• Jan. 21, 2009
A new arrival

Recently I was lucky enough to win a blog-contest over at Thimbleanna's.... go visit her if you never have - she's got the most adorable projects and good recipes too.  Not to mention, super cute pin-cushion bunnies that seem to have a mind of their own.   I felt very lucky to win Mr. Stick-me Bunny,  but I'm not sure how he felt about making a cold journey to the farm.    He arrived yesterday, along with an adorable Mary Englebreit needle folder and some yummy chocolate that lasted maybe 2 nanoseconds.   


He thawed out quickly after his journey, but he looked worried about his new surroundings, so I let him hang out in the kitchen with me while I fixed dinner.


We even introduced him to one of his own kind, Eleanor the rabbit.   I'll bet  Mr. Stick-Me wonders if we use her as a pin-cushion, too.  


My boys already told me there's no way I can put pins into such a cute little rabbit, so maybe that will help Mr. Bunny relax in his new home.    

We're waiting for some other new arrivals around here too, the ewes and goats are all getting closer and closer to baby time -- we're doing our best to keep a close eye on them, so barn cam 09 has been set up. 
 
Of course we can't watch them all with one camera, so we put whoever seems closest in this pen.   Doodle is in the pen right now and she seems very close - I'm crossing my fingers and toes that she decides to go into action this evening, so we don't have to continually check her all.  night.  long.    (Doodle is the ewe that lived in our laundry room for the first six weeks of her life, due to a broken leg)   She is still such a sweetie and I'm really hoping for some nice healthy lambs from her.

The socks are still in progress but I couldn't resist casting on the latest Knitspot pattern, la Novia.   (Ravelry link)  (the yarn is Alpaca/Wook DK from Fearless Fibers)   I have to admit to casting on for yet one more pair of socks, this time some for the farmer in Berroco Sox.    He really likes the first pair I made him and wears them a lot, so it only seems right that he should get another pair! 

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• Jan. 13, 2009
It's a New Year!

Happy New Year!   (Ok, I'm a little late)  There's just something about the start of a new year - I think almost all of us feel a little excitement in the idea of a fresh start.   Personally, I'm not making "resolutions,"  instead I'm thinking more along the lines of goals, or habits that I want to create.  One is the ubiquitous exercise more/eat less, but there are others.... spend more time knitting and less looking at patterns on the internet, for one.   Knit a sweater!   Do some nature journaling with youngest boy, and of course.....work on organizing the areas that need it.  


The start of the new year found the farmer and his crew cleaning up the mess made by the December ice storm.   One huge storm plus multiple farmsteads equals a ton of work.   He also had bins to level and an elevator pit to clean out, and he likes to line up some high school and college kids to help with it all.    It's a great way to get lots of hard work done, but he didn't take much time off over the holidays....ah well.     This was them clearing up our yard........sometimes I really don't want to know what he's up to, I think!

      yes, that's a chainsaw he's got

As for knitting, it's been back to socks!    I got some beautiful Sophie's Toes before Christmas that I couldn't wait to try, so once my Christmas knitting was done I got started.   But sadly my pattern choice resulted in some pooling I just wasn't happy with, so this

 
ended up at the frog pond.    I decided to switch gears and go with a colorway that could handle a more complex pattern,  and got started with some of the new Malabrigo sock yarn.  This is the Child's First Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks, with some Lantern Moon sock needles (Sox Stix) which I love - they are only 5 inches long,  I wish all my sock needles were an inch or two shorter!


It's bitterly cold right now and supposed to get worse (a high of 1 degree on Thursday) so I'm really hoping none of the sheep or goats will decide it's time to deliver a baby right now.   I think we've got about a week before it's time though, so we're all keeping our fingers crossed it'll at least get into the double digits by then!   Here's one little guy we had to say good-bye to last week, youngest boy's little parakeet, Rocket.    Rocket started looking poorly and we took him to the avian vet.  (Not something I ever thought I'd be doing, let me tell you!   I was shocked to learn we even had an avian vet around here!)  But despite that and some special meds and supplements, he didn't make it.  We'll miss you Rocket!

