The Coo of a Dove

The level of holiday spirit in my household continues to astound me. Now, all kids are going to be asking for certain things from Santa in November and December. And lots of kids might see something cool in a catalog and suggest that maybe they should ask for it for Christmas. Plus, I am aware that my children are not the only ones out there pleading to turn on carols and dance (though I still think it's funny). All that considered, I think we may have gone one step further.


My children's newest thing is "the coo of a dove." They love the idea of it. They love to say it. They love to make the sound of it. My daughter walks around all day cooing. Yes. Cooing. Really. My son plays with his dinosaurs (just this morning, in fact) and crashes them into each other, saying "Then, with the coo of a dove, he jumps on the Sharptooth and..." No, I am not kidding. And it goes on all day.


Where did they get this coo of a dove, you say? Well, I am not sure how many times you might have read and/or watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas. If it's anywhere near as many times as I have, you would have known the answer right away, I guarantee it. Anyone know what the Grinch has to do with doves? C'mon--someone knows. Post the answer in the comments and maybe you'll get a special little something!? All right, not really. But I will consider you a special friend and if we ever meet in real life, I'll give you a big hug, o.k.? Hey, give me a break! It's the holidays and it's been a tight year. (Plus, it's insanely easy, but that's beside the point.) So, that's the newest thing here at my house. Constant cooing and dove references. Kind of cute, but believe me, it does get on your nerves after a little bit. These darned holidays are getting out of control...


On the knitting front, I did finish Irene's mittens. I used basically the same pattern as the boys' mittens: Classic Mittens from Free Vintage Knitting. Such trouble getting everything to work, details on Ravelry (I'm "theJilly" if you want to peek). In the end, I'm happy with the way they turned out, and Irene wore them to school this morning, so I believe she's happy, too.


The front:




The palm:

I think they'll be warm enough, and they match her coat pretty darned well, indeed. After much debate with Brian last night, we decided that she's probably too old to still have a string connecting her mittens. Actually, he kind of shamed me into the decision. I'd embarrass her...blah, blah, blah. All I could think was that if she lost one I'd have to knit ANOTHER one! He finally won. I deemed them officially completed last night, feeling mightily satisfied. Don't you know that this morning, she asked if she could have an I-cord, too, like the boys? Um, yeah, she did say "I-cord". Is that weird? Tonight, the cord will be added and I'll keep working on the matching hat. It's a cross between the Kittyville hat and the polka dotted mittens. Not sure how happy I am with the seed stitch at the bottom, but I am letting it transform and I'll decide later.

Did I show you Keegan's finished mittens?




They're just like Spencer's, but the size bigger. I believe it's 4-6 yrs.


Here's my progress on the Monkeys. It's not much, but I am close to the heel flap, so I'm getting pumped. It's just been so cold here that I had to put these on hold to work on the mittens and hats. Apparently, kids don't like to wear last year's "yucky" mittens while Momma works on fun stuff for herself instead of said kid's mittens. Who knew?




Ps. You'll be happy to hear that the Knitting Gods have taken pity on me and let Irene come home with BOTH mittens. I figure if she was to lose one, it would definitely be the day she wore them for the first time, while I planned to make and attach the cord that night, right?