What a Difference a Day Makes

This winter has been a weird one.  And I know many of you are experiencing similar extreme weather fluctuations too.

Sunday was in the 50s here, which is unseasonably warm, so we spent some time outside enjoying the sunshine.

Jake practicing on the roping dummy

Festus and Lotte soaking up the sunshine

Cord being Cord

Most of the drifts have become runoff.  It sure is nice to see some water in this dry country!

But not ALL the drifts are gone!

If you look closely you can see the drift is still almost as tall as our picnic table
(left, just below the white handrail)

El Gato

Yesterday the snow and cold came back.  I love this weather, but when it gets too cold I get to take refuge inside our nice warm home.

Sometimes I feel bad for the horses out in the cold, but they could go into the barn if they wanted.  So don't feel too sorry for them!

Hanging out in the snow

G

Stash Blaster: Week 4

I have been a bit uninspired this past week.  Maybe "uninspired" is the wrong word...more like "tired and hurting".  Overall I am truly enjoying the pregnancy, but the heartburn, difficulty sleeping, swollen hands, & general exhaustion are starting to take its toll.  I had my 30 week appointment on Friday and while my doctor was trying to time the heartbeat we laughed about how Baby was one of her most active patients ever!  So I guess the nickname Wiggles, which I gave him/her a few weeks ago, is pretty accurate.  ;)

It's fun to try to predict Baby's gender; last week I was convinced it was a girl, this week (and through most of my pregnancy) - a boy.  I also enjoy watching Wiggles push against my skin when moving around, and I can't wait to play with those little toes and fingers!

30w3d.  I didn't realize how big we'd gotten until seeing today's pictures!

It's REALLY starting to set it that there is going to be another person in our family in just a few short weeks!  We've been working on decluttering the house and garage on the weekends to make room and I've started washing and putting away things in preparation. And hopefully soon we'll have space to move the crib out of the living room and into the bedroom where it belongs!

Heirloom crocheted blankets made by Jake's grandma, AMH flannel blanket (red & orange) by Melanie,  animal flannel blanket from my awesome Sewing Summit roomie Janice.  All washed and ready for Baby!

As far as this week's Stash Blaster project:

Luckily I had a WiP that I started a couple weeks ago that I was very excited to finish. I've been working on a pattern for a chevron cowl and until now have been using 1 skein of chunky yarn to test it. I decided I also wanted a longer cowl that I could double around my neck made with worsted weight. So I went through my stash and found 2 skeins of Madeline Tosh 80/10/10 (MCN) worsted in Honorine.

Chevron cowl - pattern coming soon!

Honorine is a gorgeous (and rare) color that reminds me of the grape scented marker I used as a child.  I kept imagining I was smelling grape while I was knitting this up.  This was my first time knitting with this base and it was a wonderful experience.  The 10% cashmere really steps up the luxury of this yarn! 

It's time for you to link up your finished projects from the past week.  Remember, all linked projects from January will be entered into a giveaway drawing next Monday!

Stash Blaster: Week 3

I have a button!!  I've been scouring the interweb trying to find a tutorial that I can understand and finally found this one at Between Naps on the Porch.  If you are html impaired like me this is the perfect tutorial for ease of use and explanation as to what I'm actually doing.  That being said, the button works for me, if for some reason it doesn't work for you please let me know and we can troubleshoot together.  :)

This week I decided to pull out my recently thrifted crock pot and attempt some yarn dyeing.  I was so excited with the results of my first attempt that I grabbed some roving that I'd stashed and kept going.

100% wool roving, dyed and ready to spin

Keep an eye on my shop for new hand dyed handspun yarns later this week.  And perhaps even some roving for you spinners and needle felters!

I also knit up a little cap for Baby Tuckey using some leftover yarn from my Blair cardigan (which I still need to re-bind off and find the right buttons for).  Even though this hat is green it reminds me of a pumpkin, I think it's the knot on top, so I named it the Pumpkin Head hat.  It's super stretchy and long so it should fit Jelly Bean for several weeks, perhaps even months!

Seaglass Pumpkin Head

Next to a can of pop for size comparison

Full length view

Now it's your turn, link up your projects from the past week so we can root each other on and continue blasting our stash!

If you haven't finished any projects this week that's ok, show me what you've been working on.  But be on the look out for a giveaway in 2 weeks.  All linked up finished projects completed during the month of January will be entered into the drawing.  They can be 15 year old WiPs, just so long as you finished it in 2013!

Exciting Announcement!

So I have a new link on my sidebar now.  See it?  Between Blog Archive and My Favorite Bloggers.  Yeah, right there.  I have an Etsy shop!!

