Quilting, Knitting, & Other Fun Stuff

Finally Finished

2012-02-09T07:34:00.001-05:00

I finally finished my Cornsilk sweater, knit in Classic Elite Classic One Fifty yarn (now discontinued) and just love the way it turned out! Not only did the fit come out better than I'd hoped, it's warm and cozy, without a hint of scratchiness. I've worn it almost every day since it came off the blocking board.

I made a lot of tweaks -- using a different gauge yarn, fine tuning the fit, and construction adjustments (just cause I like doing things a certain way to make the final product more finished looking). See page one of about four pages of notes, plus spreadsheet. But it was all worth it.

The overall modeled pictures were kind of blurry, but here are some showing the details.

Knitting the set-in sleeves top down was so easy and the results look fantastic. The shoulders fit exactly on my shoulders without hanging off or excess fabric pooching out in the sleeves or underarm. The mattress seams are nearly invisible (hmmmm....I can see where it started the garter hem in the round). The sleeves are a perfect length and don't cover my hands. The rounded collar lies flat and is very flattering. Did I mention that I love this sweater?

And.....I used 1275 yards of stash yarn. Double bonus!!

2012-02-02T08:10:00.004-05:00

I've been using Pinterest lately and have seen a lot of fun/interesting things. But it's crazy to just pin items and not do anything with the ideas. Especially recipes. So I decided to try one of my pins - Faux Nutella. I've tried the store-bought original. On toast as they advertise it. And to be honest -- didn't like it. It was like eating a candy bar spread on bread.....I even brought the remaining jar into work so it wouldn't go to waste (everyone knows people at work eat anything!).

But I'd seen two separate pins...one for homemade Nutella, the other for chocolate dipped frozen bananas....now that seemed like a much better combination so I thought I'd try that. I used this recipe...with chopped hazelnuts instead of whole (which are only available seasonally) and milk chocolate chips instead of the larger chocolate bars. Note that the chopped nuts should only be toasted for about 8 minutes or they'll burn.

It mixed up very easily in the food processor.

I dipped the banana chunks into the chocolate and froze for a few hours.

They're so good. We've also tried apple slices dipped in the remaining faux-Nutella (softened in the microwave)....equally good. Eating apples sliced up is so much slower than eating them whole -- by the time I was finished with my snack I was totally full. Bonus!

Things that Make Me Happy

2012-01-25T19:10:00.001-05:00

There really are a lot of things that make me happy -- small, everyday things. One of them is my quilts. All shapes, sizes, and patterns. Folded neatly on the shelves we got specially for them. Draped across the couch. On top of the bed to keep warm on cold winter nights. One is certainly not enough....

I'm in the mood to make more.

Testing 1, 2, 3

2012-01-17T18:32:00.002-05:00

In December, I saw a post from knitting designer Kirsten Kapur of Through the Loops looking for test knitters for her new mitten Mod. I loved the way it looked and signed right up. She released the pattern this week, so I can take the wraps off mine. All I can say is that stranded mittens are toasty warm.

And isn't the braided cast on neat? It looks so much more complex than it really is. I love the halo from the yarn -- it's Classic Elite Fresco, a mix of 60% wool, 30% baby alpaca, and 10% angora. The fuzz is definitely the angora.

Where Were We?

2012-01-09T19:02:00.000-05:00

We we last saw our heroine, she was mired deep in the frog pond. Fast forward to today and she has not only climbed out, but is now skating along effortlessly.

As exhibit A, I give you the miracle of top-down, set-in sleeves. My finger is on the shoulder, running left to right is the seam where sleeve meets the front - it's hardly visible. This is the first time I've tried them and, I must say, I'm loving them. They look perfect -- I can only hope they fit as well! [The garter stitch is the frogged/re-knit collar.]

I used Paula Ward's video tutorial from easyknittingdesign.com. Very clear and easy to follow.

2011 - The Year of the Frog

2012-01-01T10:34:00.001-05:00

Wow. My photo collage of finished objects this year is very meager. How did I manage to fritter away so much productive time? I do know there was a lot of ripping and frogging going on -- with only three carry-over projects still on the needles from last year.

My sewing progress was even sadder. Just one project. This is a cooking apron from the Purl Bee.

2012 will have to be the Year of the Finished Object. No, make that Year of the Finished Object by Stash Reduction (FOSR).

Speed Bump

2011-12-06T19:25:00.001-05:00

I was making great progress on my sweater -- zipping right along on the collar when I realized I'd calculated my modifications incorrectly. Woops. Too many short rows resulted in a too long collar. So rip-rip-rip -- and I restarted the collar. It looks more normal now...but it was quite a setback.

Motoring Right Along

2011-11-28T19:17:00.001-05:00

The Cornsilk sweater is motoring right along. Front and back are blocking......ready to add the collar and the top down sleeves.

Ignore the cat-claw pull.....

Birth of a Sweater

2011-11-22T07:06:00.001-05:00

I'm starting a new sweater - Cornsilk by Amy Herzog. For this one, I'm really pulling out all the stops. Swatching and recalculating the instructions for fitting and gauge adjustments. Amazingly enough, I've already finished the back - in record time - under three days start to finish.

Giving Thanks by Giving Back

2011-11-14T10:51:00.001-05:00

Sometimes it's hard to remember to "make one for you" when "making one for me." Earlier this year, I helped make some Hats for Haiti, coordinated by Estella. More recently, one of my co-workers organized a work effort to make squares to donate to the Pine Street Inn to support their effort to end homelessness. I contributed some squares -- unfortunately before taking pictures! Here's a picture from our Facebook page (I hope the link works) of all the squares we made. [As a side note - making squares is a great opportunity to try out patterns in a stitch dictionary.]

Our next work team effort is to support the Mother Bear project by knitting bears for children affected by HIV/AIDS. I've ordered my pattern and can't wait to get started.

I've also started knitting random hats just to have on hand (I was wondering if any local schools could use them -- must check into that -- I do know that one school requires store-bought only). I found four skeins of this Plymouth Encore yarn at Savers for $4.99. What a great deal - and perfect for this type of project!

Snowtober

2011-11-10T07:52:00.000-05:00

Blogging has been difficult for the past two weeks. We didn't have power from Saturday through Thursday after the big October snowstorm (Snowtober). It really wasn't all that much snow -- just snow on the leaves still on the trees that took down the trees. Fortunately, no utility lines or big trees came down in our yard -- just lots and lots of branches. Once the power came back, out internet was intermittent - on and off (mostly off). Numerous phone calls, two modems, and one technician visit later, we're crossing our fingers that we're back on line for good (there's nothing worse than an intermittent problem that has no apparent cause.....). Along with that, our two cats got sick, each with an infection requiring daily antibiotics. We knew about the sinus infection, but who knew cats could get conjunctivitis?

Now the big challenge is what to do with all the brush? It's all stacked up on the driveway....in our town, it's the homeowner's responsibility to dispose of all yard debris, including grass, leaves, branches, etc. And it can't be in the trash. So what to do? We already have about a dozen compost bins that are full.

A Week in Pictures - Saturday

2011-10-29T18:20:00.001-04:00

I refuse to take pictures of the snow falling outside or the disgusting tick found on our indoor-only cat. Instead, we have a blocking sweater vest. - Sebasco. Love the icord edging on the armholes and the mattress stitch seams. Can't wait to try it out.

A Week in Pictures - Friday

2011-10-28T18:51:00.002-04:00

First Snow -- way, way too early.

In to Boston -- along the Charles River

Boston - view straight in the parking garage

Boston - view left in the parking garage

Our first snow fall of the season......what a mess for driving!

