Gratifiying

It has been so nice to spend some more time in my sewing room. This week, the girls have been the recipients of new dressing gowns (bath robes).

Everyone is outgrowing their stuff (still trying to figure out how to make them stop growing), so the little ones have hand-me-downs, but I wasn't in the mood to spend loads on new things for the girls. So, I took the dressing gown that Anna's outgrowing, cut larger pattern pieces based on that one, and viola! Warm, fleecy girls. I had the red for Abigail already (I think it was a remnant piece from JoAnn's) and bought the fleece for Anna in one of their recent sales (I don't remember how much it was, but I bought two yards and didn't use it all).

It was terribly easy to put together, especially since I serged the edges, rather than hemmed them. (For the unsure, a serger or overlocker is that scary-looking machine that sews with up to 4 spools of thread and creates that chain-type stitching you find in your t-shirt.) You could easily leave the edges unfinished, since the fleece is unlikely to fray, or you could use a wide zig zag stitch on your machine, or even blanket stitch by hand. Me? I'm all about speed.

I can definitely foresee making these more in the future. Sorry, Land's End and Mini-Boden, I don't think I'll be needing your dressing gowns anymore!

Gooseberry Swirl

Eleanor's hat was so easy and fun to knit. With more of that lovely Louisa Harding yarn, it was a pleasure to make. Of course, with just knit and purl and some decreases thrown in, it was perfect "looks involved but was pleasantly mindless"-type knitting. The only thing is that even though Ellie likes it and has worn it, I never got a picture with her in it. So Dan kindly filled in...

Abigail's hat was different - the swirl pattern was fun and funky (much like the girl herself), and fortunately, very forgiving (also like her). I made a ton of mistakes, but once it's on, not at all noticeable. Thank goodness! Yarn is Lorna's Laces, "Valentine". So pretty!

Anna's Beehive

Basically, I'm on a hat-making mission.

Everyone needs a new hat.

Dan's is done. Ellie's is also done, but photos

need to be downloaded.

So here is Anna's. Also known as the Noro, it's gorgeous. I made some modifications, but it was so fun to make, and the yarn is lovely - wonderfully soft, but really sturdy. Just right for kid heads.

Ellie's coming soon, Abigail's currently on the needles...

Costume day

We celebrate Reformation Day...by dressing up in Halloween costumes...

It's just so hard to get a good photo

of "wild animals"...

Musical Prodigy

Vacation knitting

We went on vacation to the wilds of West Virginia last month. I had taken great pains to plan the knitting projects I wanted to bring, but despite the best laid plans, the yarn I'd ordered didn't arrive in time. So, the day before departure found me at my favorite local store, where Maggie kindly hooked me up.

The small, portable car-project were a pair of Dashing fingerless mittens, also known as my first ever cabled project. I love them so much! It only took one skein of Rowan Felted Tweed, so it wasn't very expensive, either.

The second project was a faith-based project for me. That is to say, I had to continue in faith that it was all going to come right in the end. The Baby Surprise Jacket was my first true foray into Elizabeth Zimmerman knitting (very clever lady that combines math with knitting and makes it interesting, unlike 11th grade algebra). No line by line instructions, it was new to me, but fun. The best part is how it goes from a blob like this...

to a cardigan like this...

Hint - it's all in the increases and folding!

So, now Ellie has a sweater of her own that Mommy made. Of course, she's also inherited Abigail's Libby, since Abi accidentally threw it in the dryer! I was horrified for about 10 seconds, then thought, "Oh well, I guess I'll have to knit another one!" So, that's all right, then.

Baby Gnome

Because a kid this cute needs a hat to match

Pattern here.

My Everest

This sweater is finally finished! It has taken so loooong, though there were(somewhat) understandable reasons.

I managed to complete the front, back and sleeves in a couple months. Not great, but not bad. Then, I realized that I didn't have enough yarn to finish the collar and put it together. So I put it aside for a while - you know, ignore it for a while and hope an extra ball of yarn will magically appear?

Yeah, didn't work out so great.

So, after searching a few places (namely my wonderful local store and the nice knitters at ravelry) and finding the yarn had been discontinued, I found one last ball here. Truly, it was meant to be.

The Plymouth Tweed was lovely to work with, very tactile without feeling either fuzzy or slippery.

I think the waiting, searching and more waiting took longer than the actual knitting.

Come winter, though, it will all be worth it. I'm gonna be one warm mama!

My Kind of Day

'"After all", Anne had said to Marilla once, "I believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens but just those that bring simple little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string."'

~Anne of Avonlea by LM Montgomery

Butternut Squash Soup

Ever wondered what to do with those oddly-shaped and strangely-named butternut squash?

Here's a suggestion:

Photo from Stuart O'Keefe.

Chop 2 onions and saute in 3tbsp butter until soft.

Add half a butternut squash that's been peeled and diced, and 1 apple that's been cored and chopped. Fry for a few minutes.

Take it off the heat and add 3 tbsp flour, 1 tsp curry powder and a pinch of nutmeg. Stir.

Slowly add 750 ml (3/4 pint) of veg/chicken stock, 400ml (almost 1/2 pint) milk & 1/4 cup orange juice. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 20 minutes until everything is tender.

Pour it all in a blender or food processor and blitz until smooth. Add a pinch of sugar and serve, with cream or sour cream, on a rainy day.