yarn along (02)

I think we got about 8 to 10 inches of snow through the afternoon yesterday and into the evening. It's been blowing around, eluding the shovel of my husband and our friendly neighbors who have all put an effort into digging the neighborhood out.

It's fun to see snow of the rooftops as I snuggle in the house with our little one, but one cannot always stay indoors in February. I had an appointment at the clinic this morning, so I had to dash out of the house quickly this morning to clear the snow off the car (even though my husband did so at 6 am) it was covered with snow again.

Our baby has been such an exciting blessing that I haven't even mentioned some of the hard parts about being a mom. (Like having a c-section after 59 hours of labor and then having a blood clot in my leg a few days after being released from the hospital.) All of these things are seem really minor and very manageable after struggling with infertility. Other people deal with and have to overcome a lot more, so my husband and I have been very grateful that my recovery from my c-section has been good and that my blood clot is responding to treatment. I'm on blood thinners for the rest of February, thus my appointment at the clinic this morning - to make sure my blood is in the right range. Modern medicine is a miracle.

I am loving every moment of knitting this little sweater. The pattern is "Flax" by Tin Can Knits. The yarn I'm using has such a spread of color and color combinations that each new row makes an interesting contrast to the one before it. I couldn't stop taking pictures :) :) :)

What am I reading? I started this book last night. I saw it on Julie's blog this summer. I really liked the cover (I'm a bit of sucker for those things) so I decided to give it a try. I'm about 20% into it and I'm still now sure how the plot is going to develop, but it is a curious beginning indeed. I'm also thinking about finishing this quilt that I started a few years ago, so I have a stack of quilting books beside my piles of yarn. Jenny's star quilt has inspired me. I'm also eyeing the Freckles quilt out of Scrap Republic, could this be the next quilt that I make (that takes me three years to complete)?

Only time will tell.

Lots of doing and dreaming this week.

xo Jill

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

some finishing touches

The weekend is here! It feels so good to take the time to relax and move slowly. Both my husband and I had a busy work week, so it was nice to snuggle in bed for an extra hour. Look who jumped into bed with my husband after I got up to make the coffee this morning. Bree usually sticks pretty close to me, but she took advantage of this open spot as soon as I vacated it.

August is for tomatoes, this I know. I've been making bruschetta, salsa, BLTs and omelets. This week I tried my hand as some homemade tomato and basil soup. It was good, but I definitely have some ideas about how I can improve my recipe next time. I think I need a sieve to get the tomato seeds out. That was my only complaint. It sure smelled good as it simmered on the stove.

Lots of caps and booties flying off the needles. I think it's because I have so many bits and odds and ends of yarn. I love that none of it is going to waste - the yardage is perfect for baby-sized hand knits. 

Hope you are all enjoying the weekend.

Jill

wool + zinnias

Lots of wool around here - and flowers. 

I picked up a hank of some hand spun yarn that I made a few years ago and knit a pair of ankle socks. I Navajo plied this yarn so it was a bit twisty in some places. I also noticed that the size of the yarn changed from sport weight on the first sock to worsted/chunky on the second. The extra twist in this yarn should make the socks I made more durable, that's why I chose to make socks with this yarn. I only had a few yards left over when I cast off the last stitches. I will enjoy wearing these socks this winter.

You will be seeing a lot of blue yarn in my upcoming posts because we found out we're having a boy. I couldn't be more excited and I've already got a small mountain of boy appropriate yarn in my knitting basket. The little sweater I posted above has been a real stash buster. I need to find the perfect buttons.

This summer has been a dream come true. I feel so grateful to get the chance to knit a sweater for the baby that I'm carrying. I really didn't know if I would ever get this opportunity. I may be going a bit overboard, but I don't care. There has been a lot of wool piling up around here over the years, also a lot of hopes that have finally been answered.

Thanks for reading.

Jill