A Week in Pictures - Thursday

2011-10-27T19:02:00.001-04:00


Charity Hat -- you can't have too many!

Quiet day....Medicare counseling, rain, and charity knitting.

A Week in Pictures - Wednesday

2011-10-26T19:06:00.002-04:00

Work - the view outside the window


Work - cubicle heaven

I always knew work cut into one's free time!

A Week in Pictures - Tuesday

2011-10-25T18:38:00.001-04:00

Work -- in a renovated old mill

Pumpkin Sling - for holding pumpkins when launching from a trebuchet

A Week in Pictures - Monday

2011-10-24T19:26:00.001-04:00


Arizona snoozing


Blowing out the sprinkler system


Icord edging on my sweater -- wow, what a finished edge

A Week in Pictures - Sunday

2011-10-23T17:59:00.002-04:00

Camellia


Sheffield Chrysanthemum -- last flower of the season


Will it last till Halloween?

Carrot Muffin -- made with carrots from the garden

Parsnips -- fresh from the garden in funky shapes

Edible Decorations?

2011-10-16T19:08:00.000-04:00

We love to put out our fall decorations - hay bales, scarecrows, scarey cats, and pumpkins. They look so New England-y.

Unfortunately, the squirrels also love our pumpkins.....they sit on the hay bales, munching on pumpkin innards, bold as brass. I think it's time for plastic pumpkins.

Daisy

2011-10-09T19:20:00.001-04:00

Daisies are our next-to-the last flowers of summer. They start blooming in early October....just about the end of season for New England gardens.

They're big and sprawling. And covered with bees and other insects (where did this guy come from?).

I didn't realize it, but my Sebasco vest has a daisy border -- seems very fitting for the season.

But I couldn't resist this picture of Camellia -- she is such a help when blocking any knits. She was even looking for it the following day....after I'd unpinned it.

Orange - The Color of Fall

2011-10-04T07:11:00.000-04:00

The color of season must be orange. Last week we had pumpkins. This week it's carrots. Lots and lots of carrots, pulled from our community garden plot. And this is only half of them........... Carrot cake muffins anyone?

In keeping with that theme, my Sebasco vest is flying off the needles. I've already finished the fronts/back and they're blocking -- next step is to knit the edging. I don't know if it's the worsted weight yarn or the straight needles -- but this was fast to knit.

Welcome Fall

2011-09-26T13:09:00.000-04:00

There's nothing better than fall in New England with all the surrounding visual cues.

Flags and scarecrows.

Fall-blooming flowers.


Clematis


Daisy

Pumpkins. And pumpkin ice cream - which didn't last long enough for a picture.

And what better use of a pumpkin than as a hat blocker? I finished my Quincy hat -- it should be perfect for the winter - thick, soft, and fuzzy.

Knits-a-long?

2011-09-18T19:43:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure what the plural of knitalong is. Knits-a-long sounds right though.

Anyway, I've joined a couple this spring/summer/fall with the hope of actually finishing some projects off. I have to admit, I don't tend to have a lot of projects started......it's more that a) it takes forever to finish a project because I rip and fix, rip and adjust or b) rip and abandon. So there's a lot of knitting - just not all in the forward direction.

But I finally finished my Through the Loops Summer Shawl KAL project.- this KAL required making any Through the Loops shawl between 19 Jun and 23 Sep. I chose the Roma shawl and, as usual, had to tweak it a bit. The lace portion is as written. The striping portion is based on the color change of the basic version, with the stitch pattern and size of the alternate -- only with the garter/purl bumps in the main (solid) color. I wanted to make the alternate edging, but didn't like the look of the variegated yarn in garter stitch, didn't have enough solid yarn to edge it with that, and didn't want the eyelet holes, so I just did an 8-row garter stitch edge. I really like how it came out -- very fall-like. Good for cool weather wear in an almost go-with-everything color combination.

Right near the end of that, I started my Foxfire Fiber Autumn 2011 KAL. This KAL required the use of any Foxfire Fiber yarn to make any pattern of one's choosing between 4 Sep and 15 Oct. For this I'm using one of my original sheep shares to make Jared Flood's Quincy hat.....I just hope I have enough yarn (I've already ripped it out once to adjust the size to squeeze out more of the yarn).

Funny how the tones of the two projects are so similar....and they aren't my usual colors.

Bugs

2011-09-11T16:11:00.006-04:00

While I'm not a fan of all insects, spiders, and other assorted bugs, there are some that are just fascinating. In the fall, we have two flowering plants that are magnets for bees. The plants almost seem alive, there's so much activity. One is a fall flowering clematis, the other a sedum. Both are covered with bees on a sunny day.

But I think the spiders, with their intricate webs, are the most interesting to watch. This one had a huge web - partially attached to the bird feeder. At first I couldn't see the spider, but there she was, hiding in a leaf of the tree at the top of the web....I believe she caught some prey.

Backwards

2011-09-03T18:45:00.004-04:00

I haven't posted any finished objects recently....because there haven't been any. It seems like I'm moving backwards....every project has been ripped out, back to the starting gate. Remember my vest? Here it is now. No fault of the pattern.....just my sizing of it. It looked fantastic -- it just didn't fit!

And my latest shawl? Partially done.....but a significant portion un-knit. Very strange looking yarn balls.....they don't look like yarn cakes......more like yarn crusty rolls. Or yarn cakes that have been rewound after major ripping.

It's the process. Sigh.

Summer Squash Bread - Efficiently

2011-08-27T18:43:00.010-04:00

It might seem overwhelming to make five loaves of squash bread. But there is a (relatively) efficient way of making squash bread....minimizing the number of utensils and dishes used.

1a. Measure and chop nuts in food processor (uses food processor, bowl, and large measuring cup)

1b. Grate squash (uses food processor and same large measuring cup)

2. Measure and mix all dry ingredients (uses bowl, measuring cup, and teaspoon)

3. Measure and mix all wet ingredients (uses mixing bowl, same measuring cup, and teaspoon)

Note the mixer -- looks just like today's version -- only this one is from the 70s.

I bake mine in aluminum pans -- used a few times, then recycled.

And the cake tester....a very old Pillsbury Dough Boy.

Not having a lot of dishes? Priceless.

Summer Squash Bread

2011-08-20T11:06:00.007-04:00

We're growing both zucchini and patty pan squash in our garden this year. There have been remarkably few zukes, but a bumper crop of patty pan squash. I looked through my recipes and checked online and cobbled together a few to create my very own Summer Squash Bread....or in this case, patty pan squash bread.

Each of our patty pans is about 4-5 inches in diameter and yields about 1-1.25 cups of grated squash. I used one patty pan for each loaf of bread. I cut off the top and bottom and grated them up, skin and all. If the squash is big or has large seeds, it's a good idea to scoop them out before grating the squash. A food processor is really useful for the prep work, making short work of grating the squash and chopping the nuts. Some of the nuts really get pulverized, but that just adds to the richness of the batter.

I was going for big batches with this recipe -- obviously it can be easily halved (or any fraction you want to calculate). If halving, consider using a larger loaf pan and making two loaves - just increase the cooking time a bit.

Summer Squash Bread

Yield: 5 loaves

Preparation

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Grease five 8x4 inch loaf pans.

Ingredients

3 cups whole wheat flour
3 cups white flour
2 tsps baking soda
2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp salt
6 tsps ground cinnamon
2 tsps ground nutmeg

6 eggs
2 cups vegetable oil
4 cups sugar
6 tsps vanilla

6 cups grated squash (patty pan or zucchini or other summer squash)
3 cups chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans)

Instructions

Combine flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl.

