Yarn Along ~ Playing around

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

I was hoping that I was going to have at least one completed Lepidoptera sock to share with you but when we went camping just after last weeks yarn along I forgot to bring my pattern! Oh I was so disappointed :(

Not for long though. I still had a ball of yarn and a bunch of needles so I just sort of played around trying out how to knit cables. I'm not sure if I was doing it correct but I definitely got the cabled effect that I had been hoping for and all was not lost as I sucked up the amazing scenery and lounged at our oceanside campground while the kids played in the water :)

For my book this week I had finished Eating Dirt which was sooo good and I spent the week perusing magazines and especially enjoying my new copy of the Living Crafts magazine. Hopefully next week I'll have something much more interesting to share with you *grin*.

Happy knitting!

Rosina

Yarn Along ~ Cowl Licious

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

Here we are again for the weekly yarn along and I'm not sure what happened to my week! I know we weren't overly busy unless you count playing in the snow and flying kites as hustle bustle *grin*. Hubby was home for a couple of days though and that is always a joy since he is away for so much of the year working so that must have been it! I was in a cocoon of happiness with us all getting to be together *grin*.

I finished off the last little baby sock that I was knitting and I now have two completed pairs. There is still yarn left so I know I'll go back in a bit and knit up a couple more but I needed a break from those teeny tiny size 0 needles and something that was easy and needed minimal focus LOL.

You would think that with all the things I have faved in my ravelry queue it would be easy to pick something new but it was quite the opposite. I hummed and hawed, checked to see if I had needles that would work, sighed over my meager yarn stash and then fell in love again with this cowl. I had saved it planning to make it for my 8 year old daughter and then promptly forgot all about it *grin*.

It’s a one size fits all pattern but I’m using a larger 5.50mm bamboo circular needle and with the chunkier yarn I’m confident that this will fit her quite well. Plus I don’t plan on blocking it as I love the textured ripple of it as it is and it also helps to keep it on the smaller size :)

The chunky marble yarn by James C. Brett is gorgeous to the touch. It’s soft and squishy, 100% machine washable and I know my daughter is going to enjoy having it around her neck. Not at all itchy!

As for my book this week I actually haven't done a stitch of reading unless you count my lazy perusing of January's edition of the British Country Living magazine reading :) I just LOVE this magazine and all of the beautiful photos and articles.

I'm looking forward to seeing what you all are knitting this week!

Hugs,
Rosina

Yarn Along ~ Baby Socks

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

It seems like ages since I've joined in with Ginny's yarn along but then I haven't been doing to much knitting lately *grin*.

My sister is pregnant though and due to have a little boy around the end of April so I thought that I better get my knitting needles out again and get cracking on a few special baby gifts for her. I couldn't resist making another pair of the little Bambino socks that I made last year. In fact the adorable little pink and purple pair that I made the first time around were meant for her but now that we know it's going to be a boy I guess they just aren't going to do! So I picked up this lovely multi colored cotton sock yarn by Super Soxx and I'm halfway to having one pair finished :)

I know I raved about these socks the last time around but I've got to say it again that this pattern rocks. The toe and heel are worked in super easy 'short rows' and they just form the toe and heel cup so that there are no bulky seams when you finish off or anything.

For my book I'm reading The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua and it is HILARIOUS! I'm only a few chapters in so far but the mother is Chinese, born in America, but wants to raise her two daughters the Chinese way vs. the western way and the stories of music lesson practice and the battle of wills with her youngest daughter Lulu have me in fits of giggles as I read it because in some ways I see myself when my first son was born as I was very determined to raise the brightest, smartest and most achieving little boy possible. Over the years my parenting goals have changed tremendously but I can't help but find humor in the things that used to drive myself bonkers LOL. I'm really looking forwards to reading more of it :)

Hugs,
Rosina

Yarn Along ~ Lichen Kerchief

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

I've been pretty busy at my sewing machine the last couple of weeks so I'm so happy I finally have some more knitting to show you all after missing last week's yarn along :)

This pretty mauve cotton/linen blend yarn by Linsey has been in my stash but I hadn't used yet because it's more coarse and stiff than what I would usually knit with but I just love the color and while I was having a peak at what all my ravelry friends had hearted in the last little while I came across the Lichen Kerchief pattern that is perfect for my little girl :) You've got to LOVE ravelry!

