here lately. Within just a short amount of time we have lost a loved one and we've had to temporarily relocate. It seems that every time the weather turns cold, life gets a little bit chaotic for us...

On Sunday, Michael's grandfather passed away. It was somewhat unexpected and made a little more difficult because he lived in Poland and we are unable to make the funeral. I am so glad that we made the trip to Poland this summer and Alexa was able to meet her great grandfather before he passed. I'm also glad my husband was able to spend some quality time with his grandpa this summer. 

At the end of last week, we found a water leak in our pantry room that is so bad that black and orange mold has formed. It's not our fault, (I'm not that gross!) a valve connected to the main water pipe that runs through the entire apartment building broke and the apartment above us, and I think the two below us as well, have been affected. The wet walls are pushing into our bathroom shower stall and have started pushing the tiles out of the shower...basically our apartment is mold spore central. We've moved to my in-law's for the time being because it is a serious health risk for anyone to be exposed to so many mold spores, let alone an infant. To push us out of the apartment just a little faster, my husband is also allergic to mold. Just great. I'm so thankful that Michael's parents have room for us at the house. I'm not sure what we would do otherwise.

With all that is going on, I am just so thankful that we have some family close by. We are able to spend time together, even when we get on each others nerves, and Alexa has lots of people to love on her.

Mommy Makeover - Week 18

Hi friends! I've finally gotten a chance to get to the computer and update you on my mommy makeover for week 18. Well, this past week was seriously intense. I moved from Level 1 to Level 2 on the shred and ummm holy crap was that a leap of insanity and intensity! Today is Day 17 of the Shred. I'm over halfway done and I cannot believe I have made it this far!

I have lost a total of 4 cm in my arms, 7 cm in my thighs and NINE (9) centimeters in my waist!!!! I seriously could not be happier! (Well, technically I could...the scale would go down. <--That would make me OUTRAGEOUSLY happy!) The scale is not my friend. I'm actually starting to think it's broken because it has stayed at the EXACT same number for far too many weeks now. MOVE DOWN DUDE!

I'm completely terrified to start Level 3 in a few days, but I know I'll be able to sweat it out and push through it. If anything, this entire Mommy Makeover journey has taught me that I am stubborn enough to stick to a work out even if I sweat through my clothes and want to die the entire time!

If you have started a work out routine or a new diet, I strongly encourage you to stick with it. You can do it! The changes in your body happen slowly over time. I want to quit just about every other day, but I feel better and I look better, so for me it's worth it.

And now, onto the Shred! Until next week :)

Turkey Hat Update

I finally finished the turkey hat. I'm not completely pleased with the way that it came out, but after working on it for WEEKS and redoing stitches over and over again...well, I give up! This will just have to do. I was especially disappointed because when I had the hat on Alexa's stuffed animal it didn't look quite so crooked. Oh well, I guess I learned a lesson...you can't use an oval head to make a hat for a round one!

I give you, my little gobbler...

(even she's upset that it's crooked!)

Mommy Makeover - Week 17 Shredderific!

I officially completed the first ten days of Level 1 of the 30 Day Shred. Let me tell you, the last ten days have been anything but easy. I've found myself cursing at the little person in my television, but carrying on with the exercises anyway. I've sweat like I've never sweat before. I'm not going to lie, sweating with a purpose is pretty exhilarating...like, "I totally earned this sweat, so back off bitches." - that kind of exhilarating. I can do push ups now. Yes, they're still the girlie kind, but I can do like twenty in a row without stopping. When I started ten days ago I could do five and then I needed a break. Booyah push ups, I am not afraid of you!

It has been quite an interesting journey thus far. I have lost 6 cm in my stomach, 3 cm in my arms and 3 cm in my thighs...in TEN DAYS. AMAZING. I have gained .5kg, but we're calling that muscle and calling it a day. Today is rest day and then tomorrow I am kicking off Level 2 of the Shred. Let's just say I'm a little nervous.

This entire Mommy Makeover has been an interesting road. I've become more aware of the food that I'm eating and what is IN the food that I eat and make for my family than I had ever been before. Stuff that they put in our food is SCA-A-ARY! I have become so much more fit, just in general. I'm pushing myself every week, every day to achieve new bests for myself. Michael and I did a cat and mouse running workout over the weekend. It was really cool. We were both able to get a bit of running in for the day, we spent time together as a family (did I mention Alexa was with us?) and we were outdoors. Sweet! In general, my entire perception of health and wellness has been altered.

Cat & Mouse Relay
Person A, Person B, baby (in a stroller)

Goal: get a run in, better individual time, short distance training

We ran on a 1.2km track. At the start, Person A starts running, meanwhile Person B pushes baby in the stroller in the OPPOSITE direction. When Person A and Person B cross paths, they trade positions. Person B is now running and Person A is pushing baby. Person A and B change directions, baby is always pushed in the same direction. Continue for as long as you can!

Gobble Gobble

I saw this RIDICULOUSLY adorable turkey hat on Pinterest and decided that I was going to try and make one for Alexa. Well, it has been an experience and a half making this hat. It's the Goldilocks of turkey hats...

Try #1

Ummm way too big!

Try #2

Is it seriously that small?? How did that happen?

Try #3 - the final try

SUCCESS!!

Now just to figure out how the heck to make those cute turkey legs?!

I'll update again as soon as I make some progress!

Jack Be Little Pumpkin

To close out Halloween week, I wanted to share with you a little project I was working on. It's nothing much, just a little "Pumpkin decor", but for me it's a huge project because it is the first knitting project in which I actually followed a pattern...and did so successfully!

I wanted to be fancy and make these little pumpkins for all of Alexa's friends in our Mommy & Me class, but I came up with the idea far too late and one little pumpkin took me an entire day to make because Alexa doesn't like me to ignore her for very long. An experienced knitter, or even some one with older children or no children would probably be able to complete this in just a few hours.

I give you Jack Be Little Pumpkin from The Sitting Tree.

It was a free pattern that I was able to download. I was a little (read: very) nervous about trying to read a pattern. Any other patterns I've even glanced at have looked like they were written in secret code. However, these instructions were very clear (to me) and so I decided to give it a try. Thank you Sitting Tree for writing such clear instructions and making such an easy to follow pattern!

The one pictured was the first one I made. I have a second one that just needs a stem, but before I close it off I am considering adding something to make noise. I think I'll use a mini plastic egg filled with rice or beans. I'll be sure to super glue the egg closed before inserting it into the pumpkin. 

Thanksgiving is right around the corner...I'm feeling a little turkey might be in order!