knitting for Hurricane Sandy relief

 As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I decided to make my "Hurricane Sandy" capelet for others as a way to raise money for hurricane relief. I'm happy to report that I'm not tiring of this fun and pretty pattern yet, having completed six (!) so far, and with at least 6 more to come.  I was so grateful for my ball-winder and swift (which were my birthday gift from hubby this year) when all that yarn came in.

 I love this wool! It is soft, with not too much halo, and there are such wonderful color blends, with just little hints of other colors to make them just all the more beautiful. I haven't gotten a picture of #6 yet, but without further ado, here are the others! Thanks to all who have ordered for your generosity toward the hurricane victims!

I am so grateful to Karen Clements for this wonderful pattern! Happy knitting!

knit:: hurricane sandy capelet

There is nothing like a good storm with a real (or threatened) power outage to get me knitting!  Thankfully we weathered the storm without any real issues. As others gathered toilet paper and milk and batten down the hatches, I made sure that I had a simple pattern (i.e. can be done in near dark) and yarn! Last year's Hurricane Irene Vest was the first of these projects, and now I proudly introduce to you, the Hurricane Sandy Capelet!

It's made from 100% Peruvian Highland wool, and it keeps me toasty warm. I have received so many kind compliments on it this week (and I've only worn it twice, really!), that I decided to knit it for friends and aquaintances as a fundraiser for the hurricane relief efforts, because so many in NY and NJ are still suffering in so many ways. I am knitting it for the cost of yarn plus a donation to the hurricane relief efforts, and donating 100% of my time and proceeds. So over the next weeks and months, I will be knitting and knitting lots of these! (10 so far...yikes)  It sounds a little silly to say that God told me to do this, but it is absolutely true. I have been praying and praying for ways to use my creative talents to further the Kingdom of God, and He showed me that a compliment can be turned into a project that brings great good. I would love to tell you more of this story, if you would like to hear it.  And if you are reading this and want your own Hurricane Sandy Capelet, let me know. It may be a couple months before I get it to you, though!

Hope you are enjoying some happy knitting of your own...

this week

This week we have been settling into school routines, waiting for after-school activities to start up, closing the pool for the season, and fitting in some fun in between these things. I haven't made time in the schedule yet for much sewing or creating; there has been a much needed cleaning up of my craft area first, and I've been working on a home cookbook project which I hope to show you soon. But here are the highlights of our week:

Meeting our sweet cousin! My brother and his family just relocated back to the states after several years in Italy with the U.S. Navy. And the newest addition was born in Italy just last month! So we were delighted to have them here in the area this week, and to get to see this beautiful little girl and her two "big" brothers (who are almost-2 and almost-4 respectively).  The kids were so good with her, and I was amazed how happy my daughter was to just sit and hold her sleeping cousin. She is SO happy to finally have a girl cousin!  My little guy was sweet too, but at 4 1/2, he could only manage about 30 seconds before we heard "she's too heavy!"

 This was my summer knitting, a sweet sweater for my sweet niece! It was a fun pattern with the "pebble yoke" design; an easy knit and good for long car trips (to and from the lake, and such!). I finished sewing the buttons on as we drove up the road to my parents to meet the sweet girl on Sunday. (Ravelry notes for my knitting friends).

On his days off from Preschool, my little guy and I have also been having some adventures just the two of us. Last week one day we went to the beach at the local park to pick up "treasures" like sea-glass and smoothed broken pieces of brick. The beach is just a little ways south of the City of Baltimore and there are always lots of good things washing up.

