"My Friend Made the Logo"

My Florida knitting friends are on my mind this morning as we woke to the news of how intense the hurricane became over night. It moved more north than expected and is hitting Tallahassee hard. It had me thinking of Hurricane Sandy and the devastation that occurred in our area. We were without power for 13 days and so many people lost their homes. I was going back in my photos (backed up on google photos) and realized Sandy happened before I had a cell phone that took photos. The old photos must be on my old computer. I don't even know if I can turn my old computer on!!!

Anyway, as I was looking back on photos, these photos stood out to me and brought such a big smile to my face. These were taken at Rhinebeck 2019, the year I designed the logo. Purple Debbie told everyone and anyone that I designed it. She told them I taught her to knit. With gusto and pride, everyone was told these two facts!!!!! EVERYONE :) It was one of the best days of my life. To be surrounded with friends, fiber people, at Rhinebeck and my artwork was everywhere. I was on cloud 9 for sure.

I always buy a book for my youngest from the festival. The authors/illustrators are usually there to sign the books. I picked out a Farm book for my little one, the author was signing it, Purple Debbie was telling him that I am her friend, I taught her to knit and I designed the logo! He didn't react. Nothing. Didn't look up from what he was doing. No acknowledgement. Purple Debbie was confused. Why didn't HE care that HER friend taught her to knit AND designed the logo? 

Then he started sketching on a blank piece of paper. Hey...that's me! 

and THEN.......he drew this :)

Turns out he was listening. One of my favorite moments of the weekend. We sure did have a fun time.

Knitting friends quickly become family. I am lucky to have met so many amazing people near and far that I can now call friends...all because of some yarn and needles and this thing called knitting.

I will continue to keep my eye on the news and check in with our Florida knitting friends as this hurricane makes landfall. Praying for all!

Wrapping up Summer

Summer is winding down and it's starting to feel like Fall. I'm ready for it. My middle son goes back to college the end of this week and my youngest starts school next week. The summer flowers are still blooming and I continue to enjoy them. My knitting has gone from "for me fun projects" to "make money projects!". That's a sure sign of summer ending. Everything I knit from now until winter is mostly to sell at the farm store or gift knits.

First up, another baby blanket. I have a friend that works with young nurses that have been busy having babies! She orders a new blanket every time a new baby is born. This is the Knit Four Points Baby Blanket, a free pattern by Purl Soho. I adjust the pattern to make it a chunkier "stroller/car seat" sized blanket. My notes on how I modify the pattern are on my project page. 

It's a quick knit and travels well (to football practice pick up). 

The sky was so pretty the other night.

My flowers (and weeds) are doing well!

I have a new addition to my windowsill. I found these three perfect little acorns (still attached to each other) on my walk with Buddy the other day. It reminded me of my three boys so I brought it home. It now lives in one of the bird nests.

The next few pictures are hats I knit for the store. Just simple chunky alpaca hats. No pattern for the hat, but the rose and leaf pattern can be found here. I used chunky yarn and big needles for the rose. 

This is a slight variation on my Stars Hollow Hat, also to sell at the farm. It's baby sized and so cute!

Back to my favorite baby sweater pattern! I've made a lot of these.

They are so easy to make and perfect for our farm store.

This is the Granny's Favourite. Knitted with just one skein of worsted yarn and buttons from my button bin. I love the color combo :) 

And last...had some old bananas so made some banana bread. Always easy and yummy!

 

A Perfect Project

Hello! I'm excited to share an update and photos of the project I'm working on right now. I have knitted so many projects in my "knitting lifetime". According to Ravelry, I have 328 projects but I'm sure I have even more that I don't log. Over the years (15, I think) I have learned a lot about myself as a knitter. Sometimes what I enjoy knitting isn't something I enjoy wearing...think odd shaped shawls. Love knitting them, rarely wear them. Sweaters? Yes please. Love knitting them and wearing them. BUT they take a lot of yarn and that usually means lots of $$$. Hats, ok...I'll knit them but don't love them. Wear them? Yes. Socks? Nope. Hate knitting them. Love wearing them but not worth it for me to knit them anymore. Chunky yarn? Nope. Hurts my hands. But I'll make a fun quick hat with it.

Then it's about the actual pattern and the knitting. I get bored easily when I knit. I can knit for hours and hours if I'm interested. Garter stitch for miles or stockinette forever makes me knit a few rows and want to put it down. Fair isle? I can knit forever. Ribbing or texture is even better. Following a chart? Yup. That's my jam. I LOVE a pattern that has constant changes that keep me engaged. 

