Cast on the Fifth! This is the fifth baby blanket (for the fifth baby in my extended family) of the same pattern. I chose this pattern for my first nephew ( who is now 6!) And each time I go to knit a blanket for a very special arrival I again choose this pattern. Simple, Classic, Easy to knit yet not too boring and the size is generous yet adjustable. You can't argue with perfection.

Almost done!

Progress!

My life has taken another turn.

I am hoping to be able to post here again! Wish me luck, and let me know what you like and what you want to hear about.

Finally, a project!

Starting Vine Lace leg warmers. My own pattern, yarn: Berroco Vintage

Surprise!

Tap. Tap, tap, tap. This thing still work?
Oh. ..... Hi!
I have been thinking, I should start this ol' blog up again. Maybe I will. for the time being I have Internet access and lots of new endeavors to talk about.

Welcome Baby!

My sister has very nicely given me a baby to knit for! My nephew was born on the last day of February. A strong healthy 7lbs 12oz.

I had prepared for his arrival by making this.

I am hoping he will learn to crawl on it and drag it with him when he learns to walk.

I think it will hold up well.

• Pattern: Prairie Blanket form Oat Couture
• Yarn: Tatamy Tweed from Kramer yarns, DK cotton/acrylic Machine wash and Dry!
• Needles: #6 US

I started it when I learned I would be getting a niece or nephew and finished it just in time for the shower. I enjoyed every bit of the project. I didn't think I would really like the yarn because I mostly like wool yarns but I was pleasantly surprised. I would use it again especially for baby things that will need to be washed a lot. The pattern is well written and a perfect balance of mindless with a little interest in the border. Highly recommended.

Baby E hypnotized me with his bright eyes so I just had to make him this.

• Pattern: Curly Purly Soaker
• Size: Small
• Yarn: cascade 220 superwash
• Needles: #4, #6, & #8 Us

  

I added the waves.

This was a quick and fun project. One day, zoom! But I would say it is an intermediate pattern. It has short rows, switches needle sizes, picks up stitches without telling you how many, and a ribbed pleat pattern that is a little un-usual.

I plan I making more of these as Little E needs them.

Signs of Spring.

Look, there IS life!

Baby Herbs in Mom's Greenhouse.

Spring means lots of green.

Like Green Gummiebaer Boot Socks.

It also means finished Christmas gifts! Amazing!

I made these boot socks for Gummiebaer out of two skeins of Cascade 220 heather in forest green.

• #6 needles
• Toe up
• Magic cast on
• Short row heel
• 2x2 Rib
• Inc. up the back for calf shaping

I knit until I ran out of yarn. I really enjoyed knitting these and Gummiebaer loves them and wears them all the time.

Win, Win!

CSA Dinner

I'm Still here!!

I have not had much exciting knitting recently, mostly just slow steady progress on the same projects. Knit Night over the summer has been fun. We are taking turns hosting and it has been great to see friends houses, I even got to host a couple of times and that was really nice.

I have been excited by food! We are getting a CSA basket this summer for the first time and it is a fun challenge to come up with new ways to eat all the veggies.

Here is one night's dinner:Start with the veggies. Swiss Chard, Green Onions and Fresh English Peas. Add some supporting actors: Hand made pasta, chicken, lemon, butter, fresh ground black pepper and a dash of white balsamic vinegar. Start with the stems and onions,
Add the tops and the vinegar, meanwhile, toss some peas in the pasta water just as the pasta is al dante, drain and add butter...yum..
time it just right with the chicken that Gummibaer has grilled with lemon and pepper, and.....

Guten Appetit!

Boku has reached the 1/2 point!

My life has been quite busy of late, I have spent some time helping out a friend and Gummibaer has been away for a while. He is back now which makes me happy and I did get a bunch of knitting done in the last few weeks.

Here is an almost up to date picture of the Boku, almost half way! It has reached the 1/2 way point after this picture was taken.

I am really enjoying this knit. I think the finished object will get a lot of use.

I have been a little distracted now that Boku is half done.

Some lovely Noro jumped into my hands at the last Knitting studio sale. I think it wants to be a hat and mittens for me. I have tried some patterns but I don't think I have found the right one yet.

