Tag: knitting

Done, just in time for Christmas

This is the sweater that I began as soon as the weather began to cool off enough to hold a sweater in my lap. It was knit to coordinate with the Hitchhiker scarf I made last summer and fall.

The project got sidetracked to knit the three sweaters for the grands and two other gifts that are wrapped for Christmas. My sweater pattern is a formula based on the Ann Budd Top Down Sweater book, changed to suit the stitch pattern that I wanted. I am pleased, I think. I’m still not certain about the 3/4 sleeve that I chose to do and may yet take the cuffs off and extent the sleeves to make it long sleeved. It is a nice warm wool and very soft Shepherd’s Wool, knit on a size 8 needle, yoke style with a single button closure at the neck.

Now I’m off to knit two pair of mittens for the Florida grands who will be moving here the first of the year.

December 20, 2014
Chores

After a weekend away, it was back to work. Bed and bath linens needed changing and laundering. Clothes from our trip also needed laundering. The house was in need of a serious vacuuming to rid it of a thick layer of dog hair and that also necessitated dusting. We definitely need to get our fall HVAC servicing so we have a new filter. They unfortunately aren’t ones we can go buy locally and the accumulating dust tells me it is time for a change. The kitchen was given a thorough cleaning and reorganization of a couple of drawers and cabinets. The laundry room where my outdoor boots are stored and where we feed the dogs was scrubbed. One of the closets and bedrooms being readied for daughter and grands is done. There are still some items in the other closet that I need to relocate and after Son #1 and family are here for Christmas, we will move the dresser from that room and eventually get twin beds so that the grands can share the room at least until they are comfortable living here.

We didn’t leave the house today except to let the chickens out this morning and lock them up this evening.

I finally got our Christmas cards addressed and signed, they will be mailed off tomorrow.

There has been no knitting or spinning today at all. I finished the body of my sweater in the car on the way to Norfolk on Thursday and started on the sleeves, two at a time only to discover after about 3 inches that I had picked up the wrong needle size. That was ripped out and begun again once we were at my Dad’s house and between my knitting there and on the way home, I have about 8 inches of both sleeves done and most of the decreases. If I can get the last few inches knocked out in the next couple of days, I will have another hand knit sweater to keep me warm this winter. I do need to go out and find a large button for the single button neckline and while looking, see if I can find some new buttons for my winter coat. While in Virginia Beach, DIL asked me if I could repair a pair of baby mitts that I had made when the 3 year old was an infant. For some reason, one of them unraveled about an inch and the I cord holding them together had frayed and nearly come apart. As I had my needles with me, I reknit the end of the unraveled mitt, cut and spliced the I cord and handed them back to her. She thinks they got in the laundry with a load of clothes and said she would hand wash them if they have any more kids that will wear them.

Instead of crafting, I’m off to a clean bed in a clean house, with my book.

December 15, 2014
Hurray, Schedule Met

Sweater # 3, the largest of the three, finished last night.

Sweater #2, for his little sister.

Sweater #1, for one of their cousins.

Her brother prefers sweatshirts, so he gets a Steeler’s T-shirt and Sweatshirt. His other grandparents are Steeler’s fans so also is he. The eldest grand wears sweaters, but insisted that he didn’t need one this year. Perhaps that is for the best as making another even larger might have me knitting on Christmas eve. It wouldn’t be the first Christmas eve that I was frantically trying to finish a gift. I remember an afghan, a smocked nightgown, and a set of cross stitched placemats with matching napkins. There is a long tradition of me biting off more than I could chew while raising a family and working full time, but somehow it always got done. I don’t remember ever having to wrap a not quite finished gift with the promise to get it finished. But now I’m retired and seem to have even less time.

The doll quilts and pillows. These for the same two little girls mentioned above.

The Florida family’s gifts will be mailed off today for them to open on Christmas day, then pack for their move to Virginia. Generally, we leave here on Christmas day and drive to visit them for a week at Christmas. Next year, we will get to witness the Christmas morning excitement, hopefully with them and our Northern Virginia family who generally spend Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with us before driving to visit her family on the coast.