I apologize for the dark photo of my knitting but I've been spending the last couple evenings knitting by the fire keeping nice and warm :) I just love to listen to it snap and crackle and its warmth is so welcome now that we have been freezing off and on outside at night. The kerchief has a neat little pattern of v-shapes interspersed throughout it using a simple twisted stitch and I think I'll probably get it finished up tonight and get the buttons on it sometime in the next couple of days so she can start using it. I'm in between books this week so no photo to share but I have a couple good ones, The China Study & Hunger Games, requested through the library so I hope they arrive soon :)

I can't wait to see how this kerchief fits and what you all have been knitting this week!

Hugs,
Rosina

Painting & Knitting

Underneath the tablecloth on my kitchen table is a permanent patch of butcher's paper securely taped down. Why you might ask? So that when the painting bug strikes my children which is quite often this mama can just whip off the cloth and and let them go wild without worrying about how I'm going to fix water marks and paint stains *grin*.

I seriously love this stuff! And it's pretty much indestructible :) If you have never used it there is one side made of brown craft paper which makes great wrapping paper that you can stamp and draw on and on the other side it has a water proof waxy coating that you can spill on, paint on, get marker all over and wash it all up with soap and water when you're finished :)

Today they were painting the backgrounds for a fun fall tree picture that will have them blowing paint through a straw tomorrow to make free form tree trunks and then we'll add colorful leaves using our pencil eraser ends. I just hope we can keep the paint from blowing out of the straws and onto the walls! Maybe we should to some practice breathing through the straws before I actually hand over the paint LOL.

While they happily painted away I pulled out my yarn swift and a couple of skeins of a pretty mauve colored cotton/linen blend of yarn that I've had put away for a rainy day :)

I think I've found the perfect project for it but you'll have to wait until tomorrow's yarn along post to learn more about it *grin*. Gotta love ravelry and free patterns!

Hugs,
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

Shawlette Success ~ Yarn Along

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

I just loved knitting this little shawlette.
It was amazingly easy and a great little foray into the world of lace knitting and it knit up so quickly :)

I haven't blocked it yet and I'm having second thoughts as to whether or not I actually want to. I sort of like the rippling wave along the bottom where the lace pattern is. What do you think?

I was also going to give it to my daughter right away but now I think I may keep it as a gift for christmas *grin*. So much indecision LOL. We were in the little yarn shop in the city together the other day and she was fawning over pretty little shawl pins and I thought it might be special to buy a nice pin for her and give it all as a gift. Oh and that is my little guy in the photos :) I paid him a quarter to model it for me and to keep it a super secret *grin*.

Now that I'm falling back into my knitting groove I wanted to get another project on my needles right away and I've chose a little baby sweater called the Tummy Warmer and it has the most adorable little honeycomb stitch in it that my grandmother used to knit all the time. I'm going to put it away for when my sister has her baby in the spring. I don't know if it will be a girl but I'm going with pink anyways because I couldn't pass up this soft baby alpaca yarn :)

The owner of the yarn shop in the city that I go to must find me quite amusing to watch as I shop for yarn. I never have a specific yarn in mind when I go in so she can never really help me find anything and I don't shop by color either. I actually go around and around petting all the wool LOL. Yes, I really did say petting and when I finally find one that feels the best I pick a color. Strange I know but it works for me *grin*.

This week my book is Deeply Rooted: Unconventional Farmers in the Age of Agribusiness by Lisa M. Hamilton and I can't put it down so far. The author writes about 3 farmers that are incredibly small scale in relation to todays super farms but they choose to stay the way they are. Her writing paints a picture in my minds eye so vividly that I swear I could nearly smell the cow manure LOL.

I can't wait to finish reading it and I'm looking forward to seeing what you all are knitting this week!

Hugs,
Rosina

Yarn Along

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

Well I still haven't decided on what big project I want to do next so in the meantime I'm having fun playing around and making spring chicks *grin*.

I found the pattern on ravelry (linked above) and used a double strand of wonderfully fuzzy Mohair by Marks & Kattens which is very forgiving if you make any booboos as the fuzz really hides all *grin*. I love how it turned out and my youngest two couldn't stop petting it! They are convinced that I need to make many more of them so that I can tuck them into their Easter baskets :)

Looking forward to seeing what you have been knitting this week!