Beat eggs, oil, sugar, and vanilla in a (very) large bowl.

Stir flour mixture and grated squash into egg mixture, alternating flour and squash and adding a bit at a time to allow ingredients to mix together without creating a huge mess.

Fold in chopped nuts.

Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 60-70 minutes or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow to cool in pans about 20 minutes, then remove bread from pans and cool completely on wire racks.

Serve plain or with butter or cream cheese. This makes a delicious breakfast bread.

Who Knew?

2011-08-18T07:38:00.005-04:00

It seems that whenever I look at sweater patterns on Ravelry, I see a lot of top-down or bottom-up sweaters knit in one piece. In fact, it appears that knitters go to great lengths to avoid patterns with seams, to the point of revamping the construction and even adding pseudo-seams to create a seamless pattern.

One of the knitting designers whose patterns I love, Amy Herzog, is a vocal advocate of seamed sweaters. Her patterns tend to be structured, tailored, and/or fitted (rather than sweatshirt styled) and seams are an integral part of each design.

After taking Amy's Fit to Flatter class, I started knitting her Dunedin Vest. It was finally ready for seaming this week. Coincidentally, Twist Collective recently published an article titled "In Praise of Seams" showing how to seam invisibly (there are many other tutorials online as well). After studying the diagrams, I took out my trusty needle and mattress-stitched away. And all I can say is wow! It's practically invisible. And doesn't stretch. I can't wait to finish my vest.

And on the gardening front......what to do with all this squash? It looks like aliens have landed in the kitchen.

Cucumbers to Pickles

2011-08-08T09:29:00.008-04:00

I love cucumbers....they're probably my favorite vegetable. I know there are people who can't eat them...it's really too bad for them. My favorites are the little picklers. On bagels for a delicious breakfast. In salads. Especially orzo salad.

But when they're coming fast and furious, pickles are a sure fire way to use up lots of them. I've never had good luck with dill pickles -- so I stick with bread and butters -- they're great with our quick supper standby tuna salad sandwiches.

I started with a lot of cucumbers and onions fresh from our garden.

Then sliced them thinly with a mandolin (one of the all time great kitchen tools - it makes slicing so fast and easy).

After boiling for 5-10 minutes in a vinegar, sugar, and spice mixture, we canned them outside on the patio using our propane cooker (it beats heating up the kitchen on a hot summer day).

That batch resulted in 7 perfect pints of delicious pickles.

Orange

2011-08-05T09:37:00.005-04:00

Orange isn't one of my favorite colors....though I do love pumpkins, chrysanthemums, and brightly colored fall leaves. And the beautiful nasturtiums in our community garden plot.

Remember the yarn and fiber I bought at the MA Sheep & Wool festival this past spring? Well, I'm happy to report that not only have I spun that fiber, I've actually knit up all the yarn I bought too! Quite a milestone for me. I made another Toorie hat using Foxfire Fibers cormo silk alpaca yarn in the color salamander. This will be perfect for the fall (though probably not so perfect with my red winter jacket).

Hmmm. I think I need some practice using my tripod and timer for self-portraits.

I Amazed Myself

2011-07-25T19:12:00.006-04:00

Yesterday was the great Tour de Fleece (and Tour de France) finish. And I must say that I really love my final yarn....it's the best I've spun yet.

I started with some corriedale from the Painted Tiger in Japanese Maple. I don't know how much there was....probably around 4 ounces.

After spinning and plying (two-ply), I had about 250 yards of this.....

Wanting to learn something new, I Navajo-plied the leftover singles into this....

There's not much (maybe 35 yards?) and it's a bit over-plied, but overall, I'm really happy with how it came out. I used this video, which I thought was great.

I'd wanted to spin more.....but there are only so many hours in a day.

We Have Yarn

2011-07-16T09:44:00.008-04:00

I've been spinning away as part of the Tour de Fleece and am very proud of the first results -- yarn that actually looks like yarn! I started with 2 ounces of alpaca roving from flatland alpacas

and now have 80 yards of a DK-worsted weight alpaca yarn. It's extremely soft and fuzzy.

It was spun in double-drive mode, using a 13:1 whorl, two singles plied together, also in double-drive mode.

It's not perfect...the joins are a bit lumpy and it appears to be under-plied -- but spinning is a skill that improves with practice.

Foxfire Fibers Knit-A-Long

2011-07-10T15:09:00.005-04:00

Foxfire Fibers Sheep Shares sponsored its first knit-a-long for the spring yarn shares. The simple "rules" were that you had to use their Flock Sock yarn (or fiber) and the project had to be started/finished between 29 May and 10 Jul 2011.

You might remember that this year, I'm getting the fiber shares, but I knew that my spinning was neither fast enough nor good enough for the KAL, so it was off to the MA Sheep and Wool Festival it to get some Flock Sock yarn.

After extensive deliberation, I settled on Kitman Figueroa's Peacock Shawl, made slightly larger than the pattern called for. Of course, that was after I bought the yarn -- so I didn't have enough of the Granny Smith color..... That meant I had to tweak the pattern a bit to stripe the top portion (fortunately, I'd gotten a skein of natural), only to tweak it a bit more when I realized I didn't like the look of stripes in reverse stockinette -- so that became garter stitch. But with the motivation and encouragement of the KAL, the shawl was finished - and within the allotted time.

The yarn is very squooshy -- with lots of oomph. And don't you love the way the pin from the Strolling of the Lambs makes a perfect shawl pin?

Tour de Fleece

2011-07-07T07:16:00.009-04:00

I entered the Tour de Fleece again this year (2-24 Jul 2011) -- on three teams -- Peloton, Schacht, and Painted Tiger. And while I don't manage to spin quite everyday, I do most days.

First off, I oiled up my trusty Schacht Matchless wheel.

Then I picked out four different fibers to attempt (don't know if I'll complete all four). There are two sheep-based fibers from the Painted Tiger, one a merino, the other a corriedale. And two alpacas - a 50/50 suri/huacaya blend (brown) from the Fiber Festival of New England and an alpaca (gray) from the MA Sheep and Wool Festival.

I'm starting with the gray alpaca.....it's the smallest.

It's a Good Thing Pixels are Free

2011-07-01T18:28:00.006-04:00

I've been playing with my camera and new tripod a lot this week. And it's a good thing that pixels are free (well....once you have a camera). I've taken and downloaded hundreds of pictures this week (yes, hundreds). First of all, my new tripod....a gorillapo d. Small, but oh so flexible.

With the tripod, I've been trying all sorts of auto features.....like taking 9 shots in rapid succession....as if I had a model. I used my faithful assistant (aka Arizona, 19 years old). She doesn't really move a whole lot. But at least I got practice using the camera!

Adult Education

2011-06-27T08:49:00.006-04:00

It's fun to take classes. Anything from a serious academic subject to something just for fun -- like line dancing or adult rolling skating (I'm surprised I didn't seriously injure myself with that one).

Recently I took a "Photography for Fiber" class at Webs, the big yarn shop in Northampton. The instructor was Gale Zucker, a professional photographer who has done the photography for several books, including Shear Spirit.

The class was lots of fun....and best of all, got me to start playing with the settings on my camera.....f-stops, shutter speed, exposure, etc. It's amazing what a difference it can make. No more just setting it on auto, then pointing and shooting (and praying for the best).

Now I can't wait for my new tripod to arrive!

Make Way for Poults

2011-06-20T07:03:00.007-04:00

Or....it takes a turkey village to raise a turkey baby.

By all accounts, this has been a great year for wild turkeys. Did you know that turkey chicks are called poults? And that a group of turkeys is called a rafter? That's according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. For the past few mornings, we've had some very early morning visitors - two or three hens and at least 10 poults.

