I certainly didn’t intend to have such a long blogging hiatus but it happened anyway.  It  started with my summer from hell.  Soon after the lovely birthday party, summer camp started.  Lots went wrong- mostly database issues resulting in registration issues and unhappy parents mad at me- but also 3 staff members quitting in the 1st 2 weeks of camp for a variety of (mostly) understandable reasons and it all made me want to go home and not come back.

Oh, it wasn’t all bad.  In the end almost 1000 kids had a great time and my cool-on-the-outside-freaking-out-on-the-inside demeanor served me well and resulted in what everyone said was the best summer of camp ever.  Yay me.  In the midst of that, I had no energy left to write and once I stopped it was hard to start back up.  I’ve probably written 25 posts in my head but that does you no good.

Since I left you, my garden grew and grew and we canned a whole lot of delicious produce.  We planted giant sunflowers and now have so many seeds!

Buffy, Oolong and Wynonna grew up and started laying delicious eggs.   One hen tried to fake us out by laying 14 eggs in a secret spot before we found them!  Then last month, sadly and suddenly, Wynonna died mysteriously, and seemingly peacefully, overnight.  So we got 2 new hens- Matcha (an Americauna) and Brown Betty (a Welsummer) but they’re not laying yet and I don’t have any pictures of them yet.  Now Oolong is molting so she’s not laying either so we’re down to one laying hen.  For now.

After camp was over we took an fun, relaxing camping trip to Paradise Creek in the Gifford Pinchot Forest in Washington.  We relaxed and explored, ate smores,  hiked on a path to nowhere and admired the pretty colors of the volcanic rocks that were all along the creek.

I’ve  only really been knitting in the past couple of weeks but I have plenty of projects that will show up here in the next few weeks.  The same goes for spinning.

I renamed my business and moved everything over to a brand new shop and website.  The story of why will come soon.  I love my new name and logo and am gearing up for the busy shopping season.

That’s the quick and dirty lowdown.  I’ve got to start small.  It feels good to get some words out there and I’ll be a little more detailed in my next posts.

So far we’ve eaten broccoli from the garden and will have fava beans and snap peas soon. We’re also growing lettuce, garlic, leeks, a million onions, kale, spinach, kohlrabi, 3 types of tomatoes, purple string beans, 2 types of shelling beans, japanese eggplants, jalapeno peppers, gypsy peppers, carrots, 2 types of potatos, basil and a few other herbs. Whew, that’s a lot! I’m really excited about having so much fresh produce right in my backyard! We also have raspberry, strawberry and blueberry plants. We’ve been enjoying the strawberries for about a week now and I just ate my first ripe blueberry this morning. Delicious!

I’m getting ready for some fun craft shows and art fairs this summer and have been working on a new product. I have this french press cover listed in my shop and several more will be for sale soon. Mike and I tested it out and it definitely keeps coffee warm longer and it adds some style to a french press.

Like my other items for sale, it’s made from a recycled wool sweater. This one is actually a wool/angora blend so it has a little extra softness. I tried some different methods of closing it and finally settled on these beaded ties. They wrap around the buttons so it can be closed as snugly as you’d like. It makes the cover a little adjustable so it’ll fit different brands that may be slightly different sizes.

Etsy is having a “yart sale” today through Sunday. It’s like a yard sale, but with art. I have a whole section of specially discounted items and you can search for “yart” on etsy to see what other good deals are out there.

Why not start in my own backyard?’ I do wage war on dandelions each spring but when it comes down to it, it’s hard for the scientist in me to not admire these tough little plants. with their long roots and hardy seeds that disperse far across the yard with the slightest breeze, they seem perfectly evolved to take over the neighborhood.

Then there are the flowers- bright yellow sunbursts. They deserve a little admiration.

Crabapple trees are blooming down the street.

And a neighbor has these cute, tiny blue flowers filling their yard.

I love seeing the beautiful trilliums appear in the forest. I love that their color varies from white

to pale pink

to deep purple.

All of the images are of coin purses/pouches made from recycled wool and cashmere sweaters. Some are available in my etsy shop now and the rest will be added soon.

I’m inspired to go create some more. Where do you find inspiration?

We came back and made the trek to Mt. Hood to pluck our tree out of the wilderness. It was a gorgeous day and our tree actually looks pretty good in the house despite a crooked trunk and a giant bald spot. I like that it looks like a forest tree and not a manicured farm tree.

