Silver Scarf

Silver Scarf, originally uploaded by ImagineKnit.

Once in a while a project comes along and just speaks to you. This was one of them. I saw the pattern on Ravelry and instantly thought, Brita!

My middle sister has had a rough couple of years but this last year has I think been one of her best, she got married to a great guy finished school and worked in Alaska for the Forest Service.

The pattern is Drifted Pearls and you can find it on Ravelry. I thought the pattern was pretty well written but I did need to go down many needle sizes to get the look I wanted and it stated you needed 2 sizes of needles but not when to switch to the other size ( just used one size). Other than that not bad. I love the yarn I used which was British Mohair, Mohair Silk in granite. I got it from DBNY.com which if you don't want your stash to grow huge do NOT get on their mailing list!

I think Brita loved it, she wore it all day after I gave it to her:)

Hope you had a Happy Holiday!

XOXO
Senja

Once a Month Cooking (a review)

A little while ago I got this cook book. The idea of cooking once a month and having meals for dinner every night was really intriguing to me. So the other day I jumped in and tried a 2 week cycle from the cook book.
Since my son has been staying away from wheat lately due to tummy aches I thought I should try the Gluten Free Two Week cycle.
Here is a pic of the process. I followed the plan by shopping one day and cooking the next. I really liked the fact that this lays out all the steps for you with tips, pantry items needed and a grocery list. The next day I did the cooking. That went really well, I started around 9am and endied at 1:30pm. Some of the meals we have tried and liked include Chicken l'orange, meatloaf and I can't wait to try Slow Cooker Chicken with Artichokes and Olives. A few things have not been a hit with the family but I can see that it would be easy to swap out another meal in its place.

My kids have been less and less adventurous with their food lately and this is a great way for us to try new things. All the mixed meals go into the freezer until you are ready to make. The only thing I need to do is decide what to make and take it out in the morning so it is thawed. Some things I have thawed quickly right before cooking. Also the 2 week supply fit in my regular fridge freezer. You store everything in ziplock bags and if you are careful you could easily wash out the bags and reuse them, or use some non-disposable containers in their place.

I love this so far and hope to try it again with a whole month cycle after the holidays. With our busy schedule and my lack of love for cooking this is a wonderful solution to our nightly dillemma, "What's for dinner?"

Enjoying my children

The other night found us cuddled up on the couch watching a play put on by our 3 munchkins.

The general chaos of the show was a lot of fun to watch.
This was my favorite part of the show, Miss M and KD doing a news cast. Sooooo Funny and Cute!
Some socks I was making for Dad that are now going to be mine. My dad is getting mittens instead.

Wow how did the time get away from me? Lots of cooking and baking going on here lately. Next posting will talk about my new dinner plans:)

The Flu

The Flu hit our house last week. Well really it hit Noley and me, everyone else was fine. Which means I now am playing catch up this week with bill paying, house cleaning, laundry and blog pictures. Unfortunately I can't find the camera!

Back soon with pictures. Just letting you know we are still here.

Avoidence is the only way to go

Yes I am avoiding housework to blog. Who doesn't do that right? Thank you for enabling me bloggy friends:)

Halloween came and went without a hitch although I was sure the only picture I was going to get of my kiddos would look like this.Luckily I caught them at one stop and they all stood still for a picture. I present a witch, a WWI Flying Ace and Batman.They had a great time and the candy isn't all gone yet so I can't ask for much more.

I had a small photo shoot today with my newest finished project, I present the Double Duty Cowl.


Double duty because this is the right side.
This is the "wrong" side.
The thing is Freaking reversible! I love how this turned out and it is made with my Knit Me Now Chunky yarn. Unfortunately I don't have any of this out there right now. I love the color, the size, the buttons. Yeah I love it all. Thanks for stopping by, hugs.

Weekends are for...

Dyeing yarn, knitting, cleaning the house, having friends over (big and small), and picking a winner.

Congrats Rani!
The slightly hysterical edge to your entry helped me feel less gulity about all the stuff I have going on the needles. Noley picked your name up off the floor when I tossed everyones' name up in the air because I couldn't decide. DH declined to help.

It was really fun to hear what you all have going on the needles. Thanks for the entries!

Progress, of a sort.

It's time to out myself as a chronic project starter. I am going to list the things that I am currently carrying around in my knitting bag. Even carrying back and forth to and from work!
Below is the start of the Side Slip Cloche. I now have to join this and pick up around the top to form the hat. I was all fired up about this project and now it hasn't been touched for a month I'm sure.
Nolan's sweater, finally picked back up and sleeves started. Still not very far on those:(


Socks that were to be for KD now for Noley. Too small for KD unless I decide to rip them out and restart. Not decided on that yet.


