Christmas Knitting

I finished up my Christmas knitting last night and I thought I would share with you all.

I didn't knit too many gifts for specific people this year because I spent a lot of time knitting for the farm store. Lots of custom orders and random baby items! But here are a few gifts to show.

Cliveden Hat

Free pattern on Ravelry

This is for one of my husband's coworkers. I used bulky alpaca yarn for this hat. I am really happy with how it came out and I think I want to knit one for myself! I could use a new warm hat for walking Buddy.

This is a simple chunky knit hat that I based off of this pattern.

I used big chunky yarn that I have had for a while. It's not my normal yarn but I think the recipient will like it. It's kind of wacky and fun!

This is The Shift by Andrea Mowry. It will be a gift for my mom.

I used a mix of Feederbrook Farm yarn, Gray alpaca from the farm, and Cascade alpaca.

I made one for myself over the summer and I wear it nonstop! I knitted this and I must have used slightly bigger needles than mine because it's a lot bigger. Not sure what happened there but hopefully she gets as much use out of it as I do mine. It's so easy to wear and keeps me warm all day long.

This is not gift knitting but more custom orders. They came out cute so just thought I would share.

My friend Stacy asked me to knit these for a friend's baby. Stacy is a beautiful knitter but she says she knits too slowly so she asked me to help. She gave me the yarn and away I went!

These little teddy bear sweaters are so sweet. 

This is just a simple ribbed hat for a 9 month old baby. I made a huge pompom :) Hopefully it doesn't fall off her head!!!!

That's it for now! Now it's time to knit something for me. I'm dreaming of a new cardigan....

Football in Florida

My youngest son and his AYF football team won their way to compete in the National Championships in Kissimmee, FL. I'm here with him now, knitting my way through the chaos of 22, 11 year old boys! He went to the Buccaneers game yesterday so I took myself to Disney Springs for lunch and then back to my hotel room where I watched Vlogmas videos. Now I want all the advents! I've never bought one before but maybe I will for next year. I watched Sandy by the Lakeside  vlogmas videos for her first 5 days and I loved them. It's funny because I love watching videos by people that are super calm and organized. I am NOT either of those things but it inspires me to at least try! 

My son's team lost their first game 13-6 vs San Diego which is amazing to me because the size of the other team was SOOOOO huge! I don't know where these teams get these giant kids, but our little Wall team is purely a town team and I'm pretty sure we are the only one of the kind here. Today they play game #2 vs a team from Detroit. I just hope no one gets hurt. 

For my Florida friends, I don't know how you do Christmas in the warm weather! My brain is so confused!!!!!! I don't have one thing ready for Christmas back home except the tree is up. It will be a mad dash when we get home Friday to get lots done. But it will get done...it always does somehow.

Hello December!

 Hello December. I hope it's a wonderful month :)

I promise to not stress as much as I usually do. Enjoy the small moments.

Take time to enjoy my house, the tree, the lights, the music.

Keep on knitting!

I've been on a roll with knitting for the coop. Temperatures have gotten very chilly around here! I'm bundling up every morning for my walk with Buddy. He needs his exercise and so do I. These little walks of ours have helped me shed a few pounds. Yay! He forces me to get out and move more than I have in years. Sometimes the cat walks the whole way with us too. He cracks me up. I made a few baby hats to sell. I also casted on a simple newborn sweater using yarn from our alpacas. These little baby knits are so fun and quick to do. I just love them.  I also finished a book, Once There Were Wolves. We chose it for our patron book club and I really liked it. It was so good to read. It's been a while!

Our lives are so busy these days. My little one is still playing football. Their team just won regionals and they are headed to Florida for the National Championship. I'm still in shock. It's in less than 2 weeks. Ummmmmm.....why?! This is not fun as a parent! at Christmas time! During my busiest season for band. Deep breaths...............

My oldest is home for Thanksgiving. I'm so happy to have him here! My second boy gets home tomorrow night and then I'll be a VERY happy mom :) All of us under one roof. That's when I'm the happiest.

Thanksgiving is coming and I'm ready for it! Bring on the yummy food and family. It's a wonderful holiday, isn't it? No pressure of presents buying. Just spending time with people you love eating yummy food. It's all we really need!

