Hodge Podge Glimpe Of My Life Recently

We don't have much snow on the ground because it melted away in a recent thaw. But it sure has gotten chilly in the last day or so! Last night the temperature was several degrees below zero. And on the hill where we live the wind chills were pretty extreme.

I know it doesn't look like a hill from this direction...

Just looking at the picture makes me chilly! We have had a bit of sunshine and that has been wonderful to see. It goes a long way in cheering everything up.


This here is a little red work quilt that Mother and I made as a gift for Grandma. We had started it about five years ago, but never finished it. Time, and the busyness of life kept getting in the way. We finished it this week and gave it to Grandma last night for her 80th birthday.

I loved doing the red work. I would like to make one of these for myself someday. Isn't it such a dainty picture? I wonder what she is working on?

Hollyhocks and Daisies.

There were fresh eggs out at Aunt Sarah's. I could not resist taking a picture. This is several days worth of eggs. The lighter colored ones are really blue, although they don't look it.

We are hoping to get chickens come spring. We've been doing a great deal of research on the different breeds. I am looking forward to having chickens. Keeping chickens is not too difficult, not time consuming and you end up with a healthy and wholesome food. Plus you know right where your eggs came from and what the chickens were fed.

Grandma's 8oth birthday party was lovely. We are blessed to have so many years with this sweet and wonderful lady. Grandma is truly a gem. :)

Since I have been sick all the last week ( I still am as a matter of fact), I have not had much knitting done. I have several projects in the works. And many more that I want to start! But we'll see what happens this week. If only I could shake this nasty bug that has settled in my throat. I have not spun in awhile either. I have some beautiful silk roving that I am spinning. It was a gift for Christmas from my parents and is a dream to work with.

So long for now!

Baby Blanket

Sort of my own pattern. I just knit up 20 -7 inch squares then seamed them together.

It's a gift for a friend. It's a nice easy project and a good way to use up leftover yarn. I used a worsted wool yarn.

More Knitting News

When Christmas was over I was not in the mood for knitting at all. I had done so much in such a short time. I'd rather not knit when I have a close deadline.... it is too stressful! However after a day or two I was back in the mood for knitting, but I wanted to do something fun. So I decided to try this fair isle hat from Louise Harding's book "Knitting Little Luxuries"

Actually I had never done any sort of fair isle before. This is a good beginner project because it is worked on straight needles. There is a three needle bind-off at the top, and then the side is seamed up.

Lastly the tassels are made and attached. This picture shows both tassels at the corners.

View of the back.

My first few rows of fair isle was a little tight but once I got the hang of it things went smoothly from there. It is made with a worsted weight wool yarn. I can't wait to get another started. It is such a warm and cozy hat! I'm also making a pair of mitts in the same color. I didn't think about it until I finished the first mitt, but I should have incorporated the motif from the hat into the mitts. Ah well, maybe next time.

Remember the little quilts I posted back when I first started blogging? Well, here they are again, but now there is a proper bed for them to lay upon. My brother made this doll bunk bed as a gift this Christmas.

And of course we couldn't part without leaving you all a shot of my bedroom window the other day. It was covered in all sorts of gorgeous designs. It was kind of difficult to take a picture of the frost because there is a layer of plastic over the window, but I did my best.

They remind me of ferns in the forest...

Wintery Weather

Collecting Eggs.

The woods at my Aunt's place.

This was after a night's snowfall.

Beautiful!

Ephriam the Hippo

Happy 2010 Everyone! My, it seems like in one way 2009 flew by!

I'll have to do a post of all the projects I did in 2009.

Here is the little hippo that I made as a Christmas gift.

He is from the new book, "Itty, Bitty, Toys" By Susan B. Anderson.

I used one 100gram skein of sock yarn. Plus a little extra for the feet, ears, and paws.

The yarn is double stranded. I loved making the little hippo. He is so sweet. I like how Susan recommends sewing each piece on as you go. That way when you have knit the last piece you are pretty much done with the project, and you also get to see it come together as you work.

Now I am looking forward to making some of her reversible toys!

More on Christmas projects coming up!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Merry Christmas to friends, family, followers and everyone else!

Now that I have completed and gifted all my most recent knitting projects, expect some pictures in the near future!

I'm looking forward to sharing them with you all. I always seem to be up until unearthly hours of he night every Christmas eve. In this case I went to bed very early in the morning, I was finishing the last knitting details on a small hippopotamus. Hmmm, I feel a song coming on...