The only other request is for mittens, but they weren’t asked for to be delivered by Christmas and will be made to match/coordinate with Sweater #2 for the granddaughter who will be moving here the week after Christmas. She is Florida born and raised and may find Virginia winter a bit chilly for a while. Her mittens will be my flight and drive back project, as she won’t need them until she gets here. I couldn’t get them done in time to mail today anyway.

Today she would need them. It is mountain snow flurrying with strong gusty winds that penetrate all my layers except when I am wrapped in a fleece and my barn coat. Today I needed my long johns under my jeans, but didn’t think it would be that cold.

For now, I will return to my sweater, the body is nearly done except for the bottom ribbing and knitting and adding the sleeves. That will be my project for the next few days and perhaps I will have it ready to wear by Christmas. It is after all a lovely shade of green.

There are two more hand knit gifts this year, but the recipients often read my blog, so they shall remain . . .?

December 10, 2014
Creeping Deadlines

This month is flying and so much yet to do. We still don’t have a tree. Maybe next week. As I was going to bed down the chooks last evening, and to collect 5 very cold eggs, I was being gently pelted by small frozen pellets. Our table sits in front of the French doors to the back deck and we watched during dinner as the stained wood was coated and turned white. We weren’t really expecting much in the way of bad weather last night, the Nor’easter that was pounding up the coast to New England wasn’t going to hit Virginia too hard and we were catching only the westerly edge of wind and moisture, chilled by our winter temperatures. Awakening this morning with it still heavily overcast, the cedars, pines, and other firs looked like they had been sugar coated.

All fog and frosting and totally enchanting. After feeding pups and me breakfast, it was chicken chore time and on my way back from giving them their morning portion of grains and kitchen scraps, a glance in the same general direction showed a beautiful mountain phenomenon.

The clouds breaking up but clinging to the hollows in the mountains, producing a floating ridge. The sun will quickly melt the frosting on the trees, but it made for a beautiful holiday scene.

Last night I knitted until my hands were cramped, but met my yesterday’s goal of getting the body of grandson’s sweater finished. Today’s goal is the hood and a desperately needed bath. It has picked up dog hair and dust as it has been lugged around the house and in the car in an effort to get it completed.

The hood is a simple 9″ long stockinette rectangle the width of the neckline plus a few stitches. It should be done in a couple of hours then stitching up the seam to close the rectangle into a hood, stitch up the underarms and a quick wash.

The missing gift that is in the mail was near here according to tracking, perhaps to arrive today, so the box of Christmas that must be mailed away should be ready by tomorrow.

Back to the knitting goal. Must get on it.

December 9, 2014
Progress

Today, after a trip to the fabric store, I finished the two doll quilts with pillows. These are my first two quilts that weren’t made from a kit and the tops are made from my scrap basket, many of the blocks from dresses that I made for one of the grand daughters who will receive a quilt for her babies for Christmas. That granddaughter is getting a doll bed for her babies from Santa. Each of these little three year old girls, different families, will also receive a little dress-able soft doll with doll PJs for them. The girls each have a hand knit sweater from us, very filled with love gifts.

Boxes, tags and another roll of wrap were also purchased today and the gifts that need to be sent off soon are wrapped, except for an item that hasn’t come in the mail yet and a grandson sweater that is close, but will still requires another couple of days of dedicated knitting. Hopefully the missing gift will arrive, the sweater finished and a box packed for mailing by mid week.

We still have some closet clean out to do, a tree to get and put up and the month seems to be speeding by. I better get back to the knitting.

