A Fun Challenge for the New Year

Since I started sewing (3 years ago) and knitting (last year) I have built quite a stash of fabric & yarn.  It's always nice to have a strong stash for various projects and swaps, but now that Baby is on the way I need to make some space.

Young Einstein for Baby Tuckey using Madeline Tosh LEDK in Deco Green

So I'm creating a stashdown challenge for myself.  And anyone else who'd like to join in. Every week in 2013 I will make something for me or my family from my stash.  It could be clothing, toys, something for the house, or even something for the dogs (they could really use some new beds!).  Notions purchases; interfacing, buttons, zippers are allowed to complete projects and the occasional special fabrics & yarns - Hello Constellations! - will be allowed as I use up or destash what I already have.

Each week's challenge will run Monday-Sunday & the finished project and a linky party, for those who want to play along, will be posted the next day.

Kickstarter Project 0: Literary Genius e-reader cover

Here's where I can use your help, I need a name for this challenge.  I've thought about simple ones like "Stashdown 2013" or "Living Handmade", but I'd really like a name that I'm not totally annoyed with in 3 months.  So, I'm doing a little giveaway.  Leave suggestions for a title for my challenge and the one I choose will receive this boxed bottom zippy pouch I made.  

Notions pouch made with DS Quilts fabric

Interior

My new official brand!

Side view

 The winner will be chosen and notified on January 2nd.  Thanks for your help!!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Jake, Baby Tuckey, & me!

We're at 26 weeks now and Jelly Bean is just as wiggly as can be!  The funny thing is Jake has barely got to feel the movements because every time he gets near me Baby calms down.  I have a feeling it'll be the same way when he/she arrives.   :)

Jake is wearing his new Brownstone sweater that I knit for him.  It is a little too long, I added length because he has such a long torso, but I think when I blocked it it got even longer.  Next time I Soak it I'll probably throw it in the dryer for a few minutes at the end of drying.  It still needs a couple buttons, which Jake is going to make from antler tips, but looks great on him as is.

We had a nice quiet day, just the two of us (plus some Skyping & phone calls) and Jake made a delicious steak dinner!

Now I'm off to figure out my new serger before bedtime!!

24 Weeks

Well, I had some nice stuff all written up & Blogger was telling me that it was saving my work, but when I went to publish it froze up.  When I finally got it working again all that was left was this picture.  Grrr!

Oh well, I guess you get a shorter update than I had intended because I can't remember what I wrote before.  :(

Baby is very wiggly & Jake has no gotten to feel the kicks a few times.  Tomorrow is my 24 week appointment, after the January appointment I will be going in every 2 weeks.  I can't believe how quickly this is going by,  I'm doing my best to appreciate every ache and frustration because I know it's all for a wonderful cause.  We're really looking forward to meeting this baby!   <3

Wyoming Wildlife

A couple weeks ago I posted these tweets....

Had a great drive to town this morning! Saw 2 golden eagles, a herd of antelope, herd of mule deer, large flock of geese, & a pair of...

— Sharon Tuckey (@aprairiesunrise) November 11, 2012

...horses "parked" at one of the churches. Doesn't get much better than that! #ranchlife

— Sharon Tuckey (@aprairiesunrise) November 11, 2012

....but didn't have a chance to get pictures of these amazing sights because I was on my way to the Make it With Wool day.

Since then I have been trying to make up for it by taking my camera everywhere I go.

Enjoy!

Geese migrating over Scottsbluff, NE

Antelope by the county road 

Mule deer

Blue roan cow at feeding time

The other day 

Tonight's sunset

El Gato, the mustang

Spinning Yarn

Ever since I learned to knit last year I've been interested in spinning too.  Earlier this year I bought a drop spindle & some roving from Brown Sheep.  I got a quick lesson from one of their employees, came home and started spinning.  I loved it, but it just took a really long time to finish!

This summer we went to the state fair and there was a woman demonstrating on her spinning wheel in the quilt building.  Jake got to talking to her while I looked around & when I found him she offered to let me try her wheel for a bit.  I caught the fever!

We looked at wheels online for a few weeks, but I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted.  Then I discovered that many shops rent spinning wheels!  At the Scottsbluff fiber fair I rented a SpinOlution Bee Travel Wheel.  It's a nice wheel, but wasn't right for me.  

Kromski Minstrel

I returned that one and rented a Kromski Minstrel instead.  I love it!!  This is definitely the wheel I will be getting, and hopefully Jake will be spinning on it soon too!

I've also found some great indie dyers who come up with beautiful colorways...

The Tenth Doctor from Storied Yarns (left) and Demon from Midnight Designs

Waiting to be plied

The buffalo roving was spun for a shop in Dubois (Wyoming).  It was kinda tricky to spin because of the short kinky fibers, but it was fun.  I hope to be able to sell some of my handspun yarns in the future.  I think it would make for a great SAHM business.  We'll see how it goes!

Buffalo yarn

Roving in my queue

Halfway Point

Yesterday was my 20 week appointment and baby sure has grown!!  Jake was able to get the day off from work so he went with me.  We got to see the Jelly Bean's arms & fingers, saw his/her little face & ears, and saw lots of squirming around. 