Phone screenshot of my shop.  So exciting!

You really have no idea how big of a deal this is for me.  I've been talking about opening an online shop for a couple years now, but always had anxiety over it because I could never quite find my niche.  Until I started spinning.

I mentioned back in November that I thought it might make for a good SAHM business, but then I ended up taking a little break from spinning.  Mostly because our Christmas tree was blocking access to my spinning chair.

Now I'm back at it and have fallen in love with spinning all over again!

The Doctor No. 10 Polwarth wool, dyed by the talented Storied Yarns

I have just the two yarns listed right now, but I have one skein currently dyeing in the crockpot and more yarn ready to ply on the wheel tonight.

Springtime thick and thin Targhee wool, dyed by Mountain Colors

And to celebrate my grand opening use coupon code NEWADVENTURE to receive 20% your purchase!

Stash Blaster: Project 2

Welcome to Week 2 of the Stash Blaster Challenge!

Well, I had intended to finish the kitchen mat I showed you last week, but I wasn't up for sewing until today and that was to sew a couple bee blocks for Jacey.

Instead I knit up a couple pair of socks.  One for me and one for Jelly Bean.

The first pair is I Heart Toe Up socks from Socks From the Toe Up by Wendy Johnson.  Knit with Brown Sheep Wildfoote in Sonatina.  I originally intended to do 1-2 heart repeats per day and finish sometime near Valentine's Day, but it was such a quick and easy pattern to memorize that I just kept going and got in finished in just a few days!

Valentine's Socks

Note:  If you follow me on Instagram I'm sorry for the repeat photos. I forgot to get better pictures in the daylight this weekend.

I'm really starting to get the hang of toe-up socks and love Judy's Magic Cast On and a short row heel so I decided to bust out my hoarded Hedgehog Fibres Copper Penny sock yarn and make a coordinating pair for the little one.  I knit most of the sock in a plain stockinette, but added one heart near the cuff. 

And there's still plenty of yarn left for another pair of adult socks!

So tiny!!  Shown on my Kindle for size comparison.

These took me just a few short hours to finish.  I'm sure there will be many more pairs of handknit baby socks in my future!

Side and top view

In other baby news, the crib arrived this week while I was on my way to my 28 week appointment.  The box was huge so it may have stayed on the porch for a couple days until the threat of a major snow storm forced us to bring it in.  ;)

Luckily it was a piece of cake to put together!  It's HUGE so we have to rework our plan for where it's going to go, but it definitely is making things seem even more real now.

It's time for you to link up your finished projects from the past week.  How did you do?  Did you finish your intended project?  Or did you get distracted by other pretties like me?

Stash Blaster Project 1!

Thanks so much to everyone who gave me suggestions on what to name this little stashdown challenge!!  There were some great choices, but "Stash Blaster" from Bree was definitely my favorite.  Thank you for the suggestion Bree!  Your DS notions bag will be in the mail later this week.

I did have a couple people ask if they could participate without a blog.  Sure!!  If you don't have a blog I would suggest opening a Flickr account, if you don't have one already.  That way you can still share your finished projects.  There will be random prizes throughout the year, so you'll definitely want to link up!

I'm trying to create a button for anyone who wants to share on their blog, but between my lack of knowledge of html and the internet going in & out all night I'm over it.  I'll give it another go later this week when I'm fresh.  In the meantime you can see a picture of the button here.  :)

Now onto the fun stuff!

Project 1 of Stash Blasters goes to Baby Tuckey.  A few months ago I found some super lush merino wool at The Prairie Stitcher in Douglas, the town where my doc is.  I chose to make a Sheepy Sack since I intend to cloth diaper (wool makes a great diaper cover from what I hear).  Also, April can still be very cold and snowy here so I'm making sure I have plenty of warm newborn clothes!

This was a very quick knit and was able to finish it in just a few hours.  I was a little worried that I wouldn't have enough yarn, but I worked it from the top down and shorted the bottom ribbing by just a couple rows.  It actually worked out perfectly and looks like it'll be long enough, at least until summer arrives.

Sheepy Sack: Made with Trabajos del Peru by Plymouth Yarn, 100% extra fine merino wool

And here's a little sneak peek of Project 2.  A kitchen mat!  I used a charm pack of Domestic Bliss and a small pack of 2" hexis.  I will be squaring off the edges, adding borders, then quilting.  I have lots of ideas for giving the kitchen a little kick and I thought this would be a fun project to start with!

Now it's your turn!  Link up your Stash Blaster project from the last week.  If you haven't finished yet, don't worry, there's always next week!