People Watching . . . Farm Style

"Hey ya'll, gather around.  Look what the humans are doing!"

"Silly man, doncha know we would love to do that job for you!"

"Why is she taking our picture again? Crazy humans!"

Photo Shoot Out Takes

Getting just the right photo to show off

a knit is next to impossible for an amateur like me.

I suppose I could learn, but that would

take time away from knitting, and

we can't have that, can we? {grin}

So, as a result, I usually delete a bunch,

and keep a couple.

This time however, I kept them all.

My model was so entertaining.

And having so much fun, that 

when it came to it,

I just couldn't hit that red X.

I hope you enjoy my silly, sunny, funny little man.

{And his new sweater too!}

Queen:  Show mama your sleeves.
Prince:  I a big tiger!!

Queen:  Show mama your sleeves.
Prince:  I your cheeseburger!!

Queen:  Show mama your sleeves.
Prince:  I gonna show you one sleeve, mama, okay?
[Queen's side note: and apparently his tongue, too.]

Queen:  How about you lie down as still as a statue?
Prince:  Nope. I gonna lay like a big tiger!!

The Queen has an inspiration.
Queen:  Stand like you did for your preschool photo.
Prince:  Cheese!
The Queen really hopes his preschool photo
does not resemble the above.
It just doesn't get cheesier than this, my friends.

Queen:  Okay, last time, show mama your sleeves.
Prince:  Arrrrrrr!!
Queen collapses to the floor in a fit of
giggles and waves the white flag!!

A Week At the Castle Farm

It has been a busy week at the Castle Farm.  Lots of playing, weeding, fruit preserving, schooling, soccer ball dribbling and so on.  Fall must be on her way . . . Here is our week by the numbers.

One nectarine tree picked.

Two soccer practices.

Three batches of nectarine freezer jam.

Four front yard garden beds weeded.

Five days of schooling.

Six rows done on my mystery shawl. *sniff*

(Curse you, weeding!!)

Seven stints of mopping.

(Curse you, muddy dogs!!)

Eight (at least) loads of weeds hauled down to the "edge".

Nine wedges knit for my Spectra shawl.

(Love you soccer practice knitting!!)

Ten dehydrator trays of nectarine fruit leather. 

And now it is time to rest, and look forward to the fun next week will bring.  More soccer.  Applesauce making.  Friends to visit from far away.  Friends to visit from close by.  More school.  More knitting.  More weeding, ugh.  More knitting (a girl can dream right??).

Random picture from this summer.
I know when *I* think of SD,
camels always come to mind!!

Mmmm . . . Cake

Four little cakes

of scrumptiousness!

My favorite flavors too:

wool and silk

Fall just can't get here soon enough.

The sweet treats

pictured above are for a 

shawl (that cake of dark blue Tussah silk)

and a scarf (the medium blue and the multi-colored cakes).

A Knit A Week: Eye Candy Addition

Eye Candy you ask??

And I reply,

Is there better eye candy out there than

. . . .

my adorable boy buttoned into

the lovely, wooly goodness that

is Malabrigo Rios yarn.

I didn't think so!!

This knit is a test knit I did for Terri Kruse.

It is from her just released e-book

of knitting patterns:  "The Vintage Ice Cream Truck".

This is "Sammie".

Those cheeks, those widdle chubby hands!!

He's your cheeseburger.

I used the distraction of:
Where is Papa's Massey Ferguson?
to keep him still!

Adorable "dragon slayer" buttons from etsy seller:
TessaAnn.
Buy some of her amazing buttons, you
will not be disappointed!!

Overheard At Dinner

Queen:  Okay, how about you eat half of your chicken and we will call it good?

Princess #3:  I can't.

Queen:  quizzical pause

Princess #3: (in all non-sarcastic seriousness) There are three and you can't divide three in half, Mama.

Queen: (between giggles) That is correct . . . glad someone is paying attention during math!!  Now eat these pieces, my dear Miss Literal!!

Lots of Knits this Week

The Royals have returned home.

Home to the Farm.

A bit weird to have a new home to return to.

But oh so nice to be home.

Close to 4,000 miles of journey gives a knitter

lots of time to get projects done!

