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honey cowl

14 Dec

After a quick start, and a very easy pattern, I thought I was full speed ahead on my green tea with honey cowl.  One Sunday, I snuggled in bed with Ella during our afternoon quiet time and was set to begin binding off.  Almost done and a stitch fell off the needle.  I thought I got all the stitches back to their happy little home and secure.  Then with 15 or so stitches left to bind off, I ran out of yarn.  Arrr.  So, I attempted to bind off with a remaining scrap piece of yarn from the ball join.  I tried to make sure all my quick fixes resulted in secure stitches and I thought I did ok.  Well, one wear into enjoying the cowl I noticed my quick fixes were not secure after all.  Last night, I did what I should have done all along: un-knit the bind off row and rip back until I had enough yarn to properly finish.  Since I spent all the time fixing my mistake, I decided I wanted to make the border a tad wider.  A couple more rounds to go and then hopefully a successful bind off and I will be good to go.

Yes. doing things the right way the first time.  A lesson I always seem to need friendly reminders about.

You can see what I have been reading in my reading post from yesterday:  The Violets of March and The Distant Hours.

I am hoping our Christmas cards arrive soon.  The girls and I have cookies to make for a holiday party at Ella’s preschool later this week.  I think that this might be the beginning of our family cookies as well :)

+++joining with ginny and her weekly yarn along.  thank for stopping by!

In, Around, Through, & Off

7 Dec

While spending time in the playroom yesterday morning with the girls, Ella asked me if I could teach her to knit.  Oh my!  My sweet Ella could I ever.  Nestled in back to front saying ” IN, AROUND, THROUGH, OFF”  she got the beginning of garter stitch. Then, she announced very confidently and proudly that she was going to make a pink shirt for Sophia.

I am still working my way through The Distant Hours by Kate Morton and the Blue Wyatt sweater I mentioned here.  I really like the book. I have started a little habit of laying down with Ella for a little while at the start of nap time.  I read for a tiny bit and she has a few minutes to calm down.  There have even been a couple times where both of us have fallen asleep, which is just a  sweet time with her.  I read The Forgotten Garden by Morton earlier this year and liked that one as well.  Knitting, however, is not having as much progress.  I was distracted this week by continuing to decorate for Christmas and trying to get a large portion of the Christmas shopping done.  We are waiting on several packages to arrive in the mail.  Joel was able to come home from work early yesterday, and I went out by myself yesterday (gasp) and was able to hunt down a few presents.

what are you working on or reading this week?

+++ joining ginny in her weekly yarn along.

Blue Wyatt

16 Nov

Hi!  Popping in for a quick yarn along update this week.  I’m working on another Wyatt sweater.  This time for the middle girl. Blue this go-round since it is her favorite color, a fact I am reminded of most often.   The previous Wyatt can be seen here.    Sophie is putting together puzzles as I am typing, and is at such a fun age.   It seems she is learning something new everyday and is so very excited to be witnessing herself growing and thinking in new ways.  She is old enough now to work longer to try to figure the *it* of the moment out before turning to me for help.

This weekend, I finished  A Red Herring Without Mustard.  I liked the book more and more as the story developed.  Definitely, a slower start than I prefer.  I picked up The Distant Hours by Kate Morton the last time I was at the library.  I enjoyed her other book, The Forgotten Garden very much.  I am about 50 some pages into this story, and I am intrigued by the plot development,and how Morton will unfold the story.  Now, just for some nighttime fires to snuggle up next to and read.

Do any of you own skein winders?  I would like to ask for one for Christmas, but would like some recommendations (good & bad) first.

We are off to make molasses cookies.  These are the very best ones, in my opinion.

Happy Day to you dear friends.

Joining Ginny in her weekly yarn along.

+++ just finished typing and no sooner Miss Sophie asked me for help with one piece.  I guess the independent time is limited to the time it takes me to type up a blog post ….