I took a quick break from the insane amounts of sewing I’ve been doing for my etsy shop and finally discovered the joy of knitting bulky items on big needles. I’m normally a fine gauge knitter but when you’re short on time, there’s nothing better than knitting a hat in a day! This is the Unoriginal Hat by the Yarn Harlot. You don’t really need a link do you? Just google it if you’d like. The yarn is Cascade Pastaza doubled and while it feels really soft in the skein, it’s a little prickly on my head if I wear it for a long time.

We went on a walk a few days ago and I loved that the whole family was wearing hats knit by me!


My mom visited last weekend, braving the snow and Crafty Wonderland’s Super Colossal Holiday Sale like a real Portlander. Because of the nasty weather, not as many people came to the show as I’d hoped but I still managed to make a little money.

Now to start on those Christmas presents!

Even though the weather was grey and drizzly this weekend (how quickly weather changes in Portland!) we spent a lot of time outside. Here are some pretties from the weekend.

We went to the park and there were already lots of leaves on the ground. It really is feeling like autumn. I want some more sunny days!
Did you know that winged seeds are called samaras?’ I love this cluster of them.

I saw this tree while walking in our neighborhood. I don’t know what it is but I think the fruits hanging down are really pretty.

This is a volunteer plant growing in our front yard. It’s probably a pumpkin but I’ll have to wait a while longer to find out for sure. I like mysteries!

Climbing the steps back home. I do love nasturtiums.

Finally some knitting to show! I’ve mostly knit for the baby this summer but these are Mike’s socks! They’re his first pair of handknit socks and I think they’re a hit. They’re basic toe-up socks with a heel flap and 2×2 ribbing up top. The yarn is Regia 4-ply and the color is Patch Antik #5759.

So the contest. The lovely Vanessa of Designs by Vanessa is hosting a contest on her blog and the prize is a coffee sweater from my etsy shop! So go on over, check out her blog and enter to win!

Hopefully I’ll have some more knitting pictures soon. I hope you’re all having a nice Monday!

Sesame won’t eat strawberries if I offer them to her at mealtimes while she’s in her high chair, but when she could pick them herself, she tried to eat them all! Despite her face in the last picture, she really liked them and amazingly most of the mess managed to stay off of her clothes.

I made fabulous strawberry shortcakes for dessert tonight. I had some creme fraiche in the fridge so I mixed some brown sugar with it and used that instead of whipped cream. Add some fresh-from-the-oven biscuits and fresh-from-the-garden berries and it was a winner!

I’ve been knitting this mess for a while and I finally have all the pieces done. After knitting this a while back, I didn’t think I’d do it again but, well, a knitted toy is hard to resist. All these pieces will be this cute little crab (Ravelry)! That’s the body, 8 legs, 2 claws and 2 eye stalks that you’re looking at. It’s for baby Lucas, whose mother is Cindy, one of my best friends but they live all the way in El Salvador so I don’t see her often enough. I hope the little cutie likes it.

The pattern isn’t written too well and is quite fiddly, for lack of a better word, but I’ll share more about that later. Speaking of patterns, I’m going to write up my loose pattern for the soaker skirt since several have asked for it. Look for that soon! In other housekeeping news, I’m hoping to add some stuff to my shop soon. With all the birthday madness, and my job starting full time next week (eek!) I have been neglecting it a little.

When I was older, I was in 4-H and I had animals so I practically lived at our county fair. I accumulated boxes full of ribbons and my grandpa and uncle were embarassed every year when I made them drive me to the fair to pick up the boxes full of stuff that I had entered.

This is a long intro to explain to you how excited I was to see that Larissa started a State-Fair-Along! I entered some things in the Oregon State Fair for the 1st time last summer (I am not a native Oregonian) and was excited to win a blue ribbon for some cookies but was disappointed at the lack of competition in many of the categories, including knitting. So was Larissa. There are so many crafty people that aren’t entering things in their fairs! So fellow Americans, knit, sew, bake, make something to enter in your local fair this has started a summer. It will be fun!

