Another FO

Yep I finished yet another project today. I am on a roll. This is a shawl for my youngest daughter. The pattern is by Nancy Bush. You can find it here. It is a quick knit. Just seems to take me forever to finish the outer lace edging. I will probably knit it a few more times. I used 100purewool.com in the brown and pink colorway on 1 ply yarn. It is my favorite yarn. Back to knitting....

Finishing Up

I have been quietly working on finishing up projects in my knitting bag and my sewing bag. This week I finished my Dad's Vest for his Birthday and my oldest daughter's socks. I am on a roll. Now back to knitting.....

Cool Projects

Fabric Boxes and another one.
Cute kimono.
Cute Apron.
A cute Dress.

Just a few things on my already long to do list.

Still Knitting

I am still trying to get some knitting done. Lots of folks are doing some crazy knitting during the Olympics. I have decided to just try to finish as many projects as possible during this time. I actually could finish a pair of shorties today. I have some shawls that need attention. So much to do so little time. Also check this out. It is a beautiful Estonian Lace Christening Shawl that I am seriously thinking about getting. I am doing several KAL right now and probably do not need to start a new one. But I have visions of this one in a nice white alpaca lace.....
I am also getting ready to try something new and that is lace knitting with beads. I am hoping to find some beads at hobby lobby. But knowing me I will get them online. Here is the KAL that I will be doing the beads on. I am pretty sure it is still open to new members. I have become addicted to the lace knitting lately and instead of looking for more projects I guess I could try to finish up some. LOL

New Knitting

Finally got started on my first Anne Hanson project over at Knitspot. I am very happy with how it is turning out and how wonderful her patterns are to knit. She is truly one of my favorite designers. Now I just need to start my to do list of projects.

Lifelines Again

Got a good tip from my LYS yesterday. Use dental floss for your lifeline. I was having trouble with my yarn wanting to catch on the other yarn so it was very hard to get it through the stitches. So now I have yet another reason to go to Wally World considering we do not have the regular wax stuff here. Have I mentioned that other than shopping for yarn or fabric on the Internet I really hate shopping......

Lifelines

Well I have learned the importance of a life line. I got overly excited to get started on Gale by Anne Hanson and decided against stitch markers and a lifeline cause it was going so well. I just had to rip it out because I could not figure out where I went wrong. I am using Fantasia II colorway by purewool and I am loving it. So when I restart I will add a lifeline here and there so I do not loose all of my work. How long would it take me to finish otherwise.

Lookie At What I Made

I am so terribly excited. I made this totally cute wrap skirt from Fitz Patterns. The fabric is from Michael Miller one of my favorite sources of fabric.

The only thing I added was the contrasting piece to match the pocket. I went with the medium size and I love the fit. I am a size 8 in ready to wear clothes. This is an amazingly comfortable skirt and I am very excited about making more. It only took me one day to sew it up and that is a huge plus. We are going on a trip this weekend and I needed a skirt in case we go somewhere nice. I wanted something whimsical and comfortable so this is perfect. The fabric I have had in my stash for ages. I meant to make something for my youngest daughter years ago and now she no longer likes it. I love it and I think it makes a very nice "grown-up" skirt.

One More Thing

This is a wonderful lace shawl that I am doing for my sister in lace yarn from hanpaintedyarn.com. It is my first lace project and I love it. Pattern is from here.

WIP's (What I am up to)

This is to be a socks that I got from a blog that I enjoy reading. I cannot locate the post but will update as soon as I find it.
A sock for my sister. These are Elfine socks and I have been working on them for a year. Pattern is here.
Fabric that is soon to be Bible covers. I have the pattern cut out and plan to finish these this weekend.

This is the begginings of a washcloth.
The last pair of shorties I will probably ever knit since my youngest is potty trained. As usual they are Picky Pants from Little Turtle Knits.
My first pair of Monkey Socks by Cookie A. The pattern is found at knitty.com. I absolutely love these socks. The yarn is jojoland. It is a wonderful yarn to work with.
Yet another simple washcloth.
And here is a shawl that I am working on for my youngest daughter. I love the pattern. It is by Nancy Bush and you can find it here.

