Yarn Along

Howdy

Hope you are warm if you live in most of the US. This is one cold winter!!!

Yikes. I'm ready for warm temps and spring breezes.

But enough of that, here's some knitting to keep you warm.

Joining in with the weekly Yarn Along, sharing what I am knitting and reading with other knitting enthusiasts.

Here goes:

I finished up this baby blanket a few weeks ago and just made a nice little 6-12 month baby hat to go along with it. It's knitted in "Lily's" Yarn from the farm. This is going to a family friend that she will be gifting to her nephew and his wife's baby on the way. 

Ravelry Project Link: Alpaca Blanket

I need to do some work on my sheepy sweater. The original buttons started to fall off because I didn't do a very good job putting them on the first time. And they fell off and rolled away and I can't find them all. So I picked up a few new ones. The other thing that I'm going to do is put some grosgrain ribbon in the neck and from shoulder to shoulder. I'm finding that as I wear this sweater it is starting to lose it's structure. I heard the tip about the ribbon on the Knitmore Girls podcast, so hoping that will work. Ravelry Project Link: Sheepy Sweater

I am teaching a fingerless glove class and as I teach, I knit along. So I'm finishing up my first and then I'll work on the second and knit until I get to the thumb. That way I can demonstrate how to knit it. Making these gloves in Madelintosh in the Vanilla Bean colorway. I love the little surprises of purple that pop up.

 

Making good progress on my Clayoquot sweater. Arms are joined.

 

 Been doing some stash diving and dreaming and I think these two beauties are going to be a new shawl for spring. Maybe this one or

And a few shots of this chilly February.

Check me out on Woolful Episode 12!! I'm the Man on the Street person this week.

When it's really really cold and windy, the icicles slant.

 

I'm reading The Invention of Wings right now and also picked up this knitting book at the library.

It has a few cute patterns and I love the writing.

Have a great week!!!!

Woolful...

Have you heard of the new podcast, Woolful? If you are an enthusiast of wool, fiber, yarn, sheep, alpacas, knitting, weaving, looming, etc you will really enjoy it. The twelth episode was just released at midnight and I am beyond thrilled that I was chosen for "The man on the street" segment.

Ashley from Woolful usually asks a question and asks for responses from other fiber people.

This time, she asked for our questions and she chose mine to answer.

Here was my question:

Basically I described that I am a self taught knitter. I learned by watching YouTube videos and lots and lots of trial and error. I learned by making mistakes and I believe in learning from making mistakes but sometimes there are mistakes that I wish I had been told and didn't have to experience!

I teach knitting every week at the farm and I asked Ashley what she wished she knew as a new knitter that I could share with my knitting students.

Check out the podcast for some great interviews and her answer to my question.

And speaking of Podcasts, I am always looking for some new recommedations.

Anyone??? My favorites are The Fat Squirrel Speaks, Knitmore Girls, Woolful, The Knit Wits.

 

(above photo from woolful.com)

Winter Bliss

 

 

 

 

We live at the Jersey Shore and so far this year, we have had a completely manageable amount of snow. (I'm sorry New Englanders) We have had pleasant snow globe snow, dustings and a few inches here and there. Nothing major so far. Today is a snow day and I for one am very pleased when the phone call comes in to let us know that due to inclement weather, our school district is closed.

I headed out for some fresh air and to check out the farm. We thought the pond would be frozen and ready for skating but it was covered in a layer of slush. Yuck. So....we hopped in the car, picked up some of the friends and went to Spring Lake for some public skating.

I have lived here almost my whole life and I have never skated on Spring Lake! Very cool!

Thank you to the parents that thought ahead and brought snow shovels with them. There were about 6 inches of snow on the lake so that needed to be cleared for skating. Once there were some pathways, the kids had fun skating around. Chase loved the snow piles on the lake.

Of course I am including some knitting.

I am working on a baby blanket for a customer. It's the Camilla Blanket from the Madder Anthology 1 by Carrie Bostick Hoge. I am knitting it with Cascade Eco Alpaca on size US8 needles.

