woods

Busy this weekend, running errands and crossing items off our fall to-do list. Sunday afternoon we were both beat, but the weather was so beautiful Bree and I both begged Garrett for one more visit to the dog park before it closes its gates for winter. This off leash dog park is right on the Mississippi and dogs can chase each other to their heart's content along the sandy shore. The leaves in this place have turned yellow and gold.

Bree's not much on socializing with other dogs. She's friendly and curious, but she's always more interested in other people. She'll let all the dogs sniff her, but she'll approach most people on the trail with kind eyes and a curious nose. Garrett and I looked back a few times to find her trailing along another group of people. As soon as we called her she turned round and raced back to us. Silly girl!

Here's my September hand spun sweater. Love every bit of this little number. I really made myself think as I was spinning this yarn and I spun it loose with as much loft as I could. Triple ply! It took ages to spin. Then, when I plied it back, I was careful to keep my tension in check and not over-spin it. The results were a soft, glossy, pliable yarn. Not too heavy. This is a CVM wool and romeldale blend from my parent's farm. We pot-dyed it ourselves a few years ago now. My mom had it in her etsy shop for ages and when no one was snagging it up, I snagged it myself.

Love the golds and the russets. If I could have changed anything about this project, I would have added more contrasting color to the top, I like it when it stripes a bit. Always room for experimentation and improvement!

xo Jill

nesting

I knit this little cap in a few days. It's a modified version of this pattern. I just added some stripes and purled each first row of new color.  I like how at each color join there's a thin strip of contrasting color. The hat looks good inside out too, but the i-cord and tassel don't show.

The nest above was built by a cardinal couple that we watched all summer. They hatched some baby cardinals a flew away late in the summer, leaving their handiwork behind.

I've been nesting lately as well - only six more weeks until baby arrives! We set up the nursery last weekend, but we still have piles of baby things to organize before we can call it complete. Last night I made a double batch of enchiladas and froze one pan for later.

I'm happy we're waking up to Friday tomorrow :)

xo Jill

socks

Socks socks socks and a sweater.

I found the sock pattern here - and I've already knit three pairs of these socks.  They're really easy, fast and intuitive - if you're familiar with knitting socks. I can finish one sock in an evening. My husband and I are huge Survivor fans and I knit half a sock each episode.

The sweater is a special project that used up all of a skein of hand spun that I'd been saving for over three years. It's a bit bulky, but it should keep our little guy nice and warm.

Well, I hope you are all surviving the work week. Steady as she goes, I'm plowing through. This weekend I have my first baby shower and my husband has promised to help set up the nursery and put the crib together.

Should be fun.

Hang in there everyone!

xo Jill