Canning

Today I canned my first strawberries. It was a wonderful success sort of. I was hoping to make a thick strawberry spread but ended up with a syrup. The girls and I did come up with a list of things that it would go well with like homemade ice cream, angel food cake, & homemade cheese cake. The wonderful part for me and what makes it such a huge success is that the jars sealed and the syrup has a great flavor. Luckily too I am pretty sure what I did wrong and it will be easy to fix. The good thing is it did make quite a bit. I guess I should write down what I did just in case it is a big hit. I am really going to have fun this summer playing with different recipes and foods. I can not wait!!!!

The Stash Well at least Most of it

The bags and boxes are yarn. I have other areas that are just to hard to get pictures of. The good news is I have not added anything new to the stash since my last post!! Yeah for me.

Stash Busting

Okay I have to admit that my storage area for both yarn and fabric is full. As of this very moment I am on a yarn and fabric diet. I will not be buying either until I put a significant dent in my stash areas. (Yes I have several.) I tried to convince myself that I was just insulating my house really really well but Cleopatra I am not and I can not longer be the Queen of Denial.
I have of course already committed to some goodies in some buys and I will follow through with prior commitments but no new stuff!!! Now I just have to figure out if vintage fabric counts. :-)

Hemp and Wool Dishcloths

I have been looking for an alternative to those yucky sponges and plastic dish things that simply do not work. Well I got myself in gear and actually knitted some dishcloths out of my hemp and wool yarn stash. I should have done this a year ago when I got the yarn because let me tell you my dishes are actually clean. My glasses do not have that film on them at all anymore. It is so weird because all this time I thought it was my dish soap that was causing the problem but it wasn't. It was my sponge. The great thing about hemp and wool is they both have wonderful antibacterial qualities occurring in them naturally. Not to mention you just throw them in the was and hang them in the sun to dry. I have recruited my oldest into helping me make more because this week I am throwing out all of our sponges. Great thing too is my new dishcloths are environmentally friendly. If you are in search of some hemp/wool to make your won I suggest going here. Stacey is great to work with.


Edit: Forgot to mention Wool felts so if you use 50/50 Hemp/wool there will be some shrinkage if you wash it in the washer.

Knitting OCD

I have to admit that I have a little bit of OCD going on off and on in my life and it is interesting to me to see how it will manifest itself in the different areas of my life. With my kids it is their names. My first child's name has 5 letters and each child after has one more letter than the previous. There are other number things that I do but that would take a book to explain. :-)

I have recently noticed the OCD creeping into my knitting life. In my knitting bag I feel the need to have on the needles something for all the parts of the body. What this means is I currently am working on a hat, sweater,mittens, shorties, and several pairs of socks. When I finish up a sweater it is replaced with another sweater project. I am currently trying to figure out if a shawl is in the sweater category or if it will fall into it's own little area. I am thinking it will have it's own special place but if that is the case I need a bigger bag. :-)

Hmmm I think I will make myself a new knitting bag. I have this bag pattern by Amy Butler that I have been wanting to make for a long time. The question is do I use my current stash of fabric for it or do I wait for my Midwest Modern to show up. I have an idea for a little bag for my sock projects. I keep losing my tape measure and my extra DPN's in my bigger project bags. When I start digging around for them I end up with a big ol' yarn mess. So I hope to have that pattern worked out this weekend. Well looks like I have a lot on my plate so I better get going.

FO

I have a finished project!!! I ordered a charm pack of the Ginger Blossom line of fabric from Hancock's of Paducah. I really love this line but could not decide which fabrics to get so I got a sampling. I made a bath mat based on this tutorial. I am very pleased with how it turned out and plan to make another one for our kids bathroom out of some Heather Ross fish fabric that I have here. I must say I am completely addicted to charm packs. I have all kinds of ideas floating around in my mind for them now. I picked up a few more at our Local Quilt Shop yesterday. They have an absolutely amazing selection of fabric. They have Japanese Imports!!!!! I love all things Japanese and this was the first time I was able to actually see them in person. I am very excited about my sewing future. :-) Okay off to get some knitting done before running errands.

