Bonding Over Buns

Another Super Saturday - this time, a baking edition.

I went searching for a good recipe for cinnamon buns online and found this one. During my work travel this past week, one of our dinner conversations turned to the topic of making things from scratch and we all shared stories about which family member was brilliant (or awful) at specific dishes. When we got around to baking, biscuits made from scratch were a hot topic, and cinnamon buns too - mostly because the "magic" that is homemade bread dough still seems to mystify some people.

As a homeschooling lesson, making bread is a great way to teach math and fractions (for measuring ingredients), reading comprehension, science (yeast + warm liquid + flour = poof! fat dough), and the importance of following the order of specific directions. It's also a very tactile process - one that little hands will hopefully remember for many years to come. Mostly though, it is a great way to teach patience. If you are patient, and you take care with each step, the result is something very rewarding, and in this case - something wonderfully delicious (at least...that's what they told me :) ).

Fresh from the oven - bottom side

Flipped out of the pant to cool - Voila! Top side with caramel topping

Our trusty taste testers give signs of approval

Each One Teach Two

**Thanks for all of your super nice comments on my last FO; you make this so much FUN**

Now for some news - Adachi has learned how to cast on and knit. Mizan has learned how to cast on and crochet a chain.

I've introduced Adachi to knitting on a few occasions before, but this time I think it has really stuck. Recently both she and Mizan asked me "Mommy, will you teach me how to knit?", and "Mommy, show me how to crochet." Be still my fiber-luvin heart! I took them to the library post haste; we found some kid-friendly books (I recommend this one in particular), and we sat down and worked at it. I taught Adachi to make a slip knot, how to do the backward loop cast on, and now she's working away on garter rows for a scarf (note: she asked to start with a scarf, I would have had her working on circulars and making a sock first, but patience is a virtue...).

Even Mizan got in on the lesson by helping to count stitches.

She even did a few stitches on her own winter hat for the trip:

Nature and nurture have really gone hand in hand here. Let me explain what I mean by that. See, I knit alot. Now, even though I don't have huge lacey FO's flying off the needles, and my projects are sometimes few and far between, I knit Every. Single. Day. Sick, well, at home, traveling, in the car, before bed, whenever I can. So since I work from my house, you can imagine that my girls see a whole lotta knittin' goin' on. In fact, I dread the day when someone I work with asks them what it's like having mommy working from home and they chirp joyfully "It's great! She knits all day long, and finds these nice patterns, and talks with her knitting friends". Sigh. A worry for another day. I think that exposure is the first part of the reason that they have shown such a recent interest in learning - the nurture factor; it's just part of their environment.

Part 2 is the influence of their innate creative nature. Both girls like to "make things up", my oldest especially. Like me, they enjoy taking some thing (or many somethings) and turning it into something else. Like this...

I became even more aware that this is something that they came to the planet with when I realized that rather than wait for me to do crafty activities with them, they are perfectly content to do their own crafting using original ideas and whatever they can reach in the cupboards (hide your paper towel rolls!).

Allow me to be selfish for just a moment...do you realize how much faster my stash would be reduced with THREE knitters in the house? *Sigh* Just add this to the list of the MANY things I'm thankful for in my life.

On that note, I hope that each of you will find an Attitude of Gratitude this holiday that makes you feel way more full than any stuffing ever could. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Super Saturday & Ravelry

Woo hooo!!!

I got my Ravelry invite in my email today and I had to laugh at myself for how excited I was. It was like opening a present and you sort of know what's inside, but some of it is hidden and you can't WAIT to explore it all. Great day in the mornin'! I'm hooked. Must save some of this for the wee hours when I can really indulge....Get your email addy on the list quick so we can be neighbors over there! Go go go!

Our latest Super Saturday adventure was a family trip to Sea World in Orlando.

Del made a funny comment recently about how Floridians take their vacations to other Florida cities and that made me giggle because it's all too true. The girls had no CLUE this trip was coming, and that just made it all the better. The sound of their screams when they realized where we were was worth the price of admission and then some. I'll let the pictures tell the rest...