   
 

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• Dec. 29, 2008
Whoosh!!

Whoosh!  There went Christmas, almost before I knew it was here.  It always seem like so much preparation goes into an event that is here and gone almost before I know what's happened!   It's all worth it when you see those excited faces though!

         sometimes they like each other

On Christmas Eve we went to my parents home, and boy were the country roads slippery as we were still stuck with all that ice.......I was worried that my poor birch tree would never be the same.

    Since then, we've had a freakishly warm day and the ice is all gone, gone, gone.    (and the birch tree seemed to recover just fine)     At mom & dad's we exchanged gifts with my sister and her family, so the first knitted gift was also given out.   I made "Mitt Envy"  for my sister, they seemed to fit well and she seemed to like them!  The yarn is a super soft blend by The  YoYo, very pretty and very nice to knit with.  



We had a nice dinner and slid home on the ice to finish getting ready for the big day.   The boys had received a Wii from grandma & grandpa, they were so excited I think they could have floated home!  I never did get a picture of all four pairs of the slippers I made for all the guys - and I'm still sewing the leather bottoms on!   But at least the ones for the boys were all knit and waiting for them with their stockings in the morning.


    
The only other hand-knit gift I have to show for myself are these two coffee sleeves which I used to dress up a couple of Starbucks mugs which got sent off to an aunt and uncle with gift cards inside.   Now that was a quick project!!


We are taking this week off from school, so I'm hoping to do a little organizing around the house but also relaxing!  The farmer has lots of year end work, some of which is leveling bins and cleaning up from the big ice storm, so the older boys will be busy helping with that.    I'm looking forward to things getting back to normal a bit more, and hopefully getting some projects done around here during the long winter months that are left.   And after all this celebrating, my waistline is telling me that I need to get back to normal eating as well!!

  the farmer just thinks it's hilarious to take shots like this

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• Dec. 19, 2008
Treacherous

My older boys had their first "snow day" today - they've never really enjoyed that before, but the class they are taking at the high school was canceled as the entire school is without power thanks to this stuff:



It's beautiful to look at, but this ice storm is causing lots of problems around here.   I don't think I've ever seen a layer this thick on everything, some of our poor trees look like they may not recover, and there are branches down everywhere.

Thankfully, our power hasn't gone out but many people have lost power.   We've got the generator ready to go, just in case.  Meanwhile, I think Max has the right idea:

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• Dec. 17, 2008
First Christmas!

It feels like we should be on Christmas break here, seeing as we already celebrated with the farmer's side of the family - it was hard to get back into the normal swing of things on Monday!  Before everyone arrived, I finished up one more little snowperson, using the same SnoBuddy Family pattern.

   

We had a great weekend with all the extended family and of course ate way too
much.   We ate, exchanged gifts, played games, ate, stayed up too late talking, laughed, ate...well, you get the idea.    I gave my sil a little knitting lesson, and she gave me a crochet lesson- I even made a little granny square.  She was trying to finish up a couple gifts so she was crocheting every minute she could be - I'm sure many of us can relate!!    I have to show the beautiful family tree that she made for us as our Christmas gift:


I love it!   She hand drew and lettered all that, and my nephew and his girlfriend helped her color it all in.   I wasted no time in getting that hung up on the wall!

In addition to feeding our guests, the farmer cleaned up all the birdfeeders last week and filled the with fresh seed.   We had some very happy birds - but also an unintended guest to the feeder:

 Surprisingly, I haven't seen this little guy come back yet - I thought he'd be back soon, and probably bring some of his friends!   Maybe it's because of this very interested (and loud)  critter:


About a milisecond after I snapped this picture, he went completely bananas and scared Mr. Bunny away.  

Now that last weekend is over, I really need to focus on the rest of my preparations, especially those slippers I need to knit!!       Hope everyone enjoys their last week to get ready before the big day, and isn't too stressed out!    
ps.  Need some free printable gift tags?   Bella Dia has rounded up a huge list - go check it out!

