And then, six months later...

What can I say? Life has been happening at it's regular pace and I have stopped dyeing, and really stopped knitting for quite a while. The interesting part is I've been hanging out with my man more, playing golf (I had no idea I even liked golf, let alone would show some aptitude for it), working in the garden, and getting some much needed storage for my house. Now... finally... I'm knitting again!

The cooler temperatures have been bringing out my need to cook all day at least one day on the weekend. This past weekend it was making plum butter and roasting a pumpkin for pie (the pie happened yesterday, after the chili). I have been reminded by friends and family alike that it has been a long time since I made spinach calzones, so that may be this weekend's work.

For the knitting bits, I've really only knit two things recently. The first is the One Skein Shawl by Clara Parkes. The yarn was dyed and spun by the sweet and talented Sarah. It is hanging out on one of my furniture/storage finds - an old, but not completely original Hoosier cabinet.



My second knit is the popular Whisper Cardi by Hannah Fettig. There's a reason it is so popular; it is light, stylish, and beautiful. I used the Morehouse Farm Merino Lace the pattern called for and it was a pleasure to knit. The pictures of the sweater are good, but excuse my harried look. Some days are long.



The back is the best part of the whole sweater (please excuse the hair and the crooked seam on my ass).



I'm toying with the idea of making it again in a worsted weight. Right now I'm working on the Scoop pullover by Cathy Carron. I'm using an undyed worsted weight that I am going to dye when finished. I can't believe I'm doing it that way either, but that's how I'm rolling on this project.

I just got my Fiber Share from Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farm. I thought I asked for a spinner's share, but it's probably just as well I didn't get one as I haven't been spinning either. I have another sweater project in mind for it.

Usually, by this time of year I'm well on the way of churning out knitting for the holidays. Only family members are getting any hand knit love this year. I'm going back to baking for friends and extended family - I enjoy doing that as well, and I think they might like receiving edible gifts more! This year may be a cookie basket, I have to start digging through recipes.

Ummm.... bread

I haven't been dyeing at all lately, but I've been knitting so much I'm going to have to back off because my hands are pretty sore. In addition to the knitting I've been baking quite a bit. Pumpkins are in season and my family loves pumpkin bread and pies. We've had four loaves of bread in the past couple weeks (and given two away) and there's still some pumpkin in the fridge. I also bought Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day which came highly recommended by Susan Gibbs. She's right - it rocks! I've been baking bread since high school and have always loved it, but with all the other things I have to do in a day hasn't been possible to fit bread making into the schedule. WRONG! My new routine is to mix up a batch of wet dough on the weekends and then take a hunk out of the fridge when I get home from work and while supper is cooking, put that lovely loaf in the oven and presto - dinner and good bread are ready! I've made the basic broule and the bagels - both are delicious. The bagels are for the kids' lunches, although we did celebrate with them the morning after the election since they were shaped like an "O". If I end up roasting another pumpkin today I'm going to try the Oatmeal Pumpkin Bread. A mediocre shot of the yummy bagels is below (CFB's in the kitchen fixture with no natural light is my least favorite lighting situation).



I finally finished Foliage. I tried back in January and after frogging a couple of times figured my mind was not in the right place. It was this time! I decided to do a rolled brim since (thanks to the beauty of top down knitting) I could see after the three pattern repeats a rib pattern would have been down over my eyes!



Another FO, The Yarn Harlot's One Row Scarf knit in the lovely Broken Yolks dyed by Sarah spun and cabled by me. I like the color shifts throughout. Morgan has his eye on this one.



It looks like it's going to be another lovely fall day, maybe perfect for more baking.

Le Tour de Fleece

Katherine is doing another Le Tour de Fleece and this year the challenge is to spin from your stash.  This is perfect for me since I haven't been spinning at all and have a lovely stash to pick from!  It's going to be a good break from the sadness of Ziggy the Noro Sock (I digress, more Ziggy later). My goal is to spin every day from today through July 27.  I'm not picky, drop spindle or wheel.  Today I've been spinning some fiber I got from Sarah back in March - the happy, soft Ember. It's superwash Corriedale and it practically spins itself!  




Ziggy, as I mentioned earlier, is half finished.  The problem is I don't know if I want to make the other one.  I am a very loose knitter, I knit this sock so loose I was afraid the stitches were going to looks big and gappy when I was done.  They don't.  I can barely get my foot into the sock.  It will be really hard for me to knit another sock the same way knowing it will barely fit, so maybe Le Tour de Fleece is perfect timing! A break from knitting right now might be just what  I need.




I'll try and post spinning pictures tomorrow.  Who knows? There may even be a finished yarn!

Random bits of knitting and life

My dear friend Sarah is having a yarn sale over in her shop you might want to check out! I love a sale and thought I'd pass it along. Sarah's color combinations are gorgeous - there are some new rovings and handspun up, too.

In local news, Hillsborough now has a Weaver Street and those of us who have been waiting (and thought the day might never come) are thrilled. It reminds me of the old days, when Wellspring was Wellspring and not Whole Foods and in a smaller building. There are only three checkouts, so I can see some crazy things happening on weekends, but it is lovely. Bulk spices and foods, prepared foods, baked goods, my favorite brands, local meats, and a fabulous chocolate selection! We are moving up in the world, Hillsborough now has it's own chocolatier (Matthew's Chocolates), yarn store, and LocoPops.

I started ziggy last week. Toe-up socks and I have never gotten along. I have a high instep and toe-up socks tend to be way too tight for me, but I haven't been able to figure out how to do a reverse heel flap to resolve the issue. Despite these reservations I decided to knit the stripy Noro socks. The heel didn't work AT ALL for me. After three attempts, I knit in a scrap piece of yarn and said, you shall become an afterthought heel when I am calmer. Last night I put it in, having eight needles poking out from various places and three balls of yarn was probably not my best idea, but it worked! I can't put it on my foot yet, but according to the measurements it should fit. Afterthought heels are notoriously shallow, so I worked six rounds even to start in hopes it would give me the depth I needed. I've noticed in the pictures on Ravelry the heel is not shown on most of them. What does this mean?

Ziggy, before the heel



and after.



I've been seeing this new game on various blogs and decided to do one for myself. Bowen wants to do one too but doesn't have a favorite celebrity crush or so he says (with a huge grin).



1. La Rochelle at night, 2. Pasta Flower, 3. Birches, 4. End of the day, 5. Viggo Waking, 6. Guinness @ Fado in Seattle, 7. our Irish cows (considering the picturesque), 8. coffee and chocolate mousse cake, 9. Shepherdess ~ Morocco, 10. The Calvo Family - Holidays, 11. there's nothing better than summer, 12. JJ's Boulangerie Strawberry Tarts

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.

I'll post my new favorite listening tomorrow. I hear my children doing the requested cleaning up, but it sounds a little less tidy than I'd like... sometimes you know things aren't good when it's too quiet and at other times too loud is just as bad!