Hobbits

Coleen chose to be a hobbit this year for Halloween, so we pulled out all of our Ottobre magazines and came up with this ensemble:

The vest is from 1/2008- pattern 36.
The shirt is from 3/2005- pattern 36.
The pants are from 4/2005- pattern 16.


And here's the back view:



I really like this shirt. It is made from the scraps from a linen/cotton blend from fabrics-store.com that I had bought to make the renaissance dresses for my brother's wedding.



The shirt is a classic and Coleen has already requested more. We both especially love the French cuffs and the open collar.

Karate Kid

Coleen tested for her green belt in Kyuki-do, a Korean martial art that primarily incorporates elements of Tae Kwon Do, Hapkido and Judo. It is the branch of martial arts that our local studio teaches. The following comes from Coleen's manual The Art of Kyuki-do :

"Like many other martial arts, Kyuki-Do incorporates a ranking system that utilizes colored belts. The color of a student's belt symbolizes his or her progression in the art; students start at white belt, and as they become more and more proficient, they promote to higher ranks. Kyuki-do has twelve colored belt ranks before black belt."

To get a new belt means to learn a new form which is a new series of moves that you have to memorize and get proficient in.

Green is the fifth level in this hierarchy. I stayed and watched Coleen during her test and was very impressed with how far she has come along and how high she can kick!


She did quite well on her test. Here she is being presented with her new belt. The old belts go on a special rack that William made for her, so she can see her progress.


This is her main instructor, Mr. Nordie. Doesn't she look pleased as punch with herself?


William and I are very proud of our karate kid!

Especially for Dad

My dad is in Virginia for the next week and called me to ask how to get to my page, so I thought I would send him an extra special hello.

Love you Dad! Have a great trip. We had snow again today...brr!

The picture of Coleen jumping is a few weeks ago when the leaves had just started falling. She spent a good hour outside trying to rake up enough of a pile of leaves to jump in. She did enjoy it!




These pictures are from our last trip to Perrot. It was a gorgeous fall day a couple of weekends ago.

Fall Color

Perrot State Park

We went on a hike in Perrot State Park on Saturday. It was an absolutely beautiful day.

We hiked up along Perrot Ridge Trail. This is the view from the top. The body of water is the Mississippi River. We live about 10 minutes from here.


Here's looking off the other way towards some farmland. The trees are just beginning to turn. We had a couple of frosts last week, but nothing severe.


Coleen caught this leaf as it fell from the trees way above our heads. Boy did she feel smug!


These caterpillars were our companions on the trail. We ran across at least twenty of them moving along the trail. Where are they all going?

Projects

William finished this scarf this week. We bought the fleece at the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival last month. He dyed the turquoise. The gray is the natural color of the fleece and then he spun the yarn. Nice, yes?


Meanwhile, I worked on another shirt. This one is turning out quite nicely. I changed the shape of the collar slightly and am much happier with it. I did not try to match the pattern anywhere except the pocket as I used every scrap of fabric just to cut out the shirt. The next shirt, which is already cut out, is a more open plaid and I am trying to match it. Now, I just have to remember to mark all of my pieces right side and wrong side. If you could look closely at the pocket you would notice the twill goes the opposite direction of the rest of the shirt. I looked through my scraps thinking surely there was one large enough for a new pocket, but no... I will have to be happy with this one.