For a closer look at the photos, check out our Flickr Slideshow.

Travel Tales / Super Saturday

Yesterday I returned from a 7-day trip away from home. Another one of my classic leisure/business combos. I found out that my friend Gia was going to DC for a conference and so I hitched a ride with another friend of ours from New Jersey into DC. We had a good time catching up and exploring some places in the city. We also spent some time with another couple of friends and their adorable baby Zora. Korey and Kishanna are expecting again this fall and it was great to see them.

DC festivities on a hot Saturday afternoon


The lovely Ms. Giavanni


Tunde & I with my knitting in public on World Wide Knit In Public Day


Kishanna, Korey, and little Zora

From the knitting bag, 2 main projects kept me company during the trip, the Forever Jacquard self-striping socks



and sock #2 in the Sangria Sock pair. Because the blue socks have both my KnitPicks size 1 (2.5mm) circulars in use, I ordered another 32# size 1 and will attempt to complete this sock using the Magic Loop method. My status over at the Stashalong depends on it. Wish me luck!



How are things in your neck of the woods?

Natural Mystic: India Arie

Last Saturday, hubby really pulled one off. He still manages to surprise me after all these years of being together (actually, the fact that he tolerates my daily bouts of insanity is the real shocker, but I digress...). He saw a billboard for a concert called "Jazz in the Gardens" featuring one of my favorite female artists, India.Arie I've loved EVERY song she's put on out her 2 albums and some soundtrack features so far, and this was a date weekend I will never forget. We arrived at Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens and I was still not sure what the day was to bring. Hub recruited a couple of our friends to share in the festivities, just another bonus for the day. Not even intermittent rain could dampen this for me - and believe me it tried. She performed older and newer songs, and the whole thing was amplified because we lucked out and got seats 5 rows back from the stage!

I highly recommend you check her out if you're not familiar with her music. She sings such positive and genuine lyrics, and the best way I can describe her is to say that she's REAL. At times, I thought she was getting just as much joy from us as we were from her!

I feel very fortunate to spend my life with someone who cares about what I like, heck often shares those likes, and then makes an effort to surround me with things that keep me smiling.

Can you tell he's earned his brownie points for the month?

Super Saturday (With Lily Chin Photos)

May I just say again, membership has it's privileges.

This past weekend was a memorable one for many reasons. The primary reason is that I'm finally home from the frozen north, and although the temperature here is nowhere near tropical, I'll take a 60 over a 6-degree day any old time. I continue my quest to have the company open a Florida office...I'll keep you posted.

First up Saturday morning was Library Story time - LOVE. THIS. SERVICE. Every Saturday, the girls and I head out to the Main library and spend an hour with Miss Amber (what a sweetie) listening to stories, singing and dancing, and doing a craft -all with the theme for that week. This week was Silly Stories, and there was even a movie, at which I was laughing right out loud. Yeah, I kinda get into it. Behold the girls in their Silly Hats!

Next up, a definite knitting journey highlight! I took a class on Saturday afternoon with Lily Chin, world's fastest crocheter and a super fab knitting designer/celebrity. She was visiting the LYS for 4 classes this weekend, and as an employee I was able to attend the Reversible Cables Class(Lily calls them "Ribbles"). I was SO thrilled and admittedly star struck! You can clearly see I lost all composure by the size of that foolish grin I'm wearing in the photo with her. I learned so much about the construction of cables, they are deceptively easy; and she also gave us some insight to how she plans out designs for using cables (there was graph paper and math and I didn't faint!). She has such an amazing energy and charisma, and her work speaks for itself. You can check out her collection here, and her tour schedule here. I highly recommend taking a class with her.

As if the class wasn't great enough, it was an extra treat to see some of her books and many of her designs hanging up around the room. I also got confirmation from her on the Chelsea yarn I have in my stash - it's going to be great for socks, just as I hoped. She showed me a nice mini cabled pair already knit up. It's all I can do not to cast on for them this very second. *Sigh* Good times.

More knit progress next time!