WIP Wednesday

Off the needles: FAILed (Will be frogging.) "Mystery Beret"
On the needles: Sweater Dress
Reading: Little Men
Also? Really horrible lighting.

I'm using up some of my monstrous stash of leftovers from my Shalom for a little, jumper-type sweater dress for Ziva. The skirt will be cascade eco (gray) and the bodice will be noro. I'm excited to see how it comes out.

The hat is horrible. But I enjoyed knitting it so that's a plus. I thought by using larger needles with less yarn I would get the amount of "slouch" I wanted. But really it's just huge. I may try to re-knit it on smaller needles. Or a different hat entirely. =]

And in other WIP news, my sewing machine has been getting a lot of action lately... more to come on that. =]

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Inspired by: Soulemama

New

I enjoy blogging. I love getting comments from readers. It bothered me that I couldn't easily reply, so I've changed that. I added a new comment form this morning and from now on commenting and replying and subscribing to comments and all that jazz will be tons easier. Expect to hear back from me! =]

Arboretum

We feel so blessed at the number of local, beautiful spaces that are available to us to explore. These pictures were taken during an impromptu after-dinner trip to the local arboretum for a walk. Ben had never been there, and I hadn't been there since a home school field trip when I was probably 14? We explored the trails for an hour or so and there are still so many we didn't go down. We're looking forward to exploring more!

Shalom!

My Shalom Cardigan is officially finished. =] And I am officially scouring Ravelry for my next project. Ideas??

Relaxation

This is where we spent our weekend.

Please notice the location of our vehicle on the GPS... =]

As they say, a picture is worth 1000 words. I think you can figure out how we spent our weekend without me rambling on about every picture. ;]

A little blurb from the hubs: "Sitting around here is a lot more relaxing than sitting around at home. At home we can sit around for the weekend, but we'll be looking around and coming up with all kinds of things we could be doing."

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Inspired by: Soulemama

Opposites

Today I bring 2 photos from my kitchen. Both taken within seconds of each other. Both very delicious. One very normal and one, not so much.

Oh, so scandalous.

Care to guess which is the norm? ;]

Today...

- Feeling coolness in the air as I hang diapers on the line. Even though it's beautiful and sunny I can tell that fall is on its way. <3

- It's Wednesday. Farmer's Market!

- I made homemade peppermint laundry soap. This isn't my first time around, but last time I used this recipe. We'll see if we like the difference/if there is one.

- Iced tea. 8 Lipton tea bags + 1/2 gallon boiling water + 1/2 cup sugar. Steep for 8 minutes, chill, enjoy with a lemon wedge. Mmm.

- Anticipating this weekend's family getaway. Smack dab in the middle of the good 'ole Maine woods.

- Loving my Pandora station.

WIP Wednesday

The project: Shalom

The yarn: Noro Silk Garden for the yoke, and Cascade Ecological Wool for the body.

Made for: Myself =D

Mods: So far, adding 2 more button holes, twisted rib at the bottom of the sweater rather than garter stitch, and long sleeves with twisted rib at the cuffs. Oh yeah and I skipped the waist shaping, mainly because I'm lazy and I didn't want to count. =]

If you remember last week's post then it's probably evident how much I enjoy working on this sweater. I've been doing a lot of riding in the car lately and it's been my companion. I'm also always working on it in the evenings and sometimes getting a few rows in during the day.

This is how much eco I have left to finish my sleeve. =[ I really want full-length sleeves so I guess my options are, 1) add some noro to the sleeves (I used barely any of my second skein of noro) or 2) buy another (ginormous!) skein of eco. ::le sigh:: I was really hoping to bring this sweater (to wear!) this weekend up North. Choices, choices...

Oh, and I'm pretty much decided on the purple buttons, but I thought I'd throw in a couple other options in case people had input. ;]

Ps, last night we had a 1.5 hour ride home from a family event and I wore my sweater in the car, needles and all. It was cozy. =]

Making

It's so easy for me to slip into buying convenient products like store bought bread and bottled drinks. Another one is laundry detergent. I used to make my own. I'd really like to make a batch when our store bought jug runs out.

Besides the money saving and healthiness factors, there's just something about homemade, well, anything. A fresh baked loaf of bread cooling on the counter does something for the soul that slices in a plastic bag just can't.

In our kitchen today we are working on iced tea and sour dough starter.

What are you making this week?

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Inspired by: Soulemama

WIP Wednesday

The project: Shalom

The yarn: Noro Silk Garden for the yoke, and Cascade Ecological Wool for the body.

Made for: Myself

Mods: So far, adding 2 more button holes and I'm in the process of adding long sleeves, so the sleeve stitches are on scrap yarn rather than being bound off. My full pattern notes are here.
So I'm kind of addicted to working on this sweater. I LOVE it! I hope I love wearing it as much. =] I hoping my sleeve mods help it to fit me just right. We shall see!!

my morning

It's one of those mornings where I savor the quiet hour or so before Ziva wakes up.

I prepare my coffee and the spoon clinking on the sides of my favorite mug seems loud.

I wrap myself in a sweater and sit down on the couch with Bible in hand.

I read and pray, then knit and glance at the slideshow of pictures popping up on the computer screen. Each picture reminds me of a certain person or time and I pray or praise for them.

The wheels in my head turn while I work twisted rib across the rows of my cardigan, thoughts not interrupted by anyone or anything.