Specifically these two:

Langston, in Grace silk and wool yarn by Louisa Harding.
For Princess #2's 10th birthday.
{{Whew, got light-headed there a moment,
I just typed 10, as in two children in the double digits.}}
Pretty cables down the front, lots of pretty ruffles
at the cuffs and hem, perfect for my Princess.
Fun unicorn buttons from etsy seller, TessaAnn.
Her buttons are amazing pieces of art!

A plain old vanilla sock pattern from my head, using
afterthought heels so I could control the color pooling
  with the gusset and heel, in some wild,
crazy, super fun, self-striping yarn from
String Theory Colorworks.  Her yarns
are so cool.  This colorway is Cassiopeia dyed
on her Inertia sock base.

We have these two huge retaining walls in our back yard

on the way down to the garden, corrals, and river.

They were made for sock modeling!!

Here is another pair that I knit up for Princess #1,

modeled on our new fab sock modeling location!

So glad the oldest Princess scouted out this spot.

Don't you just love the little hearts on the heel!
Adorable-ness!

Princess #1 loves to mis-match her socks,
so mama obliged!!
These are called LoveSocks and were knit up in
Spud and Chloe fine sock yarn in the tutu and sassafras
color ways.  Very fun pair to knit up!

Happiness Is . . .

. . . living in denial.

I am making pie when I should be packing and organizing for this road trip.  And yesterday we made homemade ice cream from strawberries freshly picked from the garden.  I wonder what food creation I can come up with for tomorrow. {grin}

Don't worry, the knitting has begun to be thoughtfully packed, I have a sweater I'm knitting for car knitting, a pair of socks to finish for when I need a little easy something, and a fun hat or two that I am bringing along, just in case.

Mmmm . . . pie . . .

The One Where I Begin to Brace Myself

It's that time of year already, again.
Two time zones = times 6!!

A Surefire Answer to Stress

Stress makes me do funny things.

Like obsess about learning to spin.

Spin yarn, that is.

General spinning around and getting nothing done, 

I already do quite well, thankyouverymuch.

So instead of doing all those little pesky

or maybe not so little pesky chores

associated with moving, 

I browse spinning wheels online.

I confer with friends who spin.

Asking lots of questions.

Which wheel is best?

What is a good price?

I borrow books from the library.

I think this looks like fun.

I find a listing for a used wheel.

Just the right one.

Just the right price.

I bite.

And now it sits.

Watching me patiently as I paint yet another wall.

Waiting to be set up at the Farm.

Will owning sheep be the next level of crazy?

No.

But I would like to make friends with someone who does.

More to come, dear readers, more to come.

Not *my* wheel, but one just like it!
It's a Lendrum, double treadle.
So pretty, and folds up nice and tidy.

A Quick Breath Before I Succumb to Paint Fumes

What has the Queen been up to you ask?

Tons of fun!

Painting trim.

Painting walls.

Painting doors.

Oooh, I get to prime now.

Yay!

So long cheerful kitchen.

Your bright yellow walls have lifted my spirits.

Daily.

Here is my kitchen circa 2007 during the remodel.

Success!!

My goal as a Mama! {grin}
Speaking of which, I should probably
add some $$ to the Royals' therapy jars.

Reading Styles--Royal Style

My girls each have their own way of reading. 

 I find it fascinating.  

Hence this post. {grin}

Princess #1 is a gulper.

Like her mama.

Quick big juicy bites of book.

Must find out what happens next!

She loves to read an author dry.

Like her mama.

Princess #2 is an absorb-er.

Soaking up every last drop of emotion.

Then she personalizes it!

Which usually means lots of righteous anger.

You know, on the hero/heroine's behalf.

And tears. Lots of tears.

Both sad and happy.

Princess #3 is an editor.

Skimming ahead in order to change up any flaw.

Then she spices it up and re-reads.

She checks for clarity.

Why use boring old "talking before bedtime"?

It is much more concise to use the word "stalling".{grin}

And while my sweet Prince doesn't read yet,

don't let that fool you into thinking

he doesn't notice when you skip a few pages

of the "goldbug" book.

He knows.

And he will set you straight.

A (lot of) Knit(s) A Week

Easter!