Went To My LYS Today

I am terribly excited. I went to my Local Yarn Store (Knitwicks) today and sat and knitted for a while with some wonderful ladies. It was the first time I have ever done anything like this. Since becoming a mother I have had a horrible time connecting to other women. In the mommy and me type groups I was always too crunchy. In other groups I was not crunchy enough. Then when the kids got older I started looking for a nice homeschooling group to join but found it very difficult to connect to any of them. In some we were to religious and in others not enough and then there was the crazy one where we were too poor.
But here age did not matter, religious preference not a problem and money not needed. All were welcome and knitting advice shared freely. It felt a little surreal at first because I have not felt this welcomed in a long time. I was so excited to see a group of women of all ages come together in such a positive environment. I have been looking for something like this for a really really long time. I am so excited about getting to know all of them better.
We just recently learned of the passing of a close friend that had suffered for many years from MS. She was very close to my age and it made me realize that I have become isolated from other women and I need to reconnect. I had to make myself go today and at first I just looked at the yarn in the store and felt like I could bolt at any minute. After a few minutes I realized that they were not going to bite me and it is okay to be afraid but not okay to not try. I am very glad I did. Well now I had better go save my husband from the kids.
Peace

Stash Enhancement

These are some of the goodies that I have gotten recently. I got a drop spindle from the Etsy store ford4him . I love it. It is great craftsmanship for a great price. I am taking a spinning class at my local LYS in a few weeks. I am going to use some roving that I got from Peace Fleece.

The fabric is from Fabric.com. It is one of Stephen's Special Assortments. It is an amazing deal. All half yard cuts for only $19.98 for the lot. Some of the Heather Ross prints are retired. I have wanted some yellow gnomes to go with my blue ones for a really long time. I want to make a special quilt from this fabric. I plan to make a bath mat with the fish fabric.

The charm packs and wool pack are my very first order from Hancock's of Paducah. I love this place. They have fat quarters of some of the really cool designers like Alexander Henry and Amy Butler. I love getting a little bit of an entire line. It is great for smaller projects.

Now I should probably go on a diet but my LYS just got in some new Schaefer Yarns.....

Out in the Yard

It was nice and sunny earlier this week and I was able to get a wee bit of yard work done. We are putting in a bed along the fence in the front yard for more veggies. In the top picture you can see how much is left for me to do. In the bottom picture is what I was able to get accomplished before I ran out of steam. This is where we plan to put our tomatoes, cucumbers and melons this year. I am starting to rethink my plan to dig beds. Maybe a tiller wouldn't be so bad after all.....

Wee Wonderfuls Spaceboy

This is our Spiderman Spaceboy. He is a wonderful design by Wee Wonderfuls . I love Hillary Lang's designs. Our guy was made from Spiderman fabric because my son has a love of all things Spiderman. It was so easy to put together because of the great instructions. The only thing I will do differently next time is I will use better felt. His felt belt is only 30% wool. That is just not as strong as it needs to be for all the activity my 4 year old puts this guy through. Now all I need to do is finish up his robot companion for my two year old.

What I Did While We Were Sick

I also started another pair of shorts that are multi colored and some socks. I am nearly done with the shorts and hope to finish them this weekend. I just happen to be resting again due to some cramping and it is perfect time to knit. I just heard "Daddy's Home!!!!!!" so I better go see.

Where did March Go?

Seriously, where? I am going to try to post a little more this month. We were under the weather a lot last month with that weird cough thing that went around. All of us had it some worse than others. But I did make a wonderful nourishing soup that helped ease the cough a lot. I am actually getting good at this cooking thing. We rarely eat out anymore and that is really nice. It's kinda weird because I never even think about that as an option for meals. Our garden is going good. We have radishes, lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, onions, herbs and peas. Next year I am going to add brussles sprouts to the list. Turns out with the right recipe they are very tasty. Lidia has the best recipe. Cooking her recipes make me feel like a real woman. I just need my apron to complete the picture.

