gnome baby and household blues

This is the hat Kelsey made him.  Still a little big but so beautiful and cozy.

the little happy gnome, before he woke up sad and stuffy

I love this pattern and cannot wait to make more.

This week Riggs received a beautiful hat knit by my sister, Kelsey.  I love the shape of the hat, it covers more of his head and has a tie under the chin, so it stays on very well.  We are very thankful!

I also made him a hat, the Little Gnome Hat, and I love how it turned out.  Such a simple, quick pattern - I will definitely be making more of these hats!  It snowed nearly every day this past week, which has made me feel so overwhelmed.  I usually love it when it snows, but this year it has been different.  I haven't been able to get out and enjoy the snow in the ways I'm used to (skiing), and living in this basement I feel so closed in with snow berms covering every single window.

Not only does it block the view, but it is a big concern come spring because of the threat of flooding.  Steve is going to have to shovel us out and move the snow away from the house to try and lower the threat of flooding.  That will be a lot of work and I know he is not looking forward to it.

We are feeling more and more unsatisfied with living in the city and are slowly saving up to be able to (finally) move and buy some land and a house.  It has been so hard having our beautiful Homer property but not being able to live on it full time due to Steve's apprenticeship and the lack of jobs for his trade in Homer.  We have been looking around at many different types of property in an attempt to narrow down what we are really looking for.

What we know we need are a bathroom and a half (two full bathrooms would be nice but not necessity), a gas kitchen stove or the ability to easily install one, two bedrooms (three would be ideal), at least an acre (if we decide to buy in Anchorage we need a yard that is large, somewhat private, and can be driven into), and finally but most importantly, a large shop or garage for Steve.  These are the things we will not compromise on.  We are willing to purchase a fixer-upper, as we both enjoy customizing things to our own taste and don't mind putting in a little sweat equity.  But at the same time, we don't want something that is too much work.

That is what has been on my mind lately, and I have been a little down feeling like there's nothing at there that speaks to me, that I can see myself living in.  On the bright side, I have been going through all of our things and slowly weeding things out that I don't want filing our home.  We have acquired so many things living in our little basement apartment and it is driving me a little crazy.  I love to get rid of stuff but sometimes Steve has a hard time parting with things he thinks he will be able to use in the future, so that can be sort of a struggle.  In this world it is so easy to get focused on material things and wanting to acquire more, more, more, but Steve and I have a strong desire to live more simply and have been striving to make that a reality in our lives.

I have also been thinking a lot about how we want to parent Riggs, especially thinking a lot about his education, and have found some great related reading.  I have been reading about the Waldorf/Steiner theory/method of education and have been very drawn to it.  As a final note, I wanted to share this thought that really stood out to me:

“Our highest endeavor must be to develop free human beings who are able of themselves to impart purpose and direction to their lives. The need for imagination, a sense of truth and a feeling of responsibility-these three forces are the very nerve of education." 
– Rudolf Steiner 


I hope you all have had a wonderful weekend and also that you like my new blog layout.  I have been itching for a change and finally took the time to come up with something new.