Knitting for The Coop!

 

Every year I knit up as many things as possible to sell in our farm store aka "The Coop". I use that money to buy Christmas presents for my family. Because my shoulder was hurting so much of the fall, I am WAY behind on my knitting!!!! I was able to knit up a few newborn and toddler hats over the weekend so I thought I would share them here.

The bonnets are repeats for me. I love making the Anker Bonnet, the Simple Chunky Newborn Bonnet and some simple hats that I embellish with a teddy bear face. But I wanted to make something new to me. I love the Kelbourne Woolens line of free "monthly" hat patterns. I've made a few of them over the years but this June Hat was new for me. The purple and white hat follows the pattern exactly but I don't love to purl. I knit much quicker so I decided to knit the blue and yellow version while slipping the stitch to make the row that runs up the hat. These were really fun to knit and I'll absolutely be making more. It's a perfect use of leftover yarn and that I have a lot of! 

It's Monday...start of a new work week and I'm busy this week with work. I am beyond excited to welcome my college kids home soon to celebrate Thanksgiving!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm the happiest when all my kids are under one roof. Can't wait.

Have a great week!

November Days

I usually knit lots of things to sell in the coop. I use the money for my Christmas shopping. Unfortunately, I've had a bum shoulder for the past two months. I'm finally feeling better and I started knitting again. The farm store looks so pretty right now. It's filled with beautiful things. My mom is so good at picking the perfect things to sell. We make what we can but with busy lives, that merchandise is limited.

I made two little bonnets. The pink one is the Anker's Bonnet (I've made so many of these over the years.)

I also made the Simple Chunky Newborn Bonnet. It's a free pattern and SUPER quick to knit up.

The weather here has been so weird! We've had cool days and nights, misty mornings and right now it's almost 80 degrees! IN NOVEMBER! So odd! My chickens have finished molting and started laying eggs again. Yay! I really hate buying eggs in the grocery store when I have a flock of chickens in the yard.....

I love my library. They have so many good books and if you want something you just have to request it and voila! they get it and let you know when to pick it up. We are reading "Once There Were Wolves" for our Patreon book club. I picked it up today and got two more while I was there. I have a favorite denim shirt and it has a rip on the top shoulder. I remember my friend Allison mending her jeans using the Mending Matters book as a guide. My library had it so I grabbed it. Now to fix my shirt...

I also love cookbooks. I try to take a new one out every week just to get new ideas. Sometimes they're great, sometime's not so much. This one looked good so hoping I get a new recipe or two out of it for the dinner rotation. 

That's it for now :) Time to get back to work. Hope you're all doing well!

"Mom's Best Friend"

The saying goes, a dog is "man's best friend". I'm redoing that phrase. This Buddy is "Mom's best friend". This goofy guy is so sweet. I love spending time walking him, exploring the farm together, taking walks to Spring Lake, hanging out on the couch, his company while I work from home, he really is the best puppy for me. I know he loves everyone else in my house...BUT he's a mama's boy right now and I don't hate that! I've been working on my Jupiter Crop sweater here and there and finished up the body this week. I need to buy more yarn for the sleeves. So it's on hold for now. But I'm really enjoying knitting it. I knitted more length in the body then the pattern called for but I left it a little shorter than I usually do. I want to wear it over a dress with tights or leggings. I just have to find a dress that will look cute under it! 

I celebrated my 7th anniversary at my job yesterday. I remember being so nervous to go back to working in an office after being home as a freelancer for so many years. It was hard in the beginning but it was one of the best decisions I've ever made. I love my company and the people I work with. I have a boss that's one in a million and she has become a close friend. My husband and I went out last night for a drink and my favorite pizza to celebrate at my favorite local place, Massuto's. Can't beat it!

This weekend will be filled with sports....it's playoff season and it's exhausting! If they win, we keep going...........this mom is ready to be done. BUT I'll be cheering them on during the games. The competitor in me is still deep inside! I just want to eat dinner as a family again.....!!!!

I'm getting ready to cast on a few things for the farm and then two sweaters for myself. I'm hoping to get some knitting done at the games this weekend. Hope you're all enjoying your November so far!