Shop Update

Victorian Romance

I did a shop update yesterday in my Etsy store. You can find everything here. All the picture captions link straight to their listing.

Summer Rain

Emilie Fingerless Mittens

Chinook Shawl

Diamonds Shawl

I'm happy to take orders outside of Etsy too! Just shoot me an email - bitofknittery(@)gmail.com (minus the parenthesis).

Happy Wednesday!
Meg

Something Nicer

Petunias

 That last post was a little bit whiny, so here's something different so I don't leave you with terrible attitude for a week.

Quick update - Ben took the car down to the transmission place and on the way there.... It didn't do a thing. No transmissions problems, no hiccups, no stalls, no nothing. He told the guy what happened, and how it was fine driving to the shop, and when the car got hooked up to the computer, he was told that it's the Mass Airflow Sensor (whatever that is). Apparently it's glitching out and not letting the transmission talk nicely with the rest of the car. So! One more thing to fix. Moving on...

Daddy taught the boys how to climb the tree in the back. Mama's still not sure how she feels about this, but the deal is they can't climb it if they can't get down themselves. One episode of Duder in the tree yelling "Mom - can noo get me down!" and my telling him I would only get him down once, after that he was staying up there, I think they got the point.

Morning Glory

Punkin

The garden is slowly starting to come out.

On Sunday we harvested the heads of our largest sunflowers. We got two dinner plate sized heads, which are now drying out in the shed. We are still waiting on a few little ones to start drying out. The seeds will be brined and roasted for snacks.

The tomatillos are going to come out soon, since they're pretty much worthless. I think I might have gotten enough for one batch of green sauce.

The tomatoes are going to be thinned. I have a few little plants that never really got big enough to do anything. I will pull those out and see if the larger plant keeps going.

The pumpkin vine is ever so slowly dying. Not sure if it's something wrong, or just the course of life. I will probably pull off the ripe ones and let the vine keep going to see if the little green one that is on the end gets big. Then the vine is coming out too.

The peppers are still going crazy. In fact, they look like they're just getting started.

I started seeds for our fall/winter garden yesterday. I got seeds planted for leek, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts and lettuce. We will direct sew spinach, radishes, collards, and carrots when the weather gets cooler. Our garlic is supposed to ship next month too. I'm so excited for a fall garden!

Mr. On the Move

My "little" man is in 12 month clothes now. For those of you who are good at math you'll realize that February to August does not equal 12 months. He's my giant 6 month old. He's also very into food. Looks like he is going to be like Duder and ween himself off around 6 months because he's more interested in food than in mama. Busy busy boys don't have time to sit around. Which is bittersweet, because mama really could use her hands back, but they don't snuggle as much...

My sister came over for a "photo shoot" today - Some more shawls and another pair of fingerless mittens will be going up in the shop.

That's been life around here. How's your Tuesday?
Meg

Picture-less Vacation

From last year's trip

We just got back from 3 days at the beach!

I wish I could tell you that I feel relaxed and refreshed and ready to get back to life as normal but... While it was a very nice trip and I did hav enough fun to forget about taking pictures - the baby didn't hardly nap, was up every hour each night, and was generally fussy.  I spent most of the time holding him while he grumped. It was not the decompression trip that I needed. I didn't get nearly as much knitting done as I thought I would (although I did take the opportunity to knit in the car on the way home - since the kiddo can't be held while we're driving). Even trading off with Ben didn't help much, since he still grumped and it kind of wears on the nerves. I think it was a combination of unfamiliar place and getting more teeth.

We were able to find a more secluded spot this year and set up camp to where we could hardly see anyone else at all. And when the crowds showed up on Friday night, they weren't nearly as loud and raucous as last year. We did have a lovely time complete with fish & chips, s'mores, and campfires, cool, foggy, drizzly weather, a nice breakfast at IHOP and a trip to a cute little zoo on the way home.

It was even more blue this year.

And then the transmission went out on the way home. You know, the one we just got "fixed" for a fairly large chunk of money?

That was the most stressful car ride we have ever had. It started going out about half way home, of course out in the middle of nowhere. Not just second gear, which was supposedly the original problem, but first gear as well. Ben babied it and coaxed it all the way home.

Yeah. Ben's going to be having some words with the owner of that transmission shop tomorrow.

I am just glad we made it home and didn't have to sit on the side of the road. I felt such a huge relief when we finally pulled into our driveway.

So... That was my weekend. >.<

How was yours?
Meg

First Day of Kindergarten

School Monsters

Today we started our first day of Kindergarten!

Although Duder is only 3, he's going along for the Kindergarten ride because he likes to do what his brothers do, and that's usually how homeschooling works - it's a group effort.

After a big breakfast of eggs, hash browns and biscuits, we started off our school day with three laps around the backyard to get the wiggles out.

Then we jumped right into Bible, history, reading aloud and comprehension, language and working on handwriting by practicing our names and the letter F.