Yes, they do fly -- once the poults are old enough to fly (a couple weeks old), they sleep in trees.

They eat seeds, acorns, and insects....much like other birds. Note the one scrunched down....the poults are underneath her....when she stood up, they scurried out like the children in the Nutcracker coming out of the giant skirt.

You can hear the hens talking to the poults in a low, soft tone -- probably telling them to gather up and come along. Hmmm. Blogger won't let me upload the video right now.....I'll try again later.

Yarn Swift

2011-06-13T09:05:00.008-04:00

I've been wanting a yarn swift for some time. I have a ball winder, but have always used the back of a chair to hold the skeins. It works, but is very slow.....if I go too fast, I invariably end up with a giant tangled mess, especially if the yarn is custom dyed -- when the yarn strands seem to stick together easily.

Of course, being cheap (hmmmm, I mean frugal), I didn't want to spend a lot of money. Nor did I want something that took a lot of room. With a little bit of research, I found an online tutorial for a DIY swift that appeared to fit the bill.

Step 1. Gather supplies

4 identical clothes hangers
12 clothes pins
1 elastic band
1 long twisty
1 piece of non-slip shelf liner
1 plastic storage container
1 lazy susan

Note: We tried a metal industrial strength lazy susan (holds up to 500 pounds), but found that it didn't seem to spin as easily as the cheaper plastic spice rack model in our kitchen.

Step 2. Tie hangers in two locations with elastic band and twisty.

Step 3. Place non-slip liner on lazy susan and top with plastic container and hanger asssembly as shown. Spread out hangers so they're at right angles, then secure in place with clothes pins.

Step 4. Place skein of yarn over hangers -- placing clothes pins above or below skein to keep it from slipping down or riding up, depending on its length (you can tell pretty easily which way it will go).

Step 5. Thread end of yarn into ball winder and start cranking.....just be careful that the yarn isn't winding on too tightly.

Strolling of the Lambs

2011-06-05T09:30:00.013-04:00

Yesterday was the Strolling of the Lambs at Foxfire Fibers (at Springdelle Farm) in Shelburne, MA for members of the Foxfire Fibers sheep shares club. This year, there were 13 new lambs born into the flock and club members got to meet and greet both new and old friends. The weather was perfect and lots of sheep share members were able to take advantage of the invitation.

Our fiber flower pins served not only as name tags, but also as shawl pins.

Barb led the parade of sheep...

with Crackerjack, the lambs' guard llama, following closely behind (that's Holly with Crackerjack).

Notice the sheep/lamb's coordinating lariats -- matching everyone's pins. Yes, that it Mistral, last year's bottle-fed lamb who still thinks she's the family pet!

Even Crackerjack was looking debonair with his bow tie.

Nom, nom, nom -- the grass in this field was clearly delicious.

Butch and Gypsy, the goats came out for their photo ops (this is Gypsy - I hope), courtesy of Mike.
And finally, Caitlin and Sol, together in the field, checking out the action. They guard the older ewes. I love the story of how Sol, the rescue llama, came to the farm. He's still very skittish around humans, but seems to have found friends in Caitlin and "his" sheep.

Though not a great picture, this is one of my favorites....Crackerjack in the foreground, with Sol watching very curiously in the background.

It was such a fun day -- we're already looking forward to the fall open house.

MA Sheep and Wool

2011-05-29T19:17:00.013-04:00

I love going to the Massachusetts Sheep and Wool Fair. It's nice to see the sheep -- though what I really like is seeing the kids who care for them (both children and young adult). But I have to admit, for me, it's all about the vendors.

This year, I went with a list. I wanted a project bag (specific one), yarn for a KAL (specific one), and (if I could find one) a new shawl pin. While I didn't bat a thousand, I did pretty well.

First up, some sheep. All these caught my eye....

After that, it was time to work on the list. First up -- a project bag, with matching accessory bag. From Stitched by JessaLu. Exactly what I wanted.

The some yarn from Foxfire Fibers.....the green and natural are for an upcoming knit-a-long. The salamander....well...just cause I wanted it.

And finally.....some alpaca. Mostly because I loved the name of her booth-mate's farm (Six-Paca Farm). This was some alpaca from Flatland Alpacas. I love alpaca.

I didn't find a shawl pin though......so that's still on the list. I'm sure there'll be another opportunity sometime.

Toorie

2011-05-23T12:03:00.006-04:00

While there haven't been any finished objects for a while, there has been knitting going on. I finally finished my Toorie hat (I hope the link works) and love the funky, fun results. It'd be pushing things to say I'm cool and stylish wearing it, but I can pretend I am!

This was a great one-skein wonder in Malabrigo Silky Merino (in the color Indiecita). There wasn't quite enough yarn for pom-poms, so I went with a thin grosgrain ribbon instead. I might make another with pom-poms. I loved making the hat, the construction was unusual, but fast.

Normally I'd say May wasn't a great month for wool hats.....but that's not true this year. It's been quite chilly -- with well below normal temperatures.

Potatoes

2011-05-20T07:06:00.005-04:00

We love potatoes. Last year, they were one of most successful crops -- even though we had no idea what kind we bought and, therefore, what kind we were eating.

This year, we're expanding and being a bit more organized. We bought five kinds of seed potatoes - Yukon Gold, Chieftain, Kennebec, Green Mountain, and Katahdin. We're prepping them now for planting this weekend. Note the labels -- it will be nice to know what's what when we eat them.

Hatburger

2011-05-14T10:41:00.002-04:00

This week I washed our winter coats (yes -- machine washable), hats, gloves, scarves, mittens, cowls, etc. Everything will be packed away for the summer, hopefully not to be needed till November*. All the wool berets were blocked on dinner plates -- they're a perfect size for that job. Stacked up, it's a hatburger.

* I did keep out a pair of knucks.....my hands do get cold driving the tractor picking up leaves!

Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-08T06:38:00.005-04:00

Both my children wear fur coats and have four legs. But Arizona, the Little A, honored me last night by waking me up five times and allowing me to lift her onto the bed -- then giving me a kiss each time for doing so. Funny how she can climb down with no problem. And even climb up during the day when we're not around (she does have steps we've made for her). But she's 19 and has bad arthritis....so she deserves special pampering. Besides, she's the only cat we've had who loves giving kisses.

I had to do something I really don't like to......cast on another project! But I needed something portable and uncomplicated. And the only things I have on the needles are 1) shawl with charts, beads, and nupps, 2) shawl with charts, beads, and nupps, and 3) vest than needs a couple inches ripped out to fix a pattern mistake (argh). So I started a new hat yesterday. At least it was stash yarn! But who needs a wool hat in May?

And who's crazy enough to have two charted, beaded, nupped shawls going at once???? One who's crazy enough to have two black, charted, beaded, nupped shawls going. What was I thinking???

What Time is It?

2011-05-01T17:42:00.005-04:00

It's community garden time!

We're getting our plot ready for the season. This year, there are a few changes:

They renumbered our plot from 7 to A10 (for those non-Air Force types, here's an A-10.....you can take the girl out of the AF, but not the AF out of the girl).

We have two new neighbors.....just hope they're more into gardening than our previous neighbors.

We now have a water spigot right at the edge of our plot. Yay....no more hauling heavy watering cans from the tank.....or hooking up recalcitrant, leaky hoses.

And best of all, there's a new nursery two doors down the street....I can walk over and pick up any seeds, seedlings, or plants I need.

Spring Shares

2011-04-29T15:10:00.002-04:00

I got my first sheep share (Foxfire Fibers) of the 2011 season this week. Instead of yarn, I opted to go with fiber this year. I really do need to work on my spinning technique -- so the more fiber, the better.

