Experiments and crafting

As the summer is winding to a close (my eight year old starts school this week) I'm trying to find easy ways to incorporate more fruits and veggies at home. Although this isn't craft related I thought I'd share an initial experiment Jeffy and I are starting a weekly subscription with Imperfect Produce (Link).

These are the images of the lovely box of yummies we received. You can see Ethan's hand because he wanted to dig right in last night. You can pick what's going to be in your box and we're pleased with what we received:  oranges, pears, nectarines, cauliflower, kale, bell peppers, lemons, and potatoes oh my! This is what a small mixed box looks like. I was going to see how much food we make it through to see if an every other week subscription would be better. The cost of this box of food is between $15 and $20 including the delivery fee.

I really like the idea that we're eating food that is perfectly good, but would otherwise be thrown out. Food waste really bugs me, yet we do our fair share of wasting as well. Also, given the smaller amounts of produce sent, we're more likely to get through it than if we buy in bulk.

If you're interested, send me your e-mail and I'll send you an invite. If you're invited in you and I would each get a $10 credit.

Ok, on the crafting front I've been trying to figure out what to make for Christmas presents.

1) I started a Magicarp hat for my eight year old.
2) I have a cute set of dinosaur and corresponding egg patterns for Ethan
3) There's a plan to make back up mittens for my hubby
4) My sister-in-law indicated she wanted a scarf and I might have come up with an idea for something special. Here is the inspiration Kitchen Cloth in Mosaic Design. Be sure to click the link, the beautiful mosaic pattern is not described well by the pattern (Gilly, let me know if you don't like the idea...I'll make a scarf with this stitch for me ;)...also, I could change my mind too)
5) I started the scarf for my father-in-law
6) I have some great Star Wars patterns for my brother-in-law
7) I want to make a cowl or scarf for my Dad's wife
8) What to make for my nephew???
9) What to make for my mother-in-law???

This is just the short list and I'm open to ideas.

Here is the cowl I've been working on for a designer. I'll share the pattern once I'm done.

You can see the first two sections and I'm working on the fourth and final section.

Happy crafting and have a great week!

Best wishes,
Elizabeth

Eclipses and bow ties are cool!

Oregon seems like the place to be to see the eclipse on Monday. I'm so curious to see if the traffic will be as scary as they say. I'll be on I84 to pick up my eight year-old in Biggs Junction, Oregon tomorrow morning. Hopefully, that's not the prime road for eclipse viewing traffic.

My office is closed so I plan to only work a half day from home. I'll have Ethan and Jeffy with me. Our eclipse viewing glasses are here and ready. Portland won't be in totality so the special glasses are critical. It's amusing to look at the map and notice that my hometown in the Midwest will be in totality along with much of Oregon. How often do  you find things related to Oregon and Nebraska?

I love the coaster idea as a party favor or even just as a fun decoration for my funky little condo. Here is a picture of a design that I'm partial to. Solar Eclipse Coaster is simple yet perfect . The picture below is Tamara's for her design. There is still time to make one or more before Monday.

When I was at the library a week or so ago. I looked in the craft section to see if there were any books to peruse. I found a copy of Geek Knits.

I must say that it's very amusing. I'm not familiar with all of the themes and references for these patterns. There are a few I'd like to make. One is Fezzes Are Cool and the other is Bow Ties Are Cool. I have yarn to make the bow tie, but I'm lacking in red wool that would felt well for the Fez...would someone be willing to do a swap for some roving wool red yarn? Pattons would be fabulous.

If you are unaware, the bow tie and fez are worn by one of the iterations of Dr. Who. There are other Dr. Who themed patterns, but these two sounded fun for viewing Dr. Who or for Halloween. Matt Smith is one of my favorite Doctors. Peter Capaldi won me over, but it took time.

I'm testing a cowl along side my mystery patterns. I'll post more on those later.

I hope everyone has a fun week and enjoys the eclipse. Happy Crafting!!!

Progress on Projects

It's been a busy week. I'm keeping up with two of my ongoing projects, but am behind on the one with the complex lace. Here is a picture of one that I feel comfortable sharing (don't want to share the mystery ones).

