Happy Birthday my bug!

Jack is 12 today. I cannot believe my first born is so old. He loves hunting with his dad and playing video games. He is so patient and sweet with Hannah and he always asks if I need anything. I am enjoying him immensely!

Poor Nutkins

I tried, really I did. The nutkin sock is just not progressing. Every time I try to work on it I just get frustrated and I want to banish my children to their room. I cannot concentrate on the pattern when I have children constantly talking to me and climbing in my lap and needing me to put the knitting down for a minute to help them with something. I do not want to be frustrated with my little ones. They will only need me so much for a short time.

I adore the yarn so I think I am going to RIP it and them just knit plain stockinette socks with it. I will save more difficult socks for when the children are older. I am ok with this. :)

Weekend knitting

John is elk hunting today and he needed an orange beanie so I whipped this hat up. I knit almost the entire thing on Saturday. I only had a few rows to finish it up but my hands were aching so I went to bed and finished it up on Sunday.


pattern: LTK Pumpkin Hat
yarn: Lion Brand
colorway: Orange
needles: US 4 & 6
modifications: I did not knit the green stem on top.

And-

My Very Own Shiny Sock Club (MVOSSC) November 2009

I totally stole the yarn and pattern idea from the Yarn Harlot. Nutkin socks and Dream in Color Starry yarn. My colorway is November Muse.

Finally!

I have finally finished the socks I started for myself forever ago. I love them and am so happy to actually have knit a pair for me!


pattern: Yarn Harlot's Basic Sock Pattern
yarn: Socks That Rock Lightweight
colorway: Rainforest Jasper
needles: US 2

My Very Own Shiny Sock Club (MVOSSC)

I love the idea of sock clubs. The new yarn and pattern all put together just for you. I have never joined one though because I have very definite ideas about what yarn fibers and colorways and patterns I love. I only knit plain socks. I have knit one pair of ribbed socks for Krull and the rest have all been simply stockinette socks. I adore stockinette socks. While there are a few here and there that catch my fancy, I find most patterned socks unappealing.

In an effort to capture the joy of sock clubs for my self and to broaden my knitting horizons, I have decided to make my very own shiny sock club. Each month (or two or three) I will choose a yarn (either from my stash or somewhere else) and a pattern (or not, some may end up plain) and knit. I am very excited about this! I have already chosen the pattern and yarn for November and will start as soon as the yarn arrives. It is absolutely beautiful and I cannot wait for it to appear in my mail box!

Curtains

I made these curtains for the children's room. They were inspired by The Handkerchief Curtains in Handmade Home by Amanda Blake Soule. I bought this fabric 6.5 years ago to make a ragged quilt but it never happened. The curtain is a tan flannel and the patches are cotton. I love them and so do the little ones! This is a picture of the little window in their room. There is also a much bigger window that has two of these panels hanging on it.

Moths!

Horrific little buggers! I have been seeing a few moths here and there the last month in our house but I just thought they were coming in from outside because someone is always leaving the door open. Last week I found a couple of wormy things in a ball of my yarn and went berserk. I looked through everything else I have and never saw anything even remotely suspicious. Still though... I had Toby throw away the infested ball and then I managed to stuff a third of my stash in the freezer. I have been rotating stash through and haven't found any evidence of bugs. I didn't realize I had so much yarn. It is a beautiful thing.

Use of creative space

One of the assignments this week in the class I am taking is Creative Space. I had a lot of fun with this one. I enjoyed making use of creative space. Instead of just laying my knitting on my bed and snapping a shot to make a record of my knitting I really thought about things. Autumn is my very favorite season and I wanted to incorporate the season with my warm woolens. We have this tremendously colorful climbing plant all around our front door. The wind was blowing something fierce and I was afraid that the picture wouldn't turn out well but it did and I adore it!

These socks are for John. He wore them duck hunting on Thursday and loves them so!


pattern: Yarn Harlot's Basic Sock Recipe
yarn: Patons Classic Wool
colorway: Dark Grey Mix
needles: US 7

Self Portrait

These are my comfort books, my old friends. I know them and they know me. The yarn is my favorite (that I haven't knit up yet) at the moment.

I am taking a fabulous photography/writing e-course from Persisting Stars. Th course is Persisting Stars ~ Yes! http://www.persistingstars.com/e-courses/

Autumn smiles

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth
seeking the successive autumns."
- George Eliot

Happy Birthday my Autumn girl!

Christy turns ten today. I cannot believe how much she has grown. She is beautiful. She is passionate about life. Christy loves to read and knit and write and study herbs and laugh. She is so much like me but with an infinite amount of joy. She still loves to play with dolls and takes such good care of her little brother and sister. Christy wants to be a Healer or Midwife when she is grown. She wants lost of children and she wants to homeschool them. She is an amazing girl who I am extremely privileged to raise.

Happy Birthday baby!

Thursday knitting

We usually take the children out on Thursday's but with Toby sick and all we ended up staying home. I knit and alternated between being The Loving, Cuddling Mama and being The Mean Mama. Toby would rather lay on the couch and die than drink when he is sick. He has been running a fever (all gone now) and I just couldn't let him get dehydrated. This means I had to stay on him about drinking water. I have actually been The Mean Mama for several days but he is alive and on the mend and actually drinking water without me nagging him.