I just made this skirt but it is not fair quality. It’s summertime-fun-in-the-sun quality and that’s all I was going for. Please forgive the wrinkles, the white fabric is linen and I have been wearing it all evening. I used some of the fabric previously seen here.
So, what will I be knitting for the state fair? After much deliberation, I have decided on this:It’s the ogee tunic from Knitting Nature. I’m using Knitpicks merino style in tide pool and I am already almost done with the 1st sleeve! Pretty exciting, huh? What could be more exciting than a partially finished sleeve? A package from my secret pal! I was so excited to get this in the mail! It’s 2 skeins of knitpicks laceweight merino and a pattern for a shawl. The blue yarn is Cascade Pastaza-wool and llama! I’ve been fondling this yarn for a while now and have been wanting some. How did you know, secret pal? The colors of both are gorgeous- just what I’d choose for myself. I also got some great chocolate and fabulous stitch markers so I don’t have to use those cheap plastic rings anymore. Thank you, thank you!

After knitting this pattern, I realize that the book’s directions are a bit sloppy. Every decrease is a k2tog and the finishing directions are lazy. The apple holder was to be knitted in 4 flat pieces and then sewn together. That seemed like too much work so I knit it in the round, added paired decreases to make it a little neater and modified it some. I used size 8 dpns and some yarn left over from this project.

I went to the craziest place yesterday! The Bins, aka the Goodwill Outlet. Yes, Goodwill has an outlet. I guess it’s all the stuff that hasn’t sold in the regular stores and is an inch away from the landfill. I’ve been hearing about the place from my friend Rosie a lot and finally decided to go see for myself.

It’s a warehouse filled with huge plastic bins. Fabric items and books are seperated from everything else but that’s as far as the organization goes. People dig through these huge bins looking for treasures and most things are sold for $1.29 a pound! It’s insane and a little disturbing. They have signs cautioning the shopper (aka bargain vulture) that there could be sharp objects in the bins. I spent a fair amount of time dreading the used syringe or dead rat I was sure I’d come accross in the next bin. I even saw some “professional” bins shoppers wearing gloves to sort through the stuff. I’m not exaggerating. This is how some people make money. With enough determination, there is some valuable stuff to be found and purchased for $1.29 per pound.

I came out feeling grimy and dirty and $9 dollars poorer. I got several sweaters I’m planning on felting, some linen fabric I’ll make into a skirt. a really cute, old apron and one of those woven grass mats people take to the beach. This is what I did with one section of the mat. With some hot glue and scissors, I transformed my old, ugly, plastic planter to the new, improved tiki planter!
It now holds mint and chamomile plants. Come join me for some sun tea later this summer!

E is for evergreens and emerging life.

One of the great things about my job is that there is a trail through the woods on the property. I love the evergreens for their height and beauty and I get to look at them all day. When not looking high in the trees, though, the trail hasn’t been very pretty this winter. With the coming of spring, I have been discovering life emerging from the seemingly dead vegetation. It takes some close inspection but things are starting to grow and emerge from the bare branches. I thought I’d share some of my pictures with you because I love this time of year!
(If you’re just here for the knitting-I’ve got that covered! It’s after the nature pictures)

I wish I could tell you what all these plants are but I really don’t know. I’m pretty good at identifying trees but that’s about as far as my plant knowledge goes. I wish my backyard were looking this pretty and full of life. It’s a mess of weeds, bare ground and a lumpy lawn but I need the rain to stop before I can fix it!

This isn’t on the trail through the woods but I thought I’d include the flowering cherry tree because it’s pretty and pink and it’s pink and red month at Project Spectrum.

Speaking of Project Spectrum, I have some knitting to show you! I finally finished my red Cascading Leaves sock. I finished the 1st one right after Christmas but then I got sidetracked by other projects so it’s been sad and alone- until today! I love, love, love this pair of socks because it’s the first pair I’ve ever knit for myself! The yarn is sock garden from knitpicks and it’s so soft and snuggly on my feet. Look how nicely they fit my feet! The only drawback to the sock garden is that it’s 100% merino -that explains the super softness but it also means they won’t be the most long-lasting socks unless I treat them very carefully.
I used this pattern to make my mom some socks but I didn’t really like how square the toe was on her pair, (sorry, Mom!) so I changed it on mine. I’m looking for a new sock project now! Now that I have 1 pair, I think I need some more. I don’t want my 1 pair of handknit socks to be lonely in my drawer. What is your favorite sock yarn? I’ve only used the sock garden and Lorna’s Laces shepherd sock which is lovely but a little pricey.