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas....I certainly did. It was a day filled with fun, family, fellowship, food, laughter, love.....

Merry CHRISTmas!

Hand spun Yarn

Here is a bit of yarn that I spun a couple months ago. It was a lovely merino roving. I spun it on my top whorl spindle over the course of a week. I loved the way this roving drafted, it was very smooth and didn't break much at all. It was purchased at a local shop in town.

The yarn itself is very soft. I think it is a DK weight, but I haven't checked it too be sure. I am hoping to use it for a Christmas present. We'll see what happens. I am looking forward to posting about all the Christmas gifts I am making. So far I still have a lot of Christmas knitting to do.

Yesterday I ended up having an unexpected drive to into the city. Some of the family was shopping and had car trouble. What I thought would be a quick trip turned into over 6 hours of waiting and driving. A lot of it was waiting so I took the opportunity to do some knitting. Thankfully I had tossed a couple of projects in my purse on the way out the door. This week I need to really put on the steam with my gift making.

We have a tree to decorate this week as well. And I am hoping to put my room in some semblance of order. So far all I have managed to do is get the bed set up. Because we have been so busy, and gone much of the time I have not been able to get settled very well. Right now my room is piled with boxes. I can't wait to make it all cozy and homey looking.

That's it for now. I am hoping to post pictures soon of the fingerless mitts I have been making in the last few weeks.

Late Fall Pictures

I know fall is long past, but I never had a chance to blog my fall pictures. I took these while walking to the library with my siblings. I had fun trying to take them so that no signs of town were visible. But it was difficult at some points as you can see from some of the pictures.

Knitted Fingerless Mitts

I finally have pictures! These are my favorite fingerless mitts. They are made out of medium weight yarn and can be whipped up very quickly. So far I have made five pairs and love them! I gave them all away of course, but I do plan on making some for myself one of these days...

This particular pair was a birthday gift for my dear friend, Randi. The gray yarn is 100% merino wool. For the ribbing on the top and bottom I double stranded using a slender strand of 100% angora yarn, hand spun on a drop spindle. The strand of angora added warmth and a lovely halo to the cuffs. Just a touch of luxury.

I taught Randi both hand spinning and knitting so I knew this was a gift that she would definitely appreciate.

The pattern is found at www.ancientpathwaysyarnandfiber.blogspot.com . I changed the pattern around a bit. I used size 5Us needles to make a tighter gauge. I also change the pattern around depending on whom it is made for. When making a child's size I only bind of 10 sts. Woman's sizes I bind of 12 sts, and 14 stitches only for the men's sizes. When just knitting st. stitch or ribbing, you can just lengthen or shorten as needed. So far these mitts have been a hit with everyone who has received a pair.

After the new year I will hopefully have many photos to show of Christmas gifts. I'll post as able between now and then. I'm sure everyone has many Christmas plans, get-togethers etc. in the next couple of weeks. Take care and be careful in the crowds. Enjoy the time spent with your loved ones and friends.

Merry Christmas to all!!!

Strength

"Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint."

~Isaiah 40:28-31

I wanted to share these verses that I have read so many times, but never did they strike me like they did today. This week we moved to our new home, and the only explanation for us being able to accomplish what we did lies in the above verses. God gave us the strength when we had no might, the power when we were faint, He was there in our hour of need......

Hello to All!

Still no pictures. :( Sadness.

I am doing well, I have not had as much time for knitting the last week because we were moving. Moving day was Monday. We had a ton of things to accomplish, I didn't realize how much there was to do. And then there are always those odds and ends that don't seem to fit into any sort of box.....

The only knitting I have been doing has been Christmas knitting. I made a list of what I would like to make for family/friends, and discovered it is way too long and I am being too ambitious! I'll have to trim it down a bit. Today I am trying to whip up a birthday present for my Dad. A lot of my knitting stuff is still packed, I tried to clearly mark and keep track of it all so when we got moved I would be able to find it. So far the only thing I can't find is my all important pattern folder. I'm spending a few days at my Aunts so I am hoping to work on a few Christmas projects, I have less then a month left to get it all done!

That's it for now. I'll be back when I can. Take care!

I'm still alive

It has been along time since I posted anything on my blog and for that I do apologize. Right now our lap top is on the verge of crashing and I don't often get to a computer. We are also in the process of moving to a new home. We hope to be moved by the end of November. So for awhile my posting on here will be sporadic. But not to worry, I will be back.