 

Walking Sweater

9 Nov

I began this sweater after a little trip to a knitting shop while at the beach this summer.  I was just waiting until it was cool enough for the Eva to need a little backyard sweater.  Earlier this fall, I tried it on her to make sure I liked the fit and sure enough it was no longer long enough.  That is an easy fix to be sure.  But, the most wonderful thing happened.  As soon as she had the sweater on, she stood up and took her first steps – five of them with no thought that she had never even done one step before!  This might be the very best walking sweater, indeed.

To add the length, I picked up the bottom hem stitches and knit one more stockinette & garter pattern in the round and bound off again.

I seem to be too distracted, by who knows what, to get very much reading done.  I still, slowly, making my way through A Red Herring without Mustard. It seems to never leave my bedside table, which means I am only getting approximately 1.25 pages read before my eyes shut.  I am enjoying it, but already thinking about what my next read should be.  I want a snuggle under a quilt, want to keep reading more, book.

What are you reading and knitting?

+++++

joining ginny for her weekly yarn along

Line Leader

26 Oct

The Lady had just two simple requests:

“Can you knit me something next?” and “Can it be pink?”

Yes, my lady. Yes.

As we were blocking the dress, which incidentally is Ella’s favorite part of the process because she requests to put all the pins in, she kept asking if I was sure her dress would be dry by Monday.  The day she was assigned to be the line leader at preschool.  Oh how she loves just that little bit of responsibility.  She eats it up.  She was off her rocker thrilled that it ended up being fire drill day, and she got to be the line leader two extra times that day.  All in the dress.  The pink dress.

++ joining ginny for her weekly yarn along

a little length needed

19 Oct

First, I wanted to thank you all for your sweet compliments on the fall photos I posted Monday.  I had such a fun time taking the photos with the girls.

……

One of the days while we were on our vacation to the beach, way back in May, I escaped to a sweet little knitting store by myself.  Besides that being blissful in and of itself, I began a little project for my Eva.  The little sweater was quick and easy, but it was intended for fall and winter so I couldn’t get an accurate fit until recently.  Ends up, I need to add some length which is a quick little fix.

I have finished the jumper for Ella, and I will be able to show you soon.  It is taking a little while to dry from blocking.

I believe I am way too tired when I get into bed lately to get any reading done.  I made it one whole chapter through A Red Herring Without Mustard in a week.    I am really looking for a book that grabs my attention and make me want to read more than just a couple pages in one sitting.

Thanks for stopping by today, I hope you have lots of joy to fill your day.

+++ joining ginny in her yarn along this week.

{yarn along}

12 Oct

This weekend, I went out to the garden and picked what I believe to be the last of the summer tomatoes.  I savored every bite.  As much as I love all that summer days have to offer and the abundance from the garden, I yearn for the warmth and coziness of fall.  This morning, the wind has picked up and the sky is full of October’s gray-white clouds.  As we waited in the carpool line this morning, the girls were talking about how pretty the bright red leaves were.  Roasted Root Veggie soup – I think I am ready for you! One of my favorite recipes here.

We made pumpkin snickerdoodle cookies.  I had to hide them in the pantry.  From Eva (the 1 year old) because she was relentless about pointing to them on the counter and making her “more” sign.

Joel has been traveling for work this week.  My evenings have been filled with knitting, the (older) Jane Eyre and hot apple cider.  Given my extra knitting time, I am only three (or so) rows away from finishing Ella’s jumper.  I am curious to see what it looks like after blocking.    I hopes it hides some of the increases and stretches the body out a little so it has a nice drape on her.

Yesterday, we went to the library and I picked up A Red Herring Without Mustard   I have read one of Alan Bradley books before, so I figured it was worth a shot.   I haven’t been able to find a book that has peaked my interest in the past couple weeks.  Suggestions very, very, very welcome.

What are you working on this week?

++ joining ginny this week for her yarn along.

We’re painting the dresses pink

28 Sep

Yesterday we flew to Buffalo for Mar & Tim’s upcoming wedding! It was quite an adventure getting here.  Bumper to bumper traffic for way to long on I495, praying the cars would just move in time to get us to the airport.  One little one throwing up all over herself and car seat on the way.  Figuring out how to get said items packed into a trash bag and into our luggage.