We also "adventured" today back to our favorite pick-your-own farm, for more apples, since last month's supply had been consumed. And since they were having a sale ($0.50/lb for over 40# of apples--can't beat that!) we picked and picked. Until we had about 60 pounds! I always make lots of applesauce in the fall, and I'm thinking about canning other apple goodness this fall too...pie filling? baked apples? hmm. The options are endless. Here are the cats examining our bounty:

More adventuring to come, as always! I haven't been as present on this blog recently, but hope to get back to it more in the coming weeks and months. Holiday crafting is coming up!!!

spring knitting

For at least the past few months I've been half-heartedly working on knitting this shawlette, from a pattern called Multnomah. After many waiting-room-during-dance-class sessions, its finally done!  It is just right for the coolish evenings and air-conditioning in church. Loving it!

maryland sheep and wool festival fun

Today we went "adventuring"...one of my favorite things to do. Get out of the house, go somewhere, see something new, experience something in a new way, just go. Today's adventure was a trip to the 2012 Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, held about 40 minutes from our home. I'd never been, and had been hearing about it for the past couple of years, ever since I started knitting.  Hubby and the kids somewhat reluctantly joined me for a day that promised lots of sheep, lots of yarn for mommy to look at  (drool over, and buy), and hopefully an ice-cream treat. (I may have told them that going to this with me would count towards Mother's Day...that may have helped encourage them...or it may have just been the promise of ice cream.)

They still may not tell you that it was fun. But when I look at the pictures, I can see the fun we had. I certainly loved the sheep, bringing back lots of good memories of veterinary school experiences. I undoubtedly enjoyed browsing through all the gorgeous wool and fiber (and even restrained myself to only buying wool for two small-ish projects). There were so many other moments of fun, though, getting some Alpaca love...

don't you just love this face?

...watching those fabulous border collies doing their job right,

...watching spinners and broom-makers and musicians, and seeing all the fancy breeds of sheep.

Knitters, spinners, sheep people and the like are a wonderful, kind, creative and crazy assortment of folks!  There was, of course, the promised ice-cream, and a funnel cake for the hubby, and lemonade. Was it a good adventure? You bet. Will they go with me again? The jury is still out...but if I promise ice cream, I think the chances are good.

this week

This week I have...
...enjoyed the earliest spring I can remember, as exhibited above! Windows are open, birds are singing, (allergies are in full swing), sun is shining. Life is beautiful.
...made my first (but not last) batch of homemade granola (recipe to come soon...). Low calorie? No. However...yum.
...signed back up for Weight Watchers (after a break of about 5 years).  Looking  forward to seeing the scale going down. In the meantime, re-learning how to eat, what to eat, and how much to eat. Which, I won't lie, is not making me very happy.  I'm trying to figure out how to balance my love of baking and cooking (see granola, above) with the kinds of foods that WW is telling me I should be eating.
...started reading Made to Crave by Lysa Terkeurst, which is challenging me to eat healthy for the right reasons.
...been living with a four year old boy who really wants to give up his afternoon nap. He really needs that nap, however. And so we have been riding the rollercoaster of fussing and tantrums on the days when sleep is really needed.
...pondered getting the garden started this weekend. As warm as it has been, this may even be a week or so later that it should  have been. To do: buy some compost and mix it in well, get lettuces and peas and anything else cold-tolerant planted.
...been working on some knitting projects that have been "in progress" for far too long. And realized that I never did get photos of the kids wearing this year's knit hats, having never had a good snowy day to take those pictures!
...been adding bookcases to an upstairs area, because you can never have too many bookcases or too many books. And dreaming of a big soft squishy beanbag chair to make it into a cozy reading nook.
...gone with hubby to a parenting seminar by Tim Smith, who wrote The Danger of Raising Nice Kids, and been challenged to be more intentional about teaching character to my kids.

Happy (early) Spring, Everyone! Get outside and enjoy it.

knit:: preemie hat

Here is my first developed knitting pattern! I have a friend who is adopting a preemie, and all of the hats I have knit previously were going to be much too big, so I scoured the internet, saw a lot of hat patterns that weren't quite right, and developed my own. I am making this pattern freely available, please feel free to use it for gifts or charity knitting, but not for sale items, please!

