We've been breaking from our usual patterns at the Dahl house. I switched gears a bit with my fitness, and decided to give 21 Day Fix* a go. I resisted for a long time, fearing regression, but it's been a fun change. Granted, I'm not lifting the heavy weights, but it's a challenge in a new direction, and the shorter workouts feel great.
I'm taking on a new challenge in my knitting as well, stranded colorwork. When I've dabbled in the past, the results have been less than stellar. Sometimes, however, the right motivation is all that is required.
Russian dolls, matryoshka, are "a thing" in our house. Laney and I love them; we built her fifth birthday around a matryoshka theme. So, when doll leggings landed on my radar, they were immediately elevated to unicorn status. (The first pair I saw were the wrong size.)
Now, I've been trying to curtail unnecessary spending due to unexpected expenses. Darren has needed a slew of dental work — I'm never putting edible pearls on Christmas cookies again, the car is in the shop, and I've busted two phone screens to the point of being unusable this month. But… when your unicorn appears, you snap it up.
Snap up those Russian doll leggings I did and immediately cast on socks to match. Maybe I've never had stranded success in the past, but I will now! The pattern has been in my queue for a while, and I'm so excited to see how they turn out.
Speaking of things turning out, I've been wearing the heck out of this hat, which I love, love, love.
It's handspun from the merino sparkle top justified as a birthday purchase. The black and grey pompom ties it in with my birthday coat. Finished off with the most prized button from my stash, it is just perfect. It's such a good feeling when everything comes together.
I also managed to get Oliver's socks finished in time for crazy sock day. It was close! I don't know where the time went. One day, there was plenty of time. Then, all of a sudden, I had two days to get it done. He is so worth the effort, though. He loves his handmade socks and wears them to oblivion, making every minute of construction worthwhile.
And while we're talking about Oliver, he has taken some huge steps outside his comfort zone the last couple weeks.
Our town just held its annual pageant, in which they allow kindergarten students to participate. In addition to the queen and two princesses, a Little Miss and Little Mr. from the kindergarten class are crowned. Oliver came home from school excitedly waiving the flyer, so I signed him up.
The focus of the pageant is community involvement. Their first activity was to make Valentines and deliver them to residents at the nursing home. He really enjoyed that! It was a different experience, because I'm used to being right in the mix with him, but his pageant activities he did without me. I was there, obviously, but in the background. It was fun to stand back and watch him shine.
Later, all of the candidates were introduced at the high school basketball game. He was so nervous! But the girls took good care of him, and he had fun out there.
We knew there would be an interview process going in, and he worried about it quite a bit. When it was his turn, he went in alone, dragging his feet the whole way. He came out grinning from ear to ear. I know some of what he said, because it was incorporated into his bio at the coronation, but I'd have loved to be a fly on that wall. He said he had them laughing, which is undoubtedly true.
With the interview done, being on stage at coronation was the last giant to slay. I asked if he was excited as we walked to the school. "I'm nervous."
He did well, though. I was soaking it all in. He was so adorable up there.
And he won!
This being my first pageant experience, I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was very good for him. He had to step outside his comfort zone a bit and discovered just how fun it can be to try new things. Right now, I'm ecstatic. We will see if the feeling survives parade season.
_________________________________________
* I am an Independent Team Beachbody Coach, links are affiliated to me. You can find me on Facebook at DahlhouseGym or on Instagram as dahlhouse_gym
I'm taking on a new challenge in my knitting as well, stranded colorwork. When I've dabbled in the past, the results have been less than stellar. Sometimes, however, the right motivation is all that is required.
Russian dolls, matryoshka, are "a thing" in our house. Laney and I love them; we built her fifth birthday around a matryoshka theme. So, when doll leggings landed on my radar, they were immediately elevated to unicorn status. (The first pair I saw were the wrong size.)
Now, I've been trying to curtail unnecessary spending due to unexpected expenses. Darren has needed a slew of dental work — I'm never putting edible pearls on Christmas cookies again, the car is in the shop, and I've busted two phone screens to the point of being unusable this month. But… when your unicorn appears, you snap it up.
Snap up those Russian doll leggings I did and immediately cast on socks to match. Maybe I've never had stranded success in the past, but I will now! The pattern has been in my queue for a while, and I'm so excited to see how they turn out.
Speaking of things turning out, I've been wearing the heck out of this hat, which I love, love, love.
It's handspun from the merino sparkle top justified as a birthday purchase. The black and grey pompom ties it in with my birthday coat. Finished off with the most prized button from my stash, it is just perfect. It's such a good feeling when everything comes together.
I also managed to get Oliver's socks finished in time for crazy sock day. It was close! I don't know where the time went. One day, there was plenty of time. Then, all of a sudden, I had two days to get it done. He is so worth the effort, though. He loves his handmade socks and wears them to oblivion, making every minute of construction worthwhile.
And while we're talking about Oliver, he has taken some huge steps outside his comfort zone the last couple weeks.
Our town just held its annual pageant, in which they allow kindergarten students to participate. In addition to the queen and two princesses, a Little Miss and Little Mr. from the kindergarten class are crowned. Oliver came home from school excitedly waiving the flyer, so I signed him up.
 |
| Before coronation, trying to act like he's not nervous. |
Later, all of the candidates were introduced at the high school basketball game. He was so nervous! But the girls took good care of him, and he had fun out there.
We knew there would be an interview process going in, and he worried about it quite a bit. When it was his turn, he went in alone, dragging his feet the whole way. He came out grinning from ear to ear. I know some of what he said, because it was incorporated into his bio at the coronation, but I'd have loved to be a fly on that wall. He said he had them laughing, which is undoubtedly true.
With the interview done, being on stage at coronation was the last giant to slay. I asked if he was excited as we walked to the school. "I'm nervous."
He did well, though. I was soaking it all in. He was so adorable up there.
And he won!
This being my first pageant experience, I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was very good for him. He had to step outside his comfort zone a bit and discovered just how fun it can be to try new things. Right now, I'm ecstatic. We will see if the feeling survives parade season.
_________________________________________
* I am an Independent Team Beachbody Coach, links are affiliated to me. You can find me on Facebook at DahlhouseGym or on Instagram as dahlhouse_gym
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