Eight ounces is a whole lotta fiber though!

Beautiful Morning

2011-04-25T08:48:00.001-04:00

Lambs and Yarn

2011-04-20T18:30:00.003-04:00

Barb the Sheep Gal is celebrating a successful lambing season with a yarn contest. Just to go her blog to enter. And take a moment to admire the new lambs. Why is the season successful? All the lambs made it and there are no bottle lambs. It doesn't get any better than that!

Make Way for Turkeys

2011-04-15T06:47:00.005-04:00

We looked out the door at 6am and were greeted by a mini-flock (well, close to 10) of wild turkeys. There were at least three males in full plumage -- gobbling away (yes, they really do gobble).

It's Lie in the Sun-Day

2011-04-10T09:28:00.001-04:00

Because I Can

2011-04-04T10:17:00.004-04:00

I've been working diligently on my Dunedin Vest. And taking what I learned at the Fit to Flatter workshop into account -- doing a lot of customization. The back is complete, with its waistline shaping (love that look).

Of course, the placement and rate of increases/decreases are customized for me. That was fine.....but when I got to the front with its pattern.....and wanted to do comparable shaping....things got a little trickier. But nothing that a little Excel couldn't help me solve. I charted out the entire front pattern section from the hem through the shaping. The zig-zags seem to zig and zag correctly and the decreases/increases are roughly in the same place as on the back.

Now the proof will be in the knitting. Why do I do this? Because I can!

Hats for Haiti

2011-03-30T18:53:00.004-04:00

Things have been really busy lately. But I did have a chance to contribute some hats to the "Hats for Haiti" drive organized by Estella. It's always a good feeling to know you can help.

So I made a couple new hats and added them to those I had waiting for a home. It was interesting....I tried a bottom-up (lower blue) and top-down (upper blue) version of the (basically) same hat. To me, the bottom-up version looked much better. Experimentation is a good thing.

The Never-Ending Shawl

2011-03-20T19:37:00.005-04:00

This shawl could be termed a learning experience. Or if not learning, re-affirming things I knew about myself.

I like to knit from charts (vice word instructions). I like being able to see where I came from and where I'm going graphically. I also don't "wing" things well. Fudging by adding a stitch here, deleting a stitch there is just not something I do.

I really liked the look of the In the Pink shawl -- so I decided to make it -- even though it didn't have charts. The main body of the shawl went OK. Things seemed to look OK, so I figured they must be OK. I just couldn't get the border to be right.....so I just substituted a plain stockinette border, increasing to get a correct multiple of stitches. The edging it probably my favorite part -- thought it took forever. FOREVER. A few times I felt like stabbing myself with the knitting needles it was so excruciating. There are 88 points on the edge -- and each one took 10 rows to do (give or take -- the end ones were less). Roughly speaking -- 875 rows.

But I do love the way it came out. Definitely one of my favorite finished objects. And it's huge -- 54 inches side-to-side, 42 inches top-to-bottom. Yarn used was Lang Yarn Jawoll Magic in shades of blue. I really thought it was black....and even bought additional black yarn before I figured out that it was really blue.

Sneak Peak

2011-03-17T19:27:00.003-04:00

I finally finished my In the Pink shawl (or in this case, the "I've got the blues" shawl). A sneak peek of the blocking shawl.

Speaking of peeking.....Camellia likes to peek out of her hiding spot...keeping her eyes on the Little A who sneaks out to eat her food.

Saved!

2011-03-12T16:36:00.004-05:00

Thanks to Michelle's comment on my last blog post, I was able to finish my scarf without any real frogging! She suggested using a bindoff that use the existing knitting loops. So I just undid the bindoff row (as far as I'd gotten) and put the working stitches on a circular needle. Starting from the non-working yarn end, I used a crochet hook to pull the stitches through (left stitch through right stitch) one at a time to the end. Although a little tighter than a normal bindoff, it worked perfectly. It just looks a little different. After some blocking and a little sunlight, pictures of the finished object. The yarn is Tahki Yarns Tango Wool Blend.

ARRRGGGHHHHH

2011-03-05T08:27:00.003-05:00

Seems like there's a whole lot going on, but not a lot is getting done. We've been painting my office and trying to get it organized (ha!). I have too many projects started -- and that means nothing gets finished......and I want to help Estella by making a few Hats for Haiti.

So I'm buckling down and finishing those projects that are "almost" done. First up was a version of my own design First Down in commercial yarn (the original was in my handspun). There I was, ready to cross that finish line.....arms outstretched......when I ran out of yarn with just 25 stitches left on the bindoff row. ARRRGGGGHHHHH.

What to do????????? The options are a) buy another skein of yarn (not happening since I'm trying to reduce my stash), b) try to use the ends from the long-tail cast-on and joins (really ugly), or c) rip back 5 rows and start the edging back further (time-consuming, especially since I already did this once, knowing I'd run out....I just didn't rip back far enough). Sigh....the correct answer is c....but it hurts.

What's That?

2011-02-21T13:21:00.002-05:00

I needed to take a break from the never-ending shawl and work on something a little more portable and mindless. Since my Fit to Flatter workshop, I've been looking for a sweater pattern that might look good and for which I could use yarn that I had in my stash. The Dunedin Vest just fits that bill. I even had a sufficient quantity of the recommended yarn (Madelinetosh Tosh DK -- in the color lichen). I'll need to make a couple mods, but that's what it's all about.

I even swatched (gasp) before starting - fortunately, the gauge worked out perfectly -- and I've already cast on.

Never-Ending Shawl

2011-02-17T08:34:00.003-05:00

I'm still working on the i've-got-the-blues in-the-pink shawl. I had problems with the border and finally just changed the pattern to plain stockinette cause I just couldn't get the patterns to line up (in my eye, at least). Now I'm on the edging....the never ending edging. There are approximately 850 rows of edging................and I'm only at 300+ after 1.5 weeks (that includes frogging about 50 rows because I made a mistake and didn't notice it for a while). It's a good thing I like the way it looks!

Everyone Loves a Contest

2011-02-13T06:14:00.002-05:00

Barb the Sheep Gal is having a contest on her blog. It's very easy to enter and the prize is some of her fantastic yarn and a copy of her book on dyeing. So go on over and give it a shot!

Fit to Flatter

2011-02-11T08:31:00.003-05:00

Last Sunday I took one of Amy Herzog's (knit, stash, repeat) Fit to Flatter classes. I've made three sweaters/vests since resuming knitting a couple years ago and only one of the three is even close to flattering. Not surprisingly, it's the only one I actually wear. [I hate to admit that one looked so terrible on that I never, ever wore it -- the finished sweater looked fine, just not fine on me.]

I loved the class and highly recommend it.....although the front/side view pictures she took and we used to evaluate our shapes were absolutely horrifying. Trying on different sweaters was eye opening....who would've guessed that the different styles would make such a huge difference. A sweater that looked fantastic on one person might do absolutely nothing for another.

When I got home I scrubbed my Ravelry sweater queue and deleted at least half of them, keeping and/or adding only those that had a chance of looking good or had interesting design features I could use. Now to try to match up some patterns with yarn already in my stash (there's really not much sweater quantity yarn there).

As for that never worn sweater? Frogged. The yarn has already been washed/reskeined -- looking for a new, more flattering pattern. That post-frogging feeling is so freeing!

Turkish Taffy

2011-02-08T18:35:00.003-05:00

I am suffering from a serious case of snow-induced shopping sickness..... I'm not a shopper -- shopping is something I do only as a last resort. But lately, I've been shopping up a storm. It's gotta be all that snow out there.

