Busy as a bee!

My little blog has been neglected lately.  I have been consumed with the new school year.  I am teaching classes to a homeschool group.  Below are some pics from my Biology class.  Dissection has been going great and is a lot of fun with the teens.  I love working with the teens now.  In my K-1 class we are using paper mache to make a volcano.  Each week we read a book on volcano's either a fiction or more informational type, then we keep working on our volcanos.  In two weeks we will be exploding our volcanos.  The kids are really excited about that.  I will post pics later.  I haven't had any time to knit or crochet.  (I miss it!).  I am excited to announce I will be crocheting an owl hat for a friend for her little girls birthday.  I received the pattern and will be headed to find yarn this week.  Should be a fun project.  I will get better about updating my blog now that I'm in somewhat of a routine.  Our school year just feels so much busier this year.  

From our Earthworm Dissection day.

Getting ready for frog dissection.

First Week we look in the mouth, remove the tongue, view external features.  Woo Hoo.
 More graphic photos to come next week.

Log Cabins

We are kicking off the beginning of our Little House on the Prairie unit study with mini log cabins. This is the start of them. We need to add more "logs" and then cut window holes.

Radharani and Arjuna

This is Little Woman's new Radharani doll.   She is an Indian Queen.  Little Bit was born on Radharani's birthday while India was celebrating.  We decided to use this as her middle name.

Here are the two together.  Radharani is in her Choli (shirt) and skirt here.  This skirt is also used to tuck her Sari in (below).  Little Bit sewed both the shirt and skirt herself with almost no help.

Another picture of Little Boy's Arjuna.   Head archer and warrior in Indian stories.  Little Boy's middle name.

Wearing her Sari.

India studies

Here is the little woman in a sari her grandmother mailed her.

India Boy Doll

For our India World Religion studies the little ones and I are making India dolls. Here is Little Boy's doll named "Arjuna". Arjuna was a chief archer and strong warrior.

Fairy

Here is one of Little Bit's fairies.  She made about a dozen of them.

Fairy Houses!

Today we made Fairy Houses and Fairies.  This first one is the one Little Bit made.  We used oatmeal containers for the log.  Silk flowers and other do dads for decoration.

This next one is the one I made, I'm going to give it to a little girl we know who loves fairies too.

Here is the one Little Boy made.  His is a scene from the beach.  With sand glued on, shells, and lots of driftwood and seaweed.  

Rocks In His Head

After last nights story "Rocks in His Head" Little Boy needed one of my shell displaying shelves to display his rocks in the living room. We need to build some little shelves to display them a bit better. It's a start though.

Project Expo

Recently one of our homeschool groups had an Expo to show off things the kids enjoy learning about. Litte Boy brought his rock collection which is a huge part of his life. He also brought along the book that we read three years ago that helped fuel the passion.

Little woman showed off her love of all things Winnie-the-pooh. She has done a big literature study on Milne. She included her work along with all her crafty things (art, apron, purses, pouches, pen pal box, and bed pillows).

Dino Pack

Little boy saw this fabric and had to have another pack. It goes everywhere with us. It's usually loaded down with some serious treasures.

Dish cloths

I hadn't been knitting the last couple of months. It's seems the summer thing hit me and I just wasn't feeling into it.

This past week I've had a bit of a need for some new dishcloths. I've begun whipping them out and am actually really enjoying it. Now I'm digging all around the house for my cottons.

These were crocheted with some scraps found.

Jellyfish

My second jellyfish. Cute. I'm not sure who it's for yet. I've started on holiday and upcoming birthdays. They sneak up so fast.

Sock Success

Taking a little time to play with my sock today has been great. I've gotten a lot accomplished so far. Another 1" or 2" and I'll be turning my heel! Big news for a knitter. The daunting turning of the heel. This doesn't worry me though. It was the Turkish cast-on that caused me anxiety.

Toe Up

After complete frustration with my original cast on. I ripped out the entire sock and started over. I've got a pretty nice cast on now. The right number of increases now and I'm ready to roll. I guess being sick has it's upside, I've had the time to work on my sock.

Turquoise

Turquoise, white, and yellow colors in this two yarn scarf. One a worsted and the other a fun fur.

Brown scarf

New scarf made with a chocolate brown fun fur. The girls and I were given a huge back of fun fur. We have gone on a scarf frenzy......Even my oldest is knitting again! That makes me really happy.

Manly pack

Of course little boy made a request for a pack too. We had the cute patch and decided this would be the perfect home for it.

For a little Diego fan. Can't wait to give it to her.....Little Bit is modeling it for me.

Backpack

Olivia's new backpack. We whipped out a few backpacks for birthday presents this morning for little girlie's we know.

Success

Although my turkish cast on is not perfect I'm moving forward. At least this time around there are no big holes.

I wasn't able to find a size 0 at the store so opted for the 1's. They are working so much better and I may actually get my first sock done. Success!

Partial Success

Being a stubborn woman who has taught myself everything I know, I decided not to give up. I've finally figured out what the problem is. I'm not liking the size 2 needles. They are just too big for this yarn. I'm headed to Joann's to pick up some zeros and get back at it. I am beginning to see a little light at the end of the tunnel. Here is what I got done on the 2's.

Done with the socks

I am officially done with the socks. I've tried and tried and never seem to get past the first row. I keep twisting the needles. The yarn keeps splitting and the point on my dpn's isn't sharp enough to get through the splitting yarn. This is just not working. Mary Anne Please move back to Texas!

Luv the Luvy

I had just enough yarn to complete the little Luvy. I added a pink/brown bow to feminize her. Precious.

Socks

Today is the day I start my socks. Turkish cast-on here I come.

Whoops

I am working on a Luvy for a dear little one but realize I am running out of yarn. The idea was to use up yarn in my stash. the dilemma is now whether to buy another matching ball to finish it. Or to use a different color for the bunny ears that will come next. Hmmmm...

Paper Bag Covers

Being that my kids are homeschooled they haven't had the need to make book covers. This week I taught them all how to use the old paper bag trick. They liked them and now have all their journals covered.