Rebecca Danger

Happy Monday!

Hope every on had as nice of a weekend as we did! Saturday we headed down to check out the Redmond Farmer's Market, which was lots of fun. Sunday. We hung around the house and had waffles for breakfast, got some yard work done, then Mr Danger entertained Peanut all afternoon and I worked on a fun new project. Doesn't get much better than that, does it?

I have been in a work slump since our move and finishing book #3 within 2 weeks of each other in Oct/nov last fall (book 3 comes out this September). I have started on some new things here in the last couple months and am starting to feel really excited about designing again, which is good. I am looking forward to spending as much time in my studio this week as I can and getting as much creative time as I can find. Plus the sun is out so I feel like summer is right around the corner, which always keeps my spirits high.

That's all I've got, Peanut is going to bed now and I am about to go get sewing for the evening!

 

Coming Soon and Happy Weekend

I had the best day in my studio yesterday. It was one of those days I live for, one of those days that keeps me creating. I sure love those type of days.

Sometimes I find what I do incredibly hard. It is so hard for me not to be able to share! I mean, isn't that a huge part of why we create, to share our creations with others? I don't share because I feel like I have to keep projects under wraps until they are finalized and ready to go. Sometimes start to finish things take say, years. All of my dinosaur patterns were written before Peanut was born and came out after his first birthday, for instance. But since you are most excited about creating in the moment, I thought I would share a little sneak peek of what I am working on right now. Hope it peaks your curiosity! I'll be done with it soon, definitely this year.....

I am looking forward to a weekend with the hubs and the munchkin, and spent in my studio to get some work done! Hope you all are going to get out and get your summer started early. Seems like there is all kinds of stuff happening this weekend!

 

What's Cooking?

Yum! I bought the Paleo Parents cookbook, Eat Like a Dinosaur, last week and I am in love with it! I don't think I have mentioned it on the blog here before because I think I went silent right as we have been figuring it out, but apparently we are the proud parents of the allergy kid. Peanut is allergic to gluten, dairy, peanuts, and possibly soy and other nuts. That doesn't leave much left to eat! Since it is not fair, and fairly difficult, to eat foods around him he is not allowed to have, we have been eating Paleo for the majority of meals in our house. We also are coming to notice we feel better not eating the foods he is allergic to. I guess those allergies have to come from somewhere, right?!

Anywho, I have been cooking more than usual this week thanks to this great cookbook. I made the "Eggs in a Nest" this weekend, "Anytime Cookies," yesterday, and the "Graham Cookies," today. The Graham Cookies are what are in the picture above. I am getting arrowroot powder tomorrow and will make the "Frozen Waffles" then! It is so nice to have these sub ins for P's store bought favorites, all homemade so I know exactly what's in them. And, his special foods get expensive! It is also nice to find a cookbook like this that inspires me to get into the kitchen. It has made me come to realize cooking doesn't have to be a chore, it can be a creative outlet like the rest of my creative ventures. Or at least sometimes, I still struggle to get dinner on the table most nights...

Hope you all are having as tasty a week as we are!

 

Toddler Life

It was raining this afternoon, but we played outside anyway.

 

This Week's Project

Doing some sewing this week. And yes, I bought the A Beautiful Mess app today, like every one else.

I'm Here!

Hey all! Holy shoot. What a year it has been so far.

I know I mentioned earlier my absence here has been due to illness. That barely even begins to describe our year so far. After I posted Xavier I was sure the next week or two I would be back up to feeling better. Boy was I wrong. At this point I am finishing up illness #8 and round 4 of antibiotics since January. Crazy, right? I am never sick. I think it has been 4 years since I was last sick. I can barely believe it, this has been one of the worst years of my life. I have decided at this point I should just call in sick for all of 2013 and try again in 2014.

Not only have I been sick, but the whole fam has been. We put Peanut in Montessori school 2 days a week beginning in the end of January so that I could hopefully get a little more done. Having a 2 year old makes getting most anything done a bit of a challenge. He had never been sick going in to Montessori and at this point I think he has had more things than I have this year. Unfortunately those illnesses have been passed to both Mr Danger and I as well. I am all for teaching the 2 year old sharing, but not this kind of sharing. I was actually getting more work done before Montessori school when we were all healthy.

So, here we are in May, Mr Danger has used up 75% of his sick time for the year already, and I am still sick. Fun times. Definitely does not make one feel like blogging, I mean, do any of you really want to hear about dr's visits, crazy technicolored snotty noses, barfing, a cranky toddler, and the latest round of antibiotics we're all on? I don't even want to hear about these things.

I have heard from many folks that the whole family gets sick for a month or two when kids go to school/daycare for the first time. But with P getting something weekly, and me bi-weekly since January, we decided to pull P from school and try again later once he is a bit bigger and has better sanitation skills (you know, like not putting everything in your mouth). Either that or he is going to be the boy in the bubble. We haven't decided which yet.

But I have to say I have missed blogging. Mr Danger surprised me with an iPad Mini as a Mothers Day gift yesterday and it has inspired me to get a post up. It is awfully handy since it is so little, which makes it easy to say, take out on the deck with me and get some words down for a post while P plays (like I am doing now). You have to use every moment you can get with an active 2 year old around!