These socks are for John. The totally amazing thing is that I cast on this sock yesterday and got this much knit in only a couple of hours. That is what happens when you use worsted weight yarn and size 7 needles. LOL!

Outdoor Hour Challenge #10 Picnic

Last week we took the children out to Cedar Valley where John grew up. We had a picnic up at the rodeo grounds. John spent many, many days and nights here playing with his friends. After our sandwiches were finished we hiked a little more than a mile up behind the rodeo grounds. It was so peaceful! The scrub oak was beginning to change colors and the little ones had so much fun!

Outdoor Hour Challenge #3

Two weeks ago we took the children up to Strawberry Reservoir to the visitors center. The kokanee salmon were spawning and we wanted the children to get a chance to see them. Kokanee salmon are fresh water salmon and silver when they are young. When the salmon are mature and ready to spawn they turn red and green. We went up on a Thursday and it was cold! The wind was blowing and there was a slight skiff of snow. Luckily for us that meant that nobody else was up there. We really do not like crowds. We knew we it was pretty late in the season but apparently it was the last day. The Fish and Game wardens were up there and one of them came over and started telling us all about what they were doing and how the fish were faring. It was so much fun! We asked all kinds of questions and had a blast. Thank you to the lovely Fish and Game department.

It was absolutely beautiful up there! I took a bunch of terrific pictures:






















Jack's picture of the salmon:


Christy's picture of the salmon:


Toby's picture of the salmon:


Hannah's picture of the river and salmon:

Happy Birthday Muffin Man!

My little Tobias turns six today. My beautiful boy, my muffin man. Tobias is a sensitive soul. He loves to garden and be outside. He loves blocks and can spend hours building things. Toby loves trains and hiking and digging in the dirt. Toby has requested my homemade mac and cheese, and rolls for his birthday dinner.

Yesterday he started feeling sick and fell asleep in my bed late afternoon. I checked on him a few times as he was sleeping and realized he was running a fever. Poor little guy. Our elderberry glycerin is finished so Toby had the honor of being the first to try it out. He loved it and the other children were very excited to see what it tastes like (raisons, in case you were wondering). He slept well and is feeling a lot better today. Still a bit bright eyed and flushed, but better.

Weekend knitting

Weekends are for knitting around here. I do not get much knitting done during the week with all of the learning and outings going on but come the weekend I knit and watch movies. The children and I watched Dante's Peak, Pride and Prejudice, and Little Women. Christy and I knit and the other children played and colored. I LOVE weekends!

I finished Jack's hat:

pattern: my basic beenie
yarn: Red Heart
colorway: Camo
needles: US 4 & 6

I am getting close to being done with my second sock:




This is the hat I knit for Christy a couple of weeks ago:


pattern: my basic beenie
yarn: Plymouth Encore
colorway: grey and cream
needles: US 4 & 6

Autumn skiff

Autumn skiff
Originally uploaded by Auroraknits

Beautiful things

We have finished up our elderberry study and are ready to move on to October's Lemon Balm! Our elderberry tincture is just about done and we have had a blast shaking it up each day




In knitting news: I knit Christy a hat and am now working on one for Jack. It seems they don't truly appreciate the pumpkin hats anymore. Toby and Hannah still wear theirs with pride and look absolutely adorable doing so. The weather has been nice and cool the last few days and I am blissfully happy! I am also knitting a pair of socks for myself, I am ready to start the heal flap on the second sock. This beautiful autumn-y sock yarn arrived today and I cannot wait to cast on for another pair for me!

Lorna's Laces Trick or Treat colorway:


John keeps mentioning how much he loves his pair of warm wooly hand knit socks and bemoaning the fact that he only has one pair. LOL! I have some STR that I plan on knitting up for him. I was thinking about giving them to him for Christmas but I don't know if he can wait.

Outdoor Hour Challenge #2

We did the second challenge today and enjoyed being still and listening. Lots of giggling was heard as we used our words to describe what we heard. Hannah made a little home for bugs in her wagon.




After our nature time John and the children played basket ball and then soccer. I picked up a couple of pizzas and we ate dinner outside in the shade. The clouds started rolling in and the wind picked up. As I was bathing Hannah it started raining. I LOVE the rain!

John read the last few chapters of Robinson Crusoe to the children while I showered and had some time to my self.

Expanding my craftiness

I knit and tole paint but I have always been afraid of sewing. I can do it a little bit, but it intimidates me. When I was pregnant with Toby I sewed several little cloth diapers and they turned out pretty well and I can sew baby blankets but that is it. I have decided to spread my wings and sew.

This book arrived in the mail yesterday:


I have thumbed through it and I am in love! I picked a project and am going to use this fabric that I bought when I was pregnant with Toby. I had planned to make a ragged quilt but that never happened. This fabric has been sitting in my room for 6 years. Time to use it.


I washed the fabric all up yesterday and then just stared at it. In theory the project is fabulous. I was terrified to cut the fabric. I almost gave up before I even started. After I put the children to bed I busted out the chocolate (for courage) and went to work. I didn't cry. About half of it is cut out and I am not afraid to finish today. I cannot wait to have the finished product!

The Outdoor Hour Challenge #1

John had the day off today and we took the children to a wetland preserve park. These are some of the neat things we saw.