Learning to Knit

Not even a month ago a few ladies decided to start a knitting club on Facebook. Apparently all sorts of these clubs exist. Most often know as a "Stitch and Bitch" club. Even my mum knew of this lovely little nickname. Somehow along the way I decided that I would join up in this little venture. I already had a few sets of needles that once belonged to my lovely Grandma Edith (rest her soul) so I figured I just needed to buy some basic yarn, see how it goes, then take it from there.

So far I am hooked -if I were crocheting that would be a good pun;). 

I did a lot of practice and tearing out and practice and tearing out. Nothing really came from my first attempts. I just wasn't sure where to go with it. One of the ladies though suggested we do a KAL (knit along). She chose a very easy and basic pattern (thankfully). Basically just knit a ton of rows that were about 20 stitches wide. Then stitch your ends together. Do a snazzy fold over. Wrap with yarn and voila, you now have a homemade headwrap/headwarmer. 

I have so far made one for myself (matching hand warmers are on the horizon) 

as well as a little one for Evelyn. 

I am also working on some as Christmas gifts. You can find the exact pattern for this little number here.

So now I have an account on ravelry.com. I have seen a few patterns on there that I would love to try. I need more practice and I also need to extend out of my comfort zone of head warmers, lol. 

I have also opened an account with a very intriguing site called knitpicks.com. I have yet to place an order but once the craziness of Christmas has passed I will be on it. I am really hoping for some Christmas money to fund my new habit. There are some luxuriuous looking yarns that I would love to try and I for sure want some new needles, more specifically these and these. 

I have also added a new Pinterest board. You can check out my Stitch B*tch board to see some of the projects and accessories and yarns that I really want to try. 

If you would like to try your hand at knitting I highly recommend knittinghelp.com. There are a lot of great how to/tutorial videos there. So far I have learned how to cast on, knit stitch, and bind off. Next up is the purl stitch. 

That is where I am with it now. I am a very green newbie beginner but I am finding it addicting. I keep saying, "just five more rows" whenever I have to do something else. I've also begun to master that balance that is knitting while breastfeeding. Once I get my courage up I may even pop down to a local yarn co-op. 

And with that...I must go knit. The Christmas countdown is on and I have gifts to finish. 

Together Again

On Sunday evening Viktor arrived home safe and sound after his week of fun. He was everything I expected: taller, smarter, stronger, wiser. He had a wonderful time bonding with his Grandparents. He came home with so many stories to tell of the people he met and the things he did. My mother had him draw a journal every day while he was there. From that I know he got to go on the quad with my dad, chop vegetables with my mum and had a very successful week of swimming lessons.

While he was away it was mostly business as normal here however Max did get a few extra treats. Like an adorable cooking set that was only $5!! He also helped me with all sorts of things. He really did rise to the challenge of being the biggest brother in the house (if only for a little while).

It is obvious I guess that in Vik's absence we decided to forgo the Nature Activity for week four. Well, not completely, but mostly. Last week's activity was about Ladybugs and while it would be nice to take the boys out to observe them, truth is that the boys just don't sit still quiet and long enough. We are working on it though. The other reasons was that the boys have seen a lot of Ladybugs. They are kind of old news to them. Tomorrow though before we do this week's activity we will read the Ladybug chapter and keep our eyes peeled while we do the new activity (of which is a little more exciting for the boys-I have a great place in mind to go to).

That is one of the nice things of nature, it is all synergy. Everything goes together.

One little exciting thing was that over the weekend Daddy and I shared our 5th Anniversary. To commemorate that I wrote and recorded a little song. You can all view it here :)

That is all for today. See you on Thursday for our Week Five activity called Handy Plants (this will be a fun one!)

Practice Makes Perfect

When I was a little girl taking piano lessons I always hated the phrase "practice makes perfect". While I enjoyed playing I hated having to do endless scales and practice boring songs over and over again. Through the course of the year's lessons my hours of practice would eventually pay off in the form of passing that year's Royal Conservatory Level and perhaps even winning a few awards in the local festival. Several performances and recitals later I was a better pianist, vocalist and musician. See practice does make perfect.

As I got older I honed my practice skills. I became a more efficient student of music.  I focused on the trouble zones. Pulled them out and ran through them until they were perfect. No sense repeating the parts I already knew. Oddly enough I even enjoy running through some scales now. Turning the metronome up a notch. Challenging myself to go faster each time.

There has been a lot of music practice in our home the past month and a half. Lots of piano, guitar and singing. It's been quite nice actually. Fewer games. Less movies. Way more music. It's a place I am really happy to be in.

