Me and My Arrow

I can't believe I didn't post about my test knit for Hometown Knits! In my defense, baseball is in full swing and the days have seemed awfully short and speedy. After alluding to it in my last post, I left you hanging...since I know you were waiting with bated breath. Anywho; Me and My Arrow is another pattern with the gorgeous combination of Pepperberry Knits and Spincycle Yarns.

I got to choose my color combination and I love how they look together; Granny Smith (PBK) and Kimono (SY) were the perfect balance to each other and it almost makes me want to speed through summer to the crisp fall days when I can be swathed in cashmere. 

Knit in the round and grafted together with kitchener stitch to finish, this knit is seamless. It's also more than a little bit hypnotic. I've found that I really enjoy colorwork, and the best part-no purl stitches! 

I had already purchased yarn to make her colorwork cowl Dynastid, so when Simone sent out the call for testers, I jumped on it! 

Hop on over to my ravelry page for more photos, but here are a few. I really, really love it and hope you cast on too! 

whoops! See on the left that I forgot to put the extra rows in the last repeat? 

I LOVE the color changes of Dyed in the Wool!

I have some more goodies in the works right now, and will try to share them in a more timely manner.

Still Sally

I'm just going to pretend like there hasn't been a four month break in posting and pick up where I am today.

Miss Stella June just one week old. Photo by Gigi Hickman Photography

The fam just before Stella joined the ranks. Photo by Gigi Hickman Photography

Adding baby girl on November 30th made me mom to four, she is a fantastic baby but I had a much harder time with my recovery this time around both emotionally and physically (especially in hindsight).

After that first six whirlwind weeks, I slipped back into my old shoes pretty comfortably; feeding my brood, driving a monster SUV, wearing uggs and leggings (and not just in the privacy of my own home), reading a great book here and there, working on shedding those pesky lbs once and forever, pretending like there'll be a day when I run long distances again, knitting some really fun new things...and finally drinking wine again. Oh vino, how I missed you.

My first day as the mama of a baby girl.

One of my favorite projects was this Pine Bough Cowl knit with Pepperberry Cashmere and Spincycle Dyed in the Wool which was a KAL that started the day after Christmas and was my first real colorwork project. You already know I'm a huge fan of Heidi's cashmere, but it was even more beautiful when worked with the changing colors of the spincycle. That vibrant green just popped as the background to the motif worked in rusted rainbow. After being super intimidated by it for too long, I am now a huge fan of stranded color work! You can bet I've added quite a few projects to my queue.

Last month, I was chosen by Melanie Berg as one of the test knitters for her new shawl pattern The Joker and the Thief using a gradient of our choice. The pattern was knit with Sunshine Yarns, so we had the chance to work with Dani of Sunshine Yarns to pick our own. I love Melanie's aesthetic. I never thought I'd be a shawl knitter, but she has absolutely changed that for me.

This yarn was so wonderful to work with and it was dyed just for me! I said I wanted the finished piece to feel like a day at the beach and she worked her magic-it's gorgeous.

All of Melanie's patterns have great lines, are clean, and can be styled in a number of ways with a million color combinations that somehow all end up looking absolutely stunning. Now that I've knit one, I want to knit them all. She recently released a knew set of patterns, Five Shawls, which are all knit in Owl by Quince & Co.

I finished The Joker and the Thief late last night. The two things I like least about knitting are seaming and weaving in ends but, alas, they are necessary evils if you want pieces that are actually finished. So for the next hour or so, I'll be tangled up in blue, and then it's off to soak and block and I'll photograph the finished shawl.

Speaking of tangles, my mom came two weeks ago and helped me corral my crazy yarn hoard stash once and for all (or for now). I can't wait to show you my bonus room because it's gone from the dumping grounds of which we did not speak to an organized guest room/office/crafting wonderland. All of my yarn is now sorted, labeled and contained so that it's easily accessible and I can actually see what I have. Which is a lot. And that is a very good thing. Have you tackled any big projects in your organizational life lately?

