The strike is over.

My chickens have been on strike. A month long strike. No egg laying, not a one of them. This is typical with chickens I know...during the winter especially. But our chickens have never done that before this year...they've never had a strike period, not in the 3 years we've had them. It's been kind of a bummer coming back from the barn everyday empty-handed. But not today!!! We are back in business! I LOVE gathering eggs. There is something wonderful about finding eggs inside the chicken coop. Even though I'm scared of the chickens(I know, right?) I love getting the eggs. There is something so beautiful about those earthy brown colors.....gorgeous!

So thank you dear chickens for picking up the slack....it was about time. I feel like I should make a frittata or something in celebration, but I won't because as of right now, I only have a dozen. Gotta wait and see if they are gonna keep up the good work, they can be fickle.......

Inspired life.

A conversation with an old friend got me to thinking about what inspires me. I thought about it all night and even a lot today. I don't think I can count all the things that inspire me. It's limitless really, every where I look I find inspiration. Color, nature, people, family, animals, music, morning, night, other specific times during the day. And funny weird things too...I could go on and on and on. I have a tendency to focus on the negative a lot....not something I like about myself to be honest. But, trying to view things through another lens often makes me think differently.
Creative people REALLY fuel me. A. Lot. I love the different ways that creative people view the world, it makes ME see things in a different way. My children are good at that also.

Eventually I would like to come up with an exhaustive list of inspirational things for me. I think that will take a while. But for now, something really simple that made me look twice....my youngest's tights that she wore today. She was so proud of them, it totally changed her mood the entire day....all because of rainbow colored tights......

Happy Monday everyone, what will inspire you this week?

Kittens and Mittens

Actually there are no kittens in this post, but there are a LOT of mittens. It seems like mitten knitting has been where it's at for me the past few months. I started in November with Bella's Mittens. I was still in a giddy post New Moon viewing phase and just HAD to make these. They are beautiful, I used an alpaca yarn which was less than ideal for these mittens and my coat because they shed like crazy, and the cable definition is kind of lost...but they are crazy warm. I think I read somewhere once that alpaca is 60 times warmer than wool.

Next up on the mitten circuit are the Give a Hoot mittens for my oldest daughter. I had decided that I was going to knit mittens for both of my girls to put into their christmas stockings. That didn't happen, because of those colorwork mittens I blogged about yesterday...I ended up finishing those on Dec. 24. Both girls got their mittens the week after christmas so everybody's hands are nice and toasty.

My oldest daughter loves owls. So these mittens are perfect for her. I made them out of an inexpensive nylon blend (that way I won't wanna kill her if/when she loses one or more). They are the perfect size...if they weren't pink I would be stealing them.

And lastly, Hope's mittens. These turned out so cute! They are 100% wool. I've been saving this particular skein of yarn for almost three years....why? I'm not sure...I guess maybe because it was the first quality wool yarn I ever bought right after I had learned how to knit. I bought it at a yarn festival in 2007, and because I had just learned how to knit...I did not save the tag or any info about the yarn. So I have no idea who made it, dyed it, nothing. I decided to break in out for Hope's mittens because it's got such a great mix of colors and it matches her coat. I have quite a bit left over so I will probably make her a hat as well.

And I'm still not done...I've got several patterns I'm wanting to try out for myself. Just call me a mitten knitting fool. Say that 3 x's fast.

Resolution

I promised myself that I would blog more. Umm, yeah. So today is Jan. 28th...nothing like getting right on it is there? I need to blog...I have so many projects that need documented for one thing, and little interesting tidbits I need to share about also. So please bear with me while I get my ducks in a row...again. I need to freshen up this blog....which will take a little bit of time I'm sure, after all I've not even posted in almost a year! That will change, I solemnly vow.

I've got FO's to share woo hoo!!!!! Since it is after Christmas and all things have been gifted it is safe to share.

These mittens were my bff's christmas gift....the one I got finished on time anyway. Chevron Love mittens from Knitterlythings. I anticipated this being a fairly quick knit...and it really wasn't. This was my first foray into colorwork...and even though I was really only knitting with two colors at a time, I was having to carry all eight colors up the mitten....I kept getting it tangled..ugh. Not fun. I did devise a strategy on the second one though...I got a shoe box and cut holes in it for the yarn to come through, then put all eight balls of yarn in the box and knit it like that. It helped some, but when you are working with that many yarn balls, there IS going to be tangling. Even though they were difficult...I think the payoff was worth it....they are gorgeous!

Next up, Mod Cables hat. Who knew that cables were for more than just looking pretty cool....they really keep your head warm!





10 days ago I had all four wisdom teeth removed...ugh. I'm still recovering but this is what kept me busy the first couple of days I was lying around on the couch. This is knit with Cascade Venezia I believe...(I lost the yarn label) It's super squishy and the color is beautiful.

Yay! I did let's hope I can keep this up...blogging I mean. I have lots more finished projects to share.

Oh...and feel free to leave me a comment. :)

It's a record!!!!

Okay well two days in a row that must me some kind of record for me. Let' s hope it's a habit I don't break.

I took this little lovely out to do some photos today. We went to the local university because there were lots of flowers in bloom and she wanted to wear some dresses. We didn't get the shots I was really wanting because the weather was not cooperating...gale-force winds at times, and rain! Enough with the rain. Anyway, she was delightful, she is getting to be such a big girl....not just a little one anymore. It makes me sad when I look at these pics...she looks so grown up.

And I was really wanting to get a lot done today..I needed to pick out paint for hallway/bookcase room, and my new laundry room. That didn't really happen. I am itching to pick out something new to knit....I just don't know what. I've been staring at my stash and thinking. Looking on Ravelry and checking my queue list, I guess I just feel uninspired. Hopefully something will hit me soon.

Yay, I made something!

Finally, I've had the time to make something!!!! It is so gratifying, satisfying, liberating to make clothing for someone. It makes me feel empowered!!!! I first saw a tutorial for this skirt on a parenting website I frequent. It's been in the back of my mind to do for months and finally I had a long enough break from work to tackle it! It was a very simple strip skirt pattern, I'll definitely be making more. I made two of these, one is for a friends who so graciously donated the fabric, her little girl will look darling in it I'm sure!

Dude....I suck at blogging...and a knitted hat.

Okay, so it's been forever and a day literally. I really want to do this I don't know why it's so hard for me. Throughout the day I always think of things I want to blog about and then I never do...Ugh. I hate that about myself. It would be so good for me to have a place to log my thoughts, if for no other reason than just to vent, ya know? Alright, enough brow-beating of myself.....on to the actual blog subject.

My lovely in a hat I made him! I just made this pattern up myself, using Patons classic wool, which is a merino blend, worsted weight on size 10 needle. Super simple. It took me all of about 2 -2.5 hours. Not to shabby. N has been bugging me for 3 months to knit him a hat, and finally during the last couple of days of February I have obliged him....better late than never right?

Now today I shall be going through my yarn/project stash to pick what I'm knitting next. I've always had some large project waiting in the wings ever since I began knitting 2 years ago, and now I don't have anything big I'm dying to knit. So I'm enjoying lots of little things, which is great because you get the satisfaction of a quick finish. I'll be back soon with what I'm working on. ;)