Monthly Archives: August 2013

Mitered Crosses for my mighty brother

Posted on August 11, 2013 by | Comments Off on Mitered Crosses for my mighty brother

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I never thought I would knit blankets that weren't baby gifts, but my friends at Mason-Dixon Knitting inspired me to make my first, second, and now third. When Kay designed the pattern in 2011, based on the cover quilt from this book, as a fundraiser for Japanese earthquake/tsunami relief, how could I resist? Plus I posessed the suggested Noro Silk Garden in my stash. (At $5 a pop, six months ago the pattern had raised an amazing $19,300 donated to Mercy Corps!)

I ordered Berroco Peruvia for the background yarn, and started knitting. I'm amused to realize that I knit three pinwheel baby blankets while this was in progress. Another chuckle is that the receipient sat on and broke one of the needles in a square that I took to a Richmond Flying Squirrels game. But, wo years later, c'est finis! I took a little shortcut in that I added the 27 garter ridges to the sides of two squares rather than binding off and picking up again. And I failed at bordering.

The blanket blocked beautifully. I tried the i-cord, I tried crochet, but that Peruvia is such a loosey-goosey single that all I got was frustrated. We took a vote at my monthly S&B this week, with a resulting consensus that the edges look look fine as wine, and Brotherman would never give a thought to the lack of a border. I presented it today, three days early for his birthday, and he was most pleased. Here's to my sweet brother Charles, deserving of this knit and so much more!

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Log Cabin Blanket

Posted on August 11, 2013 by | Comments Off on Log Cabin Blanket
 log cabin blanket started!

Remember a million years ago when I started a Log Cabin blanket?

It hasn't seen any progress in a long, long time, but it does get brought out and admired from time to time, or sat upon, as the case may be. (Yes this is nothing but a gratuitous baby picture. Humor me, she's the last one.)

Lydia, my helper

ANYWAY. I laid out my blanket today to figure out the next colors and admire the floor. You know what? Almost four years in this house and I still get a little thrill sometimes when the sunlight hits the floors just right.

next up

And then I wanted to sort of take inventory of the yarn I have, so I did something I've been itching to do for months now.

I have greens,

greens

reds,

reds

blues,

blues

and my apparent favorite, yellows,

yellows

But this! This is what I wanted to do:

I'm in rainbow heaven!

RAINBOW HEAVEN!!!!! There's just nothing like rainbow colors. (Also, this would make a good holiday greeting card for the fiber obsessed.)

Also, also: I have been making some good progress on my Blaithin and should have the second sleeve done in the next three days or so. Then just a few more inches on the body and I can join! But I have to save a little mystery for my next Juniper Moon Farm guest post, so that's all I will share for now.

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Weekend Update

Posted on August 10, 2013 by | Comments Off on Weekend Update
Based on my last few posts, it might seem like I'm not knitting or sewing.
But I am! Really!  I just haven't been as diligent with taking photos and uploading them.

I was also recently commissioned to make twin baby blankets for a pair of recently born fraternal twins.  So, that was taking a bit of my spare time thinking how I was going to make it happen by October.  Enter the knitting machine manual, a garter bar, and I'm finally on my way.  I'll be using Cascade Yarns Heritage Sock yarn thanks to a friend who wanted to de-stash and some local stores that are carrying it!  I still have to figure out what will happen with the border, but I get ahead of myself...

Here's the plan:
the plan of action

The new mom likes purples and pinks for the girl twin, and greens for the boy twin - check.

The swatch says it will work!

I had to figure out how much yarn was actually needed so after an initial gauge swatch to choose the best tension on the machine - I liked 6.25 - I did a test run.  The test blocks revealed that each 6" x 6.5" block takes circa 8g of yarn.  Which means when multiplying 8g x 48 blocks, 384 g total yarn is needed, and I have 400g of yarn (100g x 4 skeins).   In the plan, there's 12 pink blocks, 12 purple, and 24 white so it should be enough yarn!  Same with the greens: 12 dk green, 12 lt green, 24 grey blocks.  

yarn with previous plan of action
I'll probably add texture in the form of cables and random garter stitch just to change things up, but we have the main knitting settled.  Crossing my fingers it'll be enough yarn.

 lilac, pink, and white

greens and grey
If not, I'll reach into my stash and make it work...

I've also been working on a skirt which is eluding completion due to the fact that I somehow thought it would be a cool idea to have a side seam zipper as well as side seam pockets.  Yeah.  I'll see how that works out.
Have a great weekend!