The weekend of March 6-8 I'm headed to the Rose City Yarn Crawl with a girlfriend and I'm trying to go with a short list of projects for which I can buy yarn so I don't succumb to the swoon-worthy displays and buy all of the things. Stay tuned...

Manic Monday

This Monday was similar to all Mondays where you feel just a little bit behind all day long. Armed with coffee, I dropped the kids at school then came home to get ready to host my first 'baby' playdate. It was so quiet. I had forgotten how much noise the younger set doesn't make. It was kind of blissful, actually.

This week, I've decided to get serious about using up some of the older freezer meals that I have stored. Things like soups and meat store for a long time which can be good, but it can also be forgotten.

Last night was book club, so I wanted to have dinner ready and cleared well before it was time for me to leave. At about 3pm, I pulled a bag of Our Best Bites' Black Bean and Sweet Potato Turkey Chili that had been fully cooked when we originally had it for dinner (several months ago) and frozen flat with all air removed in a gallon ziploc bag. I thawed it for about an hour in a sink of lukewarm water and then let what liquid was fully thawed come to a simmer and left it simmering, stirring occasionally until warmed through. It was still just as good as the day it was made, so good! This meal is very filling and with both pumpkin and sweet potatoes, you kind of don't even need a side veggie.

I grated some jack cheese and sliced a couple avocados for topping options and everyone got to serve themselves.  Along with a fresh batch of cornbread, it was a full meal. For whatever reason, if my kids get to top their food themselves, they're much more likely to be excited about eating it.

These stacking mugs from World Market were way too big for anything other than the occasional giant latte, but they're perfect for soup!

While Charlie was showering after dinner and Jack was tucked into bed, H got some much-needed one-on-one time with J for a round of Battleship and I got to finish the ears and weave in ends on my Burton Bear Cowl. I can't wait to see it on the little girl whose mama asked me to make it, it's going to be adorable. Speaking of little girls and the Burton, check out my growing knitting buddy.

A few of the new patterns I have been working up require fun, chunky buttons. I took the chance to finally search for a way to brand my goods and landed on these really fun custom buttons from Remember Wynn on etsy. I used the font from my logo on the tiny ones and the typewriter font from part of the logo for the others. I love the tiny ones for things like the Julia Boot cuff by Pepperberry Knits, which I plan to make a boat load of in the upcoming months, and the bigger one for some of the hats and cowl patterns created by The Velvet Acorn which, along with Shannon Cook are some of my favorite pattern designers right now.

Speaking of colors and fonts and design, I've been working with etsy shop Jojo studios to create a new template via blogger so pretty soon the blog will have a whole new, custom look and I'm so excited to see it completed! Now, I need to get dressed and ready to meet with Leslie 'The Punisher' at the Y so I can feel extra blissful in the chair while I get my unintentional ombre taken care of. I love that our local Y makes having a personal trainer incredibly affordable, because guess who wouldn't be doing walking lunges across the raquetball court on her own? 

What do you have on the menu this week? Are you working on eating from your freezer or pantry? Up tonight is taco soup because it's dead simple and I have leftover sliced avocado. Also, Taco Tuesday.

A Day of Rest

This is a drill weekend for J, so I've been flying solo since Friday and can I just reiterate that I'm so pleased my kids are not exceptionally talented in the soccer arena? Being able to adjust our schedules to my current energy level so that I'm the nicest mom possible has been a gift in the last trimester of this pregnancy, both to my kids and to myself.

Laundry folded and put away, clean sheets for everyone, and even time to sit and enjoy the beautiful fall (still summer) sunshine to knit while the kids played outside before a play date that ended in a gushing bloody nose for H, I was ready for an easy day today. Early to bed has made the early to rise of late not quite so punishing. 

Don't mind my fat finger in the corner.

This morning I gave the kids a quick breakfast at quarter to six, noting with a little wistfulness that it was still dark outside, and promised a more hearty, traditional Sunday morning meal for second breakfast. What, doesn't everyone have second breakfast on the regular? 