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• Dec. 9, 2008
Keeping Busy

I'm sure I'm not the only one keeping busy right now!  We are celebrating Christmas at our house this weekend with the farmer's side of the family, so my head is spinning a little!!   In addition to getting ready for that,  we've had a few holiday activities going on, like youngest boy's piano recital.   He naturally wasn't looking forward to it but he and all the kids did a great job.


Last night I had a Christmas gift exchange with some ladies that I've known ever since I've been married.   I always have a hard time coming up with a gift idea as it's got to be something that would be enjoyed by any of them, and there's a pretty wide range of ages and interests represented.    When I saw the pattern for this little guy,  I  decided it would be the perfect thing to make!

 
He's from the Snobuddy Family pattern by Knitting at Knoon Designs.     I went down a couple needles sizes from what the pattern called for, I like a tight fabric for stuffies so that none of their stuffing shows through.   Hopefully his new owner will give him a good home!

  Linda with Jolly the Snowman

The friend that hosted our little party had her home all trimmed out beautifully for  Christmas.  Her style is very different than mine, which makes it even more fun to check out all the decorations.   Her tree was beautiful, all white and pink with beautiful glass ornaments.



I haven't done a livestock update in quite awhile.......it looks like we've got a barn full of expectant mothers, which is exactly what we want!!  A couple weeks ago the boys and their dad took all the bred females over to a neighboring farm to be checked out by the traveling ultrasound guy.  


   The boys helping the ultrasound guy

Looks like cold work, doesn't it!!   The good news is, all the goats and sheep that are supposed to be pregnant are, some with singles, several with twins,  a few with triplets and one that he said could have quads!!!    Triplets (not to mention quads) make things tricky,   because at least one is usually very weak and takes a lot of extra effort, not to mention probably needing to be bottle-fed.   Also, it's even more important to be there when the mom gives birth, as there's no way she's going to get 3 babies cleaned up and dried off in time in the cold weather.    They all have due dates from mid-January to mid-February, I think my wool socks are going to get a lot of use!!


ps......someone left a comment about my Louisiana basket - yes, that is exactly what it says on the bottom, and I'd love any info about this type of basket if you've got it!   

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• Dec. 5, 2008
Catching Up

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving!  We did, altho that's starting to seem like a long time ago, already!   We will be celebrating Christmas with the farmer's family at our house, next weekend (!)  so we've been scurrying around trying to get organized for that.   

But back to Thanksgiving weekend - on Saturday,  my parents, sister and her family came over for what may be a new family tradition.  My dad used to make homemade pizzas when we were kids, but he hasn't done it in years.   We decided it was time for him to start teaching the grandsons!   (actually, just about everyone helped out)  I made some crust and he brought all the toppings and expertise. 

 
It was fun to do, not to mention delicious!!   And for dessert - oh boy!   I don't know if it was because we were celebrating my birthday or if I just got lucky, but my sister brought over a homemade tiramisu.   Best I've EVER had, yum yum.   She used the recipe over at PioneerWoman.com - and I'm telling you, pure heaven!!  

   so good - they are all lucky I shared!

Let's see, what else- I had a very nice birthday on Tuesday, many lovely gifts from the fam.  We went out for some yummy Mexican food and then the farmer and I went to the movies.  My oldest also started his first non-farm job that day - his karate instructor has asked him to help teach classes two days a week.  We think it'll be a great learning experience for him, but life is just getting busier and busier!

I didn't think I'd be doing much Christmas knitting this year - maybe a dishcloth here or there.  I'm never really sure people WANT my knitting for Christmas, so I tend not to do it.
But then I had an idea for my gift exchange.........and my four guys also all requested slippers.   Not just any slippers, either, they want ones just like the farmer's Nana used to make.   I didn't have a pattern but thanks to Ravelry I've got one now!!  With 8 slippers to knit, thank goodness it's a quick and easy pattern.


Yesterday some fun came in the mail -- I'd won a blog contest held by Oiyi, and this is what arrived - some lovely worsted weight yarn that she dyed herself!  Pretty!!