This project is a recipe that gives basic instructions and then you can choose colors and textures. This one starts with two triangles and then the sides are worked out from the center triangles. Using odds and ends can make interesting pieces :).

I'm starting up the holiday knitting as well. When we're traveling, I need very basic projects so I have this fun basic scarf to work on. Can you tell where the color theme is from?

I was having a conversation with someone in my family and he indicated that he still prefers the Tom Baker Dr. Who. I'm using KnitPicks yarn Felici with colorway Time Traveler. It's out of stock at this point, but I couldn't resist with all of the Felici worsted on sale :). On size eight needles the garter stitch is so springy and lovely.

I'm curious to see how much of a scarf I'll get out of one ball and I have a couple back ups to make the scarf plenty long. I fear the reddish a bit too pink, but I've seen pictures with the color looking more pink.

We had a lovely time at the Tigard Knitting Guild's Knit Out at the Tigard Library yesterday.

Here's my poor attempt at a selfie. We found some lovely yarns in the stash pile and won a few prizes as well. The best part was spending time with my Tigo crafters and meeting new crafty people :).

Onward and upward! Have a great week and I look forward to more progress.

It's a Heatwave!!!

I hope you're all staying cool. It's funny what a relief a high of only 90 brings. The sunshine is wonderful, but I'm not a fan of anything above 85 degrees. I think that's why the Pacific Northwest was a great choice. From the extreme temperatures of the Midwest to the mostly moderate weather in Portland...I feel lucky even when the annual heatwave arrives.

The deeper question is...can anyone craft in this heat? I've been vigorously wrapping up a shawl for a test knit which easily covers my lap. In the evenings when the air conditioner can't keep up I'm sweating a bit with the wool. Here is the test gracing my lap as I try to get the icord bind off completed. The colors came together well (although it's hard to tell in this picture thanks to the flash).

In this heat I still find myself drawn to gorgeous sweater patterns. After I finish the mystery knits this month, I plan to dive into a sweater (or two because I like to have a couple of options).

What do you think of this nifty pullover? I've fallen in love with the funky vibe of Sunset Highway and I could probably pull together enough sock yarn in my stash to make it.

I plan to get started on Divide once I wrap up the test knit and mystery knits. Here is another fun sweater (A Good Vintage Cardigan) with a great vintage look that I've been debating to start for some time. Also, I think more cardigans would be helpful for easier layering than only pullovers.

These two sweaters both use fingering weight (aka sock yarn), which I love and have a decent stash of now. I have officially vowed not to buy anymore yarn and I mean it!!!  There is enough in my stash to figure out any number of various projects and fun. I was able to pull together the yarn for 3 ongoing knit projects quickly. Here are the ones I'll be working on in August:

1) Don't Panic (A mystery knit with a Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy theme)
2) Everyone Knows Pies are Round (A mystery knit with pie recipes in each clue)
3) Woman Must Make her Own Arrows (not really a mystery, but a yarn recipe with periodic clues)

I'm sure my list seems a little long, but it's fun and I'll likely fall behind on one or two. The first two clues have been released on the first two patterns, but there is still time to join. The third pattern released the first step so there is plenty of time.

Stay cool in this abnormal Portland heat and happy crafting!

P.S. Since I've given up buying yarn...if you'd like to get me a skein of sock yarn (like: Hawthorne), you'd make my day ;). 

One update...the test shawl is done!!!! I've  included the picture with my younger son's foot. I don't get much time to snap pictures of things before he's in the middle of it :). His little stuff shark is in the the far corner from his foot if you're curious as to the other object in the picture.

On the Coast

We started our second day in Lincoln City today. The boys love the beach. The little guy has been a handful to an amazing extent. I think tonight was largely related to being tired. We might be ordering take out for the next couple of meals.

Having some time away from home can be very nice. I'm thankful I'll have Wednesday off from work to recover from the trip. Then only two days before the next weekend.