After two cups of coffee, an almost-nap for Jack and then a second wind, a Bath and Body Works Pumpkin Cinnamon Bun candle brought H wandering out to the kitchen asking if I had already made the treat.

I quickly searched pinterest and found this Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancake recipe on Thriving Home so that our treat could also be a relatively healthy meal. I said relatively. Using whole wheat flour, pumkin puree and coconut oil, they really aren't a terribly unhealthy option for a carb-o-licious sunday breakfast. I omitted the brown sugar because I don't ever add sugar to pancake mix. If you're going to eat them without maple syrup (an abomination if you ask me, and probably against a state law in all of New England) then by all means add the sugar. Also, stevia? Still not a fan. The only other change I made was to add some chopped pecans for a little texture.

Hot off the griddle, the kids gobbled them up and then I shoo'd them away to play with legos while I enjoyed every last bite of my still-warm trio. Slicked with Kerrygold and pure maple syrup, these aren't super pretty to look at in the photo, but they tasted beautiful. 

It's a Mystery

I have not been remiss in my promise to create, but it has coincidentally been the case that a lot of my crafting has been as gifts for friends or test knitting that hasn't been approved for posting yet. So, in a show of good faith, here are two of the projects that I am working on.  They used some crewel embroidery wool, a canvas bag and about a skein and a half of LB Collection Merino Wool yarn.

As you can see by the mist covering the red wool, this project is d-o-n-e done and is pinned to the blocking mat. More to come on this one later in the month!

Also, my Downton Abbey Mystery KAL shawl is cruising along. It's going to end up being a crescent based on the increases and is a really basic pattern that isn't all that impressive. However, worked in Pepperberry Knits cashmere (handspun by a Boise artist) in a really pretty mix of purples called Mixed Berries that I've had in my stash for almost four years, it is going to be so soft and luxurious. Somebody's gonna love it! There are only a few weeks of this season left, so when it's complete and blocked, I'll post about it again.

Julia Gulia

Alas, I'm only to the arm increases on the back of my Hitch sweater, because I'm really good at gauging how much time I'll have to knit half of a sweater in tiny yarn on small needles. Having it completed for my week one project was not realistic.

However, Pepperberry Knits posted a knitalong for their Julia boot cuff pattern, which I've had in my queue for some time, and I have more pepperberry cashmere than I care to admit. Actually, strike that, I love my PBK stash but hoarding it in my bonus room instead of knitting it up into projects is not doing it justice. I chose Tangerine Twist, because I love the meld of cream, tan and orange for a bright pop of color on a winter day. With a sweet double ruffle and tiny buttons for a bit of detail, these will look really cute peeking over the top of your favorite boots, but won't add bulk at your ankles like full-on boot socks would. Made from 100% cashmere they're luxury, warmth, style and function all rolled into one. Without further ado, meet Julia.

Attaching the ruffles one at a time with a three needle stitch.

I love the extra detail of the slipped stitch in the ribbing.

tiny buttons, also from my stash

She's Crafty..

'Pheonix' red baby alpaca, photo by Knitcessity

Whew! It's January, finally! The holidays this year were a blur of yarn and activity. The majority of November and December saw my kitchen counter piled with an assortment of wooly, cashmere goodness and my newest obsession; bulky baby alpaca. Knitcessity on etsy has the most gorgeous colors available for a really reasonable price!

Last year we went on vacation just before Christmas, so the whole season felt condensed and we only got to enjoy our tree for about a week. This year, I was determined to have everything up in the first part of December. Such a good intention. My mom came to watch the kids for me and commented 'Your neighbors must hate you. Nice pumpkins on the porch Sally Henny Penny, did you notice everyone else has their Christmas lights up?' Did you notice I don't care? Oh wait, but I do. So the next day I hauled the garbage can over and evicted my pumpkins and gourds and placed a lovely winter wreath on the door and cedar and holly on the mantle. I was even on the ball enough that I'd ordered hooks for our mantle for the stockings the month before but then realized...oh yes, stockings. I have three kids now, not just two. So, I pulled out the strips of fabric mid-December and whipped out another (really two more, because I accidentally made two of the same side) quilted stocking. They still don't have names on them, but I wouldn't want to leave myself with nothing to do next year, now would I? (Note my sad poinsettia on the left-of course I didn't think to water it) I also finally got around to sewing the fabric storybook for Jack that I bought before he was born, but it's good I waited because it was slim pickin's for Jack under the tree.