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Evening Solitude …

Posted on August 10, 2013 by | Comments Off on Evening Solitude …

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The Tabernacle – Martha’s Vineyard

- by Joan -


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The Afternoon in Pictures

Posted on August 10, 2013 by | Comments Off on The Afternoon in Pictures

Is there a better way to spend an afternoon that with the animals you love?

Nope. There is not.

Sabine & Neve

 Charley Pig

Churchill & Charley

Churchill & Charley

Cosmo

Cosmo

Roquefort & Neve

Patmore!

 

Basil & Neve

Isobel

 

 

Yard Birds!

Cini

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Beautifull Hydrangea …

Posted on August 9, 2013 by | Comments Off on Beautifull Hydrangea …

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- by Joan -


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Do you ever lie about your age?

Posted on August 9, 2013 by | Comments Off on Do you ever lie about your age?

Treats for the goats.

Today’s topic is a little out of left field, but this has been on my mind lately. Do you ever lie about your age?

It had never occurred to me to lie about my age until recently. I think I look great for my age, and I’ve finally started to appreciate that hard-earned wisdom that comes with experience.

But during an encounter with a flirty younger man in hotel bar a few weeks ago I started dreading the question (which actually never came up). I’m not sure exact numbers matter overmuch among adults but friends of mine that use online dating sites tell me that the men that turn up in their searches are almost invariably seeking women that are at least a couple of years younger than themselves.

Lying about my age probably isn’t an option for me. I’ve blogged about all my birthdays for years so a quick google search would out me in about 15 seconds. But also, I’m just kind of terrible at lying. Keeping track of my new birth year would be near impossible and I would fold like a cheap camera if anyone cross-examined me on the year I graduate from high school or college. Math on the fly is not my strong suit.

So how about you? Have you ever fudged your age? Fess up, y’all!

*I’m posting a picture of myself because someone asked in the comments the other day why there are never pics of me here and also because we’ve had a lot of text only posts here lately.

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Playground Memories

Posted on August 8, 2013 by | Comments Off on Playground Memories
The recent Lilla Rogers competition featured a playground theme...

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This Morning in Pictures

Posted on August 8, 2013 by | Comments Off on This Morning in Pictures

Well, it’s not oppressively sunny and brutal, but it’s pretty humid and yucky out.  The sheep aren’t doing too badly with it, but they’re still not totally comfortable.

I tried to do a little garden weeding and maintenance, but as you can see, it’s kind of a losing battle.

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But the sunflowers are doing well anyway.  From what I can tell, the sweet potatoes seem to be thriving as well.  Hooray for small miracles!

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Miss Adelaide is getting into the habit of getting stuck in the fence every morning.  Even though she has two giant tanks of fresh water easily accessible to her, she wants that water in the blue tub outside the fence.

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Pretty much sums up goats.

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Sweet Caramel.  Who is actually not so sweet anymore.  She’s decided she doesn’t like people.

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The infamous Milkshakes.

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Lovely Miss Hannah.

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Darling Isobel.

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Martin. As you can see, the Angora goats are looking forward to their fall shearing.

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Georgia.

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Well hello, there!

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Cassie.

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Alabama, hanging out in one of his favorite snoozin’ spots.

They are all ready for this wet, muddy summer to be over.  I can’t really blame them.  I’m kind of ready, too.  Their hooves grow ridiculously fast when it’s like this and it’s difficult to keep on top of when you don’t want to constantly round them up and stress them out in the heat.

Plus once it’s cooler and shade isn’t such an absolute necessity at all times, we can pen them into a smaller section and blanket the field with more grass seed.

For now let’s hope that what is left of summer doesn’t come back and smack with with any record heatwaves, shall we?


Tagged: Farm, Garden, Pets

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Tragedy or Comedy?

Posted on August 8, 2013 by | Comments Off on Tragedy or Comedy?

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All other things being equal (good writing, enthralling story, etc), which would you rather read—something serious, angsty, and tragic? Or something light, fluffy, and fun? Or a blend of both? (Since, really, isn’t that how real life works?)

Don’t forget to leave a link to your actual response (so people don’t have to go searching for it) in the comments—or if you prefer, leave your answers in the comments themselves!

And also–don’t forget, folks–sometimes WordPress’s spam filter seems to decide that a lot of perfectly valid answers are spam. I periodically check throughout the day for lost comments. But, PLEASE–if your comment doesn’t show, don’t post it four more times in the hopes that one of them will go through. I get very, very tired trying to sort out the duplicates (grin).


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