Oh, I nearly forgot to share what I am reading right now! I just picked up a copy of The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. I'm barely into the first chapter but I'm really looking forward to reading about how she made her happy life even happier. Right now she's talking about getting more sleep so that she can have more energy to take on her project and that is definitely something I could use. I know I don't get near enough rest and if I take anything from her book it may be to just get to bed a couple of hours earlier each night so that I can wake up and really feel like I'm ready to tackle my day with a happy heart :)

Hugs,

Rosina

Yarn Along

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



The days since last week's yarn along seem to have just flown by and I really don't have a whole lot of knitting to show for them *grin*. I finally got into the city to the yarn shop and picked up some of this lovely brown wool by Smart Superwash for the gloves I'm making for my son's birthday :) I was looking for something that would wear and wash up well while still being wool and this was what they suggested and I have decided to go with the vintage Red Cross pattern for Gloves for Service Men.

I thought it was really cool to be knitting something that they would have made for all those men years ago and I think he'll find that really interesting to :) I think I'm going to need longer double pointed needles though as the stitches are just barely staying on as I go round and round and I've got to pay careful attention so that I don't accidentally push a needle out to far and drop a stitch or two when I'm not looking. Other than that so far the pattern is easy to follow and knitting up quickly. I just need to find more time! I don't even have a book to share this week :( I think it's all the baking I've been doing LOL. To much time with my nose in the cookbooks.

Can't wait to see what you all are knitting this week!

Hugs,
Rosina

Yarn Along

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

I am so very proud of myself this week *grin*.
I have finally finished one of the socks for the pair I'm making for my daughter! I absolutely encourage you to try this sock pattern if you have never tried making a sock before, never used double pointed needles or are a beginner like me. I am still amazed that I could create this without anyone showing me how :)

I ended up adding 23 additional rows of stockinette stitch to the body of the foot before shaping the toe for a total of 55 rows and it worked out to make the foot eight inches in length which fits her just perfectly. For the next pair I will definitely make them a little longer so she has more room to grow but I wasn't sure how much length the toe would add exactly and I didn't want them to turn out to be too big.

To finish off the toe the pattern asks you to 'graft' the toe which I had no idea what that meant so I googled it and found that others were using a 'Stockinette Stitch' to close the toes of their socks by weaving the tail of the yarn through the stitches for a seamless look with no bulk which is great for kids.

I found a great little youtube video which I've added below to show you how to do the stitch if you have never seen it before. After I got the hang of slipping stitches and doing the 4 stitch sequence correctly it was quite easy and I'm fairly happy with my first try. It looks a little funny in places and it may be because the yarn that I'm using is not entirely uniform in its thickness so once in a while you get an odd pattern but I'm hoping that now that I've done it once the next toe will finish up much more smoothly!

Hopefully next week I'll have to socked feet to share with you as I'm just about to the heel on the second sock :) On the book front I'm still reading Waldorf Education ~ A Family Guide and enjoying it very much.

I can't wait to see what you all have been up to this week!

Hugs,
Rosina

Yarn Along

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



I just had to make one more pair of these handwarmers *grin*. I just love them so much :) This time I used a combination of Mohair and wool, two strands together and they are so beautifully fuzzy, soft and warm. I really hope my cousin loves them as much as I do. They are a late Christmas present as I was hoping to bump into her during the holidays but into the mail they went yesterday morning so that she can enjoy them before spring arrives!



I was hoping to get a photo of my handwarmers with what we're reading but mother nature just wasn't cooperating with my photo shoot plans *grin*. I'm reading a copy of Waldorf Education ~ A Family Guide and the children and I are enjoying the sweet illustrations and stories of Brambly Hedge Winter Story by Jill Barklem.

The power went out again last night right after dinner so we spent a blissfully silent evening, blanketed in snowflakes and reading by candle light :)

Hugs,
Rosina

The Snow Queen

Earlier this month we participated in a seasonal handmade exchange and I wanted to share with you the beautiful 'Snow Queen' that we received :)

She is so pretty with her wool felt dress, leafy wings and seashell cap. She's the perfect addition to our little nature table and the kids just love how she sparkles as her wings glow beneath our nut tree :)

Inside the little package was also another shell and this pretty orange wool. Oh my how I love orange and yellows so this is just perfect. Thank you so much Sarah we just love everything so much :)

Now I just need to think of something really special to make with our new wool. Any suggestions?

