Ch-ch-changes

I am someone who LOVES change! My husband actually gets annoyed with how much I change things around in our house. When we first moved into our house (September 8, 2009), I had our silverware in a drawer nearest the window in our kitchen. They stayed there for about a week. I felt it wasn't functional and moved it more towards the center of our kitchen, which was about 6 drawers away from the original spot. Nearly 3 years later and I catch my husband still opening the original drawer for silverware (he doesn't do so well with change). I can only imagine how things will be when we finish redoing our entire kitchen in a few weeks.

Before :(

Semi-after :)

Like I said, I am huge into changing things. My hair is something I change quite a bit as well. When I was pregnant with Ryenn, nearing the end of my pregnancy, I was nesting big time. I was like momma bird. I was the same way when pregnant with Nolan. Anyway, changing things around wasn't enough for me. While I was watching Dancing with the Stars one night, I felt the sudden urge to chop my hair off like Chelsea Kane! I immediately called up Heidi to see if she was available to do it ASAP before I changed my mind. To make a long story short (no pun intended), I chopped almost 10 inches off my hair! It was so great to have such a drastic change!


Long hair, and pregnant

Short hair, and pregnant (yes, I send a lot of my time being pregnant)

Lastly, My blog was getting a little boring to me. I didn't like that I wasn't "branding" myself. So this morning, with a little help from the hubster and my laptop, I created a logo for Adaly Myles Place that is very much me. I then made the entire blog look a little brighter and a reflection of me. I like the simplicity of the new design and how my fanpage now looks similar to my blog. I am sure you will read more about changes as this blog progresses!

WIP Mystery

My mother-in-law has helped me with so many things. Watching kids, planning parties, taking my husband in when we have fought, and with knitting. I am constantly going to her for advice and just to hang out. She is easily one of my best friends. With her birthday coming up, I wanted to do something special for her. Something she wouldn't make for herself.

A few months back, I had her pick out yarn for a mystery gift. It is going to remain a mystery as well, until I have finished the gift and given it to her, seeing as she follows my blog. I was intrigued by the construction of the knit. It is very different from what I am accustom to. It still has me curious as to what the final product will look like. I am about 1/4 of the way completed with it but its knitting up pretty fast being on size 10 needles and worsted weight yarn. Let's hope I can get a move on before her birthday!

FO Mom's Blanket

 Although I didn't see my mom on mother's day this year, I still knit her the blanket she wanted. When I gave each of my sisters knitted blankets for Chirstmas this past year, she said how much she loved it. She has mentioned how great they are a few times. So I decided to knit her one. I tried to make the blanket to match her living room, but I used a bright red to add a pop of color. I loved the way this blanket looks and was actually debating knitting her a different one so I could keep this one!

Celebrating Mother's Day

If 3 years ago someone told me I would be a mom, I would have thought them to be nuts! I was impatient, sloppy, irresponsible, and definitely not ready for a baby. Just a few short years later, I couldn't imagine my life without my two beautiful munchkins! They are my heart! Adam and I have been so blessed; smooth pregnancy without morning sickness, quick and easy labor, and no health problems with our little ones. I am reminded just how much I love being a mom when celebrating Mather's Day.

Nolan and My first picture together!

 This year was a great year. I got family time AND time to myself. I got my gifts from my kids (ahem! Adam) early. They picked out two seasons of the TV show Fringe (my favorite)! I already have season 1, which was a gift from Adam while I was pregnant with Nolan. Then my collection was updated for Mother's Day! We will be having a Fringe Marathon Day very soon! My mother-in-law started my Mother's Day day with a surprise trip to Biggby to get a vanilla Chai tea (which is SO amazing).

Miss Ryenn's first day in this world

We then went to the in-laws for lunch. It was homemade french bread pizzas, strawberry trifle, chocolate muffins, and a fruit salad. It was such a great meal! Adam works Sunday nights so when he left to sleep before work, I stayed and watched some of my mother-in-law and my favorite shows. Mainly the Real Housewives. When it was near the kids bedtime, I went home, bathed them, and just relaxed for the rest of the night watching Survivor. It was nice to have some time to myself where I wasn't worried about laundry, school, dishes, or anything other than relaxing.

My beebs!