I am also suddenly in a hurry to finish my Birch lace shawl, the lovely green leafy-ness is just perfect for spring in VT!

Traveling Tea Box

When I arrived home on Saturday I found a box I had been eagerly awaiting, the Traveling Tea Box!

I am part of a tea group on Ravelry that has traveling tea boxes. One person starts the box by filling it with teas and other tea or knitting related things and sending it to the first person on the list. When you receive the box you open it and take out some goodies and add some things from your local area then you send it on to the next person on the list. It is great fun! You get to taste teas from all over the world.

This is what was in the box when I received it. There was tea from Germany, Turkey, Japan, England, and all over the U.S.!

I added some VT Tea, Maple sugar, VT Cookies and some of my other favorite teas.

Here is the box ready to be sent on it's way, heads up, Momonator!

Almost an FO and New Boku!

I am almost done with the never ending Pulse cotton sweater. I Just have seaming and the neck to finish, Yay! I am not going to post any more pictures of it here until the recipient models it for me, after all a little suspense won't hurt anyone!

I must confess, Ravelry has been my downfall. I saw an afghan on Ravelry a couple of months ago and I couldn't get it out of my mind. When the yarn went on sale, it was the last straw.

I bought 20 balls of Plymouth Boku color 10 and I cast on for an afghan! An afghan, I tell you, what am I thinking?!?? Will it ever get done? What about all my other wips and stash projects patiently waiting to be cast on? All forsaken in my project boredom and Ravelry induced afghan lust.

I am making the Plymouth pattern # 1063, mitered square afghan in Boku. I am loving it. I cast on and the next thing I knew I had 13 squares done.

I am making a bigger afghan than the pattern suggests I am just adding some squares so that it ends up a square in stead of a rectangle, 9x9 instead of 7x9. That gives me 81 squares so if I knit at least one a day I will be done in less than 3 months. Plenty of time before it gets cold again. It might even be quick and easy enough that I get some hats and mittens done before the snow flies again! ( I mean NEXT winter, not the crazy spring we have been having!)

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone had a happy Easter!

I had a good time this year. I spent the day quietly. I went for a walk in the morning sunshine and then I made a lovely coffee cake for brunch to go with my orange juice and pineapple.

I spent the afternoon dying eggs and playing with color!
I never pass up the chance to play with dyes and this year I experimented with tape.

I enjoyed my play time and now I have plenty of eggs for my traditional curried eggs on toast! Yum!

Spinning for Socks

I am really enjoying my Spinning! I am currently working on 4oz of superwash merino with some nylon in it, I purchased it on Etsy from mysmallwonders's. I am trying to spin it as fine as I can. I am planing to Navajo ply it. My goal is a three ply sock yarn.Whatever I end up with I will knit into toe up socks for myself. I have small feet so I should have enough even if it is a little thicker than I am hoping for. I am going to Navajo ply to keep the colors together. I am not a fan of barber poling and I think I will end up with stripes. I am amazed by how much yardage I am getting, I have spun less than 1/4 of it so far. I am happy with my first singles! This is fun!

Strawberries!!

I got my hot little hands on four flats (that's 48 pints) of Strawberries!

Friday after work I brought them home, I cleaned the kitchen and got all my canning supplies ready.

Bright and early Saturday morning I started washing, cutting, caning, and freezing.

By the evening I had 48 jars of jam and 3 1/2 gallons of frozen strawberries, ohhh yeah!

yum........ strawberries on ice cream, strawberry jam on biscuits, waffles with strawberries and whipped cream, strawberry rhubarb pie....... it tastes like spring!

kint,knit,knit and still no progress!

Well, long time no post!

I have been busy with my new job which I enjoy. I am teaching one of my new work friends to knit and you know it must be a great place to work if there is more than one knitter!

I have been knitting just a bit every day and I swear I'm not getting anywhere! The sleeves for the cotton pulse sweater are not growing at all and neither is the blue circular shrug. I do want to be working on my Germany socks but I need to finish the other things first. I have not touched my birch because I am saving it as a reward for when I finish something. I just might have too many things on the needles!