Hugs,
Rosina

Loving My Wool Dryer Ball

Last week I bought my very first wool dryer ball and I'm LOVING it :) I stopped purchasing dryer sheets a while ago but I'm not to fond of static cling and frizzy hair *grin* so I knew I was going to have to replace them with something! I had heard about a nearby shop that was selling them so I thought that I would check them out and see what all the buzz is about.

There were two choices to pick from. There were ones that were made of tightly wound wool yarn that had been washed to felt it and there were the fancier ones like mine above that had a wound yarn inner core and then had a solid needle felted cover with different motifs on them. Longevity wise the needle felted one like the one I purchased is thought to last longer over the years and I do a ton of laundry so I opted for it, plus I'm a sucker for owls *grin*.



They work by bouncing around in your dryer and helping to move your clothing more and incorporate the warm air throughout the wet clothing thus cutting your drying time considerably. It is suggested that you use anywhere from 3 - 6 dryer balls in your load to increase their efficiency. With all of that bouncing around in there it also helps to soften your clothing taking out wrinkles and any stiffness thus taking the place of your dryer sheet!

So far I only have 1 and I'm going to pick up another 2 or 3 of them in the next couple of weeks but so far I've noticed that the static electricity is not as bad. So with more of them I should be static free and using less electricity. That's a big plus in my books *grin*. Most of them come unscented and you can drop a few drops of your favorite essential oils onto them and they will infuse your laundry with lovely floral scents without all of the harsh chemicals. I've scented mine with lavender essential oil right now and when the scent disappears I can either put more lavender or switch it up :)

1. ElasIdea 2. BuddhaBunz 3. BuddhaBunz
4. FiberOptions 5. LittleFriendsbySarah
6. DomesticallyGreen


You've got to love Etsy! Here are some of my favorites that I came across while searching for the dryer balls. They come in a varying range of sizes, prices and materials that they are made with and I thought this would give you a start on finding some that you love to :)

Hugs,
Rosina

Fantastic Book ~ Crochet Blocks

I want to share with you, especially for my fellow Granny A Day participants this fabulous book, 200 Crochet Blocks for blankets, throws & afghans by Jan Eaton that is jam packed full of fantastic blocks to make :)

This is just a sampling of what is inside!! There are different sizes and styles, sample blanket layouts using the blocks and photo instructions if you are a beginner and need help. Another bonus is that for each of the blocks there are a couple of different color combination photos as well to help out the color challenged individuals like myself *grin*.

I've been trying out a few of the blocks and here are two different ones that I have made so far :)

I've got such an eclectic mix of blocks going on so far that I'm not sure how I'm going to connect them all together for a blanket yet! LOL.

How about you? How are your squares coming along and do you have a favorite crochet book on blocks that you could share with me? I'd love to find more :)

~ Rosina

Road Trip

We went on a bit of a road trip this morning heading down island to Nanaimo. Hubby had to visit the Transport Canada office and have is captain's ticket renewed for the tug boats that he run so we thought we'd tag along :)

I really wanted to make a visit to Kool and Child which is a fantastic homeschool supply store there to pick up some human body books for my oldest son and a couple new printing workbooks for my daughter. I really should make a trip down by myself one day as there are so many things to look at. There's nothing like leaving your husband in the car while you head into what you might as well call a candy store for homeschoolers! LOL.

We squeezed in a little visit to Costco while we were there to. I love looking at all of the seasonal items and you can't beat their prices on books, but I managed to escape with a handful of groceries and nothing else. The kids on the other hand left with full bellies *grin*. How you might ask... well I think they hit all of the food sample gals twice going around the store! LOL.

They must go through a TON of samples during a day because everyone flocks to them like crazy and some people are down right aggressive about getting in front of everyone else just to get a little paper cup filled with tidbits before they're all gone!! Seriously, some people should really eat lunch before they go there :)

I packed along my yarn bag with my granny square project that I've been working on and got a couple of new ones crocheted up on the way home :) I don't know why I never thought to take my crocheting along with me while traveling before. It helps to make the time pass so quickly and I'm getting so much more accomplished!

~ Rosina