Preemie Hat

You will need:

Yarn: Caron Simply Soft, not very much, good to use up leftovers from other projects!

 (you can of course substitute any similar guage yarn, but please use cotton or man-made fibers like acrylic as NICU's often will not accept animal fibers due to sensitivities and difficulty washing them).

Needles: Size 6 double-pointed needles (4)

Notions: Yarn needle for weaving in ends, scissors

Guage: about 26 sts / 4" in st st  

Cast on 52 stitches onto one dpn, using cable cast-on.  Distribute stitches around 3 dpns,  and join being careful not to twist. Knit in K1P1 ribbing for 2 inches. Then knit in st st for 2 inches, knitting every round since you are working in the round. Begin decreases as follows: next round: k2tog around entire round (26 sts),  knit one round, then k2tog the next round (13 sts), knit one round, and k2tog (you will have 1 odd stitch that you can't k2tog, don't worry about it--7 sts). Break yarn leaving about 8-10" tail, and thread tail through remaining stitches, pulling tight and fastening off securely before weaving in ends. Fold up the brim about 1 to 1.5 inches.

Ta-da! Finished hat size: about 8" circumference, which fits a medium to large sized orange(!), or a 3-6 pound preemie.

(Ravelry link to pattern information)

fall {in progress}

 I feel like I haven't been here in a very long time (10 days!)...and there have been things like kids with the stomach virus and subsequent days full of laundry and jammies and movies...but there was also a part of me that felt like, "there's just nothing interesting going on around here". But then I realized that there really is a lot in my days, and that the small blessings are gifts in themselves.

There's been quite a bit of creating going on...and I wish I could show you more, but in the interest of Christmas surprises, here is just a hint of the projects. I've been papercrafting for the first time in a very long time (trying not to think about scrapbooks left unfinished a year ago...). And there is such satisfaction in a simple project that won't take years to complete! Plus it was a great excuse to get my Cricut back out and buy a couple new cartridges for it.  I've also been trying to get some knitting in everyday...the projects are slow going and I think I have 5 (6?) unfinished projects in my basket. Oh wait. I think its 7. Sheesh. Working on the orange one below with a fury and hope to have it ready for seaming together by this weekend.

We've also been enjoying the season. Rainy days (like today) just bring out the reds so much more and I couldn't resist standing in the rain to get some pics of my Japanese Maple out front--glorious!  

 There have been nice days too, with walks in the neighborhood, usually with the boy on his "motorcycle" (Big Wheel). And meeting the girlie at the bus stop, and the joy in heading back home.

Home. Its really what fall is all about, now, isn't it? Family, and home, and comfort. Lighting candles. Baking pumpkin-flavored goodies. Snuggling all together under an afghan. Reading a good book, savoring each carefully chosen word when the prose is really just that good (more about the book in a future post!). Being together.  I am savoring each and every (un-interesting) moment!

right now...

This week I am...

• harvesting green beans every other day...ones that were supposed to be ready to harvest in July, finally growing. blanching them and freezing them, hoping to save enough for thanksgiving!
• making one more batch of pesto before the basil flowers and is done
• reading Patrick Taylor's Irish Country Doctor series in every free moment...and wishing for a quieter pace of life.
• wishing that cooler weather would get here (tomorrow, they think!)
• thankful for how pretty ragweed is...since it has no redeeming value otherwise 
• thankful for antihistamines and good eye drops (see ragweed, above!)
• getting out the autumn decorations...but not the halloween ones, yet!
• feeling somewhat lacking in crafty inspiration....which is why you haven't seen more of me here on the blog
• working on three separate knitting projects, all half-heartedly
• promising myself not to start a new sewing project until I hem all 5 pairs of the girlies pants (2 done today, 3 to go) and work through my mending pile! 
• looking forward to a girls morning tomorrow while the boy is at preschool (girlie has off for Rosh Hashanna)...haircuts, clothes shopping, and a library trip all planned by her!
• planning an apple pie for tomorrow evening with friends
• enjoying my new Bible study group from church, and looking forward to building new friendships
• thankful for this list reminding me that there IS more to my days than disciplining a certain 3 1/2 year old boy...it only feels like thats all I've been doing!

the long awaited green beans!