I always have a lot of things I want to cast on but I have officially gone over the edge now with my afghan obsession. I am dieing to make this or this for my sofa but since a mere sweater is kicking my bum at the moment it is not going to happen any time soon.

P.S.

to make up for the lack of pictures in this post check out one of me and my twin when we were six or seven, here.

All Knitting and No Spinning.......

After I went to the spinning tea I was on a roll. I finished spinning the Rose Wensleydale roving into singles and then I Andean plyed it. I ended up with this lovely two ply that is about DK weight. It turned out quite nice and I already have some ideas what I want to knit with it!

Since then I have been concentrating on the Pulse cotton sweater that has been on my needles for almost two years!!! I hate knitting this. I don't quite know what I dislike so much but it has been sitting in my knitting basket taunting me for way too long. last night I finished the front. that only leaves the sleeves and the finishing! A big mile stone reached!

I imideatly cast on for the sleeves, two at the same time, so as not to lose my momentum. I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

As the crusade of the cotton sweater continues, My pretty little fiber basket calls from the corner.

I am itching to start spinning up some of this roving for socks but I will just have to wait until I finish some of my WIP's. My knitting time has been taken over by moving and now a job. Pesky little things, jobs. They do tend to cut into the knitting time.

Look what I found in my fiber basket when I went to take a picture this morning!

See that? A tasty little treat. No, not the spindle, the licorice!

My Gummibaer has been leaving little treats for me to find all over the house.

He hid one with my morning tea and one in my knitting. I never know when I will come across a little treat hidden just for me!

Isn't he a sweetie!

Spinning Tea and Fiber Swap!

I went to the third annual Spinner's tea and Yankee fiber swap hosted by Alexandra from Black Ram Farm and Barbara from The Wool Shed, great ladies!

The spinner's tea is held at the capital city grange hall in Montpelier every year, there are no vendors there, just people getting together to spin and have a good time. This year the event also benefited the Vermont Food Shelf!

This was my first time attending and I had a great time! I got to meet a lot of nice spinners and I even got some pointers for using my drop spindle. I had some really pretty roving from a friend at knit night so I spun up some of that.

Everyone brought some fiber to swap and snacks to share, Yum!

I think there where about 45 people there with their wheels and spindles.

We had spinners who had been spinning for 50 years and spinners who were spinning for the first time!

I ended up with some fun yellow roving from the swap. I don't know what the fiber is but it feels nice and soft.

P.S. Sorry for the blurry pictures, I was too busy spinning to get any good ones!

The Perfect Knitting Bag

Here it is!

My very own custom made knitting bag!

Isn't she beautiful??

I think it was Wendy (I could be wrong) who posted about a bag she had bought on Etsy. When I saw it I knew it was just the kind of bag I had been looking for. I am very picky about my bags/purses. I really only have one at a time and in general I only carry it because I have to, I can't put a phone in my pocket most of the time and if I put my plastic cards in my pocket they come out bent. So, I have to carry something. Small is good, tiny is better. Then comes knitting, I need my knitting with me almost all the time but I don't want to carry a big bag or a bag that looks like a crazy, crafty, bag lady would carry it. I wonted something kind of young, kind of classy but that would still go with my every day jeans.

Oh yes, and did I mention totally unique and me!??

Moriah, from Moriah Ice Designs * pulled it off!

The perfect bag for me.

When you go to her site you get to pick your own fabric. She has several basic bag sizes and shapes you can choose from and then the fun begins as you pick your options!

I picked inside pockets, for my phone and keys and all the little things so I won't have to dig around in the bottom for them, a zippered pocket for the things I want to keep hidden, A zippered pouch for my knitting notions or that can hold my money, keys and phone if I only need the essentials and just want to carry a small clutch, A matching wallet/change purse that will fit in a pocket, and of course all the bells and whistles on the bag it self. I have magnetic closers (perfect for knitting bags), reinforced body and flat bottom so it will stand up and open, scotch guard to keep it looking great, and handles that fit over my shoulder for easy carrying.


It is the perfect size to hold socks in progress (I make two at a time so I have two balls of yarn) or any small project.

I highly recommend Moriah's bags. I will be carrying mine every day and I can't wait to show it off to my knitting friends!

*No affiliation, I just love my bag!