Sunday, July 24, 2011

Playing Catch-Up

I'm a bit behind on the blogging this month.  My power cord went out on my laptop on the 4th and it took several days to get a new one.  During the meantime, Mother has been in the hospital.  I did get a lot of knitting done that Sunday in the ER.  That Sunday, I finished the scarf portion of my Two-Way Ruffle Scarf, a beautiful pattern by Churchmouse Yarns and Teas.  Here it is in all of it's fluffy, soft glory before blocking.  Mother and I (OK.  Mother) steam blocked it this afternoon.  Photos to be coming soon.
















A Finished Object to Report
I finally took pictures of my Multnomah post blocking.  Ya'll, this is a good example of the miracle of blocking.  A nice wash and then a nice rest on my guest bed just did wonders for this.  I'm so looking forward to wearing this but since this is Alabama, that will probably won't be until the end of October.
















Here's my current take-along work in progress.  The Koigu Linen Stitch Scarf, another wonderful pattern by Churchmouse.  I'm using three colorways of Koigu KPPPM.  When I was buying the Koigu at my LYS last month, Heather, one of the super ladies who works there, advised me to choose colors that make me happy.  She was right.  And I'm glad I took her advice. 















This represents 1 week and 1 day of knitting - 1 1/4". This counts two hours of knitting time at the doctor's office on Monday and working primarily on this.  The fingering yarn combined with a 450-stitch cast on and working the linen stitch makes going a little slow but after a couple of stitches, I get a rhythm going and work pretty quickly.  When working on this in public, I have gotten a lot of compliments on it.  I just hope I have as many when I wear it this winter!

In other knitting news, I'm still working on Tristan's Blankie of Many Colors and I've started a birthday bib for Liam.  Pictures of those to be coming soon. 

Speaking of birthday bibs, hop on over to Three Boys and a Thousand Hills and read about the birthday bibs I made for Walker and Tristan (you'll need to scroll down to the July 12 entry) and see the bibs in action!

Sunday, July 3, 2011

What I Did Last Weekend

Last weekend, I had a mini-vacation of sorts.  I house, dog, and cat sat for some friends who live in Birmingham and live near the Galleria and Patton Creek, the epi-center of shopping for Birmingham.  Since I rarely get to those shopping centers, it was something of a novel experience to be that close.  My only duties were to give the dog and cats their food and fresh water and to walk the dog, leaving plenty of time to knit, watch movies, and shop. 

Like all knitters, I had problems deciding what knitting to take.  The clothes were no problem.  And since I was  working on Friday and Monday, I had to take work clothes too.    I ended up with one suitcase, one cosmetic bag, and three knitting bags!














Sophie was very curious about all my knitting stuff and particularly liked my yarn.  The lime green bag held all my needles, a knitting book, and some cotton yarn.  The blue bag had my log cabin and a few balls of yarn in case I finished the strip I was working on.  The black bag held my Multnomah, blanket square in progress, a swatch in progress for a baby hat, and my knitting tool kit.

Before I left, I had decided that I was just going to have a nice, relaxing weekend.  On Saturday, I had breakfast at Panera and then went to my LYS to hang out and knit and do some shopping.  While I was there, I finished my Multnomah.  Thanks to Heather for graciously taking my picture!  Remember, what you are seeing is just off the needles!














I've been admiring  Churchmouse Yarns and Teas patterns.  By the way, the photography is gorgeous! I understand that Jared Flood did the photography for their patterns and so  Bainbridge Island is now on my must-see places. 















The Koigu is for the Koigu Linen Stitch Scarf and the Rowan Kidsilk Haze is for the Two-Way Ruffled Scarf.

Over the weekend, I did a fair amount of knitting.  I finished a blanket square for Blankets for Birmingham, started a Picot-Edge Washcloth, worked on my latest Log Cabin,  finished the Multnomah, and swatched for a baby hat. And I admired my purchases and petted the yarn.

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend. 

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Blueberry Jam

It's July here on the farm and it's Saturday, so that means it's time to make jam!  Today's flavor - Blueberry.  Made from blueberries picked from my Dad's blueberry bushes.

Here's the berry cooking equipment.  It's my grandmother's and the ladle is actually the dipper they used when they had a well.















As usual, while I was stirring the berries, I thought about how beautiful the color is and wouldn't a shawl just look gorgeous in this deep, rich, blueberry color. 


Check out that wooden spoon.  It's stained from several weeks of jam making. 

I also get a sense of satisfaction when filling the jars and I keep thinking that I'm doing exactly what my grandmother did, in that very kitchen, using those same tools.  And that baking pan the jars are sitting on?  That's my Mother's.  She's had that pan ever since I can remember and it is black from cooking thousands and thousands of biscuits over the years.

I was so involved in what I was doing, I forgot to take pictures of the rest of the process, including the jars.  I have to tell you - the sound of the jars sealing is a beautiful sound indeed.