13 balls down and Lady Eleanor coming soon....

So, I found a home for some yarn that I couldn't imagine using myself--not bad yarn (cotton, linen and viscose) but not my color so much. I gave it to Kayla, who is a prolific young crafter that I know. A mutually beneficial re-organizing of resources--she needed yarn and I have more than I actually need : ). More soon on Lady Eleanor!

I am truly a farmgirl!

I spent the afternoon connecting with my farm girl self. I started with canning six pints of applesauce. Hailey was glad that there was a warm bowlful that didn't make another pint. I've been reading "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver and have been reflecting on growing up with most of my food (vegetables, anyway) being grown in my yard. My mother had a cold room made in the basement lined with shelves (she still does). Every August and September, we would can applesauce, green beans, tomatoes, beet pickles, cucumber pickles, carrots, peaches and pears and those jars would be dated and lined up along the shelves. Corn, peas, strawberries and pie apples would be frozen in the deep freezer along with any meat. Potatoes and onions were stored in sacks in the cold room. There was even an extra refrigerator to store the jam my mom had sealed with parrafin wax. So, my small batch of applesauce today makes me feel frugal and I'll line it up on the top shelf of my cupboard with my blackberry jam and this winter we'll have a taste of early September!
The other three pictures are a fleece I am processing. First you see the raw and dirty fleece. I then wash it in the tub and rinse it. Finally, it is laid out to dry on the deck. It will eventually either be felted or spun as I attempt to learn to make a decent yarn with a drop spindle. I have to say that it has been a very refreshing, grounding day for me!

Blackberry Jam

Nothing more satisfying to me than picking berries and squirreling them away for winter in the form of jam. I picked these berries on Bernal Hill (just a hike up the hill from our house) and Isaiah and I made and canned 9 jars of jam. One was given as a birthday gift to a friend before this picture was taken. I forget how quick and easy jam making is. I love the look of the jars all lined up on the counter.

Here is an update of my project list now:

1. Cashmere scarf (2 balls of yarn)
2. Denim blue baby sweater from Last Minute Knitted gifts (3 balls of yarn)
3. Lady Eleanor (10 balls)
4. Ripple Baby Blanket (4 balls)--COMPLETED
5. Finish the knitting club scarves (these aren't actually my stash)--COMPLETED
6. Hailey's pirate doll (? as to balls of yarn)--COMPLETED
7. Hexagon shawl (10 balls?)
8. a pair of socks
9. Griffindor Hats--COMPLETED
10. TBA

That makes four done and six left to go. I wonder what is next!

DRUM ROLL, PLEASE!

Introducing Fitzwilliam Crochet (a.k.a. Dread Pirate Sam from Interweave Crochet)....
...a very late birthday present for Hailey. Fortunately, she likes him and I guess he was worth the wait. He will definitely be one of a kind, though! I haven't done much crocheting and I think that I bit off a little more than I wanted to chew with this one! I do like how he turned out, though. He was made using Caron Simply Soft and DMC floss. One more thing to cross off that works in progress list!

What I've been knitting....

Forgive me, for I have not posted in ages! I have transferred ownership of about 16 balls of yarn to some young friends of mine who are amazing knitters and needed some "stash"! It was fun to put together a box of yarn and patterns for them and ship it off...

I am working on the Pirate Doll and nearly done. Hopefully I will have pictures for you within a couple of days. Look for them. Disappointing thing is that I don't think I can subtract from my stash when it is finished because I don't think I ever accounted for that yarn in the first place. I think I'll have to double check that in my earlier posts.