         
And just one last thing, especially for you wiener dog fans out there- (I'm looking at you, Mrs. Farmhouse!)  a friend alerted me to this adorable pattern.  (just scroll down to Dec 3)  If it weren't for the slippers, I'd be working on it right now!!   Just leave a comment on her blog, she'll email you a pdf of the pattern.   Cute!!   And now, back to the slippers!

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• Nov. 25, 2008
Still Lazy

I guess I'm still the lazy blogger as I can't even manage a post a week - or maybe it's just that I'm sitting here in stunned amazement that Thanksgiving is just a couple of days away!!   The good news is, harvest is finished, woo hoo!   There is still some fall tillage to get done but the big push is OVER! 

I'm always reading about blogger/internet meet-ups that other people have with envy- it sounds like so much fun to meet people you've gotten to know online face-to-face.
Guess what - it is fun!  A couple weekends ago I finally got my chance as 5 knitting friends from a Ravelry group were all planning to meet at The Fold.    It's quite a bit north from me, but Erika kindly offered me a ride if I got myself as far as her house.  Thanks again to Erika for hauling me all over the place!  

The Fold is really the place to go if you're interesting in checking out spinning wheels, not to mention all the great fleeces and yarn.   No, I did not come home with a spinning wheel,(this time) but The Fold is also known as a Socks that Rock mecca, so I couldn't pass that up!  Not to mention this yarn that was labeled Chicago Bears, but we all know these are really Illini colors!!

After The Fold, we headed in closer to the city to go to Chix with Stix, which was an adorable shop with lots of temptations.   I couldn't resist some Misti Alpaca Chunky after admiring Jen's scarf she'd made from some - soooo soft!!

with Becca & Kristy at Chix with Stix - wish I'd gotten a group picture of us all!

We couldn't resist the tea shop right across the street so we headed over there next.  Todd & Holland had lots of neat accessories and tons of teas but I was reserving my purchasing power that day for knitting.

We finally headed over for lunch at a nearby Flattop Grill  for lunch at about 4pm!  The farmer couldn't believe that we ate that late, but he doesn't understand the sacrifices that must be made in search of yarn!    Lunch was wonderful (didn't hurt that we were starving) and then it was time for everyone to head home.   It was so great to meet all of them- I had a great time and I think everyone else did too.   The farmer, not being into all this blogger/ravelry stuff was maybe wondering if I was headed out to meet a group of crazy internet stalkers but I phoned him a few times during the day to assure him the only thing being stalked was yarn.

I couldn't resist that Misti Alpaca, so even though I have a bit of Christmas knitting to do, I cranked out that scarf last week,  and I just loved knitting with it.   I may have to order one more skein so there can be a matching hat.

Max thinks alpaca feels nice and soft too!!


Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

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• Nov. 13, 2008
The Lazy Blogger

The lazy blogger - that's me!!  I guess I'm just not feeling much blog inspiration these days....it seems that life goes in a real cycle around here,  dictated by the animals/farm/school schedule, and each cycle is very much like it was last year.   (So that's the long way of saying not much new is going on here)

I did finish my Sleepwalker Socks a week or so ago.   This is a pattern I'm sure I'll make again, it seemed to go really fast and the sock fits perfectly. The pattern would be great for someone who hadn't much sock experience as every step was spelled out in detail.  And I can't forget to mention the yarn - loved it!


pattern: Sleepwalker Socks by Dream in Color
yarn:  Autumn Harvest by Sophie's Toes

Is everyone else in disbelief like I am, that Thanksgiving is around the corner and Christmas will be close behind??  I'm trying to get myself out of denial and into the swing of things, so that December isn't hectic and crazy - a few Christmas gifts have even been purchased!   I didn't think I would be doing much knitting for gifts, but the farmer and the boys have all requested slippers, so I'll need to get on that soon! (and I've got a couple other little things up my sleeve)

I really like to spend some of my gift budget with small businesses and indpendent crafters, and I'm sure we all know how addictive etsy.com can be!  I thought I'd share a few people I've bought things from online and have had good shopping experiences with, maybe it'll be just the thing someone needs for someone on their list.