Perhaps there will be some apple pie on this blog soon....stay posted! 

create:: the hurricane vest

A few weeks ago, as Hurricane Irene was barreling up the east coast toward us, I was making those frantic last minute errands. For most that is to the grocery: TP, milk, bread, chocolate.  For me, the two critical errands were the Library and to get more Yarn!  I have several projects on the needles right now, but they all are pretty detailed with cables, or lace-work, and I really wanted something simple and repetetive.  Why?  So I could knit while glued to the Weather Channel (yes, I am a junkie when storms are coming through-- I'd rather watch it on TV than watch what is going on outside my window!). And so I could knit in the dim light of candles and flashlights once the power went out...which it did, for almost 2 days.   I had been looking at some "circular vest" patterns and this one seemed to fit the bill.  Its ingenious, and simple and fun.  The yarn I found has fabulous colors, rusts and browns and a gorgeous turquoise. Its acrylic, which made it inexpensive, but a little funny texture.  I love the pattern, and will probably make it again....in a smaller size, and in wool.  Oh, and the daughter said she wanted one.  Shouldn't be too hard to adapt down to a 6-year-old size.  All in all, a nice little knit for a hurricane and a great addition to my fall wardrobe as temperatures are cooling off.  Here are my notes on Ravelry if you want more about it.

rainy days at home

It seems as though it has been raining for weeks...although I vaguely remember roasting in the sun as we closed the pool up last Sunday. How can that be? I am loving the cooler weather, though, and am so happy that fall is on the way.  We have been spending a lot of time inside, since the yard is mostly under water and you can only go shopping so many times before you start to wonder if the bank account will continue to support this activity, you know?

Here's what's been going on around here in the past few days:

• Twenty five pounds of Roma tomatoes turned into eleven pints of spaghetti sauce, and into the freezer for an...ahem... rainy day.  We used two recipes, one is chunky and the other smooth.  I think we will enjoy the smooth one better, but we'll see. It was the recipe from Barbara Kingsolver's wonderful book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and she kindly puts the recipes online here, since I don't (yet) own this book (but may yet have to buy it...so much garden and healthy eating wisdom!).

• Painting with the boy

• Three loaves of oatmeal-whole wheat bread baked from The Secrets of Jesuit Breadmaking, by Brother Rick Curry, S.J.  I love my library. This is one great bread book!  And this is a really yummy bread!!!

• Dancing in the living room with my little buddy yesterday afternoon.  I had to admire his creativity turning the hobby-horse into his very own air guitar to rock out...where did he learn how to play air guitar??

• Taking the girlie to her very first Irish Dancing lesson last night in the rain.  Wish I was young enough to join her in class! It seems like so much fun and I think will be very good for her coordination and discipline. 
• Still working on my "hurricane vest"...a knitting project that was started as Irene arrived, and is now nearing completion...pictures soon, I hope.

So, the rain keeps coming down, and we are hanging in there, keeping our spirits up with yummy smells from the kitchen and lots of music on the radio.  Then there is always the ark-building project....we may need it yet!

create:: the sweater

About 2 months after I started knitting last year, I decided to start a sweater. I kept reading things about knitting like "its all just knit and purl stitches", and figured, why not start a big project?  Ambitious and a little crazy, I cast on the lovely tea leaves cardigan, after seeing Amanda Soule's gorgeous version on her blog.  14 months later, it is finally done, with a lot of other (smaller) knitting done in the meantime. While pictures of a wool sweater are not exactly typical for early July, I can't resist showing it off...it turned out just as I had hoped.   And now, on this 90 degree day, I will go carefully fold it and store it for a chilly fall day in a few months!