Work in Progress Wednesday

This week has consisted of many late nights with a baby who apparently thinks that midnight is an appropriate bedtime. The nice thing about it is that she only wakes once during the night. When she was getting to bed earlier she'd wake more & it was a bigger fight to get her back to sleep again. She's like the Energizer bunny and just goes forever (or until she can barely keep her eyes open). She naps well during the day so I know she's getting plenty of rest.



But because of Ruby's late night parties I haven't had a chance for much stitching recently, but I have done a little. I've put a few more rows on my mom's Rocky Coast cardigan.



Finishing my sister's socks rekindled my love of sock
knitting so I pulled out a year old WiP and hope to have some new merino/cashmere blend socks in another week or two.



I also finished the top to Ruby's Briar Rose Rainbow Quilt. It was such a fast pattern to put together and looks great. Rae (Made by Rae) designed the quilt and it showcases Heather Ross' fabrics perfectly!



I will be tying it with perle cotton for now, but may eventually hand quilt it thanks to Katherine's suggestion. :-)

With all these WiPs I have going I hope to be able to show you some finished projects soon. Thanks for letting me share!

~Sharon~

posted from Bloggeroid

Work in Progress Wednesday

I know it's now Thursday, but apparently my post didn't fully publish last night before I closed Bloggeroid. I guess I need to pay better attention when I'm using this app.

~ ~*~ ~

Last week I mentioned wanting to finish my current x-stitch before I started a new one, but I broke down when I saw how cute The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery's new Once Upon a Time sampler is. Ruby & I have been reading a lot of fairy tales so I thought it was an appropriate distraction.



To prep for the new sampler I tea dyed some white aida cloth that I had on hand...



...washi taped my hoop for more visual interest. And in true "make it work" fashion used some hoop earrings to hold my embroidery floss.



It is a fun & quick stitchery and once I finish January I can get back to my ABCs of Aging Artfully until the February fairy tale comes out.

My parents came out for a visit from Southern California this week, which was lots of fun! Mom & I took Ruby to a pottery shop over in Casper and made a couple belated Christmas gifts. Dad is getting a dish for his keys & wallet (pictured below), Grams Sally (Jake's mom) is getting a handprint plate, & I will finally have a yarn bowl!





I also finally started piecing my Briar Rose rainbow quilt. It's been cut for a while now, I just don't get upstairs to sew very often.



I did get my sister's fibonnaci socks done this week at least! I forgot to take a final finish picture before I sent them back with my parents, but I assure you they are done. :-)



Ruby turned 9 months old this week and is as busy as ever. She's very close to walking, but has been sidetracked by climbing and now jumping. I've started calling her Little Roo (Winnie the Pooh) because she loves to bounce so much!



She also loves her books! ♥

Thanks for letting me share!

~*~ Sharon ~*~

posted from Bloggeroid

Work in Progress Wednesday

I've been wanting to do something other than knitting lately, but machine sewing with Ruby (who never stops) is out of the question these days. So I pulled out a WiP cross stitch that I started a couple years ago.



I'm hoping to get it done soon so that I can start The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery's Once Upon a Time sampler for Ruby. We've been reading a lot of fairy tales so this is perfect!

I also finally started my mom's Rocky Coast cardigan. I've been putting it off because of all the cables, but the body was actually very fast to knit.



Next up for the cardigan is sleeve island and then the collar. Hopefully the rest goes just as quickly.

And finally, some fibonacci socks that I made for my sister as a Christmas present. (They still need the ends woven in, which is why I'm calling them a WiP.)



The number of rows in each stripe are based on the fibonacci sequence; 1 1 2 3 5 8... My sister is a high school math teacher so I thought these would be appropriate. I also got her a pi shirt & math mug. :-)

Thanks for letting me share!

~*~Sharon~*~

posted from Bloggeroid

Merry Christmas!

It's 10pm Christmas night. The gifts have been shared, food has been enjoyed, & we're currently watching "A Bug's Life." Of course one of Ruby's favorite new toys is the box to my fabulous new Le Creuset kettle set, but she loves her mega blocks and is intrigued by the elephant shape sorter. She also got a great handmade soft book from Grandma & Grandpa.







I also have to share the gorgeous new necklaces I received. The first is from Winemaker's Sister (hopefully the link works!) on Etsy, it is a spinning wheel charm and a stamped disc that says "SPIN". She has some beautiful jewelry and great stitch markers in her shop including Doctor Who, fairy tales, & bacon!