The little ornaments were made by Barb, who sells handmade goodies at A Chelsea Morning's Little Shoppe.  These Santa Stars looked adorable online, but when they came I was even more impressed- they are perfect down to the tiniest detail.  I'm sure all her other items are made just as carefully.   Aren't they cute??


I don't think she has any available right now but I know she's working on more in time for the holidays.   I'm tempted to get more when they're ready- they'd be so cute on a package or attached to a gift card.

This key chain is from Sommer Designs, who can resist wiener dogs in sweaters?
She's got lots of other tempting items, like bags, aprons, and  lavender drawer liners, all in some really fun fabrics.  

Speaking of wiener dogs, here's how ours stays warm at night:


Have a great day!  (and find someone warm to snuggle with!)

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• Nov. 4, 2008
Did You??

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• Oct. 31, 2008
Boo to You!!

Happy  Halloween, all!   Meet Boo, who came to visit just in time for Halloween...


He mostly spends his time hanging around in the kitchen.....


Boo knit up very quickly, that is, once his eyes (which of course I couldn't find locally) came in the mail.  The only modification I made was to use a smaller needle for a tighter gauge, to make sure his stuffing doesn't show.   I had intended to knit up a flock (?) of these little guys, but I have to admit to becoming distracted.........

Autumn Harvest Sock Yarn by Sophie's Toes - irresistible!

Have a safe & fun day!!

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• Oct. 24, 2008
Boo at the Zoo

Last Sunday we headed back towards the city for an annual event - celebrating a nephew's birthday at Brookfield Zoo.   We lucked out with some great weather this year!   It was "Boo at the Zoo" weekend, so in addition to the animals we saw lots of zoo-goers in costume, like Darth here:

(this guy was hard to miss!)

I think the animal highlight for this year was the baby giraffe, born this past August I believe.

awwwwww!

After visiting a bunch of the critters, we found a spot to open gifts, and have cupcakes and cider.   I think the boys all had as much fun playing in all the leaves as anything else!


I've been working on my Little Pumpkins socks and finally got them finished this week!!   The weather is getting cooler but I refuse to turn on the furnace already so I wasted no time wearing the socks.

 
 Now to start the next socks!

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• Oct. 18, 2008
Plugging along

Harvest is going along pretty smoothly so far, always something to be thankful for.  We've been blessed with mostly good weather and no major breakdowns - yay!!  (there's nothing like a sleep deprived farmer with a broken-down combine,  trust me!)
When we finally had some rain earlier this week, I was almost glad as it gave the farmer a little break and some rest.

Speaking of a little break, having some flexibility of schedule is one of the things I really love about home schooling.  The boys have hardly seen their dad the last couple weeks, but when he got rained out we all went into town for haircuts and then out to lunch, and did a few errands together, and we all enjoyed just being together for the afternoon.     As for school, we're having a pretty good year so far...and did I mention I now have 2 high-schoolers??   It's hard to get used to that! One new thing for this year is that the older boys are taking an ag class at the local high school.  It's every other day, first thing in the morning, so it fits in with our schedule really well....not to mention they can drive themselves, now that oldest boy has his license.  That has been kinda scary but also nice - they had an FFA meeting the other night and I did not have to take them!  Woohoo!  



Now onto the really good stuff - I was in a "back-to-school" swap and for whatever reason my partner bailed on sending anyting out to me- but  a very kind substitute stepped in and I got a great package last week!
 A sock knitting book that looks really intriguing, an adorable pouch, some  beautiful needles that I immediately stated using and LOVE, and some yarn I've always wanted to try in a great color.   I was thrilled and I really appreciated that someone would go the extra mile to make sure no one was left out.

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• Oct. 10, 2008
Getting crafty

Fall always puts me in a  crafty mood - maybe it's the weather??  (altho it's supposed to be 80 degrees here this weekend - too warm for me!)   Early in the week I pulled out a few fall/harvest themed decorations to put out, then looked around to see what else needed some sprucing up.  

