Must keep knitting!

It's been a busy month. I can't believe it's the last day of September. The rain seems to be coming and going. I took a long walk with my older kiddo and we were soaked. Finding a way to get outside in the rainy weather is so important.

We've been battling with our kiddos about bedtime and other things. I'm not sure why things need to be so tough sometimes, but kids are all about stretching your abilities to manage daily life.

Ok, no more whining :).

There is neat knit along that started this week. Check out Socks of Narnia. I'm not a big sock knitter, but the patterns look interesting. I entranced by the two color work socks. Voyage is the first and you might be able to get that pattern for free if you're quick. I remember seeing Voyage as a test knit pattern on the forum I regularly use. If you get one or sock or a pair completed from each of the four patterns by November 30, 2017, you'll be entered in a drawing.

Other mystery patterns are being posted, yet I'm finding that I've signed up for too many that all start sometime between September and the end of October. It's a good problem to have.

On October 18, the Spirit of Life Wrap crochet along will start. This looks like a beautiful pattern and that it will be a lot of fun to make. It's entirely free if you use the blog to view the pattern. There are some kits that look nice, but my stash will have to suffice :). It looked like four full skeins of fingering weight yarn are necessary. Maybe I could fudge the use of my stash a bit with other colors.

I've made some progress on my current test knit. It's definitely a marathon project. A fair isle sweater in a fine gauge...what was I thinking...

It's been a lot of fun so far and I'm excited to see it shape up. I have about 6.5 inches on the back. I'm using an itchy wool that still contains lanolin that you can smell. I hope you like the look. I love the colors.

Here is a pick from spending time with my boys tonight. We could get along for an entire hour together :).

Have a great week and happy crafting.

Autumn has arrived...

Fall is my very favorite season. The hot summers in the Midwest were always difficult for me. Once the crisp cooler air arrived, I was thankful. It's also a time of transition. A new school year, changing leaves, fun holidays on the horizon...who could complain?

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. After collecting tons of candy I would get November 1 off as a holiday. Who can beat that? I've already started getting into the Halloween cheer by listening to some fun spooky podcasts. I'm a big fan of Stuff You Missed in History and they several Halloween podcasts (Check them out). I also found a list of top ten horror podcasts from a couple of years ago that was a fun starting point to finding new podcasts (Top Ten Horror Story Podcasts). My two favorites are "The Horror" which plays old mystery and spooky radio shows from 30s to the 70s, and the other is "Anything Ghost" in which the host reads or plays back real life accounts or local legends. There are several that I plan to turn back to.

If you try any of these and find one to follow, but sure to contribute financially to keep them going. Some lifetime memberships are only $25, others have monthly fees. These are great to listen to while you're crafting or working :).

If you know  me very well, you'd know that I was afraid of everything as a kid. Not all of the fear was unfounded, but it was all very irrational. I think my hubby is surprised that I like it. Feeling fear along with many other things is part of the human experience. Facing many real life scary things and awareness of the real dark scary things out there makes much of the spooky stuff seem almost silly at times. I still get scared and spooked, but it's all short lived. I remember my beautiful boys and family, the roof currently over our heads, our currently stable health, and the food in our kitchen.

Here is our one decoration for the season. The spider is cuddled with and is named Fuzzy Dude.

Funds are tight, so I'll need to make the rest. That's the plan for Christmas decorations as well. I plan to make some crocheted stockings.

I volunteered for another test knit, which will be challenging and time consuming. Here is my gauge swatch. If you have the time and patience, please sign up to help:  Fiona's Sweater.

I love the Tiffany blue and I've gotten started on the back. This will be a minimum of two months to knit along with my list of Christmas gifts that I've firmed up. We'll see how much I get done between now and December 24...eek!

Ok, back to work...10/15 is just around the corner.

Have a great week.

Home again, home again, jiggity-jig..

I still remember my dad saying, "Home again, home again, jiggity-jig," when he'd come home from work or a  trip. It's a nice thing to remember. I think it's a sign that I'm very happy to be home. Seeing more of the country is a wonderful blessing. Seeing it all with my family would make it better.