We have a few different musical projects that require focus and discipline and have brought on this onslaught of practice. First and foremost Daddy has been accepted as a guitar player for a band that acts as 3 cover bands and an original band. The band leader needed a kick ass guitar player and that is where Daddy came in. Therefore, I have been hearing tons of Blondie, Cyndi Lauper and Ramones as well as original music from the band. This particular project is quite exciting as there seem to be some interesting prospects involved. I have heard the terms booking agents and international touring in serious conversation.

For a taste of how the band rocks check out this video on youtube or the CD clips available on kellyfairchild.com and on iTunes.

In addition to that we are also working on our own original material for our God Rock duo. There is a lot of material to go through and right now that means a lot of arranging and perfecting. Even still there are parts I have to pull out and go over and over to get them just right. A few of the songs are tight enough that the next step is getting parts recorded followed closely by securing more opportunities to play out. I've even gone so far as to apply for a SOCAN licence.

With all that being said there is a lot of perfecting and practicing going on here. However, that phrase I once despised applies to all areas of life. Whether you are writing a new song, studying for an exam, prepping for a job interview or learning a new language. Practice. Go over and over in your head.

Even children need to be told that constantly. They are learning so much and those skills need to be developed. Practicing their letters, numbers, sight words, math skills...Growing up we were never even allowed to say "I can't". I have even heard myself telling my children not to say that and of course saying "practice makes perfect".

It's only a matter of time now before that simple at home practicing becomes jam sessions and then full out rehearsals.

And on that note, it is time to go practice.

The Big Show

A while ago I mentioned that Daddy and I would be playing a little show for a fundraiser. This past Friday, September 30th was the fundraiser. We practiced and practiced our four chosen songs over and over and over and over again. We organized our babysitting and closer to the day I began to wonder what I would wear (picked up a cute top and earrings and shoes the day before the show).

The day of the show was busy. I had practicing to still do, had to tidy the house and Daddy still worked a full day that day. My sister came over to watch little girl and the boys went over to granny's house for a sleepover. We were very lucky that our friend was available and kind enough to come and video the show for us (she has since said that if we have other shows then she would video that as well).

Seeing as how it was a fundraiser there was a $10 charge for entrance to the "coffee house" and they made extra money through concession sales (I had tea and sugar cookies). The church basement it was being held in was done up with twinkle lights and other decor which made for a nice venue.

Overall it was a FANTASTIC experience and a taste of greater things to come. There were a few mistakes and stumbles along the way but nothing that anyone could tell (or at least I think...you tell me). One thing that I really liked about it was that because of the venue set up there were still people talking which provided a distraction-a distraction that I did not succumb to, that in itself was a great learning experience.

Lastly, I was thrilled at how well my original compositions went over. Getting up on a stage and performing is one thing, but to perform you own work is both humbling and daunting. You never know how it will be received. In this case the audience was in approval.

As I said before we had a friend video tape the show for us. We played 4 songs, each of which has it's own video.

This first video is of the first song I wrote on guitar. I actually have two versions of it. There is piano version which I previously posted the youtube link to. This (obviously) is the guitar version which is a tad peppier.

IN GOD

THE SOURCE

ASK THE LORD

FEEL THE LORD

I hope you enjoyed watching the videos. Please feel free to share them. I need all the promotion I can get.

Rock On!

Videos

Last night while playing some piano I had Evelyn on my lap. I was just messing around with some rhythm in the bass clef while Evelyn slammed her fist into keys in the treble clef. By chance she hit a note combo that met my note combo in a sweet sound. One thing led to another and a song was written. This morning was a continuation of that inspiration where the song received words. I called it Evelyn's Song. It is a lullaby for my sweet girl, and all of my sweet babies actually.

Once the song had words I wanted to quickly record it so I didn't forget it. After a few recordings (using my iPhone voice memo app) it turned out really well. I really wanted to share the song on Facebook so some girlfriends could hear it. At this point I haven't figured out how to actually upload just a song to Facebook-I don't even think I can. If someone knows please, TELL ME!

So in order to share the song I had to use iMovie to make a video, it is a semi-random sampling of family pix. I say semi random because I chose pictures where they were sleeping (mostly) but I also just briefly scanned for good ones. Making the video also gave me a great chance to work with some of the iMovie tools (I've had this Mac for over 1/2 a year and still know just a scratch of what it can do).

With the video done I decided to finally make a youtube account so I could upload it. In addition to Evelyn's song I also posted a video in the same style which was the first project of this kind I did. Click on the following titles to go view the videos.

Evelyn's Song
In God