I think of what I'd like to do during my day, week, month, year, life.

I soak in the quiet, the alone, the stillness of the morning where no one demands my time.

Then I hear a tiny knock, and a "hewwo!"

I scoop her up into a hug and in that moment I hold more joy in my arms than my mornings alone have ever held.

Our day begins.

Purl Diva

Just recently I had expressed an interest in knitting myself a nice fall sweater. I usually knit for Ziva, not myself, so I was hesitant at first to spend the money, because well, I'm quite a bit bigger than she is... I've knit myself exactly one sweater and I cheaped out and bought some acrylic yarn at A.C. Moore to make it. So this time around I decided I would treat myself to nice yarn too. I gave myself a $50 budget and the hubs drove me down to Purl Diva.

I had never been to Purl Diva before, I just googled 'yarn shops in maine' and I found it. OH MY GOODNESS. I adore this shop. Upon opening the door we were greeted by the owner (correct me if I'm wrong, k?) and while I began to browse, Ben and Ziva found a basket of toys stashed in a corner. =]

Ellen carries so much yarn in her shop and I was in no way dissapointed. I could've stayed there for hours and just hung out (however I don't think my husband or toddler would want to do that). She does host social knitting groups on Wednesdays and Sundays, though!

{So so so helpful is the fact that she has several popular ravelry patterns knit up and there for you to touch, look at and experience. I was super excited when I saw the sweater on the bottom left, because it's Shalom - the one I'm planning on making!}

{Quince&Co!}

I think I circled the store 3 times and touched everything before I went to Ellen and asked for help. =] What I'm hoping to achieve is a super comfy, favorite sweater that I grab often. I thought about knitting it out of Malabrigo because it's amazingly soft, but after talking it over with her, we decided it would pill too easily. Perhaps I'll knit myself some mittens or gloves with Malabrigo to replace the ones my mama made me when I was a teen that I set them too close to the wood stove to dry. ='[

I had seen some Shalom's on Ravelry that had a yoke knit with Noro. I thought this looked super cool so I told her about it and she looked it up and helped me to determine how many skeins I'd need. In the end I decided that I would knit the yoke with Noro and the body with Cascade Ecological Wool.


All in all it was a great trip. I started to get all giggly with my bag of yarn on the ride home - it was like Christmas to me! ;] (Ps - my birthday is next month, people, need an idea? Purl Diva gift certificate?) If you're near Brunswick, you need to check her out! If you're looking for a shop that sells quality yarns, has amazing customer service, probably knows everything there is to know about yarn and knitting and keeps a cute doggy behind their counter than Purl Diva is for you! Happy weekend my friends!

**Disclaimer: I didn't get paid to write this review, it's just that yarn gets my all warm and fuzzy inside.**

**Also, today is Unplugged Saturday isn't it? My loves are still in bed so it's okay, right?? Riiiight...**

Our Market

I love our weekly Wednesday trips to the farmer's market. I love playing. I love browsing. I love small talk with various farmers. I love knowing where my milk, eggs, bread and veggies come from. I love making the hubs run back to the car to find quarters so we can spend every last cent we brought. I love the atmosphere. I love the live music. I love the natural simplicity of it all. I love running into friends there. I love that buying locally will be a normal, natural thing in Ziva's world. I love visiting the farmers at their farms. I love smelling the handmade soaps. I love homemade ice cream. I love our market.

WIP Wednesday

{I like to pretend our 70's apartment doesn't have wood paneling everywhere. LOL}

My current work in progress. Our photo wall. =] Can you believe that we've lived here almost a year and I've just gotten around to doing this? Me either. All but the black frame (bought a few years ago at walmart or something) have been thrift shop finds. All the turquoise ones were previously different colors. I have 2 more frames waiting for white paint (which I need to go buy at some point). For some reason yesterday at goodwill they had an abundant supply of pink frames.

My favorite part about doing this photo wall (besides looking at it) is scoping out the thrift shops for frames. I love finding a frame that someone has no use for and seeing what it can become with a little paint and a smiling face inside it. Not to mention the fact that I've paid no more than $3 for each - some being even less than $1. I'm sure the 11x14's would cost me upwards of $15 if I bought them new at a department store!

Another cool thing is finding the frames with character! You can't see them too well in the picture but some of the frames have really neat designs carved into them.

As long as I have memories captured on film (just kidding they're digital =P) then this photo wall will forever be a work in progress!

And as for that thermostat? I'd like to do something like this!

{Thank you, Pinterest.}

What a Feeling

What a feeling in my soul
Love burns brighter than sunshine
Brighter than sunshine
Let the rain fall, i don't care
I'm yours and suddenly you're mine
Suddenly you're mine
And it's brighter than sunshine
-Aqualung
{Hanging above our bed}

We love love music in this family. Ziva is constantly asking for us to play "mu-zik!" I'm always hearing songs and saying "I would so dance to this at my wedding if I wasn't already married."

But my favorites are constantly changing - or just being added to. So dry erase love-y dove-y picture it is. I just took a picture frame we already had kickin' around, cut a piece of blue scrapbook paper to cover the cardboard back, then centered my photo on top and replaced the glass. Now whenever I feel like switching up the lyrics, quotes, writing a love note, etc I'll just erase and write! <3 Love it!

*Photo in the frame credit: Jaimee C Photography