Sweater for Miss M, just need to start sleeves and begin the raglan decreases.
These are not all the projects I have started and are hiding in my house either, just the ones I am hauling around with me. It's a sickness I know.

I decided all this confessing means you all should confess too! So in order for good participation a contest is in order.

Here's the contest for you all. How many projects do you have started and in progress right now? Including those tucked away somewhere in your house that you mean to pick up again. What is the easiest thing for you to knit and the hardest? The person who has the best answer as decided by my DH will get this lovely project bag, made by me. If a skein of yarn or some other goody happens to fall into the bag don't be surprised! Batman is running loose in my house and he might find something for me to pass along to the lucky winner.

Good Luck!
Contest will end Tuesday October 20th.

Fall Projects

Fall has hit hard here in Northern Minnesota, the leaves are changing the frost came and my tomatoes did not get red. I had to pick them all after a freeze the other night killed off the plants and was searching around the Internet for something to do with this many green tomatoes.
I found this recipe for green tomato pickles and thought I should try it.
Here is the mixed veggies before canning.

The finished product, since I have not tried them I can't tell you if they are good. I'm not likely to either for a bit because I need to get the vinegar smell out of my nose first.
I have been knitting too, this is a cowl I started with a stitch pattern from one of my books. I wish the color of the yarn showed up better in this picture, it is more black with just hints of green in it. I dyed it myself but it does not have a name. The cowl looks like it will be reversible.
I may decide to post a pattern if you all would like. Maybe once its done and has a proper photo shoot. I have other things to show you but blogger is not letting me upload anymore pictures today. I'll have to save them for another day. What are you working on?

Hedgie for Teen

Niece, originally uploaded by ImagineKnit.

Here is the hedgehog I promised to my niece for her birthday. She saw one I made for my little 3 year old nephew and wanted one in a really bad way. This is a great little project but it is really weird the first time you knit it. There are a lot of strings and it looks like you are not making anything that might resemble a hedgehog, but follow the directions and it does work.
Pattern: Huggable Hedgehog by Fiber Trends
Yarn: Nature Spun worsted, too lazy to go look up the color name right now.

Time it took, about 2 days.

Hope you all had a great summer and are enjoying moving into Fall.

Enjoying Summer

We took a bike ride to the park the other day.



The kids enjoyed running the bases.

Playing on the slide.




Spinning on this.

We are heading home here, you can see how far we went. At the end of the road in this picture is our road to turn onto. The kids did great!

This is my latest project likely to become some socks I set aside half done. I have not gotten many pairs done for a while.

I have done some dyeing recently and now am feeling the mojo again. Hope to get some updates in the shop soon.

Until next time.

What the?

Where did a whole month go? I promise I have not fallen off the face of the earth just the blogosphere. More soon.

Hedgehogs, shawls and socks to come. Now to go take some pictures.

Summer

Last weekend found us driving to northern Wisconsin towards Bayfield. We went to Blue Vista Farm which if you are in the area is definitely worth a visit. They have a beautiful view from their barn which my pictures just couldn't do justice to.






We picked blueberries as big as grapes. They have organic berries also.





They have raspberries there too. We like to do the pick your own with the kids, they enjoy picking and eating their share of the berries.



The kids ran through the garden, isn't it beautiful?




I just had to have a picture of this flower, hollyhocks such deep color.




We stopped in Bayfield at a park by the harbor and Noley played on his alligator or piranha depending on which boy you asked:)



The big kids played Tarzan while swinging on a great line there. (I kind of want one for our house)





On the way home we stopped at a beach on Lake Superior, the kids took advantage of this and got wet and sandy.







I think my fingerless mitts fit right into this trip. The purple is very blueberry like, they are almost done now and I hope to finish them today. Hope your summer is going great! Ravelry link here.




Happy fun family summer times to you all!

Seamless Sweater

This sweater was the most fun knit I have done in a while. The seamless knitting, seed stitch edging and the color work was so much fun, I see another one of these in my future.



Pattern:

Vormorgun Létt-Lopavesti (Ravelry link)

Yarn: Bartlett yarns Fisherman 2 ply mostly heather Jade color

Needle: US 5 and 7 Denise Needles

I will love to wear this in the colder weather!

As you can see Miss M is feeling much better thanks to all for your thoughts while she was sick and your well wishes. She is back to my cuddley M.

He was not sick a minute and was making dirt angles tonight in the driveway.


As always I am grateful for my happy family. Happy happy summer.