The second necklace is a beautiful Stella & Dot pair of charms. One is an "R" for Ruby. The other is her April birthstone, which is diamond. Very simple and lovely.



I haven't quite finished the gifts I planned to make, but I'm pretty excited about the fibonnaci socks I'm making for my sister. We'll also be going to a pottery store in Casper soon for Ruby to paint some things for her grandparents!


We went for a family walk last night at sundown. It was a little colder than we thought, but we were bundled up nicely.



And we did some sledding today since we got more snow yesterday.



Ruby loved it!


I hope everyone had a warm & wonderful day. Thank you for visiting!

~*~ Sharon ~*~

posted from Bloggeroid

The Homestead

Well, Bloggeroid seemed to work great yesterday! I'm super excited about this because now I can work on my journal in spurts, as Ruby gives me time to. Then I won't have to pull out the computer (hoping that it's charged) and hide it away again before she gets her hands on it. ;-)

Last night we had a gorgeous sunset so while I was out taking pictures I thought I'd also get some shots of where we live. In September I briefly mentioned that we moved to the other side of the ranch that Jake works for. We're still getting settled, but it was a good move. Since big game hunting season ended for the year (he guides for the ranch) he's been home a lot more and gets to spend lots of quality daddy/daughter time with Ruby.



We now live 5 miles south of one of the smallest towns in the U.S.A.; Lost Springs, Wyoming, with a population of 4. We are 25 miles to the nearest gas station & 35 miles from groceries, libraries, and general town stuff.

The above picture is of the old barn with Laramie Peak in the background. I haven't figured out how to get a good picture of the mountain yet, it actually appears much larger in real life from our place.

Next is the old chicken coop...



The quonset huts and the old loading chute...



And the house...



The house picture is from last month because I liked it better than last night's photo. ;-)

And one more picture of the old barn from a few weeks ago. It's a little blurry, but I like how the pink of the sunset shows through the open spaces.



Thanks for letting me share our "new" homestead!

*Sharon*

posted from Bloggeroid

Trying Out a Blogging App

I'm not sure the last time I was actually on my macbook, especially to blog, but it finally dawned on me that there's apps for just about everything so there's probably for an app I could use for APrairieSunrise too! The Blogger app had horrible recent reviews, but people seem happy with Bloggeroid so I thought I'd give it a go.

I know I've been gone for a long, long time. What can I say? I'm definitely not tech savvy and terrible about blogging. Hopefully (if I even have any followers left) you all follow me on Instagram, especially since I haven't even introduced you to my little Ruby and she just turned 8 months old the other day!! And she is constantly on the go, if she's awake she's getting into something! ;-)

So, here she is! My beautiful daughter, Ruby Verna. Born April 10th in the middle of a blizzard.



Since I don't know if this post will actually work or not I'll keep it short, but if it does work I hope to do a lot more journaling this coming year.

Thanks for sticking with me and I hope to chat again soon!

*Sharon*

Craft Book Month

When I signed up to participate in the Craft Book Month blog hop I had NO idea that I would be in the middle of a move to a different part of the ranch! So this is going to be short & sweet so I can get back to unpacking.  ;)


Books & crafts both have a very important place in my life and I was so excited when Lindsay invited me back for another year.

I chose a project from Alabama Studio Sewing + Design because, since Ruby was born, I've hardly had any time to sit at my sewing machine.  But I have been doing plenty of knitting and hand stitching. Natalie Chanin's designs are all about the art and love of hand stitching.  She uses basic shapes for her patterns, but through the use of stencils, thread, & embellishments you can make unique clothing that is all your own!

The projects and the photography are so beautiful and very inspiring.

 

 

My interpretation is much simpler.  I cut a Wiksten tank from a green rib knit then hand stamped a simple 3-flower pattern that I made.

 My favorite part is the stitching around the arms & neck.

I used the same green knit to make a Basic Poncho.  I then cut leaves from a coordinating blue rib knit and hand appliqued them around the neckline.  Of course, it's packed away in some box right now, but I will try to share a picture as soon as I find it.  I also have a T-Shirt Top in progress in a lovely purple jersey.

There are so many great craft books out there, go pull out your favorite and make something you love today! You can link up your own craft book projects on the Craft Buds website for a chance to win some amazing prizes.  And be sure visit all the other blog hop participants as well.  Thanks for stopping by!