So, I am here, I am alive, and I have a few things I am working on to share with you all. I am not moving very quickly though, I think my new motto has become, "I'll get to it when I get to it." Terrible, I know, but what do you do when you keep getting one thing after another to the point where you are not over the first thing and coming down with something else? I don't know about everyone else, but apparently I get a bad attitude.

Ok, that's all I got for now. I'll be back when the 2 year old and the sick allow.

And the Winner is........

..................comment #20

Circe! 

I just sent you an email with the code for the ebook Circe!

Thank you so much every one for participating. I hope everyone has a wonderful Mother's Day!

 

Happy Second Birthday Peanut!

Whaaaaaa???!!! No blog posts forever, and then 2 in ONE DAY? I know, I know. But I just had to wish my special little Peanut a very happy second birthday.

This little guy, y'all....this little guy is amazing. I have been having the best time with him recently. He is definitely 2, he throws a tantrum with the best of them, but holy cow the good moments (of which there are many, many more than tantrum-y moments) are so good it makes up for the 2-year-old moments exponentially. Look at this face! This was dinner tonight, enjoying a red velvet cake cupcake:

Here he is on his 1st birthday, experiencing a cupcake for the first time...

...and newborn in the hospital on his first day! (No cupcakes as of yet here...)

Happy Birthday Presley! We feel so thankful every day that you picked our family.

 

Hello! A Free Pattern, Another Free Pattern, And A Giveaway.

Hey guys! I am really excited to break the long blog silence with a free pattern and a giveaway! Actually, with a free pattern, a link to a SECOND free pattern, and a giveaway. Your Friday just got way better, huh? I know, I do what I can. Actually, this is all thanks to my awesome publisher, Martingale, so technically they are the ones doing what they can to make Friday better.

When I wrote Knit A Monster Nursery and turned it in, it ended up being way more projects than would fit in the allotted space. When I do things, I tend to over-do things, what can I say? Which is awesome news for you since a couple of those cut patterns are now available on their own for free. Yeah! Free is always good. Actually free is not always good, but in this case, free is very, very good!

I have this darling washcloth pattern for you:

 

Click Right Here To Download It.

 How cute is this? It is also awesome for, hmm, don’t know how put it other than, booger cleanup. I use my samples now with Peanut and his mega snotty noses. I used Berroco Weekend Chunky for the yarn which with the cotton content means softness on tender noses, plus super washability. A must with little ones, right?

I will get the file up into the sidebar here soon with my other free patterns, but I am not feeling so smart with these computery things at the moment, so help will be sought once Mr Danger is home...

If that is not enough cuteness for you (which, how much is enough cuteness, really? Is it even possible? I vote no.) Hop on over to Martingale’s blog to get another free pattern, this cutie-pie burp cloth:

This thing, I just love it. Not only is it good for cleaning up baby, ahem, barf spit up, it is a great friend for baby too. And it looks so cute draped over your shoulder. Love!

AND, as if two cutie-patootie patterns on a Friday wasn’t enough for you, I have an ebook copy of Knit A Monster Nursery to giveaway to one of you guys. Is this like the best day ever, or what? To enter, comment below telling me who you would be knitting out of Monster Nursery for. If it is yourself, that is just fine, but really I want to hear about all those cute babies and toddlers in your lives. Martingale is also hosting a giveaway, so hop on over there and enter as well! You know, "enter early, enter often?" Or, just once on each of these, but it is the same, right?

If you don’t have a copy of Knit A Monster Nursery yet, remember, if you purchase your copy on ShopMartingale.com, you get not only the hard-copy version of the book, but the ebook sent straight to your inbox as well. Awesomesauce, right? This day just keeps getting better.

I will pick a winner using a random-number generator next Friday, so be sure to get entered before then. 

Alright guys, that was so much awesome I might just need to go take a nap now. So you guys go, get knitting and giveaway entering!

Have a good weekend all-

Meet Xavier Owl!

Calling all owl lovers! Meet my newest pattern, Xavier the Observant Owl:

Who doesn't love owls?! I think there is something in those big round eyes that just sucks us in. I see owls everywhere these days, in all different shapes, sizes, and colors. Especially since Peanut was born, owls seem to be the "It" item for babies these days! I wanted to do my own take of this popular critter, and I have to say I am very pleased with my final results! I can definitely see this guy sitting in the chair in your nursery, or snuggling with your kids. 

I did this guy as a one-piece knit, like I did with Bob. You have the option to pick up stitches for the limbs, or the directions also include how to knit all the pieces separately and sew them together at the end.

I'm particularly excited about this blue and orange guy since that orange color was custom dyed for me by The Wool Dispensary. I am carrying both of these colors of yarn in the delicious "Deadliest Poision" DK weight yarn in my etsy shop. If you think Xavier is cuddly, you should try knitting him in this Merino, Cashmere and Nylon blend for an even cuddlier toy that is extra durable with that added nylon. You can find the two colors together as a yarn bundle in my shop, or each color is available on its own as well.

Xavier is on sale for 4 bucks for the first month, and is available in my etsy shop, or on Ravelry. 

If you want to know where to get those GIANT safety eyes, I got mine here.

I hope you all love him as much as I do! Now go and have a hoot of a weekend as you work on your owls!