A fun weekend and a new project

We spent the past weekend at Stinson Beach - we lucked out and had great weather. Chloe got a new wetsuit and was out belly-boarding, having a blast. Right before she went out I saw a shark eating it's dinner - a little scary. I decided it was full and let her go out with her daddy, of course I didn't mention to Chloe what I saw. I don't want her to be paranoid in the ocean.

We stayed with our friends, who had rented a large house, there were over twenty people, with a pile of kids, the median age was 3.5 years old. Jonah had a great time with his buddies. He met a new friend, who had similar crazy energy. I stayed up late with the knit gals, Sage was cracking the whip and making Kiem finish a sock on the sock machine before she went to bed. I didn't last as long as they did... I did get a bunch done on my sweater. I had one minor mishap - I dropped my margarita into my knit basket. The challenges of knitting and drinking.

I came up to Portland today for work. I am hanging out at hotel Modera, a boutique hotel, taking a rest before I polish my presentation for tomorrow. I had to begin a new knit project, one that was smaller and easier to travel with, so I started a Barn Raising Quilt from the book 'Knitalong'. It's the perfect travel project because you knit it square by square. I am using some stashed yarn, beautiful Koigu in green, blue and brown variegated and a solid green and cream. It's a fun pattern. It will be a while before I finish the project, but I am okay with that...

One of my favorite things... a slow morning

Waking up to the 20 lb Maine Coon cat on my chest, not so much by the weight but the turbo engine, normally referred to as purring. Laying there, listening to the bird chatter in my Bottlebrush tree and watching the room come alive as the sun pours in. Add to that the final touch, listening to my children's sweet breathing as they sleep (a very good thing). After soaking in this honey-like morning, I mosey down to the kitchen to make myself a cup of coffee. With coffee in hand I inspect the garden, to see if there are any snails I need to relocate to the street. As I walk around the lists begin. Mental lists of what needs to be down today in the garden. Being mother's day tomorrow I begin a second wish list (heavy lifting needed by the husband). As I sit here writing I am listening to the Acorn Woodpecker working away, a nice touch for a slow morning. The coffee is almost drained, time to get moving.

Silver Lining

Yesterday, my three year old threw himself on the sidewalk outside his daycare. I made the mistake of bending over and pulling him up. Which sounds pretty easy, except for the whole back surgery I had two weeks ago. I ended up tweaking my back and now I am back in bed with an ice pack. The silver lining? More time for knitting.

The photo here is the new project I am working on. My favorite part, the body is knit in one piece. I am knitting the small size, which with the gauge I have will give me a medium-large size. The angora is soft as butter! I have worked through 3 skeins already, fast knitting. I will post my progress on my ChloJoMama Ravelry site.

It's time for less talking and more knitting.

A New Project - Offset Raglan

Yesterday I calculated how many yards of yarn I have in my stash, it's around 25,000. I know pretty pathetic! I have been on a mission to try and knit down my stash for quite some time, with little success. Due to my other addiction which is collecting knitting books, everytime I get one I have to get that new yarn to knit that must have project, such as the Emma Peel dress I just finished for Chloe.

Well I am saying it here, I am back on the stash wagon. No more yarn purchases for me! So now I have to adapt an existing yarn with a project in one of my *new* books (I don't have that much will power). I recently bought 'SimpleSTYLE' by Ann Budd at my local yarn store (LYS), K2TOG in Albany, Ca. There are many fun projects, unfortunately the one I want the Offset Raglan the gauge is 5 st = 1 in and the yarn I have Elsebeth Lavold's Angora is 4 st = 1 in. I am going to attempt a conversion, it might end up in disaster, I am hoping with a little bit of book keeping it will work out. So here goes, I am off to cast-on!

The first blog...

Okay, so I read blogs, I have friends who blog, but I don't feel like I have the time to blog, but I am pulled towards blogging - so here I blog.

A little about me (in one horrifically long sentence), I am a mom (ages 8, 3), I knit, I work full-time, I grow 80% of the vegetables we consume as a family, I like to figure out ways to preserve my harvest (the latest was making cilantro-mint chutney and then freezing in ice cube trays to be used later) and occasionally when I find the peace of mind I illustrate.

I recently had back surgery, the upside I caught up on my knitting, the downside I am behind on my gardening.

On the knit-front I just finished a dress for my daughter Chloe, the Emma Peel, from "Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines". Since my daughter is very tall, I had to stretch the pattern out, but she's also skinny, so I didn't modify the width.

I hope to cast on a sweater for myself tonight using Elsebeth Lavold's Angora, I am making a sweater from "SimpleSTYLE". I will post on my progress.