Quick fun hat!

 

I knitted up this fun hat this week. It is the Light Roast Coffee Bean Beanie. I used some basic wool yarn that I picked up at Joann Fabric. It's Paton's Classic Wool Worsted in the Yellow colorway. Nothing fancy, but it's a nice wool yarn. I wore the hat all day Tuesday and it was comfortable to wear with my glasses. It's not too tight, but not too loose. A winner for sure! I got the pompom at Michael's Craft Store.

Happy Mom

It had been a little over two months since we dropped my oldest off at college. His first year, during a time in history that is unlike anything we have lived through has been as good as it can be. He has been on campus the whole time. He has met great friends, taken advantage of every opportunity he can within the safety constraints and overall has thrived as a college freshman. Classes have been virtual. Some of his friends are in person but his professors chose to stay virtual. He's fine with it. As long as he can be there, he's happy. And so are we. He's learning more than just school work. I remember being his age and so much of what you learn has nothing to do with the classes you take. 

I was missing him pretty bad. His littlest brother was missing him more. So my friend and her two boys, and my two boys packed up and went for a road trip. The husbands stayed home to watch the dogs. Once I got there I don't think I realized how much I needed to see my kid. 

During these pandemic times, I'm sure people will have opinions about us even leaving the state and going to a college town. But we stayed as safe as we could. I'm very impressed how Pitt is handling everything and their numbers have been very low.

This picture melted my heart. Chase didn't want to share anyone with his big brother. These two have a special bond.

This was really good idea that Dalton had. He suggested we walk to the incline from our hotel. If you're ever in Pittsburgh I highly recommend it! A cable car takes you to the top of the ridge and you can see the entire city. It's beautiful!

Sunday morning we met up with a few of his friends for Primanti Bros. It's his routine every Sunday for Steelers Game Day. Then he walks to the stadium and busses it back to his dorm to watch the game.

I wasn't expecting it to be so hard to say goodbye. I think I had worried SO MUCH about dropping him off in August that I didn't think about leaving this time! It was just as hard!!! Ah! My little kid...growing up so fast. He's so at home there and it made me happy to see how well he's doing. It was a great weekend.

 

Simple Joys

My son is away at college. He's very happy but every once in a while I sense that he misses home (a tiny bit). On Monday I got a text from him asking if it the weather was nice at home. It was raining where he was and he was stuck inside. I took this picture from my window next to my home "office" desk. It was a beautiful sunny day. 

I have had my sourdough starter going for almost a year now. I can't believe it! It's kind of ridiculous how much joy I get out of this jar of weird gooey bubbly stuff. My friends Robin and Joan have tried a few times to get a starter going but didn't have any luck. I shared some of mine with them over the weekend. I was so happy to see Robin's first loaf baked on Monday. What a simple joy it can be...to bake bread for your family.

I was taking some pictures during the process to share with my friends. This is after it has been stretched and risen once an hour, every hour for 4 hours. Then I turn it over and put it into a pretty shape, plop it in this banneton basket to rest for another hour.

Then I score it.

I follow this recipe exactly and it works every time.

It's from Gartur Stitch Farm. If you don't already follow her on instagram...go do it NOW. Her stories are awesome. The farm shenanigans are hysterical.

I served this with grilled chicken, zucchini and rice for dinner.

 

"Not Rhinebeck" Weekend

 

Due to COVID-19, our annual trip to the NY Sheep & Wool Festival aka "Rhinebeck" was cancelled. It's a weekend that is more than just yarn and sheep. It's a weekend filled with friends that are as obsessed with our craft as I am. I get so much energy from these weekends and I was beyond sad that it wasn't able to happen this year. I faired very well through this health pandemic so far. But the Thursday of Rhinebeck week was HARD!!!!!!!!! When I should have been in the car packed with family and friends, I was at my home office desk doing work. Not nearly as fun!!!

To make up for the weekend, we thought it would be fun to open up the front field of the farm to fiber friends for the whole weekend. Our friends came to knit and it made my heart so happy. We were able to stay socially distant but feel the energy from each other. I'm so happy we had this and that so many wonderful people came to join us.

Until next year......let's pray that our lives can get a bit back on track to do things like travel. We need it.