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.

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.

Works in Progress

Starting off with the knitting, this is my seamless sweater which has fairly flown off the needles. I am at the exciting sleeve and color work part but have not had any free time to sit and knit on it lately:(
You will see my Mother's day present on top of the sweater, it is a new Blackberry Storm. Very cool and unexpected. I am in love with all the gadgets, plus now I can post to the blog even if I'm not home! This work in progress is the bunnies we got at the local Chicken Swap. A Chicken Swap is like a flea market with animals. We now have one Holland Lop which is the black and white bunny, Oreo. The other is a Jersey Woolly which is the grey fluffy one Miss M named her Fluffy, of course.KD is very proud of the bunnies and has been pretty good about checking on them along with Miss M. I made the cage last week while B was out of town for work. It isn't the prettiest thing but it does the job.

I also dyed yarn like a mad woman last week and have a load going to Yarn Harbor as well as a bunch to snap photos of and post on Etsy.

The ones above go in the shop, the ones below are going to YH.
Last but not least my 3 most important WIP, KD, Miss M and Noley.

So sorry for disappearing on you all. We had a busy week last week and it ended yesterday with Miss M's 7th Birthday. I can't believe I am old enough to have a 7 year old child but she doesn't lie and she definitely knows how old she is. I am very proud her in every way and think she is the most beautiful child anyone could have. But I am her mother and that goes without saying. She is smart, sweet, sensitive, moody, loving, quick tempered (um I think that comes from me) and growing too fast for her momma. I am blessed in so many ways but this child has always challenged and taught me so much. I love you sweetie I hope your birthday was a good one.

I won't bore you with all the craziness around here with work stuff and trips out of town but want to tell you about knitting progress and plans for good crafty things to come.

Today is clean house day along with dye yarn day. I am woefully behind on an order for Yarn Harbor and must work on that today, also the Etsy shop has been neglected lately. I need to play with colors and come up with some new colorways. I am bringing back the DK weight Peace Fleece because I feel the Worsted is sometimes a bit bulky for some projects. So I should get some of that dyed as well. This means I better get off here and get working.

Noley is coughing up a storm today and has a slight fever so I will juggle keeping him in the house and occupied with all that. Plus the drapes have had no work done lately since I packed it all away for a Pampered Chef party the other week and haven't pulled it out again. So my week off of work sounds like it has its work cut out for it already. Off to get it all done!

Crafty Time of Year

This time of year is tough for me, the long days of cold weather and darkness start to wear away at my psyche. I got the urge to have a warm blanket for sitting on the couch knitting and watching TV under. This is my first attempt at a quilt since Miss M was a baby about 6 years ago. I think it turned out OK. I have been enjoying it in my cold basement already for a week. I used a soft green fabric for the back, I forgot what kind of fabric it would be called. I would describe it as a corduroy without the lines in it.

I also made these socks for Noley. I used stash yarn for this project and hope to make another pair for KD. He asked for some too. Noley likes these and even wore them once already!

Pattern: Basic socks from Knitter Book of Handy Patterns

Yarn: Smart got on clearance years ago

Needles: US2 &3 DPN

Lately Noley has been saying this phrase a lot, " You don't do that forever, ever, now!" He is getting very independent. I feel bad for him today, he is throwing up, hopefully it will be a one day thing, I have plans for tomorrow.

Bright and Cheery Socks

My new WIP makes me smile even on the greyest December day.

My knitting bag matches them too.

These are Jaywalkers in Knit Me Now yarn, Sock Love. Color is Fire and Ice, I love that they are striping the way I had hoped!

Oh and the last post had a picture of my son's bag he was taking to Grandpa and Grandma's. I forgot to mention in case you couldn't see that he packed his knitting and half way there asked me if he could knit:)

I love that!

And Done.

I am officially out of time to pack for the trip. I leave to the Cities tomorrow for my BIL's wedding on Saturday. My shrug is still on the needles but I have less than 2 inches left of the ribbing around the collar so I think I can finish. There are 504 stitches in each round though. The potential to not finish is there but I plan on wearing it on Saturday and have no backup. It Will Be Done.



In the last two weeks I worked 24 hours, went to a class to get CEU's for my license, did a lot of laundry, ran kids to the dentist, bought a gift for the wedding, packed myself for the big trip and still have to pack my kiddo's. Yikes! I have a pedicure appt tonight and I think it is well deserved. Plus it is a gift certificate from the hubby for Valentines day. I know that is in February, I needed to find just the right time to go:)



Fall is here and our leaves have peaked already but it is my favorite season. I hope your Fall is going well. I'll leave you with a picture of my kidlets enjoying a fall hike since neither I or my house is fit to be seen right now.



The Pimlico shrug will have a photo shoot when I get back.

Pimlico Shrug

There is progress on the Pimlico Shrug which is good since I have to wear it on Oct 11th. I like this pattern, it is easy to memorize. We'll see how I feel when I get to the ribbing. There is a lot of ribbing. Here's a picture of Noley and Saunaknitters baby playing cars. It was too cute to not share. They love playing with each other.

I'm off to knit and pack and go to many, many appointments today. My yarns are now at Yarn Harbor if you're interested. Thanks for the tips on airline travel and knitting. I will pack accordingly.

He Makes Me Proud

I taught KD how to knit yesterday. He woke me up this morning to ask if he could knit. Ummm... Yeah!
He is head over heels in love with it!

Knitting progress here, my dad's sweater is coming along, I fixed the problem and am almost ready to divide it for armholes and the neck edge. I am starting to be done with this so I better get moving on it. Hopefully by Christmas I can give this to him:)

What are you all up to? Knitting on as usual.

Last Summer Fling (spoiler alert Woolgirl sock club at the bottom)

Our last hurrah and we just got back. B had some work to do in Brainerd, MN so we packed up the kids and went to the water park at the hotel there. If you want a fun place to stay try The Lodge. Woodsy themed hotel a little hokey but has a fun water park. The kids loved it.

Miss M would not let me take her picture, KD had a blast there and went down the tube slide many times all by himself. He was wearing a life jacket but he was still super proud.

I am feeling guilty that there is little knitting content to show here, but I do have yarn. My Woolgirl sock club package came this week and this is by far my favorite of the installments. Great package and good color, plus 2 patterns for socks! I can chose my favorite, awesome. Here's a picture.

I am plugging along on my dad's sweater and it is finally getting somewhere but I have hit a snag. There is a mistake in the pattern and I should just rip back but I have tried to knit back a couple times.

It. Is. Not. Working.

I will get up the nerve to just rip it back soon but I can't face it. I will probably start another pair of socks first. Gotta take the edge off you know?

Later Dudes.

PS. Go to Fibreholic for a fun blog contest.

In the Garden

In the garden there grew... Forget Me Not's and Bleeding Hearts.
A cowl of lace and wool.


Despite the fact that it is June, it has felt like April here for too long. I still felt like knitting winter things last week so I whipped up this cowl. Of course I am a total follower since everyone and their mother has knit one of these. Oh well it was fun and quick.

Specs:
My pattern using a stitch pattern from an old pamphlet of my grandma's.
Yarn is mine also, Knit Me Now Yarn - Warm Woolly in Choke Cherry.
Size 10 1/2 circular needles used.

I am thinking of making up some fingerless mitts too since I have about 1/2 a skein of yarn left over. We will see. I love how this turned out and it was a skein I just couldn't let go.

Up next a birthday gift for my dad and a market bag for shopping. Hope you are all having warmer weather than me! Knit On!