52 Hike Challenge

 I remember my friend, Paige (Frame & Fiber) did the 52 Hike Challenge a few years ago.

My sister, Andee also did it last year. Life has been weird lately and we have all fallen into a pattern of not really going anywhere. Covid has slowed down our world and I thought this hike challenge might help get me moving again. So, I signed up. It's free and the idea is simple. 52 hikes, one hike a week for 52 weeks.

I started a few weeks late but I plan to make up for the first few missed weeks with some short hikes mid-week. My friend Carrie was happy to join me and so far we have gone on 2 hikes. We live in NJ and it's VERY flat where we live, so most hikes are not challenging. We are using the All Trails app on our phone to find some new places to go. Once a month we plan to find a hike farther away and more challenging.

Our first hike was at Allaire State Park. I had read about the "Allaire Dinosaurs" but had not gone out to see them. Here's a link to read all about it. We parked our car and followed the directions we found online. It's a magical spot in the forest! There in a clearing we saw them. The dinosaurs made of sticks. I highly recommend taking a walk and finding them!

Our second hike was at F.Bliss Arboretum in Eatontown. We saw deer and a pretty stream. I'm sure it's a beautiful park in the summer and fall. 

I'm really happy we are doing this. It's nice to have something to look forward to and a reason to be outside. 

FROGGED!

I bought this beautiful yarn and knit almost an entire sweater. The whole time I was knitting it I knew that I wasn't going to like it. The pooling was bothering me. I switched skeins every other row and it still pooled....so much. Some people like this look. Me? Nope. 

So...after the sweater sat in timeout for two weeks, I did it. Yup. I frogged it. Unraveled it and I was so happy. I hopped on Ravelry to figure out what I could make with it and immediately knew this was the one. The Koivua Sweater by Caitlin Hunter. I had some white Navia yarn left over and my friend Paige from Frame & Fiber is going to order more for me.

The sweater has some texture in it but I decided not to do that. I also added a row of the contrast color to the collar. I saw another version on Ravelry that I liked and decided to do that too.

This photo was from two days ago. I've finished the yoke but it's impossible to photograph since it's a bunched up sweater on my needles.

I also listened to an audio book while knitting at night. I have missed books and I always seem to have trouble focusing on a book but this time it was easy. I borrowed my son's air pods. I had no idea how nice they are! They always look like q-tips hanging out of people's ears!

My library has an app that lets me borrow audio books. I'm now onto a new book.

Here's the one I "read"...(listened to)...How to Walk Away by Katherine Center. I'm always a sucker for a predictable romance book!

New to You 2021 MAL

It's New to You Make-a-long time again! Liz and I run this make-a-long and this is our third year. The premise is to try something new to you in the fiber arts. It could be a new craft, a new technique, a new project, just something that you have never tried and always wanted to.

Everyone can enter by using the #newtoyou2021mal on Instagram or on our farm Ravelry group page here. Then you get a chance to win lots of prizes!!!

I decided to learn macrame. It was so fun! I made a plant hanger.

I also tried a new cast on and garter heel for a pair of socks. I made the Simple Sport/DK socks by Lindsay 

from A Wooden Nest. I loved the cast on and now I'm going to use it for all of my socks!

 

Inspiration

 Hello! Wow...I've been away from this blog for a while. I have been reading others but I haven't posted in a while. I've been in a knitting funk for a month or so but it's kicking back into gear. So I thought I would do one of my knitting inspiration posts like I used to do. In case you're in a funk too....here are some fun things I have found that inspired me.

In the Weeds leg warmers (and how cute are those shoes??!!!!)

Heady Topper

This is the sweater I am knitting now....

Koivua by Caitlin Hunter

Pretty sweater. Love the color! Astragal

Cute hat! Spring On My Mind

This would be nice for late spring and summer.

Summer Trellis

And a few not knitting things that I just like...

Mushroom Fontina Pizza

Pretty braids

I'm always a sucker for a wrinkly quilt. I love this color combo.

And one more thing....something great that has come out of this pandemic.

Hope you are all doing well, are healthy, happy and creating!

Holiday Nesting

Working from home has it's positives and negatives. I miss the in-person camaraderie with my coworkers, the side conversations that break up the day and actually leaving the house....BUT there are lots of things to be thankful for. Like, having more energy to do the little things I want to do. My energy level is different when I don't have to drive to the office and drive home, make dinner and collapse on the couch. Being home, I think I actually accomplish more work and do more than I did in the office but it's a different kind of tired at the end a work-from-home day. Hard to explain.

But anyway....that's all a long way to say that I've had more time to enjoy little things around the house. My new chickens have started laying eggs and I'm loving the green eggs. This is a first for me and I'm so happy with them!

I've been baking sourdough bread again. My starter went weird on me for a while but it's back! My family LOVES this bread. We inhale it as soon as it's out of the oven. It's been a year now that I've been making this bread from the same starter. I'm happy I decided to do this. It's also been really fun to see all of the quarantined people making bread too. This whole time in history has brought back older traditions.

I've been gift knitting but my brain hurt...so I gave my Paloma sweater some love. Simple stockinette was just what I needed.

My mom used to make orange and clove decorations at Christmas time. They always smelled so nice around the house. I used some oranges for decoration, but I used them as garland. I have to be honest...this was my second attempt. The first time, I put them in the oven and forgot all about them. They came out VERY done! Lol. Second time was much better. I dried them for a few hours in the oven, let them sit overnight and then strung them with some yarn, pine tree clippings and hung them around the house.

Many people had a big nor'easter winter storm. We got a tiny dusting and then all rain. It's what was forecasted for us, as it usually is for the Jersey Shore. I guess it's a fair trade-off for being only minutes from the beach. But I'm jealous of those big snow fall totals just west and north of us!

 

Only 7 days until Christmas....I guess I should finish getting presents! I'm VERY behind this year.....

Banana Bread

Every time I spell "banana" I hear Gwen Stefani in my head. B-A-N-A-N-A-S Go Bananas, Go, Go Bananas. hee hee.

Anywho....I had some old bananas on the counter and they were past their snacking prime so I figured banana bread would be a perfect use for them! I did a quick search on Pinterest and found this recipe:

Copycat Starbucks Banana Bread Recipe

Here's the recipe: I followed it exactly but i didn't add nuts. I had to bake mine for 55 minutes. It was delicious and I would definitely make it again.

COPYCAT STARBUCKS BANANA BREAD RECIPE

 

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1⅛ cup sugar
• ½ cup vegetable or canola oil
• 2 tablespoons buttermilk or milk
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• 3 bananas mashed very well
• ½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Add flour, baking soda and salt to a small bowl and set aside.
3. Mix egg, sugar and oil and stir until well combined
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir well. The mixture will be thick and dry.
5. Next add milk, vanilla and bananas and stir until incorporated.
6. Mix in walnuts and pour into a loaf pan.
7. Cook 50-75 minutes, checking regularly until a knife comes out clean.

I Designed a HAT!!!

 I knitted up a hat to sell in the farm store and I kind of loved it. Like, really loved it. I made it up and realized, hey...I could write this up as a pattern and sell it. So....that's what I did! I knitted a few samples, sent it out to some test knitters and voila...I published it! 

Let me introduce you to Stars Hollow Hat. Named after my very favorite show of all time, Gilmore Girls.

It's knitted with worsted weight yarn. It has a fun brim that isn't too tight and some simple color work using two colors. Top it off with a pompom if you like! It's a great quick last minute gift knit. The color combination options are endless!

It was so exciting to publish it to Ravelry. 

Here's the link to the pattern page.