I am so in love with being a mom. It is by far the greatest thing to become a parent. My life would be no where near what it is today if it wasn't for my husband and my kids. I never thought I would love being a mom as much as I do. There isn't a love stronger than what I have for my husband and babies! I am sure we will be adding to our little family someday (soon)!

WIP Dollar and a Half

I fell in love with the Dollar and a Half Cardigan when I saw my sister, Allyson, post a picture of hers. From that moment on I wanted to knit it! When my mother-in-law was getting rid of her old knitting pattern magazines, I went through them. Low and behold I found the Dollar and a Half!!!! I was ecstatic. I believe I even texted or tweeted Allyson about it (yes I'm a nerd). When I posted about it, Lily Ubbelohde asked me if I was knitting it. I said I was and she invited me to join her and some others knit-aong. Its really more of a check your progress with each other rather than reaching goals. Nonetheless, this has helped me keep going at this sweater, despite the obvious lack of space in my schedule.

left front cable and lace

 I made huge amounts of progress in the first week. I got through the rib band along the bottom of the sweater. I decided to ignore the pattern instructions about NOT knitting this sweater in the round, but let's face it, I LOATHE seaming. I will avoid it at all costs! So with knitting in the round, the counts and pattern started out a little confusing.

lace and textured striping on back and right front

However, during week 2 serious pattern progress was made. I've gotten to the point where I don't need to read the pattern anymore (a skill I have acquired due to my strength with math and equations and a somewhat photgraphic memory). I got through a few rows of the lace and textured striping and am loving it! I love everything about this sweater, and am so glad the girls talked me into knitting it in coral rather than cream. Week 3 didn't yield much progress, but here's to looking forward and busting things out in week 4.

Baptism Invites

My schedule looks pretty intense for the next couple months. There are numerous birthdays coming up in my family, which mean numerous knitting gifts to get done. I have a baptism to plan for my daughter, 2 different birthday parties (Nolan's 2nd and Ryenn's 1st), and let's not forget my schooling. I also have baby showers and other kids birthday parties as well. Summer is an amazingly busy time of year!

The first thing on my to do list was to finish the invitations for Ryenn's baptism. The most difficult thing about this project was coming up with exactly what I wanted to do. I surfed the Internet and found one on Etsy that I loved beyond belief! I decided to try and make something similar.

I decided pink black and white would be the color scheme here. I typed something up on Word that I was more than happy with. I don't have access to a printer from home, so I had to email the proof to Adam, where he would print it. I took a picture from my phone and sent him a picture of my computer screen to make sure that it looked the same. To my disappointment, the cursive font that I picked for the words "baptism of" and "adaly dykhuizen" didn't carry over to where he printed it from.

I was a little upset because I knew that I would have to start from scratch....again. Then it hit me. I decided to chop up the printed version my husband gave me and write the cursive words myself. This was a great idea because I would have had to finish them tomorrow and mailed them Friday. Instead I can mail them tomorrow and give people more notice. I am loving the outcome of the invitation! It is exactly what I wanted; handmade, inexpensive, elegant, and simple!

most of the invite, chopped off the bottom to avoid sharing my phone number

FO Short-row Sweater

I finished this sweater quite a while ago and forgot to block it FOREVER. I first blogged about the short-row sweater back in January. I finished it in late January, but forgot to completely block it. I blocked it once and didn't care for the fit. I took pictures anyway but the more I looked at the initial pictures, the more I knew I needed to block it a second time. I'm in the process of blocking this for the FOURTH time.

blocking the first time

the fit after the first blocking :(

back looked OK after first blocking

So after blocking it for what seemed like a hundred times, it finally fit relatively close to the way I wanted it to. This was amazingly fun to knit. I really got the hang of short-rows after this sweater, which was a good thing seeing as it seems like everything I have knit since includes short-rows. I was unhappy to knit with such a thin yarn and with super little needles, but I loved the outcome! This pattern was ultimately my inspiration for the pattern I want to write (details eventually will be told about this mystery pattern).

after 3rd blocking :( still not long enough!!

After 3rd blocking

The simple details of this sweater make is so gorgeous! And by simply pairing with with different looks, you have a very versatile top! I mean, who doesn't want a backless shirt in their closet? I love it and can't wait to wear it this summer.