The other day I got an email from the Vermont Country Store advertising Bonomo Turkish Taffy. I used to love that stuff....so I had to order two of each flavor -- chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, and banana -- immediately. As you can see, I ripped open the banana first.

Without a doubt - snow-induced shopping sickness.

Test Knitting

2011-02-05T08:35:00.004-05:00

I'm very much of a process knitter. I love to try new techniques, yarns, patterns, etc. Many times I end up with a finished object for which I have no real use -- it just goes into my box of finished objects, waiting for an eventual home. Sometimes I sign up to test knit an item for a designer (via the Ravelry group Free Pattern Testers). I just finished a new hat using Fionnghuala Doran's Green Cable Beret pattern. Test knitting a project is always challenging. There's a time limit, you must complete the item, and sometimes there are mistakes in the pattern. In this particular case, I was having problems with gauge -- mine was very different from the designer's prototype -- while no gauge was given, but it didn't take long to realize there was a problem --- my hat was HUGE. So I had to frog the first attempt and make a series of modifications to reduce the size while still keeping the pattern intact. Ta da -- my first finished object of the year. And it used the natural wool I bought at a local farmer's market from Signal Rock Farm. The wool was quite rough and scratchy, but softened up considerably when washed/blocked.

Welcome to Our Igloo

2011-02-02T19:47:00.002-05:00

I'm beginning to think we live in an igloo. What says welcome to my home more than this....those snow banks are taller than I am.

**** Ice Dams

2011-01-30T15:25:00.005-05:00

There's been so much snow and it's been so cold that ice dams have been a real problem this year. We've had them in the past and it's never, ever good. Yesterday I was in the dining room opening the shades for Camellia to look out and looked up, only to see the dreaded water spots. At least there were only spots and not dripping water (been there, too). [This is looking up at the tray-style ceiling.]

So out we went to chop, chop, chop the ice away. And shovel as much snow off the roof as we could. There comes a point in one's life where climbing out a second story window to shovel snow off a roof seems crazy.

I Got the Blues....

2011-01-27T07:34:00.005-05:00

This has been one very snowy winter. And everyone's got the winter blues. Lots of snow days for the schools. And lots of snow blowing and shoveling. This is the view out the front door this morning. Lots of snow plus an avalanche off the roof.

I've been knitting away on my shades of black "In the Pink" Shawl. Unfortunately, after watching the rapidly-shrinking ball of yarn remaining and reviewing other knitter's projects on Ravelry, I realized that I don't have enough yarn to finish the edging. So off to my local yarn shops I went -- with just the ball band. Neither had the same yarn in the right color. So I decided to go with a solid black from the same manufacturer. When I finally put the new yarn near the unfinished shawl something didn't look right...... So I looked more closely at the shawl in daylight....only to discover that it's shades of navy blue, not black! Argh.

Webs came to the rescue.....and another skein (of navy blue) arrived in the mail yesterday. It's funny how the shawl looks so blue in the picture.....but not in real life.

Lady of Leisure

2011-01-20T08:23:00.003-05:00

It's been cold and snowy in New England. Seems like we need to shovel a little every day....that's a slight exaggeration, but we have done a lot of shoveling and there's a lot of snow out there. But not everyone pitches in to help...we live with two ladies of leisure who wouldn't dream of lifting a paw to help.

Snow Day

2011-01-13T08:46:00.005-05:00

There was a whole lotta snow in New England yesterday. Enough to close schools, businesses, etc. A good thing because it snowed all day and then took hours (and hours) to clear the patio and driveway. Even this morning there was more on the ground and the dreaded mountain at the end of the driveway where the plows plowed us in. But the sun is shining today and hopefully some of it will sublimate (not much melting going on).

Snow blowing is messy business and requires lots of hats, scarves, and mittens. One of the most useful things I've made is a pair of felted mitten covers (circled) -- do my hands stay warm in those!

In between bouts of shoveling...I finished the right wing of my "In the Pink" shawl. That was fast. Now on to the left.

In the Pink (or Black)

2011-01-09T16:28:00.003-05:00

Once again, I took on what is probably an unreasonable challenge. I'm trying to make 11 shawls in 2011 (didn't make 10 in 2010 either). My niece gave me some fingering weight yarn in shades of black/gray with long color runs for Christmas -- so I thought the "In the Pink" shawl would be perfect. In my case, it's more like "in the black."

I finished the center medallion this afternoon. Hopefully the side pieces will go as easily/quickly.

Fashion Forward?

2011-01-05T15:04:00.002-05:00

Today I heard that they actually sell mismatched socks. Who knew I was an accidental fashionista? Must be accidental because I really dislike clothes shopping. But I think it's time when this is all that's left in the sock drawer.

2010

2011-01-01T10:07:00.003-05:00

My 2010 project progress can best be summarized as needing a lot less talk and a lot more action. I'm sure there was more accomplished.....but having the hard drive with all the pictures crash put a bit of a damper on things. [Yes, there was a backup....unfortunately, it'd stopped backing up somewhere along the line without me realizing it.]

Looking back on the year helps me formulate my goals for the new year. It looks like I finished only 19 projects.....though several more were started and either frogged or are still in the WIP pile. The big gap is in sewing/quilting. What happened there?

Holiday Knitting - Two

2010-12-31T16:01:00.005-05:00

My final projects were a two-fer. Two hats for a 6 month old girl.

1. A Thorpe hat, knit in Berroco Comfort DK (which is very soft). I think the earflaps and braids are too cool.2. A Ruffle Cap, also in Berroco Comfort DK, with the addition of eyelets laced with a contrasting ribbon. This pattern is available free from bernat.com (requires a login).

I hope they fit!

Holiday Knitting - One

2010-12-30T07:26:00.005-05:00

There wasn't much holiday knitting/crafting this year. In an extended family of just about all adults -- no one needs anything and no one wants more stuff.

But I do know a 6 year old who is just fascinated by knitting. A very stylish 6 year old. So she got some fingerless mitts with a matching hat. Unfortunately, we have no modeled pictures.

I used Paton's Stretch Socks yarn (in the color Sugar) -- and it's really stretchy, very appropriate for a child.

For the mitts, I used a pattern from the Loopy Ewe - Lauren's Mitts. The palms/thumbs are plain stockinette, but the rest is a mock cable stitch.

And for the beret, Kirsten Kapur's One Day Beret Recipe -- with a twisted rib and Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-Off. It really is stretchy and great for top-down hats.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-26T11:41:00.003-05:00

Camellia was looking for butter on the table.....she was disappointed that I hid it.

Favorite Ornament - Number 2

2010-12-23T06:53:00.003-05:00

Continuing on with my favorite ornaments. Here's another made on my embroidery sewing machine. Very simple, mounted in a small hand embroidery hoop.

Favorite Ornaments

2010-12-19T14:03:00.003-05:00

I love to see our favorite ornaments hanging on the tree each year. I made this one on my embroidery sewing machine (from a downloadable design file). It's all thread, sewn on a water soluble stabilizer. The center star spins within the outer frame.

Happy Holidays

2010-12-16T09:00:00.003-05:00

This time of year is so busy. And not just because of the holidays. I work part-time in the development office of a school and we're getting end-of-year charitable contributions. And for volunteer work, it's Medicare open season time (time to make any plan changes) through the end of the year. The good news is that next year, Medicare is moving the open-season period earlier.....a very smart move!

The other day I pulled into the driveway and saw this....the cheery face made my day.