The curriculum I have doesn't cover science, but my mom-in-love gave me The Way Things Work and this morning we read about airplanes and helicopters, since that's what the boys are into. I want to feed what they have passions for, so we will continue with trains, other contraptions, and some blood and bones books my mom gave me throughout the year (Ty is very boy-ishly into blood and guts right now).

And of course, you can't learn about planes without making your own out of paper. ;)

It turned out to be just over an hour of school, which was just enough. The all started getting antsy and their attention was starting to wander so it worked out perfectly.

I think it's going to be a wonderful, exciting school year!

Happy Monday and First Day of School!
Meg

Knitting

I finished a pair of socks! We're going to ignore the fact that they were pretty much done, just needed a bit of foot and the toe of the second sock, and had been lingering in the closet for oh... 6 months.

This is the mitered baby blanket I mentioned earlier. (Yes, I know this picture is terrible.) The body is finished, I just need to put a border on it. This will be going up in the shop when it's finished.

I was doing a yarn test for an order I have coming up, using worsted weight for a pair of Emilies rather than fingering weight. I think it looks great in the chunkier yarn, so I decided I might as well do a whole pair. This angora/merino blend yarn is absolutely delicious. So soft and snuggly. They'll be going up in the shop as well.

And finally - One of Ben's co-workers and his wife (obviously) are having their first baby! And all babies need to be knit for, and all babies especially need knit blankets. So I am doing a Babylove in pink for their little girl who's supposed come mid-September.

And Munchie is helping.

Happy Tuesday!
Meg

This Week - Randomly

Best Christmas present ever.

Sweet chili sauce making has begun! I had almost enough tomatoes (I had to supplement the rest with a can of crushed), and I've been wanting chili sauce so bad my mouth has been watering. It is now all in a pot, simmering and reducing away. 

In finally got to use the food mill that Ben got me for Christmas last year and it made short work of those tomatoes. I have been fussing at my tomato plants for their abysmal production, but I've heard from others that their gardens haven't been producing a lot this year either. I think our extremely hot weather is just doing everything in.

We're set to hit 111 on Saturday. Not. Fun.

Munchie broke a tooth! His very first one, and thankfully he's been a bit less grumpy since then. And he slept til 4:30 this morning! It was wonderful, especially coming off of two weeks of him waking up every hour (because of the teeth, I would guess). He's also rolling back to front and front to back now, and he can scootch his way across the living room on his back. He gets very proud of himself for it.

We start school in just two short weeks. The boys will be starting Kindergarten, and since we're going to be homeschooling, that means Duder will be doing Kindergarten too. I am so very excited to start! I have all my curriculum and books ready to go and I'm just waiting for the 20th.  In the mean time I am scrubbing my house so that I don't have to worry about major cleaning while I am focusing on school. 

We got the car back Monday evening and it's so nice to drive without it taking forever to shift. I'm very, very thankful it's fixed since we have vacation coming up and I didn't want to risk it breaking down while we were gone. 

I've been knitting away on a red and white mitered baby blanket. I'll post pictures soon. I am waiting for yarn to start a pink Babylove Blanket for one of Ben's coworkers. The little one is due the second week in September so I'll have to knit like the wind to get it done in time. 

I'm also wide open to take Christmas orders, for anyone who is looking for something special!

Happy Wednesday - stay cool!
Meg

Hello August!

Welcome to August, my friends! As Ben said last night, "We're running out of year!". I am planning for Christmas already - can you believe it? Gosh it's almost here!

Today I thought I would participate in The Simple Woman's Daybook.

FOR TODAY

Outside my window... Are children playing, butterflies are flitting around and birds are chirping. I love wildlife! (Kids included.)

I am thinking... About the farm/acreage that we are working toward - someday! Hopefully soonish.

I am thankful... For everything we have been given, and the protection of my family. I'm still feeling weird about the whole breaker thing.

In the kitchen... Apple Cinnamon muffins for breakfast. And I'm about a quart of tomatoes and 1.5 Anaheim chilies away from making chili sauce!

I am wearing... Shorts and a t-shirt. Too hot for much else.

I am creating... Trying to finish a sock so I can start ornaments for sale.

I am going... Nowhere! Car's in the shop - We got our estimate yesterday and 2nd gear is completely gone, so it going to get fixed for about what we had planned monetarily (thank you, thank you). Not sure when we're getting it back though...

I am wondering... How my nieces and nephew are fairing with the chicken pox.

I am reading... Storey's Guide to Raising Dairy Goats. It's fascinating, and I wish we had room in our backyard. ;)

I am hoping... To stuff my pantry full to bursting this year.

I am looking forward to... Having a fall garden, and our upcoming vacation.

I am learning... Patience... Ever so slowly. It's a never ending battle around here.

Around the house... Are Legos, alphabet letter magnets, and baby things.

I am pondering... Why my children do the things they do sometimes.

A favorite quote for today... "Tis an ill cook that cannot lick his own fingers." - William Shakespeare

One of my favorite things... Silence. It truly is golden (and rare in a house of 4 boys!).

A few plans for the rest of the week: Baking bread, finishing the sock, get the few tomatoes I have into the freezer for future use.

A peek into my day...