He is RISEN!

Knitting up little critters for the royal Easter

baskets has become a bit of a tradition.

I just can't help myself.

They are so quick and great stash user-uppers!

All of the patterns are from Susan B. Anderson's fab

book:  Itty Bitty Toys.

I highly recommend her books/patterns.

They are well-written,

and oh! so! cute!

Without further ado here are the 2012 editions:

Mama and baby koala for Princess #1.
Although, secretly, I was tempted to send them to
her auntie, who loved anything koala when she
was younger. :)

It's a stripey kitty!!
It matches Princess #3's pinwheel sweater. :)
Wait . . .

. . . no, it's cute blue mousey!
I love these reversible stuffed animals
so, so much!!

Timmy, it's Timmy!
He's a handful of trouble at every turn,
the sheep that is . . .
 er, um, ahem. {grin}

A little puppy wrapped in blankie for Princess #2.

You Know You Live . . .

. . . in the desert when your son comes in from outside with this gift for you . . . a tiny tumbleweed (in case you have never seen one)!!

"I picked it just for you mama!"

"Careful, mama, it has pokey parts."

The One Where I Disappoint the Boy

Queen:  Do you want to come with me to the yarn shop?

The Prince:  Yes please, sure!

Queen:  Okay, it will be just a quick trip okay.  There and back.

The Prince:  I want to see the horses, sheep, cows and pigs.

Queen:  See what??

The Prince:  At the BARN store, Mama.  I want to see the animals.

Queen:  We aren't going the barn store, we're going to the YARN store, where mama gets knitting needles and new yarn.

The Prince:  (bursts into tears)  I no wanna go!!!!!!

Overheard At Dinner

Another dinner prayer by our Prince:

Dear Jesus,

Thank you for the food. Thank You not chicken, thank You it's Papa's* meat.

In Jesus' Name,

AMEN!


*Just to clarify, my parents' raise beef cattle, we were not eating Papa. {grin}

Happiness Is . . .

. . . not usually having your husband considered to be a "non-essential" employee at work, but if it means a freebie day off, we'll take the label!!

Dear Void,

It has been a while dear Void, since I've had to bother you, but it is time.

I would like to know, why, dear Void, why my nap boycotting son refuses to sleep in.  I'm all for dropping a nap or two, if that time gets tacked on to the following day's wake up call.  Surely, he is missing that extra hour and a half of rest he used to get (I know I am).  So why won't he just take an extra few minutes in the morning and hit snooze on his infernal, internal, alarm clock.  It sure would go a long ways to making the castle a happier place to be these days.

Get back to me quick, will you!

Signed,

The nap-deprived Queen

The Great Stash Bust of 2012

So, I have a lot of yarn, by some standards.  I am not apologizing or asking you to understand my obsession with string.  It just is what it is.  Last week, I took some time to clean out my yarn cupboard.  My cupboard is three shelves high, just about 3 feet tall, so it's not like wardrobe size or anything. All of my non-sock yarn is grouped by weight or by project, if I know the yarn's destiny. My sock yarn is kept in a different location, because in my world, sock yarn does not count as stash, sock yarn is special and set apart, lovingly handled as the need arises.

One of my biggest peeves with knitting is leftovers.  I try desperately to use every last inch of yarn and when I have a smidge left behind it annoys me.  It annoys me because I have a hard time throwing it away.  I might need it someday or it was expensive good quality.  I have gotten better and each time I clean out the stash, more of the littlest bits leave the nest.  However, there are a few stray balls of yarn.  Not big enough to make something on their own, but too much yarn and too good of quality to just trash or Goodwill.  (I do donate yarn to various charities, but most charities prefer machine washable yarn, and I just don't have much stashed.)

So, why tell you all of this dear readers, well, it is because this year I have determined to knit from the stash as much as is humanly possible (for me).  I have two shelves in my little cupboard of yarn that is for potential projects, and by George, I am going to knit them up.  I'll keep you posted (yah, you saw that one coming didn't you) on my progress, and may possibly have a give away or two this year.  I'm working out the logistics of that.

Here's to stash-busting!!  My needles are loaded with three projects right now, all of which are from the stash!  It is on!!