We are here and now the girls are currently snuggled on Grandma’s couch having the ultimate lazy morning of pjs and Alice in Wonderland.  Joel and I went on a date last night for wings.  Eva snuggled with me this morning and fell asleep snuggled in bed next to me. This week there are some wedding preparations and celebrations to be done.  It is good to be here!

I have been working on Ella’s dress I posted about last week.  A few of you commented that you like the dress length better than the tunic length: so dress it is!  I am liking how it is knitting up and I am anxious to see it on Lady. (The above picture is the truest color of the yarn, I have been able to capture yet.)

The only book I can report having read is Moo Ba La La La, board book edition.  My Evie loves this book and laughs out loud at the three singing pigs page.  We have been reading it and Mother Goose nursery rhymes before morning nap, afternoon nap and bed.  I love her little Moo Ba La La La laugh so I am going to keep reading it every chance I get.

Happy Wednesday to you friends!

++ joining ginny for her yarn along today. +++

{yarn along}

21 Sep

Earlier when I posted a tunic  I was working on for Ella, I did not see the pattern was written to knit in the round, so as soon as I posted it, I reached a stopping point until a pair of 16” needles arrived in the mail.  Once they came it has been smooth sailing.  This tunic is a nice soothing knit.  I can pick up and put down at will, and I can knit while the girls are watching their favorite show*.  I am about halfway into the second ball of yarn with two more left to knit.  She may be getting a dress instead of a tunic.  For the yoke of the tunic I kfb for all the increases.  I felt like this yarn is showing every increase. I mentioned I was reading EZ’s Knitter’s Almanac.  Elizabeth Zimmermann talks about how much she likes the M1 increase because it eliminates holes.  Inspired, I tried it on the tunic.  For this project, and this yarn, I like the M1 even less, it is leaving tiny little holes in the knit.  I am back to the kfb and I am hoping blocking straightens out the uneven areas from the increases.  Your thoughts on increases more than welcome.

*For those of you curious, the girls are very into Peter Pan right now and their favorite show  is currently Jake and the Neverland Pirates.  – We are having the most rousing family games of rescuing Tiger Lily and walking the plank.

On the reading front, well, there isn’t much actually.  I had a bunch of books check out from the library intending to look at a few things from each one: a little research on planting garlic from The Vegetable Garden’s Bible and The Knitter’s Almanac’s February Baby Sweater   I also looked through and enjoyed Jennifer Casa’s Crafting with Kids. I really like her blog, and equally enjoyed her book.  I would say the crafts are for a wide range of children and with adult help there are some Ella could enjoy.  More importantly, she just has a great approach to crafting with your kids and I liked reading her opening couple pages.

I hope you all have a great Wednesday.  If you are stopping by from ginny’s yarn along, thanks and I would like to meet you!

Everyday Beauty : Day 7

7 Sep

Still very slowly working on the Clara dress I (perhaps, over ambitiously) began.  If I knit while the girls are sleeping and I say the lace pattern aloud I seem to be doing ok.  Slowly, I am seeing the pattern emerge, which is quite encouraging.   I will admit this is the hardest pattern I have attempted, so I am ok with making slow progress.  If any of you have knitted this dress, could you drop me a comment?

Since it is so slow going, I cast on for a little jumper for Ella so I could have some portable knitting.  Eva is no longer content to be away from the older girls if she knows they are in the playroom.  She, long ago, figured out how to get to them upstairs.  Being with them is just too exciting to want to stay with mom who does things like laundry.  Once she is upstairs she climbs onto the rocking chair (oh my).  Don’t worry, we have since found a gate that works with our railing, so now she is finding ways to be more content with said laundry.

I am reading Pride and Prejudice.  I remember trying to read this once long ago and found the verbiage  to be so confusing.  This time I am enjoying it.  I think it was the fall reading I was looking for.  I also picked up Amanda Blake Soule’s  Handmade Home and Elizabeth Zimmermann’s A Knitters Almanac.

Today we had a friend visit who is currently living in the UK with her family for a year and it was a total pleasure seeing an old friend.  And, tonight, I get to have a birthday dinner with one of my college roommates.  I am a lucky, lucky lady today.

++ joining along with ginny and the yarn along this week.

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