The first thing I did took all of 15 minutes - I should have done this ages ago!   I finally got around to painting the frame of the whiteboard that hangs in the computer/office/schoolroom.

  before

  better!

Here's another project I've been meaning to do since I saw it on Autum's blog, ohhh...... 2 years ago!!    When I saw that the fake pumpkins were 50% off at Michael's I finally got something done!     I got some help with this project:


I'm not 100% sure if I love the finished project, I may yet give it a little tweaking.  I think this would be great with some real pumpkins also, but I wanted something that would last more than one year.   The pumpkins are held together by a dowel that goes through them, into the dirt in the pot.   We got some mums in pots and hung  the fall wreath on the front door- and the front porch is just about ready for fall.


I see the porch could use a good sweeping, too!    Next on the list was to make a few little wooden tags to hang here and there.   This was a fun project, I just dragged  out some stickers and paper and such and messed with it till each one seemed done.

The raw materials:

A couple of the finished products:


The first layer is scrapbook paper, which I grubbied up with some brownish paint.  I would have liked to more layering, but these tags are fairly small and I didn't want them to be too busy.   So that's the craftiness for this week, and I'm continuing to work on my little pumpkins socks--almost done with the first one!

This is not crafty at all, but I'm sure you want to see my new shoes that I'm in mad love with, right?  (70% off!  Woot!)    Have a great weekend! 

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• Oct. 4, 2008
Fall has arrived

This week found us with some cooler weather at last, so it really feels like fall has arrived.  It's downright chilly first thing in the morning when the boys go out to do chores.  Harvest began this week also, so the long hours have started for farmer husband and we don't see much of him as he's rarely home before 10pm.

As October and harvest are officially here, it seemed time to get out a few fall decorations and do a little fall baking.   A couple of my fav recipes for this time of year have been found on blogs - one of them is for pumpkin scones, you can find the recipe here.

pumpkin scones and "little pumpkins" socks

The pumpkin socks have grown a little, other recent knitting has included a secret project (which is all done- yay!) and a couple of hats for the 7 Long Project (chemo hats for kids).


A pretty bad picture of an "Unoriginal Hat" and "Robins Egg Hat," both from Patons Shetland Chunky Tweeds yarn. 

Not only has fall arrived, but so has our first nasty cold, 2 of the boys and I were all struck down with it, so this hasn't been the most productive week.  Yesterday I did finally feel like knitting but charts and tiny needles were a little too much so instead I made a dishcloth, pattern found here.    


Aren't dogs lucky that they don't get things like the common cold?  Max never seems to slow down for too long!

   grrrrrrr!   destroy!


  huh?  who me?

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• Sep. 25, 2008
TIMBER!!!

Timmmmmmberrrrrrrrrr!  Or, what we did today.....

When we had storms with high winds move through here last month, not only did it wreck the garage door, it brought down a huge section of an old tree that is near one of the pastures, not too far from the house.   A few days later another chunk came down, which made it pretty clear that we'd better not use that pasture for now, and that the tree really needed to be removed.     We're pretty sure this tree was way over 100 years old so it's sad to take it down but it had become dangerous.
Farmer husband has taken down lots of trees but I practically begged him not to try this one - it's at least 90 feet high and 5 1/2 feet across at the base.     Today the tree man came to cut it down:




Even Ewoyn watched as the tree came down:


Once the tree was down, it was time to cut it into more manageable pieces to move it away, especially as it was completely blocking the lane.  We used a couple of loaders to move the large chunks:



Some of the largest pieces were so big, the had to be chained to the bucket so the loader could drag them out of the way.   Then everyone got to work with the more manageable parts.  The number of sticks and branches all over was amazing, and some of the branches made big ruts in the grass when the tree came down.  (not to mention the mess made by that big loader)       The bats that had been living in the tree really weren't happy:

 
They were pretty dazed but they all eventually flew off....I hope they pick another tree in the yard to make a new home in.

Now we're left with quite a stump - I'm sure the goats will enjoy playing on it.


I know they enjoyed the branches we pulled over to the pasture for them!