I Love Baking Soda

We have this wonderful orange 1969 Ford truck. I love to hear my husband drive up in it. Anyway it was having some problems and needed a new rear end. We got lucky cause my dad happened to have a spare one at his house. Then we were even luckier that Chris had a friend with a garage the tools and the knowledge to fix it. So he spent the weekend at this friends house fixing the truck.
As you can imagine his clothes were filthy. So I had him put them in the tub and I soaked them in some baking soda. I then poured some vinegar on them and sent them through the wash with more baking soda and some sea salt and they are clean. And the horrible ring around the tub is gone. All I had to do was sprinkle baking soda on it and rise with vinegar and it disappeared. Amazing stuff. It is hands down my new favorite cleaner. I just wonder why it is that I am just now discovering this???

Inspiration

My Sister goes to estate sales and a few weeks ago she picked up this gem. It is so wonderful. The picture does not do it justice. It is a quilt that was done in the 30's and has really inspired me to use up my fabric stash to make some quilts for my family. So far I have started a small quilt of flannel and minky for my youngest. It is larger than a crib quilt but smaller than a twin. Well I am in the mood to sew now. Peace

Busy Busy Busy

I always thought that winter would be a time of rest and reflection. I envisioned myself sitting by the fire knitting or catching up on reading seed catalogs. Well none of that has happened. I guess when most of your day is spent teaching your kids there is little time for leisure activities. I have got some seeds sprouting for spring planting so I am very excited about that. I have not finished any sewing projects and this winter exposed the need for quilts in our house so I have more sewing that needs to be done. I did finish my oldest son's night night shorts that I knit and he refuses to wear. I am at a loss on how to get him to sleep in clothes that will keep him warm. We did make good headway on school work and I am looking forward to our break in March to really get the garden going. We plan on putting in new beds and expanding some of our growing space. Here's a list of what we intend on growing:
broccoli
onion
spinach
lettuce
tomatoes (trying some purple ones)
hot peppers
squash
melons
Honeydew
Kentucky Wonder Pole Beans
Lemon Cuke
Mexican Sour Gherkin
Purple Hull Pinkeye
Little Marvel Pea
Thyme
Cilantro
Milk Thistle
Kiwano (African Horned Cucumber)
Pumpkins
So hopefully I can keep a journal of all of this here. I hope to have plenty to put up for the winter. Eating from the garden is so much tastier than what you get in the local grocery stores.
Okay off to try and read some Pride and Prejudice.

Please Help A Friend

My friend Melanie needs help naming her new design. So if you could just go visit her blog and help her out that would be great. I am currently knitting this wonderful little sweater up and I am in love. It is really a nice knitting experience. It is my first sweater and has helped me over my fear of all things that seem complicated. Also if you have a moment go visit her store. She is very talented. Oh I forgot to mention, the person that gives the winning name gets a little prize so go help another mama out.

Happy New Year

2008 is going to be a big year!! My husband and I will celebrate 15 years of marriage. I will celebrate my 35th year of life. Our oldest will be 10 and our youngest will turn 2. So many wonderful things upon us this year I am so excited to get started.

Today has started off as a very ordinary day. Laundry is going and breakfast is cooked but these are the days I treasure most.

The one thing that I learned in 2007 was to stop living in the past. I have come to realize that we are blessed with 18 years to really get to know our kids. If we are lucky the might hang around a bit longer. I have decided to stop focusing on relationships that have had their day and instead to focus solely on my family. I want a solid bond between my kids and my husband and I so that when they do go out in the world they have no doubt of our love and can really focus on new and more exciting things than "why do my parents not approve".

So on our Anniversary instead of a cabin in the woods for 2 it will be a tent for 6 in the back yard. And you know what it will be the best Anniversary ever.

I have one resolution this year.

"Simplify"

Peace