Not too bad

Okay, I have to concede the whole Chicken Pox thing was way bigger in mind than in reality.  It's really not been that huge of a deal.  It's a little trippy seeing a child look like this:

Saying to me "Mom it's really not that bad!!"  To ME, to my eyes, this looks like "verge of death" serious, but it turns out, Chicken Pox does not kill the average, normal, healthy child.  This child is on the mend way quicker than I thought possible.  I am not sure exactly what I was expecting, but certainly not a child with this many bumps on his body to just take it easy, hop in the shower more often than usual and declare "Mom, I'm fine, really..."  So while there never was a crisis to begin with, I can say it was averted (I suppose the crisis was really how Mom would react to the whole situation)  And so we move forward...

The day I discovered the first blister on Middle Son's body, we were dyeing this:

 

 

This is a 100% merino (fingering weight) yarn from a sweater we unraveled (Okay so I unraveled) from my favorite sweater dealer (she lives way farther north than I do, so it makes sense to buy thrifted sweaters from her if the fiber is something I covet.  Check out her website for all your recycled sweater needs (LOL. I just imagined myself typing that with a car deal commerical voice, just like everyone HAS 'recycled sweater needs' I live in my own world, I'll tell you what..)

 

We've been busy winding our hanks into balls, but Middle Son hasn't decided if he'd like me to knit a hat or socks yet, so this won't be on the needles for a bit.  He picked the colors and was absolutely fascinated by the process of Kool-Aid dyeing.  If he really gets into it, I will definitely be diving back into acid dyes, because it's just too fun.  I had gotten a bit obsessed with dyeing back in New Mexico, but all my dyes had been premixed, so I couldn't move them with me....I had forgotten how much fun it is.  And as an aside, I just have to say how thankful I am that even with 7 children there are always these little pockets of time, little activities I can do one on one with the interested child.  I think it's a pretty amazing warp of the time space continuim that I can spend one on one time with each of my children on a pretty regular basis inside the confines of my daily marathon of "Doing Something But Getting Nothing Done..."

 

Speaking of children...mine are super cute.  I have photographic proof:

 

See that wee little hand?  She grabs onto her Daddy's shirt when he holds her like a little Koala.  Her bigger sister did this when she was this age and it's really freaking me out to hold this little sweetheart, look into her face, and see an almost clone-like similarity to her 10 year old sister.  I've always been intrigued by big families in that every child is a similar, but different version, of this crazy mis-match of their parents features.  This time around is way trippy because it's like I'm holding my older daughter again...while she galivants around the house in her 10 year old form.  Seriously, it's weird.  Just weird.

Also weird is the idea that I have a teenager AND a baby.  And not just a teenager and a baby, but all the ages in between.  Here's my oldest and my youngest, chillin together (They all missed the memo telling them how much they will hate the new baby and how hard it will be to adjust and all that good stuff.  My children are old hat at the baby thing, seeing as how they go through it about every two years...)

And a funny about this picture....when I brought Emmy down in this outfit, the first thing I heard was "Wow, purple is really not her color Mom."  (Oldest daughter)  A bit later, when K came downstairs and saw her, his words couldn't have been more opposite, and understand this with me now..these words are coming from a TEENAGE BOY, "Oh Mom, she really looks cute in purple."  Yeah, thinking Calla isn't going to be asking for his advice when it comes to fashion.  (However, I do lean towards Calla's point of view...purple really doesn't look that good on Emmy.  She looks great in yellow, which is a pretty amazing color to pull off if I do say so myself!)

And I leave with with "most current knitting" picture (even though this current knitting is languishing in favor of a stripey scarf for a friend's little girl.  When a five year old ASKS you to knit something, you jump all over that.  They must be taught young to appreciate such things, and since her Momma has done such a good job in cultivating that appreciation, damn skippy I'll be knitting something for her...)

 

 

The purpley/orange thing is A Very Harlotty Poncho in Moda Dea Vision, and the greenish/brown ball of crap is NeverEndingEverEverBecauseYourHusbandHasOgreFeet Basic Ribbed Socks.  I hatethemsomuch but will continue on. for all of eternity until this little jackholes can finally fit over my husband's huge feet.  I am starting to resent his feet a little.  Is that healthy?

 

(pictures of scarf to come.  I want to get a few more color repeats on it because I debut the cotton candy goodness of it)