The guys all worked till close to dark and there's yet more to do tomorrow.  We'll be keeping some of the tree for firewood, and there are several different people that want to take part of it away.   I think there's enough here for someone to heat their house all winter!

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• Sep. 15, 2008
C'est fini!

We started our weekend with a lovely dinner out at one of the very few "upscale" type places in our area.   We had a gift card and went on a whim, but we both wished we'd been hungrier because the food was fabulous.   There's enough on the gift card to go back again, and next time I'll be sure to save my appetite!!

Saturday evening and Sunday brought huge rains to our area, although luckily no  high winds.  Friday a guy came to install a new garage door, replacing one that had been ruined during August's storms, so I'm really thankful we were spared the winds.   We did have flooding in our area,  and farmer husband spent much of Sunday afternoon helping a friend pump 4 FEET of water out of his basement.  at church there was water coming into the (finished) basement and I know many people went home to find water coming into their own basements.   Thankfully we were high and dry up here on our little hill.

hanging around on the back deck

At last my clapotis 100% finished - the knitting was done a few weeks ago but I'd never gotten those ends woven in or blocked it.   This morning it was blocked and dry at last.  (boy, could I have used some blocking wires)    I'm happy with the size it ended up being, although if I were to do it over I'd do one more increase section.  The bamboo merino blend is super soft and it's a very lightweight wrap - it'll be perfect for summer weather.

scary no-makeup photo

I'd like to have another one in a thicker yarn for winter to wrap up in,  so knitting another is not out of the question!

Yarn:  Middlearth  Knitter  bamboo/merino blend, fingering weight, in "seaweed"
Needles:  US 5
Pattern:  Clapotis from Knitty.com

one more look
 

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• Sep. 11, 2008
Dish Rag Tag Time

It's time for Dish Rag Tag - the sequel!   My team's box has been making its way across the country and this afternoon it arrived here at the farm.    Dish Rag Tag is hosted by Emily at Yarn Miracle, and she does a wonderful job coordinating the whole thing, which is no small task.  

The box came to me from Kansas, and not only did it contain a dishcloth, and the yarn to knit another dishcloth, but was also stuffed with lots of little goodies  - thanks, Lynn!


She sent post-it's and a tape measure from her favorite LYS, some locally made soap that smells great, some wool soak, really unusual ginger candies (yum), some great id tags for circular needles from Knit Picks, and I can't forget the popcorn on the cob - that should be fun to try.  She packed a lot into a tiny box and I really appreciate it.  And I can't forget a picture of the dishcloth itself, already pressed into use:


The box was here when we got back from piano at 3:30, and I knew there was no way I could knit my cloth and get it to the post office by closing at 4:30, so I had all evening to knit mine and repack the box.....it's heading off to Michigan first thing in the morning.    Go Box Go!!
   

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• Sep. 8, 2008
Fall in the Air

We had a coolish, rainy day today that felt refreshing and made me want to take a nap all at the same time.   Since I've finished a couple of ufo's lately, I started up a new pair of socks with some lovely yarn from The YoYo in a perfect fall color, in the "Little Pumpkins" pattern.


And here is my finished Chevron Scarf, finally completed after being on the needles for a good year.  I like this pattern, like the yarn, it just gets tedious to knit a scarf with fingering-weight yarn!   Max actually picked out the 2 colorways- by destroying the second skein of yarn for the lighter color, I couldn't make socks with it anymore so I ended up combining it with the darker skein for the chevron pattern.  The funny thing is, this has been favorited more than any other item on my project page so good job Max!

We really wished for some cool weather when we were at the Cubs game last week -  we took the boys on our annual pilgrimage to Wrigley and it was HOT and humid - one of the warmest days of the summer. 

We kept hoping for a cool breeze to kick in from the lake as the night went on, but no such luck and it stayed stuffy till the end, even though the game went long. Whew, all that heat in a packed stadium made me feel almost claustrophobic!

The boys have never seen the Cubs win at Wrigley and we thought this would be the year-- but they didn't pull it off.  But as all Cubs fans know, there's always next year!