Holiday Cards

2010-12-05T08:20:00.003-05:00

Why is it so hard to get decent family pictures for a holiday card? The beauties refuse to be anywhere near each other, so we need separate pictures. And cats (at least our cats) are not known for their action....so action shots are generally out. Yesterday I got a fantastic picture of Camellia......only to find out that the camera was set at a low resolution and the picture wouldn't come out well on the card (thank you Costco for letting me know). The picture was too good to let it go to waste, so here you go. In mid-leap.

Favorite Things

2010-11-25T10:46:00.004-05:00

It's always fun to make something that turns into a favorite thing. You never know how something will turn out.....but when it looks good, fits well, and just works with your lifestyle so you can use it often.....it becomes a favorite thing. That's the case with my Veyla fingerless mitts. I love fingerless mitts/gloves, but sometimes they're too big and floppy. Not these. They're snug, but not tight. Wool, but machine washable/dryable. With neat design features like the thumb gusset. And I love them. But maybe it's just the M&M shaped buttons.

The End of Another Season

2010-11-20T11:44:00.004-05:00

We cleaned up our garden plot for the season and harvested the final brussel sprouts. It's pretty cool to see them growing -- so different from what you see fresh/frozen in the grocery store. I'm sure there's a name for a stalk of sprouts.....they sell them in some farmer's markets.

The other sign of season's end is seeing our decorative fall pumpkins eviscerated on the lawn....courtesy of the squirrels. This isn't the worst one.....

Maybe I Can't Knit a Sweater in a Month

2010-11-14T19:17:00.004-05:00

Knitting a sweater in a month is not easy. At least for me. For whatever reason (maybe because I'm a perfectionist), I seem to rip things out a lot. Every project has at least three starts. But tomorrow marks the half way point of the month. And my sweater is no more than 20 percent done. Yep -- I'm behind......way behind.

Here's what it looks like now. The good news is that I really like the pattern/yarn combination.

Looks weird, I know. It's the upper back and left front. I will persevere.

Air Pumpkin

2010-11-08T10:42:00.004-05:00

Our town has a group of volunteers called the Open Space Stewards who maintain the town's forests, bogs, trails, community garden, etc, etc. They do an incredible amount of work (and it's the get your hands dirty kind) on a totally volunteer, low budget basis.

This past weekend, the Stewards got together with two local farms and sponsored Air Pumpkin. The idea was to launch old pumpkins and used jack-o-lanterns using a trebuchet, smashing them into a field, creating mulch for next year's gardens. Of course the primary goal was to have lots of fun (family-friendly free fun).

Prepping the launcher.....

Loading the ammo...........

The field of smashed pumpkins....

And a short video of the action.....

I Heart Alpacas

2010-11-06T18:40:00.004-04:00

My father and I went to THE Fiber Festival of New England and I discovered that I really do heart alpacas. They are just so cute.

I've always loved alpaca fiber -- seeing them in person just tipped the scale. I was pleasantly surprised by both the number of vendors and the size of the crowd. What a nice show and very well attended, but not crazy-crowded.

Of course I had to get some alpaca......

The brown is from Hidden Acre Alpaca Farm in Charlton MA. The other is actually a pale blue/white combo and very subtle -- I don't remember the farm, though I think it was in NH.

NaKniSweMo

2010-11-03T12:50:00.006-04:00

November is National Knit a Sweater Month (at least in the circles I frequent). I've only made two sweaters since I resumed knitting....and it's getting cold out....so I thought I'd join in the fun.

I had two key constraints: a) no buying new yarn (a real challege since I have very little yarn in sweater quantities and b) the pattern had to have a chance of looking good and fit my retiree, volunteer, part-time worker lifestyle.

The yarn I'm using is Classic Elite Classic Silk (I think -- it came in a 10-pack with no ball bands). And the pattern is Chic Knits Cerisara. I've got my fingers crossed for this one.

I just cast on........

End of the Season

2010-10-21T07:18:00.003-04:00

It's the end of another gardening season. This was a tough one because it was so dry and we had to water and water every day to keep things going. Yesterday we harvested all but the last of the brussel sprouts and pulled everything up for composting.

This was the first time we tried parsnips (which we love). The package said they needed a long growing season and a fellow-gardener told us to leave them in till after the first frost (which we did). Yikes -- these things look like giant mutant visitors from another planet. And nothing like what you see in the store. Can't wait to try them and see how they taste. For now, we're leaving them unwashed for longer storage. And yes, those are also the last of the peppers.

Getting Organized

2010-10-18T07:09:00.003-04:00

Now that it's fall, it's time to get organized...no more lazy days of summer!

I was tired of having piles of quilts on the couch and chairs, so yesterday we went to Ikea to get something to help store them. We'd already picked it out online -- and even knew it was in stock and exactly where to pick it up in their self-serve furniture pick-up area (that's a great feature of their website).

First we had to wander around the store because we wanted to see one in person -- as anyone who's ever been to an Ikea knows, that's an experience in itself...and of course we saw a couple other things we needed along the way. [I've never seen a store that has so many items I never even knew existed.] After enough looking, we finally found it....though called an occasional table, we found it with the kitchen tables. It's huge -- much larger than expected!

So we headed down to pick it up -- exactly where it was supposed to be. Unassembled, of course (this was Ikea). In a big box weighing over 100 pounds! It actually went together very well. The instructions were clear (all pictures) and the parts were all there (without damage). We did end up with a couple leftovers, but quickly saw where they were supposed to have gone (our fault, not the directions).

I think the quilts look great on it -- and there's even room for a few more.

Go Red for Women

2010-10-07T19:33:00.006-04:00

Do you know that heart disease is a major problem for women? Please check out the Sheep Gal's blog (click on the link) and support her effort Flock for Healthy Hearts.

Your support is needed, welcome, and appreciated!

Foxfire Fiber - Springdelle Farm

2010-10-06T10:40:00.010-04:00

Last Saturday I went to Foxfire Fibers open barn at Springdelle Farm in Shelburne, MA. Barb, Mike, and Holly were most gracious in welcoming us and showing off their flock. It was a picture perfect New England day and we were able to sit outside while sipping fresh apple cider and munching on cider doughnuts and apples.

We got a preview of the upcoming fall yarn/fiber shares -- in my favorite sock/fingering weight. And were amazed at how much Mistral and Georgia had grown since we last saw them in June. They're almost acting like real sheep here.

Crackerjack the llama is always my favorite; carefully guarding his flock.

But it was hard not to smile at "don't hate me because I'm beautiful" Caitlin. She's got the pose down cold.

All in all, it was a wonderful way to spend the day!

First Down

2010-09-29T10:28:00.005-04:00

I finally finished by 4 ounce challenge entry and published the pattern. In the spirit of the season - and getting away from the baseball analogy - I named it First Down. This was not a spectacular run and catch first down. No, it was a foot by painful foot running first down. But it was fun and a challenge indeed. Spinning/plying the yarn, imagining something from that yarn, knitting the prototype, writing up the pattern, and publishing it on Ravelry -- quite a feeling of achievement, if I do say so myself. I really need help with some artistic photography (and a model!!). I wonder if I could trade a handknitted item for some artistic help/guidance??

I lost all the before fiber pictures in my hard drive crash. But here's the finished yarn and finished project. Plus the link to the finished pattern. download now

The fiber was Spunky Eclectic Corriedale in the color Winnipeg, spun thick/thin (not on purpose, of course), 2-ply, about 11-12 wpi (bulky weight), 104 grams, 133 yards.

Now I'm off to write up another pattern.................

Strike 2

2010-09-19T16:20:00.007-04:00

I've been busy working on my design(s) for the 4-ounce challenge. The second attempt was a hat. I've used this stitch pattern in socks and really liked it. But it's not so good as a hat. Strike 2 in the design for hand-spun department. This is just ugly.