December 7, 2014
An Odd Situation

We own two vehicles, though we rarely leave the house without each other, it is comforting to know that there is a back up available if one breaks down or needs servicing or on the rare occasion we go in different directions.
Son#1 and family, living in Northern Virginia with public transportation to anywhere they need to go, don’t have a motorized vehicle, bicycles yes.
About twice a year, to facilitate them being able to visit both us and DIL’s family on the other side of the state without totally breaking their budget as train and bus fares are much higher during the holidays, we loan them my car.
It seems strange to not be able to hop in my car and go off without too much thought. Of course I can take the other one, but I don’t like to leave Mountaingdad feeling stranded. He has the BBH but that is not transportation in a cold rain, dark of night or snow and ice, nor can he transport more goods than his paniers will hold. He is off alone right now, I am quite comfortable staying here by myself without a car and wonder why I don’t like leaving him alone. Perhaps the two extended hospital stays he has had since retiring here, both that should have been much shorter, but extended due to negative reactions to meds the hospital administered or due to his immobility after breaking his humerus near the shoulder. I don’t hesitate to go off to babysit or help one of our children for days at a time if he has a car or worry if he is away on his bike or in the car, even for hours or overnight.
Today I stay home and clean and wrap gifts that need to be mailed. To make the two doll quilts still waiting on my sewing table.

Two random scrap tops, but my backing fabric is too busy for them, so a trip to the fabric store must be made to finish the project.
Tomorrow, he will stay and watch football on TV while I go resupply our wrapping station with boxes, ribbon, tape and tags and get the fabric needed to finish the doll bed quilts. For now I will return to knitting and try to finish the third Christmas sweater, second The Wonderful Wallaby, this one for one of the grandsons, the one soon to be moving here. Pictures of it will be posted once it is finished. Since a package mailing is in order to them, I really must finish.

December 6, 2014
A quick peek

Last night I finished grand daughter #2’s sweater for Christmas, that leaves her brother’s sweater on the needles. It was saved for last because it is going to require more fiddling to get the size right. He is tall enough for a larger size, but so thin, he requires a smaller size. Daughter is sending me length measurements and I am using a smaller size to go around his thin frame. If his takes only slightly longer to make, I should have them all done and the mittens too by deadline. Granddaughter#2’s sweater was given a wash this morning and is now blocking on the dryer top.

The pattern is Cottage Creations Wallaby, the yarn Universal Yarn’s superwash worsted. This is the 5th or 6th time I have made this pattern for a grand, they love it and the areas that I found frustrating the first couple of times are a cake walk now.
Big brother, is also getting a Wallaby in a darker shade of blue.
Now I’m off on a round trip to Northern Virginia to pick up Son#1 and family for Thanksgiving. I hope the bad weather holds off until we are safely back here and tucked under warm quilts for the night. Tomorrow I bake pies and more rolls, I wasn’t happy with the first batch. The bread was perfect, the rolls not so much.

November 25, 2014
Market and Turkey Day

Yesterday, I was silent, it was a birthday, another senior one that I am ready to ignore. Mountaingdad took me to breakfast at our local diner, gave me an LLBean, leather Healthy Back bag and let me sit around and knit and read until dinner time, then took me for the best dinner at one of our local more upscale restaurants. Usually when we go out, we skip appetizers and desserts and I typically get soup and salad or a veggie plate. Not last night. We shared a Charcuterie plate with a delightful whole grain mustard and an onion/hot pepper jam. They had homemade mushroom stuffed ravioli with hazelnut butternut squash sauce, adorned with toasted pepitas, white raisens and asiago cheese. It was delightful. Makes me want to learn to make my own pasta. A glass of Malbec, and ended with a shared slice of New York Cheesecake and a scoop of pumpkin ice cream. I left stuffed and happy.

Today was both Farmers’ Market day and the day we drove to a county about an hour away to pick up our freshly killed and cleaned pasture raised turkey for Thanksgiving. I cleaned out a market stall of all of their remaining Yukon Gold potatoes and picked up some pork for us and for son to take home after the holiday. He is still hoping for a successful deer hunt while here and we have a few chores that we need help with, repairing a strip of log siding on the back of the basement and reattaching a downspout that has come loose and may be the cause of the strip of buckled siding. We also got a cord of seasoned hardwood dumped but not stacked and we need to do that in preparation for the cold and occasional power loss due to ice and snow.

Knitting is progressing on Granddaughter #2’s Christmas sweater, a Wallaby. It looks like a knitted hooded sweatshirt with the pouch pocket. I am about to finish the body and start on the hood. The sleeves are on as this is a bottom up sweater and most of the loose ends are woven in. I had lots of knitting time between yesterday and the two hours of car time going and returning for the turkey. Granddaughter #2 called me a couple of days ago and asked for mittens too. I thought I would have enough of the sweater yarn to make them, but now I don’t think so, so we stopped at one of my favorite yarn shops on the way to get the turkey and bought a skein of a tweedy yarn with the same color in it to make them.

