Starting next Monday 28 of March, Susan will be doing step by step instructions on her website of how to make the tshirts.  She will also have an optional boy body if you don't want to make the adorable girl version.  She will be hosting a Linky on the 31st of March so we can all show off photos of the tshirts we have made.  If you can't wait to start you can find the instructions for the girl pattern here.

When all the tshirts are done you send them to an address in California and they will send them to Japan.  I think the goal is 500 but I know if we spread the word we can make many more than that!

Supplies are pretty simple, white tshirt, some felt, quilter's cotton, fusible fleece and soft fusible interfacing and your standard thread and needles and some cute buttons.  The shirts are not going to be shipped to Japan until May so you have plenty of time to do a few!

I think this is going to be a fun project to do with the girls, I need to see how many white tshirts I can round up, but I think it would be fun if each of my girls made one for another child (and knowing them they might need to make one to keep for themselves).   I can't wait to see what fabric combinations they come up with. Come join in the fun!

Last month I signed up to be a Purex Insider.  Last week I got a lovely box arrive at my door with this inside:

Long ago before there were so many wonderful green detergents available, Purex was one of the few that had dye and fragrance free varieties.  I have very sensitive skin and my mother had to use products like this and skip the fabric softener so I would not break out.  Purex sent me a full size bottle of Purex Complete with Zout Free and Clear.  So what makes this detergent different you ask?

Not only is this a detergent with a built in stain fighter – Zout it also uses triple enzyme action to really clean your cloths.

But does it really work?  I have used this both as a regular laundry detergent, both drying my sheets and bedding in the dryer and drying my cloths on the drying rack.  Everything comes out clean and fresh and without any odors, something that is really important to me. 

You can use this detergent in both a high efficiency washer, or the regular one like we have here.  If you would like to try it for free Purex is offering free samples at FreeSamplePurex.com

Purex has also been kind enough to offer two of my readers a coupon for a free Bottle of Purex Free and Clear.  I am also throwing in my free sample of Purex Crystal Softeners as they are too smelly for me to use to one of the winners.

So how do you enter to win these lovely laundry aids?  Simply leave me a comment with your email address, whether you would like the softener crystals as well AND what kind of giveaways you would like to see in the future. 

You can get additional entries by following me on twitter, facebook, and typepad.  Please leave one comment per extra entry.  Contest runs until 5pm Monday the 21st!  Good luck!

A while later Rhiannon came into the office where Leigh was working and said "Look Daddy I'm pretty now".  (See the above photo).  Here are before and after shots of her cutting her own hair.  I evened it out for her before taking the after shot.  I did something similar at five, I cut my bangs.  But in my case no one noticed until my trash can was emptied.  In Rhiannon's case I am sure there will be comments all week.  Oh to be 4 and 1/2 again!

Before

After

I am not just talking about the laundry, dishes and the boxes that are once again surrounding me.  We have to leave our current abode and be somewhere else by the 15th of May.  Getting a little stressed?  Yep.  I take lots of deep breaths, but I really, really don't want to have to do this all over again.   I would rather nest and sit somewhere quietly and knit.  Or sew.  It is the only thing that stops my world from spinning.  Usually this pulling in and wanting to be left alone by the world outside happens for me in the late fall or in winter, but now, now Spring is knocking at our door and I want to slam the door in its face and tell it to come back later.

Mud.  I don't want to deal with it.  Melting snow is not nearly as romantic as the freshly fallen stuff.  Fewer layers just reminds me of the summer cloths that have worn out and I need to replace.  Nope I'm not ready to deal with spring, the wind, the pollen, the allergies.  Nope, come again another day.  Please?

We've been busy being sick while I have been away.  Everyone but one of our two cats has been sick, and we are currently in the process of figuring out what is wrong with the other cat, never a fun process.  My grandmother past away a year ago and I am finding it hard again.  It is like it doesn't sink in until you go a full year.  Little things like realizing that usually I am planning to visit where she used to live, a place I have been going almost every year for the past 30 years.  One of the few constants in my life, and now it is gone too.  So many holes that need to be filled right now.

I guess it is a good thing that it is planting season…. maybe getting my hands in all that mud will help.

This moment I am:

:: trying to get the fire to really catch

:: enjoying the silence as everyone else in the house is still asleep

:: watching the snow fall down from the sky, gently coating the world in a soft layer of white

:: casting on for the second sock for Leigh, he still hasn't taken off the first one since he tried it on yesterday

:: eating left over pumpkin custard

:: stitching the last stitches that should finish my Craft Swap Project

:: feeling the warmth from the fingerless gloves my mother made me

:: happy for how well the girls have been playing together with only one room warm in the house

:: listing a bunch of our books on eBay that we no longer want, less boxes to move

:: hoping to lose these sleepy eyes soon and actually wake up

:: so glad that I made those two quilts last fall as we curl up under them these past two days

:: wanting to live in a house that has a wood stove and not just a fireplace and doesn't need oil

:: frustrated that President's Day is a holiday for the heating oil company

:: stretching while reaching for pilates poses

:: loving the cozy comfort of everyone including the cats sleeping in one bed

:: grateful for the roof over my head, the power being on and warm soup for dinner

:: noticing that polyester hats are no where near as warm as wool

:: thankful for getting to spend some time with you!

Then of course, being my girls, they just had to dance.

Really the clean up wasn't too bad.  These are the moments I hope they will remember from their childhood… these are the moments that make for a life.

My own hat.  I have made several for the girls and made and remade one for Leigh.  This one is just for me and woe to the person who tries to wear it!  It is the Brattleboro hat from New England Knits .  Ravelry notes are here.

These are the hats I made the four boys in our homeschooling group for Valentine's Day.  You may remember I made scrunchies for the girls.  These hats came from More Last-Minute Knitted Gifts and I held together two strands of Patons® Classic Wool Yarn together since I did not have any yarn bulky enough for this pattern.  I am amazed at how you can not tell that two strands were used, they just blend in and look like one.  This pattern was truly fast, and a good thing since I made four in about three days.  Rhiannon is modeling the child's large size.

Alewives is having another Craft Swap on the 25th of this month.  I had such a fun time last time that I have to go again.  No I can't tell you what I am making, and I suspect the fabric came from JoAnns.  It was in my stash and you know me, it has to come out of my stash this year…

Two of my works in progress, which look so nice together.  The bottom pieces is part of the Melrose Pea-coat again from New England Knits (I would love to make just about everything in it!) that I am making for myself.  I want to make a sweater for each of us this year for the holidays so I am getting mine out of the way early.  The front piece is the start of a pair of socks for Leigh from the Knits Men Want .  I love the fact that the pattern is a master pattern and so I can make it work with any yarn and whatever the gauge.  The yarn is from my stash and was originally going to a sweater for Leigh that was started when we were first married.  I am so glad to have found another happy use for it.  I have enough that I can make several pairs of socks.

Finally we have yarn for the girls future sweaters.  Rhiannon has her pattern picked out from a recent issue of Interweave Knits (more on that later) and Lolly is getting a sweater based on the Sweater Workshop: book, I am planning on making her a hoodie with a kangaroo pocket.  Leigh has picked out several sweater options from the Knits Men Want book, now all I have to do is save up for the yarn…  Until next time, you'll excuse me, the girls are asleep, Leigh is working and I could be knitting…..