Since I am on a computer that is not my own I do not have any pictures to share today.

Knitting-wise I have been keeping very busy. It's been so long since I posted that I can not keep straight everything that I have done since I last wrote.

I have been working on Christmas presents quite a bit. I won't be posting pictures of those until the new year because certain family members like to check out my blog.

I did design my first knitting pattern recently! (not counting felted bags, because I have never followed a pattern completely. I am always changing them.) I designed a knit shrug for an 18in doll. I took plenty of pictures and I am hoping to put it on Ravelry as a free pattern.

I also finished the shrug that I started back in September. It is made using a doubled strand of worsted weight wool throughout. The moment I put it on I felt so warm! I have been wearing it every day since, along with my new wool socks. I need to make all the gals in my family a shrug like this one, we all tend to run on the cold side.

Oh, here is something that I found exciting! I was able to meet the Susan B. Anderson, the author of "Itty, Bitty, Toys". Her new book was recently released and I attended a book signing with my cousin. If you have not yet seen her book I would strongly recommend checking it out.

At the book signing she had every item from the book made up and spread out on a table. I thought they were adorable in the book, but in person they were simple irresistible!

My cousin who had no intention of buying the book, quickly changed her mind when she saw all the adorable toys in person.

My favorites by far were the reversible toys. I am definitely making some of those in the future!

Right now I have some sock yarn laying about so I thought I'd make one of her little critters from the sock yarn only chapter.

My parents had previously given me "Itty, Bitty, Nursery" So I took that book along and got it signed by Susan as well! She gave a brief talk on knitting and designing that I found inspiring.

Concerning our moving process we have been busy packing and cleaning. The house we are moving into is a serious fixer-upper. We have been busy done a bit of remodeling and lots of cleaning, and painting.

So that is my news for now. If at all possible I will try to get on here sometime soon with some pictures of my most recent projects.

Cozy Winter Socks

Now that fall has arrived with it's crispy cool days and breezy drafts, I seem to be in the mood for making warm snugly things. During the winter I always have cold feet. It just occured to me the other day, that, as a knitter, there is no reason I should go around the house with freezing feet! I have the capability to make socks, so why haven't I? Well, without further ado I jumped on ravelry and looked for a short sock pattern that uses medium weight yarn. I wanted them to be thick. The reason being, the thicker they are the warmer they will be.

The pattern I found was "Worsted Anklet Socks" by Joanne Turcotte.

They are the easiest socks I have ever knit. I tried to keep an accurate track of my time while knitting the second one. It took me about 2hrs. and 40 min. from start to finish. That is a rough average. Some people can probably do it even faster. But I was in no hurry. I worked on it a couple different times while watching a video. I did shorten the ankle ribbing by one inch. That was purely accidental. I glanced at the pattern and saw the smallest child's size and thought it was for the adult size. But I like my one inch ribbing very well. I have never been too keen on long socks. I love short socks and ankle socks though.

The nice thing about this pattern is that it comes in children's sizes as well. I plan on knitting up a pair of these for all the gals in the family. I just need to buy some more yarn. Oh, the yarn I used is Patons Classic yarn.

I did a bit of spinning today too. After spinning up the angora that I previously showed, I found some more of the same roving in amongst my stuff. So I am going to spin it up and see what my total yardage comes to. I need to purchase some more roving because now that I have been spinning regularly I want to keep on.
I find that I love spinning by hand, it is very relaxing and rewarding.
That is it for now!
Cheerio!

Dune Grass

Spinning Update

Not much today. Just a quick post about some of the spinning I have on one of my spindles. My Aunt gave me some raw angora fiber that she purchased at a fiber festival this summer. When Debi was over awhile back I combed some of it up with her combs.

This is at a roadside park that my brother and I stopped at a couple weeks ago. There are 234 step down to the river. The view is lovely, especially in the fall when the colors have changed!

There was all manner of places to take nice pictures. I thought I would include a few of them here.

I find the angora rather difficult to spin. I keep getting little blobby pieces that don't want to draft. The reason might be because I didn't comb it well enough. Or maybe I just don't know how to draft off a rolag. I have only ever drafted off of roving before.

It is a very soft and lovely yarn though. I am not sure what I will make out of it, but whatever it is, it will be quite elegant and warm!