Jake really loved hearing the heartbeat (it was his first time to hear it) and my favorite part was seeing the spine & little fingers.  We decided that we would not be finding out the gender; Jake was adamant that we not find out and I didn't really mind either way. The only bad thing about it was that we didn't get to see the toes, but we'll have plenty of toe time in a few months.  :)

Defined shoulder muscles & alien face.

At one point baby even gave us a thumbs up!  I can't wait to meet this kid!

We got some great mail this week too.  One of our Facebook friends sent us this adorable crocheted cowboy hat & boots!

For our little cowboy/cowgirl

And I got (most of) my birthday yarn!  I was able to catch The Plucky Knitter's latest update and picked up a couple colors I've been lusting after for a while now.  Lincoln is a gorgeous copper that I think will become another honey cowl.  The honey cowl was actually my first knitted project, after my learn-to-knit washcloth.  It's a great scarf, but because I didn't know how to use stitch markers yet the pattern is a little wonky.

Plucky yarn: Lincoln on Primo sport

I've also cast on a baby cardigan and hope to have progress pictures later this week.

Pregnancy-wise, I'm often tired, have achey joints, & trouble sleeping, but for the most part feel pretty good.  And the energy spurts I do get are great!  We're having Jake's aunt & uncle over for Thanksgiving next week so there's a long list as to what still needs to be done, but it's slowly getting smaller.  At least I can always close doors to hide messy rooms!

Make it With Wool

Have you heard about the Make it With Wool Competition?  It's a national all-ages competition to promote the use of wool fabrics & yarns and encourage the handmade arts.

There's even a "made for others" & "designer" category.  Or you can enter your wool accessories and housewares.  Anything made from wool!

Sorry for the dark pictures, the lighting in the room was terrible!

Niobrara County entries

Each participant also received a 2 1/2 yd piece of gorgeous Pendleton wool!  Many of this year's entries were made from prize wool from previous years.

One of my favorite outfits was this shawl/skirt set.  Fringe can often go so wrong, but I think she did a beautiful job.  And matching the plaids on a pleated skirt?  Amazing!

I LOVE this cape!  The blue buttons & hand dyed lining really make this garment extra special.

My entry was the Miette cardi I shared a few weeks ago.

When I was talking to the judges about my garment I couldn't tell if they were going to judge it well or not.  They seemed impressed, but I wasn't sure how it would do once they picked apart the construction.  As you can see (below) they loved the look & loved the construction as well.  Or maybe they just didn't want to hurt a pregnant girls feelings.  ;)

Mine was the only knitted garment entry so I automatically am qualified for the state competition, but after the wonderful feedback I received today I hope it does well in a few weeks too.  This is the wool I received!

Flowers on the snack table

Beautiful autumn arrangement

If you like sewing or knitting with wool be sure to contact your local university extension office to get the info for next year's competition.

19 1/2 Weeks

It's been several weeks since our last baby bump pictures.  I honestly didn't think we had grown much, but looking back obviously there's been quite a change in the past couple months.

Sun reflecting off snow on the ground makes for squinty eyed pictures

Wednesday is my 20 week appointment & ultrasound, where we may or may not (probably not) find out the gender of the munchkin.

I say "probably not" because I prefer bright gender neutral colors over pink and blue, and am worried that I'll get into that boy/girl mindset if we find out.  I've decided to use the rest of my pile of Stitch Organic (used below for a Holiday in London duffle) for the bedding & nursery accessories.  There will also be maps and a mythical creature or two around the room as well.

Holiday in London duffle, pattern by Bari J using Stitch Organic fabric by Betz White

I have lots of green, orange, brown, & raspberry yarns for clothing and toys.  Yesterday I cast on a Young Einstein cardigan using MadTosh LEDK in Deco Green.  Since it'll be early spring when the Jelly Bean arrives I like the idea of having a couple wool sweaters for picture time!  :)

Our Family

I was cleaning out some pictures off my computer yesterday and came across a ton of old photos I had forgotten about.

Here is a short history of our little family.

Moving to Wyoming, May 2008

When Jake & I moved from California to Wyoming, he and Festus (red heeler/border collie cross) had been best buds for 8 years already.  Festus quickly became my tail and now I can't leave the room for more than 5 seconds without him following me!

Jake's co-pilot

Family of 3, summer 2008

That summer we got Lotte, a blue heeler/kelpie cross.  She was the most friendly & cuddly of the bunch so she came home with us.  She is definitely a daddy's girl and would go to work with Jake every day if she could.

July 2008

Can you tell which dog is from California & which is from Wyoming??

In October 2009 we got married & Jake got me Cord the Corgi as a wedding gift.  Cord's name came about when Jake was cutting up some firewood for the house and Cord kept grabbing the large pieces of cordwood that were breaking off.  Some of the pieces were almost as big as him and watching him play cracked Jake up!

October 2009

Cord has many nicknames including Bullit, he's actually surprisingly fast when we wants to be; The Princess, see picture below (he tucked himself in); and Kitty, because he thinks he's a lap dog but technically the dogs aren't allowed on the furniture.  Though we'll break the rule occasionally because he's fairly small.

Ours dogs are pretty great!  And between their middle of the night "business" breaks & perpetual toddler-like communication I think I'm at least somewhat prepared for the arrival of our little Jelly Bean in April.  I hope the dogs like the new addition!

Summer 2012 photo session

Festus

Lotte

Cord