On the business side, I've been knitting the Hannah Newsboy by Pepperberry Knits for my etsy shop for some time now, so when I got a request to create a hat that was based on the pattern, but had some adjustments, I was excited for the chance to change it up a little. The customer had seen a hat that she loved on a movie, and was able to find the hat but it was not longer being made or sold. Sending me a screen shot and some ideas of the changes she'd like made we worked together to create the perfect cap. I added about 1.5 inches to the body of the hat and several rows to the bill to make it larger. I was so nervous to send it to her, but was elated when she loved it. (so much that she ordered four more!)

Slouchy newsboy in jet black Baby Alpaca

Slouchy newsboy in grey 100% cashmere upcycled from a sweater. I love using upcycled cashmere as it usually results in a garment that has that velvety feel of your favorite pair of jeans.

At the same time, I had a friend contact me about creating an advent calendar for her out of mini stockings similar to those found at Garnet Hill. Again, it was something I hadn't done before, so I was really nervous that what I created would not match their vision since I didn't have a concrete example of a prior work. I found a baby sock pattern and gathered a bunch of yummy cashmere and wool sock yarn and started knitting. And knitting. And knitting. At about forty-five minutes per stocking, plus the time to affix cute clay disc numbers I found on etsy it was definitely a big time investment so I was so happy when she got her package in the mail (on December 1st, naturally) and texted me that it was exactly what she wanted. Of course, I didn't take the time to photograph it, but here it is on her mantle...so cute!

The last day of school for the big boys was December 18th, and I had planned to make a cowl for H's teacher and Charlie's teachers plus the director of his preschool. H's teacher had clicked through my email signature to my etsy shop earlier in the year and purchased a cowl for one of the other first grade teachers and commented that she loved them, so I filed that away. Filed it away until December 17th to be exact, when I pulled out my yarn and cast on. I made her cowl that evening and then gave Charlie's teachers a 'voucher' for a cowl in the color of their choice. They both picked red, so they'll be getting a bit of knit goodness in the lovely color featured above. I've found several fun cowl patterns on ravelry for bulky yarn, but still love the Pepperberry Poppy (which I've blogged about here). I am going to knit the infinity version of it for myself...someday. 

For H's teacher, I chose the pattern I used for the Ramona (in the post above as well) but in super bulky yarn, so only one repeat of the pattern instead of three. I dub thee The Grape Gatsby.

Lastly, the Caret+Chevron socks that I posted about when I started them. In a fun little circle of events, my sister-in-laws mother contacted me when I posted about them on facebook asking if she could buy them once they were finished-but no rush. I told her I'd be happy to, and got some measurements so they'd be a great fit. Coincidentally, I'd been thinking of making them for my sister-in-law as I've been planning to make a pair of socks for each of them for awhile. Within the week, my sister-in-law emailed me asking if she could buy them for her mom for Christmas; I love when something is just meant to be. But then I had to completely avoid talking to her mom about the socks, refrain from posting progress pictures of facebook (huge for my woefully oversharing self) or even talking about them. All the while I was afraid her mom would think I was a huge flake who just forgot about them. I'm really happy with how they turned out, even though I frogged back several times to get the heel to look good. The handpainted yarn from Sitting Tree was so wonderful to work with!

And in case that wasn't enough crafting for a couple of weeks, I bought a kit for the most divine lap quilt. It's English paper piecing and will be super tedious, but the fabric is amazing and the chevron pattern sucked me in. Stay tuned for that one, because it's gonna take a long time to finish so there will be several posts along the way. 

Did you make any gifts for the holidays this year? Any gifts you're currently working on? Something amazing for yourself?

