Yarn Along ~ Lepidoptera

A post of my current read and what is cast on my needles ~ Inspired by Ginny over at {Small Things}

I finally feel like it's that time of year to pick up knitting needles again and found this great lacey sock pattern called Lepidoptera :)

I had bought this soft alpaca yarn earlier this spring thinking it was going to make a great baby sweater for my sister but alas she had a little boy and the pink was definitely not going to do! So into the yarn stash it went until last weekend when I finally found the perfect use for it. A soft pair of socks for my daughter. 

And she is just itching to get her feet into them! We are constantly having little 'try on' sessions and I haven't even got one sock half finished yet LOL. It's a super easy pattern though. Nothing tougher than making a few extra stitches and it has my all time favorite heel to... short rows. Yay!! If I can avoid doing the regular heel flap type sock heel I will and in this pattern she simplifies the short row process even further by taking out all of those yarn overs that you normally find making it faster than ever and there is a video tutorial to go along with it so you can follow along if you happen to get stuck.

For my book I'm reading Eating Dirt: Deep Forests, Big Timber, and Life with the Tree-Planting Tribe by Charlotte Gill and it is a must read!!  It's the true story of her life as a tree planter here in BC for 20 years and was absolutely fascinating to read about areas right here in my backyard and get a peak at what their lives are really like as we see them so often around this neck of the woods and I must admit I've always wanted to know more about them. Her writing transports you instantly into the thick of the BC rainforest and leaves you wanting more :)

I'm looking forward to seeing what you all have been knitting and reading this week to!

Happy knitting,

Rosina

Yarn Along ~ Bambino

A post of my current read and what is cast on my needles ~ Inspired by Ginny over at {Small Things}

I am so in love with this little baby sock pattern :)

I had to temporarily put down the baby sweater I was knitting as I'm missing the necessary circular needle for the next step so in the meantime I decided to use up the leftover yarn from the shawl I finished last week and make a pair of these adorable socks.

There's just something about sock knitting that is so darn addictive! For me it's when I get to the heel, working the rows and watching as the cup of the heel emerges. From that point on I just can't put down my needles as I can't wait to see how it all comes together *grin*. This particular sock had something new to me. The heel and toe were both constructed from the same identical 'short row' stitch pattern and then as the toe flipped up it was finished off with the coolest zig zag stitch of slipped knits and purls to create the finished seam across the toes in the above photo. There is absolutely no bulk inside the sock to bother delicate little baby tootsies *grin*.

The only tricky part I found was getting used to the little size 0 DPN's. Those suckers are tiny!! They flexed quite a bit as I knit and I was a little worried that I would snap them but it all worked out great and I've just about finished up the second sock so that I can go back to my little baby sweater for next week :) I'm still reading Deeply Rooted to. I just haven't had enough time to read this week and I'm dying to find out how it ends!

Can't wait to see what you all are knitting up this week :)

Hugs,
Rosina

To Market We Go

{photo by cleber via flickr}

The children and I had a lovely day today with an outing to the farmer's market. The sun seemed to shine just for us as we headed off down island :)

I never know what we might find at the market and actually had no plans to really purchase anything except for a few cookies for the kids as we wandered around the field checking out all of the vendors but I just couldn't resist all of the lush tomato plants that greeted us as we entered *grin*. I ended up with two bushy little heirloom polish paste starts that I just had to have because they are the exact variety that are giving me a really hard time here at home. For some reason those ones just won't grow for me so of course these would be the perfect replacements *grin*.

There were oodles of fresh greens, baked breads, jams, meats and more. I found some lovely red peppers and long english cucumbers grown not far from where we live and had to get a few of each. The ones in the supermarket have been from Mexico lately so it is such a wonderful treat each spring to find so many different vegetables grown right here on the island. I love it!

Just when I thought we had seen about everything I found a small table full of the softest alpaca fleece you had ever touched in hues of creams and browns :) I just wanted to take it all home with me *grin*. Thankfully my wallet wouldn't allow a purchase today but I did take a business card and she has given me a good price on a pound of uncarded fleece that I can process myself. I will have to put away a little bit of money so that I can get it the next time we are down. I can't wait to spin it!

I've been reading Sara's journey this spring over at farmama of how she has taken the raw fleece from her own sheep and scoured them, picked, carded, spun and then knit it into clothing for her family and this is something that I've longed to do for quite some time. Hubby and I are planning to build a lean to for the cows this year and I think I'm going to have to put on a space for a few sheep... I haven't told him yet but he knows I'm crazy for farm animals LOL.

On the topic of Hubby, I know some of you asked me to update you on how he's doing but I actually haven't heard from him since we spoke late Thursday night. I know he's surrounded with lots of help so he's in good hands. I just have to try and wait patiently for him to get phone service again so I can find out what's happening now :)

Hugs,
Rosina