I am also knitting the Clayoquot Sweater by TinCan Knits. This will be the first time I do a steek. EEK!!! I'm nervous but I really want to learn how to do it. A steek is when you CUT yes CUT your knitting up the front for a cardigan. I am knitting in the round and then will do some fancy thing (that I need to figure out) and then CUT it up the front and add a button band. I'm nervous just thinking about it but I have faith that I'll figure it out and won't have any trouble. (hah)

Reading: I finished Room. Wow. What a book. I recommend it to everyone. I thought it would be way too scary and creepy to read it, but it's not like that. Yes, the concept of the book is creepy but told from an innocent 5 year old little boy's point of view is fascinating and makes it readable. It's an amazing book about motherhood, resiliency, love and faith. A must read.

I'm now reading The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd for our book club.

I'm half way through and it's very good so far. It reminds me a little of The Kitchen House (which I loved) I have high hopes for the rest of the book. It seems to be picking up now that I'm half way through. I have a feeling the story is going to fly from here on out.

Ok....back to my real work. I have 3 logos to design. No pressure!

Have a great week!

-Leanne

 

Bucket List...Checking it off one by one

I have been slacking in my blogging updates. Guess it's the winter blahs. I was also sick with the flu and bronchitis. Fun times. But I'm on the mend and after spending lots and lots of time in my living room, we bundled up and ventured out for some fun adventures.

One of my favorite places to visit is the Historic Longstreet Farm at Holmdel Park.

I saw on Facebook that their pond was frozen enough to harvest the ice. 

I was surprised because as cold as it's been, we've had a few days warm enough to thaw the pond so we couldn't go out on ours. Holmdel is is only 15 miles or so north of us, but I guess it makes a big difference! So, we bundled up and headed out on a Saturday afternoon.

Chase thought this was Kristoff from Frozen :)

 The volunteers taught us all about the ice harvest and how they would store it in the ice house. It would last all year and through the summer. They would pack it with hay and salt to keep it frozen. This whole process really makes me appreciate a freezer.

 

Bucket List Check Off...

I have always wanted to milk a cow. I guess it's the lactation lady in me.

Lily the cow had her baby, Blossom. How cute is she!!??? It was milking time and we were allowed to come in the stall and milk Lily while Blossom hung out next to her.

It was very easy to milk her. She was a nice cow and seemed very pleased to meet all the people.

 

We took a nice long snowy walk around the farm to visit all our favorite animals.

Corn for the pigs...

Hi kitty cat. We see you.

 

While I was sick, I read two books. 

Girl on the Train (ok...not sure how I feel about it)

I also read a very cute little book called,

Etta and Otto and Russel and James. I loved it. Not sure if it appeals to the masses, but I loved it.

I also knitted a ton. I finished my Sibella cowl. I used Anzula Squishy yarn and as much as I loved working with it, I'm disappointed in the finished cowl. The yarn was not the right yarn for this. It just folds up on itself when I wear it. It needed yarn with more tooth and structure. But I still love it and it is super soft and keeps me warm.

Lots of snow.

 

 That's my new cowl, new glasses and Chase's tongue.

Someone got a hair cut.

So cold here that the puddles froze and we did some ice skating in front of the barn.

 I have always wanted to knit a fair isle sweater for myself. So I dove into my stash box to come up with some good combos. I tried a few, and couldn't come up with a good mix.

I'm planning on making the Clayoquot sweater.

Since I couldn't come up with anything out of my bin, I headed up to Chelsea Yarns (one of my favorite lys) Chase took my phone and took some yarn pics.

 

I ended up with some Rowan Pure Wool for the sweater. A nice dark gray with lime green and sky blue accents. Bucket list checked off again. Fair isle sweater for me!

 

 Could not get a not blurry photo of my socks. This is knitted with Cascade Heritage Yarn.

I finally have the hang of sock making.

 

Reading Room. Can't put it down!

The kids have off school this week and the idea of staying home all week sounded like torture to me.

Don't get me wrong, I love hanging out at home, but I needed to get out!

So we booked a quick get away to Great Wolf Lodge in the Poconos with a few of our friends. I have always wanted to go there so I was thrilled to go!

It was great!!! Kids loved it. Missed having my guy with us, but he had to stick home this time.

 Then we bundled up again and headed over to Camelback for some snow tubing.

So fun!!!!!!!!

 Finished off the trip with a nice dinner at the Barley Creek Brewery.

So that's it for our recent adventures. Farm pictures and alpaca pictures coming tomorrow!