Yarn Along

Joining with Ginny at Small Things for today's Yarn Along!

I'm still working on my test knit of Portage from Dandilion Girl Designs.  It's going to be a Christmas gift for my sweet sister and it suits her perfectly.  The deadline is a week from today, so I hope to have finished object photos by then!  I'm just so glad to be finished with all that honeycomb/ribbing and working on garter/stockinette so I can catch up on some Christmas movies & BBC Masterpiece Classics whilst knitting.

I also started a little chicken jumper for my sweet hen Plucky who has a bare butt.  Poor girl is at the bottom of the pecking order and refuses to stand up for herself, so I try to take extra good care of her.  

Not much in the way of reading for me as of late.  Mostly job descriptions and applications.  I do, however, plan to grab a copy of Ann Voskamp's Advent Devotional pronto to read through December.

The gorgeous plum skein in the first photo is next to be cast on.  It's destined to be another Mullspice hat for my dear friend Mary.  Since I never blogged that one, here's a photo of my first version:

I'm pretty sure I'll be giving it to my sis (the model) because, seriously... look at how well it matches those gorgeous brown eyes!? Sigh.  Maybe I'll make one for me someday :)

Dress for a Dreamer

In the midst of recent chaos, we celebrated my (out-of-town) niece's third birthday.   My husband informed me that she is going through a unicorn phase, but that he couldn't find any unicorns in town with the party a mere three days away.  Since a dear woman in my life just gifted me one of her sewing machines (more on that later), I decided to jump in head first with this adorable unicorn fabric found in a neighboring town.  The fabric is from the Far Far Away collection by Heather Ross and the pattern is Geranium Dress by Made by Rae.  This is my first finished sewing project EVER (after a 30 minute crash course in how to sew a quarter inch seam) and as such, I'm very pleased with the results!  Now, don't get me wrong - it's far from perfect, but I think it will be just perfect in the eyes of the little lady wearing it.  Excuse the crumpley photos - I took them before the final pressing and it certainly shows.  YouTube is a wonderful resource and it's where I went to learn everything from pleats to buttonholes to edging stitches.  I've already bought fabric to make the grown up version for myself when Christmas gift making comes to a halt.

Craigslist Find of the Year: Dress Form

My quest to find a dress form began not long after I joined Ravelry back in 2011 when I started seeing so many gorgeous project photos using them.  I had only a few stipulations... she had to be:

1. Affordable
2. Pretty, duh
3. Close to my size
4. NOT adjustable
5. With a wire bottom

Since I started watching, it seems like every dress form I came across was either new/adjustable or wayyy out of my price range.  I was so excited when a quick Craigslist search turned up this one.  I just knew that she had already been sold since the asking price was $65 and it was listed two months ago, but to my surprise she was still available despite a lot of interest.  My husband and I made the nearly-2-hour drive on Sunday afternoon and I snatched this baby up for less than the asking price within 24 hours of finding the listing.  Her measurements are almost identical to mine, so I'm excited to use her for my newly found sewing hobby.   Now I find myself wondering what her story is... was she in a store window or a workshop?  Where was it located?  In what years?  What kind of clothing did she model? How did she end up in that little town called Penhook?  All I know is that the wife of a man from upstate NY bought her for no apparent reason during their time together and she somehow ended up here in VA.  I'm in love.

Yarn Along

Joining with Ginny at Small Things for today's Yarn Along!

I've had a severe case of cast-on-itis as of late and this is the start of yet another new project!  This time, a Christmas gift for my Mama.  The yarn (Lily Chin Tribeca) isn't my favorite to work with, but it makes a fabric with a nice, soft halo and was a steal at $2 a ball!  More on the pattern in my Ravelry notebook :)  It's pretty and ruffle-y and sweet.

Still not much in the way of reading lately, but I did receive my fall issue of Deeply Rooted Mag & have been savoring one article at a time.

Campside on a Rainy Day - A Test Knit

I'm so excited to finally be sharing this!  There was quite a bit of up and down with this pattern, but it's been released now and even better than that - it's FREE!  The pattern is Campside by Alicia Plummer and goodness is it ever beautiful.  The yarn (Julie Asselin Leizu DK) is perfect for the shawl and, well, just perfect in general.  I really wanted to channel the end of summer camping vibe, so my sister and I made an evening of it.  We even made a makeshift tepee out of a sheet and some sticks, and built a fire in the rain (not an easy task).  I wear this all the time now - so go ahead and grab the pattern and get started!

A Tiny Gift for a Tiny Person

I whipped these up last week for a precious, expecting mama in my Sunday School class.  I'm a sucker for something simple and sweet - can't wait to get photos on the little one when she arrives!  Had the yarn (patons silk bamboo) on hand so I only had to buy buttons and elastic lace for the headband.  Patterns are Mary Jane Booties and Mini Hair Bow.

Grandparents and Gifts

Since both sets of my grandparents have been divorced and some have since settled down with new people, I have a LOT of grandparents and boy am I thankful for them!  I was a little late finding out that it's Grandparent's Day (and most of my grandparents aren't exactly local) so I gathered some things I had at home to take to my Grandma.  That ended up including a couple dozen eggs, several tomatoes, and one can each of salsa, sauerkraut and dilly beans.  She was tickled with her gift and our visit and, well, that makes me smile :)

Speaking of gifts and grandparents, I have gotten some of the most thoughtful gifts in the last week for no special occasion but to say "I'm thinking of you."  

My Granny Carol dropped some old pamphlets and things in the mail (she knows just what I like!) with a sweet note, and then a few days later left a few books for me at my mom's house.  Lots of fun kitchen reading and new recipe trying in in store for this week!

I went to visit my other Grandma and she sent me home with a mini version of her huge pickle holder/strainer just because.

And then both on the same day, my mother in law sent home a jar of vegetable soup (a recipe I wanted to can but was just too lazy) and her sister sent a serving bowl she found at a yard sale and thought I'd like.

And Paw Paw Fuzzy sent me home with two huge boxes of his mother's canning jars!  I think my family has to be the most thoughtful and giving bunch on the planet and I am oh so thankful for them.

August Recap

It's been a quiet month for my blog, but that's not to say I haven't been accomplishing things around here!  In fact, I just couldn't find the time to sit down and share.  In August I...

went to the beach (and my cousin's wedding at the beach) with family..

Why yes, that is a finished Saco Stripes you see there!  It won a very generous Nice & Knit KAL grand prize!  More on that here.

came home to happy, laying (for the first time) hens..

so I went out and bought an egg basket!

passed my state boards and became licensed as a registered nurse in VA!

went on a date with my sister before she started back to school..

Sam (the collie) decided it would be a great idea to go down to the river, even though it required that he walk through mud up to his belly.

Then we went to see the pony.

celebrated some birthdays... 

my niece turned five

and my Maw Maw turned 101!

went to the annual outdoor baptism..

went to a neighboring county's agricultural fair and scored some fun and ribbons!

Even though it's an hour away, this is probably my favorite fair - think small town, horse pull, lawn mower racing, country bumpkin kinda fair!  I entered some of my canned goods, photos, and knits and was surprised at how many ribbons I took home (best in show for knitting and second overall for photography - woo!).  While I probably won't take stuff to a fair again, I thought it'd be fun to try once. 

hosted my husband's family for the first time in our first  home ...

He has an incredibly picky family, so I decided on a country meal you can't go wrong with!  Pinto beans & cornbread, greens, mac & cheese and tomato pudding with peach cobbler for dessert.  Quite possibly my favorite meal of all time.

not to mention harvested, sold and preserved like crazy and finished a test knit!  
More on those to come, very, very soon!