Christmas in May

I decided to take the advice of a knitwear designer this year reguarding knitting for Christmas.  He feels most creative towards the holiday gift giving when he takes a year "off" from a majorly knitted Christmas.  With that advice in mind and my natural tendencies to over do it (so that I'm knitting in the wee hours of the morning), I'm only going to give a few knitted things. 

I thought I should probably start early.  I've got a long queue of things I plan to knit my boys.  I plan on forcing Logan to wear an obnoxious amount of longies this fall and winter.  Uniform vests for Mason. Lots of socks. 

I wanted to give something to my sister-in-law's mom.  Her family is always so thoughtful and frankly, they let her marry my brother.  I think that is worthy of some sort of medal of honor.  Like her daughter, she is quite beautiful and graceful and I thought a Whippoorwill would be a perfect thing to give.

I wasn't sure what yarn to use for this project other than I knew I wanted something very feminine, silk and wool, and very light and soft.  My mom, aunt, SIL, and Nana all thought about it over Spring Break with me.  Finally, I found the perfect one.  Becoming Arts' Eos Fingering was just perfect.  I stalked the colorway - Sanguine Sky- and as soon as I was emailed that it was finally in stock, I put my iphone to work.  Life is good when you can buy wool on your phone.

Now I just need to figure out the best way to pack this until winter. Christmas is only 207 days away.

the end is here!

It has been a very long and very busy week for us.  I had things to post about but they are old news by now.


Today was the boys' last day of school.  It has been such a fun year for them!  They've grown in so many ways.

It is hard to believe they are getting so big! 

something new

We found a Luna Moth yesterday in our yarn while we were playing.  It was so beautiful and neat to see! I've never seen one before! 

Mason was sure it was a bat.  He is always hoping to find bats in our bat box.  He could use their help.  The mosquitoes find him so tasty.

Google is just the best at finding out what things are.  How else could you type in "leaf looking butterfly Illinois" and have this pop right up in images! 

a little late moment

Inspired by Amanda - {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Yarn Along Wednesday

Joining Ginny's weekly yarn along....

After finishing last week's knit, I really tried hard not to knit any and finish some embroidery projects I have sitting around.  I lasted about 72 hours before I couldn't stand it anymore.  I cast-on last night for a Whippoorwill for my sweet sister-in-law's mother in an attempt to get an early start on Christmas knitting. 

As for what is being read around here - I'm still on Pride and Prejudice and my boys are really into reading everything about ducks and geese they can get.  We got three little White Chinese Geese in the mail early in the morning today.  We are just fostering them for my parents since we live in the *city but it will be so fun for them!

Looking forward to seeing what everyone else is working on!

**I need to clarify what a city is as I guess I don't technically live in a "city".  I live in more of a "bedroom community" or "quaint little town" or "wanna be suburb of another not so large city".  According to Wikipedia, a city is a relatively large and permanent settlement.^[1][2] Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.

Thank you for pointing that out KS.  I dearly appreciate finding the appropriate words to use in any given sentence.  I hate to be wrong.

Hazel

My latest finished project was so much fun. It was the hardest and most consistently labor intensive knit I've yet to do.  And it was so worth it.

The Catkin shawl was really intimidating at first.  5 charts, 9 pages long, 3 hours just to do the swatch...made me quite nervous.  It wasn't something that I could do watching TV or when my kids were happily playing around me.  It had to be at night when all was quiet.

I'm always amazed at how shawls look when they are on and right off the needles.  Blocking with wires is is a new skill I've acquired with venturing out into the world of shawl knitting.

It takes some time to get the wires right and I have a tendency to forget what the pattern's designer wants you to end up with and over block angles.  I think it took me well over a half an hour to get this one just right.

I'm not sure who this is for.  I really want to keep it for myself even though it was *possibly* for someone else.  I feel like it is really a work of art and am quite proud that I actually did it.   We'll see.  It might be under the tree or (more than likely) wrapped around me.

this moment...

Inspired by Amanda - {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Yarn Along Wednesday

Joining Ginny again for the weekly Yarn Along where we post our current knits and reads...
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This past week has been so busy with sick kids, a traveling husband, and nice days to play outside that not much reading or knitting has happened!  Well...more knitting than reading I would have to say. I'm a bit obsessed with my current knit, Catkin, as it is challenging and really fun to work on.  I'm not used to graphs as I usually prefer to read it line by line but I am really enjoying following this pattern.

Reading wise, I'm still working on Pride and Prejudice and enjoy it (as I always do!).

this moment...

Inspired by Amanda - {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Yarn Along Wednesday

With a busy past week, I've not accomplished much in the knitting or reading departments.  I did finish the shawl (blogged here)  I was working on last week and love how it turned out.  I'm still working on the second sock and am getting ready to knit the most complicated thing I've ever done.  I hope I can do it!  I'm doing a KAL on Ravelry for fun and for help (!) if you are interested in something truly beautiful and unique!

I haven't read too far into my current long read-Pride and Prejudice but I'm working through another - Embroidery Companion by Alicia Paulson.  I love Alica Paulson and her blog Posie Gets Cozy.  I repainted our bathroom over the weekend (hence no time for much sitting) and am adding sheepy and stitching touches to it.  Her book(s) are great and easy to follow, read, and become inspired by.  I'm new to embroidery and I really love the homey look of everything Alicia does.  Its fits so well in my home. 

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 following Ginny's weekly Yarn Along where we share our favorite things - reading and knitting!

A first

It was time for baby Logan to get his first haircut.  He was rockin' the mullet a little and kind of the Albert Einstein fuzz.

Our local barber is just the best.  The boys love going to him.  Apparently, so does Logan.

He has this sweet, little porcelain chair for them to sit in.

 

 

 Logan sat very still and stoic.

All done and ready to go.  He is still the baby - even with a big boy hair cut.

...at least I'll keep telling myself that.

3 hours

It took me 3 hours to knit a gauge swatch. 

This might not be a good sign of how long my next knit will take me.  Lots of charts.  Lots of stitches.  Light weight yarn and little needles.  I might not be able to resurface after this one.

Finished Object/Fresh Off! or FO in knitter's lingo

I finished a large project last night with my absolute favorite yarn colorway - Kelp Forest. It was dyed by a very talented dyer and a great person Leidy of Western Sky Knits. The ladies of Western Sky Knits are my favorite peeps.  Sarah, my old cohort, is there now since Tree Frog Knits had to close.  So of course it makes them even more special!

I had the hardest time finding the right pattern to use this yarn.  It was a sport weight and I had just two precious skeins of it and no contrasting colors to work with.  Luckily, I found a simple and pretty pattern by a great Finish designer, Verra, of 100% Rain.  She is also the designer of the Stripe Study shawl I recently completed and has many more designs I have my eye on.

I love how this one drapes and stays on.  The yarn is dyed to perfection and just is so soft.  The colors are so perfect and vibrant, and green!!

I only have one lonely sock in my basket to finish now.  A new pattern just came out and I need to do it and since I'm lucky enough to be one of the moderators for the group, I know I'll need to help answer questions.  It will be the hardest knit I've yet to do - I'm already nervous about it!  Now if I could just decide who it will be for!  Looks like Logan and I are heading to the yarn store tomorrow!