We came home with a 14.5 pound fresh turkey, a 2.5 pound Boston Butt Roast, 2 pounds of ground pork, 4 chops, a pound each of Garlic Brats and Hot Italian Sausage.

Once this sweater is finished, I need to make her big brother one of a different color, then I will tackle her mittens and hope it all gets done in time for their Christmas.

Today was a balmy day compared to the recent weather, tomorrow is to be about the same but rainy, so I will tackle cleaning up my craft area, vacuuming the whole house, make guest beds, and make bread and prebake the rolls for Thanksgiving Dinner. Tuesday morning, I will drive to Northern Virginia, pick up son’s family once they are done with their school and work days and we will all drive back to the mountains for some family time.

Love our life in the mountains, our local products, and my ability to make warm cozy sweaters and mittens for family.

November 22, 2014
Sunday Thankfulness

Last night it got cold, down in the 20’s cold. The morning was bright and sunny and the two together created frost shadows.

Every trip out to the garden area reveals a few more pumpkins. I think I have harvested in the neighborhood of 100. At this point, there is a small pile collected on the edge of the garden to throw to the chooks. They aren’t producing many eggs lately. Of the dozen hens, we are only getting 4-6 eggs each day. One is in a serious molt, one just got over her broodiness, but that leaves 10 that should be giving me a few more than I am getting. It is enough for us, but not really producing for my neighbor and knitting buddies.

On the knitting front, Granddaughter 1’s sweater for Christmas is progressing well.

The pattern is In Threes which has a cap sleeve, but I am modifying it to add long sleeves. I need to find some buttons and finish the sleeves. I still have two more kids sweaters to get knit before Christmas. One of them is another 3T, so it won’t take too long, but the other is for an almost 8 year old and it will take a bit more time.

We are due for two beautiful days before we are faced with a few very cold days due to the Polar Vortex headed our way. I need to get some extra hay in the coop and figure out how I am going to keep their water thawed. The heavy barn coat has been moved back to the utility room near my gum boots for dealing with the coming winter woes.

November 8, 2014
A Crisp Late Fall Day

The morning is crisp, actually right around freezing right now, but the sun is warming the day back to normal fall weather after our Arctic chill of the weekend. Even on days like this when the sun is out, the little alcove on the south deck is toasty, sheltered from the NW breeze. The view from the porch swing is stunning, though most of the leaves are gone now and the trees bare until spring. It is a great place to sit with a cup of tea and watch the chickens free range and look out for deer and turkey or listen for the hawks call.
The morning chores are done, fresh hay in the coop, chickens fed, their water and the garden hose thawed. I guess I should bring it in for the winter though that makes chicken chores more difficult as I then have to haul the 5 gallons of water from the yard hydrant to their run.
In spite of the shortening days and frigid nights of late, I have another broody girl. She has plucked her breast feathers as the weather chills and I fear for her winter health. She isn’t being allowed to sit eggs, I am removing them several times a day from the coop instead of just at lock down time. I’ve tried removing her repeatedly during the day, set a bag of ice under her, removed her to a perch at night, blocked off her preferred box (she just moves). Today I will dip her backsides in cold water if the temperature rises enough and put her in the meat bird pen alone for the day.
Romeo has nearly finished his molt and doesn’t look nearly as ragged as when he arrived. His neck feathers are glossy and darker than the hens and his tail feathers are coming back in. He isn’t as beautiful as Cogburn was but still a fine looking rooster and calm and nonaggressive toward people.
The greens in the garden perked back up, a mess of them and a roasted pumpkin are on the menu for tonight.
The reknit of the sweater is progressing and last night I ordered yarns for grands sweaters for Christmas.
It looks to be a good first half of the week, perhaps I’ll finally get the garlic planted or there won’t be any next year.
Lovin’ life on our mountain farm.

November 3, 2014