october trail ride

My husband had some training over the weekend so the kids and I went up to my parent's farm and spent Friday and Saturday night.

We went for a trail ride on the four wheelers on Saturday on some trails that I hadn't been on for over five years. The trees were beautiful. My parents' have a lot of yellow maples on their property, so there comes a point every autumn where the woods are paved with golden leaves.

I finished the socks for my nieces, now I think I'll start on another pair for my son.

We are moving out of our home at the end of October to a different house outside the city and a bit closer to family. Lots of changes around here!

september socks

September flew by in a blur. Perhaps it was because my husband and I were searching for a new home, so every night after he got home from work we were meeting our realtor. We had to bring both of the kiddos, so sometimes it was a very trying affair - for everyone involved.

After three purchase agreements and on offer that fell through we finally did find a house. We move at the end of this month.

This has put me into major cleaning and packing mode. It's nice that I'm on maternity leave, but I also imagined that I'd get more knitting done.

The finished socks above are for my niece. The ball of yarn next to them is for a pair of socks that I intend to knit for my oldest niece. We can't leave anyone out. The other project is the "Inspira Cowl" which is a free pattern on ravelry. That was a really fun knit!

I'm happy to be posting a blog again. I've learned a new way to manage my photos on my phone and transfer them to my computer in order to post them on my blog.

xo Jill

P.S. Joining Nicole of Frontier Dreams for her linkup :) :) :)

made with love

About two weeks before Cora was born I realized that I hadn't made her a baby blanket yet, so when I put my son down for a nap I spent some time cutting out enough squares to make one of the 5 square by 5 square baby quilts that I love so much. I pulled out my collection of Anna Maria Horner fabric that I'm also using for my Dream Punk quilt.

So much fun!

The fabric with the flying bird print is a JoAnn purchase that I've been saving - just hoping that I would have another baby and that I could use the squares I saved to make it. I love the free spirit of the flying birds and the fresh blue color.

I didn't have enough of the magenta fabric to make a complete border, so I used two different fabrics for that. I love the scrappy feeling of this quilt. It just came together and I know the story of how it all worked out.

The pretty baby sweater is called Korrigan. This one took a little bit longer to make than the quilt. I used hand painted yarn from Rivers Edge Fiber Arts. The colorway is Lilac. This pattern takes a fun twist on cables. It's knit from the top down, so you do the most difficult knitting at the start of the project, then the rest is stockinette. I have a feeling I will be making a few more of these for Cora as she grows. I just love this pattern.

xo Jill

4 weeks

Baby Cora.

It's hard to believe four weeks have gone by since her birth!

I will be on maternity leave through November and I'm looking forward to getting more of a handle on things so I can also spend some time knitting and crafting. Baby girl currently takes up a lot of my attention - as she should.

More posts to come.

xoxo Jill

thank heavens

 

 

A few weeks ago we found out we are having a baby girl! I was totally stunned and excited because I thought for sure we were having another boy. Needless to say, knitting has entered a totally different level for me. I'll have more projects to share soon!

 

Happy Spring!

 

Jill

little hands

It's been a colorful week around here. I snapped those pictures of the sunset last night. The prettiest one we've had in a while.

I'm working on a new project called Inspira Cowl. It's a free download on Ravelry. I'm using an assortment of Lion Brand Amazing yarn. It shifts colors like Noro yarn, but it doesn't cost as much. I got each skein for around four dollars with a coupon at JoAnn Fabric. It's fun to start an inexpensive project and get good results. If you're on Ravelry there are a ton of projects using this yarn, so it's got a good track record. I made mittens with it last winter. They've gotten a bit knobby, but I still like them.

If I have extra yarn I'm going to make a hat for my son based on this same pattern. I think the hat pattern actually came before the cowl pattern.

Have a good rest of the week.

Jill

valentines

The weekend before Valentine's Day. My husband had to work so the little guy and I stayed home and played with our blocks - his were plastic, mine were cotton. :) :)

We made some valentines too!

I read a good book on Saturday: "The Girl Before" by J.P. Delaney.

Hope your Valentine's day was sweet.

Jill

P.S. Linking up with Nicole at Frontier Dreams!

hockey boy

We went out to the lake on Sunday to watch my husband and his buddies slip around on the ice playing boot hockey. Logan liked being pulled around on the sled and holding a hockey stick.

He's been really keen on putting his boots on in the house and tromping around. He can finally keep his balance and thinks he's a big boy.

Not sure if we're going to have a hockey kid here, but it sure is fun watching him grow up!

xo Jill

P.S. those are the sweet little hand spun mittens I knit him this fall.

quilting weekend

Last weekend I went up north for a quilting weekend with my sister. My mom watched our kids so that we could spend the day together with no interruptions - just a hot iron, beautiful fabric and some taco chips.

I'm working on a quilt that will be a gift for my sister-in-laws wedding this September. It's made from Anna Maria Horner's fabric - my first time working with her designs. I ordered the entire quilt kit from Craftsy - it's called Mod Corsage.

It's Monday tomorrow - Happy work week!

xo Jill

new year revival

Try as you may to pose them and sit them just right, it's always the candid shots that are the most appealing.

We have been knitting, baking and living away here. I've just not been posting a lot because first I lost the do-dad that transfers photos to my computer and then I lost the photo card to my my camera. Then I just got lazy, or was it tired chasing after a one year old? Both!

Logan turned one this past Thanksgiving day. It was a good day. He's walking and running now and saying "dada" and sometimes "mama."

Happy belated New Year to everyone!

Jill