I'm almost 2/3 of the way done with a test knit shawl and then there is a mystery knit that starts on August 1. I'm planning to work on the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy themed mystery shawl Don't Panic.

I'm excited to swatch for an upcoming sweater...I'm hoping I have the patience to get that done quickly :).

My wrists are pretty sore from the current project so I'll likely need to take a break. With how busy work seems to be (upon my return from vacation), we'll see how much time there is to craft (I typed nap instead of craft at first...Freudian slip).

I'm still keeping these posts fairly short...things to do...need sleep!!!

Hope you all have a great week. I'll post more soon.

KAL and CAL

Happy Sunday. It's hard to believe that tomorrow is the start of another work week. We had our first weekend of not needing to work, travel too far, family celebrations, or dog-sitting/house-sitting. We took advantage by running errands and catching up on some cleaning. There is always more to do.

I found another project to test and I'm almost a third of the way done. I'm striping a lovely shawl for a nice person in Ireland. So many lovely ideas from so many corners of the world.

The pattern that I really want to work on next as a personal treat is Divide:

This is the main sample picture. Check it out...it's gorgeous. I'm hoping to start it in August with a cotton based yarn. Anyone want to knit along with me?

Here is the lovely crochet sweater I'd love to work on as well:  Picking flowers sweater. I'd push this one ahead of Divide if someone wanted to join me. I don't have time to work on it during the current crochet along.

I'm keeping this post pretty light. My coastal family vacation is coming up quickly. I plan to have lots to post about soon :).

Have a great week.

Multiple Celebrations :)

June and July are filled with birthdays and anniversaries in my family. My mom celebrated her birthday this week and my older son will celebrate his birthday tomorrow. We found a few little things to give him and he is intent upon spending his birthday money on video games.

I survived my fourth round of expert witness testimony, we had our summer cub scout planning meeting, I finished knitting a sweater, and we're another week closer to our vacation to the coast...so many thinks to celebrate. As with my husband's birthday, I tried to find a few interesting history facts.

The one historical event that caught my eye was the launch of Apollo 11, the mission to send men to the moon. The number eleven has a special meaning in my family and neither of my kids were born on an eleventh. Not only is there another eleven to link to my kiddo, but space has always been a particularly special interest my mom and I shared growing up.

The post is being made a day early to allow for time to focus on the birthday and work on some time sensitive projects for work.

The completion of the test knit has been a nice relief of Links are my a game pullover. The sweater turned out great and I like the design. Here is a nice awkward selfie in the completed sweater.

It's definitely not sweater weather here in Portland, but I'll be ready for fall. The sweater was a very fun project and I greatly appreciate the design. I'm excited to have a green sweater. Green is my favorite color, but I don't tend to buy it that often.

Now with all of that freedom to choose a new project, I've been balling up some skeins and starting up some basic crochet patterns. I'm hoping to make things that I'll actually wear instead of things that are merely fun to make. I checked out one of Norah Gaughan's books Knitting Nature from the local library. I've been a fan of Norah's work for several years.  There are some lovely patterns and I was tempted to start one (or 2). With my 18 pages of projects in Ravelry...that's a sign that I don't need any new  pattern books.

I was considering making the Purl Soho Short Row Sweater to make an adorable layering sweater. I have some Hawthorne fingering in a white, dark blue, and gray that might make for a very pretty short row sweater.

I'm also excited to work on a crochet pattern in the spring/summer magazine for Vogue Knitting. And yes, I said crochet patterning in a knitting magazine. Check it out:  #23 Mesh Jacket. I'm contemplating using some of my fingering weight Noro. I'm curious as to how it would turn out with the striping in the yarn.

After several busy weekends, it's been nice to just take some time to let the kids enjoy what they love. When we returned home from a drive to the Dalles, the little guy and I walked to the playground at Marshall park. Here is Ethan enjoying the swing. Such a sweet boy. Hopefully, he sleeps more tonight than he did the previous night. I need more than 3 and half hours of sleep.

I'm hoping that Jeffy has a special day. We're keeping it simple this year...to my relief!!!

Have a great week and happy crafting.