I was shocked when a fiber friend gifted me her Chelsea Yarns Advent from 2022. She said the colors just weren't her and the yarn was just sitting in a bag. She knew I would love the colors and enjoy knitting with the beautiful yarn. I was overwhelmed with her generosity! I knew I would have to knit something special with the yarn. A pattern that had to check off all the boxes. I knew I would have to keep it to a scarf, cowl, shawl, something not too huge that could utilize the mini skeins. After searching Ravelry for a while I stumbled upon the Tasting Menu wrap. It was Mystery Knit Along from early 2020. It had something different every few rows, would only use up 9 or 10 of the mini skeins and I had the perfect solid in my stash. 

Basically, it's a perfect project! Keeps me interested, going to love wearing it and beautiful yarn. Here's an update of where I started and where I am....

The designer has you pick out certain colors and put them in groups of three. 

The top three are used in the "V" part, the groups on the sides will be the other parts of the scarf. The solid cream yarn is used throughout. 

You have to assign them numbers. I kept them all in individual bags to keep everything strait.

It starts with a garter stitch tab and triangle design.

Then you put half of the triangle on scrap yarn and start the one side. I LOVE all the different sections. Sometimes it's ribbing, lace, garter, mini baubles. So much to keep you engaged.

The colors are set up do create a pretty fade. I'm in love with it.

I am on the last section of the side and then I'll pick up the other side of the triangle and work on the other side. It's going to block beautifully and be a pretty scarf for cool days.

Roots and Wings

 

My mom heart is a disaster. We drove our oldest son to Decatur, Georgia (East Atlanta) to help him settle into his first real apartment and job. I'm very proud of him and excited for him to start this next chapter of his life working at Emory University while earning his masters degree in sports information. But boy oh boy is it hard for me. I'm a wreck. I know he'll be fine. But Georgia is really far away!!!!!! This whole parenting thing isn't for the faint of heart. 

I know we have to give them wings...but driving away is so hard.

Morning Glory

I don't remember planting Morning Glories but I guess I did! I have many plants growing this summer. They have been winding their way up my porch railing and special garden trellis I put in. I've been waiting for the first bloom after seeing many buds forming. Today was the day! I went out this morning to water and saw this beautiful purple flower. Sox noticed it too :)

I can't wait to see them all in bloom!

Tasting Menu Wrap

I was overwhelmed with the generosity of one of our fiber friends when she sent me her Chelsea Yarns Advent 2022 package! I couldn't believe it. She bought it and said the colors aren't her at all and they were just sitting there wishing to be used. She insisted on gifting it to me. I knew I had to knit something beautiful! I chose the Tasting Menu Wrap and I'm using 9 (maybe 10) of the 25. I am going to give the others to my sister.

It's so pretty and I'm loving it so far! Thank you again Mary Ellen :) You are too kind!!!!!

 

Summer Strawberry Cake

I've been listening the Cookbook Club podcast this summer. The two women discuss recipes, cookbooks they have tried, food tips, etc. I have tried a few recipes they rave about and they mentioned the cookbook, Sweet Enough by Alison Roman. I requested it through my library. I had it in a few days. I LOVE our library system!!! Anyway, I brought it home and asked Chase to flip through it to see if he wanted me to make anything in the book. I don't typically have a sweet tooth but I have learned to love baking (thank you Covid lockdown). As he flipped through, he said "this is all fancy stuff. I just want brownies out of a box." Well, sorry kid. This time I felt like trying something new. But he didn't want anything from this book, so I hopped online for some more ideas. The women on the podcast mentioned the "Summer Strawberry Cake" from Smitten Kitchen. So even though that wasn't in this cookbook, I went online and found the recipe. 

I really wanted to show this cookbook because of this paragraph in the beginning.

I was a horrible baker for YEARS. AWFUL. Really awful. I didn't really pay attention (you have to pay attention when baking). During covid lockdown pandemic time, I decided to learn how to bake. I started using a food scale and I swear that has made the biggest difference (and making sure my baking ingredients are NOT a million years old). Anyway, I don't want to bake things unless they also show a weight.

I digress...

On to the cake that I did make...

This is the Summer Strawberry Cake by Smitten Kitchen. 

It was so easy! I made mine in a springform pan based on the comment by the baker.

I let it cool then dusted with a bit of powdered sugar.

I'm not really an ice cream person. But on this ice cream company was featured on The Today Show last week and it peaked my interest. I like their story and I googled where to find it. WholeFoods (around the corner from me) had a ton of flavors. So I grabbed a pint of their Strawberry French Ice Cream to serve with my cake. It was soooooo good. I loved it. They have a lemon poppy muffin flavor I might have to go back for. Here I am "non sweets lover" posting a lot about sweets!

It was delicious. My husband LOVED it. There wasn't a crumb left by morning :)

Do you have a favorite go-to summer dessert?