crochet hat and youtube

It is now -20C here and we love to go outside for walks.  Nor rain, nor snow can keep us inside (usually), so I have been making hats for my kids.  I am a beginner for sure so I made a simple crochet beanie with ear flaps with a single crochet stitch.  I am a very visual learner so the YouTube videos on crochet have helped me tremendously.  Woohoo to YouTube!

Here are some of the videos I used to guide me along:

1. How to crochet for a beginner by naztazia.  This is great if you don't even know how to start or what a crochet hook is.
2. How to start a crochet hat by expertvillage. I find them pretty simple and slow enough to follow for a beginner.  In fact I used the rest of the tutorials to help me make the hat.
3. How to make a pom pom by LionBrandYarn.  You could also add a tussle for the top instead of a pom pom.

What is a little difficult is figuring out what size the crown should be, so it took me 3 tries to get to the size that I was happy with.  The first try looked like a wavy mess.  The second time the hat was just too big.  The third try was ok, but at the end my fingers were pretty sore.  I know that size charts must exist but I didn't bother finding one.

To make the ear flaps, I just decreased each crochet row by one stitch.  The ear flaps look pretty sloppy in comparison to the rest of the hat, but that just doesn't bother me at all.  I like the slightly imperfect look.  This way my baby son will know I made it for him.

Flowers by Odilon Redon

Source: crushculdesac.tumblr.com via Mirka on Pinterest

Very rarely I want to put up other people's art on my walls. Usually I like to frame family moments, my kids art or something personal. However I would love to stare at this painting all day long in my living room. It is simply called "Flowers" by Odilon Redon. It is so beautiful and layered, simple and complex. I don't really know why I love it so much. It just makes me feel so comfortable and content. It's just so beautiful to me.

This is only the second time I have felt so allured by art. The first time was when I saw Salvador Dali's "The Persistence of Memory" in an art book. It influenced all my high school art projects. However I could not stare at it all day long as I could at the "Flowers".

soup and snow

Snowfall always makes me want to get the furry blankets out, the slowcooker out and make soup.  My older son is not a fan of food but somehow he eats brocolli and calls them little trees.  This week I made little tree soup with squash.  The squash sweetened the soup quite a bit.  It was super yummy.  I had some pork and beef stock leftover from slowcooked ribs and some frozen blended squash cubes.  Along with some milk and cornstarch we had yummy creamy soup that my almost 3 year old slurped up.  It was a beautiful sight, seeing my son enjoying his soup and watching the big snowflakes fall outside our window.

P.S. Quote from our toddler to daddy this morning:
"Daddy, when you grow up to be a baby, I will change your diaper."

Best Halloween Ever

Yes, it was the best Halloween ever.  I got to see my little boy, who is now 2 and a half, run around in a cardboard box that H and I cut up and painted to look like a firetruck.  I remember years ago seeing a firetruck, not fireman, costume on Live! with Regis and Kelly.  It just stuck in my mind and all year long our son has been making loud siren noise that actually sound very authentic.  Well, what better costume for a boy like that than a firetruck for Halloween.

In retrospect, it was about a foot too long but seeing him struggle and be determined to get up the steps to trick or treat was so great.  It made us laugh.  It made us get a little teary eyed.  This year is the first time he really participated and knew what was happening.  We didn't quite explain it to him in detail, but he got the gist of it, especially when it came time to eat the candy.  He certainly remembered that I said he could have his treats after we got back.  Seeing him enjoy his candy was fun, even though there had to be some major teeth scrubbing afterwords.  His excitement was so real and we couldn't help ourselves but smile as much as he did.

Our baby boy got to be a monkey and hang onto H the entire time.  His eyes were big and he was happy being out and about in our neighbourhood.  I kept thinking, I can't wait until they both run from door to door together and afterwords laugh their heads off as they compare their loot and trade their goodies.  That's what made our Halloween the best ever.  I have a feeling this is also going to be the best Christmas ever.