Home Again, Home Again

I'm home from my whirlwind trip to the Right Coast where I got to see a ton of people (though there were still those I didn't get to connect with), drank a few too many cocktails, and got to shower our expecting friends in the picturesque town of Northampton.

Being back felt so surreal because it was almost as thought I'd never left. But then, I had. Driving through the tolls for the first time I was so lucky I actually had cash, as it was the first time in a long time I'd driven without a Fast Lane pass. Going to the Y to celebrate with my team, I accidentally drove right past and into the old apartment complex parking lot. Dunkin' Donuts was there to greet me en masse at the airport, and that brash accent wrapped around me like an old friend.

While it's good to be back in the Northwest, there is definitely a part of me that will always feel very comfortable in New England. My trip home was full of poor planning on my part, as my flight got in just after 8pm and I had to drive home the four-plus hours immediately, since J had to work the next morning at seven. By the time I dragged my sorry booty into my bed, I'd been up for almost 24-hours. My kids woke up the next morning at six to find the bag of munchkins I'd drug through the airport and crunched under the seat in front of me just so they'd have that little piece of familiarity in the place that still feels foreign to them.

Settled back in, I'm almost finished with the entrelac scarf, and also got an order for a set of five Java Jackets and am having fun with some new un-felted patterned ones. I ordered a couple kits through Knit Picks, so look for some fun pictures and a new etsy listing. I'm also in the process of purchasing the rights to make the Hannah and Josie newsboys for resale, so hope to crank a few more of those out before the holidays.

After spending several days trying to play catch-up on the cleaning I missed while I was gone, I put in a call to the local cleaning service so that I could get an estimate. A day after I got back, I hosted my dad and sister at my house as my sister was in town to have surgery. There was a thin dusting of grime everywhere I turned but I never caught my second wind to do more than de-fur the house and make sure dishes and laundry were done before they got here. Ah well, next time, right?

Aside from knitting, I still have two more stockings to make so we can have a matched set of four (well, five with Clifford's) to hang from our awesome sheet-rock mantle. Yes, our mantle is made of contoured sheet rock. At the top of our project list, behind tiling the backsplash and installing a banquette in the dining room is now 'make a real mantle, because having a mantle made of wall is weird.'

I'm also motivated to finally make the paper piecing baby quilt, a pattern for which I purchased last year. Because that's just how I roll. Actually, I can't feel too badly about it since safely in its bag upstairs, I still have the pattern book and all the fabric for the Underground Railroad quilt I purchased in Montana the very first time I went to meet my in-laws. Yes, that would be over a decade ago. I was also pouring over Amy Butler's In Stitches last night and looking at the fun throw pillows and cushions I could make for the as-yet-uninstalled, purchased or even decided on, banquette.

Today, I go to my first courtroom observation as part of my required in-court hours for the CASA program. I'm so excited to volunteer in a way that will involve me in the Child Welfare world without the same levels of stress and case management, and a fractional commitment of time. I'm nervous, though, about learning another juvenile court system. They all seem to be vastly different, from the lingo to the dress code.

And that's my little slice of life for now!

Front Page News

The Josie is complete with Agnes Rose to adorn it. This was a super fast knit. I picked up the stitches for the body of the hat last night at I sat down to watch a Lizzie Borden documentary and hand out candy to all the sticky fingers in town, and was done by about 11:30. I had completed the band before, which took little more than an hour since it's just 1x1 rib.

Tonight at knitting group, I made the smaller teacup rose from the Agnes pattern, but since I'm using sport weight yarn, the cabbage rose was actually what I needed to make it big enough. Either way, I made both roses in under an hour (with lots of chit-chat and time to sew it onto the hat) so it was no cause for complaint. Charlie was oh-so-happy to be my little model. It's a super stretchy band, so is sized to fit kids three to five. Lush cashmere and minimal seaming makes this a treat without any tricks. Since it looks so cute on him, though, I think I'll be modifying a boy version without the eyelet lace so it's a cute little conductor cap.