The gentleman who drove my shuttle from the DC airport to the Gaylord National Harbor resort chose to take the long route, which I had not anticipated. The great part about the extended trip is that you could see several landmarks along the way. I saw the Capitol Building, the Jefferson Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, and some other stuff. The resort sat right along the Potomac and was quite nice. It's amazing how clean a hotel room remains when there are no kids with you.

Here is one of my pictures of the resort. The atrium inside was neat and the place had almost 2,000 rooms.

Here's the view from the resort.

On Saturday, my last day, I saw a portion of a lovely wedding that occurred just outside the atrium. The whole bridal party was gorgeous.

The expert skills workshop was very helpful, while also a ton of work. Besides trying to keep up on voicemail and e-mail,  I studied the case study and terminology for at least two hours a night. I never ended up getting used to the time change so I couldn't go to sleep before 2:00 AM.

Besides the studying and work, I knitted and crocheted to help relax me. I completed the first clue for a mystery cowl, I'm almost done with the yoke of a sweater, I have eight dinosaur legs for two mystery dinosaurs. I expect the crafting will slow a bit with all of the work and activities ahead.

Here is the picture of the sweater yoke. It's fun :). 

My first flight home was delayed to the point that I could have stayed to watch the second round of mock testimony, but that typically happens when I'm traveling for work. I almost didn't catch my connection, which would have meant a long night since I was taking the last flight from Denver to Portland until about 7:00 AM the next morning. I truly got off my first flight and immediately boarded the second flight. I'm so thankful. 

I saw some lovely folks at my crafting group. A nice lady discussed traditional rug hooking of which I knew nothing about. She is so very talented and knowledgeable about the history of the craft (Wiki: Rug Hooking).

Ok, I've rambled on enough...

Have a great week.

Thank You for 1,000 Views!!!

Whether you're a bot or an actual person thank you for visiting and possibly reading. It was a rough week is a sick kiddo and deadlines at work. Now I'm preparing to head to the east coast this week. We'll see how it all shapes up. It will be an interesting conference and I have much to learn.

I'm keeping this post pretty short this week. If things go well with my travels, I'll post while out and about :).

I'll post a video of my kiddo learning to skate today. It will be done processing momentarily.

Wish me luck. I haven't done much in the way of traveling for a long time.

Have a great week.

Labor Day Weekend Fun

I'm happy to report that I've completed my most recent test knit. Here is the lovely Sakura cowl that I was able to knit with Nadia's instructions.

It's a beautiful striped cowl with two garter sections and two lace sections. The last portion gives instructs for short rows to make the cowl more of a hoodie. I made the large version and can't wait for the cooler temperature to enjoy wearing it. It's much too hot to wear it now.

On another note Aroha Knits is doing one of their shawl swatch challenges. I've completed two of the five swatches and three patterns are out to knit. On top of that Aroha recently put out her first quarterly pattern book Seeker 2017. There are some lovely patterns and I'm excited about. I really love the hat patterns. There is also a short discovery quiz that tells you what fiber muse you are Aroha's Discovery Test. I'm a Mystic, which generally means that I use crafting as a form of self-care. There are patterns and ideas that Frenchie and her team provide based on the Discovery quiz.

With a few spare moments this week, I've started trying to nail down crafty gift ideas and a plan to attack them.  Progress will be slow for about six weeks as we face a few deadlines at work. There is also a conference that I need to fly cross country to attend soon. The timing isn't the best, but I'm hopeful it will make me better at expert witness testimony.

Here is a swatch for a test of a potential Christmas scarf...haven't decided what to do. It is so pretty even after I flubbed it a bit :). Although my picture doesn't look quite like it does in person the colors are more of a navy blue and cream.

My boys started skating classes today and it was quite a hoot. My poor husband had to hold up our two-year-old through most of  the class. My eight-year-old had fun even after he argued all morning that he didn't want to go.

Have a happy Labor Day and week!

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!!!