But on a something cool note.....we found this big guy in the flower bed. I understand why it's so big.....there were lots of insects ensnared in the web and one-by-one they were disappearing.

Challenge

2010-09-08T18:31:00.005-04:00

In addition to drowning in a sea of ripe tomatoes and working, I'm trying to get my act together sufficiently to enter the "4 ounce Challenge." That is, buy 4 ounces of fiber (from one of three vendors), spin it into yarn, design a project, knit the project up, then publish the pattern. By 30 Sep. I started with two ideas -- a shawl and a hat -- and starting knitting prototypes for each. The shawl really came out well. The hat, not so much. I'm still working on that -- what's in my mind's eye is not translating to my brain and fingers!!

Of course, now that I have the prototype shawl done, I don't know if I can really spin enough yarn from the 4 ounces of fiber. My prototype is only 3.4 ounces, so (in theory) it can be done. My spinning skills just might fall short. But we'll see!

Here's the shawl -- knit in Classic Elite Alpaca Sox. It is just so soft and fuzzy. If nothing else, it'll count towards the 10 in 2010 challenge.

Yum!

2010-08-30T08:43:00.005-04:00

We're really starting to do a lot of harvesting in our garden -- and some of our meals consist only of fresh produce.

We have potatoes....I just wish we kept track of what kinds they were. We had some yukon gold, a red skinned, and a white one. The white ones are huge!

The carrots are wonderfully crunchy and sweet (and a hit with the critters).

And the tomatoes have been an interesting experiment. We tried three varieties of heirlooms and three common hybrids....the heirlooms are definitely more finicky than the hybrids and a lot of them have been suitable only for the compost pile. Last night we taste-tested the Black Crims and Mr Stripeys.

The Black Crims are definitely not appetizing looking, but when sliced, look almost like a flower the way the seeds and chambers are arranged. They're a bit tangy and moderately juicy -- perfect for eating sliced with a meal.

Mr Stripeys are big and meaty, with few seeds and little juice. They're also very sweet. They'd make good sandwich tomatoes.

Too Many WIPs

2010-08-22T19:44:00.005-04:00

I really try to control my works in progress and not have too many projects ongoing simultaneously. But I'm not doing well right now. The reason is the 4 ounce challenge. That's spinning 4 ounces of yarn, designing and publishing a pattern to use the yarn, then knitting the project using the spun yarn (not necessarily in that order). I'm knitting my prototypes now. This might seem easy......but it's harder than you might think!

The blue in the middle and green above it are my prototypes (notice how the green has already been frogged at least once). The other projects (blue at the bottom and gray) are just two projects I've been working on, but that have been languishing. That's TOO many projects for me. The interesting part is that I'm using straight, double-pointed, and circular needles. It just depends on the project.

Bee Magnets

2010-08-15T13:51:00.005-04:00

We have found that the white flowers in our garden are bee magnets -- on a sunny day, the white flowered plants will literally hum and buzz. This year we planted something new in our community garden -- white cleomes. They're tall and prickly -- and always loaded with all different kinds of bees. But the amazing part is how much they resemble cell phone towers. Don't they?

Real Gardener?

2010-08-08T17:54:00.005-04:00

How do you know when you're a real gardener? It seems like everyone grows tomatoes. If you only grow tomatoes on the patio, does that make you a real gardener? Probably, if that's what you think you are!

We did pick our first tomato of the season -- which made us very happy -- though I didn't say wow -- you're an official gardener. I don't know why the tomatoes are so slow this year -- there are lots of green ones, but that's pretty much it. [The picture is deceptive -- it's a really small tomato.]

But we did harvest some potatoes. Now that made me feel like a gardener. We had three potato bags and planted one cut up seed potato in each. Of course, we didn't remember what we bought, so it was pretty much random planting. I think these are Yukon Golds. There are about 18 potatoes, weighing about 5 pounds.

We must be real gardeners by now.

The Miracle of Blocking

2010-08-05T08:40:00.008-04:00

Blocking is the key to a great shawl -- especially a lacey one. There are many tutorials online, but here's one that explains things well, with lots of pictures.

I finished my Little Acorn Leaves Shawl (ravelry link) and, let's face it, it looked like a wadded up blob of yarn.

After soaking in a bath of Soak and cold water, I spread it out, pinned it every few inches, and let it dry on my blocking mats.

After drying for a few hours -- it turned into a beautiful lacey drapey shawl. Blocking is a miracle.

This is yarn from my Foxfire Fiber and Designs 2009 Sheep Shares. It's Cormo Alpaca lace in the color acorn. The color is actually best is the middle picture.

Recipes - Zucchini Bread

2010-08-01T16:26:00.004-04:00

Since we're being overrun by the bounty of our community garden, I had to start searching for new recipes. Zucchini is a perennial overachiever -- and this has been one of our best years ever. I've tried a couple different zuke bread recipes and this one is a keeper. The bread is moist and, after I reduced the amount of sugar (using 1-1/2 cups instead of 2-1/4), not too sweet. Substituting whole wheat flour for half of the all-purpose makes me think it's even healthy (ha ha).

It looks like the zuke plants are getting their second wind.....so there will be more coming.

Garden Do-Dad

2010-07-25T06:08:00.003-04:00

I don't think I know how to spell do-dad.

We've noticed that lots of people decorate their community garden plots - gnomes, flags, rocks, etc. So I thought we should get something too. We're lucky enough to be along the fence, so I'd like to get something we can attach to it. Nothing permanent.....just something we can attach/remove. We also need to paint a rock with our plot number so it can be more easily identified.

Yesterday we went to a store that specializes in tacky. Christmas Tree Shops for those in the know ("don't you just love a bargain?"). And we found something suitable for our garden. Even better that it was on clearance ($3.99).

Tour de Fleece

2010-07-18T08:47:00.003-04:00

I actually managed to spin some yarn for the Tour de Fleece. My first "success." It's the Corriedale from the Painted Tiger. I Navajo plied it and ended up with 82 grams of bulky weight yarn. It's far (far, far) from perfect, but I'm still happy with it -- it's overspun, underspun, overplied, and underplied all in the same skein. Navajo plying was probably too advanced for me to attempt, but.....might as well jump into the deep end.

Summer Knitting

2010-07-15T07:52:00.004-04:00

I finally finished one of the projects I was working on. I try to limit myself to no more than three projects at a time -- one small and portable, one complex, and one in between. Otherwise nothing seems to get done. The weather has been very hot and sticky.....knitting a thick cozy wool hat probably approached crazy.....but my head will be toasty warm this winter! This is my Blood Rose Red, using Ysolda's Rose Red pattern and my June 2009 share of Foxfire Fibers Upland Wool and Alpaca in Winterberry (I don't think that color is available anymore). I followed the pattern as written, only adding an i-cord bindoff as a finishing touch -- see the lower picture. This was the first time I've used that technique and it really worked well.

Delish

2010-07-10T12:32:00.003-04:00

The weather outside has been frightful. Not cold and snowy, but hot-hot-hot and humid. Knitting and spinning isn't all that much fun when the fiber felts in your (sweaty, sticky) hands. But it could be worse -- we just had the house resided and the crew had to work outside, all day. I just had to watch. And that was hot enough for me.

One thing that thrives in this weather is our community garden. Holey moley -- it seemed to spring up overnight. With work and the siding project, I didn't go over for a couple days (b-dad ably handled the watering on his own), but when I did, everything had gotten huge.....and we picked our first zucchini, cucumbers, and swiss chard of the season. There's nothing like it. I hope the weather cools off enough to bake some zucchini muffins/bread.